#and the actor's interpretation and portrayal is pure genius

[mimimarilynart]

2000 Sheng | Xiaosheng

I haven't been this emotionally moved/impacted by a fictional character in a very long time... one of the absolute best I've seen in cdramas, ever

[power-chords]

Now that I am sober I can try to post coherently about The Taking of Pelham 123 (emphasis on “try”):

-What a flabbergasting experience! There was like 35% of a flawless movie in there! Moments of superlative genius bookended by batshit nonsense. It was remarkable. I will absolutely watch it again.

-I read a review that described the actors’ performances as “behaved, rather than evoked,” which is intended as a slight but is actually the reason I found Travolta’s portrayal of Ryder, in particular, to be so interesting. Like it’s almost a transgressive interpretation of the Hollywood Sociopath in that it comes disturbingly close to the real thing (i.e., Actual Sociopaths). There’s none of the glamour, charisma, ambivalence, or intrigue that comes through with a character like Hannibal Lecter, for instance. It is trying for camp, but lands in the uncanny valley of camp. You do not doubt for an instant that this guy will put a bullet in the brain of the guy he says he likes, and feel absolutely nothing about it. To say that he “likes” something is to say that he finds it momentarily interesting. He does not have any sincere emotional connections to speak of, nor is he even vaguely tantalized by the prospect of them (e.g., a Vincent [No Surname] or Neil McCauley). Evil is banal, hollow, vicious, and financially motivated. More than anything, it is unimaginative.

-Featuring: Every New York Type of Guy. I want to say this movie would have benefited from more women, but I’m not actually convinced Brian Helgeland knows how to write them.

-The first act is so good that I almost want to forgive everything that comes after it. Ryder forcing Garber to confess to the bribe is HARROWING. S-Tier Pure Cinema. What they do with John Turturro’s character is low key brilliant: they take a guy who could be a cardboard cutout caricature for Denzel Washington to play off of, just another bureaucratic asshole, but the movie makes it very clear that he’s just another competent dude trying to do his job. Having him fuck up, instantly regret it, and spend the rest of the movie developing a real camaraderie with the guy he brushed off is a great mini-arc.

-On that note: Very Catholic movie. Love it. To sin is expected, it is your default state; to confess is the catalyst for the authentic redemptive urge.

-Kudos to the sound designers, mixers, and editors who transformed one of the most singularly familiar and frankly iconic New York Sounds — Subway Train Moving Through Tunnel — into an eerie harbinger of catastrophe. When they get the car moving again, the noise is unsettling.

-You know how you know this guy sucks? He’s from Jersey.

-[Subway Platform] Me: [chanting] trains, trains— Other people across the platform: trains, TRAINS MTA conductor: [incomprehensible, over intercom] TRAINS, TRAINS, TRAINS!

[justgotham]

In my experience, Gotham is a polarizing TV series. Any superhero-themed program is sure to bring its critics, but Batman is a character near and dear to the American heart—as he is the last universally beloved billionaire—and it was certainly a risk going with a prepubescent Bruce Wayne. I’m a big fan of Gotham, and even I’ll admit that I’m not completely sold on its interpretation of the franchise’s main character. But that’s OK, because Gotham isn’t about Batman. It’s about the villains. And they’re almost all great. This was not an easy list to compile.

Gotham just feels like Batman, and it’s in large part thanks to the carefully crafted, over-the-top performances in some marquee roles, so without further ado, let’s get to the best Gotham villains.

I should also note that it would be impossible to do this properly without some spoilers. I’ll avoid any spoilers from the last few episodes of this season, but if you’re not caught up on this season of the show, some of this will definitely get you up to speed on where everything stands as of the Season Four finale.

15. Captain Nathaniel Barnes Played by: Michael Chiklis Michael Chiklis just looks like a cop, and that alone qualified him for the role of Jim Gordon’s boss. And his evolution from hardened lawman to judge, jury and executioner in the face of the future Commissioner Gordon’s heroics provided this political science major with a stark analogy for the tradeoff between idealism and pragmatism out in the real world. Every conflict of Barnes vs. Gordon centered around the way things should be versus the way things are, and the finale of Chiklis’ arc (for now, no one in this show is ever truly gone) raised good questions about where the line between the vigilante justice of Batman and The Executioner really stands.

14. Ra’s al Ghul Played by: Alexander Siddig The spiritual father of the proceedings carries a heavy burden. Not only must he justify the spiritual aspect of the rise of Batman (and the Joker), but Siddig also has to pull off whatever a 2,000+ year old man looks like. It’s a difficult ask, and he’s not had enough screen time for Ra’s al Ghul to seem like anything more than a narrator guide from a video game, but he’s given plenty of major moments, and he hasn’t come up short yet.

13. Butch Gilzean Played by: Drew Powell What Powell does with a character limited to being the main muscle on the show is the embodiment of the saying “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” He is one of the chief figures of strength on Gotham (and that was before he fell in a swamp filled with goop from Indian Hill), but his moments of vulnerability are what bring life to the character. His romance with a woman farther up on this list than he is reflects Butch’s limits, but perhaps new frontiers will be unlocked with his evolution into the famed Solomon Grundy from the comics.

12. Commissioner Gillian Loeb Played by: Peter Scolari Scolari brought a new face to this eternal foil of Batman and Jim Gordon, as the comics’ brusque blackmailer in the pocket of Carmine Falcone has been replaced with a shadowy figure in the pocket of Carmine Falcone. Scolari’s semi-detached performance is a fitting reflection of where our political reality currently resides, and he is very much a figure emblematic of the times.

11. Ivy Pepper Played by: Clare Foley, Maggie Geha and Peyton List Poison Ivy is still in development on the show—as evidenced by the three actors who’ve played her—but all three did well building a foundation for what should be a future supervillain the likes of which Gotham has never seen before. Both adult actors have provided the sex appeal intrinsic to the character’s strategy to exploit the stupid part of straight men’s brains, but it’s the child-in-an-adult’s-body aspect that makes this version of a hall-of-fame Batman character so compelling. After falling in dirty water (superhero origin stories would lead you to believe that the healthiest thing you can do is shower in uranium), Ivy Pepper’s accelerated womanhood might’ve been a missed opportunity for more comic relief, but her relationship with Selena is always engaging. Without it, neither of these characters would have the humanizing characteristics necessary to make their time on Gotham worthwhile.

10. Theo Galavan Played by: James Frain James Frain’s arc on the show was an original storyline, one that began with a plot to kill Bruce Wayne, then elevated him to Mayor, and culminated with him assuming the character Azrael from the comics. Frain’s smooth performance is underlined by an intense focus on a mission that all just feels Batman-y, even though this arc is not found in the comics.

9. Tabitha Galavan Played by: Jessica Lucas Theo was powerful, but his sister got the larger share of the badass genes in the family. Like her brother, Tabitha is an original creation of the show, and even though we’ve since lost Theo (granted, death is far from final in this universe), it’s difficult to envision Gotham without Tabitha at this point. Her romance with Butch is the only one on the show that’s convincing at all (a major new one is still TBD), and she was clearly placed in this universe to provide a positive role model for Catwoman—who did not make this list because she’s still stuck at the kids table with Bruce Wayne. Of all the major muscle on this show, Tabitha is the muscle-iest.

8. Hugo Strange Played by: BD Wong BD Wong has played so many doctors by now that part of me actually believes he is a doctor. Of all the doctors he’s played, my favorite by far is Strange. The main reason why no one on this show will ever die, Wong does a wonderful job of straddling the line between madman and genius—nailing the image of what Gotham’s mad scientist should look like.

7. Barbara Kean Played by: Erin Richards The NBA has a most-improved player of the year award, and Barbara Kean would have won Gotham’s MIP award the last two years. Initially, I lamented Richards’ on-screen demise as she was cast as the generic wet blanket to Jim Gordon’s hero (Kean was Gordon’s wife in the comics). Gotham almost lost me early on with their romance—as I just cannot take network TV’s portrayal of relationships seriously—but this new “take whatever she wants with a freaking glowing hand” version of Kean has unchained Richards, and her talents shine through in every scene. Gothamis right to structure a central narrative around her.

6. Mayor Aubrey James Played by: Richard Kind I’ll admit I’m biased on this one. I’m a politics writer here at Paste, and Kind’s performance as America’s bumbling mayor is a little too real to consider given the madness that America’s former mayor, Rudy Guiliani, is displaying every day on cable news. His portrayal of the character is the perfect summation of every empty-suit politician who ever lived, and it really resonates in a country overflowing with these vessels for the superrich. The mayor’s cowardice behind the scenes when contrasted to his stern public statements is just…*kisses fingers*

5. Victor Zsasz Played by: Anthony Carrigan The infamous hitman is a perfectly sardonic bit of comic relief, as Carrigan always finds the right kind of oomph behind his “Hey, boss, so when should I kill these guys?” salvos. A hyper-competent, semi-powerful character is a difficult needle to thread, as there must be a reason why Zsasz has yet to rise to the level of other A-list Batman villains, and it’s simply because Zsasz loves his job as an assassin-for-hire. It’s not about the power he could gain through his proclivity for mass murder, but the pure, utter nirvana that he derives from of every shootout.

4. The Penguin Played by: Robin Lord Taylor Oswald Cobblepot is not just an awesome name, but a fitting vessel for a character whose only real lasting public face is Danny de Vito’s snarling performance in Batman Returns. Robin Lord Taylor has brought a more refined air to the ringleader of Gotham’s underworld, and The Penguin serves as the yin to Jim Gordon’s yang. The universe of Batman is based on the premise that crime is a major industry in America—oftentimes involving our political leaders, as Mayor James demonstrates. Cobblepot likes to present himself a pragmatic choice in a chaotic world, and when the Gotham City Police Department finds itself with its back against the wall, some of the moral choices he presents are inescapably compelling. If crime is going to exist, why not try to bring some order to it? The GCPD can’t do that, but The Penguin can.

3. The Riddler Played by: Cory Michael Smith When arguing sports, I typically argue that numerical rankings should be eschewed for tiers. It’s difficult to compare a lot of similar folks, and drawing lines in between good, very good, and great is a far simpler task. I bring this up because this is where the top tier begins. Cory Michael Smith’s depiction of what I have always believed to be an underrated villain belongs in the Batman hall-of-fame—and frankly, it’s better than Jim Carrey’s semi-unhinged version (which I also enjoyed). It’s clear whether Smith is playing Edward Nygma or The Riddler simply from his posture and facial expression, which makes the Jekyll and Hyde-ian battle raging inside of him all the more engrossing. (Photo: Michael Lavine/FOX)

2. The Joker Played by: Cameron Monaghan Technically, we’re not allowed to call this character with a high-pitched laugh, a thirst for chaos and a bizarre love of Bruce Wayne (and now a purple jacket!) “The Joker,” as Monaghan revealed on Twitter. You know, copyrights, branding and all. TV stuff. Monaghan’s portrayal of The Joker would make fans of The Dark Knight proud. The choice to literally sew a new face on to Jerome evokes the same uncomfortable madness as Heath Ledger’s scars, and the amount of emotion that Monaghan is able to communicate through that mess with simply his face deserves some kind of award. “Jerome” is a delightful madman who brings an unbridled sense of joy to his criminality. I’m excited to watch this new, more serious iteration of this classic character, but I will desperately miss his home run performance as Gotham’s signature weirdo.

1. Fish Mooney Played by: Jada Pinkett Smith Stick this character in any gangster TV show or movie, and tweak the surrealism depending on context, and she’ll fit—that’s just how good Jada Pinkett Smith is. Fish Mooney did not originate in the comics, and the creators of Gotham should be universally commended for springing such a Gotham-y character to life out of the ether. Granted, Mooney likely wouldn’t be as engrossing if not for Smith’s electric performance. The woman completely owns every single scene she inhabits. Fish Mooney gives this show a good excuse to ignore the rules of death, because why would anyone want to take that out? Screw death and copyright law. Fish Mooney deserves to live on for eternity.

[rightsidenews]

All Art is Trash Except For Taylor Swift

Ash Sharp Editor

Remember when art was only political in subtle ways?

Well, to hell with you. This is the modern age. Everything is political all the time. Nothing is good until it denounces Trump.

Why is it impossible to enjoy anything without a clumsy and mood-spoiling ladle of politics slapped on it like a lump of overly thick and lumpy ideological gravy? If you want to make timeless art, why tie it permanently to the events of a brief 8 year window in the early 21st Century?

Why is Taylor Swift the only thing that is good and pure?

The biggest pop star in the world is a feminist. Beyonce, no-one cares that you joined a Neo-Marxist cult where the men take a real hands-on approach. It's a free country- at least until the social justice crew gets old enough to stand for election, and then I guess we will all be feminists, whether we want to join the sisterhood or not.

Wow, a Star Wars Franchise movie that advocates for full intersectional communism! Huzzah! Making people feel included and empowered is way more important than making a good movie about space wizards who fight with laser swords. It doesn't matter if the movie sucks. All that matters is that we have one person of every race on the side of the good guys and the baddies are whites. Because f-ck whites.

The actors and musicians don't even give it a rest when they're not shoehorning awful politics into their art. A European refugee crisis is a great opportunity for George Clooney to virtue signal about the oneness of humanity and wax lyrical about open borders. That lasted until that same spiritual oneness manifested as 10,000 Eritreans heading towards his Lake Como Villa.

That's going to damage the resale value a little, George.

The art world has always been liberal, and fair enough. We need satirists to poke the powerful. We have records of humans acting in this way as far back as Ancient Greece. The word satire itself comes from the Satyr, the half-goat drunks who would roam the stages of Greece, lustfully barbing the audience and society at large. Our more recent post-war history was a time of massive change and booming wealth, which brought a lot of social issues to the fore. It was right for music and movies to tackle political matters. The greatest movie of all time is not Citizen Kane. It is Casablanca, hands down. Casablanca is an incredibly political movie, being released at the height of World War 2.

The portrayal of the actual Nazis chasing Victor Laszlo is subtle, threatening and realistic. The emotions of the cast when singing La Marseillaise are palpable. Many of these people had themselves fled tyranny in Europe. The tears are real. The power of the scene is magical, heartbreaking.

Casablanca is not a political movie. The movie is about Rick (Humphrey Bogart) discovering that there are some things worth fighting for, that there are things in this world that are greater than your pain and self-interest. Somethings are bigger than your own feelings of love and petty desires. This alone would mean that it could not be made in the current year of the Nü-Reich.

The political subtext to Casablanca is there to see, but it is atmospheric rather than preaching- even as it was declared at the time to be aiding the American war effort itself. That the Nazis were an existential threat is not in doubt. The denouement of Rick and Captain Louis Renault joining the Free French in Brazzaville is perfect not because of the politics of the movie, but despite it. The story is everything.

Political music can be incredible.

Satirically skewering despotic regimes with masterful lyrics and stunning musicianship is an integral part of Punk Rock.

Political music can be a disaster. See Black Eyed Peas, Green Day. Such clumsy and ham-fisted rabble rousing is the mark of limited talent. Talent is a fleeting thing, all to easily corrupted by politicking. When Madonna shook the music world to its core by pushing sexuality to the brink of decency in her videos and songs it was a thousand times more effective than her bleating about blowing up the White House. Allowing the public to interpret art- even from explicit art- is utterly fundamental to good art. It also respects the consumer’s intelligence. That’s why The Last Jedi and other so-called inclusive movies fail. They're so desperate to be politically correct, they forget to be art.

And so we come to Tay Tay. The Swift. The greatest pop star in history. A living work of art who will live in the cultural zeitgeist for a thousand years.

Taylor, I love you. Let me count the ways.

You make great music. Yes, even to a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead like me, you are a genius. Ingenious barbs at your critics and society at large dressed up as upbeat pop songs that simultaneously are clean and wholesome and also about how much of a disaster you are as a girlfriend. That's ok, it's a learning process.

Oh, and great videos that are about having fun/being strong women/etc and so on. You let the audience project themselves onto the art, instead of proselytizing us what to think. Any educator will know how crucial that is for young people in particular, and world-weary older ones appreciate it.

You might well have strong political opinions but you respect your audience enough to know we don't care about them. If only literally every other artist and musician on the face of the Earth felt the same.

This is the power of Taylor Swift. The more she does her job and makes great music, the more her fans love her. The more she demurely stays silent on whether or not she thinks Donald Trump is the Anti-Christ, the greater her reputation at home and abroad. The Americans who voted for Trump respect that about her. Her fans overseas respect her art and her class.

Best of all, it drives liberals absolutely bonkers. Frothing at the mouth insane, they demand that a 28-year-old pop star who likes to tour with her girlfriends denounce a 69-year-old businessman who has sacrificed his retirement to be President.

And she ignores it. Whether this is a canny understanding on the part of Taylor Swift of how power and reputation (pun intended) work or simply an expression of her high class is functionally irrelevant.

The more she carries on doing her thing, the more her star waxes and the more the pettiness of her detractors makes them wizen up into sour, old and ugly crones, bitter from the tip of the nose to the sole of the shoe.

All Art Is Trash. Welcome to the era of Neo-Swiftism.

http://bit.ly/2kVJnGh