#j.a. townsend

[themovieblogonline]

"Secret Mall Apartment" Is A Hit @ SXSW 2024

Jeremy Workman returns to SXSW this year with “Secret Mall Apartment.” Eight individuals found a way to convert unused space within the Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island. They used it as a clubhouse and as a protest against gentrification. They were successful from 2003 to 2007 before being discovered. The film is a hoot! It was a big crowd favorite at SXSW 2024. In 2021 Workman’s documentary “Lily Topples the World” was the big documentary category winner at SXSW. This year’s quirky film, executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg, rivals the eccentric brilliance of Workman’s previous documentaries. Previously, an earlier SXSW entry was 2018’s “The World Beneath His Feet," also entertaining.  Secret Mall Apartment made its World Premiere  at SXSW on Friday, March 8th. BACKGROUND The news in the late 1990s that Providence, Rhode Island was going to build a mega-mall was not well-received by the locals. Primarily, the feeling was that the mall had been built for rich people. Conversely, the money it cost could have been used to help improve the poorer sections of the city. Most of those disgruntled residents were artists who found themselves losing their space when gentrification and the mall project purchased their neighborhoods cheaply. Therefore, the August 1999 mall opening sparked resentment, not joy. HOW DID JEREMY WORKMAN FIND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET MALL APARTMENT? Workman says that he learned of the750 square-foot secret mall apartment project hidden within the 3 and ½ million square foot Providence Place Mall while in Athens, Greece. He was talking to an interesting fellow. Subsequently, that interesting artist turned out to be the Mastermind of the secret mall apartment project, Michael Townsend. MALL MISCREANTS Of the 7 other artists who joined Michael Townsend in creating their own clubhouse space within the mall beginning in 2003, none had their names revealed after the secret mall apartment’s discovery in 2007. Until this film, only Michael’s name had been attached to the secret mall apartment. But now the seven other participants’ identities emerge. These other artist friends of Michael’s were Colin Bliss, James J.A. Mercer, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing, Jay Zehngebot, and Emily Ustach. Also, Andrea Valdez Young then married Michael. They are an interesting, extremely well-educated, intelligent group, artists all. When the group was finally discovered, in 2007, four years after they first began making and using the mall secret apartment, only Michael received any jail time. He spent one night in jail, was given 6 months probation, and had to pay court costs and restitution fees. He was banned from the Providence Place Mall in perpetuity. Michael brought about his own downfall when he took a friend to the secret room during daylight hours, a group no-no. SECRET MALL PROJECT The troop smuggled 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of cinder block into the location to build a wall. They carried furniture, including a large couch, a breakfront, and a table and chairs up a steep ladder. Left-over food court food was consumed. The group watched all the movies in the mall’s theater located near their hideaway. The group called the 750 square feet “the nowhere space” and described it as “totally Tomb Raider” In order to get electricity, they used an extension cord that was dropped to the first floor. The space was incredibly dark, cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Eventually, it had dusty concrete walls that the team erected. Over the years they filmed themselves undertaking the difficult and illegal  project with a low-resolution Pentax camera small enough to fit inside an Altoids tin. RINGLEADER By looking closely at the ring-leader Michael Townsend, motives for this unusual plan become clearer. The child of a military family who moved to 8 different places before the age of 7, (starting with Vista, California 1971-1975) Michael is “all about involving people in a collaborative process of art.” Michael is the kind of young man that you hope your son will grow up to be, although perhaps with a better-paying day job. His philosophy? “You have an opportunity to use the skills that you have to do something good.” Michael worked for 15 years for Special Care, a facility for autism cases and cerebral palsy victims, where his art was therapy. MICHAEL’S  UNIQUE ART Michael’s unique art is called “tape art.” He uses colored tape to create pictures on walls of the children’s hospital rooms, a therapeutic way to involve the young patients. Michael also organized the Secret Mall Apartment team trip to Oklahoma City to create an Optimism Mural on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Michael and his fellow artists also conducted a 5-year project to memorialize the first responders, police and firefighters who died on 9/11. An early project that he constructed beneath a city bridge involved mannequins suspended by wire(s). Most of the mannequins were shown reclining on couch-like furniture. The installation was so well-hidden that one admirer said  she spent a long time trying to find her way to it through various underground tunnels and sewers, without success. All of Michael’s art work is impermanent. “For me, there’s no line between life and art,” said Michael. A friend, asked to describe Michael,  said, “He is a creative mind trying to express itself in every possible way.” The interviewer responded, “Isn’t that art?” An astute observation. HOW DID THEY DO IT? The lengths to which the team went to (a) fix up the space and (b) avoid detection while fixing and utilizing the space are interesting and amusing. One way to gain access to their haven was through a first-floor bathroom via a small tunnel. Transporting the 72 cinder blocks into the space is documented via a “private entrance."  The team had to shimmy under a wire fence.  They used milk bottles tied to their clothing to keep from being cut by the wire on the bottom of the fence. Watching the furnishing of the secret mall apartment is an astounding sight. The group even had a waffle-maker in their breakfront. CONCLUSION Michael doesn’t feel he is “stealing” anything from the mall. Within “the belly of the beast” the troop were comparable to “a barnacle on a whale,” not hurting it in any way. The owners of the mall might feel differently. The real kicker to this weird four-year saga of protest that the secret mall apartment represented is this: the Providence Park Mall, like many others in the country, nearly defaulted on its payments in 2022. As a result of their financial difficulties, the owners of the mall are considering retooling the gargantuan monster mall into residential spaces. What an ironic ending to a terrific film!

[davidosu87]

Another Featured Review on Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast back from November as part of Italian Horror Month. This is an interesting movie that takes religion and uses space as a basis for it. Not a great movie overall, but one that I did enjoy. Have you heard of this one? 

[jackoshadows]

I guess this is what a billion dollar budget gets...

Spy Report: Incredible details from Amazon’s Lord of the Rings! Characters, Sexless Nudity & Halflings too?

Men, Elves and Dwarves have their own sequestered production units for the different Free Peoples [this intriguing bit rather suggests the narrative might be constructed across wide time jumps or told from pockets of different historical viewpoints, perhaps even an anthology approach rotating characters from the various Free Peoples all reacting to the same thing, or just not cooperating with each other in Season 1: but over what timelines we still do not know].

Scripts are only digitally shared among actors and crew under draconian control mechanisms to track any persons who could access them

There is a fake production team shooting decoy footage on fake sets unrelated to the real Production – [thus making some “reports of location sightings” false leads by tricksy hobbitses and we must admit this is very clever indeed! Peter Jackson never used decoys!]

Main unit wrapped shooting in April 2021; while many actors are back in the U.K. or are now on other productions

J.A. Bayona’s episodes are a standalone entry point to the series [like a feature film]

There are more incredible directors and big stars yet to be announced

They are aiming for a mid-2022 release [that is only one short year away and must mean the pressure on Post Production must be remarkable

Some Halflings are dark skin precursors to Shire-hobbits quite possibly “one of three somewhat different breeds” maybe Harfoots; [described by Tolkien in the Prologue to LOTR ‘Concerning Hobbits’ pg. 12: “they were browner of skin,” and also “they moved westward early,” alluding to a time in their Wandering Days, or perhaps earlier when they kept no records of their journeys over the Misty Mountains westward (which may explain a little of why any early antecedents of pre-Shire migration hobbits would appear here in the Second Age instead of Third Age narrative)]

Sir Lenny Henry portrays one such early halfling [Harfoot]

Celebrimbor the ringmaker has been recast

Tom Budge was in that role [this feels like a twenty year-old analogy to the original recasting of Stuart Townsend replaced by Viggo Mortensen in the LOTR Trilogy]

Certain creatures are referred to as Ice Trolls because they can’t be called Cave Trolls (Warner Bros. licensing restriction)

Nudity is sparse and not sexualized— contrary to earlier concerns: but rather this artistic choice represents very dark thematic material suggestive of concentration camp-type visuals of victims, a harrowing portrayal of the corruption of the Elves by dark powers to ultimately become Orcs [if this plays out fully it will may well be one of the most ambitious things undertaken by this production and perhaps by anyone attempting to adapt Tolkien]

Elves will have short/ shorter hairstyles [cue the Twitter threads, both pro and con, and the voting polls, and endless constellations of lovely fan art, so please bring it fans; I’m here for it]

Sauron/Annatar will not be revealed in Season One [going with the oldest axiom of show business “Always leave them wanting more.”

[goldfishbymatisse]

library assignment.

artists.

Koons, J., Sylvester, D. and Rosenblum, R. (2001). Jeff Koons : easyfun-ethereal. New York ; London: Harry N. Abrams.

‌Isaak, J.A. (2000). QR code for Feminism and Contemporary Art Title. London: Routledge.‌

Waldman, D., Holzer, J. and R, S. (1997). Jenny Holzer. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

techniques.

Ackland-Snow, N., Brett, N. and Williams, S. (1997). Fly. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

L Weiss (2006). Discover beading. Waukesha, Wis.: Kalmbach Books.

‌100 Embroidery stitches. (1968). Glasgow: Coats.‌

further exploration.

Gillian, L. (2003). Kitsch Deluxe. London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

Merck, M., Townsend, C. and Emin, T. (2002). The art of Tracey Emin. New York, N.Y.: Thames & Hudson.

Tomáš Kulka and Penn State University Press (2018). Kitsch and art. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, Druk.‌‌

Dascal, M. and Hanliang Zhang (2007). Traditions of controversy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

‌

[yahoo-big-league-stew-blog]

MLB season preview: The Blue Jays have the talent needed to challenge for the throne

An offseason that looked like it might drain some of the power of the mighty Toronto Blue Jays lineup ended being … not as bad as it could have been. So, as we enter 2017, the Blue Jays appear to be in a good place to challenge for the American League throne again.

Some familiar questions linger, of course: Will their starting pitching hold up? Will Jose Bautista, at 36, prove wrong all the teams that didn’t want to pry him away in free agency? Will Kendrys Morales do enough to replace Edwin Encarnacion, who went to the Cleveland Indians in free agency?

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball: Get in the game and join a league today]

As we’ve learned from the Blue Jays the last two seasons, they have the capability to be great on both sides of the game. Two years ago, they had the most potent offense in baseball. Last season, surprisingly, they had the sixth-best ERA in baseball. The mix of talent is great, from perennial MVP candidate Josh Donaldson to young starters Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman.

The AL East, as always, is no cakewalk. So challenging the Boston Red Sox is going to take the Jays’ best. But if the Blue Jays find the right combination of high-powered offense and sneaky-good pitching, they could be a very dangerous team.

ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTIONS Additions: Kendrys Morales, Steve Pearce Subtractions: Michael Saunders, Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Cecil

The Blue Jays experienced quite the overhaul this offseason. Michael Saunders and Edwin Encarnacion left for better deals, and Jose Bautista nearly joined them before eventually coming back to the club. The team was quick to pick up an Encarnacion replacement, signing Kendrys Morales early. He won’t be able to replace EE’s production, but he’s still an effective hitter. Steve Pearce has been effective as a part-time player in the past, and there’s a chance he can supplant Justin Smoak at first depending on his performance. While Toronto won’t turn in the same murderer’s row at the plate, there’s still a chance for them to post some gaudy offensive numbers despite losing some key parts.

Jose Bautista, back with the Blue Jays, will be key in them contending again. (AP)

KEY PLAYER There are other players on the Blue Jays besides Jose Bautista, but none of them may be as important. With Edwin Encarnacion gone to Cleveland, Bautista’s ability to hit dingers is even more vital. In 2016, Bautista hit .234/.366/.452, his worst triple slash since his injury-shortened 2012. He also hit 22 home runs in 116 games, a significant drop in power. Not the best stats for a free agent slugger to show off to potential new employers. Unable to find a non-Toronto home during the offseason, he signed a one-year contract that brought him back to the Jays. So the team has one more year of Bautista, and Bautista has one more year to get back some of what he’s lost: his health and his power. A healthy, powerful Bautista is a force to be reckoned with, and a huge boon to the Toronto lineup. (Liz Roscher)

PROJECTED LINEUP & ROTATION Lineup 1. Devon Travis, 2B (.300/.332/.454, 11 HR, 50 RBI) 2. Josh Donaldson, 3B (.284/.404/.549, 37 HR, 99 RBI, 122 R) 3. Jose Bautista, RF (.234/.366/.452, 22 HR, 69 RBI) 4. Kendrys Morales, DH (263/.327/.468, 30 HR, 93 RBI) 5. Troy Tulowitzki, SS (.254/.318/.443, 24 HR, 79 RBI) 6. Russell Martin, C (.231/.335/.398, 20 HR, 74 RBI) 7. Justin Smoak, 1B (.217/.314/.391, 14 HR, 34 RBI) 8. Kevin Pillar, CF (.266/.303/.376, 7 HR, 53 RBI, 14 SB) 9. Ezequiel Carrera, LF (.248/.323/.356, 6 HR, 23 RBI)

Rotation 1. Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37 ERA, 204 IP, 166 K) 2. JA Happ (20-4, 3.18 ERA, 195 IP, 163 K) 3. Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.48 ERA, 176 IP, 165 K) 4. Aaron Sanchez (15-2, 3.00 ERA, 192 IP, 161 K) 5. Francisco Liriano (8-13, 4.69 ERA, 163 IP, 168 K)

Marcus Stroman will lead the Jays rotation, but he’ll need to be better than last year. (AP)

BEST-CASE SCENARIO The Blue Jays continue getting the starting pitching that helped separate them from the pack in 2016. It would be fair to expect some regression from the starting five, but there should be enough quality depth here to keep things from plummeting completely. As long as this group stays solid, it will take some pressure off of the offense and bullpen and perhaps clear the way for a division championship. (Mark Townsend)

WORST-CASE SCENARIO Injuries. It sounds obvious, but the Blue Jays can’t afford to lose more than one key player in the lineup or rotation. With good health, this team should be a playoff contender throughout the season. Without it, they’re at risk of being surpassed by the Red Sox and Yankees, and perhaps settling in just above .500. (Townsend)

PRESSING FANTASY QUESTION Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada finished as top-35 fantasy pitchers last season. Can they all repeat? Can any of ’em repeat?

Let’s begin with the messy data on this trio from last season: Sanchez – 3.00 ERA, 3.75 xFIP, .267 BABIP Happ – 3.18 ERA, 4.18 xFIP, .268 BABIP Estrada – 3.48 ERA, 4.64 xFIP, .234 BABIP

[Elsewhere: Read more pressing fantasy questions about the Blue Jays]

All were good-to-great last year, but it’s not as if they didn’t have luck on their side. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if any/all took a backward step. At the moment, only one of these guys (Sanchez) ranks inside the Yahoo consensus top-35 starters for 2017. Sanchez is a hard-thrower with a sinker from hell itself, and, like teammate Marcus Stroman, he coaxes endless grounders. I’m not betting against him.

Estrada has plenty of strikeout upside (8.4 K/9) and he’s been winning the BABIP lottery for years, so it’s possible he’s discovered some cheat code. Happ is clearly draft-worthy as well, but I’m confident someone in the room (probably Pianowski) will always like him more than I do. And nearly all of Happ’s value in mixed leagues last season was tied to that 20-4 record, which ain’t happenin’ again. I won’t fight you for him. Sanchez and Stroman are the Jays starters I’m eyeing. (Andy Behrens)

BEST FOLLOW Jose Bautista isn’t afraid to show you himself, even at his weirdest.

On days off, we recover ???????????????? #Recovery Los dias libres, nos recuperamos???????????????? @ntrecovery ????????????????????????

A post shared by Jose Bautista (@joeybats19) on Mar 10, 2017 at 10:59am PST

He’s been at the World Baseball Classic until just recently, and he’s been having a tremendous amount of fun. Bautista is one of the most popular players in the MLB, and he knows it, so watching him interact on social media can be tremendously entertaining. (Roscher)

BEST REASON TO ATTEND A GAME If you’re non-local heading to Toronto, then there are a lot of other great things to do that you can combine with a trip to the ballpark. If you’re a hockey fan, you won’t want to miss the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s just an eight-minute bus ride from Rogers Centre, so it’s easy to get between both locations.

If you don’t want the day to be consumed with sports, you can head to the Toronto Zoo. That’s going to require more planning, though, as it will take you roughly an hour to get to the ballpark.

If you want something closer, you can always check out CN Tower. It’s considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and is just four minutes from the park.

ALSO IN THIS SERIES: San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – –

Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz

[themovieblogonline]

"Secret Mall Apartment" Is A Hit @ SXSW 2024

Jeremy Workman returns to SXSW this year with “Secret Mall Apartment.” Eight individuals found a way to convert unused space within the Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island. They used it as a clubhouse and as a protest against gentrification. They were successful from 2003 to 2007 before being discovered. The film is a hoot! It was a big crowd favorite at SXSW 2024. In 2021 Workman’s documentary “Lily Topples the World” was the big documentary category winner at SXSW. This year’s quirky film, executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg, rivals the eccentric brilliance of Workman’s previous documentaries. Previously, an earlier SXSW entry was 2018’s “The World Beneath His Feet," also entertaining.  Secret Mall Apartment made its World Premiere  at SXSW on Friday, March 8th. BACKGROUND The news in the late 1990s that Providence, Rhode Island was going to build a mega-mall was not well-received by the locals. Primarily, the feeling was that the mall had been built for rich people. Conversely, the money it cost could have been used to help improve the poorer sections of the city. Most of those disgruntled residents were artists who found themselves losing their space when gentrification and the mall project purchased their neighborhoods cheaply. Therefore, the August 1999 mall opening sparked resentment, not joy. HOW DID JEREMY WORKMAN FIND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET MALL APARTMENT? Workman says that he learned of the750 square-foot secret mall apartment project hidden within the 3 and ½ million square foot Providence Place Mall while in Athens, Greece. He was talking to an interesting fellow. Subsequently, that interesting artist turned out to be the Mastermind of the secret mall apartment project, Michael Townsend. MALL MISCREANTS Of the 7 other artists who joined Michael Townsend in creating their own clubhouse space within the mall beginning in 2003, none had their names revealed after the secret mall apartment’s discovery in 2007. Until this film, only Michael’s name had been attached to the secret mall apartment. But now the seven other participants’ identities emerge. These other artist friends of Michael’s were Colin Bliss, James J.A. Mercer, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing, Jay Zehngebot, and Emily Ustach. Also, Andrea Valdez Young then married Michael. They are an interesting, extremely well-educated, intelligent group, artists all. When the group was finally discovered, in 2007, four years after they first began making and using the mall secret apartment, only Michael received any jail time. He spent one night in jail, was given 6 months probation, and had to pay court costs and restitution fees. He was banned from the Providence Place Mall in perpetuity. Michael brought about his own downfall when he took a friend to the secret room during daylight hours, a group no-no. SECRET MALL PROJECT The troop smuggled 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of cinder block into the location to build a wall. They carried furniture, including a large couch, a breakfront, and a table and chairs up a steep ladder. Left-over food court food was consumed. The group watched all the movies in the mall’s theater located near their hideaway. The group called the 750 square feet “the nowhere space” and described it as “totally Tomb Raider” In order to get electricity, they used an extension cord that was dropped to the first floor. The space was incredibly dark, cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Eventually, it had dusty concrete walls that the team erected. Over the years they filmed themselves undertaking the difficult and illegal  project with a low-resolution Pentax camera small enough to fit inside an Altoids tin. RINGLEADER By looking closely at the ring-leader Michael Townsend, motives for this unusual plan become clearer. The child of a military family who moved to 8 different places before the age of 7, (starting with Vista, California 1971-1975) Michael is “all about involving people in a collaborative process of art.” Michael is the kind of young man that you hope your son will grow up to be, although perhaps with a better-paying day job. His philosophy? “You have an opportunity to use the skills that you have to do something good.” Michael worked for 15 years for Special Care, a facility for autism cases and cerebral palsy victims, where his art was therapy. MICHAEL’S  UNIQUE ART Michael’s unique art is called “tape art.” He uses colored tape to create pictures on walls of the children’s hospital rooms, a therapeutic way to involve the young patients. Michael also organized the Secret Mall Apartment team trip to Oklahoma City to create an Optimism Mural on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Michael and his fellow artists also conducted a 5-year project to memorialize the first responders, police and firefighters who died on 9/11. An early project that he constructed beneath a city bridge involved mannequins suspended by wire(s). Most of the mannequins were shown reclining on couch-like furniture. The installation was so well-hidden that one admirer said  she spent a long time trying to find her way to it through various underground tunnels and sewers, without success. All of Michael’s art work is impermanent. “For me, there’s no line between life and art,” said Michael. A friend, asked to describe Michael,  said, “He is a creative mind trying to express itself in every possible way.” The interviewer responded, “Isn’t that art?” An astute observation. HOW DID THEY DO IT? The lengths to which the team went to (a) fix up the space and (b) avoid detection while fixing and utilizing the space are interesting and amusing. One way to gain access to their haven was through a first-floor bathroom via a small tunnel. Transporting the 72 cinder blocks into the space is documented via a “private entrance."  The team had to shimmy under a wire fence.  They used milk bottles tied to their clothing to keep from being cut by the wire on the bottom of the fence. Watching the furnishing of the secret mall apartment is an astounding sight. The group even had a waffle-maker in their breakfront. CONCLUSION Michael doesn’t feel he is “stealing” anything from the mall. Within “the belly of the beast” the troop were comparable to “a barnacle on a whale,” not hurting it in any way. The owners of the mall might feel differently. The real kicker to this weird four-year saga of protest that the secret mall apartment represented is this: the Providence Park Mall, like many others in the country, nearly defaulted on its payments in 2022. As a result of their financial difficulties, the owners of the mall are considering retooling the gargantuan monster mall into residential spaces. What an ironic ending to a terrific film!