#ken russell i love you i love you i love you

[monstraduplicia]

tommy (1975) dir. ken russell + primary colors

[mas-o-kissed]

Further to subby creature thought: I think someone should make you drink all the TF potions one after another so you're wracked with consecutive transformations that are both painful and pleasurable until your mind gives up

The transformations all taking different amounts of time… some quick and painful, some slow and aching… I don’t even know what potion does what… there’s no way to tell… I’m just changing and shifting and feeling feeling feeling….

What are you trying to do?? Break me?? 😵‍💫😵‍💫

[musaslullaby]

Cosplay time

George Russell x fem reader

Summary: George Russell have a cosplayer girlfriend

Warning: nothig

Face: zoogirlq, eurobeat_kasumi_ebk and random people on Pinterest

a/n: It's the first time I'm doing something like this, so if it sucks, please forgive me.

Masterlist

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪

yncosplay_

liked by gerogerussell63,user2,charlesleclerc,landonorris and other 489387489

Desription:

A cosplay of wolverine thanks, to my photographer @.georgerusselll63. Remember that this weekend I will be at the race.

georgerussell63: You're so beautiful.

User49: She's so cute

user33: Where do you buy cosplay?

yncosplay_: I do it by myself

landonorris: the best female Wolverine I've ever seen.

yncosplay:You will be my Deadpool

user90: When the couple cosplay?

user77: I hope soon

charlesleclerc :George will definitely find a way to be shirtless.

user90: Charles💀

georgerussell63: It's not true, I never go out without a shirt.

yncosplay_: yes

francisca.gomez: I can't wait to see you again, my love

yncosplay_: Baby I'll kidnap you.

pierregasly: @.georgerussell Keep an eye on your girlfriend

georgerussell63

liked by yncosplay_,maxverstappen1,mercedesamgf1 and other 47884885

description: It was a fantastic race, thank you for being there with me my love.

yncosplay_: I am so proud of you, I love you very much.

georgerussell63: I love you too

mercedesamgf1: Congratulations George!

user09: On race with style

user23: obviously otherwise it wouldn't be George

maxverstappen1: Next time I'll fuck your ass

user49: poor him

charlesleclerc: You're wrong, I'll win

yncosplay_: When the Ferrari wins again, a meteorite will crash on Earth

charlesleclerc: don't tease us

landonorris: She's right, accept it

yncosplay_

liked by gerogerussell63,francisca.gomez,landonorris and other 489387489

description: Welcome to our Wondarland.

It was tiring to do your makeup, especially for you, Lando, but I had fun.

landonorris: You were literally destroying my face with that makeup

yncosplay_: It wasn't that bad, you're always so dramatic.

georgerussell63: I don't know what else to say except that I'd join you in Wonderland now.

charlesleclerc: A little more imagination, Mr Russell

user80: Have you noticed how Yn looks at Lando in the second photo?

user49: What are you insinuating?

user30: bro they're just friends

francisca.gomez: Besides Lando's complaints, everything was beautiful.

landonorris: I didn't complain so much

yncosplay_: are you sure?

francisca.gomez: yes, are you sure?

user43: Where were @.giorgerussell63 and @.pierregasly?

pierregasly: I was the photographer

georgerussell63: I was trying not to get hit by frying pans.

user90: wtf?

yncosplay

liked by gerogerussell63,francisca.gomez,landonorris and other 489387489

description: We finally did it, we left a little clue in the last post but no one understood. I'm very happy to introduce you to Flynn Rider and Rapunzel.

user944: the cosplay we didn't know we wanted.

user32: I want a relationship like theirs.

user1: they really seem so happy

landonorris: hey, that doesn't count, you didn't do his makeup.

georgerussell63: I would never have complained as much as you

francisca.gomez: You are beautiful next time let's play Disney princesses

yncosplay_:You are already my Disney princess.

francisca.gomez: i love u

pierregasly: oh no I don't want to be a photographer again, please

charlesleclerc: Thank you, now even Alex wants to do it

lewishamilton: Ok now I want George Russell dressed as Ken

yncosplay_: omg yes pleas

georgerussell63: thank you Lewis now I'm sentenced for life.

[ropebuny]

could you please post a list of kinky movies???

other than Secretary cause I already know that one haha

I actually haven’t seen that one yet ! it’s been on my watchlist for forever, I need to get around to watching it. and I haven’t actually seen many kinky or erotic movies unfortunately, so pls ignore how bad this list is but. I did my best ok. also pls keep in mind I haven’t seen every single one of these listed movies yet but I added them because their descriptions seemed to fit in here

bloodsisters: leather, dykes, and sadomasochism (1995) dir. michelle handelmann

videodrome (1983) dir. david cronenberg

crash (1996) dir. david cronenberg

from beyond (1986) dir. stuart gordon

good boy (original title: meg, deg & frank) (2022) dir. viljar bøe

belle de jour (1967) dir. luis buñuel

blue velvet (1986) dir. david lynch

the night porter (1974) dir. liliana cavani

venus in fur (2013) dir. roman polanski (🤢🤢🤢🤢)

venus in furs (1969) dir. massimo dallamano

sleeping beauty (2011) dir. julia leigh

the slave (1969) dir. pasquale festa campanile

liza (1972) dir. marco ferreri

the laughing woman (1969) dir. piero schivazappa

the forbidden photos of a lady above suspicion (1970) dir. luciano ercoli

the punishment (1973) dir. pierre-alain jolivet

successive slidings of pleasure (1974) dir. alain robbe-grillet

the story of o (1975) dir. just jaeckin

crimes of passion (1984) dir. ken russell

tightrope (1984) dir. richard tuggle

seduction: the cruel woman (1975) dir. elfi mikesch, monika treut

tie me up! tie me down! (1989) dir. pedro almodóvar

female misbehavior (1992) dir. monika treut

bitter moon (1992) dir. roman polanski (🤢🤢🤢🤢)

basic instinct (1992) dir. paul verhoeven

bound (1996) dir. lilly & lana wachowski

strictly speaking (1998) dir. kirk demorest

tops & bottoms (1999) dir. christine richey

first love (2004) dir. matteo garrone

s&m judge (2009) dir. erik lamens

be my slave (2012) dir. tōru kamei

kink (2013) dir. christina alexandra voros

wetlands (2013) dir. david wnendt

folsom forever (2014) dir. mark jensen

mr. leather (2019) dir. daniel nolasco

saint-narcisse (2020) dir. bruce labruce

divinely evil (2020) dir. gustavo vinagre

I cut your flesh (2020) dir. samhel

the pleasure of rope (2015) dir. bob bentley

fetishes (1996) dir. nick broomfield

venus in furs (1995) dir. maartje seyferth, victor nieuwenhuijs

new love in tokyo (1994) dir. banmei takahashi

the bedroom (1992) dir. hisayasu satō

beyond vanilla (2001) dir. claes lilja

the piano teacher (2001) dir. michael haneke

salon kitty (1976) dir. tinto brass

the duke of burgundy (2014) dir. peter strickland

pvt chat (2020) dir. ben hozie

in the basement (2014) dir. ulrich seidl

leap year (2010) dir. michael rowe

fruits of passion (1981) dir. shūji terayama

o fantasma (2000) dir. joão pedro rodrigues

a snake of june (2002) dir. shinya tsukamoto

islands (2017) dir. yann gonzalez

querelle (1982) dir. rainer werner fassbinder

sex, lies, religion (1994) dir. annette kennerley

love (2015) dir. gaspar noé

moonlight whispers (1999) dir. akihiko shiota

cruising (1980) dir. william friedkin

trans-europ-express (1966) dir. alain robbe-grillet

[thatsdemko]

MASTERLIST(pt.2)

back to navigation

I reached link limit on the mobile app and I don’t use my MacBook often enough with this app to keep adding links so this is part 2!

here is part one!

HOCKEY

jack hughes

fuck valentine part two

with feeling

auston matthews

four more years

Matthew knies

the other Matthews

NFL/NBA

more to come! check the first masterlist for more!

SOCCER/FOOTBALL

joão felix

in the sand

Christian pulisic

a blue London

Mason mount

a blue london

they want us to be

pablo gavi

fuck it, it’s fine

fake it — mini series

half past twelve

ruben dias

cookies

Jude Bellingham

the culer

FORMULA 1

pierre gasly

untitled drabble

the art of attraction (it’s always been you)

tale as old as time

charles leclerc

pains

the ways in which Charles shows you he loves you

drought

he’s just ken

feeling better

don’t go

flights to Tokyo

Lewis Hamilton

you belong with me

Carlos sainz

smooth operator

the devils on my shoulders

max verstappen

just an incident

the story of us good riddance

maybe I’m crazy

unknown

Lance stroll

like he would

room 305

the lakes

the archer

something blue

birthday bae

something new

Daniel ricciardo

Monaco lover

the ways in which Daniel shows you he loves you

to live, to learn, and to love

distraction

more of you

Oscar piastri

summer love in flicks

Silverstone

a shoey

wag

under the mistletoe

inexperienced?

nyck de vries

Japan is calling

lando norris

ruin that friendship

chef y/n

without you there’s nothing to live for

the devils on my shoulders

making the bed

orange theory

the eras

without me?

yuki tsunoda

all mine… and his too

toto wolff

love thy neighbor

Liam Lawson

you’re on your own, kid

George Russell

junipers dad

Fernando Alonso

it is a glorious sunrise

jack doohan

so what did I miss?

Logan sargeant

he’s so American

INDY CAR

pato o’ward

woodward avenue

the ways in which pato shows you he loves you

payback

something bout you

[honeytabbies]

OKAY. HERE WE GO. my black bulls doggies!!!! :D

there's definitely a noticeable difference in style/quality of some of these just due to time between each design and/or how i was feeling at the time of drawing them (these hot and rainy summer months have been super rough on me)

ALSO they were all done symmetrically so that i wouldn't burn out and could actually finish them LOL . OK EVERYBODY BELOW

starting off with asta, a husky/coyote mutt!! :D in my au, devil users end up becoming hybrids of whatever their devil is. so since liebe is a coyote, that's what asta is too!! (also, i haven't drawn him yet, but yuno is a malamute :D similar looking breeds but different since they're not actually related!)

(here's liebe too hehe, scrappy lil coyote!!)

then of course, noelle, who's a saluki!! a very regal breed for a very royal gal!! i thought making her pigtails into her ears was a fun idea HEHEHE

(+ an alternate design version!)

here's finral, he's a shetland sheepdog!! gentle and sweet and always trying to herd his people together :) you might notice that with some of my designs, i end up doing extra scarring; that's usually just personal headcanons, as i think some injuries would be too grievous to fully heal. though some (for instance, gauche) don't have a canon story behind them, i just think they're fitting

vanessa, who's a cavalier king charles spaniel!! her ears sorta blend into her hair lol, i had an alternate version where they were the same darker brown as her fur but i decided that them blending in looked better and fit the breed standard as well.

gauche, the ever wary american akita!! being a fiercely loyal and protective breed, but aloof and suspicious of strangers.

then there's grey, who's a long-haired chihuahua!! sweet and skittish HEHE, also i haven't drawn it yet but i've always imagined her big transformation disguise that she's first introduced as to be a rottweiler LOL

next up is luck, a jack russell terrier!! i've always thought this was a very fitting breed pick, intelligent but highly energetic and a little mischievous !!!

and of course, magna is never far behind luck; he's a dobermann pinscher!! similar to luck in energy and intelligence, but even more fiercely protective of his loved ones.

GORDON!!! actually one of my favourite black clover characters, he's a dalmatian not only because of the fitting aesthetic, but also because of his kind and sensitive personality!

the masked supermage zora, a german shepherd! watchful and sometimes stubborn but loyal nonetheless made this pick fairly easy to come to. though, before getting to see more of him, my initial pick was actually a kai ken!

charmy's design is one that i'm the most proud of for sure; i mentioned in an earlier post that the different peoples are different species of animals. well charmy is a half toy poodle, half american badger!! i thought a badger was a VERY fitting pick, as they are generally unbothered by much unless their food is threatened LOL

and finally, lastly (for now) is nero!! she's a bull terrier, but i really wanted to keep her twin tails from her anti-bird form! her outfit is definitely the one i edited the most, i just wanted to give her something more practical out of personal preference.

additionally, henry is an old english sheepdog, nacht is a black norwegian elkhound/fox, and yami is a wolfdog!

I HAVE SOME OTHER CHARACTERS DOODLED HERE AND THERE but nothing else really finished yet. if there's a specific character anyone would like to see i would be SO happy to draw/doodle them to show off!! i honestly have a huge list of dog/cat breeds picked out for every character i could think of; i just am hellishly indecisive and can never pick who to start on next AHDSJAGDJSDK

THE POSITIVE RECEPTION TO MY ART SO FAR HAS MADE ME SO HAPPY BTW AUAGGHHH i have no idea how/if im able to reply to people directly but just know that i keep reading over everyone's reblog tags and stimming like crazy IM SO HAPPY THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH AUHGHFEHGGRH

[spicyclover]

Masterlist

I created this masterlist so you can read all the stories I’ve written and not miss one.

Clic here

Masterlist F1 stories :

I accept requests for all the Grid. Here are stories I already wrote 

Mick Schumacher: 

Pursuit of happiness

Painting our lives

Impulsive thoughts

Race of champions part one | part two | part three

Australia

I don’t want to! | part one | part two

Late hours

Santa’s letter

Feeling “Caliente” | Part one | Part two

Christmas Reverie

Kiss me, Mick! part one | part two

Unplanned | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven

When there’s rain, there’s always a rainbow

Jealousy Jealousy

Nervous habit

George Russel: 

The instant of a blink

She’s everything. He’s just Ken.

Pierre Gasly: 

At the nightclub

Cutting through my broken heart

It is those we love most who destroy us

Summer love

Miscommunication

Lando Norris: 

You can make the whole place shimmer

Handmaid gift

Driving through the suburbs

The strawberry lollipop

On your lips, half volt. 

Daddy, I want Mommy!

Live Stream

Two + one = Three | part one | part two

None of you

Jaffa cakes

Just one day | part one | part two

Words can be painful

When the touch of water awakens desire | Part one

Charles Leclerc: 

No one can hurt you

Motherhood part one | part two | part three | part four

Sometimes leaving is the best option

I hear a symphony

Remind me of him

Bad Tooth

Losing someone we love

Ultimatum | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five

Water kisses 

Desire is a strong feeling | part one | part two 

Always stealing the spotlight

Summer love

Pranks

All the things you said | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Cupcake 

Carlos Sainz:

Delilah part one | part two

Two + one = Three | part one | part two

The accident that caused our love | part one

Dinner served

Lance Stroll:

Fireflies

Midnight sky

In bed with you is my favourite part of the day

Injured

Daniel Ricciardo:

Show me your scar

Blow my whistle

Sometimes you need to cry over a sandwich

Her boyfriend, his girlfriend

Paddock baby

Happy New Year, Sunshine

About damn time...

Max Verstappen:

Keep my husband's name out of your f*cking mouth!

Dutchman | part one | part two | part three

It’s not easy to be a single parent.

Just get out!

Cupcake

This is why you shouldn’t scare your wife...

[...]

HP

Harry Potter: 

War is over | Part one

Thank you for your support every day. I hope you like my stories and will continue to follow me for more adventures.

07/30/23

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Not a poll request (so don't worry if you don't want to answer on the blog) but - could we get each of the mods' top 10 horror movies? (: I'd be so interested in hearing them!

Long post!

Mod Z:

*long sigh* *opens letterboxd*

K-12 (2019)

NOTE: Yk what imma just leave this here

2. Beau is Afraid (2023)

NOTE: a masterpiece i probably won’t rewatch for a long time but since i’m an ari aster truther it deserved this spot

3. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

NOTE: Yes

4. The Crow (1994)

NOTE: Awesome ass movie. Awesome ass soundtrack. An absolute classic. I have the graphic novel it was based on and it’s one of the best things I have in my library

5. Carrie (1976)

NOTE: Stephen King’s the best at writing real characters <3

6. The Craft (1996)

NOTE: As a wicca myself, accurately depicted teen witches are my jam and this film did the best job at it

7. Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

NOTE: The only reason this isn’t in the top 5 is because i haven’t seen it in a while. If u had asked me in early 2023 i would’ve put this in second place for sure

8. Cam (2017)

NOTE: So underrated. Go watch this on Netflix now while u don’t know anything about it

9. Frankenweenie/Nightmare before Christmas/Edward Scissorhands

NOTE: CHILDHOOD (lumping them together cuz i couldn’t decide which tim burton film to add)

10. Smile (2022)

NOTE: okay wait this scared me shitless at the theatre and i just convinced myself this movie was bad to stop myself freaking out but this is a genuinely good and scary movie i’ve made up my mind

These are subject to change and Invisible Man (2020) definitely deserves an honorable mention but I haven’t seen it in a while to check if it still holds up

----

Mod L:

The Thing (1982)

Absolute masterpiece. Perfect marriage of cast, visuals, music, and script. They (audiences in 1982) hated Jesus (John Carpenter) because he told them the truth.

2. Ravenous (1999)

I love social horror more than life itself, and this is a pitch-perfect example. I recommend Atun-Shei Films' Overanalyzing Ravenous, if you haven't seen it yet.

3. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

See above re: social horror. I never stop thinking about how this series was inspired by rising incidents of domestic violence in Japan - how the contagion of violence in the home spreads to anyone who comes in contact with it.

4. Demon (2015)

This would pair amazingly well with my next pick, which is:

5. La Llorona (2019)

To quote a friend of mine after we watched Demon, "there is no society without memory."

6. Black Christmas (1976)

Truly ahead of its time as a slasher, as well as in its politics. Ladies, never date a Peter, and DON'T trust the Toronto Police.

7. The Devils (1971)

Nobody was doing it like Ken Russell, and nobody ever will again.

8. The Changeling (1980)

This movie understands the greatest horror of all: Joseph Kennedy Sr.

9. Us (2019)

My favourite Peele to date, no I will not be budged on this point.

10. Peeping Tom (1960)

An extremely prescient film about the male gaze and the medium of film.

(Mod Sus releases their own once they get the braincells rubbing for more than 5 movies)

[niuniente]

Saw your little thing about ask you anything, and I'm sure you've been asked this before but I haven't seen it... HOWEVER, what pieces of media do you think have inspired you the most to make your ocs and the comics that go with them?

A though question. I don't think I have anyone as a direct inspiration as "I want to draw like this artist" or "I want to create stories like this author". I'm certain that the majority of my inspiration is subconscious or runs around certain favorite tropes or themes, like punk and cyperbunk, as well as lots of music, too.

If I narrow this down to media which has really inspired me when I have encountered it the first time, then the inspiration list will be the following:

Comics by Petri Hiltunen. Some of his works have been translated to English, like Anabasis. I can't remember anymore what happened in the comic Asfaltitasanko (An Asphalt Field) but I remember that it really hit me the right way when I was 13.

Sláine series by Simon Bisley. It's still running and I read every new book. This is actually a feminist barbarian comic, which is a great combination and you will see echoes of that in Alrick.

Hob Gandling's story in The Sandman series. Oh I wish I could experience again the time when I read the story for the first time. I was mind opening for a 13 year old.

Vintage manga from 70's and 80's, as well as anime from 90's and early 2000 (like Slayers Next below). Expressions were very prominent back then and I do generously use that whenever possible. I was SUPER happy when I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen and it had those really big expressions!

I think that from anime, I should perhaps mention Bleach, because Grimm is inspired by Bleach series Grimmjow. Who is, by the way, also a cat (a panther).

Alrick, the whole premise of Death-Head Organization and the generous use of black, solid masses gets all its inspiration from a manga Sun-Ken Rock. Especially from the protagonist Ken Kitano, who is the best positive masculine example in any media I have ever encountered. Also, Algoth looks is inspired by Ken's right hand man, Benito Armani:

For the animals and animal parts of the characters in DHD, I LOVE kemonomimi! For other series, inspiration comes from game series Bloody Roar and from a comic series Blacksad. Rena is inspired by Bloody Roar's Mitsuko the Wild Boar.

We simply can't forget fashion! Metal, punk, cyberpunk, kinksters, and other dark dressed underground people. I'm asked at times why everyone seems to dress up the same and my answer is that since the comic is black and white, with black outfits I get to add some contrast to it. Alexander McQueen is awesome!

Other mentions to practice keeping mind open, which allows stories to be formed without judgment or thinking that I have no base for this: - Jeffrey Burton Russell's books about the Devil and religious history - Conspiracy theories (as what kinds of things people believe in and how they find evidence for it to support their views, including opposing conspiracy theories like Moon landing was fake VS Moon landing did happen but we haven't gone back because of aliens on the Moon) - Quantum physics

I'm certain you can pick up more things which have inspired me from my stories and drawings. But, if we speak ONLY about Death-Head's Deal, then underground fashion, Sun-Ken Rock, 80's and 90's vintage manga&anime, and Blacksad are the ones.

[asterias-record-shop]

CHARACTERS I WRITE FOR

Hello again!! Just thought I'd update the characters that I write for! Here is my main masterlist! If you don't see someone listed you want to request a fic for, just send me an ask and I'll let you know if I write for them! copy and pasted from my 'recording live' main post, soon to be up!

my favorite characters to write for are marked with ***

K-POP

STRAY KIDS

Bang Chan***

Han***

Changbin***

Felix

Hyunjin

Seungmin

I.N.

Lee Know

ATEEZ

Seonghwa***

San***

Mingi***

Hongjoong

Wooyoung***

Jongho

Yunho

Yeosang

For the K-POP groups, I'm not like deep in the fandoms - I listen and love their music, but I'm not deep in it (a little deep in the Fandom of Stray Kids, but y'know). I didn't list BTS because I don't really listen to much of them.

MARVEL

Peter Parker***

Bucky Barnes***

TASM! Peter Parker***

Loki

Thor

Pietro Maximoff***

Kraven the Hunter*** (this man is so fine, bad boys need love and shit just fuck me-)

Dave Lizewski*** (Kick-Ass is owned by Marvel)

Natasha Romanoff

Wanda Maximoff

Miguel O'Hara

DC

Jason Todd*** (Titans)

Dick Grayson*** (Titans)

Gar Logan*** (Titans)

Conner Kent (Titans)

Damian Wayne

Barry Allen (The Flash series)

THE HUNGER GAMES (2012-2015)

Finnick Odair***

Peeta Mellark

Cato Hadley

TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)

please request for Bradley Bradshaw, I fucking love that man-

Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw***

Jake "Hangman" Seresin

SCREAM VI (2023)

Ethan Landry

DYLAN O'BRIEN CHARACTERS

Stiles Stilinski*** (Teen Wolf 2011-2017)

Void! Stiles*** (Teen Wolf 2011-2017)

Richie Boyle (The Outfit 2022)

Mitch Rapp (American Assassin 2017)

CRIMINAL MINDS (2005-)

Spencer Reid***

Luke Alvez

Matt Simmons

WEDNESDAY (2022)

Wednesday Addams (No smut!)

TARON EGERTON CHARACTERS

Eggsy Unwin (The Kingsman Series 2015-)

Robin Hood (Robin Hood 2018)

Jimmy Keene (Blackbird Series 2022)

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (2019–2023)

Five Hargreeves***

Ben Hargreeves

DIVERGENT SERIES

Tobias (Four) Eaton

Peter

HARRY POTTER

Theodore Knott***

Mattheo Riddle***

Remus Lupin

Regulus Black***

Lorenzo Birkshire***

COD (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)

Simon “Ghost” Riley

König

THE LAST OF US (2022-)

Joel Miller

Tommy Miller

MISCELLANEOUS

Dorn*** (Bad Boys for Life 2020)

Owen Hendricks (The Recruit 2022)

Derek Hale (Teen Wolf 2011-2017)

Seth Clearwater*** (Twilight 2008-2012)

Benjamin (Twilight 2008-2012)

Seth (Day Shift 2022)

Tyler Rake*** (Extraction & Extraction 2 - 2020 & 2023)

Arvin Russell*** (The Devil All the Time 2020)

Luke Marrow (Purple Hearts 2022)

Tangerine*** (Bullet Train 2022)

Ken Sato*** (Ultraman: Rising 2024)

Luke Castellan*** (Percy Jackson and the Olympians 2023)

© asterias-record-shop

[rgr-pop]

My goal for the year was to watch & log 100 movies. Shorts count, didn't matter whether I had seen them before, but they can only count once for the year. I logged 117!

First & last watched: Ken Russell's Women in Love (1969)--the reason I cared about movies so much this year, just an obvious life-changer for me--and Ken Russell's The Rainbow (1989)--Westlin's suggestion for the perfect round out. Surprised to be surprised by how good it was. Great films! Totally on the program! Questions to this day unanswered! Let's go!

Shorts (everything short of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story) watched: 16

Favorite shorts: Nuit et Brouillard (Alain Resnais, 1956) (decided this year one of my all-time favorite films); Un Chant d'Amour (Jean Genet, 1950); Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947)

Next year my shorts watching will be more programmatic

Films I watched twice in 2023: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987) (another film I realized this year obviously belongs in my top ten--more specifically I decided finally that this is my favorite non-Texas Chain Saw film); Beau is Afraid (Ari Aster, 2023); The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)

By decade: Before 1900: 0 1900 - 1910: 1 1910 - 1919: 1 1920 - 1929: 1 bro come ON what the FUCK 1930 - 1939: 1 im literally evil 1940 - 1949: 7 1950 - 1959: 3 1960 - 1969: 24 1970 - 1979: 14 1980 - 1989: 16 1990 - 1999: 17 2000 - 2009: 13 2010 - 2019: 9 2020 - 2023: 10

By nation/language roughly: uk/english: 6 us/english: 66 canada/english: 6 france/french: 10 italy/italian: 4 italy/france/french: 1 italy/english: 1 czechoslovakia/czech: 5 palestine/arabic: 3 soviet/russian: 2 russia/russian: 1 austria/german: 1 austria/french: 1 spain/spanish: 1 japan/japanese: 1 poland/yiddish: 1 poland/polish: 1 senegal/wolof: 1 brazil/portuguese: 1 sweden/swedish: 1 eur/farsi: 1 south africa/afrikaans: 1

numbers not adding up there but w/e

By director: Not sure if this is surprising or totally unsurprising, but in spite of my auteurial talk (and all the thematic/completionist plans I like to make), I very rarely watched more than two movies by the same director. I can't decide how I feel about this, nor do I know how to proceed this year given that my goal is to discover who my top five directors might actually be. How do you go about investigating that?

Overwhelmingly the director I watched the most was Adrian Lyne, with five films. I have a few more things to work on but I'm close to done with my shakedown/theory. Neither my favorite director nor favorite guy, I would say I probably 'enjoy' and 'personally get more out of watching' his films more than most. In second place, I watched three Kenneth Anger films--all shorts of course. I watched two films each by the following directors: Ken Russell, David Cronenberg, Stanley Kubrick, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Paul Schrader, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ti West, Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Jan Švankmajer (both shorts), and Billy Wilder (one of which being a war department documentary short).

I have mixed feelings about this approach (let me watch man movies if i I want to!) but a quick skim suggests I watched about 15 films directed by women (12%)--lower than expected and probably low for me typically. I always have a romance habit on the backburner so it's never hard for me to watch a lot of movies by women, but obviously my focus on revered directors I never previously wanted to spend time on has had an impact here, meaning I should make an effort with Great women directors in 2024 to keep that in check. I will also say that I specifically recall having a hard time getting my hands on things I wanted to watch by women in a few different cases, including by Great women directors (Barbara Hammer and Akerman), and especially also soviet women directors. There's an overlap here with difficulty accessing short films!

I'm not an active or thoughtful starrer, but these are the films I watched in 2023 that I've given five stars to:

Women in Love (Ken Russell, 1969) (upgraded from four after the year of appreciating it) Mandabi (Ousmane Sembène, 1968) Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996) Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974) Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1956) Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975) (demoted Teorema [1968] to four stars to prevent Salo is A Perfect Film deflation) Un Chant d'Amour (Jean Genet, 1950)

Least favorite films watched in 2023: Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, 2019), Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023), All My Good Countrymen (Vojtěch Jasný, 1968), Zahrada (Jan Švankmajer, 1968), the one streaming true crime doc I watched that I then had to log (will not repeat in 2024)

Loved/treats for me: Barry Lyndon, Crossing Delancey, Unfaithful, The Cremator, The Night Porter, Cabaret, talking to people about Funny Games and realizing I love it more than I think I do

Recommended for the romance girls as a thank you for the good romance you have recommended me: Habibi (Susan Youssef, 2011)

Most incredible movie experience of the year by miles and I can only hope 2024 has something this good to offer: House of 1000 Corpses (Rob Zombie, 2003) anniversary screening my birthweek

The otherwise defining film of 2023 for me: Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005)

Onward! Back to work! On the Terror and Violence line! The Family is out there, comfortable, in relative peace…

[milfjagger]

okay so... give us the list of folk horror films that are good please. 🤲

ok this took a while but here we go! it ended up being more than 10 lol

the wicker man (1973) - the definitive british folk horror film. midsommar wants to be the wicker man soooo bad it's embarrassing

the blood on satan's claw (1971) - i haven't seen this one in a long time but it's a pretty chilling early 70s british film centring around a demonic cult in 18th century england

night of the demon (1957) - ok so you know the sample at the beginning of hounds of love by kate bush, where a voice says "it's in the trees! it's coming!" that's from this film!!!! just barely in the folk horror category but it's based on a story by m.r. james who is one of THE iconic folk horror writers so imo it counts

a warning to the curious (1972) - also based on a story by m.r. james, this was part of a long-running annual bbc series called 'a ghost story for christmas'. it's only about 30 minutes long and very dated but I think that gives it extra charm and even a bit of extra creepiness

the juniper tree (1990) - icelandic retelling of the grimm's fairy tale, starring björk and featuring an incredibly beautiful soundtrack

the company of wolves (1984) - based on the short stories of angela carter in her compilation 'the bloody chamber'. this is probably more fairytale horror than folk horror but i LOVE this film and if you like intense psychosexual overtones and incredible practical effects then you will too

the devil rides out (1968) - classic hammer horror with christopher lee so you know it's gonna be a banger

wake wood (2009) - probably the most underrated irish horror film of all time (and that's saying a lot bc there really aren't many). really scary film with the "came back but wrong" premise. watch this one

the hallow (2013) - another one from ireland. it's not amazing but including it bc i don't think i've ever seen another horror film fully embrace the idea that faeries are actually terrifying. practical effects are also cool as hell

kill list (2011) - i'll be honest with you I didn't understand half of what was happening in this film and it's been on my to-rewatch list for ages. it starts out as a cerebral cop drama and descends into absolute madness like it literally has to be seen to be believed

a field in england (2013) - probably the modern folk horror film that comes closest to what british directors were doing with the genre in the 70s. it's trippy, impenetrable and often kinda funny, i really recommend this one

pyewacket (2017) - offbeat canadian indie film that you will either find really creepy or really boring. i thought the ending in particular was incredibly chilling

the ritual (2017) - i feel like everyone has seen this film at this point but i had to recommend it anyway bc it blends folk horror with monster movie and it's super fucking terrifying. i also highly recommend the novel by adam neville which if anything is even scarier

the witch (2015) - again everyone has seen this and has an opinion but it's one of my favourite horror films of all time

pet sematary (1989) - the iconic stephen king classic that is still really scary to this day

pumpkinhead (1988) - another film that is super underrated imo. people who love the creature design in the ritual should remember the OG

men (2022) - controversial opinion perhaps but i think this film was actually kinda brilliant. if nothing else it is super twisted and horrifying

on my list of i haven't watched this yet but people say it's really good: penda's fen (1974), witchfinder general (1968), the lair of the white worm (1988) (i know i know i call myself a ken russell fan and i haven't even seen lair of the white worm)

a radio play: children of the stones on bbc radio 4 (available on spotify hee hee)

and a couple of books: fairy tale (1996) by alice thomas ellis, and the owl service (1967) by alan garner. the owl service is for kids but it really did a number on me aged 12 and it still holds up as a classic. I think there's an old bbc series but i haven't got round to watching it yet :)

[keldjinfae]

I was tagged by the lovely @greyhavenisback, and I cannot for the life of me remember if I've already responded to this post or not, so...

In no particular order, my Top 10 Movies:

Inception - it has Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Ken Watanabe. That would be enough if it didn't also have one of the most goosebump-inducing soundtracks of all... Time. It also set sail one of my all-time favorite ships with the creation of Arthur and Eames.

The Dark Knight - while this list won't be entirely comprised of Nolan movies, I can't not put this one on this list, considering how many times I saw it in theaters. Both Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were mesmerizing as the Joker and Two-Face, and again, that soundtrack is fire (I'm sorry).

Saw (the entire series) - I went to see all of these so many damn times in theaters that it's a good thing I got to see them for free. Every weekend, provided something new hadn't been released, my friend and I went to see whichever Saw movie was still showing. And again, isn't it iconic?

Tombstone - yes, obviously there's Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, but there's also Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Stephen Lang, Billy Zane, Thomas Hayden Church, and nobody's leaving it up to one man to carry the movie. It's also one that I used to watch with my father at least once a year, usually around the anniversary of his separation from my mother, and we'd pass a bottle of bourbon back and forth and rant about how insane it is that Kilmer wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.

John Wick (the entire series) - it's a thing of beauty to me that what should just be a bunch of "shoot 'em up" movies have such an insane amount of worldbuilding to them (and if anyone bothering to read this post knows anything about my writing, it's how much I build a world before I start writing the story in the first place). The action is gorgeous, the actors themselves are gorgeous, the development and usage of things as simple as slang is gorgeous, the soundtrack is gorgeous. You can also never go wrong with Ian McShane.

The Warriors - this was legit one of our family movie night features while my sister and I were growing up. Yes, there were animated movies and whatnot, but our parents were very lax about rating restrictions. We still regularly quote "CAN YOU DIG IT?!" and "Warriooooooooors! Come out to plaaaaaaaay!" Also, James Remar as Ajax was 🔥.

Interview with the Vampire - Tom Cruise may be an... interesting individual in real life, but the effort he put into portraying Lestat was sheer perfection. I used to watch this one all the time with my dad and my sister, and again, killer soundtrack.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - a movie that decided to bring together every single comedian of the time that they possibly could, as well as come up with relevant things for them to do. Sounds impossible "on paper," and yet this movie exists. I've been watching it since I was a child and I still laugh through the whole thing. Buddy Hackett is also basically my father in this movie, which makes Mickey Rooney both myself and my sister. "NO ONE'S FLYING THE PLANE!"

21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street - I laughed so hard watching the first one that my vision literally whited out at one point. Everyone is fantastic in both movies, but 21JS is also the first time I got to see Channing Tatum's understated sense of humor.

Kill Bill (both volumes) - I could have just filled up most of these slots with Tarantino movies, honestly, because I do love just about all of them (and my dad had a particular fondness for Django Unchained), but my sister and I rewatch I and II at least once a year. They make up one masterpiece, and I may be in the minority but I hope III is never actually a serious prospect.

No pressure whatsoever tags: @dear-massacre @nerdherderette @vmures @renmackree @ephemeronidwrites

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Groupread. Book Four, Chapter I

𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔉𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔇𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔫

(clickbaity title. Did you know Borel’s Irish Priest DILF was a real person, you can see him here and wonder with me about Borel’s taste in men)

Berentz Christian, Still life with bohemian chrystals, cups and a pocketwatch , oil on canvas, 1700-1720

{ @sainteverge + @counterwiddershins }

The King and Pompadour are sitting by the fireplace (in shape of an arc d’amour. this is romanticism, anything that can be symbolic will be so. I choose to believe this is a tacky, slightly pinkish vaginal adjacent architectural creation, because sometimes my brain gets art directed by Ken Russel's team. I looked up the term to see if this is an architectural term, and it still might be, but it also could be a Roman de la Rose reference, a degraded reference to the arc of pure love that appears in the novel’s House of Fortune)

Madame P and her King act like a parody of bourgeois domesticity. She knits, he tries to tolerate a heavy indigestion. they both yawn because yawning is contagoius. We see the King has changed shapes once again, as a character whose physical form relfects his inner emotions, he is back into his grotesque, weak, flaccid, deflated frame. His mistress playfully suggests a requiem might be in order. She chides him for being so uncultured (the King believes music to be harmful for adult males) Mme P is an enjoyer of the Luminaries of the Enlightenment, as we know, on a shallow level, so she chooses to entertain the King with some base gossip instead of a selection of arias in languedoc. Father Dillon, Patrick’s old would be protector, reappears, at least in name only. It’s fun to see him again, this time not through Patrick’s naif vision… why do we see him again though? He is an example of an assimilated irishman, and being so high up in the clergy he is well connected enough that mm p and pharao casually gossip about him and his money. He is not alone but an atom in the circles of aristocratic libertinism, and although this game is harmless and stupid (basically here to illustrate how base the people high up are, and how money mixes up into their sexualized games, mme p fake reads the enlightenment and her partenaire claims music is harmful, and both can only bare talk about sex and money. Once again the supervillains of this novel are as banal as they can be, nothing is remarkable about them-mme p is as least a skilled social climber/a good lover etc-and these mediocre beings are tasked with destroying the lives of the much worthier novel’s heroes)(which honestly makes them very Roman and very contemporary) borel seems to be saying, no one so high up is clean.

But not even Mme P’s boob size contest story can disipate the clouds of annoyance darkening Pharaoh’s brow. She notices this, and her tone shifts to a submissive one -we understand how clever she is in testing the royal mood’s waters- The King confesses he’ll break under the weight of the scepter… He wishes to abdicate, because governing a people is too much work. What caused this crisis? His nightime snack wasn’t served, lunch had been detestable. So, the people he governs are basically, only his servants, the royal scope is as narrow as a long-lens. He governs to be served. Simple as that. The people, he complains, no longer have a vocation of service, and it’s all the fault of those meddling Philosophers who desacralize everything.

To highlight how deflated the King is in his current presentation, Borel displays him completely helpless or unwilling to exert direct violence as we have seen before. He asks mme P to avenge him because the new girl on “the Parc” has affronted him. Deborah’s curse, and unsubmissiveness/resistance to him, have left an impression on the King. Are we to believe most women on the parc choose to be nice to the King, play the game in hopes of a confortable life/social ascent?

Pompadour suggests Deborah cannot stay in the Parc, but, being also unfit for life in society, she must be locked in the most secret royal prison. Madame P assures the King his people haven’t forgotten how to serve him, Deborah is after all, a foreigner, which should explain her uncouthness/ignorance. She is a virago and a savage. She is worth much less than the average french subject. Like a new Scherezade, Pompadour prepares some coffee (distracting the royal baby with the shiny marabout) and resumes her role as a story teller.

[alexanderpearce]

ooh i would absolutely love a media rec list from you (im a different anon but 👀)

omg u flatter me.. here are some pieces of media that i really love that i consider to be somewhat lesser known outside of my circles.. i do have lots of favourites not mentioned here that are far more mainstream (my favourite book ever is, embarrassingly, still The Secret History) but it's nice to shine a light on the more niche. i'll add content warnings but they're not comprehensive because i am just going by memory. im also not tagging gore because To be honest with me that's a given.

books and plays

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499) by Anonymous/Francesco Colonna; very strange book where the author (who is actually revealed in an acrostic poem in Latin made by the first letter of each chapter) clearly has a sexual fetish for buildings and architecture. cw misogyny.

Seneca's Phaedra (1st century AD); i live here. Seneca's tragedy about doomed fatal diseased love. sorry i don't have a translation to recommend but you will be able to read mine one day i promise. cw pseudo-incest, misogyny.

The Pepsi-Cola Addict (1982) by June Alison Gibbons; vanity-published in the 1980s and only existing in five libraries around the world (until i suppose its republishing this or last year), this is a fascinating and very weird little book, and the story behind it too is very sad and interesting. i have a pdf if anyone wants it. cw predatory relationships, incest references, suicide.

The Doloriad (2022) by Missouri Williams; strange and swirling little debut set in a post-apocalyptic future, some really incredible prose. cw incest.

Geek Love (1989) by Katherine Dunne; What if the mother of sideshow freaks was purposefully consuming poisons and alcohols and cetera while pregnant to engineer her kids to be attractions Would that be fucked up for what. cw incest and the ableism inherent in the sideshow "freaks" scene.

Equus (1973) by Peter Shaffer; just read this fucking play man (or watch the 1977 movie!). cw animal death

movies

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) dir. Darren Lynn Bousman; sorry not sorry but this is my favourite movie ever. i've seen it 17 times. complete garbage trashy 2000s comedy-horror-gore-musical. insane cast. literal genius.

Caligula (1979) dir. Tinto Brass; Do you want to watch a two and a half hour long porno filled with torture and gorgeous costumes and conversations on power. well do i have the movie for you. cw rape, incest, i know i said i wouldnt tag gore but this one does have explicit penis mutilation so.

Van Diemen's Land (2009) dir. Jonathan auf der Heide; a pretty good movie adaptation of alexander pearce's first descent into cannibalism!! my main real criticism is that they desaturated the gorgeous green and vibrant west coast to grey doomy fakeness. cw beautiful gay love

Żywot Mateusza (1968) dir. Witold Leszczyński; incredible little Polish movie set in a rural village, on youtube with english subtitles.

May (2002) dir. Lucky Mckee; literally the most relatable movie of all time to me. socially awkward (super autistic) girl has trouble with love, you won't Believe what happens next

The Lair of the White Worm (1988) dir. Ken Russell; peter capaldi and hugh grant's earth shattering gay love story... super campy phallic lesbic homoerotic vampiric wyrmesque weirdo horror. peter capaldi wears a kilt and plays the bagpipes. you MUST watch this movie.

Ravenous (1999) dir. Antonia Bird; can cannibalism represent manifest destiny AND homosexuality? find out now!

And Then There Were None (2015) dir. Craig Viveiros; Agatha Christie could only dream of writing Burn Gorman's gay homophobic character in this. transcends the book hundredfold and if you disagree you genuinely have shit taste.

albums

At Least For Now by Benjamin Clementine; just listen to this right now i mean it this shit is fucking phenomenal. incredible voice and lyrics and piano and strings.

Stygian Bough Volume I by Aerial Ruin and Bell Witch; gorgeous atmospheric doomy metal

Ludevo by Ifi Ude; Polish folk with a modern twist as well as influences from Ude's Nigerian background, songs about death and drunkenness and love and ancient pinewoods

Songs About Teeth and To The Dark Tower by Cake Bake Betty; the vibe you have created is so freaky and awesome

Juniverbrecher by The Indelicates; something something brexit punch and judy isn't englishness awful etc etc. seriously underrated.

Bath Time by Maija Sofia; super atmospheric devastating album with lots of songs focusing on specific female figures throughout history. her recent album is also great.

honourable mention to The Thick of It (2005-2012) which if you follow my sideblog you will know ive been spiralling into depravity over for months now. you may ask, if you compare my posts to what the show is actually like, What on earth is she talking about and to that i have nothing to say

[cinemaocd]

Jenny's ongoing list of films watched 2024

February

January list, here.

Inland Empire (2006)*** It took three attempts to get through this long, confusing film. Like Mulholland Drive or the Season Three of Twin Peaks, Lynch films improve on repeat viewings even if meaning remains elusive. That is part of the joy-- sometimes you just vibe with it.

Death of Stalin (2017)**** One of my favorite films of the last two decades. A harried farce with the bloody-mindedness of Macbeth. Like the Scottish Play, we know how its going to come out, but the fun is in watching the articulate villain, played with delicious malice by Simon Russell Beale being outdone by a team of bumbling, petty bureaucrats and one very bad ass soldier. The Boyfriend (1970)*** Ken Russell's surreal tribute to the burlesque musical genre makes the most of its setting in the 1920s by putting his star Twiggy in iconic psychadelic reiterations of the flapper dress. If you opine the fact that drop waist dresses come back into style every 15 years or so, then this movie is as much to blame as anything. Poor Things (2023)*** Emma Stone gives a wild and convincing physical performance as Bella, a baby's brain in the body of her dead mother and Mark Ruffalo as typical 19th Century Rake Getting His Comeupance iscasting I didn't know I needed. I loved the yearning Godwin (Willem Defoe in truly amazing Frankenstein's monster makeup) and though I haven't read the book, I was drawn into the grotesque, ai generated world of the film. The aesthetics of this movie are as engrossing as the story and characters. Adventures of a Dentist (1965)** The Soviet version of the live action Disney comedies of the 70s, where a humble person is given magical power. Here a dentist is given extraordinary, almost magical abilities to perform dentistry without pain. He becomes a celebrity and his fall from grace involves him giving in to the decadent trappings of being a popular dentist. The humor has a darker edge than Disney though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a black comedy. Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973)** This Spike Milligan film plays like a double episode of Dad's Army, not least because of the presence of Arthur Lowe who plays practically the same character here as he does on the tv show. That is not the end of the world however and this is easy to like farce with Milligan's ascerbic, anti-authoritarian bent that is grittier than anything on the sitcom. The Master (2012)** I had high hopes for this, one of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's final films and his last collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson is loosely based on the origin story of Scientology. Joaquin Phoenix plays a shell shocked veteran who drifts into the path of the cult leader played by Hoffman. Amy Adams gives a chilling performance as his much younger, controlling wife who is the real power behind the cult. I think I would have an easier time with this film if Anderson hadn't gone around giving interviews saying that Scientology and it's founder L. Ron Hubbard had "helped a lot of people." Of course, this is PTA and Phoenix's character isn't helped at all and he makes the cult worse by being a violent enforcer for the leader's enemies. The levels of whitewashing involved in making a deeply misogynistic cult into a secret matriarchy is just...ugh. However, the homoerotic tension between Hoffman and Phoenix makes the film worth looking out. Murder of Quality (1991)** Made for TV adaptation of John Le Carre's second novel. Denholm Elliott plays Smiley as more doddering and anti-social than Alec Guinness' iconic version of the character. This early Smiley story is more a traditional English village murder mystery, ala Miss Marple, with Glenda Jackson playing Ailsa, Smiley's war buddy that runs a women's magazine. Christian Bale plays one of the students at an elite prep school that forms the economic backbone of the town. Le Carre is merciless in his portrayal of the toxic, petty characters, the wealthy and wannabe wealthy swamp dwellers who run rings around the local constabulary until Smilley steps in and withstands their slings and arrows long enough to solve the case.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)*** Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie with such low expectations that you are pleasantly surprised that it doesn't totally suck. The excitement of things not being as bad as you feared can blot out some of a movie's excesses. At the end of the day this is Billy Wilder, physically incapable of creating a boring movie throwing the whole bag of tricks at this faux biography of Holmes starring Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely. There's farce and physical comedy, verbal gymnastics and exotic locations. Holmes' possible homosexuality is tastefully hinted at and attempts to create a sensationalist account of his drug use, amount to little before the mystery gets rolling. One of the big delights is Christopher Lee as Mycroft whose scenes with Robert Stephens are bitchy queen pissing contests. Genevieve Page does a turn as a would be damsel in distress who turns out to be a worthy opponent to Holmes similar to Irene Adler.

Irma La Duce (1963)*** For some reason between this and Poor Things I ended up watching two movies about Parisian brothels this month. Billy Wilder based this pastiche of 1950s travelogue adventure films like To Catch a Thief and Charade on a French stage play. A strange attempt to weld the success of the Apartment with Some Like it Hot, reconfiguring a Marilyn Monroe vehicle as a reunion of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Like the Apartment, Irma LaDuce is tinged with melancholy while avoiding a lot of the cliches about sex work that wind up dating so many films on this topic. The main complaint I have about Irma LaDuce s that it's about 45 minutes too long, a common complaint about many films of this period. (Damn Lawrence of Arabia and all who sail in her).

Witness for the Prosecution (1982)*** A made for tv adaptation of the classic courtroom drama, which credits Billy Wilder's screenplay of his film version. Ralph Richardson and Deborah Kerr star in this remake and honestly their chemistry is just off the charts and we're left to wonder how they never managed to make a film together before. Wendy Hiller, Diana Rigg and Beau Bridges round out the amazing cast. Lacks the tension and edge of Wilder's film but I'm having too much fun with Ralph to care.

The Major and the Minor (1942)**: Billy Wilder's first film as writer and director has some of the hallmarks of his later, greater works: farce, trains, mistaken identity, and queer themes in the form of a lesbian coded sister of Ginger Roger's romantic rival. That all the fuss is about fairly bland Ray Milland is easy enough to overlook as Wilder makes the film about toying with Rogers image as sophisticated, sexy, dancer. Typical Wilder inside jokes about the film industry abound, such as a craze for Veronica Lake hairdos among the tween set and swipes at Hollywood actors like Charles Boyer Rogers' childish masquerade to avoid paying full adult fare is preceded by a series of calamities where she's pursued and objectified by a lot of nasty older men. Hoping to escape their advances as well as the ignominity of turnstyle jumping, she maintains the charade through a long weekend with a lot of handsy tween boys until Milland's fiancee is discredited as a controlling social climber. There is a bizarre side track into her home town where Rogers also impersonates her mother before revealing her grown adult self to Milland. No one ever accused Billy Wilder of being restrained I guess.

The Children's Hour (1961)**** This classic of queer cinema was necessarily a scorched earth tragedy at the time of its release. William Wyler's dreamy, restless camera drags you into the warm, cozy life of this female partnership between Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn that seemingly has the potential to be a romantic partnership. When nasty gossips and spoiled children start a rumor that they are a couple, the scandal destroys their business and standing in the community. Terrorized by the homophobic townspeople, they are eventually "cleared" of the crime of being gay for each other, just when Maclaine's character comes to the brutal realization that she really is in love with Audrey Hepburn's character. It's hard to watch her grief and shame as she admits that the bullies have discovered a truth about her that she didn't know herself. A fact so many queer people can find relatable. The film is based on a play by Lilian Hellman which used the topic of homosexuality to expose the cruelty of female narcissists who bully their way into power. There is much in common with Hellman's The Little Foxes in that way, but the film, perhaps owing to Wyler's inherent romanticism has more of a Romeo and Juliet quality than the play. One feels that Audrey Hepburn has perhaps realized the truth in the lie, just a few moments too late.

Sweet Charity (1969)*** Directed by Bob Fosse, starring Shirley MacLaine and Sammy Davis Jr and Chita Rivera this classic musical combines the best of Fossee's signature choreography, sixties pop show tunes and the psychadelic aesthetics of the late 60s. This and the Boyfriend have a lot in common, though I think the music in Sweet Charity is more solid and the contemporary setting makes it a tad edgier. MacLaine plays yet another flavor of sex worker, a dancehall hostess and paid companion who seeks to be elevated out of her life into respectability through marriage. The fiancee here is uptight and lacking in appeal and when he finally just flakes out in the final reel it's no great loss to the film.

Thief (1981)** Atypical heist film starring James Caan and Jim Belushi, directed by Miama Vice creator Michael Mann. You can see the beginnings of that iconic 80s TV show, in this movie which favors long scenes of action being edited to music with sparse dialog. Caan squares off against Tom Signorelli a local mob boss who dares to threaten Caan's wife played by Tuesday Weld.