#carol and bernard bonding

[k4pp4-8]

any particular OK KO headcanons you have? I love your art, btw!!

Thank you!!!💞💞 I actually had alot of headcanons (most of them are about boxmore of course🤭) so here's a lil' list of the ones I can remember :

•the reason why we barely see mikayla is because she's very lazy and spends most of her time sleeping :3 she falls asleep in the most random places in the factory so the others always have to watch their steps bc if you wake her up you WILL regret it

•also her hobbies include watching anime and chasing random ppl on the street

•fink doesn't call veonmous her dad because she was scared that he doesn't see her as his "real" kid, that's also why she hates KO so much

•after darrell saw a pic of young boxlad in his sailor uniform he begged his father to buy him one so he could dress like boxman

•darrell and fink both love halloween for different reasons. Darrell loves the costumes and fink loves scary things (she always makes the bots watch horror movies)

•jethro, shannon, raymond & darrell love karaoke

•compared from ernesto and darrell, the robots dont really do alot of work in the factory

•darrell got a harmonica for christmas but he's terrible at playing it so the others always try to get rid of it but he somehow always find it

•after sibling rivalry raymond & shannon started bonding bc they realized they have alot in common. This actually made darrell jealous bc he's used to being the one who hangs out with shannon the most

•darrell can't swim!! if you take his floatie away he'll sink like a rock

•venomous enjoys talking with ernesto the most because he's much more calm and mature than his siblings

•fink called boxman "boxdad" by accident, he cried

•fink and darrell are still sharing a room

•foxtail is like an aunt to KO, she often comes to the plaza just to see him and she tells him stories about his mother's hero days at P.O.I.N.T

•shannon dyed KO's hair blond once (he looked even more like carol than usual)•darrell kept the bodega vest (that's one more costume for his collection!)

•shannon secretly has a deep love and appreciation for darrell (THIS ONE IS CANON I JUST WANTED TO POINT IT OUT!!!)

•the "oldest" to "youngest" robots according to me based on vibes : mr.logic > ernesto > raymond > darrell(barely) > shannon > mikayla > jethro > boxman jr

•rad's parents & enid's parents are literally bestfriends. They hang out together, they always call each other, and they always show baby pictures of their kids to each other.

•Ofrang & theodosia often babysit boris and icky

•bernard's a house-husband

•enid & rad play a shit ton of dance dance revolution

•boxman & mr.gar used to be childhood bestfriends who had a falling out and became sworn enemies (ok this one is based on nothing i just thought it would be a fun and interesting concept (also I wanted an excuse to draw gar and boxman as kids)

•darrell was a surprisingly great employee at the bodega (especially for someone who spent every day of his life trying to destroy it)

•he actually doesn't hate the plaza, he doesn't even dislike it he's just attacking it to make boxman happy

•boxman & venomous rebuilt boxman junior

•all their kids actually really like jr except fink and darrell who absolutely hate him. They often conspire to get rid of him.

•Junior hates KO more than anything in the world

•The boxbots wanted a pet so boxman built them double beat so they'd stop annoying him, he actually became the one who loves her the most and he spoils her alot

•drupe and raymond became besties after season 3

•the first time shannon worked at mr.logic hair salon she tried to cut a customer's hair with her buzz-saw

[444namesplus]

Ababan Abhinav Abhishek Abigàl Abrahan Absalon Abundí Acevedon Acostan Adalberton Adam Adamon Adams Adan Adarsh Adelan Adelası Adelen Adelhèd Adelmon Adelàdan Adelı Adesh Adin Adisodan Adkins Adolf Adolfon Adrìnnen Adrın Adrınan Adrınon African Agapiton Agathan Agnes Agnolon Agnès Agostinon Agustinan Agùlar Agùrren Agūdan Ajish Ajit Ajä Akhil Akhilan Alan Alban Albanon Albericon Albert Albertan Alberton Albin Albinan Aldon Alejandran Alejandron Alessandran Alessandron Alessı Alex Alexander Alexandran Alexandren Alexis Alfonson Alford Alfred Alfredon Alicen Alicı Alin Alinan Alinen Alison Allan Allen Allison Alman Almudenan Almut Alodı Alondran Alphons Alston Altagracı Alvan Alvaradon Alvaran Alvarez Alvaron Alvin Alwin Alyssan Alàn Alœs Amadé Amalı Amandan Amandinen Amber Ambican Amedé Amelı Amin Amit Amitan Ammar Amparon Amritan Amyn Amäan Amélì Anan Ananyan Anderson Andren Andres Andrew Andrews André Andréen Andrĕ Andrĕs Andyn Angel Angelan Angeles Angelican Angelikan Angelinan Angelon Angéliqū Angì Anibal Aniceton Anil Anirban Aniruddhan Anitan Anjalin Ankit Ankitan Ann Annalisan Annalìsen Annan Annelisen Annelìsen Annemarì Annen Annettan Annetten Annick Annì Ansgar Anteron Anthonyn Anton Antonìtan Antonìttan Antoní Antonı Antœnen Antœnetten Anuj Anun Anup Anupam Anupaman Anurag Anushrē April Apōrvan Aracelin Arantxan Arindam Arjun Arlenen Arletten Arlon Armandon Armin Armstrong Arndt Arnold Arnâd Aron Arpitan Arsení Arthur Artin Arturon Arun Arunachalam Arundhatin Arvid Arvind Aryaman Aryan Arìl Ascensín Ashlë Ashokan Ashvin Ashwin Astrid Asuncín Asēm Atkins Atkinson Averyn Avilan Axel Azucenan

Baker Baldassaren Baldwin Balin Ball Ballabh Ballard Banks Baptisten Barbaran Barber Barker Barlow Barnes Barnett Barr Barreran Barrett Barron Barryn Bartlett Bartolomen Bartolomé Barton Basilí Bass Bastın Bates Battlen Baxter Beck Becker Beckyn Begonan Belen Belindan Bell Beltran Ben Bender Benedetton Benedikt Beneharon Benitan Beniton Benjamin Bennett Benoît Benson Bentlë Benton Benvenuton Beppen Berenicen Berg Berger Bernadetten Bernard Bernardinon Bernardon Bernd Bernicen Berryn Bertan Berthan Bertram Bertrand Bessì Best Beth Bethanyn Betsyn Bettinan Bettyn Beverlyn Bharat Bhardwaj Bhavesh Bhupinder Bhushan Bibin Bijun Bill Billyn Billì Binod Binun Bipashan Bird Bishop Black Blackburn Blackwell Blaken Blancan Blanchard Blanchen Blankenship Blas Blevins Blàr Bob Bobbyn Bobbì Bodon Bolton Bond Bonifací Bonner Bonnì Bowen Bowers Bowman Brad Bradford Bradlë Bradshaw Bradyn Branch Brandin Brandon Brandyn Brendan Brennan Brent Brett Brewer Bridges Bridget Briggs Bright Brigitten Britt Brittanyn Brock Brown Browning Brucen Brunildan Brunon Bryan Bryant Brâlí Brä Brın Brōken Brōks Buchanan Buck Bucklë Buckner Bullock Burch Burgess Burken Burks Burnett Burns Burris Burt Burton Bush Butler Byers Byrd Byron Bàlë Bàrd Bâer Béatricen Bêlah Bód Bóer Bólen Bĕch Bĕn Bĕrd Bĕslë Bĕt Bĕtan Bĕtricen Bĕtriz Bıncamarı Bıncan Bınkan Bōker Bōnen Bōth

Cabreran Calderon Caldwell Calhòn Calixton Callahan Calvin Camachon Cameron Camilan Camillan Camillen Camillon Campbell Campos Candacen Candicen Candidan Candidon Cannon Cantrell Cantun Canuton Cardenas Caridad Carl Carlan Carlos Carlotan Carlson Carmelon Carmen Carminen Carnë Carol Carolen Carolinan Carolinen Carolyn Carpenter Carr Carrillon Carroll Carrì Carson Carter Carver Carë Casen Cash Casimiron Casper Cassandran Castanedan Castillon Castron Casë Catalinan Caterinan Catherinen Cathyn Catrinan Cecelı Cecil Cecilı Celinen Celı Cervantes Cesar Cesaren Chad Chambers Chan Chandler Chandrajit Chang Chantal Chanë Chapman Charlenen Charles Charlotten Charlì Chasen Chavez Chaxiraxin Chelsĕ Cheman Chen Cherryn Cheryl Chester Chloé Chris Christan Christel Christellen Christensen Christinan Christinen Christof Christophen Christopher Christyn Christì Christın Christınen Church Chıran Cindyn Citlalin Claran Clarencen Clark Clarken Clelı Clements Clemons Cleveland Clifford Clifton Clinen Clinton Clotilden Clyden Clàren Clâden Clâdinen Clâdí Clâdı Clä Cläton Clémencen Clément Cobb Coburan Cochran Codyn Coffë Cohen Colbyn Coleman Colen Coletten Colin Collins Collìr Collēn Colon Colton Combs Compton Concepcín Conlë Conner Connì Conrad Consolacín Constancen Constantinon Consūlon Contreras Conwä Copeland Coralì Coran Corinan Corinnen Cornelí Cornelı Corradon Cortez Coryn Corë Cosimon Costanzon Coten Cotton Covadongan Cox Craft Cranen Crawford Cristinan Cristobal Crosbyn Cross Cruz Crystal Cràg Cummings Cunningham Curryn Curtis Cynthı Cyril Càn Cäetanon Cécilen Cédric Célinen Còrtnë Cōk Cōken Cōlë Cōper

Dagmar Dagobert Dalen Dalilan Dalton Damason Damäantin Damìn Damın Damınon Dan Danan Danilon Danièlen Dannyn Danten Danìl Danìlan Danìlen Danìllen Danìls Daritzan Darlan Darlenen Darrell Darren Darryl Daryl Darí Darı Daven Davenport David Daviden Davidson Davis Dawn Dawson Debbì Deborah Deboran Debran Decker Dejesus Delacruz Delanë Delfinon Delgadon Dellan Delores Delphinen Delén Delı Denis Denisen Dennis Derek Derqū Derrick Desamparados Desirē Devanshin Devendran Devesh Dhanishkan Dickerson Dickson Didìr Dillard Dillon Dinan Dinesh Dinon Dipankar Dixon Dixì Dodson Dolores Domenicon Domingan Domingon Domingūz Dominiqū Don Donald Donaldson Donatellan Donnan Donovan Doran Doris Dorothyn Dorotĕ Dorsë Dorēn Dotson Downs Draken Dudlë Duffyn Duken Duncan Dunlap Dunn Duran Duranten Durham Dustin Dwight Dwänen Dyer Dylan Dàsyn Dâghertyn Dä Däanan Dìdrich Dìgon Dìter Dìterich Dìtrich Dínisí Dínisı Dòglas Dólen Dünen Dēpak Dēpalin Dēpan Dēpikan Dēptin Dĕn Dĕnnan Dınan Dınen Dınnan Dınnen Dız

Ebban Ebben Ebonyn Echedë Eddì Edgar Edgardon Edith Edmund Edmundon Ednan Edvin Edward Edwards Edwin Edördon Edürdon Efren Egidí Ekkehard Ekram Elenan Elfrìden Elin Elinan Elis Elisan Elisen Elisé Elizabeth Elken Ellan Ellen Ellinor Ellis Ellison Ellì Ellít Ellítt Elmar Elmer Elmon Elsan Elsì Elton Elvin Elviran Elànen Eló Elĕnor Elınan Elıs Elœsen Emanūl Emeldan Emelì Emerson Emil Emilyn Emilì Emilí Emilı Emilınan Emman Emmanūl Emmanūllen Emmerich Emmyn Encarnacín England English Enkan Enní Enricon Enriqū Enriqūtan Enzon Eraldon Erhard Eric Erican Erickson Erik Erikan Erin Erman Ermenegildon Ernest Ernestinan Ernestinen Erneston Esperanzan Espinozan Essì Estanislá Esteban Estefanı Estelan Estellen Ester Estes Esther Estradan Ethel Ettoren Evan Evans Evelyn Everett Ewald Ewing Ezequìl

Fabricen Fabricí Fabricı Fabrizí Fabìn Fabìnnen Fabí Fabı Fabın Fabınan Facundan Facundon Fadriqū Fannyn Fannì Farlë Farmer Farrell Federicon Federigon Felicidad Felicı Felicınan Felicınon Felipan Felipen Felisan Felix Ferdinand Ferdinandon Ferguson Fermin Ferminan Fernan Fernandan Fernandez Fernandon Ferrandon Ferrell Fidel Figūrö Filip Filippan Filippon Filomenan Finch Finlë Firjas Fischer Fisher Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Flaví Flavı Fleming Fletcher Floran Florencen Florencı Florent Flores Floron Florí Florı Florın Flowers Flynn Flód Folë Forbes Ford Foreman Foster Fowler Fox Frances Francescan Francescon Francinen Francis Franciscon Franck Francon Frank Franklin Franks Franz Françœs Françœsen Frazìr Fred Fredan Freddì Frederick Fredon Fredrik Frejan French Fridan Fritz Frost Fryen Fryn Frâken Frédéric Frìdemann Frìdrich Frēman Frœlan Frœlanan Fulbertan Fulberton Fulcan Fulcon Fuller Fulton Fulví Fàth Fâlkner Fâston Fäen Fìlds Fírinon Fımman Fūntes

Gabrìl Gabrìlan Gabrìlen Gabrìllan Gallagher Gallegos Gallowä Gamblen Ganesh Garan Garcı Gardner Garner Garrett Garrison Garyn Garzan Gasparen Gastonen Gates Gaétan Gaëllen Gebhard Geman Gemman Genaron Genen Genevan Genevièven Genevìven Gentryn Geppetton Gerald Geraldinen Gerard Gerd Gerhardt German Germar Germànen Gernot Gershun Gert Gertruden Ghislànen Gibbs Gibson Gilbert Gilberton Giles Gill Gilles Gillespì Gillım Gilmoren Ginan Ginebran Gines Ginetten Ginger Ginon Girish Girjesh Girolamon Giselan Giselher Gisèlen Gitan Gitanjalin Gladys Glass Glen Glendan Glenn Glorı Glover Goff Golden Gomez Gonzales Gonzalez Gonzalon Gopinathan Gordon Gottfrìd Gottlìb Gottschalk Gracen Gracìlan Graham Grant Graves Grazınon Greg Gregoryn Gregorí Gretan Gretchen Gretel Greten Griffin Griffith Grimes Griseldan Gross Grä Grégoryn Grēn Grēnen Grēr Guglìlmon Gunther Gurcharan Gurunath Gustav Gustavon Guthrì Gutìrrez Guzman Gwen Gwendolyn Gàl Gànes Gä Gäatrin Gälen Gætanon Gérard Gérg Gérgen Gérges Gérgetten Gérgı Gírgí Gírgı Gívannan Gívannin Gòld Götz Gùdon Gùllerminan Gùllermon Gùllâmen Gú Güdalupen Günther Gürinon Gīlìttan Gīlí Gīlı Gīlınan Gīlınon Gīseppen Gīseppinan Gıcinton Gıcobben Gıcomon Gıdan Gımpálon Gımpìron Gın Gıncarlon Gınfrancescon Gınfrancon Gınlucan Gınlùgin Gınmarcon Gınnan Gınnin Gınpálon Gınpìtron Gōd Gōdman Gōdwin Gūrran Gūrreron

Hahn Halen Hall Halë Hamilton Hammond Hampton Hampus Hanagü Hancock Hannah Hannan Hanneloren Hannen Hans Hansen Hanson Hansraj Hanë Harald Haran Hardik Hardin Harding Hardyn Harish Harjit Harmon Harold Harper Harrell Harrington Harris Harrison Harryn Harrìt Harsh Harshitan Hart Hartman Harvë Hatfìld Hattì Hawkins Hazel Hebert Hector Heddan Hedyn Helen Helenan Helgan Helgen Hellmuth Helmut Helmuth Hemalatan Henderson Hendricks Hendrix Henrin Henryn Henrìttan Henrìtten Henslë Henson Herbert Herman Hermann Herminen Hernandez Hernandon Herreran Herring Hervé Herwig Hess Hester Hewitt Hickman Hicks Higgins Hildan Hildegard Hilden Hill Hilman Hines Hinton Hipoliton Hitesh Hjalmar Hobbs Hodgen Hodges Hoffman Hogan Holcomb Holden Holder Holger Holland Hollowä Hollyn Holman Holmes Holt Hopen Hopkins Hopper Horn Hornen Horst Hortensı Horton Howard Howell Howen Hubbard Huber Hubert Hudson Huff Huffman Hugh Hughes Hugon Hugūtten Hull Humberton Humphrë Hunt Hunter Hurlë Hurst Hutchinson Hyden Häden Hädē Häes Hänes Häs Hèdemarì Hèdin Hèner Hènin Hènon Hènrich Hènz Hélènen Hòsen Hòston Hĕd Hĕth Hĕther Hōd Hōper Hōver

Idan Ignací Ildan Ilonan Imeldan Inakin Indiran Indranil Indranin Indumatin Ines Inez Ingon Ingram Ingrid Inigon Inmaculadan Inès Iran Irenen Irené Iris Irman Irwin Irènen Isabel Isabellan Isabellen Isak Isan Ishanan Isidoron Isidron Ismæl Isāc Itahisan Ivan Ivar Ivon

Jacintan Jacinton Jack Jackson Jackì Jacob Jacobon Jacobs Jacobson Jacopon Jacqūlinen Jacqūlyn Jacqūs Jagannath Jalaj James Jamì Jan Janan Janen Janet Janicen Janinen Janis Janì Jaran Jared Jarvis Jasminen Jason Javìr Javìran Jeff Jefferson Jefferyn Jeffrë Jenkins Jennan Jennifer Jennings Jennyn Jennì Jensen Jeremyn Jermànen Jeromen Jerryn Jesminder Jessen Jessican Jessì Jesus Jill Jim Jimenan Jimenez Jimmyn Jimmì Jitendran Jocelynen Jodin Jodyn Joel Joen Johann Johannan Johannes John Johnnyn Johnnì Johns Johnson Johnston Jolinen Jon Jonas Jonathan Jones Jonä Jordan Jorgelinan Jorgen Josef Josefan Josefinan Josen Joseph Josephinen Josetten Joshü Jost José Josū Joël Joëllen Judith Judyn Juhin Julì Julìn Julìtan Julìtten Julí Julı Julın Julınan Junen Junin Jupp Justicen Justin Justinen Juston Juttan Jàmen Jàpal Jàron Jä Jäant Jäashankar Jérômen Jó Jócen Jóner Jöchim Jön Jönn Jönnan Jönnen Jöqùn Jöqùnan Jörg Jün Jünan Jüncan Jünfran Jünitan Jünon Jürez Jürgen Jĕn Jĕnclâden Jĕnetten Jĕnfrançœs Jĕnluc Jĕnlòis Jĕnmarc Jĕnmarì Jĕnmichel Jĕnnen Jĕnnetten Jĕnninen Jĕnnì Jĕnpâl Jĕnpìrren

Kalimuthun Kamalan Kanen Kanikan Karan Karen Karin Karinan Karinen Karl Karlan Karlhènz Karsten Karthik Karthikan Karthikëan Katen Katherinen Kathlēn Kathryn Kathyn Katjan Katrin Katrinan Katyan Katì Kavitan Kazin Kebehin Keller Kellin Kellyn Kell�� Kellì Kemp Ken Kendran Kennedyn Kenneth Kent Kerr Kerryn Kerstin Kevin Kidd Kim Kimberlyn King Kinnë Kirbyn Kirk Kirkland Kirtan Kishor Klaran Klinen Klâs Klâs-peter Klèn Knapp Knight Knowles Knox Koch Konrad Kramer Kripesh Krishnan Krishnappan Krishnäyan Kristan Kristen Kristin Kristinan Kristinen Kristyn Kristì Krystal Kumar Kumudinin Kurt Kylen Kàlash Kâfman Kâshal Kä Kälan Kèth Kë

Ladislá Ladislâs Lakshan Lakshanyan Lakshman Lamb Lambert Lamberton Lanan Lancaster Lancen Landon Landryn Lanen Lang Langlë Laran Larryn Lars Larsen Larson Latan Lathan Latóan Lavernen Lawrencen Lawson Leblanc Lelan Len Lenan Leró Leslì Lester Leticı Levin Levinen Levyn Lewis Liberton Licı Lidı Lilan Lillan Lillyn Lillì Lillın Lilı Lilınan Lilınen Linan Lindan Lindsä Lindsë Linn Linnĕ Linus Lisan Lisbeth Littlen Liv Livingston Liví Livı Llód Logan Loken Lolan Long Lonnì Lopen Lopez Loran Lorenan Lorenen Lorentz Lorenzan Lorenzon Lorettan Lorin Lorrànen Lothar Lott Lovan Loven Lovis Lovisan Lowen Loweryn Loïc Luc Lucan Lucas Luchinon Lucillen Lucrezı Lucyn Lucì Lucìn Lucìnnen Lucí Lucı Lucınan Lucınon Ludovic Ludovican Ludovicon Ludvig Ludwig Lukas Lulan Lunan Lutz Luz Lydì Lydı Lykken Lynch Lyndan Lynetten Lynn Lynnen Lyons Lâran Lâren Lârencen Lârent Lârettan Lârì Lârĕnon Lætitı Lèan Lègh Lèlan Lèren Lé Léan Lén Lénan Lénard Lénardon Lénen Lénor Lépoldon Lìsl Línel Lòellan Lòin Lòis Lòisen Lòrdes Lùgin Lùs Lùsan Lütold Lē Lēlan Lēlavathin Lĕ Lĕch Lĕh Lĕndron Lı Lım Lınan Lœs

Mabel Mablen Macarenan Macdonald Mack Macıs Madden Maddox Madelinen Madelènen Madhurin Magalin Magdalenan Maggì Mahbōb Mahendran Majan Majken Maldonadon Mallikan Malonen Malten Malvinan Mamì Mandar Mandyn Manish Manjulan Manmohan Mann Manning Manon Manoraman Manūl Manūlan Marc Marcel Marcelan Marcelinan Marcelinon Marcellan Marcellen Marcellon Marcelon Marcon Marcos Marcus Marcı Marcıl Margaret Margareten Margaritan Margì Margūriten Maribel Marilyn Marinan Marinen Marisan Marissan Marjorì Mark Marks Marlenen Marqūz Marsh Marshall Marshan Martan Marthan Martin Martinan Martinen Martinez Martinon Marvin Maryann Maryn Marì Marìchristinen Marìclâden Marìllan Marìthérèsen Marí Marín Marīs Marı Marın Marınan Marınnen Marınon Mason Massimilınon Massimon Massë Mathew Mathews Mathilden Mathis Mathiê Matildan Matilden Matthew Matthews Matthiê Matthıs Matté Mattì Maté Matıs Max Maximen Maximilın Maximon Maxinen Maxwell McBriden McCall McCarthyn McCartyn McCluren McClàn McConnell McCormick McCrä McCullògh McCó McDanìl McDonald McDowell McFadden McFarland McGowan McGùren McGē McIntosh McIntyren McKenzì McKinnë McKnight McKä McKē McLâghlin McLéd McLĕn McMahon McMillan McNèl McPherson Medard Medinan Megan Meghan Mejan Mejı Melanì Melanı Melban Melendez Melinan Melindan Melissan Melker Melodyn Melton Melvin Mendez Mendozan Mercadon Mercedes Mercer Meredith Merrill Merritt Michaël Michel Michelan Michelangelon Michelen Micheletton Michelinen Michellen Michelotton Michæl Michælan Michèlen Michĕl Mickaël Micælan Middleton Migūl Migūlan Miken Milagros Mildred Milenan Miles Miller Mills Milon Milton Mindyn Minnan Minnì Miran Mirandan Mircon Mirellan Mirkon Mirèan Mirèllen Mirëan Mirım Mistyn Mitchell Modestan Modeston Mohamed Molinan Mollyn Monan Monican Monikan Moniqū Monroen Montgomeryn Montserrat Montóan Morales Moran Morenan Morenon Morgan Morganen Morin Moritz Morris Morrison Morrow Morsen Morton Moses Moslë Moss Mukesh Mullen Mullins Munish Munoz Murillon Murphyn Murrä Murìl Muthuswamyn Myers Myn Myran Myrtlen Myrım Màten Mâran Mâricen Mârilí Mârizí Mâron Mârēn Mä Mäan Mäank Mäer Mänard Mäon Märtan Mäs Mäten Mæ Mènrad Mélanì Mélissan Mëer Mëers Mí Mö Mĕdows Mĕgens Mōdyn Mōn Mōnë Mōren Mœses Mūller

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Obrìn Ochö Oconnor Océanen Odetten Odilen Odom Odonnell Ofelı Olaf Olgan Oliven Oliver Olivìr Olivı Ollen Ollì Olsen Olson Omeron Onofrí Onèl Onèll Onĕl Opal Oran Orazí Ordonon Oresten Orlandon Ornellan Orr Ortegan Ortiz Ortrud Oríl Osborn Osbornen Oscar Osvaldon Oswaldon Othmar Ottaví Ottomar Otton Owen Owens

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Qùnn Qūntin

Rachel Rachæl Radhanath Raffællan Raffællon Rafæl Rafælan Raginin Rahul Raj Rajan Rajendran Rajesh Rajinder Rajiv Rakesh Ralph Ram Ramakant Ramesh Ramiran Ramirez Ramiron Ramon Ramonan Ramos Ramsë Ramyan Ranan Ranbir Randall Randhir Randolph Randyn Ranganath Ranin Raphaël Raqūl Rashmin Rasmus Rasmussen Ratin Ratliff Ravinder Ravish Rebecan Rebeccan Reginald Reginan Rekhan Remedís Renatan Renaton Renen Renzon René Renéen Renē Rhodes Rhondan Ricardan Ricardon Riccardon Ricen Rich Richan Richard Richards Richardson Richenzan Richmond Rick Rickyn Riddlen Riggs Rilë Rinjish Ritan Ritwik Ritwikan Rivas Riveran Rivers Robbins Roberson Robert Robertan Roberton Roberts Robertson Robin Robinson Robles Robyn Rochan Rochellen Rocí Rodgers Rodnë Rodolfan Rodolfon Rodrigon Rodrigūz Rodriqūz Rogelí Roger Rogers Rohit Rojas Roland Rolandon Rolf Rollins Roman Romanan Romeron Rominan Romolon Romàn Ron Ronald Ronjan Ronnì Rosales Rosalì Rosalı Rosan Rosarí Rosarı Rosemaryn Rosemarì Rosen Rosinan Ross Rosì Roth Rowen Rowland Roxanan Roxannen Ruben Rubyn Rudolph Ruggeron Ruggìron Rush Russell Russon Rut Ruth Rutledgen Ryan Ràmundan Ràmundon Ràner Râl Rä Rämond Rämonden Rèd Rèllyn Rènhard Rènhold Réginen Régis Rémin Rémyn Rëes Rënolds Rís Ró Röch Rùz Rú Rēd Rēnan Rēsen Rēves

Sabatinon Sabinen Sabrinan Sachin Sadì Sagan Sahil Saket Salas Salazar Salinas Sallyn Salomon Salonin Salvador Salvatoren Salvin Sam Samanthan Samar Samir Sampson Samūl Sanah Sanchez Sanchon Sander Sanders Sandhyan Sandipan Sandoval Sandran Sandrinen Sandron Sandyn Sanford Sanjib Santanan Santen Santin Santinon Santos Santıgon Sanı Sarabjit Sarah Saran Saravanan Sargent Satyajit Satyanan Savagen Saverí Savitrin Sawyer Schmidt Schnèder Schroeder Schultz Schwartz Scott Sebastın Segundon Sekar Selenan Sellers Selman Serafinan Serenan Sergen Sergí Serranon Seth Severin Severinon Sexton Shaffer Shahbaz Shahnaz Shanen Shannon Sharad Sharadan Sharin Sharmilan Sharon Sharp Sharpen Shaw Shawn Shawnan Shekhar Shellyn Shellë Shelton Shelı Shepard Shepherd Sheppard Sherin Sherman Sherrin Sherryn Sheryl Shilpan Shirlë Shishir Shishiran Short Shridhar Shrëan Shubhendun Shwetan Shàlendran Shèlan Shìlds Shēlan Shētal Sidnë Siggen Sigismund Sigmund Signen Sigrid Silvan Silvestron Silví Silvı Simmons Simon Simonen Simpson Sims Singleton Sirin Sitaramäyan Sixten Skinner Slater Slön Small Smith Smēt Snehan Snider Snow Snyder Sofı Solangen Soledad Solis Solomon Somesh Sonjan Sonyan Sonı Sophì Sophı Soräan Sosan Soton Sparks Spencen Spencer Spĕrs Srikantan Srinivas Stacyn Stacë Stafford Stanlë Stanton Stark Stefanon Stefanı Stellan Stephanì Stephen Stephens Stephenson Steven Stevens Stevenson Stewart Stinan Stokes Stonen Strickland Strong Stèn Stéphanen Stéphanì Stòt Stürt Stēlen Subratan Sudhan Sudhir Sujatan Sukhbir Sullivan Sulochanan Summers Sundar Sunil Supriyan Surendranath Suresh Surezan Surinder Susan Susanan Susannan Susannen Sushman Susmitan Susì Sutton Suzannen Svanten Sven Svenjan Sv�� Swanson Swethan Swēnë Swēt Sykes Sylvester Sylvàn Sylvì Sylvı Sâl Sânders Sébastìn Séverinen Sìgfrìd Sòmitran Sòrav Sürez Sĕn Sĕrs Sū

Tabithan Tadé Tagen Talan Tallë Tamaran Tamin Tammyn Tanishan Tanner Tanushrē Tanvin Tanyan Tanı Taran Tarun Tashan Taten Tatınan Tazí Ted Tejal Temistoclen Teresan Terin Terrancen Terrell Terrencen Terrin Terryn Thelman Theresan Thomas Thompson Thornton Thé Thédor Thédoren Théon Thérèsen Thìrryn Thĕ Thıren Tiffanyn Tildan Tilden Tillman Tim Timon Timothyn Timoté Tinan Tindran Titon Tizınon Tobıs Todd Tom Tomas Tomasan Tommyn Tonin Tonyan Tonyn Torqüton Torres Townsend Tracin Tracyn Tracë Tran Travis Trevinon Tricı Trinidad Tristan Trujillon Trystan Tró Trınan Tucker Tullí Turner Tuvan Tyler Tyran Tyronen Tyson Tälor Tédoran Tédoron Téfilon Tıren

Ubaldon Udon Ugon Ulises Ulrican Ulrich Ulriken Uman Umberton Umesh Underwōd Unà Upendran Ursulan Uten Utton Uwen

Valdez Valencı Valentin Valentinan Valentinen Valenzūlan Valerì Valerí Valerı Valter Valérì Vancen Vanen Vanesan Vanessan Vang Vannan Vargas Varshan Vasqūz Vasudevan Vazqūz Vegan Velasqūz Velazqūz Velez Velman Venkataraman Venun Veran Vernan Vernon Veronican Vibhan Vicentan Vicenten Vickin Vickyn Vickì Victor Victorı Vidar Viggon Vijäalakshmin Vikas Viktor Vilgot Villarrĕl Villen Vincent Vincentí Vincenzon Vinod Vinson Vinä Virgil Virginì Virginı Viridınan Viton Vittorí Vittorı Vivek Vivın Vollrath Vrushalin Vàbhav Vâghan Vâghn Véroniqū Vílan Vílet Víletan

Waden Wagner Walker Wall Wallacen Waller Walls Walsh Walter Walters Walton Wandan Ward Waren Warner Warren Washington Wasim Waters Watkins Watson Watts Webb Weber Webster Welch Wells Wendyn Wenzel Werner Wernher Weslë West Whitaker Whitehĕd Whiten Whitfìld Whitlë Whitnë Whēler Wiggins Wilcox Wilder Wilhelm Wilhelminan Wilkerson Wilkins Wilkinson Willard Willis Willì Willım Willıms Willımson Wilman Wilmer Wilson Wiltrud Wilë Winfrìd Winifred Winters Wisen Witt Wolf Wolfen Wolfgang Wong Workman Wright Wyatt Wynn Wänen Wèss Wìbken Wēks Wĕver Wōd Wōdard Wōds Wōdward Wōten

Xavìr Xenı Ximenan

Yagon Yaminin Yang Yann Yannick Yash Yates Yesenı Yolandan York Yugeshachillen Yves Yvetten Yvettĕbhä Yvonnen Yòng

Zacharyabbott Zamoran Zanobiāron Zimmermanadrìn Zulmādam Zàran

Àdan Àmar Ànaran Ànhö Àshwaryan Àtor

Âdrë Âgust Âgustin Ârelí Ârelı Ârick Âroran Âroren Ârélì Ârélìn Âstin

Äalan Äers

Èlhard Èlēn

Élisabeth Élisen Élodì Élınen Émilì Éric Étìnnen Évelynĕchim

Êfemı Êgenen Êgení Êgenı Êlalı Êlan Ênicen

Āron

Ĕrl Ĕton

In

Ōmmen

[brookston]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Advocacy Day (Ukraine)

Almanack Day

Bantha Appreciation Day (Star Wars)

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

Digital Twin Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Gender Critical Coming Out Day

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

National Harry Day

National Heroes & Heroines Day (Anguilla)

Olive Day (French Republic)

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Skyr-Gobbler; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

Cream Liqueur Day

Currant Buns Day (UK)

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

3rd Tuesday in December

Christmas Cookie House Day [3rd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Børge (a.k.a. Republic of Libri; Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Asgard Day (Pagan)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nathan Oliveira (Artology)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix Jesse (3rd O Antiphon or Great Advent Antiphon; Christian) [O Root of Jesse; 3 of 7]

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian) [Ukraine]

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

The Aristocats (Animated Disney Film; 1980)

Babes in Toyland (TV Movie; 1986)

Bars of Steal or The Hard Cell (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 136; 1961)

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

Boris Badenov and His Friends? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 135; 1961)

Captain Blood (Film; 1935)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

From All of Us to All of You (Animated Disney TV Christmas Special; 1958)

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Laughing Boy:A Navajo Love Story, by Oliver La Farge (Novel; 1929)

The Little Drummer Boy (Xmas Song; 1958)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

The Man with the Golden Gun (UK Film; 1974) [James Bond #9]

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Monsters, Inc. (Animated Pixar Film; 2012)

More Kittens (Disney Cartoon; 1936)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

9 to 5 (Film; 1980)

People Are Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Porky in the North Woods (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Punch Trunk (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

Seems Like Old Times (Film; 1980)

Song of the Sea (Animated Film; 2014)

A Symposium on Popular Songs (Disney Cartoon; 1962)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies (US Film; 1997) [James Bond #18]

Topaz (Film; 1969)

Yes Man (Film; 2008)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2024; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 51 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 7 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 7 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 6 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 23 Zima; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 17 Bichat (13th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 28 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.19

Holidays

Advocacy Day (Ukraine)

Almanack Day

Bantha Appreciation Day (Star Wars)

Build a Snowman Day

A Christmas Carol Day

Digital Twin Day

E-Mail Santa Claus Just in Case He Didn't Get Your Letter Day [ mailroom ] 

Fiesta of Santo Tomas begins (Guatemala; until 25th)

Gender Critical Coming Out Day

Goa Liberation Day (India)

Holly Day

I've Got My Big Guy Fat Pants On Day

Liberation Day (Goa)

Look for an Evergreen Day

Mitch Marner Day (Canada)

National Emo Day

National Harry Day

National Heroes & Heroines Day (Anguilla)

Olive Day (French Republic)

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Thorn Cutting Ceremony (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK)

Yuletide Lad #8 arrives (Skyrgamur or Skyr-Gobbler; Iceland)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Pizza Day

Cream Liqueur Day

Currant Buns Day (UK)

National Hard Candy Day

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

3rd Tuesday in December

Christmas Cookie House Day [3rd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Børge (a.k.a. Republic of Libri; Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Republic of Lakotah (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Adam (Christian; Saint)

Anastasius I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Asgard Day (Pagan)

The Bee (Muppetism)

Bernard Valeara (Christian; Saint)

Cavendish (Positivist; Saint)

Dalek Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Goddess of Sankrant (Hindu)

Juventas Festival (Ancient Rome)

Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)

Lorenzo di Medici Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Nathan Oliveira (Artology)

Nemesion (Christian; Saint)

Opalia (Celebrating Ops, the old Roman Mother Earth)

O Radix Jesse (3rd O Antiphon or Great Advent Antiphon; Christian) [O Root of Jesse; 3 of 7]

Robot Awareness Day (Pastafarian)

Saint Nicholas Day (Eastern Christian) [Ukraine]

Samthann of Meath (Christian; Saint)

Urban V, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [49 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 353 [71 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 58 of 60)

Premieres

The Aristocats (Animated Disney Film; 1980)

Babes in Toyland (TV Movie; 1986)

Bars of Steal or The Hard Cell (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 136; 1961)

Being There (Film; 1979)

Blue Suede Shoes, recorded by Carl Perkins (Song; 1955)

Boris Badenov and His Friends? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 135; 1961)

Captain Blood (Film; 1935)

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (Novella; 1843)

A Clockwork Orange (Film; 1971)

Deal or No Deal (TV game Show; 2005)

The Fellowship of the Ring (Film; 2001) [Lord of the Rings #1]

From All of Us to All of You (Animated Disney TV Christmas Special; 1958)

Judgment at Nuremberg (Film; 1961)

Kramer vs. Kramer (Film; 1979)

Laughing Boy:A Navajo Love Story, by Oliver La Farge (Novel; 1929)

The Little Drummer Boy (Xmas Song; 1958)

Little Shop of Horrors (Film; 1986)

The Man with the Golden Gun (UK Film; 1974) [James Bond #9]

Mary Poppins Returns (Film; 2018)

Mona Lisa Smile (Film; 2003)

Monsters, Inc. (Animated Pixar Film; 2012)

More Kittens (Disney Cartoon; 1936)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Film; 2014)

9 to 5 (Film; 1980)

People Are Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Platoon (Film; 1986)

Porky in the North Woods (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Punch Trunk (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Raging Bull (Film; 1980)

Seems Like Old Times (Film; 1980)

Song of the Sea (Animated Film; 2014)

A Symposium on Popular Songs (Disney Cartoon; 1962)

The Tale of Desperaux (Animated Film; 2008)

Titanic (Film; 1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies (US Film; 1997) [James Bond #18]

Topaz (Film; 1969)

Yes Man (Film; 2008)

Zero Dark Thirty (Film; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Benjamin, Susanne (Austria)

Anastazije, Eva, Tea, Urban, Vladimir (Croatia)

Ester (Czech Republic)

Nemesius (Denmark)

Maarius, Mairo, Mario (Estonia)

Iikka, Iiro, Iisakki, Isko (Finland)

Urbain (France)

Benjamin, Susanna (Germany)

Aglaia, Aris (Greece)

Viola (Hungary)

Dario (Italy)

Jordisa, Lelde, Minjona, Sarmis (Latvia)

Darijus, Gerdvilas, Rimantė (Lithuania)

Isak, Iselin (Norway)

Abraham, Beniamin, Dariusz, Gabriela, Mścigniew, Nemezjusz, Tymoteusz, Urban (Poland)

Aglaia, Bonifatie, Grichentie, Trifon (Romania)

Judita (Slovakia)

Darío, Eva (Spain)

Isak (Sweden)

Boniface, Mecheslav, Mecheslava (Ukraine)

Daria, Darian, Darien, Dario, Darion, Darius, Haysten (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 353 of 2024; 12 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 51 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 7 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 7 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 6 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 23 Zima; Twosday [23 of 30]

Julian: 6 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 17 Bichat (13th Month) [Cavendish]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 88 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 28 of 30)

[neils-weenie-whistle]

As a writing request, it would be cool to see a Bernard and Carol interaction! Comfort or bonding over being Boss bitches. I just think they should talk more. Hope thats enough of an idea lol

First Christmas

Thanks for this request, even though it's short (I'm struggling a bit with writing right now so I'm using these as a sort of practice!). Your request actually sparked this idea from me that Carol and Bernard spend every Christmas Eve together waiting for Scott to come back, so here's their first one right after the events of The Santa Clause 2. Hope you enjoy!

Things were finally settling down around the North Pole, a huge relief for Bernard.

Even with all the stress and problems caused by Curtis’ ridiculous invention, not to mention the Mrs. Clause, Santa had managed once again to pull himself together and deliver toys to the children of the world. That left the elves with nothing to do but wait for their leader’s safe return to start planning for next year.

Well, most of the elves. Bernard himself was busy preparing everything for Santa’s return. As soon as he landed they’d only have 365 days to get themselves ready for next year.

“Do you never take a break?”

The question startled him, he was usually left to his prepping in peace. After seeing who it was though, it made sense.

Carol Newman-Claus had only been at the Pole for less than a few hours. He’d spoken to her briefly during their fight with the toy soldiers, and again in preparation for their makeshift wedding, but he hadn’t actually had the chance to meet her yet. Not that that mattered, he knew her from her childhood. She, however, knew nothing about him and his work ethic.

“Me? No. The others do though!” He smiled as he walked through the empty workshop. Everything lay where they had left it before rushing Santa to his sleigh. He bent down to pick some of the mess off the floor and was surprised when Mrs. Claus bent over to join him.

She placed the mess she’d picked up onto a nearby workshop table. “You look like you could really use a break though.”

It was true. He did work twice as hard as anyone else in the North Pole, but he’d just gotten off of forced house arrest for a day and a half. That was plenty of rest for him and he told her that as he continued his clean up.

“A day and a half?” She scoffed, unbelieving. “Alright, now you’re starting to sound like me!”

She stopped her tidying up, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him from the workshop. He tried to protest that work needed to be done but she wasn’t having it.

“It’s Christmas, my husband is out delivering toys, I could use the company. We can all clean the workshop when Scott gets back.”

So, that was how Bernard spent his first Christmas with their new Mrs. Claus, cozied up by a fire, cocoa in hand and listening to the very amusing story of how Santa had wooed his new wife. He was never going to hear the end of this one that’s for sure.

The sound of the sleigh returning shocked them both out of their cozy reminiscing mood.

“You know, I can see why you’re Head Elf. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and you keep my husband out of trouble so that’s a bonus,” Carol hummed. “It’s nice to know I’ve got a friend up here besides him I know I can count on.”

And in all the thousands of years of working, Bernard had never received a higher compliment from any Santa or Mrs Claus. His ears tinted slightly red as they made their way to greet the man who had brought them together.

[princesssarisa]

A Christmas Carol Holiday Season: "A Christmas Carol" (1977 TV film)

Until 2019, as far as I know, this lesser-known hour-long Christmas Carol was the only version of Dickens's classic produced by the BBC. Besides this fact, its main draw is the actor who plays Scrooge: 66-year-old Sir Michael Hordern, who had previously featured in two other versions of A Christmas Carol as Marley's Ghost.

Like most of the BBC's literary adaptations from the '70s and '80s, this one is modest in budget and not very cinematic or visually striking, but it's very faithful to the book. About 80% to 90% of the dialogue comes straight from Dickens, and several scenes are included that rarely appear in other adaptations. We see Belle (Zoë Wanamaker) with her husband in Christmas Past, and later, we see the poor debtor couple saved from ruin by Scrooge's death in Christmas Yet to Come. Even the famous opening line of "Marley was dead: to begin with" gets a visual illustration, as the production opens with Marley (John Le Mesurier) lying in his coffin. The only real departures from Dickens are the scaling-down of certain scenes and reduction of the number of characters in them, probably due to the production's modest budget. Belle's happy Christmas Eve with her husband doesn't include any children; Fred (Paul Copely) and his wife spend their Christmas Day with just another couple (and ultimately Scrooge), not a houseful of party guests; and Old Joe's rag-and-bone shop is omitted, with Mrs. Dilber and the undertaker's man meeting in Scrooge's bedroom as they rob it instead. Yet these reductions don't detract from the story. They only enhance the production's intimacy, and the intimacy of this Carol is part of its charm.

Of course the main question is still "Is Michael Hordern's Scrooge as good as his Marley in 1951 and 1971?" Personally, I'd say no. Playing a hard, cold character just wasn't his strength; at the beginning, he comes across as a grumpy yet endearingly befuddled old gentleman, not the "tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" that the plot requires. That said, he becomes much more at home as Scrooge becomes a vulnerable and likable character, particularly bringing out the humor of his attempts to make casual conversation with his ghostly visitors. Meanwhile, the supporting cast is strong throughout. Besides those mentioned above, other standouts include Clive Merrison as Bob Cratchit, Carol MacReady as his wife, Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) as a Ghost of Christmas Past portrayed as a beautiful yet otherworldly and eerie young woman, Bernard Lee (the James Bond series) as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and a young Zelah Clarke (a.k.a. the title character in the BBC's beloved 1983 miniseries of Jane Eyre) as Martha Cratchit.

Is this a definitive Christmas Carol? No. But it's worth seeing!

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex. @reds-revenge, @faintingheroine, @thatscarletflycatcher

[beezonia]

Now I’m actually talking about the Santa Claus again! I guess I can speak about my ocs and the au I have for them

These are from like 2018 when I was in a Santa Claus phase that December(I had a crush on Bernard like most but did also like Jack because he was cool in my mind)

———-

Soo you have Celeste who was a baker elf I think she was stoic but a softie with a big heart

Buff lady because yes we need more buff ladies in stories please

Did not like Curtis at all, thought he was annoying and wanted to replace him

Her girlfriend Babs is a maker elf (is that what we call them idk she makes toys)

She’s sunshine, rosy cheeks and all

she invents some of the coolest toys and loves tinkering with some of the machinery to make it more efficient for the elves

Then you have the twins Scrapp and Connie

Their Identical twins which mostly causes problems sometimes (especially for Bernard and Jack)

Both are extremely chaotic and that’s how they end up bonding with Jack in the au I’m writing (called the family frost au)

Scrapp is a maker elf and his younger sis Connie is tinsel/designer elf

They are a very small family of elves babs and Celeste being like mother hens and the twins the chaotic children!!

These four together form a group called the elf protection society (or eps for short) which although is an unofficial elf service thing, they one day hope to make it an official group of elves to help protect the North Pole

Basically their motto is “no matter is too small or elf come to us and we can help!”

So their basically a hotline for elves

And Jack is their first assigned person for them to help (this is after tsc3) and he is still our kinda frosty Jack but more soft and more open with himself and others

Their job is to make sure Jack tries to atone for his mistakes but obviously there are many bumps in the road

They each kinda bond with jack, especially the twins because jack sees a lot of himself in the twins (chaotic, extremely fun and probably theatre nerds)

Then some santa stuff happens maybe carol is having her second baby (alluding to the Santa clauses)

The family comes over to the north pole again this time along with an extra pair

That’s Scott’s very distant cousin (I’m not sure about that yet maybe she gets invited cause she’s close with Scott’s ex or something) Holly Davis who visits the North Pole with her fiancé Toby and they catch jacks eye (I’m going for a polycule here because yes we need more of that!)

That’s how it starts. And the family frost au is basically Jack becoming more open to being nice and all that shit but finding a family along with making amends with his own!

[the-essex-serpent-tv]

Composers Dustin O’Halloran & Herdís Stefánsdóttir Take “Modern Approach” To Victorian-Era Tale With ‘The Essex Serpent’ Score – Hear An Exclusive Track

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has an exclusive track from Dustin O’Halloran and Herdís Stefánsdóttir’s score for The Essex Serpent, which is set for digital release today via Lakeshore Records.

The Apple TV+ limited series from See-Saw Films follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. Seaborne forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.

When O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir boarded the project, they looked to evoke the dark depths of Victorian England through the utilization of both electro acoustics and strings. “From our first conversations with director Clio Bernard, we knew we would be creating something layered and multidimensional,” the composers told Deadline in a joint statement. “This was our first collaboration together as composers and it allowed us to explore subjects like fear of the unknown, the Victorian era where science and religion were in constant conflict, and the complexity of superstition.”

O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir noted that they were fortunate to receive the full trust of Bernard, who offered them the space to experiment. Added the duo: “Even though it was a period piece set in late 1800’s, we took a modern approach to the music and how we wrote and recorded it, accentuating the sound of the wood and bow of the strings, and we went deep into capturing the sound limits of the cello and electro acoustic manipulation.”

O’Halloran is an American pianist and composer who won an Emmy in 2015 for his main title theme to Amazon’s dramedy Transparent. He was also nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award and a Critics’ Choice Award for his score to Lion, written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka). His film career began when Sofia Coppola invited him to contribute to Marie Antoinette, and he has since worked on many films and TV shows, including Drake Doremus’ Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Like Crazy and Marc Turtletaub’s Puzzle. He also scored George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give and joined forces with Bryan Senti for Nick Murphy’s six-part Sky TV series, Save Me. He and Bertelmann reconvened to collaborate on Netflix’s The Old Guard, and again on the BBC’s 2019 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Stefánsdóttir is an Icelandic composer of music for multimedia, as well as a songwriter and an electronic musician. She graduated with an M.A. degree in film scoring from New York University in 2017, and has since scored projects including HBO’s series We’re Here, FX’s Y: the Last Man, and Ry Russo-Young’s romance The Sun Is Also a Star.

The Essex Serpent premiered on Apple TV+ on May 13. The series based on Sarah Perry’s bestselling novel of the same name was adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award-nomated writer Anna Symon. Barnard and Symon also exec produced it alongside Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Patrick Walters.

Listen to O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir’s track “The Serpent” from The Essex Serpent by clicking above.

[twh-news]

Composers Dustin O’Halloran & Herdís Stefánsdóttir Take “Modern Approach” To Victorian-Era Tale With ‘The Essex Serpent’ Score – Hear An Exclusive Track | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has an exclusive track from Dustin O’Halloran and Herdís Stefánsdóttir’s score for The Essex Serpent, which is set for digital release today via Lakeshore Records.

The Apple TV+ limited series from See-Saw Films follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. Seaborne forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.

When O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir boarded the project, they looked to evoke the dark depths of Victorian England through the utilization of both electro acoustics and strings. “From our first conversations with director Clio Bernard, we knew we would be creating something layered and multidimensional,” the composers told Deadline in a joint statement. “This was our first collaboration together as composers and it allowed us to explore subjects like fear of the unknown, the Victorian era where science and religion were in constant conflict, and the complexity of superstition.”

O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir noted that they were fortunate to receive the full trust of Bernard, who offered them the space to experiment. Added the duo: “Even though it was a period piece set in late 1800’s, we took a modern approach to the music and how we wrote and recorded it, accentuating the sound of the wood and bow of the strings, and we went deep into capturing the sound limits of the cello and electro acoustic manipulation.”

O’Halloran is an American pianist and composer who won an Emmy in 2015 for his main title theme to Amazon’s dramedy Transparent. He was also nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award and a Critics’ Choice Award for his score to Lion, written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka). His film career began when Sofia Coppola invited him to contribute to Marie Antoinette, and he has since worked on many films and TV shows, including Drake Doremus’ Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Like Crazy and Marc Turtletaub’s Puzzle. He also scored George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give and joined forces with Bryan Senti for Nick Murphy’s six-part Sky TV series, Save Me. He and Bertelmann reconvened to collaborate on Netflix’s The Old Guard, and again on the BBC’s 2019 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Stefánsdóttir is an Icelandic composer of music for multimedia, as well as a songwriter and an electronic musician. She graduated with an M.A. degree in film scoring from New York University in 2017, and has since scored projects including HBO’s series We’re Here, FX’s Y: the Last Man, and Ry Russo-Young’s romance The Sun Is Also a Star.

The Essex Serpent premiered on Apple TV+ on May 13. The series based on Sarah Perry’s bestselling novel of the same name was adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award-nomated writer Anna Symon. Barnard and Symon also exec produced it alongside Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Patrick Walters.

Listen to O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir’s track “The Serpent” from The Essex Serpent by clicking above.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

BFCD Calendar: Celebrity Birthday List

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

JANUARY: WELCOME TO A NEW YEAR!

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19) 1: Josette Simon  2: Erica Hubbard, Renée Elise Goldsberry 3: Angelique Perrin, Nicole Beharie 4: Vanity, Jill Marie Jones, Miss Tina Lawson, Lenora Crichlow, Alexandra Grey, Coco Jones, Sindi Dlathu 5: Ms. Juicy Baby 6: Betty Gabriel, Jacqueline Moore, Tiffany Pollard, Armelia McQueen, Tanyell Waivers 7: Blue Ivy Carter, Ruth Negga, Sofia Wylie, Zora Neale Hurston, Zaraah Abrahams 8: Butterfly McQueen, Ryan Destiny, Cynthia Erivo 9: Amber Ruffin, Flo Milli, Anais Lee/Mirabel Lee,

10: Kathleen Bradley, Sisi Stringer, Teresa Graves 11: Adepero Oduye, Aja Naomi King, Amiyah Scott, Kim Coles, Mary J. Blige 12: Cynthia Addai Robinson, Erinn Westbrook, Issa Rae, Naya Rivera, Zabryna Guevara 13: Janet Hubert, Andy Allo, Shonda Rhimes 14: Adjoa Andoh, Vonetta McGee, Emayatzy Corinealdi 15: Regina King 16: Debbie Allen, Aaliyah, FKA Twigs, Sade 17: Eartha Kitt, Indya Moore, Michelle Obama, Ann Wolfe, Quen Blackwell 18: Ashleigh Murray, Estelle 19: Simone Missick  

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18) 20: Rukiya Bernard 21: Anastarzi Anaquway 22: Blesnya Minher, Dwan Smith 23: Lanei Chapman 24: Kenya Moore, Tatyana Ali 25: Ariana DeBose, Jenifer Lewis, Tati Gabrielle, Etta James, Willow Nightingale 26: Angela Davis, Anita Baker, Bessie Coleman, Ciera Payton, Desiree Burch, Sasha Banks, Zara Cully  27: Betty Adewole 28: Tyra Ferrell 31: Kerry Washington

FEBRUARY: HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH, SIS!!!

3: Ellen Thomas 6: Mame Anna Diop, Heir of Glee (Phillicia Deanell) 7: Essence Atkins, Kirby Howell Baptiste 8: Quintessa, 9: Alice Walker, Camille Winbush 10: Yara Shahidi, Uzo Aduba 11: Kelly Rowland, Brandy 12: Latrice Royale 14: Danai Gurira, Aniela Gumbs 15: Amber Riley, Lynn Whitfield, Meg Thee Stallion, Zuri Reed 16: Hailey Kilgore  18: Emelia Burns, Genelle Williams, Toni Morrison

Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20) 19: Caroline Chikezie, Angela Meryl, Ariel Alexandria Davis 20: Rihanna 21: Aunjanue Ellis, Ann Ogbomo 22: Genneya Walton 23: Niecy Nash 24: Kasi Lemmons, Tawny Newsome, Dede Lovelace 25: Geffri Maya 28: Rae Dawn Chong, Tasha & Sidra Smith 29: Augusta Savage

MARCH: HAPPY WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, SIS!!!

1: Alexis Fields, Lupita Nyong’o 2: Danielle Moné Truitt, Nathalie Emmanuel 3: Gloria Hendry, Meagan Tandy 4: Angela V. Shelton 6: Anna Maria Horsford, Birgundi Baker 9: Christiana Pitts 10: Ego Nwodim 11: Ajani Russell 13: Adina Porter 14: Tamara Tunie, Carol Speed, Elise Neal, Greta Onieogou 15: Aaron Rose Philip 16: Cynthia Bond, Sierra McClain, Ajiona Alexus  18: Vanessa L Williams, Queen Latifah, Ayisha Issa, Amanda Foster, Bonnie Mbuli, Christina Elmore  19: Alycia Pascual Pena 20: Bianca Lawson, Dominique Jackson, Erica Luttrell, Freema Ageyman, Vanessa Bell Calloway 

Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19) 21: Sonequa Martin Green 22: Kandyse Mcclure 23: Chaka Khan, Vanessa Morgan 25: Jeryl Prescott 26: Diana Ross 27: Mariah, Halle Bailey 28: Celai West, Chrystale Wilson 30: Gabrielle Byndloss 31: Erica Tazel, Andrea Bordeaux, Zethu Dlomo-Mphahlele

APRIL (National Stress Awareness Month)

1: Cece Show, 2: Nikki Perkins, Amber Gray 3: Catherine Lough Haggquist, Sarah Jeffery, Young MA, 4: Lorraine Toussaint, Jill Scott, Khadi Don, Maya Angelou 6: Simona Brown, Lauren Ridloff 7: Billie Holiday, 8: Skai Jackson, Femi Taylor 9: Jazmine Sullivan, Bianca Belair, Kisha Knight Pulliam 10: Dana Heath, Jasika Nicole, April Weeden-Washington  11: Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Summer Walker 12: Imani Lewis, Retta, Suzzanne Douglas 13: Brittany Marie Batchelder, Marci T. House 14: Da Brat 15: Ester Dean, Kron Moore, Samira Wiley 16: Ebony Obsidian, Vallerie Rae Miller 

Taurus (Apr 20-May 20) 21: Gugu Mbatha-Raw  24: Reagan Gomez Preston 25: Gina Torres, Leyna Bloom 26: Debra Wilson 27: Lizzo 28: Aleisha LaNaé Allen, Cheslie Kryst, Madge Sinclair 29: Shahadi Wright Joseph

MAY (Women's Healthcare Month)

1: Victoria Monet 2: Golda Rosheuvel 3: Meagan Tandy, Chinenye Ezeudu, Danielle Deadwyler, Genevieve Nnaji 5: Gabrielle Nevaeh Green 6: Gabourey Sidibe, Adrienne Warren, Bresha Webb 7: Devyn Tyler 11: Dominique Thorne 12: Vanessa Estelle Williams, Kim Fields 13: Pearl Thusi 14: Tamara Dobson 15: Anjelika Washington, Bahia Watson, Sommore, 16: Janet Jackson, Aleyse Shannon 17:  Francis Callier, Rochelle Aytes, Cynda Williams 19: Grace Jones, Angel Theory 

Gemini (May 21-Jun 20) 21: Da’Vine Joy Randolph 22: Naomi Campbell 24: Patti Labelle, 25: Ebonee Noel, Octavia Spencer, Zazie Beetz, Leslie Uggams, Aïssa Maïga 26: Pam Grier, Lauryn Hill, Madeleine Mantock, Marie Pierra Kakoma 27: Left Eye, 28: Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gladys Knight 29: Laverne Cox, Mel B, Ashleigh Morghan, Michole Briana White 30: Javicia Leslie, DeWanda Wise 31: Cupcakke, Normani 

JUNE (HAPPY JUNETEENTH AND BLACK MUSIC MONTH!!! HAPPY PRIDE LADIES,GAYDIES & THEYDIES)

1: Shailyn Pierre-Dixon 2: Brandee Evans, Jadah Marie, Laura Kariuki 3: Assa Sylla, Elizabeth Adare, Josephine Baker 4: Bahni Turpin 5: Denisea Wilson 6: Alex Datcher 9: Logan Browning, Gloria Reuben 10: Faith Evans 12: Felecia M. Bell 13: Daniella Perkins 14: Marla Gibbs, Tamara Smart 15: Judy Pace, Ashley Nicole Black 16: Iantha Richardson 17: Venus Williams 18: Fatou Jobe 19: Phylicia Rashad, Alysia Rogers 20: Tika Sumpter 

Cancer (June 21-July22) 22: DomiNque Perry 23: Brandi Rhodes, Britne Oldford 24: Solange, Candice Patton, Adele Oni, Dominique Tipper 25: Brenda Sykes 26: Antoinette Robertson 27: Anjela Lauren Smith, Chantel Riley

JULY (HAPPY DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH)

1: Storm Reid 3: Audra McDonald, Alyah Chanelle Scott 4: Edmonia Lewis 5: Ellen Bendu 6: Della Reese, Little Miss Flint, Tia Mowry 7: Cree Summer, Akira Golz 8: Riele Downs, Taja V. Simpson 10: Angel Haze 11: Lil’ Kim, Aida Osman, Annarah Cymone, Aerial Hull, 14: Alisha Wainwright, Angela Lewis, Geretta Geretta, Kelly Jo Minter 15: Shari Headley 17: Diahann Carroll, Amanda Warren, Asjha Cooper

Leo (July 23-Aug 22) 24: Brenda Crichlow, Herizen Guardiola 25: Iman, Jajube Mandiela  26: Grace Byers 27: Gabrielle Graham, Savannah Smith 29: Sweet LD, 30:Vivica A. Fox 31: Wunmi Mosaku, Bukamina Cebekhulu

AUGUST

1: Tempestt Bledsoe 2: Alvina August 3: Chandler Kinney, Jo Marie Payton 4: Eris Baker 5: Chip Fields, 6: Merrin Dungey, 7: Kheris Rogers, 8: Meagan Good, Kimberly Brooks 9: Whitney Houston, Angely Gaviria  11: Viola Davis, Sophie Okonedo 12: Imani Hakim, Yvette Nicole Brown 13: Dawnn Lewis,  Deborah Ayorinde 14: Jackée Harry, Halle Berry, Marsai Martin, Aliyah Moulden 15: Christine Adams, Andrea Lewis 16: Angela Bassett 19: Sara Martins, Tracie Thoms 20: Ashley Nicole Williams 21: Loretta Devine, Kelis 

Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22) 23: Angelique Noire, Clarissa Thibeaux 24: Ava Duvernay, Harriett D Foy 25: Ashley Winfrey, China Ann McClain 26: Keke Palmer 27: Chandra Wilson, Demetria McKinney 29: Kelly McCreary 30: Angel Coulby

SEPTEMBER

1: Zendaya Coleman, Skye Townsend, Bianca Brewton 3: Iza 4: Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter, Sammie Ware 5: Clark Backo, Coco Rebecca Edogamhe, Kat Graham, Jade Payton 6: Anika Noni Rose, Daniele Gaither, Naomie Harris, Trina McGee 7: Afton Williamson 9: Camilla Beeput 

10: Treshelle Edmond 11: Taraji P. Henson 12: Jennifer Hudson 13: Aisha Dee 14: Ololade "Lolly" Adefope 16: Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke "Toks" Olagundoye 17: Danielle Brooks 18: Aisha Tyler, Jada Pinkett Smith 19: Sanaa Lathan 20: Debbi Morgan, Enuka Okuma, Victoria Dillard 21: Jerrika Hinton  

Libra (Sept 23-Oct 22) 22: Teyonah Parrish 23: Cush Jumbo, Janelle James, LisaRaye McCoy 24: Yetide Badaki 26: Serena Williams, Fola Evans-Akingbola 27 Beverly Osu 28: Vernee Watson-Johnson

OCTOBER

1: Hamamat Montia, Michaela Coel, Jurnee Smollett Bell, Priah Ferguson 2: Akira Akbar 3: Ayo Edebiri, Tessa Thompson 4: Dana Davis, Ella Balinska, Ambrosia Kelley 5: Heather Headley 7: Toni Braxton, Adriyan Rae, Amber Stevens West, Aweng Chuol, Grace Saif 10: Damaris Lewis, Enam Asiama 13: Tisha Campbell, Ashanti, Aude Legastelois 15: Bethany Brown 17: Sharon Leal, Angel Parker 18: Joy Bryant 19: Ciara Renée Harper 21: Nakia Burrise 22: Carmen Ejogo 23: Amandla Stenberg, Duckie Thot

Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21) 24: Monica Brown 25: Ciara 26: Florence Kasumba, Folake Olowofoyeku 29: Gabrielle Union 30: Charnele Brown, Eva Marcille, Nia Long 31: Letitia Wright

NOVEMBER

1: Zoë Soul 3: Antonia Thomas 4: Brittany Adebumola, Demene Hall  5: Dominique Thorne 6: Thandiwe Newton, Lisa Berry, Alix Lapri 7: Dara Renee 8: Alfre Woodard, Esther Rolle 9: Dorothy Dandridge 10: Eve Jeffers 11: Camille Hyde, Susan Kelechi Watson 13: Aisha Hinds, Monique Coleman, Whoopi 15: Rachel True, Yaya Dacosta, Gloria Foster 16: Lisa Bonet 19: Erika Alexander, Gabrielle Elyse, Susan Heyward 

Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21) 22: Crystal Scales, Patra 24: Ifeoma Nwobu 25: Wakeema Hollis, 26: Tina Turner, Garcelle Beauvais, Camille McDonald 27: Robin Givens, 28: Angelica Ross S. Epatha Merkerson 29: Lovie Simone, Franchesca Ramsey 30: Kayden Grace Swan

DECEMBER

1: Janelle Monae, Zoe Kravitz 2: Lesley Ann Brandt, Celeste O’Connor  4: Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins, Nefessa Williams 5: Lauren London 6: Ashley Madekwe 7: Idara Victor 8: Nikki Minaj 10: Kiki Layne, Raven Symone 11: Chloe Coleman, Condola Rashad, Xosha Roquemore 12: Regina Hall, 16: Kiara Muhummad, Gretchen Palmer 18: Adelayo Adedayo 19: Cicely Tyson 21: Quinta Brunson, Michelle Hurd 

Capricorn  (Dec 22-Jan 19) 22: Alexis Floyd, BernNadette Stanis 23: Brooke & Bria Singleton, Ruby Barker 25: Bethany Antonia, CCH Pounder 27: AmandaMaryanna, Faithe Herman 28: Nichelle Nichols, 30: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Aesha Ash 31: Susan Wokoma, Donna Summer, Rosalind Cash, Denee Benton

Obviously this isn’t a comprehensive list and will be updated as more are remembered or learned. So, list will be updated as needed. Currently/Continually working on it.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

A Look at the slate of Countdown to Christmas Movies airing this year on the Hallmark Channel

Jingle Bell Bride  Premieres: Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Julie Gonzalo, Ronnie Rowe Jr.  Official synopsis: “Wedding planner Jessica Perez (Gonzalo) travels to a remote town in Alaska to find a rare flower for a celebrity client and is charmed by the small town during Christmas, as well as the handsome local (Rowe Jr.) helping her. 

Chateau Christmas  Premieres: Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Merritt Patterson, Luke Macfarlane  Official synopsis: “Margot (Patterson), a world-renowned pianist, returns to Chateau Newhaus to spend the holidays with her family and is reunited with an ex (Macfarlane) who helps her rediscover her passion for music.” 

Christmas With the Darlings Premieres: Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Katrina Law, Carlo Marks  Official synopsis: “Just before the holidays Jessica Lew (Law) is ending her tenure as the assistant to her wealthy boss to use her recently earned law degree within his company, but offers to help his charming, younger brother (Marks) as he looks after his orphaned nieces and nephew over Christmas.”

One Royal Holiday  Premieres: Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, Victoria Clark, Tom McGowan  Official synopsis: “When Anna (Osnes) offers a stranded mother (Clark) and son (Tveit) shelter in a blizzard, she learns that they are the Royal Family of Galwick. Anna shows the Prince how they do Christmas in her hometown, encouraging him to open his heart and be true to himself.” 

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater  Premieres: Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Ashley Williams, Niall Matter  Official synopsis: “Single mom Maggie (Williams) is facing Christmas alone until Lucas (Matter) crashes into her life and becomes an unexpected houseguest. Together they overcome Christmas while finding comfort in their growing bond.” 

On the 12th Date of Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Mallory Jansen, Tyler Hynes  Official synopsis: “Two seemingly incompatible game designers team up to create a romantic, city-wide scavenger hunt themed for The 12 Days of Christmas.” 

Christmas in Vienna  Premieres: Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Sarah Drew, Brennan Elliott  Official synopsis: “Jess (Drew), a concert violinist whose heart just isn’t in it anymore, goes to Vienna for a performance. While there, she finds the inspiration she has been missing, and a new love.” 

A Timeless Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Ryan Paevey, Erin Cahill Official synopsis: “Charles Whitley (Paevey) travels from 1903 to 2020 where he meets Megan Turner (Cahill), a tour guide at his historic mansion, and experiences a 21st century Christmas. 

A Nashville Christmas Carol  Premieres: Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Jessy Schram, Wes Brown, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, RaeLynn, Kix Brooks, Kimberly Williams-Paisley  Official synopsis: “Vivienne Wake (Schram), a workaholic television producer in charge of a country music Christmas special showcasing newcomer Alexis (Raelynn), never lets personal feelings get in the way of business. On the verge of accepting a job in L.A., and with the return of Gavin Chase (Brown) — her childhood sweetheart and manager to the special’s headliner, Belinda (Evans) — she receives a visit from the ghost of her recently deceased mentor, Marilyn (Judd). Her mentor warns her current path leads to a dark future and has recruited both the Spirit of Christmas Past (Brooks) and the Spirit of Christmas Present (Williams-Paisley) to help her get back on track. The Spirits’ time-jumping adventures force Vivienne to take hold of her life." 

The Christmas House  Premieres: Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Robert Buckley, Jonathan Bennett, Ana Ayora, Treat Williams, Sharon Lawrence, Brad Harder  Official synopsis: “Working through some difficult decisions, Wade family matriarch Phylis (Lawrence) and patriarch Bill (Williams), have summoned their two grown sons — TV star Mike Wade (Buckley) and Brandon Wade (Bennett) — home for the holidays. It is their hope that bringing the family together to recreate the Christmas house will help them find resolution and make a memorable holiday for the entire family and community. As Brandon and his husband Jake (Harder) make the trip home, they are anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child. Meanwhile, Mike reconnects with Andi (Ayora), his high school sweetheart.” 

New movie to be Announced  Premieres: Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: TBD Official synopsis: TBD 

A Christmas Tree Grows in Brooklyn  Premieres: Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rochelle Aytes, Mark Taylor  Official synopsis: “Erin (Aytes) is planning the town’s Christmas celebration and must win over firefighter Kevin (Taylor) in order to obtain the beautiful spruce tree from his property for the celebration.” 

A Bright and Merry Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Alison Sweeney, Marc Blucas  Official synopsis: “Two competing TV hosts (Sweeney and Blucas) are sent to a festive small town over Christmas. While pretending to get along for the sake of appearances, they discover that there’s more to each other than they thought. 

Five Star Christmas (Working Title)  Premieres: Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Bethany Joy Lenz, Victor Webster  Official synopsis: “After moving back to her hometown, Lisa (Lenz) plots with her siblings and grandparents to help her father’s new bed and breakfast get a five-star review from an incognito travel critic (Webster), but ends up falling for him, not knowing he is the real critic.” 

Christmas by Starlight (Working Title)  Premieres: Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Kimberley Sustad, Paul Campbell  Official synopsis: “Annie (Sustad), a lawyer, must help her loved ones this holiday season. Her family’s restaurant, the Starlight Café, is slated for demolition. The heir to the development firm responsible, William (Campbell), makes her an unlikely proposition: He’ll spare the café if Annie spends the week ‘appearing’ as the legal counsel his father is demanding he hire in the wake of some costly mistakes.” 

Christmas Waltz  Premieres: Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Lacey Chabert, Will Kemp, JT Church  Official synopsis: “After Avery’s (Chabert) storybook Christmas wedding is canceled unexpectedly, dance instructor Roman (Kemp) helps her rebuild her dreams.” 

If I Only Had Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Candace Cameron Bure, Warren Christie Official synopsis: “At Christmas, a cheerful publicist (Bure) teams up with a cynical business owner (Christie) and his team to help a charity in need.” 

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing  Premieres: Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Holly Robinson Peete, Colin Lawrence, Rukiya Bernard, Antonio Cayonne, Barbara Niven  Official synopsis: “As Michelle’s (Peete) wedding approaches, Hannah (Bernard) steps up to help finish the launch of the new Evergreen museum while questioning her relationship and future with Elliot (Cayonne).” 

Christmas She Wrote  Premieres: Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Danica McKellar, Dylan Neal  Official synopsis: “When Kayleigh (McKellar), a romance writer, has her column canceled right before Christmas, she heads home to reconnect with her family. Kayleigh gets an unexpected visit from the man (Neal) who canceled her column who fights not only to bring her back to the publisher but also for her heart.” 

Cross Country Christmas  Premieres: Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rachael Leigh Cook, Greyston Holt  Official synopsis: “Former classmates Lina (Cook) and Max (Holt) are traveling home for the holidays, until a storm hits and they have to work together to make it home in time, no matter the mode of transportation.” 

Christmas Carnival  Premieres: Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Stars: Tamera Mowry-Housley, Antonio Cupo  Official synopsis: “Emily (Mowry-Housley) is a top newscaster who has achieved her career dreams but still has regrets about the guy (Xavier) who got away five years earlier. When the Christmas carnival comes to town, a ride around the carousel takes her magically back in time to the carnival five years before... giving her a second chance at love before she must return to Christmas present.” 

A Christmas Carousel  Premieres: Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rachel Boston, Neal Bledsoe  Official synopsis: “When Lila (Boston) is hired by the Royal Family of Marcadia to repair a carousel, she must work with the Prince (Bledsoe) to complete it by Christmas.” 

Love, Lights, Hanukkah!  Premieres: Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Mia Kirshner, Ben Savage, Marilu Henner  Official synopsis: “As Christina (Kirshner) prepares her restaurant for its busiest time of year, she gets back a DNA test revealing that she’s Jewish. The discovery leads her to a new family and an unlikely romance over eight nights.” 

Info from the ew.com article, Link HERE 

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Veronica Lake (born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman; November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973) was an American film, stage, and television actor. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in film noirs with Alan Ladd during the 1940s and her peek-a-boo hairstyle. By the late 1940s, Lake's career began to decline, due in part to her alcoholism. She made only one film in the 1950s, but made several guest appearances on television. She returned to the big screen in 1966 in the film Footsteps in the Snow (1966), but the role failed to revitalize her career.

Lake's memoir, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, was published in 1970. Her final screen role was in a low-budget horror film, Flesh Feast (1970). Lake died in July 1973 from hepatitis and acute kidney injury at the age of 50.

Lake was born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Her father, Harry Eugene Ockelman, was of German and Irish descent, and worked for an oil company aboard a ship. He died in an industrial explosion in Philadelphia in 1932. Lake's mother, Constance Frances Charlotta (Trimble; 1902–1992), of Irish descent, married Anthony Keane, a newspaper staff artist, also of Irish descent, in 1933, and Lake began using his surname.

The Keanes lived in Saranac Lake, New York, where young Lake attended St. Bernard's School. She was then sent to Villa Maria, an all-girls Catholic boarding school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from which she was expelled. Lake later claimed she attended McGill University and took a premed course for a year, intending to become a surgeon. This claim was included in several press biographies, although Lake later declared it was bogus. Lake subsequently apologized to the president of McGill, who was simply amused when she explained her habit of self-dramatizing. When her stepfather fell ill during her second year[vague], the Keane family later moved to Miami, Florida. Lake attended Miami High School, where she was known for her beauty. She had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to her mother.

In 1938, the Keanes moved to Beverly Hills, California. While briefly under contract to MGM, Lake enrolled in that studio's acting farm, the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting (now the Beverly Hills Playhouse). She made friends with a girl named Gwen Horn and accompanied her when Horn went to audition at RKO. She appeared in the play Thought for Food in January 1939. A theatre critic from the Los Angeles Times called her "a fetching little trick" for her appearance in She Made Her Bed.

She also appeared as an extra in a number of movies. Keane's first appearance on screen was for RKO, playing a small role among several coeds in the film Sorority House (1939). The part wound up being cut from the film, but she was encouraged to continue. Similar roles followed, including All Women Have Secrets (1939), Dancing Co-Ed (also 1939), Young as Your Feel (1940), and Forty Little Mothers (also 1940). Forty Little Mothers was the first time she let her hair down on screen.

Lake attracted the interest of Fred Wilcox, an assistant director, who shot a test scene of her performing from a play and showed it to an agent. The agent, in turn, showed it to producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., who was looking for a new girl to play the part of a nightclub singer in a military drama, I Wanted Wings (1940). The role would make Lake, still in her teens, a star. Hornblow changed the actress's name to Veronica Lake. According to him, her eyes, "calm and clear like a blue lake", were the inspiration for her new name.

It was during the filming of I Wanted Wings that Lake developed her signature look. Lake's long blonde hair accidentally fell over her right eye during a take and created a "peek-a-boo" effect. "I was playing a sympathetic drunk, I had my arm on a table ... it slipped ... and my hair — it was always baby fine and had this natural break — fell over my face ... It became my trademark and purely by accident", she recalled.

I Wanted Wings was a big hit. The hairstyle became Lake's trademark and was widely copied by women.

Even before the film came out, Lake was dubbed "the find of 1941". However, Lake did not think this meant she would have a long career and maintained her goal was to be a surgeon. "Only the older actors keep on a long time ... I don't want to hang on after I've reached a peak. I'll go back to medical school", she said.

Paramount announced two follow-up movies, China Pass and Blonde Venus. Instead, Lake was cast in Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels with Joel McCrea. She was six months pregnant when filming began.

Paramount put Lake in a thriller, This Gun for Hire (1942), with Robert Preston as her love interest. However, she shared more scenes with Alan Ladd; the two of them were so popular together that they would be reteamed in lead roles for three more films. Both had cameos in Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), an all-star Paramount film.

Lake was meant to be reunited with McCrea in another comedy, I Married a Witch, (also 1942) produced by Sturges and directed by René Clair, but McCrea refused to act with her again, reportedly saying, "Life's too short for two films with Veronica Lake". Production was delayed, enabling Lake to be reunited with Ladd in The Glass Key (again 1942), replacing Patricia Morison. The male lead in I Married a Witch was eventually played by Fredric March and the resulting movie, like The Glass Key, was successful at the box office. René Clair, the director of I Married a Witch, said of Lake, "She was a very gifted girl, but she didn't believe she was gifted."

Lake was meant to co-star with Charles Boyer in Hong Kong for Arthur Hornblow, but it was not made. She received acclaim for her part as a suicidal nurse in So Proudly We Hail! (1943). At the peak of her career, she earned $4,500 a week.

Lake had a complex personality and acquired a reputation for being difficult to work with. Eddie Bracken, her co-star in Star Spangled Rhythm, in which Lake appeared in a musical number, was quoted as saying, "She was known as 'The Bitch' and she deserved the title." However, Lake and McCrea did make another film together, Ramrod (1947). During filming of The Blue Dahlia (1946), screenwriter Raymond Chandler referred to her as "Moronica Lake".

During World War II, Lake changed her trademark peek-a-boo hairstyle at the urging of the government to encourage women working in war industry factories to adopt more practical, safer hairstyles. Although the change helped to decrease accidents involving women getting their hair caught in machinery, doing so may have damaged Lake's career. She also became a popular pin-up girl for soldiers during World War II and traveled throughout the United States to raise money for war bonds.

Lake's career faltered with her unsympathetic role as Nazi spy Dora Bruckman in The Hour Before the Dawn (1944), shot in mid 1943. Scathing reviews of The Hour Before the Dawn included criticism of her rather unconvincing German accent. She had begun drinking more heavily during this period, and a growing number of people refused to work with her. Lake had a number of months off work, during which time she lost a child and was divorced.

In early 1944 she was brought back in Bring On the Girls (1945), Lake's first proper musical, although she had sung in This Gun for Hire and Star Spangled Rhythm. She was teamed with Eddie Bracken and Sonny Tufts. The movie was not a financial success.

In June 1944, Lake appeared at a war bond drive in Boston, where her services as a dishwasher were auctioned off. She also performed in a revue, with papers saying her "talk was on the grim side". Hedda Hopper later claimed this appearance was responsible for Paramount giving her the third lead in Out of This World (1945), supporting Diana Lynn and Bracken, saying "Lake clipped her own wings in her Boston bond appearance ... It's lucky for Lake, after Boston, that she isn't out of pictures".

Lake had a relatively minor role in a film produced by John Houseman, Miss Susie Slagle's (also 1945), co starring Sonny Tufts; Lake was top billed but her part was smaller than Joan Caulfield. In November 1944 she made a third film with Bracken, Hold That Blonde (1945). She liked this part saying "it's a comedy, rather like what Carole Lombard used to do ... It represents a real change of pace".

Lake then made a second film produced by John Houseman, The Blue Dahlia (1946), which reunited her with Ladd. While waiting for the films to be released in 1945, she took stock of her career, claiming, "I had to learn about acting. I've played all sorts of parts, taken just what came along regardless of high merit. In fact, I've been a sort of general utility person. I haven't liked all the roles. One or two were pretty bad".

Lake expressed interest in renegotiating her deal with Paramount:

The studio feels that way about it too. They have indicated they are going to fuss more about the pictures in which I appear. I think I'll enjoy being fussed about ... I want this to be the turning point and I think that it will. I am free and clear of unpleasant characters, unless they are strongly justified. I've had a varied experience playing them and also appearing as heroines. The roles themselves haven't been noteworthy and sometimes not even especially spotlighted, but I think they've all been beneficial in one way or another. From here on there should be a certain pattern of development, and that is what I am going to fight for if necessary, though I don't believe it will be because they are so understanding here at Paramount.

Since So Proudly We Hail only The Blue Dahlia had been a hit. She made her first film outside Paramount since she became a star, a Western, Ramrod (1947), directed by her then-husband Andre DeToth, which reunited her with Joel McCrea, despite his earlier reservation. It was successful.

Back at her home studio she had a cameo in Variety Girl (1947) then was united with Ladd for the last time in Saigon (1948), in which she returned to her former peek-a-boo hairstyle; the movie was not particularly well received. Neither was a romantic drama, Isn't It Romantic (also 1948) or a comedy The Sainted Sisters (1948). In 1948 Paramount decided not to renew Lake's contract.

Lake moved to 20th Century Fox to make Slattery's Hurricane (1949), directed by DeToth. It was only a support role and there were not many other offers.

In 1950 it was announced she and DeToth would make Before I Wake (from a suspense novel by Mel Devrett) and Flanagan Boy. Neither was made.

She appeared in Stronghold (1951), which she later described as "a dog", an independent production from Lippert Pictures shot in Mexico. She later sued for unpaid wages on the film. Lake and DeToth filed for bankruptcy that same year.

The IRS later seized their home for unpaid taxes. On the verge of a nervous breakdown and bankrupt, Lake ran away, left DeToth, and flew alone to New York.

"They said, 'She'll be back in a couple of months,'" recalled Lake. "Well I never returned. Enough was enough already. Did I want to be one of the walking dead or a real person?"

She performed in summer stock theatre and in stage roles in England. In October 1955, she collapsed in Detroit, where she had been appearing on stage in The Little Hut.

After her third divorce, Lake drifted between cheap hotels in New York City, and was arrested several times for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. In 1962, a New York Post reporter found her living at the all-women's Martha Washington Hotel in Manhattan, working as a waitress downstairs in the cocktail lounge. She was working under the name "Connie de Toth". Lake said she took the job in part because "I like people. I like to talk to them".

The reporter's widely distributed story led to speculation that Lake was destitute. After the story ran, fans of Lake sent her money which she returned as "a matter of pride". Lake vehemently denied that she was destitute and stated, "It's as though people were making me out to be down-and-out. I wasn't. I was paying $190 a month rent then, and that's a long way from being broke". The story did revive some interest in Lake and led to some television and stage appearances, most notably in the 1963 off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward.

In 1966, she had a brief stint as a television hostess in Baltimore, Maryland, along with a largely ignored film role in Footsteps in the Snow. She also continued appearing in stage roles. She went to Freeport in the Bahamas to visit a friend and ended up living there for a few years.

Lake's memoirs, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, which she dictated to the writer Donald Bain, were published in the United Kingdom in 1969, and in the United States the following year. In the book, Lake discusses her career, her failed marriages, her romances with Howard Hughes, Tommy Manville and Aristotle Onassis, her alcoholism, and her guilt over not spending enough time with her children. In the book, Lake stated to Bain that her mother pushed her into a career as an actress. Bain quoted Lake, looking back at her career, as saying, "I never did cheesecake like Ann Sheridan or Betty Grable. I just used my hair". She also laughed off the term "sex symbol" and instead referred to herself as a "sex zombie".

When she went to the UK to promote her book in 1969 she received an offer to appear on stage in Madam Chairman. Also in 1969, Lake essayed the role of Blanche DuBois in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire on the English stage; her performance won rave reviews. With the proceeds from her autobiography, after she had divided them with Bain, she co-produced and starred in her final film, Flesh Feast (1970), a low-budget horror movie with a Nazi-myth storyline.

After purchasing an airplane for her husband, André de Toth, Lake earned her pilot's license in 1946. She later flew solo between Los Angeles and New York when leaving him.

Lake's first marriage was to art director John S. Detlie, in 1940. They had a daughter, Elaine (born in 1941), and a son, Anthony (born July 8, 1943). According to news from the time, Lake's son was born prematurely after she tripped on a lighting cable while filming a movie. Anthony died on July 15, 1943. Lake and Detlie separated in August 1943 and divorced in December 1943.

In 1944, Lake married film director Andre DeToth with whom she had a son, Andre Anthony Michael III (known as Michael DeToth), and a daughter, Diana (born October 1948). Days before Diana's birth, Lake's mother sued her for support payments. Lake and DeToth divorced in 1952.

In September 1955, she married songwriter Joseph Allan McCarthy. They were divorced in 1959. In 1969, she revealed that she rarely saw her children.

In June 1973, Lake returned from her autobiography promotion and summer stock tour in England to the United States and while traveling in Vermont, visited a local doctor, complaining of stomach pains. She was discovered to have cirrhosis of the liver as a result of her years of drinking, and on June 26, she checked into the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

She died there on July 7, 1973, of acute hepatitis and acute kidney injury. Her son Michael claimed her body. Lake's memorial service was held at the Universal Chapel in New York City on July 11.

She was cremated and, according to her wishes, her ashes were scattered off the coast of the Virgin Islands. In 2004, some of Lake's ashes were reportedly found in a New York antique store.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Lake has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6918 Hollywood Boulevard.

[bountyofbeads]

POST-IMPEACHMENT, TRUMP DECLARES HIMSELF THE ‘CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’ OF AMERICA

By Toluse Olorunnipa and Beth Reinhard| Published February 19 at 7:41 AM EST | Washington Post | Posted February 19, 2020 |

During his Senate impeachment trial, Democrats repeatedly asserted that President Trump is “not above the law.” But since his acquittal two weeks ago, analysts say, the president has taken a series of steps aimed at showing that, essentially, he is the law.

On Tuesday, Trump granted clemency to a clutch of political allies, circumventing the usual Justice Department process. The pardons and commutations followed Trump’s moves to punish witnesses in his impeachment trial, publicly intervene in a pending legal case to urge leniency for a friend, attack a federal judge, accuse a juror of bias and threaten to sue his own government for investigating him.

Trump defended his actions, saying he has the right to shape the country’s legal systems as he sees fit.

“I’m allowed to be totally involved,” he told reporters as he left Washington on Tuesday for a trip to California, Nevada and Arizona. “I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country. But I’ve chosen not to be involved.”

The president’s post-impeachment behavior has alarmed Attorney General William P. Barr, who has told people close to the president that he is willing to quit unless Trump stops publicly commenting on ongoing criminal matters, according to two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. It also has appalled several legal experts and former officials, who have said his direct intervention in legal matters risks further politicizing law enforcement at a time of fraying confidence in the Justice Department.

More than 2,000 former Justice Department employees signed a public letter this week objecting to Trump’s public intervention in the case of his longtime friend Roger Stone, and urging Barr to resign. The head of the Federal Judges Association has called an emergency meeting to address growing concerns about political interference in the Stone case. And four prosecutors resigned from the case last week after Trump publicly decried their recommended prison sentence of seven to nine years for Stone and the Justice Department reversed course to lobby for a lower sentence.

A jury convicted Stone last year of lying to Congress and obstruction in a case that Trump has repeatedly condemned as unfair while leaving open the prospect of issuing a pardon for his friend and political ally.

Carmen Ortiz, the former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts under President Barack Obama, was among the signatories on the letter condemning Trump’s political interference in legal matters.

“I’ve worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations,” she said, “and I’ve just never seen behavior like what were seeing right now.”

Trump added to the sense of legal disarray Tuesday by granting executive clemency to a group of 11 people that included several political allies and others convicted of corruption, lying and fraud. Among the recipients of Trump’s largesse was Rod R. Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat. His sentence was commuted. Financier Michael Milken, who was charged with insider trading in the 1980s, and Bernie Kerik, the former New York police commissioner jailed on eight felony charges, including tax fraud, were pardoned.

Trump said the pardons and commutations were based on “the recommendations of people that know them,” including Blagojevich’s wife, Patricia, who made a direct appeal to the president on Fox News.

Legal experts said that by relying on his personal connections rather than the Justice Department’s established review process for finding convicts deserving of clemency, Trump risked politicizing his pardon power.

“It’s a clemency process for the well-connected, and that’s it,” said Rachel Barkow, a professor and clemency expert at the New York University School of Law. “Trump is wielding the power the way you would expect the leader of a banana republic who wants to reward his friends and cronies.”

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s comments about the Stone case have caused the most concern. Trump has singled out the judge in the case, Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court in Washington, for personal attacks, accusing her of bias and spreading a falsehood about her record. He has amplified Stone’s request for a new trial, accusing a member of the jury of being politically biased against him.

Though Barr has warned that the president’s unbridled commentary about ongoing criminal cases was making it “impossible for me to do my job,” Trump continued to express his views about legal matters Tuesday.

Trump told reporters that he partially agreed with Barr, acknowledging that his tweets do make the attorney general’s job more difficult. But he said he would continue tweeting nonetheless.

“Social media, for me, has been very important because it gives me a voice,” Trump said.

And he has made a direct connection between his own legal travails and those of Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress about his attempts to get details from Hillary Clinton’s private emails from the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign.

Trump’s increasingly provocative comments raised the prospect that he might issue pardons for Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Since his impeachment acquittal, Trump has tried to portray the prosecutions of his allies as the illegitimate product of an illegitimate investigation by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 race.

Prosecutions stemming from the Mueller investigation are “badly tainted,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, and “should be thrown out.”

“If I wasn’t President, I’d be suing everyone all over the place,” Trump wrote. “BUT MAYBE I STILL WILL. WITCH HUNT!”

After learning that federal judges would be holding an emergency discussion about his intervention in legal cases, Trump tweeted that they should instead discuss the alleged shortcomings of the Mueller probe.

Trump’s constant commentary and increasing willingness to flout traditional legal processes signal that the president feels emboldened and unrestrained after Republicans voted almost unanimously to acquit him on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, said Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers,” a history of White House chiefs of staff.

“It shows that Susan Collins was right — Trump has learned a lesson,” Whipple said, referring to a prediction by the Republican senator from Maine that Trump would be more cautious after impeachment. “The lesson he learned is that he’s unaccountable. He can do whatever he wants now with impunity.”

While some Republicans spoke out against Trump’s commutation for Blagojevich, the reaction from GOP lawmakers Tuesday was mostly muted. And there’s little to indicate that pardons for Stone or Flynn would lead to a significant Republican backlash.

Whipple said the president’s decision to pardon several of his political allies just before Stone is scheduled to be sentenced set the stage for an increasingly “dangerous” phase of Trump’s presidency.

“This is a president who thinks the law exists to be circumvented,” he said.

The next test of Trump’s willingness to intervene in the legal process could come as soon as Thursday, when Stone is set to be sentenced by Jackson. Asked Tuesday if he would issue a pardon for Stone, Trump demurred.

“I haven’t given it any thought. In the meantime, he’s going through a process,” Trump said. “But I think he’s been treated very unfairly.”

______

Fred Barbash, Mark Berman, Carol D. Leonnig and Anne Gearan contributed to this report.

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Trump grants clemency to high-profile individuals, including Rod Blagojevich, Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik

By Anne Gearan, Josh Dawsey, Beth Reinhard and Colby Itkowitz | Published

Feb 18 at 7:06 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted February 18, 2020 |

President Trump on Tuesday used his sweeping presidential pardon powers to wipe away the crimes of a list of boldface names, including disgraced politician Rod R. Blagojevich, convicted junk bond king Michael Milken and former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik.

Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of seven convicted white collar criminals at the center of federal anti-corruption and tax fraud cases spanning decades, alongside four women whose cases were not as well known.

The action frees Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, from the federal correctional facility in Colorado where he was serving out his 14-year sentence. He was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 for trying to sell then-president elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

“He’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail,” Trump told reporters. “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence and my opinion and in the opinion of many others.”

Tuesday’s clemency announcements came as Trump has been flexing his power in recent days after being acquitted by the Senate on two impeachment charges earlier this month. The president has removed from their jobs witnesses who testified against him and publicly weighed in on criminal cases concerning his associates while dismissing the idea his actions have crossed any ethical or legal lines.

The pardons and commutations focus on the type of corruption and lying charges his associates were convicted of as part of the Russia investigation, once again raising the question of whether he will pardon former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and longtime adviser and friend Roger Stone. Trump said he hasn’t thought about pardoning those three but made clear he isn’t happy with the cases brought against them.

“I think Roger Stone has been treated unfairly. I think General Flynn has been treated very unfairly,” he told reporters. “I think a lot of people have been treated very unfairly.”

The executive actions announced Tuesday fit a pattern of highly personal presidential justice that largely bypasses the traditional pardon process administered by the Justice Department. Most of the people who have received clemency under Trump were well-connected offenders who had a line into the White House or currency with his political base.

Milken received a pardon with the White House providing a long list of advocates for the wealthy financier, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, political donors Miriam Adelson and Sheldon Adelson, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Milken became a symbol of the culture of greed during the 1980s that was fictionalized in movies like “Wall Street,” where Michael Douglas plays ruthless financier Gordon Gekko who declares that “greed is good.”

Milken rose to prominence for his role in developing high-interest-bearing securities markets, known as junk bonds, before pleading guilty in 1990 to six felony counts, including securities fraud, mail fraud and aiding in the filing of a false tax return.

Since then, Milken has sought to rehabilitate his image by becoming a major donor to causes such as cancer research.

Also on Trump’s pardon list were Kerik, who was convicted of tax fraud, and Edward DeBartolo Jr., the billionaire former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, who pleaded guilty two decades ago to charges related to his role in a corruption case against former Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards (D).

The president also pardoned David Safavian, a senior official in the former George W. Bush administration who was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation as part of the scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and two lesser-known business executives, technology executive Ariel Friedler and construction company executive Paul Pogue, who were convicted of computer and tax charges. He also pardoned Angela Stanton, an author who served a six-month home sentence for her role in a stolen vehicle ring.

Kerik is a frequent visitor to the president’s Florida Mar-a-Lago Club who recently posted a picture at the Trump hotel, tagging the president and bragging of “Badassry” at the hotel. He declined to comment. Safavian now works at the Trump-aligned American Conservative Union Foundation’s justice center and attacks Trump critics through his Twitter account. Blagojevich’s wife actively lobbied for her husband’s release, including going on Fox News to maker her case.

The White House says all 11 actions help people who had were treated unfairly or had repaid society through good works. Most are white men with connections to power, and in some cases to Trump himself.

Blagojevich and Trump were well acquainted from when the former Illinois governor was a contestant on Trump’s show “The Apprentice” in 2010. Trump fired Blagojevich for shoddy work on a Florida theme park project, telling him, “Your Harry Potter facts were not accurate. Who did the research?”

Kerik and Milken were both prominent New Yorkers during Trump’s professional rise as a New York real estate magnate.

“We have Bernie Kerik, we have Mike Milken, who’s gone around and done an incredible job,” Trump said, adding that Milken had “paid a big price.”

The 11 grants Tuesday mark the largest group Trump has announced so far, but barely makes a dent in the record-setting backlog of nearly 13,000 people currently waiting for a responses to their clemency requests.

The White House released synopses of each case Tuesday, including lists of supporters for each action that reads like a who’s-who of the president’s elite orbit.

Nelson Peltz, who threw the president a $10 million fundraiser at his $95 million Palm Beach house Saturday night, recommended the pardon of Milken.

TV personalities, including Geraldo Rivera, Andrew Napolitano and Maria Bartiromo, were all cited as pardon advocates by the president.

Gov. Chris Christie, who advises the president and takes on legal clients, got one of his clients a pardon.

Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was listed as a supporter for both Milken and Kerik, who also received backing from Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was granted clemency by Trump last year. Kerik rode his prominence as Giuliani’s police chief during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to a nomination to be Homeland Security secretary in the George W. Bush administration. But he soon ran into legal trouble and his nomination was pulled.

Newsmax Media Christopher Ruddy said he had lobbied Trump on behalf of Kerik and Blagojevich.

“It was just so glaring that it was a political case,” Ruddy said of Blagojevich.

The entire GOP delegation from Illinois lobbied against the Blagojevich pardon, officials said.

“We are disappointed by the President’s commutation of Rod Blagojevich’s federal sentence. We believe he received an appropriate and fair sentence,” Illinois Republican Reps. Darin LaHood, John Shimkus, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney J. Davis and Mike Bost said in a statement. “History will not judge Rod Blagojevich well.”

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who signed a letter supporting the Kerik pardon, said the president “has had a lot of respect for Bernie over the years.” Geraldo Rivera also signed the letter and was instrumental in the pardon, King said.

Trump acknowledged that in deciding whom to pardon, “a lot of times I really rely on the people that know them.”

The head of the pardon office in the Department of Justice during the first two years of the Trump administration told The Washington Post that he quit last year because the White House had sidelined his office in favor of taking its cues from celebrities, political allies and Fox News.

DeBartolo, Kerik and Milken were all denied pardons under President Obama. Friedler never applied to the pardon office, Justice Department records show.

Most presidents in recent decades have faced accusations at one time or another that they exploited the pardon power. President Bill Clinton issued pardons in the final hours of his presidency to his half brother, a Whitewater business partner, his former housing secretary and a fugitive commodities trader married to a major Democratic donor.

Under Trump, however, politically motivated grants have become the rule, not the exception.

Obama granted an unprecedented number of commutations, about 1,700, under a sweeping initiative that prioritized nonviolent drug offenders. Nearly all of those selected had been sentenced under the mandatory-minimum penalties deployed during the “war on drugs” that critics say disproportionately punished minority communities. Nearly all of the people who received commutations from Obama were men and nearly 80 percent were African American and Hispanic, according to a report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

The program ended when Trump took office. He has granted clemency to only one African American man so far: the late boxer, Jack Johnson.

The White House also announced Tuesday that Trump had granted clemency to three women convicted of nonviolent drug or fraud offenses. The cases of Tynice Nichole Hall, Crystal Munoz and Judith Negron were all supported by Alice Johnson, a criminal justice advocate whose life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense Trump had commuted last year.

Johnson, whose case was featured in a Trump campaign ad aired during the Super Bowl this month, had been recommended to Trump by reality star and criminal justice advocate Kim Kardashian West.

“It’s a clemency process for the well-connected, and that’s it,” said Rachel Barkow, a New York University Law School professor and clemency expert. “Trump is wielding the power the way you would expect the leader of a banana republic who wants to reward his friends and cronies.”

Blagojevich was caught on FBI wiretaps talking about trying to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat, saying it was a “valuable thing” and “you don’t just give it away for nothing.”

Trump has mentioned the Democrat’s case frequently in recent years, focusing on what Trump said was a disproportionate punishment for an offense he suggested was really just politics.

“He’s been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens — over a phone call which he shouldn’t have said what he said, but it was braggadocio, you would say,” Trump told reporters last year. “I would think that there have been many politicians — I’m not one of them, by the way — that have said a lot worse over the telephone.”

Trump first publicly mused about commuting Blagojevich’s sentence in 2018, when he exercised his clemency powers in a string of cases and speculated about others he might pardon. Others mentioned at the time included Martha Stewart, the television personality and lifestyle mogul who was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to investigators about a well-timed stock sale.

Trump has routinely downplayed and mischaracterized the case against Blagojevich, whose trial included not only the wiretap but also numerous witnesses testifying that he had solicited campaign cash in exchange for official acts.

In comments last year, Trump also falsely blamed Blagojevich’s treatment on “the Comey gang and all these sleazebags,” a reference to James B. Comey, the FBI director Trump fired amid the mounting investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey was in the private sector at the time of Blagojevich’s prosecution and conviction in December 2011.

At fundraiser last year at his Chicago hotel, Trump polled the room on whether he should grant a pardon, taking some donors by surprise. Trump was pleased that so many people said they would be okay with it, people familiar with the event said.

Blagojevich’s turn as a contestant on Trump’s NBC reality show came after he was indicted but before his convictions. Trump praised Blagojevich at the time for having “a lot of guts” to appear on the program.

______

John Wagner and Marc Fisher contributed to this report.

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Most Trump clemency grants bypass Justice Dept. and go to well-connected offenders

By Beth Reinhard and Anne Gearan |

Published Feb 03 at 6:15 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted Feb 18, 2020

Two days after President Trump freed a great-grandmother sentenced to life in prison, he praised the reality-television star and social influencer who had championed the woman’s release.

“Kim Kardashian was great because she brought Alice to my attention,” Trump said in 2018 of Alice Marie Johnson, who had served nearly 22 years for first-time, nonviolent drug-trafficking crimes.

Johnson’s image reappeared Sunday during the Super Bowl in an ad run by Trump’s reelection campaign touting his record on criminal justice.

The ad didn’t mention Kim Kardashian West — or that all but five of the 24 people who have received clemency from Trump had a line into the White House or currency with his political base, according to a review by The Washington Post. As the administration takes its cues from celebrities, political allies and Fox News, thousands of other offenders who followed Justice Department rules are waiting, passed over as cases that were brought directly to Trump leaped to the front of the line.

For more than 125 years, the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Justice Department has quietly served as the key adviser on clemency, one of the most unlimited powers bestowed on the president by the Constitution.

Under Trump, the pardon office has become a bureaucratic way station, according to government data and interviews with lawyers, criminal justice advocates, and former pardon and White House officials.

Most of Trump’s grants of clemency have gone to ­well-connected offenders who had not filed petitions with the pardon office or did not meet its requirements, The Post review shows.

“The joy you get finding meritorious people, working on those cases, making recommendations that go to the White House, seeing people receive the grants — you feel like you’ve done something,” said Larry Kupers, the former head of the office, who quit last year. “If that’s not happening, it feels like you are spinning your wheels.”

Trump’s approach is legal. The Constitution’s only restriction on the pardon power is that it applies exclusively to federal crimes and not to impeachment.

Trump has reveled in that clout, saying “the power to pardon is a beautiful thing” and claiming he has the “absolute power” to pardon himself.

He has used the power, however, very sparingly.

After about three years in office, Trump’s six predecessors had signed off on hundreds or even thousands of petitions forwarded from the Justice Department. Most were denials, a disappointing but vital step for offenders in limbo who can’t ask for clemency again until they are turned down.

Ronald Reagan set a low bar with 669 decisions during his first three years; 3,993 petitions processed during Barack Obama’s first three years reached a high-water mark.

Trump has ruled on only 204 clemency requests — 24 approvals and 180 denials. That is the slowest pace in decades.

 “I almost wish it would get denied. At least I would know that someone had looked at it,” said 39-year-old Nichole Forde, who handwrote her petition in 2016 from the Minnesota prison where she is serving a 27-year sentence for nonviolent drug crimes.

In the most recent end-runs around the pardon office and over the objections of Pentagon officials, Trump in November pardoned two former Army officers: Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, facing trial for premeditated murder, and 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, convicted of murder after ordering soldiers to fire at unarmed men in Afghanistan. The White House cited endorsements from several Republican congressmen and a Fox News host.

Golsteyn’s pardon means he will not stand trial. Three weeks after the Lorance and Golsteyn pardons, Trump brought the men onstage at a closed Republican fundraiser in Miami.

During the Super Bowl, the reelection campaign sent out a fundraising appeal invoking Johnson’s release with “Go Alice!”

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said the ad reflects Trump’s view that there is a right way and a wrong way to address inequities in the criminal justice system. The 30-second ad“clearly communicates how President Trump expressed his concerns about the issue — he acted and he helped improve people’s lives,” Parscale said.

The White House declined to answer detailed questions about the president’s approach to clemency.

Asked what advice he would give offenders seeking leniency, Kupers said: “Find a way to get to Kim Kardashian. I’m very serious about that.”

WHAT IS CLEMENCY?

Clemency can take two forms: Commutations shorten sentences, and pardons erase the civil consequences of criminal convictions, including limits on gun ownership, jury service and voting rights.

For decades, federal offenders filed petitions for clemency with the pardon office, which assigns a staff attorney to investigate each case.

The office may be one of the least visible and least understood corners of a federal government scorned by a president who has declared war on what he calls the “deep state.”

With an annual budget of about $4.5 million, the office employs about 19 people, including 11 attorneys.

For pardons, the office looks for acceptance of responsibility and good conduct for a substantial period of time after conviction, among other considerations, according to Justice Department guidelines. Commutations hinge on the undue severity of a sentence, the amount of time served and demonstrated rehabilitation.

The pardon office’s decisions undergo scrutiny by the deputy attorney general, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, who makes final recommendations to the Office of White House Counsel. During the Trump administration, the counsel’s office has been almost singularly focused on selecting conservative judicial nominees and, more recently, impeachment.

What’s more, the administration inherited a backlog of more than 11,300 petitions, according to Justice Department statistics.

As of late January, nearly 7,600 petitions have been filed since Trump took office. About 5,900 petitions have been closed by the pardon office during Trump’s presidency because the inmate was released, died or was ineligible for clemency.

Trump’s decisions on only 204 petitions means that nearly 13,000 people are waiting.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to say how many of its recommendations are backlogged at the White House.

The current pardon attorney, Rosalind Sargent-Burns, said she was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas declined to comment on the pace or nature of clemency grants under Trump but noted his singular authority.

“The president always retains the plenary power granted to him by the Constitution to pardon or commute sentences, and does so at his sole discretion, guided when he sees fit by the advice of the pardon attorney,” Navas said.

A former senior White House official, who, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal decisions, echoed that assessment.

“The pardon power is one of the few presidential powers that is subject to few, if any, limitations,” the official said. “Trump has used it in a way that is probably more transparently political than his predecessors, but all things considered, he’s been reasonably restrained in the number of times he’s exercised it.”

Starting with his first pardon, for former sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, Trump signaled that he would ignore convention.

Arpaio, a Trump booster who had defied a judge’s orders on detaining suspected undocumented immigrants, had not filed a petition and was pardoned one month after his conviction on a contempt charge. Justice Department guidelines generally prohibit pardon requests until five years after conviction or release from confinement, whichever comes later.

A lawyer for George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who served 12 days in prison in 2018 for lying to the FBI in the Russia investigation, requested a pardon only a few months after his release.

“Because of the unique circumstances of George’s case . . . it was very clear to me that a traditional submission to the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney would not be the most prudent strategy,” said his attorney, Caroline J. Polisi. “Given what we knew about the unorthodox way the president has approached his granting of other pardons, we decided a less formal approach was appropriate.” She declined to say whom in the White House she approached.

Former White House officials describe a freewheeling atmosphere in which staff members have fielded suggestions from Trump friends while sometimes throwing in their own recommendations.

Former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, whose job was managing the flow of paperwork and people into the Oval Office, took a leading role refereeing pardon requests before he left, according to four former or current officials. Senior advisers Kellyanne Conway and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, also have relayed clemency requests to Trump in largely informal settings, those officials said.

When Trump began talking about pardoning Arpaio in the spring of 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions advised waiting until after a verdict. Trump was undeterred; Arpaio had endorsed Trump in early 2016 when he was a long-shot candidate, and the president thought the ex-lawman had been treated unfairly, former White House officials said.

“It was so obviously political,” a former official said. “The first early discussion we had was about Joe Arpaio, and there was discussion about, ‘Do you want this to be the first?’ ”

'HOW OTHER PRESIDENTS DID IT'

Most presidents in recent decades have faced accusations at one time or another that they exploited the pardon power. Bill Clinton issued pardons in the final hours of his presidency to his half brother, a Whitewater business partner, his former housing secretary and a fugitive commodities trader married to a major Democratic donor.

Presidents also have circumvented the formal pardon process to advance national interests, as when Obama offered clemency to seven Iranians charged with violating U.S. trade sanctions in exchange for the release of four Americans imprisoned in Iran, including Post reporter Jason Rezaian.

Under Trump, however, politically motivated grants have become the rule, not the exception.

“I don’t blame Kim Kardashian putting forward names. I blame them for listening to her,” said Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a nonprofit that promotes sentencing reform. “It makes people cynical because the process isn’t based on merit.”

Of the five people who received clemency without White House connections or appeal to Trump’s political base, one went to a man whose pardon from Obama mistakenly omitted one conviction. The other four were for men who committed minor crimes in the 1980s and ’90s.

Roy McKeever, one of the four, said he was a “stupid kid who wanted fast money” in 1988 when he was busted for transporting marijuana from Mexico to Oklahoma. He served one year in prison and a year of probation. He applied for the pardon in 2016, he said, “so my dad wouldn’t be so disappointed.”

“It surprised me, too,” ­McKeever, now 50, said when he heard last year that he had been pardoned. “I didn’t think you could get a pardon unless you knew somebody.”

Oklahoma City lawyer Michael Risley said he had no idea how his client — his first for a federal pardon — got to the front of the line. “My sincere hope is that it’s because we did a good job on the paperwork,” Risley said.

Money and access have proved to be far more valuable under Trump.

Celebrity attorney Alan Dershowitz, a Trump ally who defended the president at his impeachment trial, got in a pitch for client Sholom Rubashkin during a 2017 visit to the White House to discuss Middle East policy. Dershowitz said he used a few minutes with Trump in the Oval Office to urge clemency for the Iowa kosher meatpacking executive sentenced to 27 years for money laundering. Trump was sympathetic to the argument that the business owner had been mistreated by the government, Dershowitz said.

“That resonated with him. As a businessman, he understood it,” Dershowitz said of Trump.

Dershowitz said Trump also was moved by his assertion that anti-Semitism had resulted in a disproportionately harsh sentence. Rubashkin’s backers included conservative Jews and evangelical Christians, significant strands of Trump’s political coalition. Kushner, an Orthodox Jew, was Rubashkin’s most vocal advocate inside the White House, according to two former officials.

Other Trump advisers urged caution because of the severity of Rubashkin’s crimes, in which prosecutors said he had bilked lenders out of more than $26 million.

But Obama’s denial of clemency for Rubashkin helped motivate Trump to adopt the opposite view, two advisers said.

“I would suspect a lot of pardons are given after face-to-face meetings,” said Dershowitz, who had failed to persuade Obama to help Rubashkin.

'OBAMA'S CLEMENCY APPROACH'

Obama granted a record-setting 1,700 commutations under a sweeping initiative that prioritized nonviolent drug offenders and expanded the criteria for commutations, triggering a ­flood of applicants.

Nearly all of those selected had been sentenced under the mandatory-minimum penalties deployed during the “war on drugs” of the 1980s.

Obama’s clemency program was widely described as historic but also inefficient and chaotic. Then-Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff resigned in January 2016 in part, she said, because her office needed more staff and resources.

An inspector general’s report in 2018 said the program made “significant strides” in its final year.

Kupers was a former federal public defender who joined the pardon office as a senior attorney in 2014, induced by Obama’s program.

“The clemency initiative set up these hopes and then they were virtually and entirely dashed after Trump’s election,” Kupers said.

Under Trump, the pardon office quietly reverted to the stricter pre-Obama guidelines for commutations.

Yet Trump also has raised hopes — with off-the-cuff remarks that have surprised his own aides.

On the day after Johnson’s release, Trump vowed to grant more pardons. “We have 3,000 names,” he told reporters. “We’re looking at them. Of the 3,000 names, many of those names really have been treated unfairly. . . . And I would get more thrill out of pardoning people that nobody knows.”

Kupers, who served as acting pardon attorney and deputy pardon attorney during Trump’s first two years in office, said he didn’t know what the 3,000 referenced.

The White House declined to comment on the meaning of what Trump said.

Some criminal justice advocates said they assumed the president was referring to names sent directly to the White House — not the official pipeline.

But that mention rang like a fire alarm in the community of roughly 175,000 federal inmates and their families.

Forde, the inmate who said she handwrote her petition in a sweltering room, dripping sweat onto the form, was so excited to hear about Trump’s “list” that she followed up with a letter to the White House.

More than three years later, Forde is losing hope.

“Why did he bring it up at all?” she wrote in an email to The Post. “It makes me want to pull my hair out. To feel like freedom is so close.”

“I wonder if that list is still sitting there,” she added.

Mary Anne Locke, serving a 20-year sentence in the same prison as Forde, thought she, too, finally had a shot at a second chance after word of Trump’s remarks spread through channels that people familiar with the criminal justice system dub “inmatedotcom.” She was indicted in 2008 as part of a methamphetamine distribution scheme. The long sentence stunned her family because she had cooperated with law enforcement.

“I’m extremely happy for each and every person that gets any kind of relief, but I wish there were more opportunities for those of us without those connections,” Locke, 41, said in a telephone interview. “If a connection is what it takes, then I pray for the right person to come along for me.”

Her father, John Owen, wrote an open letter in the Des Moines Register in July 2018 to Trump, describing his daughter’s struggle to overcome her drug addiction.

“I’m frustrated that the entire system is so slow moving,” he said in a recent interview with The Post.

'A BUREAUCRATIC SLOG'

Lawyers who specialize in clemency say the system has moved slowly for decades.

The way they tell it, the pardon office is like a black box — the only updates available on petitions are “pending” and “denied.” Deputy attorneys general, who make the final determination before petitions reach the Office of White House Counsel, tend to be reluctant to mitigate decisions made by fellow prosecutors in the criminal justice system.

In that climate, a Kardashian West endorsement becomes all the more coveted.

“It feels UNBELIEVABLE & AMAZING to have her (Kim) support me & advocate for my release!” Chris Young, 31, an inmate in Texas serving a life sentence for drug crimes, wrote in an email to The Post. His commutation request was turned down by Obama, but Kardashian West has talked him up to Trump. “I still have to keep a ton of humility & patience in me, cause i still haven't been released,” Young wrote.

Even the judge who sentenced Young, Kevin H. Sharp, has praised Kardashian West’s advocacy for Young, tweeting after he left the bench: “What I was required to do that day was cruel and did not make us safer.”

Young’s attorney, Brittany K. Barnett, is the co-founder of a legal project that has received funding from Kardashian West and assists inmates serving life sentences. Barnett has built a national reputation helping to secure commutations for eight people, including Johnson, whose clemency request had been rejected by Obama.

“I don’t feel that someone seeking clemency should have to have a celebrity endorsement, but as a lawyer, if that’s the avenue I have to free my client, then we have to pursue it,” Barnett said. “My alternative would be to let my client die in prison because Trump’s not following the protocol.”

Kardashian West declined an interview request.

Lorance, the former Army infantry officer convicted of murder, also failed to win clemency from Obama. After Trump’s election, Lorance’s story gained traction in the media as Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Pete Hegseth championed his case, and a Starz documentary highlighted inconsistencies in the prosecution.

“You never really know which pebble you drop on the scale of justice tips the balance,” said Lorance’s attorney, John Maher. “We were of the thought to use all of them.”

The made-for-television decisions by Trump are what drove Kupers to leave the pardon office in June. His colleagues included graduates of Yale, Northwestern and University of Texas law schools and former prosecutors and defense attorneys chosen for their strong analytical and writing skills.

“We had impartial lawyers who developed over time an expertise in evaluating applications and the skills to determine whether this is a person who could be a danger to the public,” Kupers said. “If you leave it to the White House, you are more likely to get arbitrary, capricious pardons that may be perfectly legal but are not what the Founding Fathers had in mind.”

______

Alice Crites and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.

*********

Justice Dept., in wrestling with how to handle Giuliani, tightens rules for Ukraine-related probes

By Matt Zapotosky | Published February 18 at 5:58 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted February 18, 2020 |

The Justice Department revealed Tuesday that law enforcement officials running Ukraine-related investigations must seek approval before expanding their inquiries — a move that could have implications for Rudolph W. Giuliani, as President Trump’s personal attorney pushes for scrutiny of the president’s political foes while facing a federal probe into his own conduct.

The directive from Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen was disclosed in a response to Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) after the House Judiciary Committee chairman demanded clarity on how the Justice Department is reviewing information from Giuliani, who has urged law enforcement to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family for their dealings in Ukraine.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd wrote to Nadler that the department had tapped two U.S. attorneys to assist in the process — Scott Brady in Pittsburgh, to receive and assess new information, and Richard Donoghue in Brooklyn, to help coordinate personnel throughout the Justice Department involved in Giuliani’s case and others with a focus on Ukraine. An accompanying internal memo, circulated by Rosen in January, says that he and Donoghue must approve expansions of any inquiries.

Such a move could be viewed as putting another layer of approval in place if prosecutors wanted to widen their Giuliani probe, although Rosen wrote in his memo that the aim was to “avoid duplication of efforts.”

In his letter to Nadler, Boyd defended the moves as normal and asserted that they do not give anyone special entry to the department.

“The Department regularly assigns U.S. Attorneys to coordinate or focus on certain matters,” Boyd wrote. “Nor do these procedures grant any individual unique access to the Department. Indeed, any member of the public who has relevant information may contact the Department and make use of its intake process for Ukraine-related matters.”

Attorney General William P. Barr faced criticism from congressional Democrats and former Justice Department officials when he acknowledged last week having created an “intake process in the field” to accept Giuliani’s information, which seems designed to damage Biden’s political prospects as he seeks the Democratic nomination for president. Barr said at that time that the department had an “obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant.”

Taking information from Giuliani is particularly fraught for the department because the president’s personal lawyer is under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan in a case that has led to campaign finance charges against two of Giuliani’s associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. The pair helped Giuliani try to conduct investigations in Ukraine and lobbied for the ouster of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Prosecutors have in recent weeks contacted witnesses and sought to collect additional documents in that case.

Separately, federal prosecutors in Chicago have a long-standing case against a Ukrainian gas tycoon accused of bribery, Dmitry Firtash, who they suspect of having significant ties to Parnas and Fruman. And federal prosecutors in Cleveland have been investigating Ihor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch, for possible financial crimes. He has sparred publicly with Giuliani.

Trump and Giuliani have pressed the Ukrainians to investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who worked on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father oversaw the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy. In a phone call in July, Trump personally appealed to his presidential counterpart in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to work with Barr on the matter. That call, coupled with Giuliani’s efforts, formed the basis of House Democrats’ decision to impeach the president.

Kerri Kupec, a spokeswoman for Barr, said in a September statement issued after the White House disclosed a rough transcript of Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president that Trump had not spoken with Barr “about having Ukraine investigate anything relating to former Vice President Biden or his son.”

“The President has not asked the Attorney General to contact Ukraine — on this or any other matter,” Kupec said. “The Attorney General has not communicated with Ukraine — on this or any other subject.”

Boyd wrote in the letter to Nadler that the September statement “remains accurate” and that Barr “has not discussed matters relating to Ukraine with Rudolph Giuliani.”

The Justice Department in the Trump administration has turned repeatedly to U.S. attorneys outside Washington to handle politically explosive cases, and current and former officials have said they worry the moves are meant to help Trump politically.

Two top federal prosecutors — John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, and Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis — have been tasked with exploring aspects of the FBI’s 2016 investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the election. Durham is examining the probe’s origins; Jensen is reviewing, among other things, the case that prosecutors on that investigation made against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI.

Another federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney John Huber in Utah, was tasked by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate old corruption allegations against Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Trump’s opponent in the 2016 campaign. His inquiry, though, ultimately went nowhere.

*********

[sowhatisthisfor]

All-time favourite films

Favourite movies (rated 7-10 with 10 as the highest) watched from 2016 to present.

Updated soon after watching.

A Ghost Story [David Lowery, 2017, United States] No film has made me feel this melancholic ever. This is a film so profound, it examines existence in the simplest yet most esoteric way possible. It surely goes straight to the top of my all-time favourite list. 10/10

A Separation [Asghar Farhadi, Iran, 2011] No other film has played w/ my emotions better than this one."Emotional rollercoaster" has never been truer. 10/10

Portrait of a Lady on Fire [Celine Sciamma, 2019, France] a film of magnificent visuals, intoxicating sound design, and a screenplay of jawdropping surprises – definitely on top of my 2019 movie list. 10/10

The Lobster [Lanthimos, 2015] a peculiar take on the world’s social construction of reality. Far-out yet accurate, it’s captivating. 10/10

The Handmaiden [Park, 2016] Lavish, sensual, beyond clever. Having watched and read Fingersmith won’t make this gem a tad predictable. 10/10

The Heiresses [Marcelo Martinessi, 2019, Paraguay] compellingly melancholic in its silence and uncertainty. It’s a blossoming, a self-discovery, a thorny journey towards maturity. 10/10

Parasite [Bong Joon-ho, 2019, South Korea] You can watch it in many different ways, perspective, and angle, and everything is just as clever. 10/10

Thy Womb [Brillante Mendoza, 2013, Philippines] is so painful, it doesn't shoot you straight in the head, it tortures you.. that even after watching it, your heart's still crying.

The Duke of Burgundy [Strickland, 2015, United Kingdom]  Remarkable. A film so beautiful, it’s so hard to forget. I love this too much, it’s almost haunting. 10/10 

Burning (Boening) [Chang-dong Lee, 2018, South Korea] Shows the interrelation of hunger and class, the truths and the unknowns. Of how desires could either free you or cage you in unhappiness and despair. A mystery of misery that parallels its political viewpoint. 10/10

Carol [Haynes, 2015, United States]  a tough film w/ first-rate performances by both Blanchett & Mara that utterly make up for its minor dull moments. 10/10

Roma [Alfonso Cuaron, 2018, Mexico] Its technical expertise in every element of every frame and composition is overwhelming. It's a movie about contrasts and how each opposite gives life balance, told with such authenticity, it's luxurious cinematic experience. 10/10

Sana Dati [Jerrold Tarog, 2013, Philippines] a lost girl, a prince charming, an imperfect wedding, and an open-ended love story. I need a sequel. 8/10

Women of the Weeping River [Dayoc, 2016] This film literally left me speechless. Another Sheron Dayoc masterpiece. 10/10

Kanarie [Christiaan Olwagen, 2018, South Africa] Has one of the most poignant and critically-observed approach to self-awareness and acceptance. 10/10

The Salesman [Farhadi, 2016] Farhadi always has his way of shaking your soul, giving his audience a silent yet thrilling ride. 10/10

Shéhérazade [Jean-Bernard Marlin, 2018, France] a gritty narrative of an unusual young love with such depressing yet charming emotional pull. 10/10

Capernaum [Nadine Labaki, 2018, Lebanon] it’s not just about a boy in an unjust world, it is more about an implausibly unjust world where everyone is a victim and no one is an actual villain. 10/10

John Denver Trending [Arden Rod Condez, 2019, Philippines] Aside from its central theme of mental health awareness, it also has an excellent juxtaposition of the culture of bullying and cyberbullying and its correlation with how the nature of superstitions and religions shapes a country’s humanity. 10/10

Lady Bird [Greta Gerwig, 2017, United States] Small scale with great impact. It’s the type that doesn’t want to make you cry but makes you cry anyway. I love it with all my heart. 10/10

Call Me By Your Name [Luca Guadagnino, 2017, Italy, Brazil, France, United States] Its authenticity is incredibly palpable, I can taste it in my mouth. Something made with much love, my heart aches. Timothée Chalamet is remarkable. That last frame is unforgettable. 10/10 

Bliss [Jerrold Tarog, 2017, Philippines] Touches the fine line between dreamland and reality, and examines dreams or aspirations as mere illusions. It is wicked. It’s well-crafted. It’s a mindfuck. It’s deeply, as in deeply affecting 10/10

Kung Paano Hinihintay Ang Dapithapon [Carlo Catu, 2018, Philippines] a small film that tackles layers after layers of things too close to heart. Sincere and profound, definitely my favourite. 10/10  

Loveless (Nelyubov) [Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2018, Russia] cold and chilling in all aspect from start to end. It has such great observation of the recognizable societal apathy. 10/10

Your Name [Makoto Shinkai, 2016, Japan] Star-crossed love at its smartest, warmest, and vividly-made anime. Something highly satisfying, I have no words. 10/10

The Third Wife [Ash Mayfair, 2019, Vietnam] possibly has one of the best visual stories this year with a contrast of hauntingly sensual tension and dreamlike composition, it’s strangely beautiful. 10/10

Magkakabaung [Laxamana, 2014, Philippines] A highly-compelling depiction of reality, misfortune, defiance and justice. A film I need to see over & over. 10/10 

Atlantique [Mati Diop, 2019, Senegal] Such a bewitching tale of love, lost, and longing. A film told with such raw elegance, it’s enchanting. 10/10

Beats Per Minute (BPM) [Robin Campillo, 2017, France] Goosebumps. This is a film clear of its objective, it is exhilarating and exhausting in the good kind of way. 10/10

Cold War (Zimna Wojna) [Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018, Poland] Makes something despairing so beautiful with its artful composition, rightly-paced narrative transition, and cold but affecting character treatment. 10/10

Metamorphosis [JE Tiglao, 2019, Philippines] Not your ordinary coming-of-age movie. This one comes with such importance and inclusivity, everyone needs to see. 10/10

Faces Places [JR, Agnès Varda, 2018, France] Wow. This is the film to watch when your soul is dying for art. Tears, I can’t help them from falling. 10/10

Sid & Aya [Irene Villamor, 2018, Philippines] It’s too beautiful, I’m crying halfway through the film for how beautiful it is. You can watch this film without audio and understand it by its lighting, it’s that amazing. 10/10

Violator [Dayao, 2014, Philippines]  The horror film that brought me to tears. I found myself shaking, fighting my own demons, and it’s damn scary. 10/10

The Favourite [Yorgos Lanthimos, 2019, Greece, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States] a dark period comedy oddly fused with sophisticated costume and production design for a strange yet striking visual treat. 10/10

Edward [Thop Nazareno, 2019, Philippines] I am so amazed at how this film shows struggles after struggles after struggles without spoonfeeding emotions. It’s a movie so simple yet so despairing. Everything of it is in the right place, it’s sublime. 10/10

Arrival [Denis Villanueve, 2016, United States] An admirable sci-fi thriller where aliens teach humans about humanity. 10/10 

Salvage [Sherad Sanchez, 2017, Philippines] A film that’s meant to look like a found footage, with one single camera perspective. It used unconventional, long continuous odd angles and silence that made it feel so raw and real, it’s haunting. 10/10

I Lost My Body [Jeremy Clapin, 2019, France] gives an absolute strange reason to cry, it’s extraordinarily cathartic. 10/10

Imbisibol [Fajardo, 2015, Philippines]  I don’t care how beautiful this film already is, I still need to see its greatness in black and white. 10/10

Night of Silence [Celik, 2012, Turkey]  Amazing how something so distasteful was told in such charming and spectacular execution. 10/10

Marriage Story [Noah Baumbach, 2019, United States] My favourite performance of the year belong to these two leads whose portrayal of lovers going through divorce is rock solid heartbreaking. 10/10

Moonlight [Barry Jenkins, 2017, United States] A rare impressionistic film on a man’s struggle to finding himself, something so rich in poetry and visual excellence, it’s spell-binding. 10/10

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri [Martin McDonagh, 2017, United States] Too much hate and too much heart both at the same time. It is as shocking as it is enchanting. 10/10

About Elly [Asghar Farhadi, 2009, Iran] Its narration of a mystery is already engaging but its inner observation of truth and convictions is even more captivating. 10/10

Respeto [Treb Montreras II, 2017, Philippines] Uses the power of words to compare past and present. Shows the cycle of oppression in a well-crafted film of bewitching artistry. 10/10

Ulan [Irene Villamor, 2019, Philippines] Is a fuck you to societal norms, so profound, it is a love story that involves only one. 10/10

Ang Babaeng Humayo [Diaz, 2016] vividly questions justice, higher power, morality, and existence. It’s beyond brilliant, it aches. 10/10

Swiss Army Man {Scheinert, Kwan, 2016] Clever in all its weirdness. What an unforgettable experience. 10/10

Toni Erdmann [Ade, 2016] I don’t know if I should laugh or cry or both at the same time. No doubt a knockout. 10/10

Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B [Cruz, 2016] If I can only use “beautiful” once a year to describe a film, I’ll use it on this one. 10/10

Arrhythmia (Aritmiya) [Boris Khlebnikov, 2017, Russia] For a movie with characters of increasingly tenuous emotional bond, this is teeming with sensitivity and sensibility. It has so much love, neutrality, and longing, yet so cold and fleeting. Definitely, an emotional rollercoaster of my liking. 10/10

Shoplifters [Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018, Japan] a film that questions if blood is thicker than the ties that bind us. Here’s Kore-eda capturing our hearts again with his gently-observed humanism. 10/10

Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus [Dwein Baltazar, 2018, Philippines] a genius anti-romance that plays along the lines of loving the thought of being in love and making yourself believe in your own ethereality. I love it. 10/10

Embers [Carré, 2015] A stylistic post-apocalyptic narrative of survival of people who have lost their meanings. 10/10 

Respire [Laurent, 2015] With its overall well-observed direction, it’s compelling both visually and story-wise. 10/10

Avengers: Endgame [Russo brothers, 2019, United States] Raises the bar so high, is probably the most entertaining superhero movie to date. 10/10

Ari: My Life With a King [Catu, 2015, Philippines] So strong, it sinks too deep into my soul. 10/10

Honor Thy Father [Matti, 2015, Philippines]  Erik Matti made a competently crafted character in Edgar to complete a competently crafted masterpiece. 10/10

The Wife [Bjorn Runge, 2018, Belgium] Glenn Close is mesmerizing. There is no need to say more. 10/10

Anino sa Likod ng Buwan [Lana, 2015] Gripping, tender, sensual. Majestic in one long take. Saying I’m blown away is an understatement. 10/10

Balangiga: Howling Wilderness [Khavn, 2017, Philippines] Disheartening and provocative in all its hypnagogia. 10/10 

A Star is Born [Bardley Cooper, 2018, United States] If only for its music and its astounding performances, I’m already sold. 10/10

Oda sa Wala [Dwein Baltazar, 2018, Philippines] Is an ode to nothing, to the unseen, to the nobody, to the dead that’s more alive than the living and to the living that’s more dead than those who died. Baltazar has this gilt-edged technique that leaves its audience wretched yet buoyant. 10/10

Sunday Beauty Queen [Villarama, 2016] Highly compelling, charming, and important. Sweetest of the festival. 10/10

The Shape of Water [Guillermo del Toro, 2017, United States] Elegant in its visuals, storytelling, and performances. It is del Toro’s best yet. 10/10

BuyBust [Erik Matti, 2018, Philippines] a spectacular display of astounding filmmaking where every element is designed and choreographed fittingly well. Entertaining yet harrowing from start to finish, it’s the kind of film that stays. 10/10  

Frantz [Ozon, 2016] a melancholic take on people’s journeys to finding a reason to live. Beautiful use of color and B&W. 10/10

Captain America: Civil War [Russo, 2016] it’s hard to point out which part of the film I didn’t like, that’s if I hated anything. 10/10

Sing Street [Carney, 2016] No. There’s not a word in the world that could describe how much I love this film. Everything about it. 10/10

Pamilya Ordinaryo [Roy, 2016] Very raw, real and persuasive. Powerful in its entirety. 10/10

Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis [Diaz, 2016] Reality told through a mix of history & fantasy. A delicate & engaging quest for Filipino freedom. 10/10

Mustang [Ergüven, 2015] Brutal in its authenticity. Something I want to hate but can’t. I’m happy to have seen this film. I really am. 10/10

Still Alice [Westmoreland, 2015, United States]  It’s a highly moving film that doesn’t just make you cry, it makes you understand and feel, and it’s insanely good at it. 10/10  

Room [Abrahamson, 2015, United States] Astounding direction and performances make this film alive. And it should be for a hundred years or more. 10/10 

EDSA [Yapan, 2016] Is a number of things. It’s socially relevant, a moral challenge, a visual feast. Most simply one of the bests. 10/10

Son of Saul [Nemes, 2015] This film has a breathtaking power no one can doubt. 10/10

Embrace of the Serpent [Guerra, 2015] I got lost somewhere its visual hypnotism, but it’s great overall. 10/10

Winter Sleep [Ceyland, 2014, Turkey] Written too intellectually, I want to quote the entire film. And that’s just about 15% of its greatness. 10/10

Apprentice [Junfeng, 16] Draws the line between showing compassion & battling own conscience. Gripping, I feel hands around my throat. 10/10 Kubo and the Two Strings [Knight, 2016] has a heartfelt storytelling of the melancholic nature of humanity. 10/10 

Go Ji Jeon [Hun, 2011] Where wars for personal survivals, moralities, past horrors, and false hopes are far worse than combat battles. 10/10

Guernica [Serra, 2016] a little too overscored, but really great overall. 10/10

Crescent Rising [Dayoc 2015, Philippines] Captured clearly the struggles of people in search of justice, peace, hope & happiness in the midst of war. A film that is so hard to watch, there are times when I need to breathe through my mouth. 10/10

The Kids [Yu, 2015] an engaging portrait of a struggling young couple’s journey to parenthood told convincingly well. 10/10

El Misterio de la Felicidad [Burman, 2014] An easy and charming watch with an ending that could be one of my favourites. 10/10

The Survivalist [Fingleton, 2015] A long-lived representation of how people choose to risk their survival for fidelity and solicitude. 10/10

Ang Araw Bago ang Wakas [Diaz, 2016] Genius. An apocalyptic tale told through poetry against the backdrop of a growing disaster. 10/10

Grandma [Weitz, 2015] I love the story, I love how it unfolds, and I love how it will live in me for sure. 10/10

The Wailing [Na, 2016] An exhausting watch with an even more incredibly vexing inner context. 10/10

Oro [Yapan, 2016] Shows oppression and lopsidedness in equally lopsided frames. Amazing set of cast. 10/10

The Little Prince [Osborne, 2015, France]  Nothing like how I imagined it to be but I love it for everything it is. 10/10

Mad Max: Fury Road [Miller, 2015, United States]  That’s two hours of absolute vicious entertainment and visual marvel. 10/10

An Kubo sa Kawayanan [Yapan, 2015, Philippines] Stunning cinema. The film has its soothing silence that makes you appreciate the littlest things. 10/10 

The Martian [Scott, 2015, United States] Oddly funny in a satisfying form in the midst of struggle and desolation. 10/10

Thelma [Joaquim Trier, 2017, Norway]Meticulously-crafted film that questions fundamentalism as a basis for joy and purity. I yearn for films as poetic as this. 9.5/10

On Body and Soul [Ildikó Enyedi, 2017, Hungary] Too cold yet too heartfelt in all its complexity. 9.5/10

Hereditary [Ari Aster, 2018, United States] Unsettling down to the core with a convincing cast and a powerful storytelling. 9.5/10 

Incendies [Dennis Villanueve, 2011, Canada] With such expert direction, it’s elementally strong in more aspect than one. 9.5/10

Us [Jordan Peele, 2019, United States] It is as if every element in this film is smartly placed there to serve a deeper purpose, it’s a movie in search of greater meaning. 9.5/10

Manchester by the Sea [Kenneth Lonergan, 2016, United States] a quiet yet profound drama narrated too effectively resulting to a mournful yet beautiful symphony. A film that brings the kind of sadness that is both painful and alluring. 9.5/10

La La Land [Damien Chazelle, 2016, United States] Is really technically excellent, but is also really disconnected. Kind of something you adore rather than love. 9.5/10

Bad Genius [Nattawut Poonpiriya, 2017, Thailand] Brimming with excellent editing and direction, it is a thriller and an ingenius commentary on how social class inequalities lead to inevitable corruption. Brilliant. 9.5/10

Les Innocentes [Anne Fontaine, 2016, France] a battle between religious order and moral conscience, one whose importance cannot be omitted. 9.5/10

L’enfant [Luc Dardenne, Pierre Dardenne, 2005, France] It offers the kind of suspense that attacks your soul rather than just your senses. 9.5/10

First Girl I Loved [Kerem Sanga, 2016, United States] a tender coming-of-age drama that tackles discovering self-identity and the fear that comes with that realization. So raw, it’s thrilling. 9.5/10

Birdshot [Mikhail Red, 2017, Philippines] Beautifully shot, it swims along two storylines at par – both in search for impunity in a corrupted society. Too relevant. 9.5/10

Heneral Luna [Tarrog, 2015, Philippines]  Jerrold Tarog is as brave as General Luna. He clearly is the Luna of film making. 9.5/10

The Guilty (Den Skyldige) [Gustav Möller, 2018, Denmark] Is clever in its minimalism. A fast-paced action thriller and a psychological suspense, all shot entirely between four walls. 9.5/10

Batch 81 [Mike de Leon, 1982, Philippines] In its subversiveness and its sardonic undertone is a remarkable spectacle of expertise, bravery, esoterica, and dynamism. 9.5/10 

Dogman [Matteo Garrone, 2018, Italy] Examines a man’s need to be recognized as a chihuahua in a shepherd’s world. 9.5/10

Grave of the Fireflies [Isao Takahata, 1988, Japan] Save your fragile heart, this isn’t for the emotionally weak. 9.5/10

Timbuktu [Sissako, 2014, French, Mauritius] It haunts me more how this film can tell such horror beautifully, I am both mad and pitiful at once. 9.5/10

Copenhagen [Rasso, 2014, Denmark]  A very unusual romantic drama made guilelessly, the characters will live for years. I’m so in love with it. 9/10

God’s Own Country [Francis Lee, 2017, United Kingdom] Features a kind of romance with such carefully-observed realism. It was very well portrayed. Very well. 9/10

Apocalypse Child [Cornejo, 2015, Philippines]  I don’t know where it’s going & that’s what makes it great. Has the best cast ensemble I’ve seen this year. 9/10

Sleepless [Cruz, 2015, Philippines]  In which love is sincerely felt in the absence of romance. 9/10

Sunday’s Illness (La Enfermedad del Doming) [Ramon Salazar, 2018, Spain] Scene after scene of mesmerizing mystery and such powerful attention to detail. 9/10

Annihilation [Alex Garland, 2018, United States] Though at times flawed, it ended with such thought-provoking, ambitious, and lasting impact. 9/10 

Miss Bulalacao [Chawdhury, 2015, Philippines] A small-town film with a big message the whole world needs to know. 9/10

The Tale of Princess Kaguya [Takahata, 2014, Japan] Wow. How can something so cute and sweet break my heart into tiny little pieces? 9/10

The Ferry [Wei, 2013, China] Apart from its masterful visual beauty, the real treasure of this film is the beauty of its heart. 9/10

Saving Sally [Liongoren, 2016] Is the freshest and has the most creative style I’ve seen this year. 9/10

Sakaling Hindi Makarating [Idanan, 2016] In w/c you try to find yourself in far-flung places, & in doing so found someone equally lost. 9/10

Amelie [Jeunet, 2001] Uniquely crafted tour de force. So distinct, it won’t be forgotten. 9/10

One Week Friends [Masanori Murakami, 2017, Japan] There’s a good reason for my sunken eyes right now, right? 9/10

Vertigo [Alfred Hitchcock, 1958, 2012 restoration, United States] Where obsession leads to objectification of love and desire. 9/10

Captain America: Civil War [Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, 2016, United States] it’s hard to point out which part of the film I didn’t like, that’s if I hated anything. 9/10 

The Florida Project [Sean Baker, 2017, United States] Kids, no matter the social class, are still just kids in search for adventure, friendship, and love. This movie doesn’t feel like a movie at all, it’s brilliant. 9/10

Goodnight Mommy [Franz, Fiala, 2015] As cold and effective as it wants to be. 9/10  

 The White Helmets [Orlando Von Eisiedel, 2016, United Kingdom, Syria] A heartrending glimpse at the life of true heroes in violence-stricken Syria. 9/10

Inside Out [Docter, 2015, United States] One of the bravest films to ever illustrate the dysfunctions (and functions) of people’s emotions. 9/10

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens [Abrams, 2015, United States] Works best without the tweetums. Mostly worked therefore. It is the most complicated, action-packed, gender sensitive, and racially-diverse of the franchise. It also is my favourite. 9/10

PK [Rajkumar Hirani, 2014, India] a courageous film that wittingly pokes fun of religious beliefs. 9/10

Mamu and a Mother Too [Rod Singh, 2018, Philippines] Why it scared me, I don’t know. It could be because it’s unpredictable, it’s non-cliche, and it’s gentle in ways you don’t expect. I love it. 9/10

The Good Dinosaur [Sohn, 2015, United States] Not much story to offer, but heartfelt in its nothingness. Stunning visuals. Really stunning visuals. 9/10

Signal Rock [Chito Rono, 2018, Philippines] Very raw and phenomenal. Each character formidably plays an important role in characterizing a small town of heartwarming spirit. If not for its distracting bad CGI which I think is unnecessary, I’d give it a perfect 10. 9/10

Manang Biring [Papa, 2015, Philippines] One of those films that perfectly hit home. 9/10

Mercury is Mine [Laxamana, 2016] Quite a reflection of colonial mentality and the acute patronage of the superficial. 9/10

Beti [P. Sheshadri, 2017, India] manages to oppose patriarchy in Indian culture in such an innocent yet intelligible perspective. 9/10

Train to Busan [Yeon Sang-ho, 2016, South Korea] When everyone’s becoming a monster, humanity is the way to survive. Fast-paced. Thrilling. Heartfelt. I honestly feel like Train to Busan lacks a stronger female character, but it’s interestingly very human that I’m completely captured by it. 9/10 

Paris is Burning [Jennie Livingston, 1991, United States] is a little documentary that stays. 9/10

Paglisan [Carl Papa, 2018, Philippines] Heartbreaking. It is a test of sympathy. 9/10

ML [Benedict Mique, 2018, Philippines]teeming with ingenuity and masteful filmmaking, it’s a suspense too relevant for anyone to miss. 9/10

Liway [Kip Oebanda, 2018, Philippines] Is at most powerful when it exposes the correlation of facts and fiction. Doesn’t hit you right away but when it does, it hits hard. It hits still. 9/10

Sicilian Ghost Story [Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza, 2017, Italy, France, Switzerland] Cinematic and poetic. Beautiful in all its mythological symbolism. 9/10

Get Out [Jordan Peele, 2017, United States] a satire of utmost significance, it lives. 9/10

Si Chedeng at Si Apple [Rae Red, Fatrick Tabada, 2017, Philippines] Hilarious with punchlines, intelligent with comebacks. This is comedy with brain, soul, and heart. 9/10 Happy as Lazzaro (Lazzaro Felice) [Alice Rohrwacher, 2018, Italy] a charming small film with a subtext of such vivid social allegory. 9/10

I am Not a Witch [Rungano Nyoni, 2018, United Kingdom] For a debut film, this is quite a remarkable take on exploitation, abuse, and misogyny. 9/10

A Quiet Place [John Krasinski, 2018, United States] For a film that’s supposed to be silent, I find it quite overscored. Still a good watch though. 9/10

Ang Panahon ng Halimaw [Lav Diaz, 2018, Philippines] Sarcasm at its best. Quite fun. 9/10

L'amant Double [Francois Ozon, 2018, France] Wild and mindblowing, a film of endless curiosity. 9/10

Widows [Steve McQueen, 2018, United States] How can something so traditionally formal feel so modern at the same time? Steve McQueen knows. 9/10

Eerie [Mikhail Red, 2018, Philippines] More than its excellent scare tactics, what I love about it most is its clever storytelling and use of metaphors. 9/10

Veloce Come Il Vento [Rovere, 2016] Funny, gripping, touching. I enjoyed every single moment of it. 9/10

Sarong Banggi [Dela Cruz, 2005] i’m not too keen on the plot twist but the emotional connection’s too strong, I’m easily in love w/ it. 9/10

I Love You, Thank You [Gohetia, 2015, Philippines] That was quite a torture, I left the theater too broken. 9/10

La Luciernaga (The Firefly) [Ana Maria Hermida, 2015, Colombia] is about finding love in grief, beauty in ugly. And though there are some directorial decisions I don’t necessarily agree with, the chemistry its leads bring onscreen is too tangible for me to care about its flaws. 9/10

Green Room [Saulnier, 2016] a lot of fun, tension, blood, and cinematic excellence. My type of film, really. 9/10

I’ll See You In My Dreams [Haley, 2015] So true about the death I know and the death I don’t know. So true about everything actually. 9/10

Tuos [Cabrido, 2016] Visually alluring with winning performances, it’s almost hypnotic. 9/10Cain at Abel [Brocka, 1982] Sleekly written, directed, and acted. Considerably flawless. 9/10

Seklusyon [Erik Matti, 2016, Philippines] a thought-provoking jewel on the corruption of divinity and an examination of people’s inner evils. 9/10  

First Reformed [Paul Schrader, 2019, United States] an astounding character study that questions the politics of religion. 9/10

The Conjuring 2 [Wan, 2016] I guess I just can’t really be scared of something this good. No dull moment. So human. Much love for this. 9/10

Fuccbois [Eduardo Roy Jr, 2019, Philippines] Amazing storytelling and editing of a narrative so strange yet so eclectic. 8.5/10

BlackKKansman [Spike Lee, 2018, United States] Although satirically exaggerated, this film is teeming with entertainment and importance. 8.5/10 

In This Corner of the World [Sunao Katabuchi, 2017, Japan] It stays. Films like this, they always do. 8.5/10

The End of the Tour [Ponsoldt, 2015, United States] Give me a minute, I need to rethink my life. 8.5/10

Margarita with a Straw [Nilesh Maniyar, Shonali Bose, India, 2016] An unusual take on sexual exploration and self discovery. It somehow lost its focus towards the end but still a delightful watch overall. 8.5/10

Berlin Calling [Hannes Stohr, 2008, Germany] a movie that lives in the present paced in such rhythmic beat, it is dazzling from start to end. 8.5/10

Kuwaresma [Erik Matti, 2019, Philippines] Is a multilayer of social commentaries which were good before they too contradict themselves. 8.5/10

Two Days, One Night [Dardenne, 2014, Belgium, France, Italy] I’m crying half of the time because its emotional dilemma has to be seen in the eyes of depression. 8/10

Battle of the Sexes [Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, 2017, United States] Makes me feel bad for not being alive yet when it happened. Ace. 8/10

Euthanizer (Armomurhaaja} [Teemu Nikki, 2018, Finland] An examination of how suffering is commensurate with cruelty. For something so bleak, it is surprisingly a good exemplification of moral values. 8/10

Sicario [Villanueve, 2015, United States] One of the best and intensely-directed crime films I’ve seen that doesn’t need much action to thrill. 8/10

Don’t Breathe [Alvarez, 2016] Alvarez has some serious skills to make this suspenseful with only a blind villain inside a small house. 8/10  

Elle [Verhoeven, 2016] has one of the most intriguing antihero characters played perfectly well by Huppert. 8/10

Water Lemon [Lorca, 2015, Philippines] In w/c the struggle of finding strange connection (w/ people, emotions, wavelength, nature) is incredibly real. 8/10

Theeb [Nowar, 2015] For a newcomer, Nowar is a delightful surprise and so is Eid who did perfect in this film. 8/10

Brother of the Year [Witthaya Thongyooyong, 2018, Thailand] For all its simplicity and bleak storyline, it still offers an abundance of emotion and a sense of realism. 8/10

Padman [R. Balki, 2018, India] Speaks volumes in a humorous way. Something enlightening and empowering, I love it. 8/10

Gutland [Govinda Van Maele, 2017, Luxembourg] For a debut feature, Van Maele is a master of slow-burn tension. 8/10

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga [Shelly Dhar, 2019, India] Not a first in world cinema, but is still a groundbreaking moviemaking in the context of India. 8/10

Lorna [Bernardo, 2015, Philippines] Feels so legitimate, it’s entertaining from start to end. 8/10

The Killing of a Sacred Deer [Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017 Greece, UK , US] Yet another solid psychological thriller by the master of contemporary enigma. 8/10

If Cats Disappeared From the World [Akira Nagai, 2016, Japan] a tearjerker drama that examines the essence of living as opposed to just merely existing. 8/10

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga [Shelly Dhar, 2019, India] Not a first in world cinema, but is still a groundbreaking moviemaking in the context of India. 8/10

Coco [Lee Unkrich, 2017, United States]Understands what La La Land doesn’t – relationships shouldn’t suffer when achieving our dreams. 8/10

Medianeras [Taretto, 2011] a lot wordy. But it’s the kind of wordy I’d love to listen to over and over again. 8/10

Paterson [Jim Jarmusch, 2016, United States] Poetic is an understatement. 8/10

Changing Partners [Dan Villegas, 2017, Philippines] uses strong dialogues and character play that makes it rare and magical. 8/10

A Prayer Before Dawn [Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, 2018, France, Thailand] For something that feels hesitant in showing violence, this is already quite a tough watch. 8/10

We Need to Talk About Kevin [Lynn Ramsey, 2012, United States]

Purgatoryo [Cabrido, 2016] Reminds me a lot of ‘Oros’ only with some serious technique and distinct visual style. 8/10

A Taxi Driver [Hun Jang, 2017, South Korea] an entertaining yet affecting tribute to nameless heroes. 8/10

Ex Machina [Garland, 2015, United Kingdom, United States] A gripping labyrinth shown with such sleek visuals. 8/10

Krigen [Tobias Lindholm, 2016, Denmark] Feels a little rushed in the end, but affecting overall. 8/10

Chemi Bednieri Ojakhi (My Happy Family) [Nana Ekvtimishvili, Georgia, 2017] Paints quite vividly a life of a woman in a patriarchal society. Remarkable. 8/10

Little White Lies [Guillaume Canet, 2010, France] I love these characters too much to the point of wanting them to be real. 8/10

Beach Rats [Eliza Hittman, 2017, United States] Overall, a substantial commentary on the stigma of homosexuality and its effect on why people choose to hide. 8/10 

The Artist [Hazanavicius, 2011] Very artistically and playfully crafted. 8/10 

Bridge of Spies [Spielberg, 2015, United States] A blend of intimate and gripping accounts of a political thriller with excellent performances and direction. 8/10

Paki [Giancarlo Abrahan, 2017, Philippines] an illustration of how even the most prosaic narrative could be weighty through the power of storytelling and good direction. 8/10

Memoir of War (La Douleur) [Emmanuel Finkiel, 2017, France] Sadly, its visual choices, experimental scoring, and drawn out structure don’t match Marguerite Duras’s poetic writing. 8/10

The Wound (Inxeba) [John Trengove, 2017, South Africa] More than the physical wound from a boy's transition to manhood, this movie tackles a deeper kind of pain, the kind that scars forever. 8/10

A Gift [Jira Maligool, 2017, Thailand] One of those films that could effortlessly make you laugh and cry. Charming. Very very charming – definitely a favourite. 8/10

Pan de Salawal [Che Espiritu, 2018, Philippines] a hard-hitting reminder that the most painful challenges people overcome are also the most rewarding. Don’t be afraid to feel them all. 8/10

The Girl in the Book [Cohn, 2015, Untied States] It’s uncomfortable to watch two people w/o resemblance play the same character. Otherwise it’s great. 8/10

Heaven Knows What [Safdie, 2015, Germany] Raw and natural. This film is so truthful and alive, it breathes on its own. 8/10

Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa [Abrogena, 2015, Philippines] Silence, long takes, parallelism. This film knows how to show separation in its most artistic form. 8/10

Brooklyn [Crowley, 2015, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland] Honestly told, naturally acted, distinctly beautiful. 8/10

Personal Shopper [Olivier Assayas, 2017, France] A subtle but dreary take on grief. Slow but rewarding in the end. 8/10

Moglie e Morito [Simone Godano, 2017, Italy]Could be the funniest film I have watched this year. 8/10

Love You to the Stars and Back [Antoinette Jadaone, 2017, Philippines] Kind of wants to make you believe in destiny, kind of succeeds in that sense. A tender take on teenage love and loss, so pure, it’s precious. 8/10

Above the Clouds [Diokno, 2014, Philippines] Feels a bit preachy to me but at the same time subtle in advocating against environmental destruction. 8/10

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation [McQuarrie, 2015, United States] I love the action, yes. But I love Rebecca Ferguson a million times more. 8/10

The Great Buddha+ [Hsin-yao Huang, 2018, Taiwan] Not sure if saying “this is my kind of humour” is something I should be proud of but damn this film is hilarious! Oh and really clever too. 8/10

Hacksaw Ridge [Mel Gibson, 2016, United States] Is one of those war films that stand out. 8/10

Hidden Figures [Ted Melfi, 2017, United States] For those questioning the existence of women figures in history, here’s a good start for you. 8/10

D'Ardennen [Robin Pront, 2016, Belgium] Just about the right amount of violence and grim unpredictability paced quite effectively. 8/10

Mother! [Darren Aronofsky, 2017, United States] It wore me thin down to the core then ended quite brilliantly. My social anxiety is triggered, I am petrified and annoyed both at the same time. 8/10

Blade Runner 2049 [Dennis Villanueve, 2017, United States] Despite its cringe-worthy attack on my feminist self, it actually has a rich cinematic vision of a bewildered 2049. 8/10

Ang Larawan [Loy Arcenas, 2017, Philippines]Has such polished musicality that it overwhelms you to the point of it defying the flaws. 8/10

Lipstick Under my Burkha [Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016, India] Comes with great intentions but lacks the powerful female characters the film supposed to have. 8/10

L’Avenir [Mia Hansen-Love, 2016, France] At this point, everyone should know that there is nothing Isabelle Huppert cannot do. 8/10

Nocturnal Animals [Tom Ford, 2016, United States] This is how a writer dies, and this is how a writer comes back with a kill. 8/10

La Tortue Rogue [Michael Dudok De Wit, 2017, France, Japan] A dialogue-less animation that proves that silence speaks a thousand words and could even provoke deep thinking. 8/10 

Everybody Loves Somebody [Catalina Aguilar Mastretta, 2017, Mexico] Nothing much is special and new about it which is why I don’t understand why I love it to a great extent. 8/10 

The Revenant [Iñárritu, 2015] Although it speaks, it doesn’t speak loud enough to be heard. 8/10

10 Cloverfield Lane [Trachtenberg, 2016] It’s wicked in a way that it is good. 8/10

Mon Roi [Maïwenn, 2016] With a narrative so hard to withstand, the riveting performances of Bercot and Cassel made this a must watch. 8/10 

Neruda [Larrain, 2016] Virtually poetic, contextually lyrical. 8/10

Leave No Trace [Debra Ganik, 2018, United States] a small film of massive authenticity and warm touch. It will leave a trace. 8/10

Manila by Night [Ishmael Bernal, 1980, Philippines] a classic representation of the realities of how Manila is a witness to the city’s moral lethargy. 8/10 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [Edwards, 2016] If only for its third act, this is already worth every penny. 8/10

Un Homme Ideal [Gozlan, 2016] a film structured so well, it’s both suspenseful and unpredictable. 8/10

Rosita [Aspock, 2015] a momentous character-driven drama on relationships & sacrifices shown through natural & credible performances. 8/10

I Smile Back [Salky, 2015] Nothing I haven’t seen before which is why I don’t know why I liked it. 8/10 

Ned’s Project [Lorca, 2016] Has a profound sense of lesbian issues w/ a well-thought-of character superbly portrayed by Angeli Bayani. 8/10 

The Third Party [Laxamana, 2016] Examines the struggles of sexual confusion, and existential crisis. Something that hits home. 8/10 

Ignacio de Loyola [Dy, 2016] Sincerely really well-made, I’m surprisingly impressed. 8/10 

Curiosity, Adventure, Love [De Leon, Richiardone, 2016] it’s the kind of film full of wisdom, it’s like I left the theater smarter. 8/10

I am Not a Serial Killer [O'Brien, 2016] The thing I like about this is I’m still not sure whether he is or is not a serial killer. 8/10 

Macbeth [Kurzel, 2015] Poetically forceful, it leaves you vividly stunned. 8/10

The Jungle Book [Favreau, 2016] It is so good, I almost stood up from my seat to join them in the jungle. 8/10

Deadpool [Miller, 2016] Still a better love story than Twilight. 8/10

Sovdargari (The Trader) [Tamta Gabrichidze, 2018, Georgia] Emotionally intense depiction of rural poverty. 7.5/10

The Two Popes [Fernando Mereilles, 2019, UK, US, Italy, Argentina] Features two outstanding performances that redeemed it from all its dragging moments. 7.5/10

Baby Driver [Edgar Wright, 2017, United States] The ending blew it, but I had so much fun anyhow. 7.5/10

It Follows [Mitchell, 2015, United States] It isn’t particularly terrifying to me, but this is definitely an anti-cliche horror film worth watching. 7.5/10

Loving Vincent [Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, 2017, Poland-UK] Focused too much on visual mastery, wasn’t impactful, narrative-wise. 7.5/10 

Black Panther [Ryan Coogler, 2018, United States] Oozing with unusual but likable characters. 7.5/10

A Land Imagined [Chris Yeo, 2018, Singapore, France, Netherlands] An unsettling noir mystery that questions people’s notion of truth. 

My Days of Mercy [Tali Shalom Ezer, 2019, United States] There is a bewitching chemistry between the two leads despite the coldness of it all. 7.5/10

The Other Side of the Wind [Orson Welles, 2018, United States] Not for a Welles beginner but is surely a completist’s delight. 7.5/10

Felicite [Alain Gomis, 2017, Senegal, Congo, France] With such lyrical tone, its narrative was thinly sketched that some of its elements don’t match. 7.5/10

I, Tonya [Craig Gillespie, 2017, United States]Despite Robbie’s knockout portrayal, I still need to connect more with Tonya Harding. 7.5/10

Dunkirk [Christopher Nolan, 2017, United States] Boasts Nolan’s technical superiority. 7.5/10   

Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest) [Oriol Paulo, 2017, Spain] offers an outstanding and enjoyable thrilling ride. 7.5/10

Giant Little Ones [Keith Berhman, 2019, United States] An honest road to knowing your own self in the eyes of a boy transitioning to adolescence. 7.5/10

Revenge [Coralie Fargeat, 2018, France]Caution: explicit cursing while watching and cheering to this. 7.5/10

Tu Pug Imatuy [Arbi Barbarona, 2017, Philippines] Great. Everything here feels authentic, it’s powerful. 7.5/10

Never Not Love You [Antoinette Jadaone, 2018, Philippines] Beautifully and realistically written. It’s just really hard for me to like Reid’s character. 7.5/10 

Kaptn Oskar [Tom Lass, 2013, Germany] Only basic virtue - it is a beautiful film. Not only for its comfort. But for the old poetry of dust emotions. 7.5/10

Walang Forever [Villegas, 2015, Philippines] A delightful romcom that shifts to heavy drama. Has a confusing tone, but ok with the follow through. 7.5/10

Tangerine [Baker, 2015, United States] Funny and adorable in an odd way. My favourite comedy of 2015 (so far). 7.5/10

Wonder Woman [Patty Jenkins, 2017, United States] More than it being a feminist is it being human and that I think is more important. 7.5/10 

That’s Not Us [William Sullivan, 2015, United States] Very real and natural, I’m nostalgic for reasons I cannot explain. 7.5/10

Other People [Chris Kelly, 2016, United States] So subtly-made, yet is filled with so much emotions. I have much respect for this. 7.5/10

Aria [Carlo Catu, 2018, Philippines] Could have gone deeper and darker to make a more harrowing but lasting impact. It borders on the safe side, but still able to tell something important. 7.5/10

Creed [Coogler, 2015, United States] One of the most passionate films of the year. Surprisingly, it’s still very Rocky. 7.5/10

Furie [Le Van Kiet, 2019, Vietnam] With great performance and thrilling choreography, Furie is one of the best action films of 2019. 7.5/10

Logan [James Mangold, 2017, United States] Could be the marvel movie that made me feel the saddest. 7.5/10

The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbrunch [Michael Steiner, 2019, Switzerland, Germany] A funny glimpse at a life of an Orthodox Jewish man with a chemistry that gives you a hopeful ending. 7.5/10

Gerald’s Game [Mike Flanagan, 2017, United States] Meticulously-directed, it is an outstanding adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. 7.5/10

Kita Kita [Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, 2017, Philippines] I have a problem with what it’s trying to romanticize, but I still find it romantic, I’m conflicted. I don’t know but i tend to like films/books that border on finding comfort in loneliness. Kita Kita understands that concept pretty well.  7.5/10

You’re Ugly Too [Mark Noonan, 2015, Ireland] An engaging journey of two unusual characters thrown together infused with a great sense of authenticity. 7.5/10 

Billie & Emma [Samantha Lee, 2018, Philippines] There’s magic in its production design and an amusing chemistry that would remind you of what it’s like to fall in love the first time. It is everyone’s teenage romance, the kind that buries heteronormativity. 7.5/10

The Beguiled [Sofia Coppola, 2017, United States] Powerhouse cast in one of their most memorable performances. 7.5/10

Star Wars: The Last Jedi [Rian Johnson, 2017, United States] I like how it understands the inevitability of war, and how good and evil coexists. 7.5/10

Of Love & Law [Hikaru Toda, 2017, Japan] Questions the intricacies of Japanese culture through a collection of simple yet meaningful moments. 7.5/10

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom [JA Bayona, 2018, United States]

Bambanti [Dulay 2015, Philippines] Has an honest storytelling of a small town tale that examines the correlation between social status and justice. 7.5/10

Singing in Graveyards [Bradley Liew, 2017 Philippines, Malaysia] It’s the things that it did not say that made this movie stirring. 7.5/10

Dukot [Soriano, 2016] has a kind of storytelling and powerhouse cast so good, you hate that it isn’t great. 7.5/10 

Kiko Boksingero [Thop Nazareno, 2017, Philippines] A small movie with lots of charm. A film about longing and finding satisfaction from things that are there all along. 7.5/10

A War [Lindholm, 2015] A war film In which the only villain is the circumstance itself. 7.5/10

Haunted: A Last Visit to the Red House [Phyllis Grande, 2017, Philippines] a quiet little gem. I would have want to cut it shorter though. 7.5/10

El Hombre de al Lado [Duprat, Cohn, 2009] Artistically minimalist, and yet very profound. 7.5/10

I Saw the Devil [Kim Jee-Woon, 2011, South Korea] A traumatic examination of how a monster is made. Creepy yet insightful. 7.5/10

Bagahe [Zig Dulay, 2017, Philippines] Proves that mental disturbance hits my emotions more than seeing physical violence. Affecting once digested. 7.5/10

Moana [Clements, Musker, 2016] Has a great sense of identity and sensibility, with really beautiful visuals and scoring. 7.5/10 

Baconaua [Joseph Israel Laban, 2017, Philippines] Hypnotizing. A small-town tale with profound ideologies buried under its simplicity. 7.5/10

Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember [Khavn, 2016, Philippines] An enjoyable mix of weird artistry, whimsical storytelling, significant animation. Ridiculous but ridiculously exceptional. 7.5/10 

Kon-Tiki [Robbing, Sandberg, 2012] such a wonderful adventure in such a beautiful part of the world. 7.5/10

Jackie [Pablo Larrain, United States, 2016] Portman delivered a warm performance in what could be a cold memoir. 7.5/10

Italian for Beginners [Lone Scherfig, 2001, Denmark] an enjoyable character-driven story of adults finding love in the most unexpected moments. 7.5/10

Room 8 [James Griffiths, 2013, United States] Unique and smart. Too amazed, I had to share it with everyone. 7.5/10

Black Panther [Ryan Coogler, 2018, United States] 

Avengers: Infinity War [Anthony and Joe Russo, 2018, United States]

The Invitation [Karyn Kusama, 2016, United States] I know a psychological thriller like this is effective when I find myself so uncomfortable, wanting to leave, cautious of being brainwashed. 7.5/10 

Ready Player One [Steven Spielberg, 2018, United States] Too amusing to the point of apathy. Still entertaining though. 7.5/10

Disobedience [Sebastian Lelio, 2018, Ireland] Depicts the beauty of internal turmoils and hidden desires, it��s gripping. 7.5/10

Isle of Dogs [Wes Anderson, 2018, United States] A quirky imagination of a simple narrative, told in a hyper-stylized artistry. 7.5/10

Apostasy [Daniel Kokotajlo, 2017, United Kingdom] the more it rolls, the more I loathe religion. 7.5/10 

Wonder Woman [Patty Jenkins, 2017, United States] More than it being a feminist is it being human and that I think is more important. 7.5/10 

Trumbo [Roach, 2015] For a film about an exemplary screenwriter, it was only averagely written. 7.5/10

Miss You Already [Hardwicke, 2015] The kind that will make you laugh, or weep, or both at the same time. 7.5/10

Hintayan ng Langit [Villegas, 2018] I’m not completely sold on a couple of its elements but boy, Gina Pareño is a gem. A sparkling one.  7.5/10  

Always Be My Maybe [Villegas, 2016] Let’s do away with the immature cheesy scenes. The chemistry is already cute without it. 7.5/10

Malila: The Farewell Flower [Anucha Boonyawatana, 2018, Thailand] A beguiling narration of existentialism, redemption, and the philosophy of Buddhism. All told in such calming gaze, it’s actually hypnotic. 7.5/10

Heartland [Maura Anderson, 2017, United States] A lot of technical expertise is lacking but it’s heartbreaking just the same. 7/10

Under Heaven [Tilepbergen, 2015] A series of unfortunate events told through a collection of expressive shots and believable lead. 7/10

Meet Me in St Gallen [Irene Villamor, 2018, Philippines]

Meadowland [Morano, 2015, United States] I’ve always loved Olivia Wilde, and this is her most accomplished performance yet. 7/10

Never Not Love You [Antoinette Jadaone, 2018, Philippines] Beautifully and realistically written. It’s just really hard for me to like Reid’s character. 7/10

Eight Grade [Bo Burnham, 2018, United States] One of the most important and most natural teen movies of the year. 7/10

UnTrue [Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, 2019, Philippines] to put it simply, UnTrue is a thrilling rollercoaster ride. 7/10

En Chance Til [Bier, 2014] has an underdeveloped style and presentation to convince its audience of its supposed resonant narrative. 7/10

The Hitman’s Bodyguard [Patrick Hughes, 2017, United States] To hell with that, I enjoyed it. A lot. 7/10

Ma’ Rosa [Mendoza, 2016] a glimpse of the reality of poverty & how Filipinos negotiate for their lives. Important film but not my fave. 7/10

Dear Ex [Chih-Yen Hsu, 2018, Taiwan] Features odd but genuine kind of love. It is funny, heartfelt, and charming all at the same time. 7/10

The Miseducation of Cameron Post [Desiree Akhavan, 2018, United States] Provocatively presents how emotionally abusing conversion therapy could be. 7/10

First They Killed my Father [Angelina Jolie, 2017, United States, Cambodia] sincerely and sensitively paints a portrait of a country’s tragic history. 7/10

The Journey [Chiu Keng Guan, 2014, Malaysia] Gives you a glimpse of Chinese culture against the backdrop of the beautiful Malaysian landscapes. I really had fun. 7/10

Baboy Halas [Fiola, 2016] a film that will truly immerse you to a life completely unknown. Tranquil yet turbulent. A new experience. 7/10

Tale of Tales [Garrone, 2015, Italy] Boasts lavish productions with a series of macabre fairytales for adults. 7/10

I’m Drunk, I Love You [JP Habac, 2017, Philippines] Makes you feel so much. Something too relatable, it’s terrific. If only for its music scoring, it’s already worth the watch. 7/10 

La Tête Haute [Bercot, 2016] Paradot’s portrayal of a violent juvenile is one of the best I’ve seen this year. 7/10

Crazy Rich Asians [Jon Chu, 2018, United States] Important and feel-good, but that’s just it for me. 7/10

Vince & Kath & James [Theodore Boborol, 2016, Philippines] wait taym pers, bakit ampogi nung bagets? 7/10

Truth [Vanderbilt, 2015] It’s bothersome that it will make you thirst for truth, but the facts wont prove you that. 7/10

Mrs [Alix, 2016] Doesn’t go too big on drama but delivers first-rate portrayals of women wrestling with their own inner demons. 7/10

The Girl King [Mika Kaurismaki, 2015, Sweden, Finland] has a strong female character who does not dare conform to society’s truths. 7/10

Buhay Habambuhay [Herras, 2016] Technically, it was just okay. But it’s the kind of okay that lives. 7/10

Distance [Perci Intalan, 2018, Philippines] a tender family drama with powerful performances of characters who choose to love no matter how wrong or right. 7/10

Showroom [Fernando Molnar, 2014, Argentina] is a showroom of how beautiful and luxurious an artificial world could be. 7/10

Captain Fantastic [Matt Ross, 2016, United States] a thoroughly-observed film that asks too many radical questions that can only be answered by contradicting its own philosophy. Quite a realization that balance is the key to life. 7/10 

The Intervention [DuVall, 2016] Seems like a real bond, I don’t mind hanging out with them again. 7/10

Contagion [Steven Soderbergh, 2011, United States] Believable but somehow lacking in its scare tactic. 7/10

La Pazza Gioia [Paolo Virzi, 2016, Italy] The chemistry and the friendship formed between Beatrice and Donatella is a delightful box full of surprises. 7/10

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [Mamoru Hosoda, 2006, Japan] an entertaining anime on time travel done with slick sensitivity. 7/10

Jorgen + Anne = Sant [Sewitsky, 2011] When it comes to love, who are we to judge? 7/10

Zodiac [David Fincher, 2007, United States] Intelligent drama, boring thriller. Not a fan. 7/10

The Greatest Showman [Michael Gracey, 2018, United States]

The Write Moment [Dominic Lim, 2017, Philippines] Incredibly funny. Unfamiliar yet relatable. 7/10

Baka Bukas [Samantha Lee, 2017] A realistic take on coming out and drifting apart. 7/10

Mistress America [Baumbach, 2015] In which anxiety, loneliness and one’s own crises are hidden behind the wit. 7/10

The Battleship Island [Seung-wan Ryoo, 2017, South Korea] Kind of an upset for a big-budget film. It was entertaining anyhow. 7/10

One Day [Banjong Pisanthanakun, 2016, Thailand] I could buy the romance here but I wouldn’t. Still quite good though. 7/10

Hunt for the Wilderpeople [Taika Waititi, 2016, New Zealand] Boasts really funny puns, and spectacular landscapes. All fun. 7/10

Nabubulok [Sonny Calvento, 2017, Philippines] With how much I read and watch crime and legal thrillers, I find this film very problematic in more ways than one. Still worth a watch though. 7/10

The Diary of a Teenage Girl [Heller, 2015] Well, that was quite an extraordinary diary. 7/10

Cafe. Waiting. Love [Jiang Jin Lin, 2014, Taiwan] Better if cut into two different films. Says something important somewhere. 7/10

Ken and Kazu [Shoji, 2015] Hard to watch. Pays off in the end. 7/10

Dagen Zonder Lief [Groeningen, 2007] a subtle observation of how youth disappears from sight. 7/10

Hush [Flanagan, 2016] Interesting use of silence both as a scare tactic and as a lifesaver in this nail-biting thriller. 7/10

Bridgend [Ronde, 2016] When there’s a teen suicide outbreak, how are you not going to like it? 7/10

Smaller and Smaller Circles [Raya Martin, 2017, Philippines] Suspense done right but there’s something about its exchanges that seems unnatural. 7/10

Lily [Deligero, 2016] Impressive style and use of myth to reject misogyny. 7/10

Pop Aye [Kirsten Tan, 2018, Thailand, Singapore] Is as slow but as heavy as its lead. 7/10

The Lady in the Van [Hytner, 2015] Nothing much in here stands out except for Maggie Smith’s glorious performance. 7/10

Instalado [Jason Paul Laxamana, 2017, Philippines] Has a creative approach in showing education as a privilege in a world of Insta-everything. Clever, it resembles the paranoia Margaret Atwood gives, and the subtle societal dysfunctions Yorgos Lanthimos offers. 7/10

High Tide [Tara Illenberger, Philippines, 2017] There’s something beautiful behind this film’s innocence. Too slow for my taste though. 7/10

Sa Gabing Nananahimik ang mga Kuliglig [Iar Lionel Arondaing, 2017, Philippines] Experimental with its cinematography and is probably its greatest strength. It’s 4:3 frame explains the film pretty well. 7/10

The Edge of Seventeen [Kelly Fremon Craig, 2016, United States] Full of hypothetical teenage angst, and coming of age romance. Was okay. 7/10

TPO [Altarejos, 2016] Melancholy & vexation told through intrinsic acting & a mix of essential & nonessential collection of long takes. 7/10

The Day After Valentine’s [Jason Paul Laxamana, 2018, Philippines] Brilliant in its canny use of language to illustrate people’s tendency to miscommunicate emotions. 7/10

Rhymes for Young Ghouls [Barnaby, 2014] For a period film, this is kinda lost in the modern world. Other than that, it’s good. 7/10

Child of Debt [Swamy, 2015] a tale of forlorn hope in which life is on loan & the only way to pay is through death. Honestly beautiful. 7/10

Certain Women [Kelly Reichardt, 2016, United States] It takes patience to watch this, but in the end, the winning silences and subtleties are worth it. 7/10

Affinity [Fywell, 2008] I’m very angry, disappointed, and affected. If that’s the goal, then it did I great job. 7/10

Tanna [Butler, Dean, 2016] a tribal Romeo and Juliet. The kind of “you and me against the world” that changed a way of living. 7/10

Thoroughbreds [Cory Finley, 2018, United States] The kind of film that doesn’t lead to what you think. It’s black comedy of my liking. 7/10

4 Latas [Gerardo Olivares, 2019, Spain] For all its nonsense, I enjoyed it. 7/10

[podcastinferno]

Welcome to Wibbly Wobbly Timey Things– A Podcast of the Ages!

This week on “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Things” we will be looking at our perceptions of violence through the lenses of literature, history, psychology, and philosophy. The violence depicted within Egil’s Saga and the period of European conquest in South America will be dissected by a panel of experts eager to share their insights in an attempt to heighten our understanding of  human nature.

Works Cited

Brown, Carol. SAGE Course Companions series: Developmental Psychology: A Course Companion (1). London, GB: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2008. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 3 May 2017.

Columbus, Christopher. Journal of the First Voyage: Diaro Del Primer Viaje, 1492. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1990. Print.

De Las Casas, Bartolomé. A short account of the destruction of the Indies. Penguin Books: New York, 1992. Print

De Las Casas, Bartolomé. In defense of the Indians: the defense of the Most Reverend Lord, Don Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, of the Order of Preachers, late Bishop of Chiapa, against the persecutors and slanderers of the peoples of the New World discovered across the seas. Northern Illinois University Press: Champaign, c.1974. Print

De Montaigne, Michel. “Essays.” Harold Bloom: Chelsea House. 1987 “Violence in Literature.” Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

Eiriksson, Leifur. Ed. Scuudder, Bernard. Egil’s Saga. Penguin Classic: New York, 2004. Print

“European Perceptions of Native Government.” American Eras. Encyclopedia.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

Forgas, Joseph P., Haselton, Martie G., and von Hippel, William, eds. Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology: Evolution and the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Social Cognition (1). London, US: Psychology Press, 2007. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 3 May 2017.

Grotius, Hugo. The Free Sea. Liberty Fund, Inc: Indianapolis, 2004. Print.

Leonard, Irving Albert. Books of the Brave: Being an Account of Books and of Men in the Spanish Conquest and Settlement of the Sixteenth-century New World. Berkeley: U of California, 1992. Print.

Lönnroth, Lars, Vésteinn Ólason, and Anders Piltz. “Literature.” N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

“The Native Peoples, Christopher Columbus, Social Studies, Glencoe.” Glencoe Online. N.p., n.d.Web.03 May 2017.

Pemment, Jack. “Psychopathy versus Sociopathy: Why the Distinction Has Become Crucial.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 18, no. 5, 1 Sept. 2013.

Roesdahl, Else, and Preben Meulengracht Sørensen. "Viking Culture.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 03 May 2017. Tether, Leah. “Perceval’s Puerile Perceptions: The First Scene of the Conte du Graal as an Index of Medieval Concepts of Human Development Theory.” Neophilologus, vol. 94, no. 2, Apr. 2010.

Cover Image:

 “Mark of the Beast,” © Monster Records 

Music:

“Heroic Age” by Kevin MacLeod

Work Distribution

Team:

Co-ordinator - Louis Dalle

Script Editor - Riley Baker

Podcast Editor - K.B.

Tumblr Editor/Uploader - K.B. & Amy Cho

Voice Actors and Script Writers:

Amy Choi - Dr. Heejung Cho (Historian)

K.B. - Dr. Helen Electra (Psychologist)

Louis - Dr. Charles Winston (Philosopher)      

Louis - Gabriel de Fombelle (Host)  

Riley - Dr. Gwendolyn Clouds (Literature expert)

Script

*Introduction*

Louis: Welcome to “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Things” - the place where you find conversations to propel you in time, so that you can learn for the future

Today in our show we are talking about the perception of violence within Egil’s Saga and within the clash between the colonials and the Americas. A lot of juicy stuff so to say but very important in order to understand our own attitudes towards other civilizations and a way to gain perspective in the way that we treat others. My name is Gabriel de Fombelle and this is “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Things”

Part I: Q&A Panel Discussion of Egil’s Saga

Louis: In today’s starting discussion we will follow a panel style questionnaire to try and understand the violence within Egil’s saga. We have in our panelist for the day Dr. Helen Elektra, Head of the psychology department at Johns Hopkins University--[Thank you for having me]--- Dr. Dr. Gwendolyn Clouds author of the book “Literature in Viking times” & Prof at Kenyon  University --[Happy to be here, Gabriel. ]-- and Prof. Heejung Cho a medieval Historian from Seoul University ----[Hello, nice to meet you]---

Louis: First I want to ask History Professor Heejung if she could tell us a little bit on the what the book Egil’s Saga is really about

Amy: We all know that Egil’s Saga is based on Medieval Icelandic history. Egil’s Saga begins in Norway in the mid-8th century when the Norsemen started to migrate to Iceland. The Saga starts out with Egil’s grandfather Ulf settling down to Iceland. This single saga contains very long history of about about 150 years. It gives a history of three generations from a family lineage, which is why Icelandic Saga is often called “family saga”, revealing the importance of agnatic or patriarchal bonds in Medieval Iceland. “Family sagas” deal with the antecedents and feuds of prominent Icelanders or Icelandic families, from the period of settlement to the eleventh century.

Louis: So you said this saga spans 150 years. How authentic is this history? Is it a true account or is it meant more for entertainment purposes?

Amy: It is pretty difficult to make a decision whether or not this Saga, Egil’s Saga, is factual. Professor Margaret Cormack from College of Charleston in South Carolina, insists in her publication--it’s called Fact and Fiction in the Icelandic Sagas--that even though the Sagas (including the famous ones like Egil’s Saga) have drawn international attention as a form of historical writings, it also has received a number of criticisms that these sagas have failed to be credible historical resources. The thing is that this word ‘saga’ literally means ‘story’ or ‘tale’ in Icelandic. The oldest record of Egil’s Saga dates back to the 13th century, and most of the family sagas are believed to be written in the same period. Axel Kristinsson, an Icelandic history expert, he says that, “the Icelandic Sagas are a strange phenomenon.” Of course, during this period, Iceland was experiencing a period of settlement, of conversion, extreme violence, and of turmoil. The violence depicted in the saga is highly based on the actual societal background of the period.

Louis: To begin our literary analysis, I would like to ask Dr. Gwendolyn Clouds about her latest work “Literature in the times of the Saga” in which you take the stance that Viking attitudes towards literature tended to be very important, would you say that it would be a coping mechanism for the harshness of the Viking way and a shield from the surrounding violence?

Riley: His reactions are usually on a grand scale to the point where they are often outrageous and entertaining. Generally, these encounters seem rather muted in the text, which may be explained by the typical Icelandic attitude towards violence. For them, gore and brutality was part of everyday society. This could be a reason that this violence, which we would call shocking today, is glossed over--it was nothing out of the ordinary. The value code by which Egil lived, one that centred around violence as retribution or recreation, was comparable to that of many Scandinavians at the time of the story's composition. Egil's saga takes place during a time of oral tradition. Poetry establishes a person's reputation--whether it be good or bad. Egil in particular is a master with his craft.

Louis: Did the nature of his reputation matter at all? I would argue it should, in chapter 14 where Egil kills the bard he does certainly retain fame but he also retains scandal. He ends up singing more than the bard establishing his reputation but flees from a kingly search party. Wouldn’t Viking look more fondly upon the quieter, calmer Thorolf? Is the Saga named after a villain?

Riley: Reputation certainly did matter, but I would argue that Egil is less a villain and more an anti hero. We’re not going to see him on the front page of a comic book anytime soon, but he’s not going to be crucified as some kind of terrible villain like Hannibal Lector or Ramsay Bolton. While an even temperament was sometimes desired in the heat of battle, Viking culture also praises the strong and effortlessly  powerful warriors. In my opinion, neither Thorolf nor Egil are bad men.

Louis: You mentioned that Egil’s moral compass focused on violence. What was the role of violence in Egil’s saga?

Riley: Violence in contemporary literature is generally not as descriptive or, for lack of a better word, senseless as it is in Egil's saga. Violence in the literature of today is defined by society's violence--rape, murder, war crimes, racism, and a host of other topics. We see a more systemic type of violence today. In her influential study On Violence, conducted by Hannah Arendt, there is an explanation of the balance between institutional power structures and violence, a balance that was greatly upset as violent means were adopted to cleanse and reorder the world with means such as collectivism, fascism, and imperialism in the twentieth century.

Riley: Themes of violence shown in Egil's saga are notably different. Typically, the violence is not through some institution, it is just a good old fashioned axe murder. This shows a culture that not only accepted brutal methods, but embraced and praised them wholeheartedly. It seems a little foreign to us because we’re so unused to this kind of honest and, quite frankly, gruesome depiction of violence even between children, but we have to remember when reading that this was the norm and perfectly acceptable.

Louis: So, the question is how do we have to read these sagas? Is it okay to rely on the family saga to get accurate historical reference?

Amy: I will say no.  This is another example from Professor Cormack that other famous family sagas such as Gísla saga and Njáls saga are often misinterpreted, because they appear to be easily comprehensible by modern readers. This meaning, modern readers get attached to these medieval sagas, for some reason, very easily, and they read them in their own term, not from the medieval Icelandic viewpoints. For the modern readers it is significant to be aware of the periodical gap between the modern days and the medieval days.Saga is a literature. This is not a history, but it is a historical novel, a historical reading that may help modern scholars and modern readers utilize to understand the 13th century medieval Iceland.

Louis: I share the belief we have nowadays hit a wave of pessimism in the US - Donald Trump’s slogan was “Make America great again!” implies an underlying nostalgia which reflects the North’s own as seen in chapter 10 where Thorolf brings back vast quantities of food as opposed to chapter 31 where Child mortality. As a result I would argue that we rely more and more on superheroes as a form of hope and a reminder of our values. Unfortunately the pessimism seeps into our literature, DC is trying to make heroes like Batman a controversy as a brutal vigilante instead of a enforcer of the law. I would like to ask Dr Helen Elektra if she would argue that this this is reflective of how the Vikings saw Egil?

Katie: Let’s say Egil is not written as a realistic individual. Let’s say Egil is a heightened version of a Norsemen– a superhero of sorts. If that were the case, we as modern readers are being informed of an ideal. Superman, for example, represents an American psychosis. Our ideal individual is obsessed with justice, with fighting ‘evil’ with super strength and wit. And I think we can agree that it would be unproductive to assert that Superman, and our obsession with him and figures like him says nothing of the American perspective. From a psychological standpoint, a society’s idols are specific and revealing. American superheros are most often young, white men who physically fight in accordance to their personal judicial code– and it comes as no surprise that we are, as a society, obsessed with the idea of promoting our own ideas of justice.

Katie: As post-Freudian readers, we can acknowledge that human psychology transcends our cultural timelines. We cannot say that our understanding of sociopathy is inapplicable to Egil’s world simply because his world did not possess the language that surrounds the term itself. This is, of course, a form of ethnocentricity. The modern reader is aware of themselves in a psychological context. We have an impulse to analyze Egil’s childhood is a product of Western ideology– we have a desire to categorize Egil in terms of our beliefs surrounding human development.

Louis: How would you describe the mental state of Egil? In this scene in chapter 14 he drives a thick-bladed axe through Grim who had beaten him in a game he would be seen as sociopathic yet he shows remorse in chapter 44 when he runs away ahead of any search party showing he felt himself guilty.

Katie: By definition, Egil is a sociopath being brought up in what the psychological community would call a sociopathic society. This is not a judgement of Norse cultural norms or morals. It is simply against the human conscious to kill with little to no empathy. The treatment required for the participants of the infamous Milgram experiment is an example of this– the act of killing another human even on authoritative command has internal ripple effects regardless of the setting in which the act takes place. We’re talking about hardwiring– to experience your mother-figure and childhood friend being killed at the hand of your own father is not abnormal simply because it goes against western ideology, it is abnormal on a humanistic level. We notice that the other Norse children are not committing axe murders in the text, which begs the question of how Egil’s is meant  to be read– is Egil possibly a caricature of a Norse warrior?

Riley: Is sociopathy really an applicable term when violence was normalized in their society?

Katie: I believe so. Normalized or not– the human mind has norms and patterns that transcend cultural background. Sociopaths have always existed, we just haven’t always been calling them sociopaths. We, as modern readers, simply cannot relate to a kill or be killed society, yet alone ignore the ramifications of violence. That is not to say we aren’t obsessed with violence however– the modern consumer is accustomed to reading or watching violence as entertainment, and I believe it is possible that Egils Saga served as a form entertainment, one in which the human obsession with violence is capitalized on. Perhaps the violence portrayed in the text is comparable to the modern film American Sniper. It is a true story that has been dramatized, the violence has been heightened, whether or not Chris Kyle is a hero is questionable. The romanticization or even fetishization of Egil’s childhood and violent tendencies is perhaps a product of the ease at which we accept “cultural norms.”  Although we are able to contextualize the violence by understanding Norse culture, we still cannot deny what we have come to understand about the human consciousness through scientific study. So, we have to ask ourselves why we can’t apply language or technical terms in order to contextualize further.

Katie: The so-called “Berserker trance” is also relevant when contemplating the mental state of Egil. The term itself is derived from Norse literature, referring to champion warriors who are described as reaching a dream-like state through violent acts. Such a state is now associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the inability to access one’s emotions as a result of trauma. It is a kind of survival response to excessive exposure to violence.

Riley: Ohh, that’s a really interesting insight!

Katie: If we were to consider an alternative psychological explanation for Egil’s state beyond sociopathy, I would say that Adult-Egil’s mental state is perhaps the end result of generalized trauma.

Louis: Egil is portrayed as a leader very involved with culture and the arts. Dr Clouds, what would you say is the significance of this? Why was it so important for an epic violent to leader to be a poet, it seems nowadays we cannot reconcile the two in a book unless depicting unsettling villains.

Riley: Poetry is extremely significant in Viking culture, so it appears in many parts of Egil's saga. Egil has a particular skill with the poetic arts, which is found multiple times within the saga. He is also extremely violent, which was another integral part of Viking culture. Despite a violent interpretation that many readers tend to get caught up in, Egil is in a man of many virtues which are central to his character. He values honor, loyalty, respect, and friendship above everything else. Egil considers it a personal insult when someone breaks any of these values and as a result he typically reacts with either physical force or poetry, which are two of the most important parts of Viking culture.

Louis: So there is a really delicate bond in between the physical force and an assertion of order. we have now grasped how from our own perspective of the violence can make us misunderstand the culture and meanings of past historical works. Now that we have spotted this discrepancy, we should look towards how it can be a problem within our modern day in the solving of conflicts across the globe. Unfortunately if this is the case - we are probably oblivious to this effect, so I want to re invite our panel of experts to discuss a past event where a misunderstanding between two cultures has been obvious and watch how we can solve this problem.

Part II: Panel Discussion of Ethnocentrism & the New World

Louis: The discovery of the New World created a culture shock to say the least - there was clear tension in between the colonialist who saw themselves as ‘civilized’ against the ‘cannibals’ and the ‘natives’ who saw the invaders as ‘violent’. We have now invited Dr. Charles Winston from Cambridge University to discuss some of the Philosophy that would have undergone in this very conversational matter. To begin with though… I must ask Dr. Elektra on whether colonialism can be purely understood as a socio-economic conquest or whether there was more within the psychology.

Katie: Our understanding of colonialism cannot be identified exclusively through the lenses of economic gain and political power. It is also relevant to consider the psychological effects of conquest particularly in regards to the native peoples. There are some accepted patterns of fear exhibited by the natives that one might attribute to the psychosis of being conquered or enslaved. I’d like to ask  Dr. Clouds’ her opinion on the literary analysis of first contact accounts because I feel this is where our psychological analysis is derived from.

Riley: So, when dealing specifically with the Columbus accounts of first contact with natives in the Caribbean, we can see several poignant examples of ethnocentrism. He says the natives would be “good servants” and that they would easily take to Christianity. The first example highlights a typical attitude towards indigenous people that Europeans held during what I would call the colonialism boom. His tone throughout his Journal of the First Voyage tries to appear objective, but often little snippets of his holier-than-thou outlook are present. He described them as “simple-minded” and valuing them only on their “handsome form”. It appears that he only values them as their potential to be servants or slaves. He also mentions how they appeared poor and seems to look down on them based on their dress, which was admittedly a little scarce. It was just a cultural difference that Columbus took to mean they were not as civilized or intelligent as Europeans, a false and ethnocentric assumption.

Katie: You bring up a lot of key linguistic tendencies that seem to showcase what I would call a superiority complex. This is perhaps related to “The White Man’s Burden,” a concept coined from Kipling’s poem regarding the Philippine-American War. The term essentially acknowledges the colonizer’s particular mental state– one in which race and religion are serving as a motivating force. Not only do the colonizers reflect on the natives like one might circus animals, they also imply a sense of duty to them– a duty to civilize them, and assimilate them for their own sake. This in return grants the colonizers economic and political gain as well as affirmation in their own beliefs– conversion, more than anything, gives the faithful a power trip.  

Louis: In terms of the religious force what we must understand - is that to the modern Christian it was both a convenience and a duty to undermine the Native South Americans. It was in no way their interest to attempt to understand their way of life. You must imagine… In the Christian view the land of South of America was already unholy - the pre-romantic Christian views of nature were that nature is to be tamed by man because nature is asymmetrical and God made the world symetrical. For instance this can be seen in the contemporary Chateaux de Versailles where symmetry in the gardens was key to asserting the Sun King’s dominance over nature. Therefore seeing the people living in this chaos must certainly have inspired the Spanish and the Portuguese alike to look snobbishly at the populace. In fact, the Catholic invaders thought it was their duty to own and conquer the new land after Pope Alexander VI declared it theirs.

Riley: Wasn’t that the motivation behind the Crusades as well?

Louis: Yes, and that motivation didn’t change until later when protestant Hugo Grotius wrote in a legal battle against the Portuguese that quote “seeing it is before declared by the opinion of all men of sound judgment that the Pope is not a temporal lord of the whole world -- it is sufficiently understood that he is not lord of the sea”. He argues that Papal authorization is not ‘just’ enough of a cause for the destruction in South America - a bold move for the time.

Katie: In regards to the psychosis of the native peoples, it seems that the Western world still does not care to specify our understanding of their perspective. Our own eurocentric lense, even in regards to the soft sciences, limits us linguistically. It seems that the modern thinker doesn’t feel the need to complicate the psychosis of subjugated peoples unless it is through the lense of a conqueror. This is in part a result of the way in which natives are described by colonizers–

Louis: Sinners if you read Sepulveda who argue that for their cannibalism and worshiping of idolatry should make them obliterated like the Caanites in the old testament.

RIley: Haha, all right Dr. Winston. There are also extremely inaccurate depictions of Natives in circulation. Columbus’ accounts are not the only wildly problematic depictions. If I may, I have a quote for our listeners:

On the mainland the Indians eat human flesh. They are more given to sodomy than any other people. There is no justice amongst them. They go naked. They have no respect either for love or for virginity. They are stupid and silly. They have no respect for truth save when it is to their advantage.  

This account was written by Thomas Ortiz and is clearly very biased. It leaves readers with a poor opinion of natives. Ortiz didn’t believe that natives had the same basic human rights as Europeans. He implies that they’re less than. Possibly because they’re not Christian before the arrival of the colonists?

Amy: Here is another example for how biased European accounts are in a way they describe the Natives. As Dr. Clouds has already mentioned, Tomas Ortiz says that the Natives are barbaric and unstable without any justice. However, the Aztecs do not feel the same way. There’s an Aztec song written during the conflict with the colonialists that described Mexico before the coming of Europeans. It says, there was no sickness, aching bones, fever, smallpox, and it goes on to list all the negative conditions. At the end it says “the course of humanity was orderly until the foreigners had come to their land.” We all can feel how the subjugated Aztecs feel about the Europeans. To them, Europeans are the ones who brought instability to their land. While many accounts are negative, there are some less prejudiced versions.

Katie: Montaigne, for example, describes the Brazilian natives as “pure,” and uncomplicated peoples. It seems that Western academia has not only perpetuated this narrative, but has also used such language to imply an intellectual superiority.

Louis: I disagree in that I would not say Montaigne described the South American Natives as pure. In fact he does something a little more perverse… I think he twists Christian ideology to argue that in a way they are close to animals. In his essay ‘Des Cannibales’ he never denies the cannibalism  but describes it as a more humane way to kill prisoners than the Spanish contemporary forms of torture which were essentially man-made and therefore further away from the law of nature. He picks up on Bartolome de las Casas ideology and argues that these people are much ‘simpler’ because they are closer to some truth about the human nature. However I believe this is an overused theory of a bored intellectual locked up in a tower.

Louis: Bartolome de las Casas on the other hand argues not that they are ‘basic’ and therefore ‘pur’e Bartolome goes as far to say in “Destruction of the Indies” that these people are humble and without negative qualities. This is not because of a lack of access to civilization but because they would be “the most blessed people on earth if only they were given the chance to convert to Christianity”.

Louis: This was because Bartolome - in his missionary work - set off to approach the Natives with a Christian mind and therefore saw the worth of the people before the wealth they represented, a vastly different approach than the conquistadors.

Louis: Unlike Sepulveda he used Christianity as a bridge to make all people - natives and Spanish Kings alike - equal as men and therefore relatable .This theory in fact is one of his four main arguments for the defence of the natives of south america.

Louis: This military dominance described explains Sepulveda theological beliefs of a just war against the people of South America. Sepulveda argued for instance that the natives were ‘Barbaric’ because they didn’t have a leader and were therefore legitimate to be wared against. Only Bartolome proves that there is an Aztec hierarchy - described by Dr Heejung - and explains that the natural (and therefore religious) law states that the wisers are appointed leaders. A nation with leader according to St-Augustine is to be respected because it is a proof of collective wisdom. Las Casas argues that the reason the Spanish failed to see this hierarchy was because they never fully exposed to the leaders who were busy performing administrative duty and instead only exposed to the uneducated warriors.

Riley: That reminds me of something important. Catholicism and Christianity in literature. Oh wow, we’re opening a big can of worms here. So, there are a host of examples on both sides of the argument--whether it be mocking Catholicism or praising it. Focusing in on the Mayan accounts of the Spanish conquest, we have several examples of our author subscribing to Christianity. We see him calling the world “completed” after Christianity was introduced to them, but we also see negative descriptions of the religion. “When misery came / when Christianity came / From these many Christians / who arrived / with the true divinity / the True God”

This shows a reverence for God, but the account goes on to express the many horrors the Spanish brought, such as forced labor, imprisonment, and village strife to name a few. This shows a sharp critique of what the author perceives to be a slight brought about by Christianity rather than the Spanish. He even describes these things as the “antichrist.” I think that the natives subscribed to Christianity, but the fact that they seem a little critical of it in this account shows that they are not blindly following something the colonists foisted upon them.

*Conclusion*

Louis: Well, time is running out for today folks and therefore we will have to end it here. I would like to thank our panelists for sharing their insights with us. [...] Overall, from this discussion, it can be understood that a way to bridge this lack of understanding towards another culture is to first travel in order to see and understand differences for yourself. At the same time it is required to go open minded unlike the Spanish Conquistador. On the contrary it is important to leave the objective of understanding and empathising with people. Even if, in a perverted way, this is done through our own ethnocentricity. Let me explain - By relating foreign bodies through our own experiences we can understand others better - for instance missionary Las Casas saw the southern american natives as religious beings of a higher potential’ and Montaigne saw them as equally animalistic and this was enough to humanize the locals. Things should not be assumed, but making informed judgement such as Dr Elektra’s analysis of Egil essentially shows he is not violent creature - instead he is like us and but a child with PTSD. Therefore can we use our own our understanding of people as a way to improve international politics? Well let us ask ourselves the following scenario… if we saw US intervention in terrorist prone areas of Iraq through the eyes of families who saw their land being destroyed in a war which they relate -correctly or not- to the US - does this affect our treatment of them? Quite a heavy question I know but...

This concludes our podcast for today - we thank you for tuning in and we will look next week at how  we manage and treat time in the view of philosophers and how we can improve this. I would like to thank all of our panel members once again for their superb insight within the question. I sincerely hope the past has opened your eyes to the present - have a good day.

Gabriel signing out.

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