#karras academy

[tummacademia]

Some readings and resources for further exploration of medieval literature, history, and art

"The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer

"Beowulf" translated by Seamus Heaney

"The Song of Roland" translated by Dorothy L. Sayers

"The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri

"The Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio

"The Book of Margery Kempe" by Margery Kempe

"The Lais of Marie de France" translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby

"The History of the Kings of Britain" by Geoffrey of Monmouth

"The Mabinogion" translated by Sioned Davies

"The Romance of Tristan and Iseult" translated by Joseph Bédier

In addition to these literary works, here are some resources for further exploration of medieval history and art:

"A Short History of the Middle Ages" by Barbara H. Rosenwein

"The Civilization of the Middle Ages" by Norman F. Cantor

"The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England" by Ian Mortimer

"The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe" edited by George Holmes

"Medieval Art" by Veronica Sekules

"A Medieval Life : Cecilia Penifader and the world of English peasants before the plague" by Judith Bennett

"The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe" by Judith M. Bennett, Ruth Mazo Karras

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of medieval art and artifacts

The British Library's collection of medieval manuscripts and documents

The Medieval Academy of America's resources and publications on medieval studies

The International Center of Medieval Art's resources and publications on medieval art

These resources should provide a good starting point for further exploration of medieval literature, history, and art.

[mofffun]

Rita Birth Family Headcanons (revisited)

---post-38---

the Kaniskas are the most ordinary old people you ever see. but they were the world's best con artists

Kaniska siblings???? Rita's evil twin spin off??

Or they are the one honest line of Gokkan residents. In that rumoured port of Gokkan. Or they don't live in Gokkan and instead travel the seas.

The most direct subtext to read here is the Kaniskas were arrested when Rita was 5 so Karras took them in. They dressed like that because their family has to hide their identities while on the run.

Although Rita mentioned they see them time to time they never specify if their parents were serving time.

--- post-16/pre-30 ---

another possiblity: the Kaniskas were "evil" scientists who defected for their child (said child may or may not be experimented on)

---pre-16---

Rita was born to ex-convict parents who gave them their best despite harsh conditions.

Rita probably met the Gokkan Yeti very young once.

Rita was given up for adoption to the Gokkan sovereign when the time came to select a sucessor.

They are not adopted right away but they had to leave their family/family name for the sake of neutrality when they enter the royal academy. That happened when they turned 10 5.

Their parents find it difficult to let go but giving Rita a chance at a better life and to see the wider world is more important.

Rita doesn’t fully understand the weight of turning their back on their birth family yet, but they understood where their parents are coming from and wanted to do something for their community.

Gokkan had the reputaion of harbouring criminals and vicious characters but growing up, along with an absolute sense of right and wrong, Rita also saw people who help each other and try hard to begin again.

To be able to judge people not with presumption but a willingness to give them second chances is one of the merit criteria for the Gokkan throne.

God Papillon���s will factor in too, somehow.

Over the years Rita has seen many people who are not accepted by society be driven to crime hence their empathy and the line to Jeremy in ep12

Rita’s mother taught them about taking responsibilities when mistakes are made.

Rita’s father takes baby Rita on hikes and teach them to identify creatures.

Baby Rita loves to laugh, so much.

[fearsmagazine]

THE EXORCISM starring RUSSELL CROWE; sets theatrical release for JUNE 7, 2024.

Vertical has acquired North American rights to the horror film The Exorcism (aka The Georgetown Project) starring Academy Award®-Winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind).

From Miramax, producer Kevin Williamson and Outerbanks Entertainment, the film is directed by Joshua John Miller and written by Miller and M.A. Fortin, the creators of the hit series Queen of The South and the writers and producers of The Final Girls. In addition to Crowe, the film stars Ryan Simpkins (Fear Street Trilogy), Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Chloe Bailey (Praise This), Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier).

The film will have an exclusive theatrical release beginning on June 7, 2024. Shudder, AMC Networks’ premiere streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, has acquired pay 1 rights to the film. The Exorcism follows Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Simpkins) wonders if he's slipping back into his past addictions or if there's something more sinister at play.

The Exorcism marks the sophomore outing as director for Joshua John Miller after an extensive career acting, producing, and writing. He began his career as one of the leads in Kathryn Bigelow’s vampire classic Near Dark. Miller brings decades of knowledge of horror films to the table, as well as familial connections in his father, Jason Miller, who portrayed Father Damien Karras in The Exorcist (1973), and his mother, Susan Bernard, who was a Scream Queen.

Filmmakers Miller and Fortin said, “Vertical has been a great partner in helping us complete and realize our vision for this story. Their level of enthusiasm and support are rare to find.”

Vertical Partner Peter Jarowey said, “Joshua has a profound expertise in this genre, and we applaud his creation of a film that reverently nods to classic horror while adding a fresh twist. We want to thank everyone at Miramax for their partnership and are looking forward to bringing the film to theatres nationwide this summer.”

The Exorcism is produced by Miramax, Kevin Williamson, Ben Fast, and Bill Block. Padraic McKinley, Scott Putman, Andrew Golov, and Thom Zadra serve as executive producers. Below-the-line talent includes director of photography Simon Duggan; production designer Michael T. Perry; editor Matthew Woolley; music by Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans; costume designer Jodi Leesley; and casting directors Mary Vernieu, C.S.A and Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, C.S.A

Jarowey and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi negotiated the deal on behalf of Vertical, with CAA Media Finance negotiating the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.

[thegnollhole]

i was going to post about karra using lao gan ma as lube but it made me curious to see what flavors spotted hyenas can taste and learned that apparently they can't taste sweet things, which is unfortunate because also apparently zebra meat is sweet.

[jackassrabbit]

Art commission from @mechon of my OC, Emily.

He’s only opened commissions recently but I love his artsyle.

[jackassrabbit-art]

Tess, one of the many OCs I’ve never tried drawing.

[theoscarchallenge]

This movie is quite hysterically funny. Such a great cast (James Garner, hello!!) and the story is good and fun. I wonder if Margot Robbie was inspired by Lesley Ann Warren when creating her Harley Quin character, there was a definite similarity. Victor Victoria received the Oscar for Best Music-Original Score for Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist has been endlessly parodied and referenced. As a kid, I remember seeing an action figure, complete with electronics and sounds that re-created one of the film’s most iconic scenes - the last thing you’d expect from an Academy Award-winner. Upon release, people complained the R-Rated film might be viewed by children, people fainted, and there were attempts to ban it. That was in  1973. Since then, has its power to terrorize diminished? No. Particularly if you examine the subject matter.

Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is worried about her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Lynda Blair). A series of unexplainable behavior pushes Chris to bring Regan to numerous specialists, none of whom can determine what is wrong with the young girl. Though not a woman of faith, Chris nonetheless turns to priest/psychiatrist Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to examine her.

This is a frightening film, but not in the typical sense of the word. It’s not about blood or the fear of death - though both are present. It’s about the sheer vulgarity and weirdness of these events. Regan’s transformation keeps surprising you until you believe without a doubt that there’s a genuine evil possessing her. It’s a force so maleficent you have a hard time believing it could be defeated by anyone, much less people whose faith is wavering at best. That makes it sound like these events are huge, the sort that will bring armies of damned souls through the floorboards and make gore rain from the sky but they aren't. The devilish thing about the sinister force in The Exorcist is that everything we see is carefully portrayed as plausibly deniable. The newspapers after the events of the film will not be “THE DEVIL IS REAL!” because what transpires does not match the traditional definition of an exorcism. What we witness is all so bizarre, so off-putting it would almost be comical if it wasn’t so demented.

It’s the kind of story that sticks with you, that you keep flipping over in your head and each time becomes a little bit more unsettling because it feels so real. Unlike other horror films, it’s not a disturbed burial ground, a new home, a puzzle box that’s been opened, or any other transgression that kicks off this plot… it’s nothing. Like a real-life, "ordinary" disease, what is happening to Regan comes out of nowhere and takes over as Chris is powerless to do anything about it. The idea that this little girl and her mother are being terrorized for no reason is deeply upsetting.

This film has many strengths, even if you ignore its ability to produce nightmares. The characters are well-developed and textured without spending too much time on them. Director William Friedkin knows when to focus on Chris and Regan, when to cut away from them, and exactly how much we need to know about Father Karras. You care and understand the people involved, which makes the torment they’re faced with that much more relatable.

The Exorcist contains spectacular special effects and the kind of visuals that have been imitated, but never quite duplicated because it did it first. The audacity with which it tackles its story, the script and screenplay, the performances, and the iconic images all combine to make a film that’s unforgettable. It’s got quotable lines, many moments that stick with you, and a theme that you would be happy to hum if it didn't bring guaranteed memories that will lead to sleepless nights. This is excellent filmmaking, a must-see. (On Blu-ray, June 2, 2017)

[wsghweg]

Hay caras largas en la comida previa al segundo partido

29 19 Marc renueva se va a SaS, y veria mejor a Okafor, que es un jugador de los que no hay, la gente va a flipar con él. Entre el y Davis van a dominar la liga los proximos 10 aos. Lo pondria incluso un escalon por encima de Davis. Uno de los que más sufrió los poderes del reverso tenebroso fue José Manuel Calderón. El

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base espaol no tuvo su mejor noche y terminó su particular batalla galáctica con cuatro puntos (dos de cuatro en tiros de campo), seis rebotes y cinco asistencias. El 'sevillano' Porzingis, por su parte, concluyó el choque con 12 puntos y siete rebotes.. Una lastima que se retirara zattini promoção de botas con tan solo 30 aos en 1991, porqeu Magic tenia para haber jugado minimo otros 5 aos jean coquelinde gran nivel y con los lakers fichando decentemente podria haber vuelto a dominar el basket como hizo en los 80. No pudo ser y Jordan arraso con un equipazo que tenia el tio. Para mi Magic esta infravalorado clarisimamente. Tiene problemas de espalda. Ni siquiera viajó con la expedición. Hay caras largas en la comida previa al segundo partido. Los 12 puntos de diferencia no muestran nada de lo ocurrido. Los Lakers lo hicieron de pena y demostraron que no tienen la mentalidad para ser campeones. Ganarán la serie, sí, pero eso no maquilla las dudas.. Los jugadores, equipo técnico y familiares de los Warriors de Golden State posan para los fotógrafos tras vencer a los Cavaliers de Cleveland en el quinto partido de las Finales de la NBA en el pabellón Oracle Arena de Oakland, California (Estados Unidos). (EFE / MONICA M. DAVEY)Los jugadores,

nike phantom vision academy

equipo técnico y familiares de los Warriors de Golden State posan para los fotógrafos tras vencer

nike phantom vision academy

a los Cavaliers de Cleveland en el quinto partido de las Finales de la NBA en el pabellón Oracle Arena de Oakland, California (Estados Unidos). La verdad que siento un poco de celos de compartir con todos a MCW, pero por otra parte me hace ilusión el no haber equivocado mi adidas stan smith j white tactile blueapuesta por el. Hace mas o menos un ao, ya le tenía en mis listas de recruits y como seguidor y admirador de la NCAA, me vi unos 8 o 10 partidos de los Orange, antes del March madnnes. A mi también me gustó lo que vi de MCW antes del draft, pero creo que hay que bajar un poco a la gente de la burra. La estrella de los Celtics ha emitido un comunicado: "ha habido una gran confusión. A Villanueva le dije que era cancerígeno para su equipo y la Liga. No sería capaz de emplear este tema como un insulto. Pero no sé. No le veía condicions de "megacrack". Como si que le veía a Epi o a Corbalán. Todas las ofertas tendrían una cláusula de salida si se arreglase el 'lockout', y quizá Bryant confirme, o desmienta, este posible fichaje pronto. La estrella de los Lakers estará en Italia la próxima semana para un acto promocional de Nike. Es posible que Sabatini, presidente de la Virtus, o su director deportivo Faraoni, se reunan con él para concretar la oferta.. General manager Billy King, even after the Nets split their first 28 games and even with Williams currently sidelined with a wrist injury, seemed to think the same. No player on this team is fireable, not with those salaries, and King himself surely isn't going to take the blame for the roster that he and Williams and owner Mikhail Prokhorov wanted to put together. As a result,

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as it is in the NBA, Avery gets the axe.. That transition attack is dependent on the Nuggets missing shots, though, and this is why most are giving Denver the edge in this series. The Warriors are a mediocre defensive team that struggles to protect the rim even with Bogut in chanel ágynemű full force, and the Nuggets' endless slashing and massive heaps of points in the paint (with or without the addition of fast break layups) could have Golden State scrambling in its playoff debut under Jackson. The Warriors haven't reacted well to quick pass artists all season, and while Denver can't touch Golden State when it kimono long femme grande taillecomes to spacing the floor (the team is 25th out of 30 NBA squads in 3 point percentage), that hardly matters when a turned head

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or whiffed defensive assignment leads to yet another lay in.. En particular, Monta Ellis perdió la inasumible cantidad de ocho balones. Hasta Calderón, siempre impecable en cómo guardar el balón con 10 candados, perdió dos balones, contagiado en ciertas fases del encuentro por cierto grado de desbarajuste. Eso sí, quién le dice nada a como se pronuncia aquí en Texas el nombre del extremeo, que sacó el látigo anotador en el último cuarto y se fue a casa con 17 puntos y 4 asistencias en el bolsillo. La trama cuenta como una actriz de Georgetown nota un vamos a llamarlo comportamiento extrao en su hija y no consigue que la medicina más tradicional tenga una explicación racional. Cuando los cambios se radicalizan hasta tal punto que sufre heridas, vomita líquidos extraos y habla con una voz terrorífica ya no hay duda: está poseída y sólo el padre Karras, junto con el experimentado padre Merrin, pueden ayudar a la joven. Escatológica como ninguna película hasta entonces, son varias las escenas que se han grabado en el espectador, pero antes que dar detalles mejor que cada uno decida cuál es su preferida.

[letterboxd]

Exorcism.

Film-obsessive documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe tells Aaron Yap about watching The Exorcist for 30 days straight, mining William Friedkin’s personality for his absorbing new documentary, and the films that floor him.

“Sometimes you can be watching a romantic comedy but what you’re really craving is a film noir.” —Alexandre O. Philippe

William Friedkin loves to talk. A consummate storyteller off and on screen, the director is known for recounting wild tales of his storied life and career as the charismatic wunderkind who ascended to New Hollywood’s elite with 1971’s Oscar-showered cop procedural The French Connection. A couple of years later his reputation would grow two-fold, adapting a novel by William Peter Blatty called The Exorcist and unleashing what is still perhaps the most revered and discussed horror film of all time.

To this day, the film, which broke new ground for its grounded, rigorously methodical interrogation of demonic possession and faith-in-crisis, continues to terrify and haunt our imagination. But as Alexandre O. Philippe reveals in his Shudder documentary Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist, it’s in ways that are more intangible and unfathomable than we imagine.

From the William Friedkin papers of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. / Photo courtesy William Friedkin

Throughout the intimate one-on-one session, it’s clear that the 85-year-old’s gift of gab has not diminished. As ChainsawMasacre writes on Letterboxd, “his mind and memory is still like a steel trap”. Philippe, a Swiss-born cinephile-centric doco filmmaker who’s covered everything from zombie movies to George Lucas, captures Friedkin’s contagious ranconteuring in all its prickly, contradictory, exuberant bluster. It’s so absorbing that from the moment he opens his mouth, you’ll be hooked in and suddenly an hour has vanished without you even realizing.

It’s true that considerable swathes of Leap of Faith may feel like old news to Friedkin/Exorcist obsessives—anyone who’s listened to the DVD audio commentary, read The Friedkin Connection, or watched Francesco Zippel’s Friedkin Uncut will be familiar with some of these stories. But Philippe’s incisive, thoughtful, highly accessible approach, excavating deeper than anecdotal interest but eschewing academic stuffiness, makes the documentary as much of value to newcomers as to seasoned fans. “The intersection of influences between music, film, fine art and personal travesty made me admire Friedkin on a whole new level”, writes Databaseanimal.

How many times have you seen The Exorcist, and on average how often would you need to rewatch a film in prep? Alexandre O. Philippe: You have to watch a film over and over and over again. I can’t tell you generally how many times I’ve watched The Exorcist but I can tell you when I was preparing for my interviews with Bill, I watched it every day for 30 days straight. That’s part of the process.

Leap of Faith is a bit of a departure from your previous two deep-dives—Memory: The Origins of Alien and 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene—in that you’re only talking to one interviewee, and that interviewee happens to be William Friedkin. What was that experience like? It’s wonderful. It’s really hard to put into words how incredible it’s been to spend that amount of time with him. Getting my own personal masterclass with him is invaluable. There’s no film school in the world that can give you that experience. It’s been really something.

Did spending that extended time reveal something about Friedkin that you weren’t aware of prior to shooting? Oh sure, that’s the beauty of that extensive of an interview—six days—and multiple conversations in between. Without giving it away, in the final sequence when he’s talking about Kyoto Zen Gardens… this is the stuff you can only get from someone like Friedkin once the comfort level is there, once you’re in the groove of conversation. It’s an aspect of his personality we’ve never seen before.

We all know him as a storyteller and a showman but he’s probably been very guarded in the past. There’s a certain amount of vulnerability even when he talks about the climax of The Exorcist, and how much to this day he’s not sure he understands some of the choices he made shooting that scene. That’s a remarkable thing to say about one of the most iconic scenes in the history of movies.

William Friedkin in ‘Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist’. / Photo by Robert Muratore, courtesy Exhibit A Pictures

I could listen to him speak for hours. Did you challenge him at any point? I definitely pushed him as far as I could. The whole sequence around the climax of The Exorcist that I was just talking about. There’s only about three minutes of that in the film but we talked about that scene for an hour and a half. I kept pushing and pushing him because I didn’t understand where he was coming from. I feel as a film fan that I understand that scene. For me, Father Karras sacrifices himself. It’s an act of complete selflessness. But he kept going back to the idea of suicide and that suicide in the Catholic Church is a sin and how he didn’t understand it. And that’s why you see him a little on edge during that scene. It was very important to go there.

I love the obsessive detail that goes into your examination of the creative process. Was there any detail—something that is interesting in and of itself—that you left out? We had a really great conversation around Carlos Kleiber, one of the conductors he admires the most, who essentially taught him to direct in metaphors. It’s a fascinating conversation. We actually built a scene around that and it just didn’t work with the film. There’s a point in any film where it becomes autonomous and its own entity in a way and you have to listen and pay attention to what the film tells you it wants to be.

We also had a great conversation around his first documentary The People vs. Paul Crump, and the technique which he used of slapping him in his cell on death row, which is the same technique he used for Bill O’Malley in The Exorcist. I had a long conversation with [executive producer] Karyn Kusama about this and we felt it was a little too over-the-top to go there and it wasn’t necessary to take the film to that level so we eventually left it out.

Friedkin talks about The Brink’s Job at one point, which is great to hear as it’s probably my favorite underrated Friedkin film. What’s yours? [Laughs] If you’re talking underrated or one that’s not much talked about, for me it’s Bug. Bug is ummm… [pauses]

What can you say about Bug? I mean honestly, truly, have you ever seen performances that pushed to the very edge of what’s even reasonable to expect or see from actors? It’s mind-blowing stuff. How does he even get performances like these? I mean they are wonderful actors but Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd, like, really… Like, really? You know what I mean? That’s Billy.

To me, you’re talking about Billy when he was in his early 70s when he made that film, a filmmaker who’s still really interested in pushing the envelope and going as far as he possibly can. It’s absolutely remarkable and I wish we talked more about that film.

Tell us about one ‘holy grail’ film or filmmaker you’d like to cover. The one I really want most to make a film about, and I will, is Vertigo. To go back to Hitchcock. I definitely have a healthy obsession with that film—have had since I was a kid. I love melodrama, and it’s the greatest melodrama ever made. I can’t think of a better film for my money from anywhere. It’s a glorious, glorious piece of filmmaking, but it’s also a very complex, tortured, complicated film that alienates some people.

I was on TCM a couple years ago as Ben Mankiewicz’s co-host on “50 Years of Alfred Hitchcock”. We did 24 movies together and when it came to Vertigo we had a fun conversation because he’s not a fan. He’s basically like “what’s the big deal about that film?” That really fascinates me. That’s a really amazing thing and he’s not the only person I highly respect who said that to me. I’d love to not only do a deep dive into Vertigo but also what’s so polarizing about it. That’d be fun to do that.

In Leap of Faith, Friedkin talks a lot about non-horror-specific aspects, such as grace notes, and the mysterious, magical aspects of filmmaking that can’t be easily explained. What movies are you drawn to but can’t explain completely through the technique and science of filmmaking? Any great work of art, not just film, that has a lasting impact on us and on society, works in ways that are much more mysterious than not. You can explain away the many different tangible reasons why Psycho, Alien and The Exorcist continue to have an impact, and had a massive impact on audiences when they came out. But for every tangible reason or every fact that you can provide, there are a million mysteries as well.

I’m much more interested in the mysteries of the creative process than I’m interested in the behind-the-scenes anecdotes or little tidbits of movie history. Because you will never get to the bottom of it and that’s the real beauty of it. And the lesson to learn from that is there’s nothing to do beyond just being in awe of it.

Documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe / Photo by Bas Bogaerts

What’s a documentary that uses the form in a way that’s inspiring to you, or one that made you want to pursue this form? I don’t watch a ton of documentaries. I don’t like the term ‘documentary’. With that asterisk out of the way, there are a number of documentaries I absolutely adore and filmmakers that are pushing the form that are remarkable. I think of Allan King, one of the great documentarians.

There is one that, formally speaking, absolutely blew me away and is very hard to watch. It’s called Caniba. It’s a documentary about this French-Japanese man who killed and ate one of his classmates. He did a whole comic book on it, and his brother is equally disturbed. It’s one of the few films, along with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, where I had to literally stop halfway through ’cos I just couldn’t handle it. The remarkable thing about this film is that the entire film is extreme close-ups. You’re watching basically his face and his brother’s face in extreme close-up the entire film and it makes you absolutely nauseous.

The formal choice that was made, in committing to that, it’s so much more horrendous and horrible than what’s on the periphery of the frame. You’re trapped in the geography of that face and you can’t get out. I’m not sure if ‘exciting’ is the best word I can use here, but to say this kind of approach excites me when I see a documentary filmmaker doing this, is accurate.

How do you spell that? I’m going to put it on my watchlist. C-A-N-I-B-A. Good luck watching it my friend [laughs]. Don’t eat while you’re watching it.

What films have you caught during the pandemic and completely loved, old or new? I watch almost exclusively the Criterion Channel. They’re the gold standard. I don’t even know where to begin. Recently I just watched the three Joseph Losey/Harold Pinter collaborations: The Servant, Accident and The Go-Between. I’ve always been a huge fan of Harold Pinter but what Joseph Losey has done with those three films is astonishing. The Go-Between, especially. Wow. That film just floored me.

They had a whole sidebar on Western noir films, and I discovered a bunch of incredible titles like Station West and Blood on the Moon with Robert Mitchum, which is an absolutely magnificent film. Some of the early Douglas Sirk movies. I can watch that stuff all day.

Oh there’s another one I would like to recommend as it is a criminally not just underrated, but completely under-the-radar film: Sun Don’t Shine.

Kate Lyn Sheil’s performance is amazing in it. Oh my god. Why didn’t she run away with the Screen Actors Guild Award, Oscars, Golden Globes? Like seriously. Some of the recent nominations Meryl Streep has been getting, like give me a break. It’s not even close. It’s not even in the same ballpark [laughs]. It’s really one of those rare performances that I think about, like Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher. Once in a generation you see something like this and you go “Holy cow, what a performance”. It does not exist on DVD or Blu-ray and it kills me. I want that film in my collection so badly.

Kate Lyn Sheil in Amy Seimetz’s ‘Sun Don’t Shine’ (2012).

Maybe this will be the thing that will get them to push it out on physical media. I’m trying, I’m working with them, and I’ve done some with them. I need to send them an email and say “Can you please do something about this?”.

What’s a film that you were cold on first viewing but has grown on you with repeat viewings? The first one that comes to mind is Donnie Darko. I really hated the film the first time around, and it’s weird because there was always this voice at the back of my head that kept saying “watch it again”. I did and it completely blew me away the second time around. Often I will give a film a second chance. Especially when I know the film is well-respected. There are films where you can intellectually understand why the film is respected, but you don’t connect with the film.

I’ll tell you one that I’m really looking forward to giving a second chance. Not because I hated it but it left me really underwhelmed. A film that everybody loves: Moonlight. I also do remember when I was watching it, actively thinking I was not in the right frame of mind for that film. Sometimes you just have to recognize that. Sometimes you can be watching a romantic comedy but what you’re really craving is a film noir. That’s really not going to work.

So we’ll see, we’ll talk about it after I’ve watched it a second time. And hopefully it will be a revelation. There’s nothing better for me than these moments when you watch something the second time that didn’t work and you go “Holy cow this is great”. That’s an awesome thing to experience.

Related content

The Films of Alexandre O. Philippe

Follow William Friedkin on Twitter

Aaron’s list of documentaries on filmmaking and Hollywood

Vince’s list of narrative films about filmmaking

Follow Aaron on Letterboxd

‘Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist’ is streaming now on Shudder.

[dweemeister]

2019 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (final)

*breathes deeply*

TAGGING: @cokwong; @dansmonarbre; @emilylime5; @fredsbarandgrill; @halfwaythruthedark; @ideallaedi; @introspectivemeltdown; @loveless422 (of @classicladiesofcolor administering); @maximiliani; @memetoilet; @mindo80; @monkeysmadeofcheese; @myluckyerror; @nazur; @phendranaedge; @plus-low-overthrow; @shadesofhappy; @stephdgray; @themusicmoviesportsguy; @theybecomestories; @umgeschrieben; @underblackwings; @yellanimal.

And also tagging a few first-timers or those who haven’t done this in a while: @astorytellertothestars; @bitch-genius; @dog-of-ulthar; @ineedanumbrella; @jayb3; @kataka-taka; @nudehearth; @shootingstarvenator; @thethirdman8; @thewolfofelectricavenue; @voicetalentbrendan; and @wehadfacesthen.

This is not the latest we've ever started the final round, but here we go!

For those who participated in the preliminary, I thank you for your time, but we're not done quite yet. The madness has only begun. After a chaotic end to the preliminary round in which contenders crashed out and unheralded underdogs rose in the final hours, who knows who takes this final? For the uninitiated, I have an Oscar-like ceremony on my blog celebrating all the movies of that year’s Movie Odyssey (all the movies I saw for the first time in their entirety) at the year’s end. For the last five years, I have asked family and friends to help out with the Best Original Song category - because in all other categories, you'd be forced to watch entire movies to decide it. This is a musical thank-you to those, who have contributed, in their own ways, to support the Movie Odyssey and me over the last calendar year.

I normally would have known if I would have asked folks to help participate in MOABOS around the end of summer. But due to work commitments, I had no idea whether or not we would be doing this as late as mid-October. I consider it very fortunate we were able to get this off the ground this year - some of you, interestingly enough, look forward to this every year for some strange reason.

As a result of this year's limitations, this is the one of the most monolingual fields we've ever had in a final. But that's not to besmirch the quality of music seen here. In one notable piece of MOABOS trivia, a Vietnamese-language song has reached the final for the first time. A record two songs in the final are from a documentary film (albeit they are from the same documentary).

INSTRUCTIONS Please rank (#1-15) your choices in order. The top ten songs will receive nominations. The tabulation method used in the preliminary round is being used for the final only as the second tiebreaker (the tabulation method that will be used principally for the final - aka "single transferable vote" - is described in the "PS"). There is no minimum or maximum amount of songs you can rank, but because of the nature of single transferable vote, it is highly recommended to rank as many songs as possible, rather than only one or two. Those who rank fewer songs run a greater risk of their ballots being discarded as I am counting the ballots. Again, this is all described in the "PS". Why not implement at a minimum number of songs to rank? Well, I believe in giving you folks as much freedom as possible.

Please consider to the best of your ability: how musically interesting the song is (including and not limited to musical phrasing and orchestration); its lyrics; context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films); choreography/dance direction (if applicable); and the song's cultural impact/life outside the film (if applicable, and by far the least important factor). Imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song. I encourage you to send in comments and reactions with your rankings - it’s always fun to read reactions to individual songs, and it usually makes the process (for everyone) more enjoyable!

The deadline for submission is Tuesday, December 31 at 7 PM Pacific Time / 5 PM Hawai'i / 6 PM Alaska / 9 PM Central / 10 PM Eastern. If you're across the Atlantic, that's New Year's Day at 3 AM GMT / 4 AM CET / 5 AM EET. There will be no deadline extensions.

The fifteen finalists (to access the below via YouTube playlist, click here... please keep in mind many of these finalists are meant to be watched and listened to):

“Are We Dancing?”, music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

Performed by John Davidson and Leslie Ann Warren

After convincing her father to let her attend boarding school, Cordy Biddle (Warren) meets Angier “Angie” Buchanan Duke (Davidson in his film debut) at a social dance. Cordy, stressing herself too much in believing that she must go out of her way to attract a boy, is pleasantly surprised by Angie’s taking to her. Just before the song, she initially dismisses waltzes as a dance, “for old people” - repeating a line her father said once. The song’s melody is quoted occasionally in the film’s score.

“Crazy World”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

Performed by Julie Andrews

Victoria Grant (Andrews) is a woman playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman. Victoria, as Victor, has become the hit vaudeville act of Paris. This is Victoria’s first performance as “Victor” not pretending to be a woman. Is your head spinning yet?

“Detroit”, music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, The Happiest Millionaire

Performed by John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren

(partial use in film)

Lovebirds Cordy Biddle (Warren) and Angier “Angie” Buchanan Duke (Davidson in his film debut) have been discussing their future together. Angie does not want to inherit his father’s tobacco business - instead wishing to head to Detroit to be a part of the automotive industry (the film is set in 1916, as the city was booming because of the auto industry).

“East Bound and Down”, music and lyrics by Jerry Reed and Dick Feller, Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Performed by Jerry Reed

This is the theme song for this comedy, which also describes the plot somewhat. Smokey and the Bandit is about two truckers - “Bandit” (Burt Reynolds) and “Snowman” (Reed) - who have been offered $80,000 by a rich Texan to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas and return to Atlanta within twenty-eight hours. In 1977, Coors was only found in the Western U.S. and transporting it across Southern state lines was illegal (giving Coors a mystique in the Eastern U.S.).

“I Dug a Ditch”, music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Lew Brown and Ralph Freed, Thousands Cheer (1943)

Performed by the Kay Kyser Band, Kathryn Grayson, Georgia Carroll, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, M.A. Bogue, and chorus

NOTE: An entirely separate song, “Should I”, is integrated from 3:04-3:36.

Apologies for the text overlaying the video. The second half of Thousands Cheer is essentially an elaborate revue musical performance for American World War II troops in which the film’s initial pretense of attempting a story is entirely dropped. “I Dug a Ditch” is one of the songs appearing in the film’s second half.

“I Wish I Didn’t Love You So”, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, The Perils of Pauline (1947)

Performed by Betty Hutton

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

Based on the life of silent film actress Pearl White (played by Hutton), The Perils of Pauline sees Pearl become a star in silent serial films, garnering worldwide popularity. Complications with Pearl’s engagement and impending wedding/honeymoon with her partner force her to break the engagement and leave the film industry. Much later - far from Hollywood, feeling down - she auditions for a Paris nightclub with this song.

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin, Rocketman (2019)

Performed by Elton John and Taron Egerton

This is the first song played over the end credits of this biopic of Elton John. This is John and Taupin’s (John’s songwriting partner through the 1960s-1990s) first collaboration outside the Sherlock Gnomes series for this decade.

“The Joint Is Really Jumpin’ in Carnegie Hall”, music and lyrics by Roger Edens, Ralph Blane, and Hugh Martin, Thousands Cheer (1943)

Performed by Judy Garland and Jose Iturbi

The second half of Thousands Cheer - where this song is found - is essentially an elaborate revue musical performance for American World War II troops in which the film’s initial pretense of attempting a story is entirely dropped.

“Le Jazz Hot!”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

Performed by Julie Andrews

Victoria Grant (Andrews) is making her Parisian debut playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman. The scheme was hatched by her friend, Carroll “Toddy” Todd (Robert Preston) - both of them desperate for money, and Toddy is the only one who knows that “Victor” is Victoria. Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, James Garner, and John Rhys-Davies, and Alex Karras are present in this scene.

“The Next Right Thing”, music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Frozen II (2019)

Performed by Kristen Bell

Anna (Bell) has seemingly lost her friends and her sister at what is the lowest point in the film. Uncertain what to do, she recalls a small piece of advice that leads her forward.

“The Place Where Lost Things Go”, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns

(Initial performance) / (reprise)

Performed by Emily Blunt; reprise by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This is a lullaby sung by Mary Poppins (Blunt) to the Banks children, who have lost their mother before the events of the film. The song was inspired by an idea from P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins novels, in which Poppins takes Jane and Michael Banks (the aunt and father of the Banks children for this film, respectively) to the moon. There, they learn that the dark side of the moon is where things get lost. The song is referenced occasionally in the film’s score.

“The Shady Dame from Seville”, music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Victor/Victoria (1982)

(Initial performance) / (reprise to be watched at your own spoiler-y risk)*

Performed by Julie Andrews; reprise by Robert Preston

*watch at your own spoiler-y risk because it gives away the film’s comical musical ending

Victoria Grant (Andrews), after making her Parisian debut playing a man named “Victor” who is impersonating a woman, has become the hit vaudeville act of Paris. This is one of her signature performances. Preston’s reprise - which appears near the film’s conclusion - was done in one take, hence his sweaty and fatigued appearance at the end.

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, music and lyrics by Stephen Stills, Woodstock (1970)

(an excerpt of how this song is framed in the film)

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Brief Spanish lyrics sung in counterpoint

Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock was the official documentary film for the eponymous August 1969 music festival. The festival organizers retained film distribution and music recording rights. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” refers to Stills’ thoughts towards his imminent breakup with folk singer Judy Collins. This song is composed in the form of a classical music suite (in layman’s terms, it sounds like an ordered collection of separate songs in one).

“Trường Tương Tư”, music and lyrics by Leon Le, Song Lang

Performed by Isaac and Liên Bỉnh Phát

Lyrics in Vietnamese

English translation and context are in the link.

“Woodstock”, music and lyrics by Joni Mitchell, Woodstock

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

This song appears in the end credits to Woodstock - the official documentary film for the eponymous August 1969 musical festival.

The winner is somewhere above. They will join a list that includes the following past winners:

2018: "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

2017: “Remember Me (Recuérdame)”, Coco (2017)

2016: "Stayin' Alive", Saturday Night Fever (1977)

2015: "Amhrán Na Farraige”, Song of the Sea (2014)

2014: "Rainbow Connection", The Muppet Movie (1979)

2013: “The Gold Diggers’ Song (We’re In the Money)”,Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Go forth and listen! You may submit your responses in any way, as long as they come in before the deadline. I am free to answer any questions about anything you have about the process.

Happy listening, and have a happy holiday season as we conclude this decade (already?)!

TABULATION Like the preliminary... a respondent’s first choice receives 10 points, the second choice receives 9, the third choice receives 8, etc. HOWEVER, this points system is used only for tiebreaker purposes.

The winner is determined by a process called single transferable vote (the Academy Awards uses this method to choose a Best Picture winner, visually represented here - you should really watch this video if the below doesn't make sense... which it probably won't):

All #1 picks from all voters are tabulated. A song needs more than half of all aggregate votes to win (50% of all votes plus one... i.e. if there are thirty respondents, sixteen #1 votes are needed to win on the first count).

If there is no winner after the first count (as is most likely), the song(s) with the fewest #1 votes or points is/are eliminated. Placement will be determined by the tiebreakers described below. Then, we look at the ballots of those who voted for the last-placed song(s). Their votes then go to the highest-remaining and non-eliminated song on their ballot.

This process (in step #2) repeats until one song has secured 50% plus one of all votes. We keep eliminating nominees and transfer votes to the highest-ranked, non-eliminated song on each ballot. NOTE: It is possible after several rounds of counting that respondents who did not entirely fill in their ballots will have wasted their votes at the end of the process. For example, if a person voted the second-to-last place song as their #1, ranked no other songs, and the count has exceeded two rounds, their ballot is discarded (lowering the vote threshold needed to win), and they have no say in which song ultimately is the winner.

A song wins when it reaches more than fifty percent of all #1 and re-distributed votes.

Tiebreakers: 1) first song to receive 50% plus one of all #1 and transferred votes; 2) total points earned; 3) total #1 votes; 4) placement on my ballot; 5) placement on my sister’s ballot; 6) tie declared

[long70s]

THE EXORCIST

William Peter Blatty received his M.A. in English from Georgetown University, served in the U.S. Air Force's Psychological Warfare Division, published several humorous novels, and collaborated with Blake Edwards on the screenplay for the second Pink Panther movie, A Shot in the Dark (1964) before writing The Exorcist in 1971.

The novel about the performance of an archaic Roman Catholic ritual that frees a 12-year old American girl from demonic possession was an unlikely bestseller. Warner Brothers hired Blatty to write the screenplay and William Friedkin, the recent winner of the Best Director Academy Award for The French Connection (1971). Given the grisly nature of the material, however, no major stars would go near the project. Against the studio's wishes, Blatty cast respected actors Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sidow and two novices, Jason Miller and Linda Blair, neither of whom had acted before.

The production itself seemed cursed. The special effects caused the set to burn down. Burstyn and Blair were both seriously injured during physically grueling stunts. Delays in shooting caused massive budgetary overages. A box office catastrophe was averted last minute cuts that saved the film from receiving an X-rating. When the film opened on the day after Christmas in 1973, these trials were amply were amply rewarded. Although it opened the mixed reviewed, The Exorcist quickly broke attendance and box office records. To date it is the 9th most profitable film ever released, earning close to $1 billion adjusted for inflation.

The Exorcist was more than a blockbuster success. Like Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the film's theatrical run became an event in and of itself. Audiences were instantly warned that this experience would be like no other: the film begins immediately after the title alone appears on screen with none of the customary opening credits. This device is commonly used now, but used for the first time in The Exorcist, its rejection of traditional cinematic conventions unnerved audiences. This was just the beginning, however. Evening news reports told of viewers waiting in lines for hours only to flee, faint, and/or vomit once inside. Air-sickness bags were distributed in theatres. Pregnant women were said to have miscarried during the film, while other viewers went into cardiac arrest. Parents were urged to leave children under 18 home. The hysteria surrounding the film amounted to a massive cost-free advertising campaign, building up expectations of horror that were not disappointed.

Over the course of six years, a group of critically-acclaimed films including Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Wild Bunch (1969), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Dirty Harry (1971) and The Godfather (1972), had incrementally shifted the parameters of acceptable violent content in the name of art. Each step had also been decried by pundits for coarsening the popular culture. The Exorcist, which featured the explosive combination of the perversion of religion and the violation of childhood innocence, did away with the parameters altogether, relentless subjecting audiences to every imaginable abomination, blasphemy, and affront imaginable, violating taboo after taboo.

Offended, shocked and disturbed, audiences couldn't get enough of the diabolical machinations of the demon Pazuzu. Seen on screen for approximately one second, this ancient spirit of the underworld was no comicbook villain in a red jumper with a barbed tail and pitchfork. Capable of speaking Aramaic backwards and a master of visceral psychological warfare, Pazuzu is bad news and he's only a demon, not the Dark Lord himself. Few critics have noted that the exorcism's effectiveness against the demonic is never proven. Incapacitated by the titanic struggle, Father Merrick is unable to complete the ritual and Father Karras tricks the demon into quitting Regan, then does away with the new host. Mobsters can be gunned down, the droogies sent to re-education camp and the shark blown out of the water, but, Blatty’s text suggests, there might be no antidote to evil itself.

The Exorcist's grand guignol horror was so extreme and took such an unexpected hold on the public imagination that for a long time it was assumed that Blatty's narrative was a profound commentary on modern society, worthy of study and debate. The nature of that social commentary is in ways more disturbing than demonic possession. Burstyn's character Chris is a divorced, liberal actress, with openly gay associates. She is in Georgetown, the ground zero of the alleged leftwing elite, shooting a movie about campus anti-war protests. She is a allegorical personification and cariacture of counterculture values. The film strongly implies that her self-indulgent, secular life style and slack morals are have prepared the way for the demonic possession of Regan. Blatty believed the various social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s invited evil into the world.

That evil expresses itself as bizarre lewdness, both spoken ("Your mother sucks cocks in hell") and physical (masturbating with a crucifix, the sexualized desecration of the statue of the Virgin), recalling the Silent Majority’s disapproval of Lenny Bruce and Love-ins. Even priests are not always reliable. Unlike the saintly Father Merrick, Karras' faith is shaky and he practices that most secular and modern of professions, psychology. Despite his heroism, the flaws doom him in the film's rigid moral universe.

The devout Catholic Blatty coyly hedges his thesis by opening the film at an near eastern archaeological dig where Father Merrick appears to unleash Pazuzu inadvertently, but this red herring is quickly forgotten as the film goes on to demonstrate how the wages of the sins of Chris' self-indulgent generation are paid by the next.

The film's solution to modern depravity and immorality is less ambiguous: established religion alone has the moral force sufficient to purge society of sin. As Pauline Kael pointed out at the time, despite its full-frontal assault of the standards of decency of the day,The Exorcist amounts to a surprisingly reactionary apologia for the Catholic Church at its most arcane and medieval. This irony was lost of most observers. Just as the putative diary of a drug user Go Ask Alice became required reading for high school students, The Exorcist was for a while adopted by many a school district for its cautionary value.

[lettermen-of-the-usa-stuff]

2021 Autographs for Heroes                                              United States Air Force Captain Karras E. Clark receiving an autographed United States Air Force Academy football from Head Football Coach Nathan Troy Calhoun.  The autographed football was presented by former University of Mississippi LB "Ole Miss" great Scott Swatzell .                                                                                       #autographsforheroes #HeroesWeek #SFCT #lotUSA #lettermenoftheusa #lettermenofusa #AimHigh #USAFA #UnitedStatesAirForceAcademy #UnitedStatesAirForce #FalconsFootball #Airforcefootball  #OleFootball #UniversityofMississipp #Rebelfootball   (at Lettermen of the U.S.A) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkoLWLhrRDq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jackassrabbit]

“Fun fact, we’re with Danger World!“

I tried drawing Dave, one of my Buddyfight OCs, and his buddy monster, Armorknight Sphinx (here in SD form).

[jackassrabbit-art]

Trying out that style on an OC. I think Eva turned out alright here.

[scaleracademy]

Presenting the story of our Scaler Raghu Ram Karra in his own words: “Scaler Academy program is hardcore Learning focussed, which seperates it from similar products in the market. It is very appropriately structured that they leave no stone unturned to train you according to the top tech industry requirements. Be it through Live lectures, expert personal guidance through mentors, they have got everything covered for you.”