#best films of 2014

[bestoftweets]

[hisirdouxcasperan]

“Ah, Man in Moon! Sandy, why didn't you say something?”

Bonus:

[no-carpets]

because the only good reason to go to london on vacation is to visit the filming locations of the best movie ever made and be absolutely insufferable about it

[mcpirita]

True Detective Season 1 created by Nic Pizzolatto (2014)

[be-a-riot404]

I'd say I'm addicted to love

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Fargo (1996, Coen brothers)

16/05/2024

[magentagalaxies]

sometimes being the director of the buddy cole documentary is an emotional rollercoaster for reasons entirely unrelated to actual controversy with the character

basically. this morning paramount took down the comedy central website and made every link redirect to paramount plus (which i do not have). previously you could find clips from every time buddy cole was a correspondent on the colbert report for free on the comedy central website, but not only are those free clips no longer up, paramount plus doesn't even have the colbert report.

so even if this craven attempt to get people to pay ransom subscribe to their streaming service worked, they didn't even take the clips with them!!!

so i was in mourning for a solid few hours this morning bc like if i'd known this was going to happen i would have at least screen-recorded each of the segments even if it meant the audio sync was a little off. but i had no idea this was going to happen and now yet another piece of buddy cole media was lost forever. and i'm used to having gaps in my timeline. stuff like scottland and the lowest show i've only been able to watch bc bellini happened to have a dvd he could digitize. and stuff like the buddy cole funny or die clips, out on the edge, and the ctv royal wedding special i may never see. but when something like this happens in real time after i've already dedicated myself to preserving and documenting the works of buddy cole, it really stings

i know i shouldn't feel like i somehow "failed buddy" for not preserving these episodes. i had no idea comedy central's parent company was going to throw out so much of their content, we're just in a literal hellscape with regards to how corporations value art. but i can't help but feel a little protective of buddy - not protective in terms of controversy, per se, controversy is a natural reaction to everything scott does with buddy cole and i don't always have to agree with everything the character stands for. i've already gotten a taste of being in my own buddy cole controversy, and it was horrible but it also felt like this is what's supposed to happen because we're now able to have this conversation. but being completely forgotten? that doesn't feel natural one bit even though it keeps happening to so much of this character's timeline.

anyway, i pasted the links into the wayback machine and even tho it could load the interface it couldn't load the videos. i found a record of each episode on the internet archive but they're all chopped into 1-2 minute clips, there's an option to "borrow" full episodes and have them mail you a flashdrive but i have no idea how that works and if i'd then be allowed to copy the episodes onto my own computer. i eventually found the colbert report is still available to purchase on itunes for $1.99 per episode - i'd need four specific episodes so that would be more like $8, which isn't too bad, but still stings just on principle. plus, what if that iTunes interface goes down someday? the only colbert report dvds are "best of" and even if i think buddy cole is the best part of anything he's in, the people making the dvds probably don't.

[ladymariayuri]

things that i should be considering my upbringing but miraculously am not - a swiftie - a furry - a bayonetta player

[girlblogger400]

if we make it through december

[jacquelinemerritt]

The Disney Renaissance (1977-1992)

Originally posted August 29th, 2014

This is the first entry in a series of posts discussing the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failings of the Disney Renaissance. You’re likely intimately familiar with this period of Disney’s history; the Renaissance contains some of their most iconic and best work. The lens of nostalgia tends to color most discussions on this period of Disney history though; people tend to only remember the high points of the Renaissance, such as The Lion King and Aladdin, while choosing to leave out the lesser film of the era, like Pocahontas and Tarzan. In order to properly discuss the Renaissance, we’re going to need to follow it from the beginning to its end, and see how it was able to bring Disney back to the forefront of animation for the majority of the 1990s.

Before the Renaissance - 1977-1989

The 1980s were not kind to Disney. The most successful film Disney released after the death of their founder were The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. No box office information is available on Winnie-the-Pooh, but it was highly critically acclaimed, and sold very well on home video as well as in theaters. The only film they released in that time that made over $50 million was Oliver &Company, which was crushed in the box office by Universal’s The Land Before Time, which was directed by a former Disney animator. It was in this time that Ron Clements, co-director of the critical success but commercial failure, The Great Mouse Detective, became interested in reviving a project Disney had had in the works since the 1930s: an adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale known as The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid and The Disney Renaissance - 1989

Kay Nielsen, who had worked on the original Fantasia, had proposed an anthology film that would adapt multiple of Andersen’s fairy tales, one of which was The Little Mermaid. Nielsen had even worked out some of the concept art, which is quite beautiful.

This art was used as inspiration for the look of the film, but the design for Ariel was changed into the Ariel we all know. What’s interesting about this is that the story for Ron Clements’ adaptation was made separately from Nielsen’s adaptation, and yet both of them ended up making similar changes. They both removed the role of Ariel’s grandmother, and increased the role of Triton and the Sea Witch. This small detail showcases one of the biggest reason’s for the success of the Renaissance: in both eras, the creative teams at Disney had similar ideas about what would make a story both successful and relatable.

The Little Mermaid was released to massive critical and commercial success. Disney was relevant to the world once again, and now that they were back on top, they didn’t plan on falling back down.

Except, you know, the next film they released was a commercial flop.

The Rescuers Down Under and Disney Sequels (1990)

That’s a bit of an exaggeration. The Rescuers Down Under was profitable; it just didn’t do nearly as well as The Little Mermaid. It also generally isn’t remembered as part of the Renaissance either. It’s not a bad film, by any means, but this film is only part of the Disney Renaissance because it was released after The Little Mermaid. It’s tone and animation style fits right in with the rest of the pre-Renaissance Disney released, and for good reason: it’s a sequel to a pre-Renaissance film. In the end, The Rescuers Down Under wasn’t as successful as the other Renaissance films because it didn’t fit in with them at all. It wasn’t a musical, its story was on a small scale, and it was directed by an animator who worked on Disney’s biggest commercial flops before the Renaissance, Mike Gabriel.

Beauty and The Beast (1991)

Beauty and The Beast was directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale who had both worked in the animation department on critically successful pre-Renaissance films before (The Brave Little Toaster and The Little Mermaid, respectively). It built on the success of The Little Mermaid’s romanticism and Broadway style and told a grand love story like nothing Disney had before. It also promotes Stockholm’s Syndrome as a valid model for relationships, and Belle is a Nice Idealist Plucky Daddy’s Girl. It was incredibly successful, both critically and commercially, and even though I personally hate the film, I do respect it for continuing the trends of The Little Mermaid.

Aladdin (1992)

It was only a year after Beauty and the Beast came out that Disney released what was then it’s most commercially successful film: Aladdin. Aladdin was also incredibly critically successful. It was the most ambitious Renaissance film to date, and it built on the style and showmanship of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. It focused on a rags to riches underdog story instead of young romance as well, which meant that future films weren’t limited to the kind of stories told about Ariel and Belle. Now, don’t get me wrong, Aladdin is thematically romantic as hell, and the romance between Aladdin and Jasmine is played up to death, but the primary focus of the movie is on a young man who gets to be a chance to be larger than life, and his relationship with the omnipotent being that allowed him this opportunity. This film’s premise was larger than life, and the style of the Renaissance allowed it to live up to the expectations such a premise would set. Disney was on top of the world, and everyone was wondering how they could possibly top themselves.

The world was not prepared for what happened next.

If you liked this, consider supporting me on Patreon, or donating to my Ko-Fi.

[milliondollarbaby87]

Let's Go To The Movies - 15 Films for 15 Years!

[thetreetopinn]

Sources for Somerton's Plagiarism from Hbomberguy's Video (as much as I could get)

I went back through Harry's video, focused entirely on the sources James Somerton pulled from in the hopes of creating as much of a comprehensive list as I could--though my Google-Fu is not very strong. I did however find something I thought was forever lost and that made me very happy--specifically the magazine Midlands Zone containing the column by Steven Spinks that Harry poignantly used as an illustration of gay erasure... while Somerton uses it to sound like HE is waxing remorseful about the very subject.

This is not a complete list, I'm sure. For one thing, I was only able to attempt to pull sources that Harry himself mentioned in the video. Surely there's so very much more out there. I expect there to be a great deal more internet archeology to unearth just how much writing and culture Somerton has stolen like he's the British Museum of Natural History but for gay people.

- - - - -

Harry's list of mentioned youtubers:

Alexander Avila - https://www.youtube.com/@alexander_avila Matt Baume - https://www.youtube.com/@MattBaume Khadija Mbowe - https://www.youtube.com/@KhadijaMbowe Lady Emily - https://www.youtube.com/@LadyEmilyPresents Shanspeare - https://www.youtube.com/@Shanspeare RickiHirsch - https://www.youtube.com/@RickiHirsch VerilyBitchie - https://www.youtube.com/@verilybitchie

Harry created a convenient playlist of videos by these and other people he wants to bring to everyone's attention.

Please give them your support.

- - - - -

Midlands Zone Magazine - Column by Steven Spinks

After a great deal of searching, I found an archive of the "Midlands Zone" magazine, where you can read through past issues dating all the way back to February 2014. I have also found the issue from which Somerton took Spinks' poignant discussion of gay erasure: Overall archive Specific Issue - Pages 16-17

It will not allow you to download it, but you can read it exactly as it appeared in print form.

- - - - -

My best effort to find the exact book or article Somerton lifted from to be able to get attention to the original writers

Tinker Bells and Evil Queens By Sean Griffin

The Celluloid Closet By Vito Russo Wikipedia article about the book Wikipedia article about the documentary My weak google-fu could not find where you can access the book or documentary. Check your local municipal or university library for book or documentary, or if you know a good source for one or both, please reblog with it added

Camp and the Gay Sensibility By Jack Babuscio

The Groundbreaking Queerness of Disney's Mulan By Jes Tom Personal site with links to social media accounts

Why Rebel Without a Cause was a milestone for gay rights By Peter Howell

Why "The Craft" is still the best Halloween coming out movie By Andrew Park

Opinion: From facehuggers to phallic tails, is 'Alien' one of the queerest films ever? By Dani Leever

Women and Queerness in Horror: Jennifer's Body By Zoe Fortier

[Pride 2019] We Have Such Sights to Show You: Hellraiser and the Spectrum of Queerness By Alejandra Gonzalez

Revealing the Hellbound Heart of Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' By Colin Arason

Queering James Cameron's Aliens (1986) By Bart Bishop

Demeter and Persephone in space: transformation, femininity, and myth in the 'Alien' films By David Greven

Fears of a millennial masculinity: Scream's queer killers By David Greven (Scholarly site, unable to access original work, offers a way to request a full copy of the text in PDF)

Queer Subtext in Stephen King's It - Part 1: 'Reddie' Character Analysis By Rachel Brands Rachel is the very unfortunate lady who found out she was being stolen from because she supported Somerton through Patreon and saw one of his videos early with her writing--lacking any form of citation or credit

How 'It: Chapter Two' Leaves Richie Tozier Behind By Joelle Monique

When Horror Becomes Strength: Queer Armor in Stephen King's 'IT' By Alex London

Why Queer People Love Witchcraft By Amanda Kohr

'The Favourite' Queers The Past And The Present By Giorgi Plys-Garzotto

(Wuko) Crush (Mako x Wu) By MoonFlower on YouTube

5 Terrible Movies With Awesome Hidden Meanings By J.F. Sargent

The Radicalization of Sexuality: The Queer Casae of Jeffrey Dahmer By Ian Barnard

Netflix's 'Dahmer' backlash highlights ethical issues in the platform's obsession with true crime By Shivani Dubey

The Possible Disturbing Dissonance Between Hajime Isayama's Beliefs and Attack on Titan's Themes Original Article by "Seldom Musings" (Author has made all posts not related to Attack On Titan private and has retired from the blog)

Everyone Loves Attack on Titan. So Why Does Everyone Hate Attack on Titan? By Gita Jackson

- - - - -

The following people are otherwise named in the video. There are no direct citations of articles or books by them in said video. I am unable to guarantee that I have identified the correct individual.

Darren Elliott-Smith Michaela Barton David Church Claire Sisco King Amanda Howell Jessica Roy

- - - - -

Telos announced and cancelled a film likely based on this book: The Final Girl Support Group - By Grady Hendrix

- - - - -

I refrained from including certain sources.

First off only focusing on Somerton's work.

Secondly not including anything that might be visible enough to not require amplifying their voice (I cannot speak for all of those I have found links to, but journalism is frequently a thankless job).

Thirdly any source that is of a nature that is antithetical to the very existence of the queer community, such as the right-leaning source that didn't make it into Somerton's video, but Harry was able to identify as a source he had considered using.

If you feel I have missed a mentioned source--or you know of a source from material that was not covered in Harry's video--please do not hesitate to reblog with added details.

- - - - -

Please share this information far and wide, and please add to it if you find more material that can be positively identified and linked to the creator/writer.

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

i am watching a film called 'don't blink' (2014) and i. don't care for it very much actually :P

this is probably the fourth time i've seen it and it does not improve upon rewatch unfortunately ;A; the premise is that when ppl blink or stop looking at each other.........they disappear. sometimes. not all the time tho!!! and maybe the animals too, bc there's no birbs or bugs or bunnies or anything!!! it's quiet and empty!! the fisherman is gone!!! their cars mysteriously refuse to drive!!!

um. we never actually get an explanation for it btw?? i can't remember if our group have been to this specific building before but....other ppl definitely have??? like there's half eaten breakfast and unused bath water and all, so ppl have BEEN here???? is this....a new phenomenon?? ppl just....disappearing??? has it happened before??? and NOBODY'S noticed?? NONE of these ppl had ANYONE who would miss them??? ;A;

and where did they GO??? a parallel dimension??? the underworld??? or is THIS the underworld and the disappeared ppl go back to reality???? is this some sort of.....elaborate prank???? WHAT IS HAPPENING.

i just. i just wish i UNDERSTOOD. i just DON"T GET IT. PLS IF U UNDERSTAND THIS, PLS EXPLAIN IT TO MEEEE ;A;

spoiler under cut

AND THEN!!! after establishing throughout the whole film that ppl disappear ONE BY ONE.............at the very end, when it seems like the last woman standing is about to be saved.....she looks up.....

AND THE COPS AND PARAMEDICS HAVE ALL DISAPPEARED IN ONE GO!!!!!

LIKE!!! u just did that for the EFFECT!!! the AESTHETIC!!! u ignored ALL the rules u gave us for one last lil ~spook~ !!! completely undermining the entire thing just for a lil 'gothcha!!' at the end!! i do not care for that ._.

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Fargo (1996, Coen brothers)

12/02/2024

Fargo is a 1996 film written and directed by Coen brothers. Presented at the 49th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for best director, it also won two Oscars, for best original screenplay and for best leading actress, Frances McDormand. The other protagonists of the film are William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare.

In 2006 it was chosen to be preserved in the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress, an archive of films considered culturally, historically or aesthetically representative. In 2014 it inspired the production of the television series of the same name Fargo, for which the Coen brothers appear as co-executive producers.

Minnesota, winter of 1987. Jerry Lundegaard is a business-minded Oldsmobile salesman from Minneapolis, but with several financial problems. Thanks to the suggestion of the Indian mechanic Shep Proudfoot (who in the past has had some problems with the law), Jerry goes to a bar in Fargo, in neighboring North Dakota, to hire two hitmen, Gaear Grimsrud and Carl Showalter, to whom he promised a car and half of the ransom of 80 000 dollars.

Gaear and Carl, traveling with the hostage in the car provided by Jerry (secretly disappeared, without license plates, from the dealership), are stopped by a police patrol near Brainerd.

Marge decides to go to Minneapolis to meet Shep and also manages to talk to Jerry, who asks him if a car has disappeared from the dealership, but for the moment she doesn't get any information. Carl then buries most of the money near a back road, marking the spot with an ice scraper for recognition, and returns to Moose Lake, where Gaear remains with the hostage.

On the way home, Marge recognizes the offending car without license plates and, determined to take a look, discovers Gaear disposing of Carl's body with a wood chipper. Meanwhile Jerry is also arrested, in a motel near Bismarck.

[flanaganfilm]

Mr. Flanagan, I’d like to ask a question and I deeply hope that it does not offend or upset you. I am strongly considering canceling my Netflix subscription due to their new password sharing policy. However, Midnight Mass is one of my favorite shows of all time and I know it isn’t available on DVD, and I’m also profoundly anticipating your take on my favorite Edgar Allen Poe story. So I wanted to ask your take on people accessing your work through, uh, other means. If it’s something that’s offensive to you or will harm you or the other people who work so hard on these shows, I’ll happily keep my Netflix just so that I can keep supporting your work. I respect you far too much as an artist to do otherwise.

Again, I really hope I’m not upsetting you by asking this question. Thank you for everything, and I hope you’re having a great day!

(NOTE 6/4/2024: I'm editing this entry because, well over a year since it was posted, some journalists dug this up and used it to create click-bait headlines that are misleading, out of context and artificially combative. While I was of course disappointed over the years that Netflix opted not to release my work on physical media, I never experienced any hostility or aggression in those discussions, and I sincerely regret the manner in which this post was used in the press this week.)

Hi there - no offense taken whatsoever, in fact I think this is a very interesting and important question.

So. If you asked me this a few years ago, I would have said "I hate piracy and it is hurting creators, especially in the independent space." I used to get in Facebook arguments with fans early in my career when people would post about seeing my work on torrent sites, especially when that work was readily available for rent and purchase on VOD.

Back in 2014, my movie Before I Wake was pirated and leaked prior to any domestic release, and that was devastating to the project. It actually made it harder to find distribution for the film. By the time we were able to get distribution in the US, the film had already been so exposed online that the best we could hope for was a Netflix release. Netflix stepped in and saved that movie, and for that I will always be grateful to them.

However...

Working in streaming for the past few years has made me reconsider my position on piracy.

In the years I worked at Netflix, I tried very hard to get them to release my work on blu-ray and DVD.

It became clear very fast that their priority was subscriptions, and that they were not particularly interested in physical media releases of their originals, with a few exceptions.

While companies like Netflix pride themselves on being disruptors, and have proven that they can affect great change in the industry, they sometimes fail to see the difference between disruption and damage. So much that they can find themselves, intentionally or not, doing harm to the concept of film preservation.

The danger comes when a title is only available on one platform, and then - for whatever reason - is removed.

We have already seen this happen. And it is only going to happen more and more. Titles exclusively available on streaming services have essentially been erased from the world. If those titles existed on the marketplace on physical media, like HBO's Westworld, the loss is somewhat mitigated (though only somewhat.) But when titles do not exist elsewhere, they are potentially gone forever.

The list of titles that have been removed from streaming services is growing.

I still believe that where we put our dollars matters. Renting or buying a piece of work that you like is essential. It is casting a vote, encouraging studios - who only speak the language of money - to invest more effort into similar work. If we show up to support distinct, unique, exciting work, it encourages them to make more of it. It's as simple as that. If we don't show up, or if they can't hear our voice because we are casing our vote "silently" through torrent sites or other means - it makes it unlikely that they will take a chance to create that kind of work again.

Which is why I typically suggest that if you like a movie you've seen through - uh - other means, throw a few dollars at that title on a legitimate platform. Rent it. Purchase it. Support it.

But if some studios offer no avenue for that kind of support, and can (and will) remove content from their platform forever... frankly, I think that changes the rules.

Netflix will likely never release the work I created for them on physical media, though I'll always hold out hope.

Some of you may say "wait, aren't The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor available on blu-ray and DVD?" Yes, they are, because they were co-produced with Paramount, and I'm grateful that Paramount was able to release and protect those titles. (I'm also grateful that those releases include extended cuts, deleted scenes, and commentary tracks. There are a number of fantastic benefits to physical media releases.)

But a lot of the other work I did there are Netflix originals, without any other studio involvement. Those titles - like Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and the upcoming Fall of the House of Usher - along with my Netflix exclusive and/or original movies Before I Wake and Gerald's Game - have no such protections. The physical media releases of those titles are entirely at Netflix's discretion, and don't appear to be priority for the studio at this time.

At the moment, Netflix seems content to leave Before I Wake, Gerald's Game, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club on the service, where they still draw audiences. I don't think there is a plan to remove any of them anytime soon. But plans change, the industry changes.

The point is things change, and each of those titles - should they be removed from the service for any reason - are not available anywhere else. If that day comes - if Netflix's servers are destroyed, if a meteor hits the building, if they are bought out by a competitor and their library is liquidated - I don't know what the circumstances might be, I just know that if that day comes, some of the work that means the most to me in the world would be entirely erased.

Or, what if we aren't so catastrophic in our thinking? What if it the change isn't so total? What if Netflix simply bumps into an issue with the license they paid for music (like the Neil Diamond songs that play such a crucial role in Midnight Mass), and decide to leave the show up but replace the songs?

This has happened before as well - fans of Northern Exposure can get the show on DVD and blu-ray, but the music they heard when the series aired has been replaced due to the licensing issues. And the replacements - chosen for their low cost, not for creative reasons - are not improvements. What if the shows are just changed, and not by creatives, but by business affairs executives?

All to say that physical media is critically important. Having redundancy in the marketplace is critically important. The more platforms a piece of work is available on, the more likely it is to survive and grow its audience.

As for Netflix, I hope sincerely that their thinking on this issue evolves, and that they value the content they spend so much money creating enough to protect it for posterity. That's up to them, it's their studio, it's their rules. But I like to think they may see that light eventually, and realize that exclusivity in a certain window is very cool... but exclusivity in perpetuity could potentially limit the audience and endanger the work itself.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Johnny Cash - Hurt 2002

"Hurt" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994), written by Trent Reznor. It was released on April 17, 1995, as a promotional single from the album. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996.

In 2002, Johnny Cash covered "Hurt" for his final album during his lifetime, to commercial and critical acclaim. Reznor praised Cash's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning", going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore". The single contains a cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" as a B-side. The music video features images from Cash's life, and was named the best video of the year by the Grammy Awards and CMA Awards, and the best video of all time by NME in July 2011. When the video was filmed in February 2003, Cash was 71 years old and had serious health problems. His frailty is clearly evident in the video. He died seven months later, on September 12.

The Johnny Cash cover was given the Country Music Association award for "Single of the Year" in 2003. It ranked as CMT's top video for 2003, No. 1 on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Music Videos the following year (and again in 2008), and No. 1 on the Top 40 Most Memorable Music Videos on MuchMoreMusic's Listed in October 2007. As of March 2016, the single occupies the number nine spot on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s. The song is also Cash's sole chart entry on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it hit No. 33 in 2003. In June 2009, the song was voted No. 1 in UpVenue's Top 10 Best Music Covers. "Hurt" was nominated for six awards at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, winning for Best Cinematography. With the video, Johnny Cash became the oldest artist ever nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. The music video won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. In a 2014 survey conducted by the BBC the UK public voted the Johnny Cash version the second greatest cover version (of any song) of all time.

"Hurt" received a total of 76,3% yes votes!