#director-Kevin Phillips

[sleepingghostt]

my appreciation post for Super Dark Times

Better to watch at night

Tw: spoilers and blood

[probablyasocialecologist]

GCs claim to campaign for the “safety” of women and children. I’ve long suspected this was confined to the “right kind” of women and children. Kathleen Stock, a former trustee of the “LGB Alliance” (public statements of which include “adding the + to LGB gives the green light to paraphilias like bestiality…”) appeared (to me) to suggest that it would be “more honest” for high-profile trans allies to publicly “declare” if they have trans children. Her post made no mention of obtaining the children’s consent. It seems reasonable to interpret this as a call for the public outing of certain trans children. Given “out” trans children have been murdered and 64% are subjected to bullying, it strikes me as, at the very least, callous. Joey Barton, one of the movement’s most high profile (and oft platformed) voices, will shortly stand trial accused of assaulting his wife. Donald Trump, who was found by a jury to have sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll, has increasingly made attacks on trans people a campaign talking point. The GC movement has claimed a degree of legitimacy based on previous legal successes, notably the case of Forstater v CGD Europe, in which GC beliefs were declared “worthy of respect in a democratic society”. Some seem to have interpreted this as a licence to persecute trans people. This summer three separate courts gave clear statements to the contrary. The Employment Tribunal upheld the sacking of teacher Kevin Lister after he equated being transgender (as one of his students was) with having a mental illness. The High Court upheld an order banning Joshua Sutcliffe from teaching children after he repeatedly misgendered a child in his care. In Australia, the Federal Court prohibited a dating app from discriminating against trans women. The message from the courts is clear: GC beliefs are worthy of respect, but GCs must also respect trans people. The summer of court losses also undermines the movement’s claims to expertise. High profile GC activists often hold themselves out as experts. The courts made clear that many are no such thing. Maya Forstater gave “expert” evidence in the Sutcliffe case. The judge was “not persuaded that she is properly described as an expert”, noting: “Ms Forstater explained that the use of non-preferred pronouns in this case might be due to cognitive dissonance. Mr Phillips was not, however, able to identify any medical expertise that she might have to opine on that issue.” Helen Joyce, Director of Advocacy at the GC group “Sex Matters”, purported to give “expert” evidence in the Australian case. The judge said she: “…does not have any formal education or qualifications even in biology, let alone in gender, sex or law… she is not an expert at all. She has no recognised expertise in any of the areas in which she expresses an opinion.” In April the Cass Report gave a veneer of scientific legitimacy to the GC movement’s various claims. Both Labour and the Conservatives used the report as justification to prevent trans children from accessing puberty blockers (which, contrary to popular myth, do not prevent puberty but, rather, delay its onset). Cis children are still given access. The report was swiftly rejected by medical bodies around the world. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society said, in a joint statement, “Medical evidence, not politics, should inform treatment decisions”. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists followed suit. The British Medical Association called Cass’ claims “unsubstantiated”. I’d argue the report was largely debunked by a Yale School of Medicine review.

15 September 2024

[book4air]

Social Media: https://linktr.ee/book4air

Fire Lord Zuko’s struggle to reform the Fire Nation and maintain peace continues. Now he believes that to help his people, he must first set things right with his family. But the only way to do so is to team up with his lifelong enemy and occasional tenuous ally: his sister Azula.

With the help of Avatar Aang and friends, can the royal fire siblings find their mother? And even if they do, what will become of their family and their nation? Do some scars run too deep to ever heal?

Enjoy our adaptation of “The Search” with brand new original scenes and story changes that may surprise even the most devoted comics fans!

Want to see the original version? Please support the official release.

Showrunners @somethingwithther @prying-pandora666

Based on 'The Search' by Dark Horse Comics Additional Writing by Lucía Lobosvilla

'Not A Messenger' by @venusdegoat Scene adapted with permission Support the full comic https://tapas.io/series/Not-A-Messenger/info

Art Team Artists: Melissa Palacios, @samleewins, @rick-orange Letterers: Sam Lee Wins, Melissa Palacios, Ryoma Ishizuka, Austro Calligraphy: Cherry Cheuk Yu Chang Translator: Yvette Su

Audio Team Head Engineer: Sam Gabriel Line Placement: Valravn Mixing Engineer: Ryoma Ishizuka, TheTVBunny (Elise Lepley), Kurt Cañez Mastering: Kim Morton

Video Team Head Engineer: Ryoma Ishizuka Editors: TheRealizer367 (Walter Vitola), Curtiscreatesstuff, Hazco Fox, PhantomSavage, Astrid Ev, franky1581

Music Team Music Director: James A. Reilly Composers: James A. Reilly, Aneesh Kashalikar, Mark 'Nowa' Taylor, Ty Porter

Voice Team Voice Directors: Lucía Lobosvilla, Anthony Rodriguez Casting: Ryoma Ishizuka, Lucía Lobosvilla

Voice Cast Aang - @somethingwithther Katara - @sometimesstephstuff Sokka - Grant Corvin Toph - @muslimsupersaiyan Zuko - Cade Watts Azula - @prying-pandora666 Iroh - D. Tyler Fultz Appa & Momo - Josh Lee Ursa - @charaito Ikem - Anthony Rodriguez Ozai - Jakob Dillon Suki - @queen-mickey-the-sass-master Ty Lee - Heidi Tabing Kota - James A. Reilly Kenji - Ash Rucker Ezo - Nichelle Phillips Professor Phom Lee - John Archer II Eula - Iris Azulon - Edward Hong Rina - Sara Dunham Jinzuk - Dylan Rasbold Guard - Jazzy Oliver Kid Zuko - Mel Valentine Baby Zuko - Victoria C. McMullen Additional Voices True Blue Grant Corvin Kauthar Harrak-Sharif Lucía Lobosvilla James A. Reilly Heidi Tabing Cade Watts Ara’digm Wong

Promo Bumper Animated by ‪@samleewins Voice of Sokka by Grant Corvin Video Editing by Ryoma Ishizuka Audio Editing by Sam Gabriel Mastering by Kim Morton Special Thanks Book 4 Restoration Project Team Dark Horse Comics Nickelodeon Gene Luen Yang Gurihiru Avatar Wiki Ara’digm Wong The Flying Opera Company Productions KikwishhArt Dave Roman Kevin Coppa Baby Lion Turtle Aaron Ehasz Bryan Konietzko Michael Dante DiMartino AND YOU Produced by Staff And Seer Studios, LLC.

[tv-moments]

Under the Bridge

“The John Gotti of Seven Oaks”

Director: Kevin Phillips

DoP: C. Kim Miles

[brokehorrorfan]

Night of the Demons will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray and Night of the Demons 2 and Night of the Demons 3 will be released on Blu-ray on October 3 via Scream Factory.

Shout Factory is offering an exclusive set with all three films with exclusive slipcovers by Joel Robinson, six posters, a prism sticker, a set of five enamel pins by Matthew Skiff (limited to 600), and a set of five lobby cards by Beyond Horror Design (limited to 500). Pictured below, it costs $199.99.

1988's Night of the Demons is directed by Kevin S. Tenney (Witchboard) and written by Joe Augustyn. Cathy Podewell, Amelia Kinkade, Linnea Quigley, Hal Havins, William Gallo, and Alvin Alexis star.

1994's Night of the Demons 2 is directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith (Leprechaun 3, Leprechaun 4: In Space) and written by Joe Augustyn. Amelia Kinkade, Merle Kennedy, Cristi Harris, Rick Peters, Jennifer Rhodes, and Christine Taylor star.

1997's Night of the Demons 3 is directed by Jim Kaufman and written by Kevin Tenney. Amelia Kinkade, Larry Day, Kristen Holden-Ried, Tara Slone, Gregory Calpakis, Patricia Rodriguez, and Stephanie Bauder star.

Night of the Demons has been newly restored from an earlier 4K scan of the unrated camera negative, presented with Dolby Vision HDR. Night of the Demons 2 has been newly transferred from the interpositive.

Workprints/alternate cuts of all three films are included. Special features are detailed below.

Night of the Demons 4K UHD special features:

Audio commentary by director Kevin S. Tenney, executive producer Walter Josten, and producer Jeff Geoffray

Audio commentary with director Kevin S. Tenney, actors Cathy Podewell, Billy Gallo, and Hal Havins, and special makeup effects creator Steve Johnson

Audio Commentary with director Kevin Tenney, actors Linnea Quigley and Phillip Tanzini and casting director Tedra Gabriel

Interview with writer/producer Joe Augustyn (new)

Interview with actress Jill Terashita (new)

Interview with special effects artist Nick Benson (new)

International cut (standard definition)

Night of the Demons Blu-ray special features:

Audio commentary by director Kevin S. Tenney, executive producer Walter Josten, and producer Jeff Geoffray

Audio commentary with director Kevin S. Tenney, actors Cathy Podewell, Billy Gallo, and Hal Havins, and special makeup effects creator Steve Johnson

Audio Commentary with director Kevin Tenney, actors Linnea Quigley and Phillip Tanzini and casting director Tedra Gabriel

Night of the Demons workprint (under the title The Halloween Party)

The Halloween Party alternate title card

You’re Invited: The Making of Night of the Demons - 2014 documentary with cast and crew

Interview with actress Amelia Kinkade

Interview with actress Allison Barron

Interview with actress Linnea Quigley

Alternate R-rated scenes

A Short Night of the Demons - 6-minute version of the film shown to potential distributors

Theatrical trailer

Video trailer

TV spots

Still galleries

Promo reel

Still galleries - Behind-the-scenes, special effects and makeup, stills, posters and storyboards

It’s Halloween night and Angela is throwing a party… but this is no ordinary Halloween party. Everybody’s headed to Hull House, a deserted funeral home, formerly the home of a mass murderer. But when the partygoers decide to have a séance, they awaken something evil - and these party crashers have a thirst for blood. Now it’s a battle to survive the night in Hull House.

Pre-order Night of the Demons.

Night of the Demons 2 special features:

Audio commentary by actors Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames, and Johnny Moran (new)

Audio commentary by director Brian Trenchard-Smith and director of photography David Lewis

Interview with directors Kevin S. Tenney and Brian Trenchard-Smith (new)

Interview with actor Amelia Kinkade (new)

Interview with actress Cristi Harris (new)

Interview with special effects artist Steve Johnson (new)

Interview with producer Jeff Geoffray (new)

Night of the Demons 2 workprint 

Dailies

Trailer

Behind-the-scenes gallery

It’s Halloween and the teenagers from St. Rita’s High School want to party at the neighborhood’s haunted house. For years, the Hull House has sat in eerie silence – tales of its haunted past have turned into gory jokes and no one really believes anything ever happened there. However, Angela (Amelia Kinkade), the hostess from hell, is summoning her army of teen demons to the blood-curdling contest between the school’s priests and herself, the princess of darkness.

Pre-order Night of the Demons 2.

Night of the Demons 3 special features:

Audio commentary by director Jimmy Kaufman

Audio commentary by writer Kevin S. Tenney and special effects artist Roy Knyrim (new)

Interview with director Jimmy Kaufman (new)

Interview with writer Kevin S. Tenney (new)

Interview with actress Amelia Kinkade (new)

Interview with producer Jeff Geoffray (new)

Night Of The Demons 3 director’s cut (workprint)

Night Of The Demons 3 TV cut

Behind-the-scenes footage

Alternate title sequence 

Dailies 

Trailers 

It’s Halloween! The gates of Hull House have creaked open once again and Angela (Amelia Kinkade) is waiting for her treats. When a group of rambunctious teens take refuge in the foreboding funeral home to escape the law, they soon realize their grave error.

Pre-order Night of the Demons 3.

[byneddiedingo]

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in Maestro (Bradley Cooper, 2023)

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Gideon Glick, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Vincenzo Amato, Michael Urie, Greg Hildreth, Brian Klugman, Nick Blaemire, Mallory Portnoy, Yasen Peyakov, Zachary Booth, Miriam Shor, Alexa Swinton. Screenplay: Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer. Cinematography: Matthew Libatique. Production design: Kevin Thompson. Film editing: Michelle Tesoro. Music: Leonard Bernstein. 

The Aussies call it "tall poppy syndrome." It's that tendency to try to undermine or underestimate the achievement of anyone who excels. And I think we saw it directed at Bradley Cooper when the first big wave of negative publicity came out from a critic from the Hollywood Reporter who saw the trailer for Maestro and called the prosthetic nose Cooper wore to play Leonard Bernstein "ethnic cosplay." The word "Jewface," analogous to blackface and "yellowface," labels for white performers pretending to be Black or Asian, was tossed about, as if Cooper were somehow guilty of antisemitism, or even depriving a Jewish actor of the role. Defenders came to the fray, including Bernstein's family, who indicated their approval of Cooper's choice, and others who pointed out that Cooper wasn't playing a negative stereotype, or even a character like Shylock or Fagin, but an authentic musical genius. But the damage was done, and the controversy continues to be a kind of scrim through which we watch and assess the film. I think much of it stems from the fact that Cooper is one of the most exceptional talents of our time, recognized for excellence as an actor, director, and screenwriter  -- a tall poppy indeed. He has a total of nine Academy Award nominations in all three of those fields plus producing -- for Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) and Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley (2022). He won a BAFTA for the music of A Star Is Born (2018), for which he wrote and sang several songs, and for which he also won two Grammys. He was nominated for a Tony in 2015 for his performance on Broadway in The Elephant Man. (One of the critics of the prosthetic nose observed that he wore no disfiguring makeup for the role of John Merrick, suggesting that if he's that good an actor, he should have played the role of Bernstein without the help of makeup.) All of this is preface to saying that Maestro is an exceptional film that only adds luster to an already distinguished career. It has been labeled a biopic, which is inadequate. Biographical films are usually distanced from their subjects, dramatizations of events in a career. Maestro is more intimate than that, a portrait of a man and a marriage. Cooper goes beyond mimicry of Bernstein in a serious effort to suggest the social and sexual and artistic tensions seething within the man. If I have to voice a criticism it's that he doesn't quite bring it off -- it's a little too much for any actor or screenwriter to achieve. But Cooper shows us the depths even if he doesn't plumb them. He wisely lets us have our own thoughts about something even Bernstein probably couldn't define about his sexuality: whether he was gay or bisexual, or whether that question is stupid and irrelevant. Carey Mulligan's performance as his wife, Felicia, brittle and burning, is a perfect match for Cooper's. If they don't have the chemistry that Cooper had with Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) or Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, that's partly the point: The marriage of Lenny and Felicia was one of unresolved tension. Hence the epigraph for the film: "A work of art does not answer questions, if provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers." I have the feeling that Maestro will be remembered and studied for years to come.

[nude-malecelebrities]

Zane Phillips Opens Up in MMSCENE Magazine

Zane Phillips, renowned for his performances in “Glamorous,” boldly exhibits his finely sculpted body in the cover story of MMSCENE Magazine. This attractive actor, who made headlines earlier this summer with his romance with Froy Gutierrez, engaged in a sequence of photoshoots overseen by photographer Kevin Sikorski, who also took on the role of creative director for the session. In the…

[docrotten]

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) – Episode 224 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“Welcome to prime time, bitch!” Not words I’d use in front of my mother, but they are iconic just the same. Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr, along with guest host Ralph Miller  – as they enter another Wes Craven nightmare, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Expect a lot of FX talk with Ralph in the house!

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 224 – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A psychiatrist familiar with knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.

  [NOTE: Effects crew credits are listed as they appear in the film credits.]

Director: Chuck Russell

Writers: Wes Craven (story) (screenplay) (characters); Bruce Wagner (story) (screenplay); Frank Darabont (screenplay); Chuck Russell (screenplay)

Music: Angelo Badalamenti

Storyboard Artist / Visual Consultant: Peter von Sholly

Stop-Motion Skeleton and Marionette Effects: Doug Beswick Productions, Inc.

Stop-Motion Animation: Doug Beswick

Effects Photography Supervisor: Jim Aupperle

Stop-Motion Puppet Construction: Yancy Calzada

Marionette Construction: Mark Bryan Wilson (as Mark Wilson)

Miniatures: James Belohovek

Illustrator: Larry Nikolai

Makeup effects Sequences: Greg Cannom

Assistants to Greg Cannom: Larry Odien, Earl Ellis, John Vulich, Keith Edmier, Brent Baker

Krueger Makeup effects: Kevin Yagher

Assistants to Kevin Yagher: Jim Kagel, Mitch DeVane, Gino Crognale, Brian Penikas, David Kindlon, Steve James, Everett Burrell

Makeup Effects Sequences: Mark Shostrom

Assistants to Mr. Shostrum: Robert Kurtzman, Bryant Tausek, John Blake Dutro, James McLoughlin (as Jim McLoughlin), Cathy Carpenter

Additional Makeup Effects: Matthew W. Mungle (as Mathew Mungel)

Assistant to Mathew Mungel: Russell Seifert

Mechanical Effects: Image Engineering

Special Effects Coordinator: Peter Chesney

Lead Technician: Lenny Dalrymple

Mechanical Designers: Bruce D. Hayes (as Bruce Hayes), Joe Starr, Anton Tremblay (as Tony Tremblay)

Effects Technicians: Bernardo F. Munoz (as Bernard Munoz), Rod Schumacher, Bob Ahmanson

Effects Crew: Scott Nesselrode, Tom Chesney, Kelly Mann, Phillip Hartmann (as Phillip Hartman), Ralph Miller III (as Ralph Miller), Joel Fletcher, Brian Mcfadden, Sandra Stewart (as Sandy Stewart), Terry Mack (as Troy Mack), Blaine Converse, Ron MacInnes, Brendan C. Quigley

Selected Cast:

Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson

Craig Wasson as Dr. Neil Gordon

Patricia Arquette as Kristen Parker

Ken Sagoes as Roland Kincaid

Ira Heiden as Will Stanton

Rodney Eastman as Joey Crusel

Jennifer Rubin as Taryn White

Penelope Sudrow as Jennifer Caulfield

Bradley Gregg as Phillip Anderson

Laurence Fishburne as Max Daniels (credited as Larry Fishburne)

John Saxon as Donald Thompson

Priscilla Pointer as Dr. Elizabeth Simms

Clayton Landey as Lorenzo

Brooke Bundy as Elaine Parker

Nan Martin as Sister Mary Helena

Stacey Alden as Nurse Marcie

Dick Cavett as Himself

Zsa Zsa Gabor as Herself

Paul Kent as Dr. Carver

Guest host Ralph Miller III, who worked behind the scenes on Dream Warriors provides insights and many effects development photos that are shown in the YouTube version of the podcast. Post-recording, the crew wants to clarify that Kevin Yagher was responsible for the Freddy Snake, and Mark Shostrom was in charge of the Penelope Sudrow dummy that smashes into the Freddyvision TV.

With the success of A Nightmare on  Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), following the critical failure of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), New line Cinema firmly cemented Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street as one of the most iconic horror franchises of its time. Not only does Dream Warriors feature Robert Englund continuing to breathe both humor and fear into Freddy Krueger but also the return of both Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon from the original. The film also features Craig Wasson (Ghost Story) as the male lead and early film roles for Patricia Arquette and Larry Fishburne. Frank Darabont (The Mist) and Bruce Wagner join Wes Craven on scripting chores and Chuck Russell (The Blob, The Mask) directs while Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) provides the score – a winning combination of talent. Surely a Grue-Crew highly recommended selection with special effects by Greg Cannom, Doug Beswick, Mark Shostrom, Kevin Yagher, and more!

Be sure to check out the first time the 80s Grue-Crew took a dive into this film in February 2017, featuring Doc Rotten, Christopher G. Moore, and Thomas Mariani as the Grue-Crew. You can find it here: A NIGHTMARE ON ELMS STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) — Episode 102

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, will be The Changeling (1980), starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, . . . and a bouncing, red, rubber ball.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[ryansmoviereviews]

War Dogs (2016)

Hey all, Please find my review on War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill Any likes/feedback is greatly appreciated! Please Subscribe for instant access #movie #movies #moviereview #moviereviews #moviereviewer #film #films #filmreview #filmreviews #subscribe #like

Director Todd PhillipsWritten by Stephen Chin, Todd Phillips, Jason Smilovic Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, Kevin Pollak, Bradley Cooper David (Teller) is a hard working husband to Iz (de Armas), trying a multitude of different jobs to earn an honest dollar. When he reconnects with his old school friend Efraim (Hill), he is offered a job assisting his business in bidding on US military…

[oneoflokis-blog]

Review (But not mine! Though I have largely made my mind up) of the latest Joker movie: Folie A Deux

I decided to read a couple of recent Joker II reviews, and to copy out a leading one for the purposes of this article. (I did this just before the movie came out in UK cinemas.)

That would be the one in the Sunday Times by Kevin Maher, which I managed to access through bypassing the paywall through archive.org. Fiddly, but worth it!

Joker: Folie à Deux review – a messy, lifeless sequel with Lady Gaga 

(That's from the 25th of September I think.)

It's not very long, so here we go:

(you can input the above at archive.org, and then go clicking on a particular snapshot as to date and time)

In September 2019, at a press conference in Los Angeles, the director Todd Phillips decided to set the record straight. His forthcoming movie, Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, would not be getting a sequel. It was designed as a self-contained one-film experience that referenced Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy and other 70s New York classics."The movie's not set up to have a sequel," he said of a film that ends with exquisite finality after Phoenix's deranged loner has ultimately become a criminal demigod. The last shot features Joker, in Arkham state hospital, sauntering down an empty corridor, ecstatic and triumphant while Frank Sinatra's That's Life blares on the soundtrack. A title cards reads: "The End." Philips, at the LA press conference, added, just to be clear, "we made this movie, I pitched it to Warner Brothers as one movie. It exists in its own world. That's it."

So what happened? Joker, to everyone's surprise, made more than one billion dollars at the box office, with an Oscar for Phoenix and the composer Hildur Gudnadottir. The emergency axe thus came out, and despite everything, Phillips and Co smashed back into the self-contained world, shook all the contents out onto the carpet and, against their own advice, had another go. The result? Messy, lifeless, derivative and exactly what you'd expect from a film that simply doesn't want, or need, to exist. This time it's a musical. That's the hook. And it's set almost entirely, apart from some courtroom sequences, in Arkham Asylum. Musical is putting it kindly: the songs are a random, uninspired grab bag including For Once In My Life (made famous by Stevie Wonder), If My Friends Could See Me Now, Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered) and I've Got the World on a String. They are "sung" with croaking atonal defiance by Phoenix and his co-star Lady Gaga. She's Harleen Quinzel, a fellow patient at Arkham who, adopting the Phoenix performance style, mostly murders her tunes, especially an ear-scraping version of That's Entertainment, delivered outside the courthouse where Joker's fate is being decided.

Yep, that's the plot. He's in the asylum because he's maaad (laughs manically a lot). He goes to court to decide whether or not he's really maaad. And (no spoilers) then he's back in the asylum. And there's bad singing. And everyone in court discusses at length the events from the first Joker, which is a terrible idea because it reminds you of a much better film and of how the mighty have fallen.

Two stars, in cinemas from October 4th. 

I don't really know whether I will bother going to see it in the cinema!

(In the end, I didn´t.)

...

Right. So they've made at least one further major departure from the entire Batman ethos, really, which is to have Harley Quinn, Harleen Quinzel, a patient at the Asylum instead of a doctor. Although I don't know whether they've made her a doctor who fell into madness, or something, before she met the Joker! Or if they're somehow going to blame her madness on the Joker. Or whatever. 😏🙄

It all does seem a bit stupid, really. Well – this idea that none of the Batman characters really have, as it were, the superpowers that they genuinely do have, in the comics. And these are not always, in the case of all characters, supernatural superpowers: they're not in the case of the Batman himself.

In fact, with Joker and with Harley I think that their real superpower, that of both of them, lies in their ability to bend reality through absurdity. That's a trickster superpower. That's my analysis! Has been for a long time. 🙂

Of course, in the comics, and in the Suicide Squad movies, they don't just "imagine" it, they do it! 🙂

But if you're just gonna say that Harley is just another dumb powerless mad person... well, then that shortchanges both the character and the viewer.

They've even had the neck to remove, the director has, a superpower that Lady Gaga has in real life, which is the power of being a decent singer! For it says here that she "croaks" through the numbers instead of singing them! What a swizz!

And there aren't even any original numbers, just songs recycled from other places in popular culture. As far as I can see, they haven't bothered to compose one original song for the movie. This just shows you that it's all totally derivative, and that Disney could do better than that, because they always compose songs for their movies, don't they? For the Pirates of the Caribbean, and everything.

Anyway. A musical is supposed to have original material in it, just like the movie musical Little Shop of Horrors did! After all, if they've been marketing it with the musical shtick as the hook as it were.

But never mind my preemptive criticism of the actual movie. I'd just like to finish with a bit of musing on the subject of whether the first movie, Joker by Todd Phillips, actually demanded or indeed implied a sequel, or sequels. I quite agree that his original intention was that it should not get one: however as an experienced Hollywood director, he should always bear in mind the possibility that a sequel will be demanded! 😄

But I'm saying that if either Todd Phillips or Kevin Maher are saying that a sequel to the movie Joker was never implied or was impossible – going by the text of the movie – then I would like to say that they are both very wrong. And that they do not understand storytelling techniques such as foreshadowing.

(Again, the Pirates Of The Caribbean writers would have known better! 😄)

Ok, why? One simple reason would be that the Batman, Bruce Wayne, was in the first Joker movie, albeit as a child. (But then, he's also a child in the Gotham TV series by Fox.)

Well: just by having the young Bruce Wayne in the first movie, that by itself is an implication that he will grow up to be the Batman, and fight villains such as the Joker. No? It does I think to anybody and everybody including those who are not big comic book fans.

That's a kind of foreshadowing. As is the fact that the young Bruce Wayne and Arthur Fleck who is to call himself the Joker, do actually meet in the movie: albeit in a very brief manner. Arthur Fleck, in his clown costume as I recall, or something looking clownish, anyway, somewhat heartstring-pullingly attempts to entertain the child Bruce Wayne through the gates of Wayne Manor. He appears to be having at least a little success! However, this is soon brought to a halt by the intervention of the butler, Alfred, just as we know him from the comics and other adaptations, but perhaps presented a little less amiably, and more socially realistically here, for as a faithful servant of the ruling class he shares their disdain towards someone who is obviously a kind of a hobo character: and if not a hobo, then one at least of the poor underclass who is not to be allowed to hang around anywhere near the rich, because he might try to steal from them or do them harm. 😏

(Although Pennyworth does not know Fleck from Adam at the time. But he is just making the usual privileged social judgement..)

Arthur Fleck / the Joker as Other, then. 

Arthur Fleck pretty much in the role of The Little Tramp. Definitely some pathos in that scene! 🙂

But anyway, you see: if you show a character as a child, who everybody knows because of all the surrounding mythos, and yeah sure all the different versions of the character and the concept of Batman: but who everybody knows does grow up to be Batman the crime fighter vigilante who fights mad villains! (After all, he has no reason not to in this version of the story, because his father is still killed – I'm not sure about his mother - by a low life named Joe Chill!)

And then you show him, albeit as a child, juxtaposed with someone who in the main mythos you know becomes one of his arch enemies, one of the arch villains, then that is just implying that Wayne will grow up and will go on to fight the Joker later on! Which means a sequel right there! So how any of these Hollywood idiots or reviewers can say that it doesn't, I don't know! They're certainly not writers, I can tell you. 😏 They know nothing about foreshadowings or the implications contained in works of fiction. Particularly not ones that already have an established mythos, as I've said.

But it would be the same if you were writing about something else very well known like Charles Dickens characters, or the gods of various well-known mythologies, etc etc etc. 😏

Ok, final suggestion. If Todd Phillips wanted to copy other movies, from other eras of Hollywood, (or "reference" them, as is the posh Hollywood term for it) then why doesn't he simply go back a bit further than the Hollywood of the 1970s? To an era when it really was the silver screen, the Hollywood of dreams, the fairy tale Hollywood? 🙂

Because I for one think, and this has been echoed by many another critic over the years, that the reason Hollywood was invented, was basically to tell modern fairy tales. The "rags to riches" and other wish-fulfilment types of story.

Nothing wrong with that - if people don't have dreams, they won't get anywhere! 🙂

The "Accidental hero" is another theme, both of movies and literature, that I like to return to.

And of course, the protagonists of such movies don't all have to be innocents, like in Mr Smith Goes To Washington or Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

Quite a few Hollywood movies of the 30s and 40s featured gangsters, some of them fairly sympathetic, like the characters generally played by Edward G Robinson.

Am I saying that Arthur Fleck should be the hero of this movie? Basically, yes. He is the main protagonist of this movie "series": and "hero" and "antihero" are seen as pretty much the same these days, no? 😏 😄 Well why not lean into that? (Oh, and have a real plot?)

Yes. Well, anyway: Arthur Fleck, the guy who is to eventually call himself Joker in the first movie, experiences various twists of fate in that movie, some of them extremely misfortunate, and some of them, like being rescued and acclaimed by Joe Chill and the clown protestors towards the end of the movie being fortunate. For him.

But I think, that for the protagonist of a movie like that, he can't solely rely on luck – at least a character like the Joker is, or what I think he should be, can't – it's how he uses and manipulates that luck! It's a case of if he manages to use it to leverage himself into a better situation.

Now that, of course, is a fairy tale theme, well-known in old stories! In fact, I would further classify such a theme as a trickster fairy tale! Which is of course what the Joker should be! 🙂 (Certainly in a story that portrays him as the main protagonist.)

Well-known traditional examples would be (to choose but a couple) Jack and the Beanstalk, and the German story of The Brave Little Tailor, who manages to use sheer luck and a couple of handy misunderstandings to impress the king to gain honors and goods for himself!

Now, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker could do something like that, if his writers and the director would only allow him to! But I very much doubt that they have allowed him to do anything like that in Joker: Folie A Deux: whatever the assistance (or lack of it) he receives from Harley Quinn! (I suspect that all they've allowed him to do is to get really excited to have a girlfriend at last! 😏🙄)

Although what I've said they should do, is I believe what would be the most logical development of the story. (Certainly to a Lokean such as myself. ☺️)

How would he do that? Well, again to a Lokean, it's obvious! Look at movie one: he practically stirs up a revolution! So, instead of trying to prove he either is or isn't mad, he should lean on that support he originally got from the clown protestors, to get him out of the asylum, one way or another. Yes indeed: that notion would express shades of Trumpian demagoguery, as well as shades of genuine revolution. 😏

(Really Phoenix's character is in need of an EGO the size of Trump's! Because if he had it, he could do what I said he could do! 😏... That's USUALLY not a problem for those of my archetype, I can hear my Patron, Loki, slyly commenting in the background! 😄)

That's all you need: ego plus smarts. (I would argue that Arthur has already got the smarts: the problem is, that Todd Phillips doesn't allow him to use them properly! He didn't in the first movie either: otherwise a certain teenage gang would have had an unpleasant surprise... 😈

Phillips does not allow his Joker the capacity, the competency, to be able to astonish, and to pull the odd rabbit out of the hat.

Whereas in TRUE folklore, that's practically all Tricksters do! By Loki, it is! 😄❤️)

But according to the reviewer, all they do in Folie à Deux is warble a bunch of pointless random song numbers, and go over most of the first movie, which is just boring!

The plot is therefore pointless, tedious, stagnant... you name it! Everything modern movie writers should be notorious for, which is that many of them CAN'T WRITE.

(Pro tip: DON'T GET THE DIRECTOR TO WRITE MOST OF THE SCRIPT! 😏)

(And this lot have zero knowledge of the techniques and elements and themes both of movies and of older forms of storytelling, such as foreshadowing, traditional themes, archetypes.. again, you name it. 😏)

Hmm. This very morning, I saw a guy much younger than myself on YouTube, basically saying that modern movies either sucked, or were remakes, or both!

There is very little of either originality or skill going on! Certainly not when it comes to movie plots. 👎

(Oh yes! 🙂 P.S. for the general reader, or indeed movie-lover, especially if you have a bit of a social conscience. 🙂 Do have a look at <a href="https://youtu.be/1b8lJOhB-xc?si=Zs2huqyAmRBYxORX">this YouTube video</a> by a lady called AngieSpeaks: she has some very interesting takes on the first Phillips Joker movie. She has a good costume, too! 😄

Joker: Folie a Deux, Todd Phillips, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Hollywood, sequels, deficient modern movies

[ulkaralakbarova]

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Curtis Taylor Jr.: Jamie Foxx Deena Jones: Beyoncé James “Thunder” Early: Eddie Murphy Marty Madison: Danny Glover Effie White: Jennifer Hudson Lorrell Robinson: Anika Noni Rose C.C. White: Keith D. Robinson Michelle Morris: Sharon Leal Wayne: Hinton Battle Magic: Mariah Iman Wilson May: Yvette Cason Max Washington: Ken Page M.C.: Ralph Louis Harris Tiny Joe Dixon: Michael-Leon Wooley Jazz Singer: Loretta Devine Jerry Harris: John Lithgow Sam Walsh: John Krasinski Ronald White: Alexander Folk Aunt Ethel: Esther Scott Miami Comic: Bobby Slayton Teddy Campbell: Jordan Wright Melba Early: Dawnn Lewis Talent Booker: Jaleel White Joann: JoNell Kennedy Charlene: Sybyl Walker Stepp Sister: Lesley Nicole Lewis Stepp Sister: Eboni Nichols Stepp Sister: Arike Rice Stepp Sister: Fatima Robinson Little Albert: Aakomon Jones Tru-Tone: Bernard Fowler Tru-Tone: Anwar Burton Tru-Tone: Tyrell Washington Dave: Rory O’Malley Sweetheart: Laura Bell Bundy Sweetheart: Anne Elizabeth Warren David Bennett: Ivar Brogger Jimmy’s Piano Player: Daren A. Herbert Elvis Kelly: Jocko Sims Rhonda: Pam Trotter Janice: Cleo King Club Manager: Eddie Mekka Case Worker: Alejandro Furth TV Reporter: Dilva Henry American Bandstand Producer: Vince Grant Nicky Cassaro: Robert Cicchini TV Director: Thomas Crawford Carl: Charles Jones Technical Director: Robert Curtis Brown Tania Williams: Stephanie Owens Man with Gun: Gilbert Glenn Brown Stagehand: Marty Ryan Detroit Reporter: Michael Villani Chicago Deejay: Gregg Berger L.A. Deejay: Daniel Riordan Photographer: David James Promo Film Narrator (voice): Paul Kirby Security Guard: Derick Alexander Curtis’ Secretary: Yvette Nicole Brown Go-Go Dancer: Nancy Anderson Go-Go Dancer: Joelle Cosentino Go-Go Dancer: Lisa Eaton Go-Go Dancer: Clare Kutsko Go-Go Dancer: Tracy Phillips Go-Go Dancer: Kelleia Sheerin Campbell Connection Dancer: Mykel Brooks Campbell Connection Dancer: Johnny Erasme Campbell Connection Dancer: Cory Graves Campbell Connection Dancer: J.R. Taylor Bad Side Dancer: Corinthea Henderson Bad Side Dancer: Craig Hollamon Bad Side Dancer: Reginald Jackson Bad Side Dancer: Chuck Maldonado Bad Side Dancer: Anthony Rue II Bad Side Dancer: John Silver Bad Side Dancer: Larry Sims Bad Side Dancer: Black Thomas Bad Side Dancer: Kevin Wilson Bad Side Dancer: Adrian Wiltshire Bad Side Dancer: Earl Wright Bad Side Dancer: Russell “Goofy” Wright Disco Dancer: Dominic Chaiduang Disco Dancer: Jose Cueva Disco Dancer: Omhmar Griffin Disco Dancer: Sky Hoffmann Disco Dancer: Trevor Lopez-Daggett Disco Dancer: Leo Moctezuma Disco Dancer: Gabriel Paige Disco Dancer: Terrance Spencer Disco Dancer: Tony Testa Disco Dancer: Quinton Weathers Disco Dancer: Jull Weber Disco Dancer: Marcel Wilson Jimmy’s Band: Stevie Ray Anthony Jimmy’s Band: Matthew Dickens Jimmy’s Band: Jerohn Garnett Jimmy’s Band: Mario Mosley Jimmy’s Band: Jimmy R.O. Smith Film Crew: Casting: Debra Zane Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh Executive Producer: Patricia Whitcher Producer: David Geffen Foley Artist: Catherine Harper Foley Artist: Christopher Moriana Producer: Laurence Mark Director: Bill Condon Musical: Tom Eyen Director of Photography: Tobias A. Schliessler Editor: Virginia Katz Original Music Composer: Henry Krieger Production Design: John Myhre Costume Design: Sharen Davis Digital Intermediate: Stefan Sonnenfeld Dialogue Editor: Kimberly Lowe Voigt Sound Effects Editor: George Simpson Stunts: Dick Ziker Makeup Artist: Judy Murdock Stunts: John Cenatiempo Second Unit Director of Photography: Dino Parks Assistant Costume Designer: Lizz Wolf First Assistant Editor: Ian Slater Casting Associate: Jeremy Rich Casting Associate: Tannis Vallely Music Arranger: Harvey Mason Gaffer: Newton TerMeer Assistant Art Director: Jann K. Engel Costume Supervisor: Elaine Ramires Sound Effects Editor: Donald Flick Script Supervisor: Carolyn Tolley Choreographer: Aakomon Jones Camer...

[book4air]

Original Release: 4/15/2023

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Book4Air Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WrBlPro Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/LuciaLobosvilla Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/book4air Pillowfort: https://www.pillowfort.social/book4air Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ATLABook4Air/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Book4Air/

Showrunners: Ryoma Ishizuka Lucía Lobosvilla

Voice Directors: Lucía Lobosvilla Anthony Rodriguez

Composers: James A Reilly Aneesh Kashalikar Cyrus 'Moustronaut' Whitt

Head Audio Engineer: Sam Gabriel

Mixing Engineers: Ryoma Ishizuka John Kelly Parrott

Line Placement: Grant Corvin Sam Gabriel Xuan Vinh Huynh Valravn

Mastering: Kim Morton

Video Editors: TheRealizer367 (Walter Vitola) Darkmax204 PhantomSavage CurtisCreatesGames Astrid Evv Mr Amazing VA Ryoma Ishizuka

Special Thanks: Book 4 Restoration Project Team Dark Horse Comics Nickelodeon Gene Luen Yang Gurihiru Avatar Wiki Dave Roman Kevin Coppa Baby Lion Turtle Aaron Ehasz Bryan Konietzko Michael Dante DiMartino And You!

Patrons: Day Pokejedservo Madgod Mikosun Victoria McMullen Nichelle Phillips Prodogg Akiizayoi4869 Daniel Lacey Len Hagaren Tarryn Campbell Melissa Palacios Minnichi Akiizayoi4869 Can You Feel It Now (CYFIN) Mr. Krabs James Rath Shay B Lillie Ferland

Voice Cast

Aang - Ryoma Ishizuka Katara - Stephanie Pines Toph - Kauthar Harrak-Sharif Sokka - Grant Corvin Zuko - Cade Watts Appa/Momo - Josh Lee Sneers - Omar Martinez Jr Kori Morishita - Krystal Martinez Xing Ying - Mel Valentine Smellerbee - Shakyra Dunn Suki - Victoria McMullen General How - Ryan Hoyle Ozai - Jakob Dillon Penga - Heidi Tabing The Dark One - Jazzy Oliver Ho-Tun - Adam New King Kuei - Andre Faris Iroh - D. Tyler Fultz Azula - Lucía Lobosvilla Ursa - Chara Lin Kenji - JJ Williams Kota - James A. Reilly General Jee - Patrick Mealey Go Go Go Guy - Anthony Rodriguez Yudao Resident 1 - Anthony Rodriguez Yudao Resident 2 - Taylor Sameyah Yudao Resident 3 - Adam New Yudao Resident 4 (Mochi Guy) - Anthony Rodriguez Roku - Josh Lee Kyoshi - Jialing Pan Kuruk - Ryan Seale Yangchen - Su Ling Chan

Extras (Walla) Anthony Rodriguez John Archer II Lucía Lobosvilla Nichelle Phillips Maia Harlap Iris V Jazzy Oliver D. Tyler Fultz Alison Turjancik Cade Watts Adam New Jakob Dillon

[tv-moments]

Under the Bridge

“The John Gotti of Seven Oaks”

Director: Kevin Phillips

DoP: C. Kim Miles