#i want both of them to be greasy but i need turbo to be more insane

[vinegar-rights]

bumper car dump bc im still thinking abt them

[roguish-gallery]

Okay, so this one's a little specific but I can't stop thinking about it. // SO, how would Jon, Jervis, and Ed react to the Joker kidnapping a good friend of theirs? And if, while the Joker was trying to get the friend to beg for help, they instead said, "If this is the last time we ever get to see each other alive, I want you to know: I love you." Turns out, their friend has had feelings for them for a long time, but never had the courage to confess until now, in this life-or-death situation?

This one is kinda everywhere in terms of tone, I hope that’s okay, anon! TW for blood mention with Jervis

Dork Squad + ^^^^ What Anon Said

Jonathan:

The ride home is awkward, to say the least.

“You know, you didn’t have to make that stuff up- I still would have helped you out.”

He stops the car once his s/o tells him that they were being sincere.

He’s quiet for a moment, starts the car again, and the rest of the car ride home is silent. He needs some time to process this.

The next morning, his s/o walks into the kitchen to find Jon making coffee for them both. He tilts his head to the dining table. “Come on, we have some things to discuss.”

All things considered, it’s a very casual conversation, Jon asks his s/o how long they’ve felt this way, and he asks them what they find attractive.

It’s very surprising then, when Jon sheepishly admits that he’s had feelings for his s/o as well. I mean, he doesn’t go out of his way to beat the shit out of the joker for just anyone, you know.

Edward:

Hold the fuck up, what? They like him? Why didn’t they say that earlier? Why… didn’t he notice until now?

Okay, one thing at a time. He’s got more pressing issues to deal with right now. Clown-shaped issues.

Realistically, he’ll either deal with it by himself, or he might go as far as asking the batfam for help.

Once his s/o is safe, he’s uncharacteristically quiet when they’re heading back to his place. 

They enter his apartment, and Edward… invites them to sleep with him in his bed. Just so they feel safe.

It’s still quiet, until Edward rolls over to face his s/o. “Did you really mean that?”

They whisper back that, yes, they love him. Slowly, reluctantly, he wraps his arms around them, and draws them close. For the first time in a long time, Edward doesn't need to use words to express how he feels.

Jervis:

Really? They love him? His darling s/o has feelings for him? Oh, my! How wonderful! He’s had feelings for them too, for so, so long! He’s just been so shy in confessing!

His elation quickly dissolves, however, once he realizes that the only thing standing between him and his precious s/o is that fucking clown. He can’t have one nice goddamn thing in this city without that little gnat getting his greasy fingers over it. That ends now.

Oh god, oh fuck, he’s gonna do it. He’s gonna be the person who finally kills the Joker. Like, perma death kill him.

I’m not kidding, he’ll do it. His possessive, protective streak kicks into ultra-mega-turbo protectiveness and he’ll be seeing red until his s/o is safely in his arms, where they belong. 

Soooo many tears and kisses once his s/o gets rescued and is somewhere safe.

 I mean, he’s coated in clown blood, but that’s not important. No one seems that bothered.

 He tells them everything!! He loves them so so sooooo much!!! He’ll never let anything get in between them ever again.

[gamejumps]

HEY LOOK here’s 43 random headcanon questions answered about turbo that nobody asked for.

1: What does their bedroom look like?

/CRACKS KNUCKLES oh boy here we’ll see how awful i am at interior design and decorating

after doing various google searches of what trailer interiors look like, his bedroom surely isn’t too far off from the main ‘room’ of everything. there’s most likely a small wall that blocks it away from the walkway and a door (for whatever privacy reasons) and most trailer bedrooms aren’t ... big. in fact they usually look a little crammed, which is true in turbo’s case. in the middle there sits a big red race car (with checkered flag blankets and pillows, obviously) with a nightstand on his right hand side. on top of it is a basic lamp (it’s also checkered) and an alarm clock. the nightstand its self holds racing magazines mainly, any scraps turbo had wanted to save for whatever reason and uh ... well, the obvious thing he’d have in there.

there is a window overhead that has a curtain on it, and he usually keeps it closed because hey, that’s the man’s bedroom. the walls are interesting enough: on the wall right of his bed is a big full body mirror that can be pulled aside into a closet where he keeps all of his clothing. on his left wall sits his trophy shelf, where too many trophies sit on top of and medals hang off of. i’m sure there are racing decals plastered around and a plaque that reads, ‘NOVEMBER 02 1982′ for his plug in date.

uhhhhhhh that’s really it, unfortunately. like i said, trailer bedrooms are super small.

2: Do they have any daily rituals?

sort of? get up, shower, eat, get dressed, check on his car, start the day, go to tappers, drive around the track at night, rinse and repeat unless he wants to mix it up. on weekends or at closing time he can sometimes be found tinkering away at his kart or gamejumping.

3: Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?

NO LOL he doesn’t exercise at all. he doesn’t feel he needs it, but he loves driving laps around turbo time

4: What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?

grab something else that doesn’t need prep or get take out. he doesn’t cook and only really uses the microwave, so hot meals are typically box meals and take out food.

5: Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

HOO BOY

personal: turbo’s cleanliness is ... weird? he doesn’t mind getting dirtied up in motor oil and whatnot (he reeks of it, frankly), rolling around in the dirt during a fist fight, etc. so there’s no issue with being dirty, but i don’t think he likes being dirty for too long--like the guy has to shower eventually. i feel like he probably brushes his teeth regularly as well to keep his breath fresh (he hates bad breath so much, and openly shits on ralph for it), but like, don’t get me wrong. this guy is not mr. clean. smells like motor oil, his hair is probably greasy ... he’s a fun time.

workspace: weirdly organized to a degree. it’s probably not spick and span, but he likes to know where everything is so he doesn’t lose things and keep things together. he cleans his car like a crazy, though. there cannot be a speck of dirt on his baby.

6: Eating habits and sample daily menu

EATING HABITS ARE AWFUL. GLUTTON. he hates 3 meals a day + multiple snacks and he indulges pretty heavily in food, rarely leaving food left on his plate. i can’t imagine he’s the pickiest eater but he has certain things he won’t touch with a 10 foot pole. daily menu consists on super salty, fatty junk/concession stand food and candy.

7: Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

anything racing related is a good time waster (trying to improve his car, cleaning it, etc.), as is drinking around tappers or being in the company of people. however, he’s weirdly selective of wasting his time: if he does things on his own, he doesn’t care, but if someone drags him into something that ‘wastes his time’, he gets antsy and agitated.

8: Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

prrrrrobably adrenaline kicks or ego stroking/attention hogging, hard to pick, really. he loves indulging in things. he’s a selfish, hedonistic brat.

9: Makeup?

nah

10: Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such?

NPD and ODD all the way, buddy. he doesn’t recognize that he has them, and if someone would say he has them, he would either blow it off by insisting there’s nothing wrong with him and they're just using shrink labels on him, or he’d see no issue with loving himself and acting the way he does.

11: Intellectual pursuits?

he likes to learn about technology from computers/coding/whatnot to knowledge about technical things with vehicles.

12: Favorite book genre?

my boy does not read lmfao. i feel like the most he reads are sports magazines and stuff, but he’s weirdly cultured on random things and makes the most left field references (ie, ‘IVE BEEN WAITING LONGER THAN IT TAKES TO MAKE PLUTO’S YEARLY TRIP AROUND THE SUN!!’)

13: Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

he’s straighter than a ruler. turbo has no problem with sexuality and doesn’t care about what you do, as long as it doesn’t involve him--that’s where he reacts more negatively and lashes out.

14: Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)

uh, i mean if we’re not counting glowing eyes, grey skin, a green tongue and pointed ears? then the most the guys got is little cuts and nicks on his hands

15: Biggest and smallest short term goal?

within the realm of time i take him from, i can’t see him having short term goals so to speak, because ...

16: Biggest and smallest long term goal?

his big long term goal is to stay on top of the arcade and remain a legend, so that’s all fairly long term. that’s really all the guy wants. fame, fortune, attention.

17: Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

he prefers to keep his clothing casual, but he doesn’t exactly look like a slob? he has some kind of style, but he doesn’t really like more preppy or business casual styles--think, ‘that one dude you see in a tee, jeans, converse and sunglasses but it still works.’ no real rituals beyond always taking his helmet if he can--it’s a symbol of status and who he is.

18: Favorite beverage?

cherry coke and eventually vanilla cherry coke!

19: What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

i figure he usually knocks out like a light, but his mind probably swarms with whatever had gone on that day -- usually it always comes back to him praising himself though and telling himself how incredible he is and how he’s such a winner. it usually isn’t to cancel anything out (unless he’s freaking over something, but that’s rare. seriously, the last time he did that ws....2013?) but solely because he can’t help but stroke his ego. it’s a comfort.

20: Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?

not really applicable, he didn’t have a childhood to speak. the guy can tell you 20 different ways he broke his nose though, and most involve fist fighting.

21: Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

most likely his autograph. he gets a kick out of practicing it and signing it. i can see him making little crude doodles of himself (he has the artistic talent of a wet mop) about how he’s ‘super cool’ and ‘HARDCORE.’

22: How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life?

he’s in this weird level of organized where it’s not disorganized or thrown about 100%--it mean there’s definitely a little mess after a work day in his trailer--but like, his garage? he loves to know where everything is in there so he isn’t frustrated and looking for something. he’s not really an organizational mess, but he just doesn’t want to go through the hassle of ripping his hair out over trying to find something, you dig? it doesn’t manifest in much else he does, really--he could give less of a damn about anyone else or anywhere outside of his trailer/garage.

23: Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?

if you count tech skils as a field of study, then he excels at that for sure. he loves getting his hands dirty with cars and learning all he can with it. it’s a passion for him. otherwise, he’s not too concerned with book smarts unless it can be used to his advantage somehow.

24: How do they see themselves 5 years from today?

still as the king of the arcade, being litwak’s most prized cabinet and prospering even more than he had in the past. ridiculous, i know.

25: Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t workout?

not get unplugged. no, really. there’s no real ‘plans’ outside after that, all he wants is for the next few years to be as golden as smooth as theyve always been, and with an ego like his and the luck he’s had, there’s not a doubt or fear in his mind.

26: What is their biggest regret?

so far, the guy has no regrets. he’ll huff and say that regrets are for losers and that if he does something, then he’ll go down with it to the end. if you actually do make him feel it, though, even for a second? then please give yourself a round of an applause, because that takes a lot.

27: Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (eg The house is on fire! What do they do?)

PANIC. BIG PANIC. he startles and tries his best to keep his cool, but would either try and scramble to put out a fire if it’s small enough, or in more case scenarios, grab one or two things and go because he’s not risking his life. he would be pissed if it screwed him over in some way though and would throw such a tantrum.

28: Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies)

yikes.

turbo has no close family to speak of, so i’m going to phrase this in the terms of a super close friend (let’s say vanellope for instance) dying. i imagine he wouldn’t take it seriously at first and laugh while insisting whoever informed him is just screwing with him and it’s a shoddy prank, but once everything finally hits like a semi-truck going 200mph, he’d feel confused? upset? angry, but that hurt sort of angry at the person who died because he can’t cope, and would yell about how it was ‘their fault’ and pissily ask why they had to be ‘so stupid’.’ five stages of grief? nah, he goes straight from denial, to anger for awhile, to it bothering him--but he keeps it under wraps. he’s gotten used to people leaving out of nowhere, but death of a close person is hard and he’d rather delete than express any form of ‘weakness’ around people.

but like, this is all super rare and he wouldn’t react this way to 99.9% of people. most of the time he just rolls his eyes and doesn’t see the ‘big deal’, bc truly he doesnt care.

29: Most prized possession?

his helmet, his trophies and his kart.

30: Thoughts on material possessions in general?

i mean, the guy is pretty possessive over his trophies and flaunts them, loves talking about his kart--i’d say he’s a pretty materialistic guy and likes having objects to show off certain things--status, victory, fame, what have you.

31: Concept of home and family?

home, to him, is where things feel comfortable. where he can shine. home isn’t a person, nor is it a place, it’s a feeling to him--TurboTime definitely gives him that feeling for sure.

family is not a concept he really thinks of, honestly. he’d rather not and he thinks it’s schmaltzy. but if an outsider was to define it, it’d be someone who’d stick by him through absolute hell. and to stick by a little bastard like turbo? takes a lot.

32: Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?)

MAN.... he has no concept of privacy unless it’s stuff he wants to omit, like certain things he doesn’t want to show (vulnerability). he can definitely overshare though and TMI is no stranger to turbo: i mean, this guy freely talks about sleeping around and answered a question before about his dick size. he doesn’t care. 

33: What makes them feel guilty?

nothing really that i can think of so far. he’s pretty shameless and will take pride in whatever it is he does. but like i said with regrets: you make the guy feel guilty, congrats. hard thing to do though, as he usually pins the blame on someone else and defensively likes to insist he did nothing wrong.

34: Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making?

EMOTIONAL HOO BOY. you’re talking about the biggest brat in gcs with a temper like dynamite: he rarely has time to analyze or think, even with a quick-witted brain. c’mon: this is the guy who gunned it to roadblasters, in his kart, no fucks given because he was jealous and angry and felt neglected. i can’t say that in this stage of life that he’s one who’s very analytical.

35: What recharges them when they’re feeling drained?

a good race, usually, or hanging around people he considers to be ‘fun.’

36: Would you say that they have a superiority-complex? Inferiority-complex? Neither?

SUPERIORITY-COMPLEX ALL THE WAY. turbo refers to himself as a king frequently, i think he called himself a God like, once, and believes everyone is beneath him. no one is on his level, no exceptions, and he’ll laugh and kick you down until you realize it.

37: How misanthropic are they?

ehehhh .. not really? he has an attitude and gets annoyed by most people, but i wouldn’t call the guy a misanthrope.

38: Religion?

doesn’t really believe in it, but he’ll swear to Pong or Programmers every now and again in vain.

39: Superstitions or views on the occult?

not super superstitious and think it’s just a bunch of bullroar--he’s not one to ever take luck into account of anything he does. he thinks occult stuff is creepy and it unnerves him to no end.

40: Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?

depends on the thoughts! usually it tends to be both because he’s such a blabbermouth that he can’t shut up, but he’s a physical enough person that he’ll do some display to express whatever it is that he’s expressing. in situations where he doesn’t know how to vocally express it, he usually does so through physical actions and gestures.

41: How do they express love?

kissing a mirror and stroking his own damn ego.

on a more serious note, turbo doesn’t really express ‘love.’ he doesn’t love anyone besides himself, after all, but how he acts towards people he tolerates/likes isn’t too bad. there’s nick names, picking on them and teasing them (he thinks it’s ‘funny’), and wanting their attention. he’ll hang around them whenever he wants (he doesn’t cling, per se, but he’ll frequently pester them and go out of his way for it), and if he sees a reason to be jealous/that they’re not paying attention to him and onto someone else, he’ll throw a huffy little fit over it.

now if we were talking about in relationships? he’d be such a jealous lover. a possessive one at that. someone gave you a flirty look? nah, he’ll smash their face in. he’d insist that youre ‘his’ and all that jazz.

42: If this person were to get into a fist fight, what is their fighting style like?

‘if’ hoo boy does turbo get into a LOT of fist fights. his fighting style is messy and vicious: turbo doesn’t cheat in racing, but he’ll do dirty tricks in a fight. he fights with his fists the most and will more often than not tackle whoever he’s pissed at, pin them down, choke them out, smash their face in. he’s not afraid to throw his helmet at you or slam it against your face for an upper hand. there’s no distinct style in what he does, it’s just a lot of grappling, rolling, kicking, punching, elbowing, scratching, choking and anything he can do to get a hit in.

43: Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not?

you wouldn’t think so, but yes! turbo is a dare devil, that much is certain: he lives for a rush and adrenaline boosters. he’s mouthed off to huge bugs (i recall him even taunting a huge group of them) and gotten into so much shit -- but he absolutely doesn’t want to full on die in a situation where he can’t regenerate. he’s terrified of dying alone, and worst of all, he doesn’t want to die a ‘peaceful’ death. he’d want to go out with the flashiest bang you can imagine, so that nobody ever forgets him.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Feb. 7, 2020 – BIRDS OF PREY: ETC. ETC.

Thank heavens that there’s only one new wide release this weekend, and just as thankfully, it’s a movie that could help revive an ailing box office that’s been all about Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, Universal’s 1917 and Dolittle for the past few weeks. I never got around to seeing last week’s Gretel and Hansel, and I might still if I have time, but The Rhythm Section wasn’t that bad, and it certainly shouldn’t have bombed as badly as it did, making less than $3 million in 3,000 theaters. Yup, last weekend wasn’t great, and it was only partially due to the Super Bowl.

Clearly, it’s time to move on to this week with the first “superhero” movie of the year, the follow-up to one of DC Entertainment’s biggest outings but also meant to be its own thing, which is BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF HARLEY QUINN (Warner Bros.). It stars recent Oscar nominee Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend/therapist, who is branching out on her own with her own supergirl group, which includes Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winsted), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renée Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Cassandra Cain (at one point, called Batgirl), played by Ella Jay Basco.  Robbie first played the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which earned over $300 million domestic, which some might point to the popularity of Harley as a comic character, but you could also point to things like the fact it starred bonafide box office star Will Smith (whose most recent movie Bad Boys 2 is currently the biggest movie of the year. Birds of Prey also stars Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina, as two well-known Bat-villains, Black Mask and Victor Zsasz, making their big screen live action debuts.

Unlike Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is Rated R as DC and Warner Bros. have seen the huge success of the recent Joker movie, as well as the two Deadpool movies as proof that R-rated comic book movies can still do well even without the teen and tween audiences that usually go to see them. Presumably, Birds of Prey will attract more women due to the characters, although I’m sure there will be some men who who are just as interested due to the connections to the DC Universe. I’m just not sure this will be as big a draw to men as some of those other movies. I’ll have my own review on the blog a little later today.

While I don’t think Birds of Prey will open as big as Joker– let’s face it, the characters therein just aren’t nearly as well known, even Harley – I do think it will do quite well, making somewhere in the $60 million range, maybe more if the reviews are as positive as the early raves that were posted last week. (Having seen the movie and with my review on the way, I don’t think it will fare that well among real critics. You can read my own REVIEW here.)

Either way, Birds of Prey will the weekend with relative ease, although we’ll have to see how Sunday’s Oscar celebration affects all the movies’ business towards the end of the weekend.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Birds of Prey, Etc. Etc (Warner Bros.) - $64.5 million N/A (up $1.9 million)*

2. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $9.7 million –45%

3. 1917 (Universal) - $6.3 million -35%

4. Dolittle  (Universal) - $4.7 million -40%

5. Jumanji: The Next Level  (Sony) - $3.7 million -38%

6. The Gentlemen (STXfilms) - $2.9 million -48%

7. Gretel and Hansel  (U.A. Releasing) - $2.8 million -55%

8. Little Women (Sony) - $2 million -35%

9. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) - $1.7 million -46%

10. The Turning  (Universal) - $1.3 million -55%

* UPDATE: I lowered my prediction a bit after seeing the movie but seeing that reviews have mainly been positive, I think it will help the movie bring in more business before Sunday.

LIMITED RELEASES

Two genre films that have been playing on the genre festival for the last year or so will open in select cities, the first being COME TO DADDY (Saban Films), the directorial debut by horror producer Ant Timpson, who was responsible for horror anthologies, The ABCs of Death and The Field Guide to Evil, as well as popular genre flicks Turbo Kid and The Greasy Strangler. In the movie, Elijah Wood plays Norval Grenwood, a young man called to the remote cabin of his estranged father (Stephen McHattie) who he hasn’t seen in 30 years, since his father walked out on his mother when he was just five years old. Once he gets there, he learns that his father is an abusive alcoholic, and yet, nothing is really what it seems. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and mostly enjoyed it, and I really like Timpsons’s sensibilities as a filmmaker but it really starts to go off the rails as it goes along. Some will definitely enjoy that.

Severin Fialla and Veronika Fanz, the Belgian filmmakers behind Goodnight Mommy, return with THE LODGE (NEON), a creepy thriller in which a couple kids (Lia McHugh, Jaeden Martell) go to a remote cabin near a lake for the Christmas holidays with their new stepmother (Riley Keough) after learning a lot more about her dark past before meeting their widowed father (Richard Armitage). There’s so much more to this movie than what you can see in the suitably eerie trailer, and I certainly will not spoiler any of the experience, although personally, I found this to be more of a downer than Hereditary, a movie that I absolutely loved. This one might take another viewing for me to really get behind it, but other than the performances, the overall look and eerie feel and the twists, it’s pretty dark and depressing, so I’m not 100% sure I’d really want to see it again or can recommend it wholeheartedly.  Either way, both of these movies are opening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn as well as other select cities.

Ben Cookson’s Waiting for Anya (Vertical), adapted from the novel by the same name from the author of War Horse, stars Noah Schnapp as Jo Lalande, a 13-yearold sheperd boy who joins with a reclusive widow (the amazing Anjelica Huston) to help smuggle Jewish children into Spain during World War II.

From Yash Raj Films comes this week’s Bollywood selection Mohit Suri’s Malang, starring Aditya Roy Kapoor as the introverted Advit, who visits Goa where he meets a free-spirited girl from London named Sara (Disha Patani), who has come to India to live like a vagabond or “Malang.” Something happens that changes as five years later, we meet a vigilante killer cop (Anil Kapoor) and a righteous cop (Kunal Kemmu)… And suddenly, I feel like I need to see this movie. It will probably open in 100 theaters or more.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s start out with the Netflix offerings, beginning with the recent Sundance premiere, HORSE GIRL, the new film from Jeff Baena (The Little Hours, Life after Beth), co-written and starring Alison Brie as a socially awkward woman into horses and supernatural crime whose lucid dreams start infiltrating into her waking life. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m definitely interested in the premise, and I generally like Brie’s work.

I never really got into Joe Hill’s books/comics, but I’ll probably give the series LOCKE AND KEY a look when it debuts its first season on Friday. It involves three kids who move with their Mom to an ancestral estate where a series of keys unlock secrets and powers.

On Wednesday debuts the Netflix docuseries They’ve Gotta Have Us from Simon Frederick and Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY will premiere, looking at some of the important and iconic voices in Black Cinema.

If you haven’t had a chance to see DGA winner Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe, based on Shia’s semi-autobiographical screenplay, then it will premiere on Amazon Prime this Friday.

Premiering on Hulu this Friday is Into the Dark: My Valentine, the latest horror feature from Blumhouse as part of this ongoing horror series, this one written and directed by Maggie Levin, who has directed a bunch of shorts. It involves a pop singer whose songs and identity are stolen by her manager ex-boyfriend and pasted on his new girlfriend, which comes to a head when they’re locked up in a small concert venue and things get violence.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

If you went out to see Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You and enjoyed it but haven’t seen his previous movie Your Name (which is just as excellent) then you’re in luck cause the Metrograph is showing it a number of times starting Friday. Thursday might be your last chance to see the new 35mm print of Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York unless it’s extended, but the Hal Hartley serieshas been extended through the weekend with reruns of Trust (1990), Simple Men (1992) and Amateur (1994), all good, but Trust is my favorite of those three. This week’s Welcome To Metrograph: Redux is a good one, Lars von  Trier’s 1996 film Breaking the Waves, which will screen Saturday and Sunday nights.This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947), while the Playtime: Family Matinee sselection is Amy Heckerling’s classic Clueless (1995).

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Wednesday might you can maybe get tickets for the “Weird Wednesday,” the Lone Wolf and Cub movie Shogun Assassin (1980) – I’ll be there for the 7pm screening. Thursday night is a screening of the 1932 Dorothy Arzner film Merrily We Go to Hell. On Monday, Video Vortex presents a J-Horror Bloodbath double feature of Demon Within and Biotherapy, both from 1985. ($5 admittance!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is 1980’s Terror Train, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and then next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1990’s White Palace, starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader, picked by Alamo programmer Christina Cacioppo, so you know it’s gotta be very weird! J

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds matinee is the musical The King and I (1956), starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Weds. and Thurs. night are double features of the Safdies’ Uncut Gems with The Object of Beauty (1991), starring John Malkovich and Andie McDowell with the Safdies doing a QnA on Thursday. Friday’s matinee is the 1982 Paul Schrader Cat People remake, while that Friday’s midnight is True Romance, while Saturday’s midnight movie is 1975’s Aloha, Bobby and Rose. This weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, continuing that series, as well as there being a Cartoon Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Monday’s matinee is Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66while the Monday night double feature is Fear is the Key (1972) and Villain(1971). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double is Hot Potato (1976) and Golden Needles  (1974)..

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Mostly taking a break this week to air the Oscar-nominated shorts but Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 classic All About Eve will screen in 35mm as part of the “Sunday Print Edition.”

AERO  (LA):

Elliot Gould will be on hand Friday to discuss M*A*S*H* airing as part of the “Antiwar Cinema,” then Friday, there will be a double feature of Grand Illusion(1937) and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence  (1983). On Friday, Aero will screen Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Human Condition” trilogy, three movies from 1959 through 1961, airing as a triple feature.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC): This Friday, the Quad begins screening Albert E. Lewin’s 1951 film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored from Martin Scorsese’s own 35mm print. Also starting Friday, the Quad will also be screening a series of Man Ray shorts from 1926 to 1929.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Black Women” series continues this week with The Omega Man and Strange Days on Wednesday, Set It Off, Bright Road and Poetic Justice on Thursday and more over the weekend. It continues through Thursday, February 13. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the recent movie-musicalDreamgirls.

MOMA  (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues this week on Weds with 1951’s Kotch, Thursday with Robert Altman’s 1993classic Short Cuts, and then on Friday, another screening of the 1960 Oscar winner The Apartment co-starring Shirley MacLaine.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, FilmLinc starts a new one-week series called “Dreamed Paths: The Films of Angela Shanelec,” and I honestly have no idea who that is. It’s a pretty comprehensive retrospective of the German filmmaker’s work, so I’m shocked that I’ve never seen a single one of her movies. Besides her work, the filmmaker will also be showing a few hand-selected films like Manoel de Oliveira’s I’m Going Home (2001), the Korean film The Day After and Maurice Pialat’s 1972 film We Won’t Grow Old (1972).

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology’s “The Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” continues this weekend with Edgar J. Ulmer’s The Black Cat (1934) on Wednesday, Sidney Hayers’ Burn Witch Burn (1962), Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out (1968), Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and more screening over the next week.

NITEHAWK CINEMA  (NYC):

Not to be outdown by the Roxy, Brooklyn’s Nitehawk is getting on the Nicolas Cage love-a-thon with the Williamsburg doing an “Uncaged” series starting with Cage’s latest Color Out of Spaceat midnight on Friday, and then Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) on Tuesday. (The latter is sold out.) Williamsburg is also screening Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993) on Saturday afternoon.Prospect Park is showing Barry Jenkins’ Schmoonlight Saturday to kick off its Valentine’s Day series.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is taking another weekend off for no obvious reason – it’ll be back next week -- but Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen the 1973 sci-fi classic Soylent Green and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020 is going with the 4k restoration of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Friday at BAM is Horace Jenkins 1982 film Cane River, starring Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick (both doing QnAs over the weekend), and the actors and relatives of Jenkins will be appearing at a number of screenings this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

2001: A Space Odyssey will once again screen as a Saturday matinee in conjunction with MOMI’s exhibit.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Nicolas Cage love continues with two of his movies from 2003: Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (2003) on Wednesday and Disney’s National Treasure on Thursday.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Not to be outdown by the IFC Center, the Nuart’s Friday midnight movie is Dario Argento’s Suspiriafrom 1977.

Next week is Presidents Day weekend, another four-day holiday weekend, but it’s also Valentine’s Day Friday, so we’ll get kiddie movies like Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount), romantic movies like The Photograph (Universal) and horror movies like Fantasy Island (Sony).

[treadventuretrail]

The store at Uncle Johnny’s hostel.

Well, it was an interesting hike from Sam’s Gap to Irwin and Uncle Johnny’s hostel. Along the way I met Xisco from Arizona. I hiked by myself for most of the day out of Sam’s Gap. I was hungry and tired about lunch time so I stopped to get water near a shelter and made myself a hot lunch of Oodles of Noodles and Hot Chocolate at the shelter. It started raining as I ate so I finished and laid my sleeping pad on the deck under cover of the shelter and decided to shut my eyes for twenty minutes. Forty-five minutes later I awoke as I heard someone coming down the trail. I donned my gear and went out to the trail in the rain where I met Xisco. We hiked together and talked for a while and he told me he was going to Spivey Gap where he had a ride waiting for him to take him to Uncle Johnny’s in Irwin. I had a goal for the day to go to the shelter about six miles past that location. We separated about four miles from Spivey when Xisco had to make a call. As I made it over the next mountain, and continued to get rained on ever so slightly, taking that ride at Spivey Gap seemed more and more palatable. I have started to realize out here that once you allow an idea to begin to seem like it might be a good idea, especially when that idea means the comfort of warmth and food, you either better dig in your heals and say to yourself “NO! I’m not entertaining it!”, or relinquish yourself to the fact that you’ve already given over to the idea. Obviously at this point my mind was already in the second camp.

I made it to Spivey Gap and thought to myself well if the ride isn’t there yet I would push on to the next shelter. It was a sign…the ride was there and we struck up a conversation waiting for Xisco. I took off my pack and gaitors, donned my puffy for warmth and waiting for Xisco who showed up fifteen minutes later. Xisco was happy to share to fare for the ride to Uncle Johnny’s. At Uncle Johnny’s they had one bed left in the bunk house. It was kind of like a tin roofed barn with wooden floors and a pot belly stove. Great to get out of the weather and get some rest. The bunk house had nine beds and a futon of which no one was sleeping on. I put my gear on the last bunk, a top one where if you sat upright you would smack your head on the underside of the roof, but that was okay I was last to arrive and beggars cant be choosers. By this time it was almost five o’clock and the last shuttle to a restaurant to get decent food was leaving so I jumped on the shuttle. The shuttle dropped us at a strip mall with a Mexican restaurant and an Italian restaurant a liquor store, a nail salon, and a Walmart and said they would be back to pick us up at seven.

My feet were killing me and my toe nails needed some TLC. I went into the nail salon with my nasty feet and asked if they could take me as a walk in for a pedicure. They said sure but it would be about an hour. I told them I would be back then and went next door to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. I saw Xisco and sat with him. Shortly Evolution, another through hiker I had met came and sat with him. Evolution was from the Netherlands. When I first met Evo I thought, due to his accent, he was calling himself Evilution and I told him I was a little wierded out by that which made us both laugh. Soon Sovereign would join us. I don’t know much about her because she is very reserved and doesn’t share to much. She seems pleasant enough and she did join me at the nail salon after dinner for a pedicure. For any of you he-men who think a guy who get’s a pedicure is soft well yah, yah, yah whatever…get over it. I love them. There nothing like having someone rub your feet and take care of them to relax you. I almost fall asleep every time. While we were still eating at the Mexican restaurant Turk came in and joined us as well but had to sit at another table behind our booth.

After the pedicure I had just enough time to get over to Walmart and buy insoles for my boots, a couple sodas, and a candy bar then jump on the bus back to Uncle Johnny’s. The WiFi there was not bad but I had difficulty getting my posts to update from there which is why there has been so much time between posts again. I hung out in the common area outside around a big covered picnic table. I was out there with Turk who just got a bottle of Captain Morgan’s another fellow whose name I can’t remember who was eating chili from a cup, and Big Toe. Evolution would soon join us as well. As Turk shared his Captain the kid who had been eating chili out of the cup just poured the Captain right into the chili cheese remnants and drank it down. Yeah, it seemed pretty gross but didn’t phase him. As it turns out whatever Turk had that night did not agree with him and he ended up taking a zero the next day and staying in his bunk sleeping the entire time in between trips to the bathroom. That is one of my biggest fears out hear. I don’t want to end up stomach sick or flu-ish on the trail. There has already been four or five cases of norovirus on the trail and I do not want to end up in that statistical group.

Big Toe and I spent a good part of the evening talking and swapping war stories. Big Toe is a retired cop from the outskirts of Chicago. His wife is also in law enforcement. He is an avid climber and between cop stories and climbing adventures he had no shortage of interesting stories and antic-dotes. Big Toe has come within a hundred yards of summitting Manaslu in Nepal. They decided to call it when they were preparing to attack the summit after one of the worlds best climbers just left camp with one of his guys to summit. Word came of the radio that they had been blown off and were lost and could Big Toe’s team start to search. Shortly the missing climbers rolled into camp, one missing a glove and sporting near frostbite of the hand, and the other with an injury sustained when his ice ax impaled his cheek. After administering first aid Big Toe’s team sat down and regrouped. The consensus was that one of the best climbers in the world just got his ass kicked trying to submit and maybe they should call it. They did and packed up ready to trek back down to Kathmandu. This was just one of the cool stories he shared, so the evening was full of adventure. 

As the evening concluded and everyone headed off to their bunks I climbed up in mine. Folks had the wood stove rolling and it had to be eighty degrees up in the roof area where my bunk was. The mattress was pleather covered foam and I just got down to my skivvies and used my sleeping bag liner. The guy below me had major sleep apnea and sounded like he was drowning on wet bacon. Shortly I realized my liner was wet and so was I. I thought I had laid on some wet clothes in my bag so I changed and rotated my liner only to find fifteen minutes later I was wet again. Noooo! I realized the roof must have had a leak somewhere and my mattress was leaching water as the weight of my body squeezed it like wringing out a damp sponge. I got up and got my things down as quietly as I could. It was after midnight and I wanted to be courteous to the others if they were able to sleep through the lung butter noises. I changes and went outside and thought about my options. I looked for somewhere to set up my tent but it was pouring outside. I finally decided to pack my gear and hike the mile or so to the closest hotel with a vacancy. I got fleeced for the jacuzzi room price because that was all they had left. I eventually went to sleep about Three-thirty after soaking in the jacuzzi. Damn right I’m going to use it if I paid for it. The next morning I called Uncle Johnny’s and they picked me up and shuttled me back to Spivey Gap about Eleven.

My buddy Turbo from Atlanta.

At Spivey Gap I ran into Red, who I stayed with at Mother Marian’s. Red and I kept the same pace all day. He did about sixteen this day and I did about eleven since I ran into him as he had already been hiking for a couple hours. We ended our day following the trail right back down into Irwin and Uncle Johnny’s. This night I would get a private cabin and it was a totally different experience. The cabin was great. I slept well and made it out to the trail by Nine. Red and I started out together and along the way ran into a lot of our friends. We got some trail magic at Indian Grave Gap and ended the day at Cherry Gap Shelter after about Seventeen miles.

Brother Tom providing trail magic at Indian Grave Gap.

As we got to Cherry Gap shelter we were missing Turk who decided to camp back in the woods about five miles before the shelter. He had been struggling with being stomach sick the day before that he was sure was due to Mexican food that rarely agrees with him. Pantry, Turbo, Big Toe, Red and I camped that night at Cherry Gap. Red had some serious pain in one leg from shin splints. Pantry could not stomach eating anything as he said he just felt weak and tired and even though he made himself food he could not force it down and he went to bed. The next morning Pantry and Red were still struggling with their individual ailments and my feet had swelled the day before and I hated to admit they were killing me. I also had apparently developed blistered on the back of my heals that were now callouses which were starting to peel off.

We all made it three miles out to a Iron Mountain Gap where we met Rob, another trail angel, providing trail magic. We sat there for a bit before having to ascend another good size mountain. Pantry decided he was going another mile, finding a camp and taking a nero. I hiked on by myself fort a while and during a rest Red caught up with me. He told me he was going to Greasy Creek Hostel, about a total of Eight miles for the day, and calling it as his shin was killing him. I decided to go with him.

As we arrived at the shelter it was a little rough at first sight. We sat on the porch after calling the proprietors and waited for them. As we did we started singing the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies. I was kind of fitting because as they proprietors CeeCee and Gadget arrived back they could not have been anymore accommodating or homey. They opened their home to us like they were old friends and cared for us like we were family. Greasy creek Shelter is a book that you cannot judge by it’s cover. This place is great. You get real conversation, candid stories, and the kind of care your mom would provide. They also have a bit of restocking items. Call ahead 828-688-9948 if you want to know exactly what they have.

Gadgit and CeeCee from Greasy Creek Frielndly

Homey Kitchen and Dining at Greasy Creek Friendly

Later Gaitor,

Turtlethump

Into Irwin and Uncle Johnny’s Hostel Well, it was an interesting hike from Sam's Gap to Irwin and Uncle Johnny's hostel. Along the way I met Xisco from Arizona.