#billy kid angst chronicles

[falling-star-cygnus]

✨📣fanfare music📣✨

Master List Post for The Billy Kid Angst Chronicles >:3 -> hopefully, this will keep me a wee bit more organized with what I have or have not posted. feel free to leave requests on this too, or just feedback about any fic you particularly liked or disliked!!

Computer Virus Dismemberment Matpat Corrupted or Crushed [pt.2] Puppet Taking the Hit Sick Demara's Silly Sister Caesar Hare Headcanons [pt.1, pt.2] Shut Down Memory Loss Badass Billy

and more to come :D so check back from time to time!!

[startrekfangirl2233-writes]

CONGRATULATIONS ON 100 FOLLOWERS STAR!!! I’m immensely proud of your milestone <333.

This is a request for the celebration. angst prompt; “Us? There was never an ‘us’.”

With bestfriend!Bradley. Maybe he’s been flirty with the reader since they were kids but now they’ve had enough..? But you don’t have to take it that way.

CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN, I love you so so much BESTIEE!!!💕💕💕

Pav! Thanks so much for this request! I had a ball writing it and I love the additional context! I hope this hit everything about bestfriend!Bradley you were searching for! Love you! 💕💕💕💕💕💕

Heartbreak in the Making

You're not a Navy brat, though you're sure that anyone who's ever met your best friend would assume otherwise. You'd met Bradley Bradshaw when you were both five years old. He and his mom had moved into the house next door in your small suburban Virginia neighborhood. He'd been the odd kid out, the one kids weren't sure how to include. He was quiet and always played with airplane figurines in the corner of the sandbox. 

And then one day, one of the other boys, a bully named Billy, had tried to snatch a plane out of his hand. You'd seen red, marched right up to Billy, and told him off, pushing him over into the sand and rescuing the plane. When you'd turned back to Bradley, he'd been looking at you in awe. You'd cleaned your hand on your overalls and introduced yourself before helping him up and running towards your mama with his hand held tight in yours. The two of you had gotten ice cream together with your mamas, and the rest, as they say, was history.

So, Bradley Bradshaw is your best friend. And that hasn't changed, at least for you. The truth is, you've both changed from the knobby kneed kids you were when you were younger. Time and a potent mixture of growth spurts, braces, and puberty will do that, you guess. But it was the behavioral change that confused you the most. It was inevitable. When puberty hits, some boys become attracted to girls and vice versa. So you expected the phone calls a few minutes before he was supposed to pick you up when he’d say, “Sorry, Sparrow! Marissa asked me out on a date! And I’d be stupid to say no to her, y’know? Love ya. We’ll make up for this and have movie night tomorrow instead, okay?”

What you hadn’t been expecting was the way he pulled you into his side at school. Or the way he insisted on carrying your books and walking you to and from your classes. The mixed messages were going to drive you crazy. And the worst part was that Bradley didn’t seem to realize what he was doing to you at all. The tangled snarl of your emotions is just getting tighter and tighter the more it happens. The root of the matter is that you’re in love with Bradley Bradshaw. You have been for years and each thoughtless touch and hug and kiss on the cheek? It’s like a nail in a coffin you’ve been building around yourself since the day you met him.

That brings you to now. It’s two months before your high school graduation. Bradley finally received his letter from the US Naval Academy.  You were sitting at the tiny kitchen table in the Bradshaw house, and Carole had her hands on his shoulders while you kneaded your hands together frantically as you sat across from him at the table. You can smell the scent of the lemon cleaning products Carole has been using since you were kids and feel the imperceptible shudder of the table as Bradley’s knee jolts in time with the frantic thudding of your heart. It’s silent as he rips the envelope open, and he spreads it out to read the Navy’s response. The paper is thick and heavy, each sheet embossed with the Navy logo.

From your vantage point at the table, all you can chronicle are the expressions floating across his face as he reads. At first, you can see excitement and hope. But then, with every word he reads, you can see his fingers clench around the paper, crumpling it. He tosses the letter on the table and stalks outside, the echoing crash of the back door echoing through the house.

"Can I?" Your voice is hesitant as you reach for the letter. 

"Yeah, honey. It's not good news, I'm afraid." Carole had sounded sad and a little happy at the same time. "It's going to take him a bit to adjust. Why don't you go join him?"

It's a rejection notice from the Naval Academy. You lay the letter back down and head out to find him. Like always, when he's mad, he's retreated to the shadow of the Dogwood tree in his backyard. When the two of you were younger, there had been a treehouse in it built by his Uncle Mav.

"Hey, B." You sit next to him in the grass. He's got his head in his hands and an abject look of despair on his face.

"I'm sorry." Your voice is gentle as you take in his face.

"I don't understand it. I worked so hard. And I still wasn't good enough to get in!" You can feel the exasperation in his voice as he speaks. "I did everything! And I'm a legacy. I've worked ridiculously hard! And they sent me back a letter saying that I'm not good enough to join the academy?!"

"Bradley, you can always try applying for the Navy again in a year, right?" You don't know who you're trying to convince more, him or you. "And, you know we can both go to UVA together in the meanwhile?"

"Sparrow, why would I go to UVA?" You don't know why he sounds so surprised.

"We've planned on doing that for years!" You're sure your voice and face are both exhibiting the same emotions.

"No, we haven't, Sparrow. You planned it." There's a cruel turn to his voice as he looks at you. "I never wanted to go to college with you. You're always around, and I know it's because Mom thinks you're good for me or whatever. I mean, come on. I can't always be expected to drop everything for you." Each cruel world has your heart shattering into even tinier pieces. "I'm going to San Diego. I'll stay with Uncle Mav and go to school there. I'll be closer to people in the Navy there, anyhow."

"B-but, what about us? What about our friendship?" You can't hide the quiver from your voice as you speak.

"Us? There was never an Us. You and I, we're childhood friends. Nothing more. And frankly, I think I've outgrown you." He’s looking down at you with all of the rage reflected in his eyes glaring at you.

"But, what happened? Did I do something wrong?" You're desperately reaching for anything and everything to try to understand him. "Just tell me. We've been friends for years. I'm sure I can fix whatever happened."

Bradley's voice is a cruel sneer as he looks at you. "Fix it? Fix what? I'll admit you were a good friend when we were in elementary school. But while I grew up, it didn't seem like you ever did. You're such a nerd, hiding out in the library over lunch and barely making friends. Do you even have any other friends? I mean, other than me?"

"And what about boys? There has to be somebody you like. Somebody you wanted to date. Come on. You can tell me. Or do I get to tell Marissa she was right and the pathetic little bird was in love with her best friend when he was so out of her league?"

A single tear tracks down your cheek at his words.

“Where do we go from here, then?” You’re looking into his eyes, trying and failing to corral the shattered pieces of your heart.

He tips your chin upwards, leaning into your face until you can feel the puffs of his breath on your face with a pincer grip on your chin.

“We, don’t go anywhere, little bird. You do whatever the hell it is you want to do in Virginia. I’m going to live my life without you. I wish I could say it’s nice knowing you, but frankly you’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met.” He pushes you away before stalking back into the house.

Your heart is shattered. It doesn't help either that the next two months of school are filled with giggles and rumors floating around behind your back all courtesy of one Bradley Bradshaw.

Want to request something for my 100 Follower Celebration? The guidelines are here! Please leave me a request in my inbox with your ask!

- XOXO Star

[azrielgreen]

Hi! I really hope that this doesn't come across wrong, because you're my favorite author of all time, but I am curious about how and why you write pairings with Billy? I mean, he's a violent and awful racist who tried to kill a kid. I'm just curious about Billy shippers, and I wanted to know what you think about all that! You really are my #1 author, and I really, really hope this doesn't come across as mean!

I debated answering this at all because I really don't involve myself in anything remotely related to fandom unpleasantness or the kind of immaturity that leads to "ship wars" and outright bullying, but I can tell your question was asked in good faith so this will probably be the one time I answer anything like this.

I write for myself. I write characters that interest me. I'm interested in complex characters. They have the most wiggle room for expression and interpretation of angst and growth and suffering within my kind of creative narrative. I fully appreciate that the Stranger Things fandom is where I gained traction, but I've been in fandom for a decade and I've written for Hannibal, Supernatural, Vampire Chronicles, Dragon Age among many others that I usually orphan because writing for myself is essential. I don't write to appease or instruct or create a moral guideline for how to be or how to love.

I won't reel off a list of reasons "why" i write pairings with Billy because I don't need to justify anything to anyone. I don't endorse what I write. I explore complicated characters and I feel things through them and I write and follow my creative instincts where a story might lead. I don't write to be popular, I never have, and I never will and if I thought for a second that the only reason my fics gained traction in this fandom was because anyone saw me as some kind of Anti-Billy Flag-waver, I'd delete every single thing I wrote including my AO3 username. Luckily, I know that's not the case and those who like my writing and stories enjoy them because they're smart enough to select what they like and leave what they don't.

I think there's a stunning level of dissonance between people who are insecure and fandom and those who are secure. It's fanfiction. It's literally transformative works. I can transform whatever I like and I write what I'm drawn to and I am drawn, always, to complicated characters with the potential for growth and evolution from low places. I've written so much for so many fandoms and some of what I've written has been pure, ice cold horror, straight up. The idea that I'm supposed to be someone who only ever writes Fandom Stamp-Approved Characters is hilarious to me. I write about murderers, people who kill, soldiers, assassins and even serial killers. I could spend time and energy explaining why I'm drawn to writing darker elements and giving them a bright, hopeful growth arc but I shouldn't have to explain ANYTHING and I don't, so I won't and please, anyone else reading, do not ever feel like you have to explain or justify what you write. That path leads nowhere good. No one should regulate what people write. NO ONE has the right to bully someone out of a fandom because they disagree with what they're writing about. No one.

I have always tried to be very open and supportive about encouraging people to feel safe exploring their interests, be it kink, trauma, whatever. I'll fight fiercely to defend people's right to enjoy literally whatever the fuck they want because life is hard, time is short, real life is disappointing and AO3 at the end of a long day can be comforting as fuck. The idea that some people are handwringing because people write about a "violent awful racist who tried to kill a kid" is so ridiculous to me it makes me laugh every single time. It's not real. It's a story. It's a TV show. I can explore whatever I want and so can everyone else.

Here's the very closest you'll come to hearing me give reasons why and I'm only doing it because I want other people who feel belittled and bullied and shamed for exploring what they're drawn to, to see this. The person I was at 17 years old is nothing like the person I am now and I cannot emphasise that strongly enough. I come from an abusive home. The girl I was at 17, 18, 19 and even 20... if I met her now, I wouldn't know her and she absolutely wouldn't know me. I lost who I was as a child because I was abused and it's only in the last ten years I had enough experience, distance and self-exploration to rediscover myself and really grow. Nothing excuses racism or violence. Me writing these characters is not excusing it. Writing domestic violence is not endorsing domestic violence. People need to understand this because it's a massive problem in the queer publishing community; this idea that all queer media needs to be morally squeaky clean, to be flawless and sexless and adhere to the perfect cis-heteronormative outline in order to be "acceptable" and not cast a pall on queers overall. I believe people can change. I believe people can see themselves in a piece of media and WANT to be better. I know because it happened to me. People can change. I like to think there are circumstances in which Billy could change. In which there was an intervention point, the possibility for redemption.

Fanfiction isn't real life. I would be so happy if people could understand this. Fiction is FICTION. It's exploration, it's themes, it's freedom of expression, it's art, it's for fun. It's not for everyone. No single thing is for everyone and it never, ever should be. My writing isn't for everyone. That makes me really happy because it means those who might resonate with what I write, will find it and have their own space to enjoy it. I'm a person with finite energy and time who dedicates a lot of that energy and time to this corner of fandom where I reasonably expect to be able to write whatever the hell I like however I like and if anyone has a different opinion of that, they'll be sorely disappointed. Complex, flawed characters whose experiences mirror my own will always be compelling to me and I will always be drawn to exploring redemptive narratives for them. If people don't like it, they don't have to read. If they get upset that I'm writing something they disagree with, that's on them and if they feel the need to draw attention to their discomfort, that's far less to do with the person they're complaining about and more an indication they need to do some serious shadow work.

Thank you for your question, no harm was inferred and I wish you all the best. Az. 💜💜💜

[writersmacchiato]

Misc. Masterlist

► main masterlist ◄

❀ - headcanons

✩ - scenario

♡ - fluff

☁ - angst

* - personal favorites

The Chronicles of Narnia

 ➳ Edmund Pevensie

Lucy sets you up with her brother | ❀♡

Soft Edmund* | ❀♡

Proper | You should be nicer to him. He is a king of Narnia after all, but he makes it difficult.♡✩

Prompt request: “Don’t blame me for falling”♡

Come Around | Meetcute with Edmund at a bookstore!!✩♡

Three Years | You see Edmund after three years. *set in Voyage of the Dawn Treader!* ♡

 ➳ Peter Pevensie

Like Narnia* | ✩♡

Soft Peter* | ❀♡

Golden | Peter would do anything to keep his siblings, and Narnia, safe - even if it means marrying someone he has never met. ✩☁♡

➳ Susan Pevensie

Youuu | Perfection doesn’t exist. {blurb} ☁

Teen Wolf

 ➳ Liam Dunbar

Ugly Sweater* | Liam must love you a lot if he’s willing to wear matching ugly sweaters with you. ✩♡

 ➳ Isaac Lahey

Bonfire* | Isaac comes home for Christmas. ✩♡

 ➳ Theo Raekan

Second Chances* | Theo is an asshole but he shared Oreos with you as a kid, so maybe you’ll give him another chance? ✩☁♡

Medici: The Magnificent 

 ➳ Francesco Pazzi

Troubled Heart | You love Francesco but the Pazzi conspiracy ruins any chance you had at a happy ending. ✩☁ {Medici!Reader}

Being Married to Him* | ❀♡

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

 ➳ Horace Somnusson

Gentleman* | Horace can’t sleep, nothing unusual, but this time he isn’t alone. ✩♡

 ➳ Jacob Portman

The Setup | The peculiar children attempt to set you up with Jacob. It kinda works. ✩♡

➳ Millard Nullings

Fate* | It’s a bit funny how perfect your peculiar ability seems to complement Millard, almost like fate. ✩♡

Peaky Blinders

 ➳ Bonnie Gold

Adoration* | soft smut but make it poetic. (18+) ✩

Blessing | You fall in love with Bonnie Gold, but Tommy - who has always looked out for you - doesn’t approve. ✩♡☁

Hold On, Hold You | The Billy Boys attack you in place of Bonnie. Will you survive the night? ✩☁

Ratched

➳ Huck Finnigan

You and Me* | Huck takes you to a special spot to ask you an important question. ♡

Soft HCs ♡

Call it a Date | Huck Finnigan has a heart of gold, something you tell him before asking him to escort you to the Spring Formal.

Shazam!

➳ Billy Batson

Dating Billy would include…

Sleep | Billy has trouble sleeping (takes place after the first movie)

[letterniece8-blog]

Black Films and Artists Thrive at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival

By NNPA News Wire Film Critic Dwight Brown

The 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival featured films, docs, shorts, TV, tech seminars and immersive experiences. It was a 21st century gathering place for filmmakers, artists and fans.  

Black films, directors, actors and artists shared the glory and attention with other contemporaries who were proud to have TFF as an international venue. As the festival inches towards the two-decade mark, it’s only getting better and maturing like a fine wine.  

Black Films, Filmmakers, Actors and Artists

17 Blocks (****) Life expectancy in the U.S. averages out to around 79 years of age. That statistic skews much lower in this poignant and profound documentary about a Washington, D.C. family that’s on a different path. In 1999, nine-year old Emmanuel is given a movie camera. He uses it to chronicle the exploits of his mom, older brother, older sister and extended family. His lens captures the love in the air, the danger outside and the hope he brings to his family for a son who could be the first in their brood to go to college. Drugs, gangs and violence lurk. Emmanuel’s destiny takes a turn that will leave viewers spellbound. Over a 20-year period, this family’s dynamics, conflicts, breath throughs and tribulations are recorded like an urban allegory. The span of time is reminiscent of the Oscar-nominated drama Boyhood. The soul of a young man gets an enduring legacy thanks to the power of film.

The Apollo (***1/2) The Apollo Theater was always so much more than a performing arts venue. Since 1934, it’s been a community center, talent scout hub, training ground for countless artists and a mecca that is destined to be both a shrine and a progressive cultural home—for years to come. Director Roger Ross Williams helms this ambitious project, Lisa Cortes is a producer and the perceptive writing by Cassidy Hartmann and Roger Ross Williams pays respect to the hall’s past and its extended family. The footage is most exciting when it depicts performances by legendary artists (Ella, Duke, Dinah, Billie), Motown (Smokey, Supremes, Temptations) and comedians (Moms Mabley, Richard Pryor). Veterans (e.g. Patti Labelle) share their anecdotes. The late Ralph Cooper recollects starting Amateur Night. Rarely has a history lesson been so damn entertaining.  

Burning Cane (***) And what were you doing at age 17? Phillip Youmans was writing his first script, which he turned into this Southern Louisiana melodrama about a mother (Karen Kaia Livers) who deals with an alcoholic adult son (Dominique McClellan), his boy (Braelyn Kelly) and a recently widowed and stressed-out preacher (Wendell Pierce). The sun beats down on this luckless family, who grinds itself into a deeper and deeper hole. Youmans’ premise and maturity go well beyond his years. He puts his characters in an angst that hovers over the entire production. For tone and drama, he gets an A+. For storytelling, a B-. For tech elements a C. The gritty feel is reminiscent of a John Cassavetes movie. Youmans’ cinematography needs developing; camera placement is questionable as is the lighting. If the footage has a Beast of the Southern Wild synergy, it’s because this movie’s executive producer, Ben Zeitlin, was that film’s director. 

Devil’s Pie—D’Angelo (***1/2) Lots of musicians attract a following, but D’Angelo’s fans can be classified as an avid cult with extremely good taste in soul music. Part of the Grammy winner’s mystique centers around his 14-year-absence from recording (Voodoo in 2000; Black Messiah in 2014), which stunned his admirers. That mystery, his childhood, resurgence, live shows, recording sessions and musings are on view in this wonderfully crafted homage. Home movies and photos depict his upbringing, influential grandmother and days as his church’s organist. Personal anecdotes reveal his problems with alcohol and drugs. Attesting to his musical savvy and eccentricities are Questlove, Dave Chappelle and Erykah Badu. Though many put D’Angelo in his own niche (R&B, soul, funk, sexy songs with a hint of jazz), Prince’s influence is quite obvious when the singer wails. Thank documentarian Carina Bijlsma for the candid glimpse at a musical innovator who should be called a genius. Get ready to tap your toes and sing along to “Brown Sugar.” 

Gully (*1/2)  Music video director Nabil Elderkin steps into the deep end of feature filmmaking and flounders. His technique is solid, especially the ways he moves the camera (cinematographer Adriano Goldman) around on evocative shots of palm tree-lined streets in Los Angeles. However, he’s wasted his talent on a misguided script (Marcus Guillory) that focuses on three unlikable and aimless adolescents (Jacob Latimore, Charlie Plummer, Kelvin Harrison Jr.). The trio go from playing violent video games to assaulting people on the streets—without any obvious motivation. Yes, they each have troubled pasts, but nothing that warrants physical attacks. Never believable. Never compelling. Pointless. Kids have excuses for making bad decisions. Adults, like the ones who made this repulsive drivel, do not. 

Inna De Yard: The Soul of Jamaica (***) Showing admiration for reggae musicians from the ‘70s and ‘80s is this very inspiring doc’s goal. Shot largely in the hills above Kingston, British director Peter Webber gives a comeback platform to senior reggae stars like Ken Boothe, Winston McAnuff, Kiddus I, and Cedric Myton. Long past their heyday but still able to sell a song. Their stories of past triumphs are riveting and it’s a joy to watch them record again. They’re backed up by young musicians eager to play with their heroes. Judy Mowatt, legendary former Bob Marley backup singer, is a revelation. Reggae music, like Jamaica, is all about peace and love. That’s the takeaway. That’s what the audience will remember about this rousing, heartfelt documentary. 

A Kid from Coney Island (***) We’re well-acquainted with basketball’s most successful players who soared into fame and fortune (Kobe, Magic, Michael, Larry, LeBron). We’re less familiar with hoop dream athletes who struggled. Stephon Marbury grew up in the Coney Island projects, where the only choices for rising above the fray was becoming a rapper, drug dealer or basketball player. Obsessed with the sport from a young age, he was influenced by his dad and brothers and nurtured by his older sis and mom. Steph was destined for greatness. He became a city champion, college star, draft choice and NBA legend. Only fate tossed him curve balls. Under the prying eye of doc directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, viewers watch a very talented man withstand the death of a parent, depression, a career that stalls and a surprisingly spiritual path to redemption. In this eye-opening and sobering documentary, we see how an eight-pound orange ball can take an inner-city kid to the other side of the world. More ups and downs and as exciting as the Cyclone roller coaster ride on Coney Island.

Lil’ Buck: Real Swan (***) The kids in Charles “Lil’ Buck” Riley’s low-income outer Memphis neighborhood flocked to the local roller rink at night and waited for the skating to stop and the dancing to begin. Jookin’ is the local dance form, akin to Crunking, Gangsta Walking and Michael Jackson’s stop-start-twirls. Lil’ Buck won a scholarship to a Memphis dance school, and added ballet to his mix. His blend of urban dance and classic technique is amazing to watch. Equally entrancing is this beguiling look at a young kid who blossoms as a person and a dancer. A career in L.A., performances with Yo-Yo Ma and touring the world are like a dream come true. Director Louis Wallecan doesn’t miss one step. Interviews with family, friends and admirers highlight a hybrid street dance, an art form created by an innovator who transcends life and description. 

Only (**1/2) What if? What if after the apocalypse a virus became a plague that only killed women? That’s the premise of writer/director Takashi Doscher’s ultra-modern and very scary sci-fi nightmare. The focus is on a couple, Eva (Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire) and Will (Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton) who survive indoors using hazmat suits to stave off danger. Every scene is as creepy as the premise. Nice performances from the two leads. Ugly cinematography (Sean Stiegemeier) done in shades of gray, greens and browns make footage dreary. Can’t say Dosher is an accomplished filmmaker—yet, but this movie hits a nerve. Also, coming from a male director there is a misogynist undertone that just doesn’t feel right. 

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (***) Saying she liked keepsakes is putting it mildly. Librarian, TV producer and political activist Marion Stokes had an obsession: capturing the news as it was depicted on TV. From 1979 (Iranian hostage crisis) to 2012 (Sandy Hook tragedy), she recorded newsfeeds from the networks on 70,000 VHS tapes. For an enlightening and somewhat somber history lesson, view this documentary to see how far society has evolved and what it has left in its wake. Documentarian Matt Wolf handpicks clips, adds in the essence of Stokes’ personality and interviews witnesses to her hobby. He creates a thought-provoking look at the upheavals, controversies and conflicts that have shaped this country. Racial and social issues come to the forefront.  

Roads (**1/2) Actor turned director and writer Sebastian Schipper (Run Lola Runand Victoria) examines immigration with this vibrant road movie. British teen Gyllen (Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk) steals his stepfather’s RV while in Morocco and heads towards France to visit his father. Along the way, he picks up a fellow traveler, William (Stéphane Bak), who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s interesting to watch the way they are treated differently as they travel. Gyllen makes his anger known and is oblivious to danger. The more reserved William knows danger way too well and can smell it before it happens. Their divergent points of view and cultural differences speak more about race relations than a college course. A thoughtful script (Schipper and Oliver Ziegenbalg), nice performances from the teens. Final scenes that depict refugees’ confined lives in France are solemn. 

Skin (***1/2)  Tsotsi was the 2006 Oscar-Winner for Best Foreign Film and it chronicled the evolution of a hoodlum who seemed beyond redemption. This very daring and similar drama by writer/director Guy Nattiv is equally emancipating in its own way. Bryon Widner (Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool), a twentysomething skinhead is bullied by his adoptive parents (Vera Farmiga, Bill Camp) who are violent white supremacists. Life changes for him when he meets a single mom (Danielle Macdonald, Patti Cake$). It takes an even greater turn when he comes under the watchful eye of social activist Darlye Jenkins (Mike Colter, Luke Cage), whose foundation, One People’s Project, specializes in converting neo-Nazis. This is possibly the biggest character arc you will ever see in a film. Tense, suspenseful, dramatic, romantic and cathartic. Excellent performances from all in this stick-to-your-ribs true story. Watching human garbage turn into human beings can be extremely gratifying. Excellent. 

What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (***) Oscar-winner When We Were Kings focussed on Muhammad Ali’s “The Rumble in the Jungle” match. Does this doc have that much majesty? Almost. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) takes a more all-encompassing approach. Using never-before-seen archival footage, and with a great sense of pacing (editor Jake Pushinsky), Fuqua highlights Ali’s pinnacles and low points. He explores the champion’s social activism and personal life. Details about his entry into boxing, teenage years, relationships with Malcolm X and Sam Cooke are on the screen. The most surprising revelation is that Ali’s decision to flaunt a larger-than-life egocentric persona was influenced by the flamboyant wrestler Gorgeous George. Most of the memorable quotes come from Ali’s lips. It’s like he’s reaching back from the grave to remind us how brash and brave he was. Illuminating. 

Films of Note

After Parkland (****) Rarely if ever does a film put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye for its entire length. Be prepared to be awed, humbled and inspired by the Parkland, Florida victims, survivors and activists. You’ve seen their faces on the news, now you get a close-up look at the people behind the headlines and the indomitable spirit they’ve collectively created that is bound to bring about change. The kids and adults are so bright and articulate that their words carry the film:  “Someone was hunting my classmates.” “Bullets shred anything in sight. Tissue, walls, desks, backpacks.” “We’re going to change the world.” Expert technique and sensitive filming by directors Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman make this an Oscar-caliber documentary.

Crown Vic  (***) The cop/crime/thriller genre gets a healthy dose of personal drama in this L.A.-based film noir that’s rough around the edges. First-time feature film director/writer Joel Souza pairs up two L.A.P.D. cops. The older crusty patrol officer Ray Mandel (Thomas Jane, Boogie Nights) shepherds the naive rookie Nick (Luke Kleintank, TV’s Bones) on an overnight shift. Meanwhile, two bank robbers/killers are on the loose. Mandel’s chilling words: “Take your badge off and put it in the glove box.” Their policing takes a turn towards the gutter. The beginning of the film is marred by too much dialogue in a claustrophobic patrol car, which kills momentum. Souza adds in a funny scene with a drunk lady, friction with undercover cops (Josh Hopkins, David Krumholtz) and a search for a missing kid to spice up the night. Jane is the glue and mortar. The dialogue is strong too. Mandel: ‘People Sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men do violence on their behalf.”  Someone call 911!

The Kill Team (**1/2) Dan Krauss made a doc about a true-life incident involving an infantryman in Afghanistan in 2010 who dealt with a commanding officer who was violent to innocent locals and his platoon too. He’s turned that project into a feature film, with varied results. Actor Nat Wolff plays the soldier and Alexander Skarsgård stars as the disturbed leader who doles out harsh reality to his men: “We kill people. That’s what we do. Do you have a problem with that?” The enlistee is in a quandary that could take his own life. How would you react? That intriguing premise saves the film. Edited down to 87 minutes (editor Franklin Peterson), the footage is never attractive (Stéphane Fontaine), the performances are only decent and the emotion never runs deep. Still, this film tells a powerful story.

Linda Ronstandt: The Sound of My Voice (***1/2) Singing in Linda Ronstandt’s family was as common as Sunday dinner, and she had the best voice, too. As a teen in a sibling folk group she developed a sense of harmony and a performance presence that kick-started her career in L.A. In the music industry, she stood out as a woman in a man’s world. She led her own band, made her own career decisions and went through a world-famous metamorphosis: Folk, pop, rock, soul, light opera, big band and Mexican folk music—she did it all. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman bless the footage with childhood photos, concert video and insights by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt. The very well-read Ronstandt herself pipes in with anecdotes and philosophies that underline her intelligence shed light on her battle with Parkinson’s disease. A trip down memory lane, done to the tune of Grammy-winning songs by rock n’ roll’s first female superstar. A visual and audio retrospective that sticks with you. 

The Quiet One (***1/2) The meek shall inherit the earth—and other stuff. Bill Wyman, the quietest musician in the Rolling Stones, is a historian. Director Oliver Murray gives the group’s bass player all the room he needs to shed light on his role as the band’s sober member. Fortunately for Stones fans, he was an avid collector of footage, photos and other memorabilia. You could almost classify him as a hoarder, except his stunning collection is so damn neat and organized. He’s stockpiled his knick-knacks in the most orderly filing system with documentation so elaborate it would shame a librarian. Hearing him talk about his idols Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Muddy Water and Howlin’ Wolf is heart-warming. Behind-the scenes details about the Rolling Stones’ tragedies, fiascos and creative process are equally fascinating. Oddly, the film does not cover Wyman’s controversial relationship with a teenager. Special shout out to Tim Sidell’s gorgeous cinematography and Anne Perri’s astute editing. Wyman is a quiet treasure and so is this doc.  

Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation (***) “Well I came upon a child of God, He was walking along the road, And I asked him, Tell me where are you going, And this he told me…” Director Barak Goodman and his co-writer Don Kleszy take audiences behind the scenes of Woodstock to the muddy fields, horrible weather and peace/love vibe that became the legend of the occasion. It’s an event that has never been repeated successfully. Still, from the viewpoint of the common people who went, we get a new perception that those “highly” spiritual and heady days were more than a one-time phenomenon, they spawned a vibe that far outlived the concerts. On the stages, in this temporary city of 400,000 hippies, musicians like Richie Havens, CSN, Jimi Hendrix and the bunch look like heroes, though not as quite as gusty or adaptable as the venue’s stunned promoters: John Roberts and Joel Rosenman. Refreshing and a complete joy to watch in this day and age of hate mongering. 

Tribeca is building a solid reputation as a film festival that values diversity, inclusion and new voices. It’s a champ at spotlighting emerging talent from around the U.S. and the world. 

It’s no wonder black films, artists, their fans and others are supporting the fest with their work, participation and attendance. 

For more information about Tribeca Film Festival go to: https://www.tribecafilm.com

Visit NNPA News Wire Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com and BlackPressUSA.com.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle. 

Source: https://www.blackpressusa.com/black-films-and-artists-thrive-at-2019-tribeca-film-festival/

[kyukurator-blog]

DARK STAR -- JAKE GYLLENHAAL

We put off watching designer-turned-director Tom Ford’s sophomore endeavor Nocturnal Animals because we thought it was going to be more work than it was worth.

Wrong.  It’s scary and complex and really stuck with us. 

Amy Adams is the star.  But somehow the image that lodged in our heads is a profile shot of Jake Gyllenhaal through a car window.  As Gyllenhaal has aged, his cheekbones have gotten dangerously high.  Here they’re set off by a luxuriant beard and an expression that’s much too wounded for a man that handsome.

Gyllenhaal was nominated for the BAFTA Best Actor (Affleck won), but didn’t make it to the list of Oscar nominees.

Despite starring in some big mainstream films he’s repeatedly to taken on roles that are alternative, risky, and/or purposely askew.  

       NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (2016)

The story structure sounds complicated on paper, but works onscreen.   Amy Adams is an haute-art gallery owner in LA, locked in a glass and chrome cage of her own making.  Her high-flying dealmaker husband is in a slump and they’re feeling the pinch.  Meanwhile, he’s cheating on her, a fact that her effete friends see as par for the course.

She gets a package.  In it is a novel, written by her first husband, estranged for 20 years.  It’s dedicated to her.  Alone at night in her hilltop aerie, she starts reading.

As she reads, we dive into the world of the novel, and it’s a dark one.  A bunch of lowlifes isolate a traveling family late at night on a desolate West Texas road, brutalize the husband and kidnap the wife and teenage daughter.   Things get just about as ugly as you can imagine.

As things play out, we come back to the present, then flash back to the first marriage.  Gyllenhaal plays both Adams’ first husband and the husband in the book.  We see how she betrayed him, dooming herself to a life of emptiness, and leaving him him longing for revenge, whiich is the final theme of his novel.

Trailer:  

And the whole movie has just been released for online purchase:

NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

In this indie film which he also produced, Gyllenhaal’s performance is simultaneously ingenuous and creepy.    Perfectly sociopathic. Gyllenhaal turns the earnest eagerness that drove his more mainstream performances into a mask on a soul without morals or compunction.

His character is a “nightcrawler” – a freelance videographer who trolls the freeways and police band radio waves looking for the freshest, bloodiest, most gruesome footage he can find, then sells it to local network news.

It’s a skeevy profession to start, and Gyllenhaal’s character takes it the capitalistic next step.

Although we didn’t realize it at the time, this was the first time we saw another rising star – British rapper/actor Riz Ahmed, who since has appeared in HBO miniseries The Night Of, Star Wars Rogue One, and popped up this weekend as Hannah’s new surfer dude love interest last Sunday in Girls.  Oh yeah, and also last Sunday being awkwardly mistaken for BAFTA winner Dev Patel in an “embarrassing Twitter blunder” by Burberry.

OCTOBER SKY (1999)

Jake and sister Maggie (featured in last week’s post) are the children of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner – they’d been acting since they were young.  Both of them were in their dad’s 1995 movie A Dangerous Woman and Jake played Billy Crystal’s kid in City Slickers.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfL3lWNOOoQ

Gyllenhaal’s first lead role was Homer Hickam in October Sky.  It’s the true story story of a coal miner’s son who is inspired by the 1958 launch of Sputnik, starts building his own rockets, and eventually ends up at NASA.

Janet Maslin didn’t love the movie but attributes Gyllenhaal with “beguiling eagerness”.  Beleaguered Chris Cooper is his foil in a classic father/son story that manages to avoid the obvious traps to be both inspiring and genuinely moving.

Gyllenhaal was 17 and still in high school when he shot the movie – the same age as his character.

DONNY DARKO (2001)

Gyllenhaal’s second feature lead was the title character in Richard Kelly’s cult hit Donny Darko.  It was at this point that it first became obvious that he wasn’t always going to make the safe choice. Darko became a cult hit and the signature film for the early part of his career.

It’s hard to imagine anybody else embodying Donny the way Gyllenhaal did, fluidly oscillating from utter normalcy to complete insanity, sometimes within a single scene.

High school student Donny is visited by a demonic six foot rabbit named Frank, who predicts the world’s end.  Donny is either schizophrenic, can penetrate extranormal dimensions – or probably both.  We’re never quite sure if he’s crazy or not — but at the end of the film it seems like the rabbit was telling him the truth.

It’s a story of teen angst married to sci-fi and abnormal psychology.  The solid supporting cast includes sister Maggie and Drew Barrymore (whose company bankrolled the production).

It had a lukewarm premiere at Sundance 2001, then was saved from straight to DVD oblivion by young Christopher Nolan who midwifed its release.  It came out  just after 9/11 and floundered in theaters but refused to die, eventually settling into cult status though a nearly endless round of late night and revival screenings.

ZODIAK (2007)

After a fabulous run in the early 2000’s (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room) David Fincher took a few years off, then returned with this finely wrought mystery thriller.

In it, Gyllenhaal once again plays a character who sees things that nobody else does.  He’s the unlikely and late-breaking hero of the piece, Robert Graysmith — a geeky outsider editorial cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle — who eventually wrote the book the movie is based on.

Gyllenhaal’s character has no professional reason to be obsessed with the titular serial killer.  But he becomes obsessed anyway.  He likes puzzles, and sees patterns in the Zodiac killer’s work where nobody else sees patterns.  And once he starts seeing those patterns, he’s hooked.  As the other main characters come and go over 20 years, so does the Zodiac himself; but Graysmith continues obsessively following the trail.

It’s a great cast – in addition to Gyllenhaal, there’s Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox.  And it’s a bravura piece of filmmaking.  With a remarkable clarity of vision and obsession with detail, Fincher makes a film that is more his own than anything that came before holds your attention through two and a half hours.  It only did moderately well (in Fincher terms), but was a critical favorite and made most of that year’s Top Ten lists.

THE GOOD GIRL (2002)

This was a particularly hard list to pare down – there’s the iconic Brokeback Mountain, the Denis Villenueve films Enemy and Prisoners, and the beefier but still uniquely Gyllenhaal roles of Jarhead and Southpaw.

But we’re going back to the beginning again for Gyllenhaal’s early pairing with a severely underappreciated Jennifer Anniston in a capitalist critique masquerading as a dark comedy.

Once again, the female character is trapped in a dead-end live — but at the opposite end of the economic scale.  Jennifer Aniston plays  a clerk in a southern big box store, married to amiable stoner house painter John C. Reilly. Enter young new cashier Holden Worther, a quiet kid who is obsessed with Catcher in the Rye.  Slowly an irresistible attraction develops, until Aniston finally gives in and an affair begins.

Yes, it’s really hard to believe that even an older women would not desert John C. Reilly for a dewy Jake.  But this is not a cookie-cutter movie – Miquel Arteta’s previous film was Chuck and Buck, and the satiric script is by Mike White, who also appears as the store’s nasty Jesus freak security guard.  There are twists and turns, and even though the ending looks happy-ish, it leaves you with a sinking feeling.

In a strange way, you can see the seeds of Jack Twist in Gyllenhaal’s performance here, even though it’s amazing to think that Brokeback was just three years away.

And watching this movie makes you feel a little sorry for Jennifer Aniston – this was a really audacious choice for her.  If she hadn’t had another couple of years of Friends ahead, her career might have taken and entirely different turn.

Weirdly, this movie isn’t currently available online (except for maybe unofficial version on YouTube).

The DVD is cheap on Amazon. 

DARK STAR — JAKE GYLLENHAAL was originally published on FollowTheThread

[falling-star-cygnus]

Billy chronically rocks with ass-kickin women and i love that for him -> he really went from:

the Sons of Calydon [and i see you, Lighter, bbg, i do] to the Cunning Hares and in neither is he in a commanding role -> this man supports women's right's AND women's wrongs!!

if we ever get a reveal of the drifters he had travelled with before the Sons, i really hope they're all women too

BUT IF THEY'RE NOT- [if they're all MEN] -> i invite you to imagine with me:

Drifter, trying to tug Billy off to the side: Hey- hey, Kid. Billy, swatting him off but leaning down to sort of have a private convo: What? *the rest of the hares' not so covertly listen in* Drifter, whispering: We sold you to those Sons of Calydon people, why are you with the Cunning Hares!? Billy, also whispering: They recruited me! Drifter: What!? *bewildered silence* Drifter: ...Damn. Damn, Kid. All the broads want you Billy: Don't- call my coworkers.. broads. Please.