#and what about Danielle brooks being nominated???

[thegetdownrebooter]

Also it‘s funny that white women finally realize, that the Oscar’s are rigged now that their fave isn‘t nominated.

[weclassybouquetfun]

Your Golden Globes Nominations. A lot of "yays" and some

Best film – drama

Anatomy of a Fall Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives The Zone of Interest

Best film – musical or comedy

Air American Fiction Barbie May December The Holdovers Poor Things

*Musicals being shut out of the musical category is comedy. THE COLOR PURPLE is sensational. WONKA is enjoyable. I don't see how both could be ignored in favour of MAY DECEMBER.

Best female actor in a film – drama

Annette Bening, Nyad Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan, Maestro Greta Lee, Past Lives Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla

*Glad Bening pulled it out of the gate. Mulligan is wonderful in MAESTRO, but NYAD is a meatier role.

Best male actor in a film – drama

Bradley Cooper, Maestro Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon Colman Domingo, Rustin Barry Keoghan, Saltburn Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

*I've seen all nominated performances and it's Keoghan for me. At the very least with 3 Irish men nominated, one has to take it. It will bring shame to the island to not.

MORE NOMINEES

Best female actor in a film – musical or comedy

Alma Pöysti, Fallen Leaves Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings Natalie Portman, May December Margot Robbie, Barbie Emma Stone, Poor Things

*Hated MAY DECEMBER so, with the exception of Charles Melton, I am flummoxed by the love for it. Barrino was incredible in THE COLOR PURPLE and deserving. Would have been thrilled to see Eve Hewson for FLORA AND SON nominated.

Best male actor in a film – musical or comedy

Nicolas Cage, Dream Scenario Timothée Chalamet, Wonka Matt Damon, Air Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers Joaquin Phoenix, Beau Is Afraid Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

*I would take out Chalamet and replace him with THE HOLDOVERS' Dominic Sessa.

Best film – animated

The Boy and the Heron Elemental Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Suzume The Super Mario Bros Movie Wish

Best film – non-English language

Anatomy of a Fall Fallen Leaves Io Capitano Past Lives Society of the Snow The Zone of Interest

*Heard wonderful things about The Zone of Interest, Past Lives and Anatomy of a Fall, but the only one I've seen is SOCIETY OF THE SNOW and it is staggering.

Best female actor in a supporting role in a film

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple Jodie Foster, Nyad Julianne Moore, May December Rosamund Pike, Saltburn Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

*This was pretty much my picks with the exception of Moore. I don't know who I would have swapped her out for but what she does in MAY DECEMBER compared to these other nominees is woefully underwhelming.

But I'm 1000% Rosamund Pike. Would be thrilled with a Brooks or Randolph win.

Best male actor in a supporting role in a film

Willem Dafoe, Poor Things Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer Ryan Gosling, Barbie Charles Melton, May December Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

*I'm a contrarian so I want Melton to win it. He was shockingly good in MAY DECEMBER. But I would be happy with Gosling or DeNiro

Best director – film

Bradley Cooper, Maestro Celine Song, Past Lives Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer Greta Gerwig, Barbie Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

*Cooper wont' get it, but he deserves it. He did a fantastic job with MAESTRO. I am gunning for Scorsese.

Best screenplay – film

Barbie Poor Things Oppenheimer Killers of the Flower Moon Past Lives Anatomy of a Fall

*Emerald Fennell's SALTBURN not getting nominated in this category is a crime.

Best original score – film

Poor Things Oppenheimer The Zone of Interest Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Killers of the Flower Moon The Boy and the Heron

Best original song – film

Addicted to Romance, She Came to Me Dance the Night, Barbie I’m Just Ken, Barbie Peaches, The Super Mario Bros Move Road to Freedom, Rustin What Was I Made For?, Barbie

Cinematic and box office achievement

Barbie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 John Wick: Chapter 4 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Oppenheimer Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour The Super Mario Bros Movie

Television

Best television series – drama

Succession The Crown The Diplomat The Last of Us 1923 The Morning Show

Best television series – musical or comedy

Abbott Elementary Barry Jury Duty Only Murders in the Building Ted Lasso The Bear

Best television limited series, anthology series or television film

Beef Lessons in Chemistry Daisy Jones and the Six All the Light We Cannot See Fellow Travelers Fargo

Best female actor in a television series – drama

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us Emma Stone, The Curse Helen Mirren, 1923 Imelda Staunton, The Crown Keri Russell, The Diplomat Sarah Snook, Succession

Best male actor in a television series – drama

Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us Kieran Culkin, Succession Jeremy Strong, Succession Brian Cox, Succession Gary Oldman, Slow Horses Dominic West, The Crown

Best female actor in a television series – musical or comedy

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Elle Fanning, The Great Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Best male actor in a television series – musical or comedy

Bill Hader, Barry Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Jason Segel, Shrinking Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best female actor in a television limited series, anthology series or television film

Ali Wong, Beef Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry Elizabeth Olsen, Love & Death Juno Temple, Fargo Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers Riley Keough, Daisy Jones and the Six

Best male actor in television limited series, anthology series or television film

David Oyelowo, Lawmen: Bass Reeves Jon Hamm, Fargo Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers Sam Claflin, Daisy Jones and the Six Steven Yeun, Beef Woody Harrelson, White House Plumbers

Best supporting female actor on television series

Abby Elliott, The Bear Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso J Smith-Cameron, Succession Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building

Best supporting male actor on television series

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession James Marsden, Jury Duty Alan Ruck, Succession Alexander Skarsgård, Succession Billy Crudup, The Morning Show Ebon Moss–Bachrach, The Bear

*Skarsgård getting nominated but Jonathan Bailey being ignored is not sitting right with my spirit.

Best stand-up comedian on television

Chris Rock, Selective Outrage Sarah Silverman, Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love Wanda Sykes, I’m an Entertainer Ricky Gervais, Ricky Gervais Armageddon Trevor Noah, Where Was I Amy Schumer, Emergency Contact

[destinyc1020]

Just Saw "The Color Purple" Last Night!! 😁😁 (My Movie Review)

WOW! Where do I even begin?? First of all, let me just start off by saying that I LOVED this movie! I really enjoyed it. 😃 You just knew that you were in for a wonderful ride when you heard the opening number to this film. I love musicals just in general, but there's just something extra special about seeing black talent, black voices, and black actors dancing, singing, and acting onscreen. 🥰 The whole entire film was a magical moment for me, and a sense of great pride. Sort of like the feeling I got when I saw "Black Panther" in theaters for the first time. 😊

I will say too that this film was very well shot. I kept being in awe of the cinematography, the camera angles, the vibrant colors, the use of lighting, the gorgeous shots of Georgia, etc. It was so very well done. You can tell that they spent a lot of time, hard work, and energy on this film to make it very special and of high quality. 👌🏾

I also loved how this film kind of had a stage/theater feel to it. You can tell that it was a musical theater play before it hit the big screen.

The Music The MUSIC!!! Oh the music!!! 🎵🥰 I've never seen the stage play musical, so a lot of the songs were new to me, but I liked a lot of the songs that were in the film. I also loved how they kept some of the original songs that were in the original 1985 film, like "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)", and "Maybe God is Tryin' to Tell You Somethin'". 😊

The Acting The acting was very well done. I felt like everyone pulled their weight and there weren't any "weak links" in the cast at all. Halle did amazing....I think she has a great career ahead of her in acting if she keeps it up. Danielle Brooks...Omg she was AWESOME. I almost feel like she stole the show in some scenes lol....

Colman Domingo did a great job. I think Danny Glover was a bit more unlikable in the original film, but Colman is a very good actor, and I felt like he did a great job in this role.

I love my girl Taraji! She is SO very talented! Her voice is really great too. While I was watching the film, i couldn't help but remember everything she was saying on the press tour regarding unequal pay in Hollywood, and anytime I saw her onscreen I just couldn't believe that someone with her great talent still feels like she has to fight and scrap to just get a smidgen of what other actresses get in HW, and how she's always having to start right back at the BOTTOM. Smh...it's really sad. 🤦🏾‍♀️ Fantasia Barrino....OMG.... Like, I remember this woman on American Idol!!!! I am so proud of her and how far she's come. 😊 She did an AMAZING job in this! She thoroughly deserved her Golden Globe nomination. 👏🏾 She probably won't win, but she definitely deserved her nomination. I always feel like when someone has to not only act but also sing, dance, (or even play a musical instrument) onscreen, they usually are doing WAY more "work" than others who are just having to simply "act" onscreen lol. I will go to my grave saying that. But! I know this year is a pretty tight race for the "Best Actress" category, so, if she doesn't win, then it is what it is. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Just being nominated is an honor.

The Pros:

This is more like a pro AND a con (I'll explain)... But the fact that they cut out a lot of stuff from the original movie kind of made the story move a lot quicker, and I appreciated that!

I liked that the film didn't feel AS heavy as the original 1985 film. The film still had a lot of heavy elements in it (don't get me wrong), but you don't get to experience just HOW heavy the film is because there's a lot of singing and dancing, and they kind of gloss over certain things in the story (imo). This is actually probably a good thing, especially for a film coming out during the Holiday season lol.

The acting was superb.

It seems that they added a few more things to this film that was in the original book by Alice Walker, so that was a nice touch.

The Cons:

I liked how they cut stuff from the film, but at the same time I didn't lol. I'm so glad that I saw the 1985 version FIRST before seeing this version, because I think there would have been some elements that I wouldn't have fully appreciated because I didn't have the context. The 1985 version is pretty long and more slow-moving, but I felt like it added way more depth to everything that was taking place in the story. The 2023 version almost banked on the fact that you've probably already seen the 1985 version, and they didn't spell everything out for you...which, again...imo was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time lol. I can't explain it.

OVERALL SCORE: 8/10

Overall, very well-done movie! Loved the acting, loved the music, loved basically everything! 😊

[fandomshatewomen]

Everyone is talking about how Margot Robbie is robbed of an Oscar nomination but what about Halle Bailey as Ariel? I more upset about Halle being snubbed than Margot especially with Halle's rendition of Part of Your World. If Ryan Gosling can be nominated for Ken, why not Halle as Ariel?

Hi sorry I had to go verify that Ryan Gosling was nominated for Ken in Barbie...

https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024

And like he totally is nominated?!??! And so is America Ferrera? But I totally thought Barbie was a comedy or at least a dramedy? Like I really don't understand why Barbie got so many actor noms?

And I totally agree with your assertion that Halle Bailey should have been nominated if they're nominating Ryan Gosling!!!

This is such a nightmare tbh. Like ok I haven't seen the color purple yet but so far the only one nominated for it is Danielle Brooks? Why only one nomination out of the whole cast?

Like don't get me wrong but I don't see the point of nominating anyone for their barbie performances???

mod laina

[niallsdaya]

have your oscar predictions changed from last time you posted about them? i remember paul being in your thoughts for foe 😭

PLSSSS we cant talk about f*e

this is what i have as of right now! italics are who i think will actually win btw, but i’m pretty confident they will all be nominated.

best actor: cillian murphy, paul giamatti, bradley cooper, leonardo dicaprio, colman domingo

best actress: lily gladstone, emma stone, fantasia barrino, carey mulligan, greta lee

sup. actor: rdj, charles melton, robert deniro, ryan gosling, mark ruffalo

sup. actress: da’vine joy randolph, emily blunt, julianne moore, america ferrera, danielle brooks

i know i should probably put margot robbie in here as well but we’ll see

[margokesses]

Margot robbie got nominated for her producing for barbie in the best picture category and Greta gerwing got nominated for ger writing for best adapted screenplay in barbie???

Who cares about them? Can we talk about origin being snubbed? Past lives?

Can we talk about lily Gladstone being the first native american to be nominated? What about Danielle brooks? Da'vine joy Randolph? Fantasia? America Ferreira?? I know he's a man but Coleman domingo???

Y'all only care about the successes of white women and it shows!!!!

‘oscar nomination for ryan gosling but not for margot robbie or greta gerwig’ satire is dead and so is god

[denimbex1986]

'Oppenheimer looks set to sweep the board at the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards after receiving 13 nominations.

Christopher Nolan's epic biopic about atomic bomb creator J Robert Oppenheimer dominated the main categories when nominations were announced on Thursday, with nods for Best Film and for Nolan in Best Director...

Cillian Murphy, 47, received his first ever BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of titular character Oppenheimer and will go head-to-head with fellow Irishman Barry Keoghan, 31, for Saltburn in the Best Actor category...

Cilian's co-stars Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr are also nominated in the Supporting categories.

Oppenheimer, which was a box office juggernaut when it was released in cinemas last year on the same day as Barbie - sparking the Barbenheimer phenomenon - will compete for Best Film against Yorgos Lanthimos's gothic fairytale Poor Things...

Oppenheimer could see Nolan pick up his first ever Director BAFTA.

He faces competition from All Of Us Strangers director Andrew Haigh, Anatomy Of A Fall's Justine Triet, The Holdovers' Alexander Payne, Maestro's Cooper and Jonathan Glazer for The Zone Of Interest...

German actress Huller is also nominated in a second category, and will battle it out for Supporting Actress for The Zone Of Interest, alongside Oppenheimer's Blunt, Saltburn's Rosamund Pike, The Holdovers' Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Colour Purple's Danielle Brooks and All Of Us Strangers' Claire Foy.

Oppenheimer's Downey Jr, will be hoping to continue his winning streak after being nominated in the Supporting Actor category. He has already won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice award for his performance as Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Yet he faces stiff competition from first-time BAFTA nominee Jacob Elordi for Saltburn, Robert De Niro for Killers Of The Flower Moon, Ryan Gosling for Barbie, Paul Mescal for All Of Us Strangers and Dominic Sessa for The Holdovers...

In the Adapted Screenplay category, All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Oppenheimer, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest go up against each other.

The contenders for Outstanding British Film are All Of Us Strangers, How To Have Sex, Napoleon, The Old Oak, Poor Things, Rye Lane, Saltburn, Scrapper, Wonka and The Zone Of Interest...

What celebrities will be at the BAFTAs this year?

Cillian Murphy, Claire Foy and Barry Keoghan are among the BAFTA nominees who will attend the star-studded ceremony on Sunday.

Irish stars Cillian and Barry are both nominated in the Best Actor category for their turns in Oppenheimer and Saltburn respectively.

Cillian plays J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist described as the father of the atomic bomb, in Christopher Nolan's epic biopic, while Barry plays a student at Oxford who becomes enthralled by a wealthier classmate and pays a visit to his sprawling estate in Emerald Fennell's viral black comedy.

The Crown star Claire is nominated for the Best Supporting Actress prize for her performance in All Of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh's searing drama about grief and loneliness.

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan will also attend the ceremony...

Who is hosting this year's BAFTAs?

The EE BAFTA Film Awards will be hosted by David Tennant at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday 18 February.

David has said the event will be an 'evening of generosity and joy' rather than stars being roasted when he hosts the show this weekend.

The Scottish actor, 52, will be helming the star-studded ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre on Sunday, where Oppenheimer will be leading the pack with 13 nominations.

Ahead of the ceremony, he told the PA news agency: 'There are some wonderful famous examples, of course, of people making terribly near-the-knuckle comments and some very funny things that we've all enjoyed in previous awards ceremonies, that's not probably my style anyway, and I know that's not what BAFTA are going for.

'We want to have an evening that's a celebration and that won't make people feel uncomfortable and won't have people being roasted in any way, so it will hopefully be an evening of generosity and joy and a love for this industry that is one of the great success stories of this country.

'We're very good at the arts. There's lots of things that we we struggle with, but the arts is something that remains one of Britain's greatest exports, so let's celebrate it and enjoy that and trumpet it to the world.'

David admitted he felt a bit 'bewildered' when he was first asked to host, but then thought: 'What a laugh, what a lark.'

'It just felt like an honour and a privilege to be asked to do something so august,' he added.

'It's just nice to be on that side of it. It's obviously thrilling for everyone who's nominated and there's so many exciting films to be celebrating, but also that's pretty nerve-racking, I just have to stand up.'

David, who recently reunited with his Doctor Who co-star Catherine Tate for the show's 60th anniversary episodes, teased that she could make an appearance with him.

The actor revealed he was feeling 'pretty relaxed' ahead of the show but thinks the prospect of it will become more 'nerve-racking' in the lead-up to the big night.

Asked if his co-star Catherine could make an appearance alongside him at the show, he said: 'Listen, there's nobody I enjoy working with more than Catherine, so who knows?'...

Who will present awards at this year's BAFTAs?

All Of Us Strangers' Andrew Scott was a notable absence from the best actor contenders but will be in attendance at the ceremony as a presenter, alongside co-star Paul Mescal, who is nominated for the supporting actor prize...'

[96thdayofrage]

A half-century after its premiere, Melvin Van Peebles’s musical “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” is heading back to Broadway.

The producer Lia Vollack said Tuesday that she is putting together a revival with the collaboration of the creator’s son, Mario Van Peebles, and under the direction of Kenny Leon. Vollack said she expects to present the revival on Broadway next year.

The musical, which began a nine-month run on Broadway in 1971, is constructed as a series of monologues, often vivid and confrontational, about Black life in a low-income neighborhood. Nominated for seven Tony Awards (but winning none), the show seems to anticipate both the confessional and personal style of musicals that followed, and the poetic spoken-word sounds of rap and hip-hop.

Melvin Van Peebles wrote the show’s book, music and lyrics. Bill Duke and Garrett Morris were in the original cast, and Phylicia Rashad was a standby.

Leon has long been enamored of the musical, which he performed in while a student at Clark Atlanta University.

“It was so visceral, and so strong, and so powerful,” he said. “It gives voice to people who we normally don’t hear on a Broadway stage, and if we do hear them, we don’t hear their truth, we just hear their suffering.”

Leon said the renewed focus on diversity and equity following a series of deaths of Black Americans in encounters with police catalyzed the production.

“Right after everything that happened last year, I talked with Lia, and she said, ‘What do you want to do?’” Leon recalled. “I said, ‘I would love to do “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” — I think it’s my life’s calling to do that play,’ and she said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Leon said the challenge facing his production would be “How do you marry the ’70s to the post-George Floyd moment in an artistic way?” He added, “Nothing about it is going to feel like a museum piece. My goal is to make the audience feel as if the play is new.”

Perhaps best known as a film director, Melvin Van Peebles also wrote plays, novels, music and journalism. Mario Van Peebles, an actor who is being billed as the revival’s creative producer, said in an interview that he considers the musical (which he saw on Broadway when he was 14) his father’s best work.

“It was a transformational experience — I saw people of all colors coming in, some who had never been to a theater before, and many who had, and some laughed, and some cried, and some applauded, but everyone was somehow changed,” he said.

Mario Van Peebles said that throughout his life, people have told him that “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” was ahead of its time, and that he has been eager to revive it while his father, who is now 88, is still alive.

“Americans now have better tools to understand each other than we did before,” he said. “In a way, America has caught up, and the language and the tools that were once inner-city are now part of our culture.”

The New York Times, for one, gave the original production a mixed review.

“Whites can only treat ‘Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death’ as a journey to a foreign country,” the critic Clive Barnes wrote, “and on those terms I think it has the power to shock and excite.” (The paper summed up the show this way in a sub-headline: “Blacks Move Through Gantlet of the Slum.”)

The show has occasionally been revisited over the years; in New York, there was an Off Broadway production in 2006, when a New York Times critic wrote, “the series of vignettes explodes like a round of mini-riots.”

With racial equity much discussed in the theater industry recently, “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” becomes the seventh new production with a Black writer announced for Broadway when it reopens.

The others are a revival of “Trouble in Mind” by Alice Childress; a Michael Jackson biomusical called “MJ” with a book by Lynn Nottage; and the plays “Lackawanna Blues” by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Skeleton Crew” by Dominique Morisseau, and “Thoughts of a Colored Man” by Keenan Scott II, as well as an untitled play by Nottage.

Denzel Washington has told The Daily Mail that he expects a revival of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” to reach Broadway next year featuring his son John David Washington alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Brooks and directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. The producer Scott Rudin, who has the stage rights to “The Piano Lesson,” has declined to confirm the report.

[365days365movies]

April 10, 2021: The Graduate (1967) (Recap: Part One)

Some Like it Hot got Oscar-stiffed. So did this film!

This film got seven nominations at the 1968 Oscars, and took home Best Director and NOTHING else. It was nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, and got NONE of them. Hot damn! That surprises me, because this film is RIDICULOUSLY iconic.

I mean, hell, The Simpsons has homaged it at least twice, which I know from the above GIF and the following GIF. And in that one, the teacher in the background is Dustin Hoffman, HOMAGING HIMSELF

There’s been a stage adaptation, AFI called it the 17th best movie of all time in 2007, while also putting it on 5 other lists, and but it on the Movie Quotes list TWICE! Leonard Maltin’s seen it before he dies, the Library of Congress has it in their collection, and it launched Dustin Hoffman’s career into the goddamn atmosphere!  And that’s not even mentioning the one thing I’m looking forward to the most:

The music.

Look, I’m not exactly a big music nerd, by ANY means. I’ve heard songs, but can rarely identify the band or person playing them. I was in an acapella group, a steel band, and chamber orchestra, so I’m no foreigner to music. I’m just...not a big music nerd. But I DO know Simon and Garfunkel, and the more I hear of them, the more I like them.

Scarborough Fair/Canticle, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs. Robinson, Cecilia, I Am a Rock, ALL of them are good classic folk rock songs that are easy to remember. AND I KNOW IT’S LAME TO LIKE FOLK ROCK I DO NOT CARE SUE ME IF YOU MUST. Oh, and I didn’t even mention the most famous of their songs, whose fame was aided by this film’s success. But, uh...I’ll hold onto it for now.

In fact, for now, let’s just jump into the film in and of itself! The Graduate is a classic, and it’s been on my list for a while. It’s more of a romantic comedy, but it’s primarily a comedy (from my understanding), so it’s fitting that I throw it in here. Let’s go!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We start on a plane as it lands, joining Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), as he leaves the plane and walks through the airport. We also start right away with a BANGER, and the most iconic song on this film’s soundtrack: The Sound of Silence.

Classic. CLASSIC! One of their best! Not my favorite, but one of their best for sure! But OK, after that, we get to know Benjamin a bit more. He’s a recent college graduate and in a state of melancholy, not quite knowing what to do or how to feel about his new situation. This is to the confusion of his father, Mr. Braddock (William Daniels) and his mother, Mrs. Braddock (Elizabeth Wilson).

Urged to attend the party in his honor, he reluctantly goes downstairs, where he’s absolutely accosted (nearly assaulted) by all of his parents’ friends. One of these friends, Mr. Maguire (Walter Brooke), somewhat awkwardly pulls him to the side, and brings him out side. He wants to say one word to him. Just one word.

After that...interaction, Ben takes the opportunity to escape, as all of his accomplishments are being read out loud to the throngs. And I have to say, you can feel just how overwhelming all of this is for him. It’s a palpable anxiety. He goes back to his room to get away from everybody and just look at his fish tank. Just a celebration of the introvert’s experience right here, and I can dig it.

But this private reverie is interrupted by the barging in of one Mrs. Robinson (Katharine Ross), who pretends to have mistaken his room for the bathroom, but sits down and smokes anyway, despite his protests. She asks what making him upset, and notes that’s it’s more of a general feeling than a specific one. She understands and readies herself to leave, but not before asking him to give her a ride home. He reluctantly accepts, and takes her home. She invites him in through some subtle manipulation and...well, you know where this is headed.

An absolutely classic line and classic exchange, and I’m kind of surprised that it happens this soon into the movie, to be honest! She denies the accusation...kind of, and he asks her apology. But she brushes it off, and asks if he’d like to see the portrait of her daughter Elaine, which he’s quite enthusiastic about. But while there, in her room, things continue to get awkward as she basically undresses in front of him.

Mrs. Robinson continues to deny that she’s trying to seduce him, but it’s all basically gaslighting to get him to admit that he wants to be seduced. Damn, Mrs. Robinson, what the fuck? And it’s actually made WAY FUCKING WORSE when she tricks him into getting into a sealed room, where she traps him and tells him that she’s interested in sleeping with him, whenever he wants to. Ben is OBVIOUSLY frazzled as fuck, especially considering the basically near-rape situation he’s currently in.

Thankfully (maybe), the sound of Mr. Robinson’s car pulling up allows enough distraction (and adrenaline rush) for Ben to GET THE FUCK OUT of there, and he runs into Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) in the process. Noticing how frazzled he seems to be, Mr. Robinson tells Ben to relax in his youth, and having a few flings with the ladies while he can. He brushes off all of this, and gets out as soon as he can.

Soon after, summer begins, and not really in Ben’s favor. He’s used again as a prop for his parents and their friends, as his father got him a SCUBA suit that he demonstrates in their pool, despite his protests and wish to be heard. And people...people don’t listen to Ben, huh? I genuinely feel bad for the kid, because it really does seem like nobody attempts to listen to what he wants for how he feels, his parents included. But he seems to get the solitude he’s been seeking as he sits beneath the pool. But that’s overlaid with the realization that Ben actually WAS seduced by Mrs. Robinson, and he gives her a call to meet soon afterwards.

They meet at the Taft Hotel, where Ben is his typical nervous and awkward self, and goes to get a room for the two of them. And it’s now that I should mention that this dude is EXTREMELY twitchy, like goddamn. I know they were saying that he’s “the kind of guy who was to fight them off”, but I DO NOT see it, not gonna lie. 

After a bit more awkwardness, they meet in a room at the hotel, where the clearly still quite nervous Ben struggles with the whole affair (pun intended), including the fact that she is one of his parent’s friends, and that this is a fast start to their relationship. But, Mrs. Robinson being Mrs. Robinson, she once again manipulates him into just getting on with it...and it works.

Once again, The Sound of Silence plays, as summer passes on and he lazes about the pool during the days, then goes to sleep with Mrs. Robinson in the nights. But he doesn’t seem to enjoy any of it, as the two halves of his life are so separate, and he separates them in his mind. And that’s done by some very clever camera work and production design, honestly.

This transitions into a version of the folk rock duo that I hadn’t heard before: April Come She Will, as the affair continues forth. This is interrupted by the frustrations of Ben’s father, who asks what he’s going to do after his collegiate career, tired of his lazing about and doing nothing for...a few weeks. Really? JESUS, DAD, LET ME RELAX!

His time with Mrs. Robinson is also a bit awkward, as he’s craving some sort of relationship outside of specifically sex, and she’s entirely uninterested in that kind of relationship with him. As he tries to start any form of conversation, she reluctantly enters one, which reveals some parts of her relationship with her husband. Specifically, they don’t really love each other, and were forced to marry because she became pregnant with Elaine. It also reveals that Mrs. Robinson is a somewhat broken woman, emotionally.

It’s also revealed during this conversation that Mrs. Robinson DOES FUCKING NOT want him to take Elaine out on a date, but won’t explain her reasons for that. After prying, she says that she doesn’t believe he’s good enough for her (although I don’t quite believe that, personally). This makes him upset, and leads to an argument that almost causes him to leave. But still, she forbids him to go out with Elaine.

That’s made even MORE complicated by the fact that Benjamin’s parents force him to ask her out on a date, and he does so reluctantly, which makes Mrs. Robinson VERY upset. And I gotta say...I don’t think I like anybody in this movie. Like...at all. I only kind of like Ben, although I really only feel bad for him because he has no agency in his life. Not a big fan of Mrs. Robinson, who’s upset by a situation she’s entirely responsible for, and is cheating on her husband. Ben’s parents are annoying, and Mr. Robinson...I dunno, sort of puts off these sleazy vibes, but that’s just a feeling I’m getting.

Elaine seems nice, though, as the two go on a date together. But in order to please Mrs. Robinson, Ben does his absolute damndest to sabotage the date. Starts off with reckless driving, then transitions into ignoring her almost entirely, and then takes her out to a strip club for the date. Which is all understandably extremely upsetting; again, it’s not exactly endearing me to Ben, and it’s not working on Elaine either, who’s convinced that Ben is doing this to punish her specifically, and I don’t fucking blame her!

She runs off crying, and he goes after her, realizing that he’s been a dick and that he really doesn’t want to be. They go get food at the A&W, which is making me both hungry AND nostalgic now...fuck, I really want some food from A&W. But with that, they actually have a good time when he opens up to her about how he’s felt since college ended, and she does something nobody else has: she listens to him.

OK, I’mma get some food, but this is a good place to pause for now! See you later for Part Two!

[dweemeister]

My alternative 91st Academy Awards

As always during 31 Days of Oscar, I partake in an annual fantasy. What would the Oscars look like if I stuffed the ballots - choosing every single nomination and choosing every single winner? It always would look a lot different. Fans of Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody and Vice? Come at me.

91st Academy Awards – February 24, 2019 Dolby Theatre – Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Host: None Broadcaster: ABC

Best Picture: ROMA

BlacKkKlansman, Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele, and Spike Lee (Focus)

Burning (KOR), Lee Joon-dong and Lee Chang-dong (Pinehouse Film/Now Film/NHK/CGV Arthouse/Well Go USA Entertainment)

Eighth Grade, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Lila Yacoub, and Christopher Storer (A24)

The Favourite, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, and Yorgos Lanthimos (Fox Searchlight)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout, J.J. Abrams, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, and Jake Myers (Paramount)

Roma (MEX), Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodriguez, and Nicolas Celis (Netflix)

Shoplifters (JPN), Matsuzaki Kaoru, Yose Akihiko, and Taguchi Hijiri (AOI Promotion/Fuji TV/GAGA/Magnolia Pictures)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Avi Arad, Ami Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Christina Steinberg (Columbia)

A Star Is Born, Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, and Lynette Howell Taylor (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros.)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Morgan Neville, Caryn Capotosto, and Nicholas Ma (Focus)

Wholesale changes in this category compared to real life. The best three films of 2018, to me, were Burning, Roma, and Shoplifters -- none of these were in the English language. Films I tossed for Best Picture were Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, and Vice. I don’t think any of those four films have any business being in this category. In their place are the likes of Eighth Grade, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and one of the most technically marvelous action films in decades in Mission: Impossible -- Fallout. Yes, an M:I film (superb editing, setpieces, and audacious style that finally wakes the franchise up).

But I’m going for an unexciting pick according to some with Roma. To use an oxymoron, it is an intimate epic -- one crafted beautifully, daring to comment on relations between ethnicities and the sexes at a certain time in Mexico. 

Best Director

Lee Chang-dong, Burning

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Hirokazu Koreeda, Shoplifters

Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

If you’re scratching your head, yes... Paul Schrader was nominated for Director in my ceremony, but First Reformed is nowhere to be found in Picture. I tend to do this for one Best Director nominee every year.

Best Actor

Christian Bale, Vice

Ryan Gosling, First Man

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Yoo Ah-in, Burning

The real-life Best Actor category this year is the most dire slate in a while. So here is your palate cleanser. 

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

It is not so much acting, as inhabiting. And, as a non-professional actress, Yalitza Aparicio has it. And I believe that, in my alternate Oscar universe (yes, I’ve drawn up and thought about it for many ceremonies past... I’ll reveal those some day), Aparicio would be the first indigenous woman to be awarded an acting Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade

Tim Blake Nelson, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Steven Yeun, Burning

Ali is good, don’t get me wrong. But, compared to the movie Moonlight and his performance in it, it looks like he is about to get a second Oscar for a far worse movie and a lesser role. Ali is fourth or fifth in this lineup for me. Grant is fantastic in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Supporting Actress

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Marina de Tavira, Roma

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians

This comes down to the fact I couldn’t separate Stone and Weisz’s performances in their saucy movie. Nor could I find the argument to give de Tavira or Yeoh the Oscar. This is a bit of a default choice, I hate to say.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman

Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk

Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Leave No Trace

Spike Lee would have at least one or two Oscars in my alternative universe by this point! The difference between the screenplays for BlacKkKlansman and Can You Ever Forgive Me? is far slighter than you think.

Best Original Screenplay

Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Hirokazu Koreeda, Shoplifters

Not even a contest if you asked me. This category is something else if I consider The Favourite and Roma bringing up the rear. But Koreeda’s drama about a found family that does what they can to survive is the culmination of what he has done in his career thus far. This is his Oscar.

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2 (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Night is Short, Walk On Girl, Japan (GKIDS/Toho Company)

Ruben Brandt, Collector, Hungary (Mozinet/Sony Pictures Classics)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Columbia)

Tito and the Birds, Brazil (Bits Produções/Shout! Factory)

Longtime followers know that I have unorthodox opinions about animated features. The only Animated Feature Oscar I’ve handed to Pixar/Walt Disney Animation Studios since beginning this tradition in 2013 was for Inside Out. I thought Ralph Breaks the Internet was a painful addition to the Disney animated canon, so it is not here. Nor is Wes Anderson’s culturally insensitive Isle of Dogs or Mamoru Hosoda’s sloppy Mirai. At the end of the day? No boat-rocking this time, except in some of the other nominees.

Best Documentary Feature

Free Solo (National Geographic)

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (The Cinema Guild)

Minding the Gap (ITVS/Kartemquin Films/Hulu/Magnolia Pictures)

Three Identical Strangers (CNN/Channel 4/Neon)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus)

Shoulda been nominated! Shoulda won! But in the spirit of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, these are all great documentaries. Minding the Gap is a close #2.

Best Foreign Language Film

Burning, South Korea

Capernaum, Lebanon

Cold War, Poland

Roma, Mexico

Shoplifters, Japan

Best Cinematography

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away (GER)

Rob Hardy, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Matthew Libatique, A Star Is Born

Łukasz Żal, Cold War

Best Film Editing

Barry Alexander Brown, BlacKkKlansman

Jay Cassidy, A Star Is Born

Tom Cross, First Man

Eddie Hamilton, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite

Best Original Musical*

Julia Michels, A Star Is Born

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

Sia, Greg Kurstin, Scott Walker, and Margaret Yen, Vox Lux

*Best Original Musical – known previously as several other names – exists in the Academy’s rulebooks, but requires activation from the Academy’s music branch. To qualify, a film must have no fewer than five original songs. This category was last activated when Prince won for Purple Rain (1984).

Best Original Score

Michael Giacchino, Incredibles 2

Justin Hurwitz, First Man

John Powell, Solo

Alan Silvestri, Ready Player One

Brian Tyler, Crazy Rich Asians

The Star Wars universe is in good musical hands when John Williams leaves after Episode IX!

Best Original Song

“All the Stars”, music by Kendrick Lamar, Sounwave, and Anthony Tiffith, lyrics by Lamar, SZA, and Tiffith, Black Panther

“Nowhere to Go but Up”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

“Shallow”, music and lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt, A Star Is Born

“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”, music and lyrics by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Best Costume Design

Alexander Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther

Sandy Powell, The Favourite

Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns

Mary E. Vogt, Crazy Rich Asians

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Cindy Harlow and Camille Friend, Black Panther

Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer, Border (SWE)

Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher, and Jessica Brooks, Mary Queen of Scots

Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin, Solo

Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney, Vice

Best Production Design

Hannah Beachler, Black Panther

Nelson Coates, Crazy Rich Asians

Fiona Crombie, The Favourite

Nathan Crowley, First Man

John Myhre, Mary Poppins Returns

Best Sound Editing

Benjamin A. Burt and Steve Boeddeker, Black Panther

Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan, First Man

James Mather, Victoria Freund, and Nina Norek, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, A Quiet Place

Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom, Cameron Barker, and Doug Winningham, Ready Player One

Best Sound Mixing

John Casali, Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and Niv Adiri, Bohemian Rhapsody

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis, First Man

Chris Munro, Paul Munro, Lloyd Dudley, and Mark Timms, Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Michael Barosky, Brandon Proctor, and Michael Barry, A Quiet Place

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow, A Star Is Born

Best Visual Effects

Daniel DeLeeuw, Jen Underdahl, Kelly Port, Matt Aitken, Dan Sudick, Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones, and Chris Corbould, Christopher Robin

Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J. D. Schwalm, First Man

Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler, and David Shirk, Ready Player One

Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Dominic Tuohy, Solo

Best Documentary Short

Black Sheep (Lightbox Entertainment/The Guardian)

End Game (Netflix)

Lifeboat (Spin Film/RYOT Films)

A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision)

Period. End of Sentence. (Guneet Monga)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees is coming soon (check this space later).

Best Live Action Short

Detainment (Twelve Media)

Fauve, Canada (H264 Distribution)

Marguerite, Canada (H264 Distribution)

Mother, Spain (Apache Films/Caballo Films/Malvalanda)

Skin (New Native Pictures/Salaud Morisset)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees is coming soon (check this space later).

Best Animated Short

Animal Behaviour (National Film Board of Canada)

Bao (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Late Afternoon (Cartoon Saloon)

One Small Step (Taiko Studios)

Weekends (Past Lives Productions)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees can be read here.

Academy Honorary Awards: Cicely Tyson, Lalo Schifrin, and Marvin Levy

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall

MULTIPLE NOMINEES (24) Eight: The Favourite; Roma Seven: First Man; A Star Is Born Six: Mission: Impossible – Fallout Five: Black Panther; Burning; Mary Poppins Returns Four: Crazy Rich Asians; Eighth Grade; Shoplifters Three: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; BlacKkKlansman; First Reformed; Ready Player One, Solo Two: Bohemian Rhapsody; If Beale Street Could Talk; Incredibles 2; Mary Queen of Scots; A Quiet Place; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Vice; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

WINNERS 4 wins: Roma 2 wins: First Man; Mary Poppins Returns 1 win: BlacKkKlansman; Black Panther; Border; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Cold War; Crazy Rich Asians; First Reformed; If Beale Street Could Talk; Marguerite; Mission: Impossible – Fallout; Shoplifters; Solo; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; A Star Is Born; Weekends; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

19 winners from 25 categories. 39 feature-length films and 15 short films were represented.

[antoine-roquentin]

As is fitting for the New York Times, everybody labelled a “free thinker” in this article is one or two degrees of separation from billionaire dark money.

Lets start with the author. Bari Weiss made her fame leading a campus crusade against pro-Palestinian professors, as well as Arab professors in general, during her time at Columbia University. Weiss received heavy promotion from a number of dark money-financed groups tied to pro-Israel causes, especially Campus Watch, a project run by Daniel Pipes under the auspices of his Middle East Forum group. MEF has received tens of millions of dollars in funding from groups like Donors Capital Fund/Donors Trust (Koch Brothers), Abstraction Fund (Sears-Roebuck heiress), The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (Rockwell Automation heir), the Shillman Foundation (Cognex Corp), and the Snider Foundation (Spectacor, owner of Philly sports teams, also financier of the Atlas Shrugged films). MEF in turn acts as a sort of go-between fund for pro-Israel groups like CAMERA, David Horowitz Freedom Center, the Gatestone Institute, and the Center for Security Policy, targeting donor money to these groups and allowing them to operate. Campus Watch was a particularly odious project, producing “dossiers” of the pro-Palestine activity of professors at campuses across the world and allowing targeted harassment and smears of them. After Columbia Professor Rashid Khalidi’s dossier was published, for instance, he received a number of threatening phone calls, including one that he recorded where the caller cited Campus Watch. Weiss’ career was largely built off the attention she received from this episode. 

Sitting at her dinner table are two major media personalities, Dave Rubin and Sam Harris, whose podcasts see a heavy rotation of guests associated with think tanks, charities, and organizations awash in dark money. They don’t tend to work for these organizations, but they do speak on their behalf from time to time. Rubin for instance does monthly interviews for Learn Liberty, a project of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. The university is practically owned by the Koch Brothers, who have given tens of millions of dollars to it. Until recently, Charles Koch was the IHS’ chairman of the board of directors, and it hosted the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program, which placed interested students at right wing think tanks like the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. It’s unknown how much money Rubin makes off this arrangement. Some of Rubin’s dark money guests include the aforementioned David Horowitz and his apprentice Ben Shapiro, the Freedom Center being a major dark money think tank in its own right, Christina Hoff Sommers, Dinesh D’Souza, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali of the neocon American Enterprise Institute, which exerted strong influence over the George W Bush Administration, Douglas Murray of the neocon Henry Jackson Society and author of Neoconservatism: Why We Need It, Maajid Nawaz of Quilliam, funded largely by Islamophobic billionaires and UK counter-intelligence, Dennis Prager, who writes for publications owned by Horowitz and Pipes, Lauren Southern of The Rebel Media, also funded by Pipes’ ME Forum, and Tommy Robinson of Quilliam, The Rebel Media, and even the Shillman Foundation directly. 

Harris ran his own slush fund of sorts, Project Reason, that solicited donations for pro-Atheist work but really just funded his PhD. He recently became a dark money donor himself with his $20,000 donation to Quilliam. Quilliam employs numerous people who worked with Pipes and dark money Islamophobe Frank Gaffney, like managing director Haras Rafiq and senior researcher Usama Hasan. It also works closely with the Henry Jackson Society. Quilliam’s employees Ghaffar Hussain and Raheem Kassam have worked for both simultaneously. Its major backer since UK counterintelligence stopped sending it money in 2011 is the John Templeton Foundation, criticized heavily in 2007 for the religious bent of its scientific funding by Harris. Harris’ podcast also has a number of dark money guests: Michael Weiss and Douglas Murray (thrice) from HJS has been on, James Kirchick of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Brookings Institute, Maajid Nawaz of Quilliam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Charles Murray, Anne Applebaum (twice) and David Frum (thrice) of the American Enterprise Institute, Fareed Zakaria of the New America Foundation, Ben Shapiro of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Niall Ferguson of the Hoover Institution (and husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali), Robin Hanson from the George Mason (Koch) University, Eliezer Yudkowsky who accidentally created the Dark Enlightenment, and Elon Musk’s lapdog Max Tegmark (twice). 

The third guest at the table, Eric Weinstein, is famous largely because the aforementioned people started talking about him and his brother. He’s been on Harris’ show twice, his brother once, and his brother was on Rubin’s show. He also works for Thiel Capital, run by dark money baron and Dark Enlightenment patron Peter Thiel. 

Really, I’ve already got this much and I’m not even past the second paragraph. And when we scroll down the article, we get a number of names already mentioned: Douglas Murray, Maajid Nawaz, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and even a full photograph of Christina Hoff Sommers. All of these people are making big money from billionaires and then pretending like they’re being harangued and silenced and collecting money from patreon type gigs. 

Nowadays Ms. Soh has a column for Playboy and picks up work as a freelance writer. But that hardly pays the bills. She’s planning to start a podcast soon and, like many members of the I.D.W., has a Patreon Account where “patrons” can support her work. These donations can add up. Mr. Rubin says his show makes at least $30,000 a month. And Mr. Peterson says he pulls in some $80,000 in fan donations each month. 

Somehow I doubt that work “hardly pays the bills”. And do we need another podcast?

The organizations that fund these people all have certain characteristics in common. A commitment to some form of Libertarian economics, pro-Israeli politics, a strong Islamophobic bent, and fear of being in the spotlight. The donors build up a layer of protection around themselves by shuffling money through front groups, like the Koch Brothers’ Donors Trust/Donors Capital Fund. Not only do they pay for academic work through think tanks, they also donate to certain universities heavily to bias research in their favour, which can then be cited by their think tanks and other publications. They also generally stay away from direct involvement in political campaigns. Instead, they tell politicians when they donate to pay attention to the dictates emanating from certain think tanks, which in turn determine the policy of those politicians. The Federalist Society, for instance, has prepared virtually every judge nominated by the Republican Party under both Trump and Bush. They act in coordinated fashion, which is why Bari Weiss had access to these people, why they had a flashy website nobody had ever heard of up for the article’s publication, and why Weiss already had an interview lined up on the TV show of a former Republican congressman and the daughter of a former Secretary of State before her article was published. As usual in the halls of media orthodoxy, where everything is the opposite of what it actually is, “free thought” is a giant corporate PR campaign in which everyone stays on message.

If you want to read about a few of these foundations, see here and click around on here and here. 

[your-dietician]

Fantasy Golf Picks — 2021 Travelers Championship Picks, Preview, Predictions

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Fantasy Golf Picks — 2021 Travelers Championship Picks, Preview, Predictions

Pat Mayo provides a quick preview and makes his early 2021 Travelers Championship Picks in his first look and research for this week’s PGA TOUR stop.

2021 U.S. OPEN — Picks & Preview | Course + Research | Stats/Tools

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2021 U.S. OPEN — DraftKings Picks | Own Projections

2021 Fantasy Football — NFC East | AFC East | NFC West | AFC West

EURO 2021 Daily Picks | MLB Daily Picks | NHL Daily Picks | Podcasts

Podcasts — YouTube | Apple | Spotify | Insta | Google | Twitter | E-Mail

2021 Travelers Championship: Field

156 Players | Top 65 & Ties Make The Cut First Tee: Thursday, June 24 Defending Champion: Dustin Johnson

The Travelers Championship was the third event out of the COVID restart a year ago, and at the time, all the biggest names were playing every week. The expectation was this year’s incarnation would return to its normal spot on the PGA TOUR schedule, attracting an OK, but underwhelming field. That’s basically the case for the three events between the U.S. and British Opens. Who knew the Hartford suburbs were such a draw?

A post-major slot for any tournament is never good for field strength, usually less so when the following tournament is on the other end of the country. I guess there are just a lot of fans of TPC River Highlands. Defending champ Dustin Johnson is joined by Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Abraham Ancer, Scottie Scheffler, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson, Matthew Wolff, Harris English, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Cam Smith, Ian Poulter, Marc Leishman, Max Homa, Charley Hoffman, Garrick Higgo, Russell Henley, Kevin Kisner, Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann and local kid Keegan Bradley. Rickie Fowler is back in action after his bye week too. Who would have thought The Travelers would become a more desired event than Pebble Beach?

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I suppose there is some logic to the field strength. There are only three events until the British Open, so getting in one more American event makes some sense as most of these guys at the top end won’t be seen stateside for at least a month. Plus, instead of going to Detroit or … Silvis, Iowa (the PGA TOUR equivalent to “Hi, I’m in Delaware”) one of the next two weeks as prep, it’s likely a much better idea to do that prep in one of the two European Tour Rolex Series Events in Ireland or Scotland if the goal is to win the Open Championship. Or just take that time to acclimate yourself with the time zone shift and get over there early. And the flight from New England is about as short as you’re going to find for a PGA TOUR player. Until the Maine Open becomes a regular stop the week before the year’s final major.

Beyond the top end, John Pak and Davis Thompson are back for their second career pro starts, while Austin Eckroat is now a professional himself. Beyond the 2019 U.S. Open, Eckroat missed the cut at Valero a few months back and finished T12 at Mayakoba during the swing season. Chase Koepka earned a sponsor exemption as well, which is likely why Brooks is in the field.

2021 Travelers Championship: Key Stats

Strokes Gained: Approach Par 4s Gained 400-450 yards Opportunities Gained Strokes Gained: Off The Tee

Mayo’s Key Stats powered by FantasyNational.com

2021 Travelers Championship: Course

Course: TPC River Highlands Par: 70 Yardage: 6,841 Greens: Bentgrass (witrh Poa mix)

2021 Travelers Championship: Past Winners

2020: Dustin Johnson -19 2019: Chez Reavie -17 2018: Bubba Watson -17 2017: Jordan Spieth -12 2016: Russell Knox -16

2021 Travelers Championship: Notes

After Pebble Brach GL, TPC River Highlands is the shortest course in the regular PGA TOUR rotation. Another Pete Dye course, measuring just 6,841 yards, this course boasts eight par 4s measuring between 400-450 yards playing as a par 70. There are another two par 4s coming in below 400 yards too. The most notable being No. 15, a drivable, 296-yard hole that over 90% of the field goes for from the tee box.

With its minuscule length, TPC River Highlands opens the door for almost any style of player. That’s how you get Dustin Johnson and Brendon Todd paired together in a final group. Looking back at the top five finishers over the past six years it’s clear, regardless of driving distance, approach and putting are the two most important factors at the top of the leaderboard. As is the case for most courses that become birdiefests, SG: OTT has been twice as important as SG: ATG, and players hit almost 70% of fairways at TPC River Highlands against a PGA TOUR average of 62%. So, the big hitters don’t even have to dial back with their drivers. Basically, the golfer who can hit their wedges the closest is going to win.

Looking at the plotting on approach distance (thanks, Fantasy National), you’ll see the plurality of irons come from 175 and in. It tends to be the opposite at most courses.

One thing to consider when looking at past events is the change in greens. For years the Bentgrass putting surfaces were some of the slowest on Tour. Four years ago they were reconstructed with Bentgrass (mixed with Poa Annua) putting surfaces and the greens now run on the faster side of things.

While this is a Pete Dye track, there has been a considerable crossover between the top of the leaderboards of the Valspar Championship, Riviera and Phoenix over the years. And it goes beyond Bubba Watson, who has won at Riviera and the TPC River Highlands three times apiece. Paul Casey has experienced success at all three. Kevin Streelman and Jordan Spieth have won the Valspar and the Travelers in their careers. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe it’s a shot-shaping issue, but there are a lot of players in the field this week who have experienced a lot of success at those three courses but very rarely played at the Travelers Championship.

Pete Dye Courses on the PGA TOUR

TPC Sawgrass (The Players Championship)

Harbour Town (RBC Heritage)

TPC River Highlands (Travelers Championship)

TPC Louisiana (Zurich Classic)

Austin Country Club (WGC Match Play)

TPC Stadium Course at La Quinta (Two rounds at The CareerBuilder)

Crooked Stick (2012/2016 BMW Championship)

Whistling Straits (2015, 2010, 2005 PGA TOUR Championship)

Kiawah Island (2021 PGA TOUR Championship)

2021 Travelers Championship Picks

Abraham Ancer

Despite missing the cut at Torrey Pines, thus only playing two rounds, Ancer still came in fifth for the week in Strokes Gained: Approach. It’s just the driving, chipping and putting were a no-show on the West Coast. It happens. Now finally slipping down the board, and out of people’s minds, Ancer is still a player with four straight top 15 finishes prior to the U.S. Open, with consecutive Top 11 finishes at this event.

Charley Hoffman

It was a tough week for Charley with the irons at the U.S. Open. He had gained on the field in nine of his previous 10 starts, however. That’s likely more telling than his performance at the year’s toughest track. Overall, Hoffman’s made the cut here seven of eight times since 2012 with four top 15 finishes, and he’s currently in one of the better stretches of his career.

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[occidentaltourist]

DC in DC

I actually love the idea of this. On MLK weekend, at places of cultural, emotional, and political significance in the nation’s capital. Giving Black Lightning the launch it deserves, and situating (or re-situating) comics and their television counterparts at the intersection of contemporary politics, culture, media, and entertainment. I think the panels sound substantive and interesting … and I hope they’re well moderated with thoughtful and provocative questions being asked and answered. 

I love that in addition to a public screening for fans, there will be a red carpet reception and advance screening by invitation, with the stars of Black Lightning in attendance. If we can snag tickets, we’ll try to go to at least one of these panels and screenings.

Additionally on the TV side, we have  Caity Lotz, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, J.W. Cortes, and Russell Tovey … and on the Wonder Women panel, about ‘kickass characters’ on film and TV, Caity and Candice are scheduled to participate. 

Will a member of the Supergirl cast be there too? After all, it has - at least nominally - a (superhero) woman as its lead character.  Or, given the show’s problems in S2 and S3 actually living up to the bill … has that ground now been ceded to Legends of Tomorrow? Is the cast still in time out after the SDCC fiasco? Do they want to avoid questions about Supergirl’s hiatus?

Panels are kind of hit-or-miss for Melissa Benoist, and not always the best showcase for her, but in good company (like, say - Candice and Caity) I think she tends to do better. Or what about Chyler Leigh, whose character is a lesbian - one of the very few in mainstream TV in general … after all, they’re even having a panel about The Art of LGBT Inclusion. Can we have a frank discussion about going beyond tokenism and having substantive, diverse stories for LGBT+ characters?

There’s also Mehcad Brooks, who is - again, at least nominally - a black male lead. (At least, he was in S1.) Maybe the panel about The Many Shades of Heroism can include some discussion about what happened to James Olsen. To what extent can the still ongoing choice to privilege a white slave owner character and his ‘redemption’ be attributed to the lack, or stifling, of diverse perspectives in decision-making roles? Although I doubt they’ll allow such a discussion of James, I have some hope that at least Jamie Broadnax will bring up some of the issues in the broader DCTV and DC Comics universe as well.

The organizers may yet confirm someone from Supergirl to attend at least one of the panels or events. In theory, they have more availability now that the show will be on an extended break. 

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… Orange is the New Black (S05E11) Breaking the Fiberboard Ceiling Airdate: June 9, 2017 @oitnb Ratings: @netflix original Score: 6.5/10

**********SPOILERS BELOW**********

The line between right and wrong continues to become more and more unclear, but the line telling Lorna (Yael Stone) she’s pregnant is clear as day. I couldn’t remember if Lorna had some opportunity to have a conjugal visit with her husband in the past… And then it hit me. Season 3, after Lorna and Vinnie (John Magaro) are married, an opportunity presents itself. Even though conjugal visits aren’t a ‘thing’ at Litchfield, It was CO Bell (Catherine Curtin) who looked the other way while they banged against the vending machine with headphones to drown out Lorna’s ecstasy. I have to wonder… Will this change things for Vince? Had he already considered this? Does the thought of having a baby with someone who is a little off kilter frighten him? I think we, as an audience, almost buried this happening for the most part. Many of us were scrambling to figure out what was going on with Lorna or just figured this was just another one of her outlandish outbursts… But since 5 has happened in almost real time and S4 flew by as well, I’m thinking that Lorna could be around 3 months pregnant, if that.

Then we have the issue with Suzanne and Lorna… Cindy being compelled by Taystee’s (Danielle Brooks) inaction and concentrations on negotiations that I fear will never truly come to fruition (something I’ve feared from the start), to deal with matters usually delegated to Taystee who just isn’t having it right now… She’s a woman possessed… A woman on a mission. These women are being eaten alive by a corrupt private prison system, either the privatization stops or the insanity continues. More to that later as the subject is really just an after thought and a device to move Cindy and Suzanne’s joint storyline along as well as for a bit of comic relief with Taystee and Fig (Alysia Reiner) discussing the names of their vaginas… Thx, Caputo (Nick Sandow), for that one!

Lorna has been withholding medicine from Suzanne. As powerful as Lorna’s speech was, as much truth to it as there was, ultimately this is someone who also is in need of dire psychological rehabilitating and intense therapy work making an uninformed decision about Suzanne’s medication. When it comes to drugs like Lithium and other heavy anti-depressants, that’s a road that should only be traveled if absolutely necessary. I suffer from extreme bouts of manic depression, bi-polar disorder, and anxiety. I have tried it all, and with my expertise in the fields of experimental psychology and a good grasp of sociology, I can tell you Suzanne’s extreme behavior isn’t something that is too far from reality.

I had read a few comments challenging the source of Suzanne’s behavior… And I just want to say, Suzanne is beyond bipolar disorder, and yanking those meds from her cold turkey can produce extreme side effects. It’s not like opiate withdrawal… It’s more like static and misfired electrical impulses that you can feel like mini-explosions in your brain. Anything taken regularly that alters your 5-HT (serotonin) release on a regular basis can have monstrous effects. Paxil, Zoloft, and any SSRI reuptake inhibitors are straight dangerous to just 'stop’ and I would say that Suzanne probably needs something a bit more extreme, or that airs on the side of more of an anti-psychotic. That’s not the point. The point is; I didn’t treat her but I do know that she has a serious mental disorder and any medication taken on a regular basis from benzodiazepines to opiates to anti-depressants must be carefully weaned and monitored by a professional or someone with the will-power of a well-bred stallion. And for the record, Uzo Aduba has been the highlight of this season. As the season winds down to the end, for me, she’s clearly the MVP. Secure her nomination now. Matter of fact, just in case, we’ll have a TVTime/Spotlight Saga end of the year awards, in case any of our favorites get shafted. Uzo, you’re a lock.

Speaking of great performances, I really believe that Adrienne C Moore who plays Cindy is also been working hard to be a possible top contender. This is her best season yet… The nuance she’s brought to Cindy, a more focused and self-aware Cindy, one who is aware of problems and the bigger picture outside of herself, has been incredible to watch. Adrienne’s scenes with Uzo have been nothing short of amazing and as determined as she was to quell the situation with Suzanne, she showed a real underlying concern for whether she was doing the right thing or not. This is an all new Cindy and it’s so amazing to see some of these women grow as actresses and add notches to their characters that are more than words on a page or stage direction. Excellent work, Ms. Moore!

Selenis Leyva has also been serving up some of her best work, and although I’ve received feedback from mothers who understand her motivations (believe me, I understand too, more than some of you may know)… It still feels a bit out of character for Gloria to make these batty decisions. I had a feeling that not only would all of this blow up in all of these women’s faces, but that Gloria in particular would receive a swift kick in the gut of privatized prison reality. I hope for change for these women, I really do… Hopefully we get that in a later season, but for now I don’t see good things in their future. And the fact that all of Gloria’s hard work disappeared underneath the fence is a sure fire sign that this determined mother won’t be getting that furlough she’s been working so hard for. God, I hope I’m wrong. Selenis has really conveyed the pain and confusion she’s experiencing during all of this so well, I just wish that her angle was approached in a more realistic manner for her particular character.

Ultimately, 'Breaking the Fiberboard Ceiling’ is a big step back into the right direction in terms of character work, tone, and story arcs for OITNB5. Episode 10 was nicely directed by Laura Prepon… But the chaotic, unfocused writing attempting to steer the show out of their E9 Horror Homage, that I actually really enjoyed, into a tense thriller in E10 and back into the strong laced dramedy in E11, given life by Director Wendey Stanzler and talented writer Lauren Morelli was no easy task. They literally had to dig the show out of a bit of a hole it had found itself stuck in, but luckily they’ve got it back, marching forward, in the right direction on its drama-heavy, darkly shaded eventuality of a path.

[ageloire]

The Final 25 Members of Our Fearless 50 Are Here!

I read a quote once about fearlessness that said, “F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything and Run’ or ‘Face Everything and Rise.’ The choice is yours.” Since leaving Marketing Nation Summit, where we were given all the building blocks we need to be Fearless Marketers, it has been our mission to remember what we learned and take it to heart as the year marches on.

When we announced the Fearless 50 program, we tasked ourselves with searching the world for marketers who exemplified what it means to be bold, brave, and fearless. Who would have thought when this idea was hatched that the nominations would flood in the way they have? We were humbled to read every incredible story that the Marketing Nation submitted to us and narrowing it down to select just 50 members was almost an impossible challenge.

After poring over countless inspirational nominations and long deliberations, it is our pleasure to announce the second half of the inaugural class of the Fearless 50:

Anna Fuerstenau, Marketing Specialist, Reliance Worldwide

Bill Brown, Director, Marketing Operations, Phillips 66

Brooke Bartos, Marketing Automation Manager, Walker Sands Communications

Carissa Russell, Marketing Technologist, Current powered by GE

Danielle Balestra, Director of Marketing Operations, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Jenn DiMaria, Marketing Automation Consultant, RevEngine Marketing, a Digital Pi company

Jim D’Arcangelo, SVP – Growth Marketing, UpCity

Joe Isaac, Global Marketing Manager, GE Healthcare

Jon-Erik Valetti, Director of Marketing, Carfax

Justin Sharaf, Director of Marketing Technology and Operations, LogMeIn

Karen Fowler, Manager of Client Services, Digital Pi

Kendall Brown, Manager, Global Demand Generation, Verizon

Kim Lawrence, Associate Vice President, Marketing, University of Calgary

Kimi Corrigan, Director of Marketing Operations, Duo Security

Madison Bennett, Marketing Operations Coordinator, Terminus

Matt Amundson, VP of Marketing, Everstring

Melanie Chapman, Director of Strategic Communications, Jellyvision

Melissa Hobley, CMO, OkCupid

Melissa Thames, Head of Global Marketing Operations, S&P Global Platts

Michael Barber, SVP and Chief Creative Officer, Godfrey B2B

Ryan Gallagher, Marketing Specialist, Proofpoint

Satu Ståhlstedt, Marketing Automation and Digital Marketing Specialist, Fujitsu

Shannon Renz, Senior Director, Demand Center – Marketing Operations, SAP Ariba

Stephanie Ristow, Senior Marketing Program Director, Charter School Capital

Talia Burlamaqui, Marketing Demand Operations Manager, Ericsson

Personal and professional acts of fearlessness should not only be recognized but celebrated as shining examples of what we all should aspire to be. One of our Fearless 50 members, Maria Pergolino, CMO of Anaplan, shared her excitement, “I’m honored to be a part of Marketo’s inaugural Fearless 50. Being recognized amongst such amazing marketing professionals inspires me to continue to be fearless in Anaplan’s marketing efforts, developing new methods, and driving results.”

While the inaugural class of the Fearless 50 has come together, there is more work to do. We look forward to sharing the stories of these 50 incredible marketers and continuing to inspire the Marketing Nation to approach each day with fearlessness and bravado.

Fearlessness isn’t a personality trait, it’s a state of mind. We can choose to follow in the footsteps of these 50 bold marketers whose names will go down in Marketing Nation history, and, if we do, we will never view fear as “Forget Everything and Run,” but as “Face Everything and Rise.”

Marketo is proud to welcome the inaugural class of the Fearless 50—please be sure to check out our blog post that announced the first 25 members as well! And we thank our Fearless 50 program sponsor, PFL, for joining us on our quest to find the world’s most fearless marketers.

The post The Final 25 Members of Our Fearless 50 Are Here! appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from Marketo Marketing Blog https://blog.marketo.com/2018/07/final-25-members-marketos-fearless-50.html

[maczazind]

Film Diary 2017: February, AKA "The Month I TRIED To Watch Only Nominated Movies"

The biggest awards show of the year for film has now officially passed and Moonlight has walked away with the top prize of the night. Meanwhile, my February leading up to the event has primarily revolved around previously nominated or victorious entries from years gone by. I have seen a decent handful of movies that were nominated before and own an even smaller chunk of them, but this month I wanted to explore some of those that have fallen through the cracks for myself. But not EVERY film I saw was nominated. Needless to say, it was an interesting mix.

As always, the following reflects MY OWN OPINION. If you’d like to see these entries in full as the year progresses, each installment is given the tag “Film Diary 2017” so feel free to follow along!

Each entry includes how every feature was primarily seen and an asterisk which denotes that viewing was the first time I’ve seen that movie in its entirety, despite possibly having seen pieces of the film previously or having a general knowledge of it. Numbering reflects the year’s overall total, not the monthly total. This month, if an entry was nominated for/won an Academy Award, the details of its highest achievement and the year of the ceremony are added prior to my reaction:

February 2nd: 22) Nine (2009)* - DVD (Rental - Library); Nominated for 4 in 2010, Including Best Supporting Actress (Penelope Cruz) and Best Original Song (“Take It All”) – Note to self: if you want to go on a Daniel Day Lewis kick after watching him in There Will Be Blood, maybe don’t start with this one. Though this was an askew devotion to older filmmaking and the process of developing a feature, it’s the musical aspects that come up mixed for me. A majority of the songs fall flat and forgettable in my eyes; Fergie and Marion Cotillard’s outings being the ones that really come to life. There are the impressive moments, such as the major ensemble introduction presented less through the lyrics and more the intriguing interactions with each character. But it’s relatively easy to see why this one hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time.

February 8th: 23) Frost/Nixon* - DVD (Rental - Library); Nominated for 5 in 2009, Including Best Picture, Best Actor (Frank Langella) and Best Director (Ron Howard) – At times while watching Frost/Nixon, I couldn’t help but feel I was watching a tennis match. There were times that, admittedly, went over my head but there were also moments in which the tension and wit that builds strictly through dialogue is something to fall in love with as two men battle it out for their own reasons. Even supporting characters played by Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and more are played with great dedication to the situation and yet still allowing for some comedic pauses to shine when the moment calls for it. As someone who wasn’t born yet to experience the scandal nor was taught much about it in school, this seemed like a great companion piece to All The President’s Men to help fill the gap of the era.

February 9th: 24) Blazing Saddles* - TV (DVR - Turner Classic Movies); Nominated for 3 in 1975, Including Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn) and Best Original Song (“Blazing Saddles”) – As someone who loves The Producers and Spaceballs, its no surprise I would love this one for all its comedic achievements. It’s certainly more adult in certain regards, but at the same time that reflects the nature of the setting. Cleavon Little is absolutely charming from the minute he steps on screen and holds the lead role fantastically. Gene Wilder is fun and adds some additional comfort in a supporting role. And while the ending feels like an out of left field turn, it’s a true Mel Brooks conclusion at its core and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

February 10th: 25) The Prestige* - DVD (Rental - Library); Nominated for 2 in 2007, Including Best Cinematography (Wally Pfister) – I’m just full of surprising “wait, you haven’t seen THIS film either?!” moments, aren’t I? Now I do have some explanation behind this: 1) Albeit not a very good reason, my dumb teenage brain at the time of it’s initial release always paired together The Prestige and The Illusionist as “those magician movies” in 2006. It took me a few years to realize one stood stronger than the other. 2) One of the two MAJOR twists presented in this film I already knew of and thus some of the allure had been taken away from me. That being said, I now see how wrong I was in the fact that The Prestige found ways to not only surprise me multiple times but capture my attention as well, with the main rivalry, Tesla, where the story was leading and so much more. It’s tense, intriguing, sly when it needs to be but powerful in the central plot of its two leads. Not my favorite Christopher Nolan feature but certainly far from the bottom of the list.

February 11th: 26) Ali* - Blu-Ray; Nominated for 2 in 2002, Best Actor (Will Smith) and Best Supporting Actor (Jon Voight) – Much like Steve Jobs, this isn’t necessarily a biopic that chronicles every aspect of the title character’s life but rather tackles years that were among the most important for the central figure. And man is this one a fascinating watch. I knew the events, I knew the legends, but never the full details of it all. Will Smith is electric as Ali, and truthfully I had no clue that Jon Voight was Howard Cosell until 45 minutes prior to the ending. He blends into his role and makeup exceptionally. Though I feel Ali isn’t as talked about as it once was, it certainly deserves to be.

February 14th: 27) Casablanca - TV (DVR - Turner Classic Movies); Nominated for 8 in 1944, Winning 3 Including Best Picture and Best Director (Michael Curtiz) – What is left to say about a film that’s stood the test of time as one of the all time greats? I queued it up on my DVR Valentine’s Day evening, curled up with a blanket and just got sucked into the iconic atmosphere. All the often quoted highlights don’t nearly do the allure of the movie justice. It had been a long time since I’ve seen this one and it recaptured me all over again.

28) Deepwater Horizon* - TV (Rental - On Demand); Nominated for 2 in 2017, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects – Another gripping torn-from-the-headlines film courtesy of the directorial/actor duo of Peter Berg & Mark Wahlberg, Deepwater Horizon is an unflinching look at the massive oil rig that resulted in not only the largest oil spill in U.S. history but the loss of multiple workers on the rig as well. While there may be some faults here and there (thankfully not for the same reasons I walked out of Sully mixed), it never takes away from the absolute horror of events once they unfold. A rock solid “based on a true story” piece that definitely deserves more attention than it seems to have received.

February 18th: 29) When Harry Met Sally… - TV (Bravo); Nominated in 1990 for Best Original Screenplay (Nora Ephron) – Man, I forgot how much I loved this movie for all its wit and charm. A simple channel surfing trip led to sitting down for this one again and I really should own it by now. A classic for all the right reasons, even if it’s a rom-com. And yet it still manages to elevate itself above the genre by tackling love in a real sense that isn’t afraid to shy away from the pitfalls nor the complications or differing perspectives on it all.

February 19th: 30) Doubt* - DVD (Rental - Library); Nominated for 5 in 2009, Including Best Picture, Best Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Supporting Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) & Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams, Viola Davis) – Doubt is in the same format of recent awards season contenders such as Fences or August: Osage County: a film based on a play that each respectively won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Likewise, Doubt is a story that feels like a play in certain regards. A character drama that tests the ideas of perception and certainly plays up its title message & tone well, its the performances that boost the script as a string of confrontations and conversations make up the action. While it may have struck me as a solid one-time watch, its a film I’m not exactly clamoring to watch again anytime soon but also deserving of all its acting nods.

February 20th: 31) Unbreakable* - Streaming (HBO Go); Another one that I put off for the longest time for multiple reasons: One being I knew the twist ending; two was that after actually going to see The Last Airbender in a theater resulting in an absolutely awful moviegoing experience, I swore off new Shyamalan movies. In light of recent news, I figured now was the time to embrace it and the hype certainly was justified. Evoking his earlier signature style which has seemed to shift in recent years, the character focus/strength still stands tall above all and leads towards a very satisfying emotional climax for the relationships involved. It doesn’t remove Signs from the top of my Shyamalan list but certainly earned a spot near the top.

February 27th: 32) A Good Day To Die Hard* - Blu-Ray; And we go from one Bruce Willis movie to another. I originally picked up this movie in the middle of a Black Friday sale but never got around to watching it. Finally doing so, I can absolutely see why this was panned upon release. Sure it’s an R-rated return to the franchise but it’s a movie that struggles with its identity at times. It doesn’t know if it wants to be a John McClane movie or a Jack McClane movie in which John plays a supporting role. The set up for the first 15 minutes is solid enough; somewhere along the first major action sequence is where I began to take fault not just in the ridiculous climax but that John felt more of a wrench in the works than a solution. I always believe Die Hard is at its best when it’s restricted to one location and has to get creative with its action. When you turn it into a multi-city sprawling epic with little consequence such as this, then it’s just a mindless action movie by any other name. Not to mention we’ve seen the “McClane kid mad at dad but bond over this mishap” already and it seemed to mean more the first time around along with a far better villain than in this installment. Ultimately, I’m glad I finally crossed it off my list but still wish it could have been a more pleasant surprise as it certainly met the low bar I set for it.

February 28th: 33) Strangers On A Train* - TV (DVR - Turner Classic Movies); Nominated in 1952 for Best Cinematography, Black & White (Robert Burks) – I’m someone who considers Hitchcock’s Rear Window to be in my top five films of all time, but Strangers On A Train was one of the entries from him I had yet to see. And admittedly I walked away a bit mixed. The concept and suspense is certainly executed well, and Robert Walker is a scene stealer as the psychopathic Bruno. What I didn’t quite care for was Fairley Granger’s Guy Haines. Clearly the every man in a complex situation, there were just times where the events rest on his shoulders and it drags. It’s better to see Guy and Bruno share the screen as they bounce off each other well rather than Guy try to ignore his end of the impromptu deal. It doesn’t take away from the high points of the film, but in my opinion what results in a mixed bag is a protagonist that is far from the strongest of Hitchcock’s filmography.

And that was my month of movies for February! Things certainly got busy and led to a shorter list as opposed to January; but hopefully in March I can carve out some time to set aside and rebound.

What movies did you see in February 2017? Are there any movies you’d highly recommend that I should add to my watchlist? Feel free to drop me an ask or a reply!