#cc filmography

[pearlypairings]

this is a public callout (a beautiful, loving one)...

this meme is 100000% you @1lostsoul0fishbowl and you are an icon for us all

[cc-tinslebee]

Finally started watching Shameless and??? Marguerite Moreau jumpscare????

[ccthewriter]

CC's New Watch Ranking - May 2023

Every month on Letterboxd, I make a list of the 10 best films I’ve seen for the first time. It’s a fun way to compare movies separated in time, genre, and country of origin, and helps me keep track of what I’m watching! This is a breakdown of those films.

May! An honored month in my household as my partner enters her time of astrological power. Taurus would have us laze around in the sun enjoying life’s hedonisms, but I’ve been resisting that call and working like a madperson instead. I got cast in a movie! Only a background role, but it’s been an incredible learning experience. You can watch a ton of films (and reader, I have) but nothing will teach you quite like being there. Being able to watch it all unfold before your very eyes? Fascinating. Besides that, Tears of the Kingdom has been occupying my time. I love throwing that twink off a cliff. He soars just right. The protagonist of one of this month’s films would be delighted to see him fly. 

Click below to read the breakdown! Click HERE to view the list on Letterboxd! 

10. Accattone

 1961 - Pier Paolo Pasolini

I watched many films by Pasolini this month. He’s one of the most interesting figures in Italian cinematic history, an openly gay marxist who stood up for ideals that were on the extreme fringe of the culture he was working in at the time. His career was tragically short-lived, cut short by either political assassination or extortive murder, depending on who you believe. Wild that it was films like this that made him the target of such ire. The story is so basic, so familiar: A horrible man is horrible to those closest to him. They suffer; he suffers; eventually, he is killed as a result of his horrible decision making. That tagline calls this “The poor man’s Dolce Vita?” While shot beautifully and containing some compelling moments, I don’t find this nearly as interesting as the other works in Pasolini’s filmography. It was made for a very specific time, and I think if you’re not plugged into the particulars of Italian class and gender dynamics, this just read as typical criminal melodrama. It is funny that Accatone’s criminal career culminates in an attempted salami heist. He and my cat have a lot in common. 

9. Othello

1951 - Orson Welles

Any adaptation of this text is going to bear a ton of baggage. An adaptation made in the 1950s especially. But my main criticism of this film is that it represents a style of Shakespearean performance that I find dated and boring. It’s so stagey - which is a ludicrous complaint given the nature of the work and the sorts of movies I love. But this is false-stagey, containing people making proclamations and japes, without any human emotion behind the vast majority of their lines. It’s a shame, because this is one of the most beautifully shot Shakespeares I’ve ever seen. They gain so much by shooting in Venice, and using the striking contrast of light and shadow that Welles is famous for. That just barely sustained my interest through an otherwise flat adaptation. Maybe it’s just the bias of the time I’m viewing this in - I prefer a much more psychologically rich take on the Bard’s work, rather than a bunch of people wearing tin crowns and signing towards medieval behaviors. 

I watched this with my cat. She sat in a chair next to mine and seemed engrossed. Add this to the “BirdTV 10+ Hours Nature Noises for Cats” rotation. 

8. Shanghai Express

1932 - Josef von Sternberg

I’ve been reading a ton of Agatha Christie lately. This movie, made around the same time as many of Christie’s best works, evokes so much of the era: the glamor, the manners, the ignorance of how the world will change in a few short years, the omnipresent racial caste system. It’s so amusing to read Christie’s work when you hold the knowledge of how the world is going to change. It’s a similar pleasure watching this movie - these wealthy colonizers are passing through a China that will no longer exist, whose trajectory for the rest of the century is going to be a reaction to their actions and attitudes. How peculiar that the center of this film, then, should be Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, two figures who defy all the trends and assumptions one would make about this era. Their sapphic attachment bubbles under the surface of all their scenes. It motivates a movie that would otherwise be heavy-handed and patronizing. While it has its problems, I’d still recommend this to anyone who wants to see some of old Hollywood’s biggest queer icons working at the height of their power. 

7. Theorem

1968 - Pier Paolo Pasolini

Where Accattone looks at the urban working-class folks who live their lives by petty crime, Teorema is concerned with a more provincial elite. I kept thinking of the wannabe literati that I grew up with - boys who read Freud too young and were convinced that this coked-up Austrian held the secrets to the universe. Boys who would lean in at random points in a discussion to say “Well, this really comes back to Oedipus, doesn’t it?” As with Accattone, I think this is speaking to a specific time and place so succinctly that it won’t work for people outside that bubble. A young man basically wanders into a rich family’s home and sleeps with all of them. Through different situations and personas, he gets to each of their psychosexual cores. The most remarkable scene is the exact middle of the film. In the wake of all these sexual encounters, each family member basically addresses the fourth wall and states what this intimacy will do to them. “I will be forever changed; the shadow of this sex will live in my heart forever.” The rest of the film proceeds exactly as they predict. There are some incredible, surreal images bound up in the action, and I enjoyed watching it, but overall there are too many messy edges and pseudointellectual implications for me to heartily recommend this to everyone. Maybe once I’ve completed this mog I’ll see this film in a new light. 

6. Face/Off

1997 - John Woo

Oh man, this is the polar opposite of the navel-gazing art house nonsense of the Teorema. Simple premise: What if Nic Cage and John Travolta swapped faces? Wouldn’t that be fucked up? A thoroughly enjoyable 90s action flick without much beneath the surface besides satisfying action. (Though, on reflection, this film also has a bit of incestuous implication - Cage-Wearing-Travolta flirts with Travolta’s daughter, and she seems to reciprocate? They drop that plot beat quickly, but it is uh, awkward to say the least.) While this wasn’t quite the exceptional genre entry some people had told me it was, I still had a blast watching two of Hollywood’s weirdest actors get a chance to imitate each other’s energy. They do it perfectly. Really makes you appreciate the way a person can truly transform within a performance 

5. Mamma Roma

1962 - Pier Paolo Pasolini

I’ve preferred Pasolini when he’s plugged into *some* degree of realness. As a director who lived through the neorealist era, and was once a close collaborator with Fellini, I feel like his work really shines when he accentuates a grounded reality with just a touch of dream-logic. This happens brilliantly within this film. A middle-aged woman has earned enough through sex work to purchase a fruit stand, and uses this entry into “respectable” life as an excuse to reconnect with her estranged son. But she finds it difficult to shake off all the ghosts of her past. She cannot just snap her fingers and have the life she dreamed of decades ago when she gave her son away. He has grown into his own person, and struggles under the weight of her dream as he tries to pursue his own. It’s a wonderful, messy tangle of competing desires, fantasies, and realities. The extreme highlight of this is two separate oners that take place late at night, during her time as a sex worker. Wandering through these pitch-black streets with only strong, skinny street lights to illuminate the scene, Pasolini follows Anna Magnani with a handicam type-setup, following her as she has a continuous monologue with several passersby. It’s a brilliant shot by Tonino Delli Colli who would later go on to shoot The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The dreamlike, anchorless way she walks through this void reflects how disconnected she is from her own life. She does sex work, but does her best to forget it - she holds some standard for herself that is based in a society that despises her, yet loves and adores her at the same time. The happy way she trades jokes between johns and other sex workers, while stumbling through this featureless space… it’s just incredible. Pasolini really did see the tangled web of his society and captured it like no other. It really reflects this social mobility and economic boom after the devastation of World War 2. An entire nation desperate to forget its past, yet unable to do so. Desperate to forge a new middle class while sneering at those who would comprise it. 

4. Seven Chances

1925 - Buster Keaton

My beloved Blank Check has been covering the films of Buster Keaton, and I’ve been watching along. Buster is one of the geniuses of this medium, whose films remain timeless because of his relentless precision and thoughtful craft. This is one of his best films. Through silly circumstances, a young man learns he has to get married in less than 24 hours in order to inherit a large fortune. There are seven women with whom he could have a chance, and he messes it up with them all. Honestly, the title-to-premise connection is a bit weak, as he made many changes to the source material this film is based on. There’s a lot more rockslides than that plot description would have you believe. Even after nearly a hundred years, this succeeds in getting a real laugh out of me. There are too many jokes packed into each little moment for me to really isolate. It’s just perfect slapstick, perfect physical comedy the whole way through. Put your phone down and drink it in. 

3. Europa ’51

1952 - Roberto Rossellini

A devastating film about a woman who changes in the wake of her young child’s suicide. My review on Letterboxd:

“Honestly this is too rich in psychologies, philosophies, and ironies for me to fully understand in one viewing. But I *loved* the transformation Bergman depicts over the course of the film. An incredible performance - going toe-to-toe with Giulietta Masina in one of her best cameos, too! I think this is something I'll be revisiting for years to come.

I write this in the wake of Jordan Neely's murder. It is incredible how mental illness is defined by what causes the slightest annoyance to those in power. We - and by 'we' I mean a specific class that operates our above ability to consent - lock up or kill the people most in need of understanding. Those who really just need positive human connection.”

This film creates an interesting parallel with Mamma Roma. Spoilers ahead: Mamma Roma also has a young boy who kills himself, but indirectly, dying of illness in a prison cell. He’s in prison because he was lashing out, just like the kid in this film was desperately crying for attention. His death was merely more direct, more immediate. These films form an interesting dialogue of similar subject matter, only really changed by the social classes of their protagonists. Mamma Roma longs for the status that Bergman starts with in Europe ‘51. Bergman ends up as shunned as Mamma Roma is at the start of her film. Fascinating examples of the cyclical ways women are demonized, no matter where they begin. 

2. Out of Sight

1998 - Steven Soderbergh

What a fun film!!! Soderbergh is one of the best directors working right now, and my, does he work. I can’t think of anyone else who makes movies at the rate he does, and who is involved in so many different projects and genres. His films have wonderful movement and great characters. He’s a natural fit for Elmore Leonard’s writing. Leonard is a mystery to me - I’ve been watching a lot of films based on his stories with some friends, and on paper, they are all very generic tales with boilerplate characters. A female FBI agent who can “keep up with the boys.” A smooth talking criminal with a violent impulse. A charming thief. You’ve probably seen these characters in a million different works and can’t remember a single one of them - yet somehow, Leonard finds the situations and plot beats to make characters like Karen Sisco soar. Sisco is hunting Jack Foley, played by George Clooney in one of his steamiest appearances. He kidnaps her right before she can catch him, and they are forced to have a long conversation together while locked in the trunk of the getaway car. This starts an attraction that supports the rest of the film, filled with many twists and turns as one tries to reunite with the other - to fuck? To kill? To rope into the robbery? It will keep you guessing until the very end. I really love crime thrillers, and it’s no surprise that the director of Ocean’s Eleven is able to work with these incredible characters and craft some amazing scenes. Come for the romance, stay for the heist. Or come for the heist and stay for the romance. Just see it! It’s great! 

1. The Wind Rises

2013 - Hayao Miyazaki

I had been holding off watching this for a long, long time. It can be hard to watch a film that you know will devastate you. When I heard Miyazaki had made a film about the act of creation and its futility, how even the best minds with the highest aspirations can lead to terrible destruction… oof. I was afraid of the mirror this film could turn out to be. Its tagline is “We must live” - how devastating is that? My mind goes to the final scene of Uncle Vanya.  

The film soared even higher than I could have imagined. Yes, it made me cry, but it also left me feeling more hopeful about the world than I could have hoped for. It follows the life of Jiro Horikoshi, an airplane engineer who lived during the early 20th century and designed some of Imperial Japan’s fighter planes. The film flows seamlessly between his life and his dreams. It’s the perfect subject matter for Miyazaki. You can feel aspects of Miyazaki’s own life bleeding in at the edges - his quest for perfection, his relentless work ethic, the literal machinery that occupies his dreams. An early scene has Jiro speaking to one of his idols in a dream, literally having a sort of psychic communication as they trade notes on plane design. It’s immaculate. Anyone who is a creator has likely had similar conversations playing through their head, dreaming of what their heroes would say if they could read their work. I know I have. As our world faces disaster after disaster, as conflict becomes bloodier and the pursuit of art seems more pointless than ever, works like this reignite my will to keep going. We make the world a little better every time we use our imagination. When we dream, we can envision things as they should be, as they could be, not as they are. It lets us see all the wonderful possibilities that are out there. And if dreams just aren’t enough, remember, there is always love. Fragile, precious, everlasting love, which is immortal even when the people who share it die. This is what makes the wind rise. It’s what gives me hope for the future. 

Reader, if you take anything away from this fleeting blog post, let it be the power of dreams and love. They are the best tools we have for fighting evil. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you liked any of these thoughts feel free to follow me on Letterboxd, where I post reviews and keep meticulous track of every movie I watch. Look forward to more posts like these next month! 

[influencermagazineuk]

The teaser for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has only fueled speculations about the future of the supposed incredibly much-beloved film series, with Tom Cruise. Originally titled as Dead Reckoning Part Two, this next installment is now posed to be the possible finale of the action-filled adventure, with hints of it possibly being the last mission for Ethan Hunt. Set to debut next July, the movie can also end the series of one enjoyed since 1996. Kathryn Decker-Krauth, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh film installment, had opened with worldwide box office results at an underwhelmingly lower tally of $570 million but with an investment budget of $291 million; Paramount has adapted this in its plan for the second film in the series. Instead of the "Part One and Part Two" theme, they chose a title that could have more attention: The Final Reckoning. Now to be framed as the last installment, the movie is likely to become the costliest in the franchise so far, with a budget reportedly at $400 million, which makes it one of the most expensive movies in film history. Yet this could go against what Cruise initially wants with this franchise. For years, he has expressed a desire to keep making Mission: Impossible films-long after his peers in action films have been happy to wrap things up. In a 2023 interview, Cruise said he would be happy to keep playing Ethan Hunt long after most people have stopped acting in the franchise: "Harrison Ford is a legend.". I hope to still be going. I've got 20 years to catch up with him. Hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I'm his age." Beyond the end of the series of the Mission: Impossible, the movie promises a star-studded cast, and many of the familiar faces will return. Long time partners Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are returning, and so are some newer additions Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff. Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby are back, with new addition Hannah Waddingham. The returning stars plus the new characters seem to indicate the movie will continue to develop the complex plotlines with high stakes the fans have enjoyed. The new installment is also speculated to make an appearance at the Cannes Film Festival-a great selection that could indeed provide a global stage for what might be the last bow of the series. Long the platform for the most significant movie premieres, a Mission: Impossible screening certainly promises to create quite some water-cooler excitement and hype ahead of its summer bow. Tom Cruise, on the other hand, does not leave himself much time to rest between Mission: Impossible projects. He is working on a new film for acclaimed director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the bearded genius behind strikingly visual and intense films such as The Revenant and Birdman. This new endeavor also features Sandra Hüller and John Goodman, another attempt at making Tom Cruise's filmography ever more audacious. He's also tipped to star in a possible sequel to *Days of Thunder, so it seems that to add to his seemingly endless list of possible future roles, Cruise doesn't intend to leave the world of action cinema anytime soon. The summer of next year will include a plethora of blockbuster releases with *Jurassic World Rebirth* featuring Scarlett Johansson, a new Superman reboot written and directed by James Gunn, and some live-action adaptations of the beloved animated films including Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. A crowded field, but each of these big-money productions will have to fight for attention. If The Final Reckoning is everything it promises in its title, it may bring serious emotional heft to viewers - and by fans, a gratifying conclusion to a long-standing series, placing the thing firmly within the canon of action cinema. For now, the Mission: Impossible faithful must remain wondering whether The Final Reckoning will truly be the last case for Ethan Hunt, or if this is instead a tactical play to keep the fire burning under a franchise that has defined Tom Cruise's career. Only time and summer box office will tell. Read the full article

[actusdefilmsetseries]

Willem Dafoe : célébrez ses 69 ans !

Célébrez l’anniversaire de Willem Dafoe en regardant certains de ses films. Cet acteur a une filmographie impressionnante comprenant des longs-métrages tels que « The Grand Budapest Hotel », « Spider-Man » et « Nos étoiles contraires ». Vous aurez donc l’embarras du choix.

Crédit photo : Mike Lizzi de Flickr, ATTRIBUTION 2.0 GÉNÉRIQUE (CC BY 2.0 DEED)

[enterwealth]

hey bestie, not sure if this is sth you already have in mind but to avoid people going craycray with cc's, maybe put a rule in place where if someone's muse is 25 y/o w leo di caprio's cc, they can only include his early works in the filmography???

hi  bestie,  great  minds  think  alike  or  something  like  that  -  we  totally  understand  your  sentiment  and  we  kind  agree!!  we'll  be  manifesting  that  someone  with  a  muse  in  their  thirties/forties  goes  for  a  dicaprio  career!!  but  if  someone  applies  that  falls  within  leo's  dating  bracket,  we'll  reach  out  to  see  what's  reasonable  for  the  filmography.  sounds  like  a  pretty  good  deal  to  me.

[doctorgalilei]

I wanna stay optimistic but Chibnall really should have just written another season of Broadchurch instead

[emmastillsims]

Titanic Lookbook - Rose

Titanic (1997) follows Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the RMS Titanic during its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912.

I could lie and say Titanic is a favorite movie of mine, but it honestly traumatized me as a child. I begged my mother to take me to see it in theatres because all my elementary school buds had seen it. Little did I (or my parents) know, I would end up having nightmares for years about drowning or losing my family in a Titanic-like disaster. HOWEVER, as an adult I can obviously appreciate the beauty of the costumes, sets and overall filmography.

I couldn't fabricate all of Rose's outfits but for the ones I attempted, I tried to find the correct shape and/or color palette if I couldn’t find an exact recreation.

DOWNLOAD:

You can find these sims on the gallery under Origin ID: eregister or you can download the tray files here (mediafire, no ads.) You will still need to download all the CC for your sims to look like mine.

Click here for CC links (AD-FREE) and enjoy! 🚢🌊

// thank you cc creators: @arethabee, @catplnt, @dcwnandout, @imvikai, @threethousandplumbobs, @coloresurbanos, @gilded-ghosts, @glitterberrysims, @grafity-cc, @simverses, @madlensims, @melonsloth, @annamsblue, @birksche, @royaltysimblr, @sentate, @stretchskeleton and those not on tumblr //

[carpedzem]

I cannot express how annoying the whole 'do you like c!dream because of cc!dream ://' thing is because ??? c!dream is great, interesting character on his own and people like complex characters and on top of that I don't own you any explanation why he is important to me but also

yes??? have you ever idk like the actor??? and watch all their filmography because you enjoy watching them on screen??? and because it's your actor you just like their character no matter if they are a bad guys or maybe side characters of just showed for five freaking minutes?? yeah I like c!dream but I also respect how much work and thoughts cc!dream put into his character??? the playing improvement? how he controls his character? how he is writing his story? how we can say so much about c!dream without his POV? it's all hard work cc!dream did and it deserves to be recognised so stop shaming people for seeing and enjoying that

[casual-video-transcripts]

“Ben Mendelsohn Wants You to Acknowledge the Greatness of Bacon and Eggs - In The Details” by Vanity Fair

Video Transcript by CCKN

[0:00] Ben Mendelsohn: [lip pop]

[0:02] On-Screen Text in Red: VF

[0:05] On-Screen Text in Red: IN THE DETAILS

[0:07] On-Screen Text in Red: BEN MENDELSOHN

[0:10] On-Screen Text: Q - What role would you like to play?

[0:11] Ben Mendelsohn: There's a lot of them.

[0:13] It's really the writing I think...

[0:17] That is the stuff you want to play. It's not...

[0:19] I don't think of it so much in terms of "I'd like to play this character or that character."

[0:22] It's the way you respond to the writing, really.

[0:25] In that sense, it's like a good piece of music you just want to be able to dance to something that you know you like.  

[0:32] On-Screen Text: Q - What's your favorite food?

[0:34] Ben Mendelsohn: Actually my favorite food ever!...

[0:35] It's gotta be just done. It's gotta be like...

[0:39] Bacon and eggs!

[0:40] That's gotta be my favorite food.

[0:42] I mean, really!

[0:43] Can we just say something about how good bacon and eggs are?

[0:47] It's pretty plain, it's pretty simple.

[0:48] You know, like caviar, like costs a lot of money and this and that.

[0:51] If eggs and bacon were really rare, trust me.

[0:54] You'd be able to charge whatever you want for that.

End of transcript

YouTube Channel: Vanity Fair

Video Description:

The Australian actor, whose credits include Mississippi Grind and Netflix’s Bloodline, wants to stand up for the humble breakfast food. 

Still haven’t subscribed to Vanity Fair on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/2z6Ya9M

ABOUT VANITY FAIR Arts and entertainment, business and media, politics, and world affairs—Vanity Fair’s features and exclusive videos capture the people, places, and ideas that define modern culture. 

Ben Mendelsohn Wants You to Acknowledge the Greatness of Bacon and Eggs - In the Details

Note: This video does not belong to me. It belongs to Vanity Fair. I'm just someone who wants to provide video transcripts because the auto-generated CC feature on YouTube is....not great most of the time. My transcriptions may not be 100% accurate as I am not a professional. For this post, I focused on the speaker and what is there visually in terms of text. 

Regardless, thank you for reading the transcript and/or watching their video. Please support the YouTube channel by watching their videos on the YouTube platform and/or through other means that are by the channel.

If there are any mistakes I made, comment in this post and I’ll make the corrections right away. 

P.S. Do check out Ben Mendelsohn’s filmography when you get the chance 😉

[cc-tinslebee]

*pointing at Vince and Jon from Tape* I think those two dumbasses should kiss

[ccthewriter]

CC’s Top 100 New Watch Ranking 2022 - Highlights

Each year on Letterboxd, I make a list of the 100 best films I’ve seen for the first time. It’s a fun way to compare movies separated in time, genre, and country of origin, and helps me keep track of what I’m watching! Over the next few days I’m going to release separate posts for each film in the Top 10, but for now, I wanted to highlight some incredible selections from the rest of the list. 

2021 was my cinematic awakening. I watched classics, pursued filmographies, and generally took a survey of the greats. I continued that exploration into this year, and if I’ve learned anything from this quest, it’s that there are A LOT of movies out there. I still have so much to see. When the Sight and Sound list dropped I wasn’t surprised that I had seen less than half of them. I’ve watched several since then, and it’s completely shaken up my rankings! There are films out there than can rattle your perception of the world. That’s something I adore about movies that I rarely find in other mediums. A few hours spent with a great movie can change you to your core. Like a dream that stays with you your entire life. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy and revisit such dreams whenever we want. 

The following films are all remarkable dreams. There’s something to say about everything in my Top 100, but these selections really stand out. They give feelings of desolation, or zaniness, or romance, or something stranger than anything I could put to words. Their ranking is subjective and liable to change - you have no idea how hard it was to assemble them in ANY coherent way. If you watch any of them, please feel free to reach out and tell me your thoughts! I am always interested in hearing the things people have discovered in these works. 

The full Top 100 list is on Letterboxd HERE. Click below to see ten selections chosen from #100 - #11

#96 - A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973), Dir. Jacques Demy

This is a list for Tumblr, so I had to highlight the m-preg film first. Gotta cater to my audience.

This was one of the most surprising comedies I watched this year. In a time when discourse about comedy is strong, and there’s an insistence that comedians are somehow obligated to be cruel and provocative, this film stands out as an example of the contrary. Often the best humor comes from unexpected empathy, not predictable cruelty. Marcello Mastroianni, my favorite biscotti (long Italian snack), is a driver’s ed instructor who discovers that he is pregnant. Hijinks ensue. There’s no hand-wringing explanation as to how it happens, no bug-eyed screaming at the camera, no cross-dressing or homophobic accusations. It’s all taken in stride. The humor is born out of the fact that at every turn, when you expect someone to act outlandish or cruel, they never are. Marcello’s wife accepts it; the doctors take interest in the case, but are respectful. A corporation invents a new line of male pregnancy clothes. It’s remarkable to see a film from 1973 that is kinder to a situation like this than something we’d get today. You can easily imagine the comedians of the 90’s and early aughts turning this premise into 120 minutes of gay jokes, slurs, and transphobia. There are dated jokes and dynamics to be found here, to be sure, but the blasé attitude towards this gender subversion makes this a really special watch.

#90 - Crimewave (1985), Dir. Sam Raimi

Perhaps the most controversial thing on this list! Crimewave is an early Sam Raimi film that is widely disliked, but I watched it with some friends this year and loved it. It’s a bonkers farce about a guy on death row recounting how he ended up there, starting as a meek nerd and getting wrapped up in murderous hijinks. On Letterboxd, I describe the aesthetics of the film as Looney Tunes Gotham City. It captures the griminess of mid-eighties cities and amplifies it, embodying the paranoia a certain American class felt going near urban centers at that time. This is what my parents thought would happen to me if I stayed in the city past dark. There are some really spectacular shots in this film - that one with the main goon charging through the doors and fighting away plates is a highlight. You can see Sam Raimi’s bag of tricks on full display, the visual genius that makes the Evil Dead movies hilarious and horrifying. His favorite punching bag Bruce Campbell makes an appearance in what might be his sexiest role - look at this gif, look at how FUCKING HOT he is. Blow smoke down my throat daddy. This film’s a great argument for Raimi being more than a blood-and-guts director. His kinetic scenes, his rubbery cartoon energy, has a place in any genre or story.

#81 - Trouble in Paradise (1932), Dir. Ernst Lubitsch

A psychological thriller, but fun, and sexy, and romantic, and not scary in the least. Hmm. Maybe there’s another term I should use… I evoke the psychology of this movie because it centers on a pair of professional double-crossers. A pair of thieves - partners in love and crime - decide to fleece a perfume heiress, one of whom seduces her and ends up really falling in love. Or maybe not! At every moment he confesses his love to the heiress, he’s turning to his partner and insisting he’s lying. And every time this partner acts to betray him and get revenge, she seems to reveal that that itself is part of the heist. Does the heiress know? Is she humoring them, or getting them framed? Every scene surprised me with who knew what and who was telling the truth when. I have a feeling I would have to rewatch this a few more times to get a real grip on that, and I would do so with pleasure. This plays like a light steamy comedy - and it is! - but within that easygoing charm there are actorly games that are fascinating to witness. I haven’t seen a shipping tree this complicated since the last time I watched Miraculous Ladybug…

#72 - The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz

A premise built for a paperback romance novel. A young widow moves into a house by the sea, only to discover the ghost of an old captain is haunting her new home. He’s very mean and very handsome. Over the course of the film they transform from antagonistic cohabitants to gothic romantics, separated by the veil of death from consummating their attraction. She’s trying to write a novel, despite her grief and the ghost’s patronizing attitude. He is still coping with, y’know, not being alive. I am enchanted by the power of this premise. It evokes so many oil-paint scenes of lighthouses and sea-battered cliffs, so many stories of strong-jawed men being made soft by the poise of an unshakeable woman. I don’t want to give the ending away because it is spectacular. I will say that it is amazing when a movie finds a route for a character's fulfilment without changing her at the last minute. Especially from this time, to see a woman’s journey end without her sacrificing something of herself… it’s a wonderful thing.

#69 nice - Too Cool To Kill (2022), Dir. Xing Wenxiong

One of this year’s biggest surprises! A Chinese remake of a Japanese film, something a friend recommended out of the blue. I don’t think any of us knew what this was going to be when we put it on. But this is a deeply, deeply hilarious farce with just enough romance to have this stand with some of the classic Hollywood greats I’ve seen this year. A gangster threatens to shut down a director's movie over the debts he owes. The lead actress averts this by claiming she’s dating the one man the gangster fears, a legendary assassin named Killer Karl (lmao). She’s not, of course, but she convinces a foolish stuntman to play the part. He thinks he’s in a cinéma vérité production, he method-acts the role entirely, and a wild series of hijinks ensue as they try to pass this wannabee Daniel Day Lewis as a real assassin. It’s just so thoroughly comedic. I haven’t seen the original, so I can’t comment on what this film invents with the material, but the lead actor, Wei Xiang, gives one of the best slapstick performances I’ve ever seen. An endless series of twists and hilarious turns. I saw this on a low-quality stream, I hope this gets a good blu-ray release with better subtitles.

#62 - Poitín (1978), Dir. Bob Quinn

You’ve heard of the Banshees of Inisherin - get ready for the Bastards of Inishtupid! Alright, sweaty introduction, but Martin McDonagh’s oeuvre is the best touchstone for the mood of this 50-minute crime story. The first feature film performed entirely in Irish, shot on location in Connemara. Two idiots bully the local moonshiner and try to get rich quick. Violence and misery emerges from their half-thought plans. I love this film because it is such a pleasure to hear Irish spoken - it’s a language I’m still struggling to learn, but hearing it in its own context, spoken by native speakers, is remarkable. The filmmaker turns Connemara into a sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland, where your house stands alone in this sea of fog that monsters might emerge from. Connemara does feel that way. I went on a bus tour through there once, and stretches of it feel like an alien world. My grandmother was from Tuam, right outside that stony expanse. She passed before I was born, and what little I know indicates she had a hard life. Films like this help me understand what she might have been leaving when she came over to the States.

#53 - Sweetie (1989), Dir. Jane Campion

A film that makes me squirm to recall its details. There’s a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort, in so many of its moments… and just like the titular character, we want to shun them and forget the truths they expose. Sweetie is a bizarre exploration of a woman’s life. The first twenty minutes or so you see her get into a horribly ill-informed marriage with someone she barely knows, and you can’t understand why she’s acting the way she is - and then you meet her family. You meet Sweetie. You see that she comes from an impossibly broken home, and the way they cling to ‘normalcy’ is by turning Sweetie into a sacrificial lamb, a black sheep they can always scream at. Without oversharing, I really empathized with what Sweetie was put through. It’s clear that she isn’t ‘born bad,’ or some manipulative genius like her family is making her out to be. She’s deeply ill and needs help. Her family perpetuates her illness - do they cause it? Exacerbate it? Could anything at this point save her? The film’s characters don’t know, and they won’t ask. I admire Campion greatly, but many of her films don’t entirely work for me. The worlds they capture seem so specific that without knowing them first-hand they can seem outlandish. There are things in this film that I’ve seen, heard through friends, or seen the scarred aftermath of, and can confirm this film touches something deeply real. Powerful stuff - though make sure you’re emotionally prepared to watch it.

#52 - The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001), Dir. Takashi Miike

Boy, if you thought Sweetie was going to make you squirm!! This is a really fucking weird movie. It’s a campy horror-comedy, sometimes-stop-motion musical that ends in a blisteringly sincere and dramatic commentary about living despite it all. Its multi-hyphenate genres somehow make sense when it’s all put together. A family, the Katakuris, run a remote bed-and-breakfast, and through a series of misfortunes keep winding up with dead guests that they have to hide from new ones. They’re never entirely innocent in what befalls their visitors, but you end up rooting for them through all their poor decisions. The movie stands out for being truly unpredictable. I couldn’t remotely guess where any moment would lead. There are some utterly disgusting things depicted here - *highly* recommend looking at a content warning before viewing - but that is paired with some incredible moments of comedy. Blending such different tones is very difficult, and I always admire when a work somehow manages to make opposing elements harmonize.

#40 - Paisan (1946), Dir. Roberto Rossellini

Last year, I fell in love with the films of Federico Fellini. His works made me the passionate film nerd I am now. I started a series of video essays exploring his filmography (which you can view here!), and as part of that quest, I decided to watch all the films he had worked on too. He described Paisan as his baptism into true cinema. He traveled around Italy just after World War 2 with a crew of amateur actors and little money, adapting to the conditions around them as they found it. What emerged from that journey is this remarkable film. Six separate episodes about the liberation of Italy, united by a theme of miscommunication. Between people speaking different languages, and between people unable to express themselves. In a year like this one, I am moved by films made by anti-fascists, made explicitly to confront and address cultural memory in a period of reckoning. Paisan is the filmmaker holding a mirror up to what Italy had become, how fascism changed them, what they lost in abandoning themselves to such a horrible ideology. It is just a fascinating document of a specific period of history. We are lucky to be able to step through time via this movie and witness such a landscape. It’s shot beautifully, it’s made by people who lived through the things they’re depicting. Each little episode would be its own award-winning short film if you took them apart… what more can I say? This is a true classic for a reason.

#19 - A Piece of Phantasmagoria (1999), Dir. Shigeru Tamura

A criminally underwatched, pristine gem of a film. A series of vignettes on a dreamlike, simple world. Anything I could say is best described by the speech that concludes each segment: “While traveling the realm of dreams I discovered a small planet called Phantasmagoria. This has been a short tale from that planet. The memories from this trip will be something to always cherish. Till Next Time - Sayonara!” This is so gentle, so happy, so whimsical. A man walks through a desert filled with giant lightbulbs and clocks. A cactus-person goes on a trip to the big city. The Bakers of Baker County have a tough life. You know those segments of Adventure Time or Steven Universe where they linger in some absurd visual, while a simple little melody plays that transports you into a space of simple enjoyment? Smile fixed and heart calm? This entire movie is like that. It contains light dreams, shining aspirations. I can’t wait to revisit it. If there’s anything from this list you should watch, it should be this one. It only has about 300 views on Letterboxd, an insanely low number given how spectacular this is. There’s no easily accessible blu-ray or physical copy of this, though you can view it on Vimeo here. Spend the 90 minutes doing so, you won’t regret it. I hope the director, Shigeru Tamura, gets to release a thousand things in English. It seems like most of his work has been for small Japanese publications. But I have to imagine he is widely known in the CalArts and animation circles - some spark of his influence seems to proliferate the best cartoons being made right now. Utterly gorgeous. A pinnacle of animation. Simplicity and style refined.

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Thank you for reading! If you made it this far why don't you give me a follow on Letterboxd, where I post reviews and keep obsessive track of all the movies I watch. Again, feel free to drop a line if you checked out anything from this list!

[influencermagazineuk]

John Cena to Retire from WWE in 2025

Wrestling icon and actor John Cena has revealed he will retire from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2025 after a farewell tour. Cena broke the news to an enthusiastic crowd at the Money in the Bank event in Toronto, Canada, mentioning that his final match will take place next year. He reflected on his WWE journey, which has seen both "incredible waves of prosperity" and "tremendous hardship" since he joined over two decades ago. Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons At 47, Cena is celebrated as one of WWE's greatest wrestlers, having become a world champion 16 times since his debut in 2001. He hinted that his last appearance might be at Wrestlemania in 2025. The Toronto audience, chanting "Thank you Cena," showed their appreciation as he stood on stage wearing a T-shirt with the slogans "The last time is now" and "John Cena farewell tour." Cena expressed his gratitude, calling it an “incredible gesture of kindness” and thanked the fans for their unwavering support. Cena transitioned to acting in 2006 with his debut in The Marine. His filmography includes notable movies such as Trainwreck (2015), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Fast and Furious 9 (2021), along with the DC superhero TV series Peacemaker. This year, he starred in the comedy Ricky Stanicky alongside Zac Efron and Australian journalist and author Stan Grant. Since 2018, Cena has performed part-time with WWE as he expanded his acting career. Besides wrestling and acting, he holds a Guinness World Record for granting the most wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, reaching his 650th wish on July 19, 2022. Cena, the most requested celebrity for the foundation, typically dons his championship belts during these events, a tradition that began with his first wish in 2002. Read the full article

[secondarychristine]

CC - MatPat

Good day to all, and this is my first post in this account, talking about one of internet celebrities, a Youtuber, a content creator, MatPat

Matthew Robert Patrick, also known by MatPat, is an American internet celebrity and is well-known for his content The Game Theorists (or Game Theory) where he discuss on topics such as the logic and the lore of various video games.  His other channel s such as The Film Theorists (or Film Theory) or The Food Theorists ( or Food Theory) are his spinoffs that also discuss about similar subjects in filmography and food. He is also active in another social platforms such as Twitter (MatPatGT), Instagrams (matpatgt; MatPat (GameTheorists), and Facebook (Matthew Patrick).  In 2015, he created one of Youtube’s  live gaming channel, GTLive, and in 2016, he created Youtube Premium Series MatPat’s Game Lab.

He was born on November 15th, 1986, in Medina, Ohio, U.S.  Growing up, he took an interest in fine arts, especially musical theatre. He graduated from college on December 28, 2009, and moved to New York where he auditioned for theatrical roles. After two years of near-total unemployment, he uploaded the first episode of Game Theory.

He first created Youtube account under the name Matthew Patrick13 where he uploaded his performances on stages and singing. He married his college girlfriend, Stephanie Cordato on May 19, 2012 and has one child.  He quitted his job as a stage director and acting business to pursue another career. Inspired by the Youtube series Extra Credits episode “Tangential Learning”, he created Game Theory with the purpose of creating “gaming’s tangential learning experience”.  The Game Theorists reached 1 million subscribers on December 17, 2013, and 10 million in July 2018. Currently, The Game Theorists has 19.9 million subscribers and over 2.8 billion video views. His most viewed video is “Can Gamers SURVIVE the Real Mirror’s Edge?” which has 69 million views.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjhDUQktMs

His first content of Game Theory was uploaded 9 years ago titled ‘Is Chrono Trigger’s Time Travel Accurate?’. The video explained how time travel in Chrono Trigger works. The video has almost reached two million views.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLSUuKqH4w

He then expanded to various games, such as Minecraft, Pokemon, Among Us, Portal, etc. He is very attached to video games. But, he took it to another level. He analyses the theories and fan theories in his video. His dedication of researching and gathering data is fascinating for me. The topics might sound trivial, but he manages to pique the interests of audience who have never thought about.

MatPat also holds the Youtube records for the most money donated in single charity livestreams. And his livestreams had many other popular Youtubers such as Markiplier and TheOdd1sOut. Even Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s, also had an appearance.

I was introduced to his content back when Five Nights at Freddy’s was a thing. Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) is an American media franchise created by Scott Cawthon, which began on 2014 when he created his first FNAF game, Five Night at Freddy’s (1). It quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The success of the video games led to another series of books, a guide book, an activity book and an anthology series. Other than the game mechanic of the player being near helpless, the games also have mysterious stories and plot that are very hard to solve, even to this day. Those complex stories caught the attention of MatPat. The total of his FNAF theories videos is 42 videos (and I think most of his videos cover FNAF). That is only discuss this one particular series, and to be honest I am losing a track of it because it is just that many and complicated for my brain. I think this series succeeded in gaining more audience and being known by lot of people, since the game has been people’s guilty pleasure. People say that the game sucks… ironically.

His first FNAF video was posted on October 23, 2014, goes by the title ‘Game Theory: Five Nights at Freddy’s SCARIEST Monster is You!’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_LYe97ZVc

The video has reached 26 million. I discovered that there are still many new comments in this particular video. People love rewatching this particular series, because as I said the plot is too complex. So complex it takes 46 videos, and possibly more in the future just to ‘solve’ the mystery. The new game of FNAF is also coming soon, so best be prepared.

The list:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbc0sHjcmje6NCMaJdeLnCWejp5gQuknI

Another things that interest me are the editing and his tone when narrating. He sounds so enthusiastic when delivering his theories. He slips comedies in his discussion and it just makes me love listening to him talk even though I am a little bit confused. I can rewatch his videos whenever I like just to understand what the games all about.

About the editing…. I do not know anything about editing, so I am going to say that the way he deliver his videos is neat and cute. The pictures he uses make it more interesting to see and easy to understand.

This the picture of himself that he always uses in his video. You know when you watch his video. 

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Move on to his another channel is The Film Theorists where he discuss the logic, headcanons or other theories regarding films and cartoons. The recent videos he posted was movies from Godzilla vs Kong, “Why Godzilla Wins”, and a Disneyplus tv series called WandaVision, “The Secret THIRD Witch Revealed!” I rarely watch this channel, because I rarely watch films. If anything related to films, the videos I usually watch on Youtube are mostly reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFv2T62Frc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaYsHV3rIYk

His third channel is called The Food Theorists. Anything interesting theories about food are all there. But, I never watched food theory so I cannot comment on anything. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHYoe8kQ-7Gn9ASOlmI0k6Q

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I can recommend you for those who never heard of this, go watch his FNAF theories. Though they are complicated, they are still my favourites. 

[365days365movies]

February 17, 2021: Desert Hearts (1985) (Part 1)

You may be asking...why not Blue is the Warmest Color?

And I know, I KNOW, I really really need to watch that one. But, honestly...I find Desert Hearts more intriguing, and you’ll have to hear me out on this one.

Desert Hearts is both SUPER goddamn slept on, and has one of the biggest increases of opinion in post-release critical reviews. It’s a part of the Criterion Collection, it’s on HBO Max, it’s considered one of the great romances (LGBT and otherwise) of all time, and it’s also, most importantly, THE FIRST major release lesbian movie ever released in the USA.

And also...I HAVE NEVER GODDAMN HEARD OF IT BEFORE.

And I 100% should’ve heard of this movie before, right? I mean, to be fair, when I was looking up KGBT movies to put on my list, I saw a HELL of a lot of prominent movies that I’d never heard of, including this one. But even then...nothing? I’d heard of Brokeback, CMbYN, Carol, BitWC. But this one? I’m interested, that’s for damn sure.

Oh, also...to be honest, BitWC is THREE HOURS LONG, and I only have so much time in the day today. SO, all of that said, shall we get into some Desert Hearts? Also, I love that name, I’m not gonna lie. Anyway, let’s bring more attention to this movie, huh? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

By the way, before we start, you might be wondering my opinion on the Criterion Collection.

If you’ve never heard of the good old CC, it’s a company that remasters and distribute films considered to be “culturally important.” Now, granted, it’s not perfect (I genuinely think The Avengers or another similar film should be on there, but I think that’s actually a licensing issue), but the over 1,000 films on there create one complex filmography, I tell you what. And if you have HBO Max, a lot of them are on there. Here’s a list!

It’s got a hell of a collection, and while I don’t think it’s perfect, it’s definitely an interesting indicator of what’s considered important classics. But that said, here’s something CRAZY. This movie, and BitWC are both on there...Brokeback Mountain isn’t. WHAT THE FUCK, RIGHT? So, yeah, probably a little bit of bullshit there, too. Not as bad as the Oscars, though, so I’ll take it.

In the 1950s, a train pulls into a desert station in Reno, Nevada. Out of that train steps Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), a professor coming from New York City. Recently divorced, she’s picked up by Frances Parker (Audra Lindley), who owns a ranch that Vivian will be staying on.

As they drive to the ranch, we meet her daughter, Cay Rivers (Patricia Charbonneau), a wild girl who’s driving backwards on the road, and is FAR better at it than I’d ever be, I’ll tell you that. As she leaves, Vivian professes that she’s feeling a need for privacy, as she’s never lived outside of a city, and this is a tough time for her in general. She settles in at the ranch.

Meanwhile, at a casino in town, Cay is working and spending time with her friend Silver (Andra Akers), who’s recently engaged and pregnant. A change attendant there, she’s been dating her boss Darrell (Dean Butler), although she doesn’t seem like a big fan of the idea. At home, she’s an aspiring sculptor.

We find out a bit more about Cay and Frances’ relationship, as she’s actually Frances’ stepdaughter, via her late husband Glen, her biological father. As she recounts her lamented past relationship (with the help of Jack Daniels), Vivian seems to comfort her a bit, and also relaxes.

The next day, we get to see that the ranch is apparently full of recent and aspiring divorcees, who are staying here to subsist through the whole process and get away from their former husbands. Walking into the middle of an uncomfortable conversation involving sex, Vivian quickly volunteers to deliver mail to Cay’s cabin.

Once there, another fact is confirmed for us: Cay is indeed a lesbian. And suddenly...I seeeeee. It’s a reverse Carol! Instead of the older self-affirmed lesbian in love with the naive young woman still learning about herself and her desires, we’ve got the young self-affirmed with older naivete. Iiiiiiiinteresting.

That seems somewhat confirmed through some longing glances from Cay towards Vivian. But that’s wiped away via a cross-face wipe, as Vivian’s offered a ride into town with Cay and her friend/lover Gwen (Gwen Welles), which definitely makes Vivian a bit uncomfortable. As a reminder, this is the 1950s, so her discomfort isn’t crazy.

In town, Vivian visits her divorce lawyer, and we find out that she’s...35? REALLY? Upon further inspection, the actress was actually YOUNGER, and I gotta say, the way her hair is and how she dresses...yeah, legit though she was in her 40s. That’s also based off of her VERY husky quiet voice. Just saying, it’s a surprise!

Meanwhile, at work, Darrell tells Cay how much he loves her, and Cay isn’t interested. But despite her OBVIOUS lack of interest, Darrell doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. 

That night, both Cay and Vivian are getting a midnight snack, with Vivian being a teensy bit drunk, and considerably more lonely. As Cay offers her ear, Frances wakes up and asks Cay for a soda. While there, she reveals that the ranch is not doing well, and she may sell. She’s also quite devoted/dependent on her, and she’s, uh...FUUUUUUUCK, she’s not doin’ well.

The next morning, Vivian and Cay go out on a horse-riding trip, where they grow a little closer. On a later hangout with Silver, Cay confirms that she’s interested in Vivian romantically, and she’s formed an adorable schoolgirl-style crush on her. But the complication involved here is that Vivian will eventually leave, and Cay is basically stuck there, with her stepmother.

Frances and Vivian are watching a movie together that night, and Frances seems to be trying to dissuade Vivian from becoming too attached. However, that definitely doesn’t stop her, as the two spend more time together, and she even meets Silver. Darrell shows up to this little excursion, and is a diiiiiiiiiick.

That action may have had some...unintended consequences. Soon after, everybody’s eating breakfast at the ranch, when Vivian notes that she isn’t going to Silver’s engagement party, as she only has a week-and-a-half left there, and must prepare lectures (I feel that, goddamn). This makes Cay upset, and she wonders aloud if Darrell’s comments “put her off.”

THAT causes Frances to intervene, causing Cay to react angrily to her, causing her to leave, then causing Vivian to leave, and THEN causing Frances’ son Walter (Alex McArthur) to follow after to ask what’s wrong. Vivian notes as they walk together that Frances seems resentful about Cay’s friendship with Vivian. And Walter (a REALLY nice guy, by the way), admits that Frances wants Cay all to herself. The two of them also become friends by the end.

OK, good place to pause, since we’re at the halfway point. See you in Part 2!

[thatdamnokie]

oh snap, here we go again.

are you a fan of the translation error series penned by our very own @cyber-nya​, starring the admirable (and very pervasive, dude has a very, very long filmography) dee bradley baker as the battle-scarred, soft-souled commander wolffe, clone designation cc-3636?

then may i present for your listening pleasure nepenthe - a translation error fanmix! some of these tunes were inspired by the mix lauren already made, what is and what shall be, but a vast majority of them were chosen to fit aesthetics, characters, and specific plot points. and possible plot points. and admittedly me!specific!translator, but i hope that others can find themselves in this house as well, like always.

nepenthe. noun. greek. meaning a medicine for, or against sorrow.