#kerri conan

[sarnie-for-varney]

Holmes being moved to tears by the opera:

I like that Granada Holmes not only portrays Holmes as a real person with real feelings, but it also shows how he hides those feelings. He's stood behind in this scene, not letting anyone see him cry.

I love, too, that we see multiple instances in Granada Holmes of Holmes' love of the arts.

[browsethestacks]

Wonder Woman The Barbarian

Art by Kerry Callen

[pupsmailbox]

DOG︰WOLF ID PACK

NAMES ⌇ ace. affen. affie. aidi. airendale. akita. aksaray. alano. alex. alfie. amarok. amaruq. annie. apollo. archie. arianell. aries. armant. artemis. artois. ash. asher. aurora. badulf. bailey. bandit. barbet. bardou. barkley. basenji. bear. beau. bella. beowulf. biewer. blue. bluey. bolt. boris. boxer. brad. brenard. brittany. brutus. bud. buddie. buddy. buster. buttercup. buzz. cailean. cain. cairn. caleb. canaan. cane. canid. canis. carlo. carol. catellus. celeste. charles. charlie. chase. chewie. chip. cliff. clifford. coco. collie. conall. conan. conell. cooper. daciana. daisy. dale. darwin. dash. daxie. dexter. diana. dire. dixie. duke. dylan. echo. emory. eros. eskie. ester. fang. fenrir. fido. finn. ford. fox. frankie. ghan. glen. gold. gordon. gray. grey. griffon. grim. grimmwolf. hamilton. harley. havana. hero. hound. howl. hunter. indie. indy. jack. joey. kai. kaleb. kalev. kelpie. ken. kerry. kibble. kibs. kit. lady. leo. leon. llewelyn. lola. lowell. lucine. lucy. luna. lupin. lyall. lyca. lycro. lycus. mace. maisie. mal. malinois. marley. max. mia. miles. milo. mingan. mob. molly. mudd. mutt. nala. night. noire. noiresse. noirette. nova. nugget. nyx. oliver. ollie. orion. oscar. paxton. peach. pebble. phoebe. picard. pila. pluto. poppy. puff. pup. ralph. randelle. randy. red. redd. reika. remus. rex. rhys. riley. rocky. rolfo. roman. romulus. rosie. rover. rowdy. roxie. roxy. ruby. rudy. ruff. rufus. ruppell. russel. russell. sadie. scottie. scout. scruff. scruffy. selena. shep. shepard. shepherd. silver. sophie. spike. spitz. spot. stafford. star. stella. stick. storm. stormy. suki. teddy. terry. tiger. tosa. venerie. walker. will. wolf. wolfgang. zev. zip. zoey.

PRONOUNS ⌇　arf/arf. awoo/awoo. ba/ball. ba/bark. bark/bark. bite/bite. ble/blep. bo/bone. bo/bork. bork/bork. cae/canine. can/cani. cani/cani. canid/canidae. canin/canine. canine/canine. cha/chase. chew/chew. claw/claw. co/collar. coll/collar. cute/cute. dig/dig. dog/dog. drool/drool. en/energy. fang/fang. fe/fetch. floof/floof. fluff/fluff. fluff/fluffy. fur/fur. fur/furry. ga/game. grey/grey. grim/grim. gro/growl. growl/growl. grr/grr. guard/guard. ho/howl. houn/hound. hound/hound. howl/howl. hunt/hunt. jump/jump. lea/leash. leash/leash. lo/loyal. loyal/loyal. lu/lupi. lup/lup. moon/moon. mutt/mutt. muz/muzzle. night/night. pa/paw. paw/paw. pawprint/pawprit. pet/pet. pla/play. pla/playful. play/play. pooch/pooch. predator/predator. pro/protect. pup/pup. puppy/puppy. ri/rir. ri/ruff. roll/roll. rough/rough. ru/run. ruff/ruff. run/run. silv/silver. slob/slober. snap/snap. snarl/snarl. sni/sniff. snout/snout. soft/soft. squi/squirrel. star/star. star/starry. sti/stick. tai/tail. tail/tail. teeth/teeth. teeth/teething. tre/treat. tre/tree. wa/wag. wa/walk. wag/wag. walk/walk. wolf/wolf. wolf/wolve. wolv/wolve. woof/woof. yap/yap. yip/yip. 🌳. 🎾. 🐕. 🐕‍🦺. 🐩. 🐶. 🐺. 🐾. 🐿. 🔆. 🥎. 🦮. 🦴. 🧸.

[thatliminal-wanderer]

Mutt ID Pack

Requested by Anon

Names

Affen, Affie, Aidi, Airendale, Akita, Aksaray, Alano, Armant, Artois, Barbet, Basenji, Beau, Bella, Biewer, Brad, Brenard, Brittany, Cain, Cairn, Caleb, Canaan, Cane, Canis, Carol, Charles, Charlie, Clifford, Collie, Conall, Conan, Cooper, Dale, Darwin, Daxie, Dire, Dylan, Emory, Eros, Eskie, Finn, Ford, Fox, Ghan, Glen, Gold, Gordon, Gray/Grey, Griffon, Hamilton, Havana, Hound, Jack, Kai, Kalev, Kelpie, Ken, Kerry, Kit, Leo, Leon, Llewelyn, Lowell, Lucy, Mal, Malinois, Marley, Max, Mia, Oscar, Paxton, Picard, Pila, Pup, Red/Redd, Rhys, Rosie, Ruppell, Russell, Sadie, Scottie, Shepherd, Sophie, Spitz, Stafford, Stella, Terry, Tosa, Venerie, Walker, Wolf

Pronouns

arf/arfs, bark/barks, bork/borks, cani/canis, canine/canines, claw/claws, dog/dogs, floof/floofs, fluff/fluffs, fur/furs, grr/grrs, houn/hound/hounds, howl/howls, loyal/loyals, mutt/mutts, paw/paws, pawprint/pawprits, play/plays, pup/pups, puppy/puppys, tail/tails, wag/wags, woof/woofs, yip/yips, 🎾/🎾s, 🐕/🐕s, 🐕‍🦺/🐕‍🦺s, 🐩/🐩s, 🐶/🐶s, 🐾/🐾s, 📢/📢s, 📣/📣s, 🔆/🔆s, 🔊/🔊s, 🦮/🦮s, 🦴/🦴s

Titles

A Dog of Mixed Origin, The Dog of Unknown Breed, The Excited Pup, The Mixed Breed, The Mutt Not Like Any Other, The One Who Woofs, [prn] Who’s Origin is Unknown

Genders

Aushepbocolliedoggic, Boydogthing, Boymutt/Girlmutt, Carineeic, Dogfinalboy, Dogfinalgirl, Dogpufflecharic, Dogstimmic, Goldshepardkinic, Lycantrans, Muttdollic, Muttfreak, Muttstardewic, Phantompuptailic, Thingmutt, Traumamutt, Yellowdogplushic

Other mogai

Aldercanidae, Aldercaninoir, Alderdog, Canitoaldernic, Dog Omninoun, Dogperspesque, Dogvesi, Straydogstelic

[wonderwomanart]

Wonder Woman (homage to Conan #1) by Kerry Callen

[stars-on-my-bedroom-ceiling]

when you get this, put 5 songs you actually listen to, then publish. Send this ask to 10 of your favourite followers🎶🎶

no way i just left this in my inbox for two months...no way... hahahahaaa...

1. bourgeoisies - conan gray

2. meteor shower - cavetown

3. mr. loverman - ricky montgomery

4. heather - conan gray

5. ready set, not yet - kerry butler, rob mcclure, alex brightman (aka the beetlejuice cast)

[amphtaminedreams]

Currently Obsessing Over, Debrief No.4: EAT THE RICH (...But, like...After the Met Gala!)

-Anne Hathaway in custom Versace-

-L-R, top row: Olivia Rodrigo, Jenna Ortega, Sora Choi all in Thom Browne, bottom row: Conan Gray in Balmain-

-L-R, top row: Yung Miami in ACT N°1, Rihanna in Valentino Couture, bottom row: Tems in Robert Wun, Cardi B in Chenpeng Studio, Kim Kardashian in Schiaparelli-

-Emily Ratajkowski’s custom Dilara Fındıkoğlu dress, details-

-look, I hate exorbitant displays of wealth as much as the next perennially broke person (whose martyr of a landlord apparently has no choice but to raise the rent astronomically again! does the poor man’s suffering ever end!?)...But in the interest of FASHUN, I like to take a night off, anddd if the purpose of the Met Gala and all its afterparties isn’t to give a voice to the voiceless, i.e the amateur fashion girlies, then that would make this year all about Karl Lagerfeld and it is each and every one of our civilian duties to prevent that from happening! Monday 1st May 2023 was a celebration of three things, 1). Choupette the cat, 2). Anne Hathaway in custom Versace, 3). Emily Ratajkowski in custom Dilara Fındıkoğlu..and all the following fashion moments too-

-L-R, top row: Anok Yai in Atelier Prabal Gurung, Gwendoline Christie in Fendi, bottom row: Sydney Sweeney in Miu Miu, Rita Oran in Prabal Gurung, Nicole Kidman in Chanel-

-L-R: Aubrey Plaza in Stella McCartney, Vanessa Hudgens in Michael Kors, Olivia Rodrigo in Chanel, Keke Palmer in Sergio Hudson-

-Michaela Coel in custom Schiaparelli-

-L-R, top row: Margot Robbie in Chanel, Kate and Lila Moss in Fendi, Ashley Graham in Harris Reed, bottom row: Halle Bailey in Gucci, Emily Ratajkowski in Tory Burch, Penélope Cruz in Chanel, Chloe Fineman in Wiederhoeft-

-Anok Yai in 16Arlington-

-L-R, top row: Jeremy Pope in Balmain, Anne Hathaway in Versace, Jennie Kim in Chanel with Maude Apatow in Chloe & Sidney Sweeney, bottom row: Margot Robbie in Chanel, Suki Waterhouse in Fendi, Whitney Peak in Chanel, Lizzo in Paco Rabanne-

-L-R, top row: Gabrielle Union & Dwayne Wade in Prada, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas in Valentino, Amanda Seyfried in Oscar de La Renta, Nicola Peltz in Valentino, bottom row: Yara Shahidi in Jean Paul Gaultier, Paris Hilton in Marc Jacobs, Palomo Essar in Luar, Lily James in Tamara Ralph Couture-

-Anok Yai-

-L-R, top row: Nicole Kidman, Florence Pugh in Valentino, bottom row: Phoebe Bridgers in Tory Burch, J-Lo in Ralph Lauren, Olivia Wilde in Chloe-

-L-R, top row: Dua Lipa in Chanel & Rihanna in Chrome Hearts, Chloe Fineman, Kerry Washington in Michael Kors, bottom row: Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Jeremy Pope, LaLa Anthony, Lea Michele in Michael Kors-

-Emma Chamberlain in Miu Miu-

-L-R, top row: Cai Xukun, Iman Hammam & Joan Smalls, Emily Ratajowski in Versace, bottom row: Lil Nas, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Thom Browne, Ella Emhoff in Vaquera, Kate Moss in Fendi-

-L-R, top row: Lily James in Versace, Jennie Kim, Olivia Wilde, Paris Hilton, bottom row: Teyana Taylor, Elena Azzaro, Busta Rhymes, Georgia Fowler-

-Ava Max in Christian Siriano-

-L-R, top row: Aurora James in Bode, Whitney Peak, Yara Shahidi, Alia Bhatt in Prabal Gurung, bottom row: Quannah Chasinghorse in Prabal Gurung, Hannah Bagshawe and Eddie Redmayne in Alexander McQueen, Song Hye-kyo in Fendi, Kaitlyn Dever in Michael Kors-

-L-R, top row: Emilia Silberg and Jared Leto, Miranda Kerr in Dior, Kelsey Absille in Prabal Gurung, Adut Akech, bottom row: Kylie Jenner in Haider Ackermann for Jean Paul Gaultier, Cardi B in Richard Quinn, Dua Lipa in Chanel, Phillipa Soo in Richard Quinn-

-L-R: Rita Ora in a mix of vintage Fendi & Chanel, Kylie Jenner in Jean Paul Gaultier, Precious Lee in Fendi-

-Elle Fanning in Vivienne Westwood & Andreas Kronlather for Vivienne Westwood, details-

-L-R, top row: Keke Palmer in Sergio Hudson, Imaan Hammam in Standing Ground, Adut Akech in Carolina Herrera, Vitoria Ceretti in Balenciaga, bottom row: Liu Wen in Tory Burch, Irina Shayk in Yohji Yamamoto, Lily Aldridge in Oscar de La Renta-

-L-R: Yara Shahidi in Jean Paul Gaultier, Janelle Monae in Thom Browne, Devon Aoki in Jeremy Scott-

-L-R, top row: Gustav Witzøe in Palomo Spain, Precious Lee in Fendi, bottom row: Brian Tyree Henry in Karl Lagerfeld, Eva Chen in Fendi, Karen Elson in Christian Siriano-

-L-R, top row: Jordan Roth in Schiaparelli, Camila Morrone in Rodarte, Lily Collins in Vera Wang, bottom row: Daisy Edgar-Jones in Gucci, Pasha Harulia in Bevza, Margaret Qualley in Chanel, FKA Twigs in Maison Margiela-

-L-R, top row: Madelyn Cline in Stella McCartney, Alex Newell in Christian Siriano, Conan Gray, Isabelle Boemke in Bode, bottom row: Vanessa Hudgens in Michael Kors, Finneas O’Connell in Vivienne Westwood, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz in Valentino, Liberty Ross in Burberry-

-L-R: Micaela Coel in Schiaparelli, Rita Ora, Ava Max in Christian Siriano-

-L-R, top row: LaLa Anthony in Sergio Hudson, Rihanna, Bad Bunny in Jacquemus, bottom row: Doja Cat in Oscar de La Renta, Ice Spice in archive Emilio Pucci, Cardi B in Miss Sohee-

-middle, far right: Emily Ratajkowski in Versace-

-Gigi Hadid in custom Givenchy, details-

-L-R, top row: Doja Cat in Oscar de La Renta, Alton Mason in Karl Lagerfeld Couture, Devon Aoki in Jeremy Scott, Lizzo in Chanel, bottom row: Michelle Yeoh in Karl Lagerfeld, Jodie Comer in Burberry, Chi Ossé in Advisry, Lea Michele in Michael Kors-

-L-R, top row: Salma Hayek in Gucci, Donatella Versace in Versace, Kylie Jenner, Lil Nas in Dior, bottom row: Aubrey Plaza in Stella McCartney, Mindy Kaling in Simkhai, Naomi Campbell in Chanel, Burna Boy in Burberry-

-Billie Eilish in Simone Rocha, details-

-L-R, top row: Micaela Diamond in Carolina Herrera, Kerry Washington in Michael Kors, Alexa Chung in Róisín Pierce, Anitta in Marc Jacobs, bottom row: Angèle in Chanel, Huma Abedin in Fendi, Julia Garner in Gucci, Svitlana Bevza in Bevza-

-Dua Lipa in Chanel-

-L-R, clockwise: Jenna Ortega in Thom Browne, Nicola Petz, Irina Shayk & Karlie Kloss, Emily Ratajkowski-

I have no time for the accompanying men in bland suits. Sorry bout it.

[dweemeister]

Movie Odyssey Retrospective

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

By the time French journalist-turned-novelist Gaston Leroux published Le Fantôme de l'Opéra as a serial in 1909, he was best known for his detective fiction, deeply influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. The Phantom of the Opera plays out like a Poe work – teeming with the macabre, painted with one character’s fanatic, violent lust. In serial form and, later, as a novel, Leroux’s work won praise across the West. One of the book’s many fans was Universal Pictures president Carl Laemmle who, on a 1922 trip to Paris, met with Leroux. While on the trip, he read Phantom (a copy gifted to him by Leroux) in a single night, and bought the film rights with a certain actor already in mind.

Laemmle’s first and only choice for the role of the Phantom was about to play Quasimodo in Universal’s 1923 adaptation of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. That actor, Lon Chaney, had subsisted on bit roles and background parts since entering into a contract with Universal in 1912. Chaney, who was about to sign a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), became an instant sensation the moment The Hunchback of Notre Dame hit theaters. Audiences and critics in the early 1920s were simultaneously horrified at the sight of his Quasimodo yet, crucially, felt a profound empathy towards the character.

In his prior films, as well as Hunchback, Chaney separated himself from his fellow bit actors with a skill that almost no other actor in Hollywood possessed: he was also a makeup artist. At this time, actors applied their own makeup – often simple cosmetics or unconvincing facial hair. None of the major Hollywood studios had makeup departments in the early 1920s, and it would not be until the 1940s that each studio had such a department. Chaney, the son of two deaf and mute adults, was also a master of physical acting, and could expertly use his hands and arms to empower a scene. Though already bound for MGM, Chaney could not possibly pass up the role of Erik, the Phantom. Despite frequent clashes with director Rupert Julian (1923’s Merry-Go-Round and 1930’s The Cat Creeps; despite being Universal’s most acclaimed director at this time, Julian was either sacked or walked away mid-production), Chaney’s performance alone earned him his place in cinematic history and, for this film, an iconic work of horror cinema and silent film.

As the film begins, we find ourselves at the Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera. The Opera’s management has resigned, turning over the Palais Garnier to new ownership. As the ink dries on the contract and as the previous owners depart, they warn about a Phantom of the Opera, who likes sitting in one of the box seats. Soon after, prima donna Carlotta (Virginia Pearson) receives a threatening letter from the Phantom. She must step aside and allow a chorus girl, Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin), sing the lead role in Charles Gounod’s Faust. If she refuses to comply, the Phantom promises something horrific. Aware of the letter, Christine the next day confers with her loved one, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry), that she has been receiving musical guidance from a “Spirit of Music”, whom she has heard through the walls of her dressing room. Raoul laughs this off, but a series of murderous incidents at that evening’s production of Faust is no laughing matter. Christine eventually meets the shadowy musical genius of the Phantom, whose name is Erik (Chaney). In his subterranean lair, he professes his love to her – a love that will never die.

Rupert Julian’s The Phantom of the Opera also stars Arthur Edmund Carewe as the Inspector Ledoux (for fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version, this is the Madame Giry character); Gibson Gowland as Simon Buquet; and John St. Polis as Raoul’s brother, the Comte Philippe de Chagny.

Before extoling this film, one has to single out Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry as the glaring underperformers in this adaptation. Philbin would become a much better actress than she displays here, if The Man Who Laughs (1928) is any indication. Yet, Philbin’s Christine is a blank slate, devoid of much personality and interest. It also does not help that Norman Kerry plays Raoul in a similar fashion. Raoul, in any adaptation of Phantom, tends to be a boring role. But goodness me, for a B-actor who was acclaimed for his tall, dark, and handsome looks and screen persona, he is a charisma vacuum here. During Kerry’s more intimate scenes with Philbin, you may notice that Kerry has a case of “roving hands” when he gets close with Philbin. Philbin, who could not visibly react to these moments on-camera, surreptitiously took Kerry’s hands and held them there to stop the touching.

Philbin is much better when sharing the screen opposite Chaney. Chaney and Philbin both could not stand director Rupert Julian – whom both actors, as well almost all of the crew, regarded as an imposing fraud who knew little about making art and more about how to cut costs (Laemmle appointed Julian for this film in part due to Julian’s reputation for delivering work under budget). There are unconfirmed accounts that after Julian’s departure or removal from Phantom, Chaney himself directed the remainder of the shoot aside from the final climactic chase scene (which was the uncredited Edward Sedgwick’s responsibility). In any case, Philbin’s terror when around Chaney was real. The sets of the Phantom’s lair reportedly spooked her – the subterranean waterways, his inner sanctum. Philbin also received no preparation before the filming of what is now one of the signature moments of the silent film era and all of horror cinema. Her reaction to Lon Chaney’s self-applied makeup – meant to appear half-skin, half-skeletal – was the first time that she saw Chaney’s Phantom in all his gruesomeness. Philbin, freed of the innocent, pedestrian dialogue of the film’s opening act, gifts to the camera one hell of a reaction, fully fitting within the bounds of silent film horror.

There are conflicting records on how Chaney achieved the Phantom’s final appearance. The descriptions forthcoming are the elements that freely-available scholarship generally accepts as true. It appears that Chaney utilized a skull cap to raise his forehead’s height, as well as marking deep pencil lines onto that cap to accentuate wrinkles and his brow. He also raised his cheekbones by stuffing cotton into his cheeks, as well as placing a set of stylized, decaying dentures. Inner-nasal wiring altered the angle of his nose, and white highlights across his face contributed to his skeletal look for the cameras. Cinematographer Charles Van Enger (1920's The Last of the Mohicans, uncredited on 1925's The Big Parade) – who, other than Chaney, was one of the most familiar onset with Chaney’s makeup – claimed that the nasal wiring sometimes led to significant bleeding. Taking inspiration from Chaney’s approach to keeping the makeup artistry hidden from Philbin and others, Universal kept the Phantom’s true appearance a secret from the public and press. The studio advised movie theaters to keep smelling salts ready, in case of audience members fainting during the unmasking scene. According to popular reporting at the time, audience members did scream and faint upon the reveal; a nine-year-old Gregory Peck’s first movie memory was being so terrified of Lon Chaney’s Phantom, that he asked to sleep with his grandmother that evening after he came home.

Lon Chaney’s tremendous performance allows The Phantom of the Opera to soar. Arguably, it is his career pinnacle. Masked or unmasked, Chaney’s Phantom dominates the frame at any moment he is onscreen aside from the film’s final chase sequence. Whether glowering over Christine, majestically gesturing in silhouette, strutting down the Opera House steps during the Bal Masqué, or tucked into the corner of the frame, Chaney’s physical presence draws the audience’s eyes to whatever he is doing. The differences in posture from before and after the unmasking scene are striking – from an elegant specter to a broken, hunched figure (appearing to draw some inspiration from his experience playing Quasimodo two years earlier) seething with pent-up carnality, rage, and sorrow. Chaney’s Phantom garners the audience’s sympathy when he gives Christine the grand tour of his chambers. Look at his posture and hands when he mentions, “That is where I sleep,” and, “If I am the Phantom, it is because man’s hatred has made me so.”  That Chaney can ease through these transitions and transformations – as well as a third transformation, as the Red Death during the Bal Masqué – so naturally, without a misstep, is a testament to his acting ability.

Underneath the tortured and twisted visage of a man who has committed horrific acts is a vulnerable and misguided human being. His dreams, dashed and discarded by all others, have turned to despicable means. The role of the Phantom plays brilliantly to Chaney’s genius: to have audiences sympathize with even the most despicable or despondent characters he played. Chaney accomplishes this despite this film characterizing the Phantom with less sympathy than Leroux’s original novel and the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

This is already on top of Charles Van Enger’s camerawork; the sharp editing from a team including Edward Curtiss (1932’s Scarface) Maurice Pivar (1923’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Gilmore Walker (1927’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin), and Lois Weber.

Weber, who in 1916 was Universal’s highest-paid director, underwent numerous financial difficulties over that decade. One of Hollywood’s first true auteurs and largely ignored in the history of film until recently, Weber formed her own production company with Universal’s assistance in 1917, off the success of Shoes (1916). Through World War I, Weber’s movies were popular until around the turn of the decade, when her “didactic” filmmaking (a result of her devout Christian upbringing) went out of style. Most visibly among Weber’s financial failures of the early 1920s, The Blot (1921) – a movie that scholars and Weber himself considered her best – flopped in theaters. After two hiatuses from filmmaking in the early 1920s, Weber was brought in to conduct the final bits of editing on The Phantom of the Opera before returning to directing under Universal.

Though none of the film’s production designers were yet to hit their peak, The Phantom of the Opera benefitted from having a soon-to-be all-star art department including James Basevi (1944’s The Song of Bernadette), Cedric Gibbons (almost any and all MGM movies from 1925 onward), and Robert Florey (1932’s Murders in the Rue Morgue). Inspired by designs sketched by French art director Ben Carré, the production design trio spared no expense to bring Carré’s illustrations to life and used the entirety of Universal’s Soundstage 28 to construct all necessary interior sets. The set’s five tiers of seating and vast foyer needed to support several hundred extras. So unlike the customary wooden supports commonplace during the silent era for gargantuan sets, The Phantom of the Opera’s set for the Palais Garnier became the first film set ever to use steel supports planted into concrete. Basevi, Gibbons, and Florey’s work is glorious, with no special effects to supplement the visuals. The seventeen-minute Bal Masqué scene – which was shot in gorgeous two-strip Technicolor (the earliest form of Technicolor, which emphasized greens and reds) – is the most striking of all, unfurling its gaudy magnificence to heights rarely seen in cinema.

Universal’s Soundstage 28 was an integral part of the VIP tour at Universal Studios Hollywood for decades. Though the orchestra seats and the stage of the film’s Palais Garnier had long gone, the backside box seats of the auditorium remained. Stage 28 featured in numerous films after The Phantom of the Opera, including Dracula (1931), the Lon Chaney biopic Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Psycho (1960), Charade (1963), Jurassic Park (1993), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and The Muppets (2011). The soundstage was also supposedly haunted, with individuals claiming to see a caped figure (Lon Chaney as the Phantom?) running around the catwalks, lights flickering on and off, and doors opening and closing on their own. In 2014, after standing for almost ninety years, Universal decided to demolish Stage 28 so as to expand its theme park. However, the historic set escaped the wrecking ball, as Universal decided to disassemble the set, place it into storage, and perhaps someday reassemble it. It is a fate far kinder than almost all other production design relics from the silent era.

Unlike what was coming out of Weimar Germany in the 1920s in the form of German Expressionism, American horror films had no template to follow when The Phantom of the Opera arrived in theaters. There would be no codification of American horror cinema’s tropes and sense of timing until the next decade. But without 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera, Universal would never become the house of horror it did in the 1930s through the early ‘50s (including the Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy, Invisible Man, Wolf Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon series). So, unbound by any unwritten guidelines, 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera – a horror film, but arguably also a melodrama with elements of horror – consumes the viewer with its chilling atmosphere and, from Lon Chaney, one of the best cinematic performances ever, without any qualification. For silent film novices, this is one of the best films to begin with (outside the comedies of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd). Regardless of one’s familiarity with silent film, The Phantom of the Opera is a cinematic milestone.

My rating: 9.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog. Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

This is the twenty-third Movie Odyssey Retrospective. Movie Odyssey Retrospectives are reviews on films I had seen in their entirety before this blog’s creation or films I failed to give a full-length write-up to following the blog’s creation. Previous Retrospectives include Dracula (1931 English-language version), Oliver! (1968), and Peter Pan (1953).

[caffeinelemur]

🍉🥦🎲😇📚

Hi!!! Thanks!! Here come some probably-not-very-coherent but very rambling answers that I hope can satisfy, feel free to ask follow up questions if you want~

🍉 Fruit:

Strawberries!!!!!! The ultimate fruit and the ultimate flavor!!

I fuckin love berries!! Blueberries, raspberries~ Most berries are great. Except blackberries. (Gooseberries!!! More people need to realize the goodness of gooseberries). Peaches, Granny Smith apples, the occasional clementine…

🥦 Veggie:

Tomatoes!!!! I know they’re technically a fruit but I’ve got autism food pickiness and people put them in salad so they count. And I fucking love tomatoes I’ll eat a fucker like an apple give it to me

🎲 Game:

Videogame: Pokémon Emerald

Boardgame: Mancala, Backgammon

😇 Blorbo:

I have too many and it’s not like I rank them I don’t play favorites with my children. You can just go back in this blog and you’ll figure it out p easy if you’ve got time, patience, and enough curiosity.

Like you’ll find a good chunk of like 2019-2023 of p consistent Witcher Jaskier content that I’m not currently in bc I’ve been overcome with a new hyperfixation.

If you want the ones I’ve had the longest….

The ones I still post about/interact with/have strong feelings for now that I loved before high school (context- my last year of middle school/first year of high school was 2010) are…

- Shawn Spencer, Psych

- Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Homes stories- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Specifically the Books/Short Stories)

And the main ones from high school/college (2011-2016?) are…

- The Doctor, Doctor Who (the whole character every incarnation that’s my baby right there)

- Roronoa Zoro, One Piece (the original boi, I made this tumblr to find and collect fanart of him in like 2014 or something so all the OGs that still follow me on here from my One Piece days are real ones)

I got into anime as a whole around then, so there are too many anime blorbos; I’m not listing them all, but most are voiced by Kazuya Nakai or Daisuke Ono, or is a girl from Love Live.

Currently I’m fucking obsessed with Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss so it’s hard to think of other things and I know like it’s one of the most annoying fandoms someone could suddenly attack your dash with but I can’t help it I’m compelled by these fuckin guys

📚 Book(s):

The Princess Bride: S. Morganstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure- William Goldman

The Complete Sherlock Holmes- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Amelia Peabody mysteries- Elizabeth Peters

Mary Russell mysteries (specifically the first two: The Beekeepers Apprentice: or, On the Segregation of the Queen; and A Monstrous Regiment of Women)- Laurie R. King

Harry Dresden series- Jim Butcher

Nancy Drew mysteries- Carolyn Keene

Phryne Fisher mysteries- Kerry Greenwood

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch- Terry Pratchet & Neil Gaiman

Mrs. Murphy mysteries- Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

I have too many I’m sorry I’ll stop here; I could read before kindergarten, going to the library was my main weekend fun activity to do with mom as a child, my high school senior superlative was “Biggest Reader,” I was reading while walking between classes and everyone apparently noticed even when they didn’t talk to me. I like mysteries~

[newagesispage]

                                                                       JULY2023

THE RIB PAGE  

Elliot Page has given us a memoir titled Pageboy. ** Another good offering looks like The Book of Charlie by David Von Drehle.

*****

Another book release is A Tour De Farce: The complete history of the 3 Stooges on the Road by Gary Lassin.** And let’s not forget Ed Begley Jr. Who has written, To the temple of tranquility and step on it.

*****

Naomi Watts married Billy Crudup. ** Andy Richter married Jennifer Herrera and Conan was the last- minute officiant.

*****

DQ is getting rid of cherry dip. What the fuck? W was just discussing cherry dip the other day with a friend that had worked at DQ and she did not even know they had it. Try advertising the product, people before getting rid of it. Why does fast food always screw it up?? KFC let go of their lil’ lemon parfait and Steak and Shake stopped serving lemon, lime and orange freezes. C’mon. Somebody could open a restaurant with just the stuff that other places discontinue.

*****

Chelsea Peretti has directed, ‘First time female director.’

*****

A Federal Court overturned the Arkansas law that kept Dr.’s from providing gender transition treatment for transgender youth.

*****

Days alert: It’s like Nicole never learns not to lie. Never! At least she admits she is the queen of lies. ** The Body and Soul soap within a soap is too fucking funny! ** Terrell Ransom Jr. The actor that played Theo Carver as a young man may be on the way back!!** Xander and Sarah forever!!** C’mon, let’s try Li and Kristen and Chloe and Rex!!

*****

The 2024 Hollywood Walk of Fame has been announced!! The year will give stars to Chadwick boseman, Kevin Feige, Gal Gadot, Maggie g

Gyllenhaal, Chris Meledandri, Chris Pine, Christina Ricci, Michelle Yeow, Ken Jeong, Eugene Levy, Mario Lopez, Jim Nantz, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Michael Shur, Kerry Washington, Raul De Molina, Lili Estefan, Glen Ballard, Toni Braxton, Def Leppard, Charles Fox, Sammy Hagar, Brandy Norwood, Darius Rucker, Gwen Stefani, Dr. Dre, Jane Krakowski, Otis Redding, Angie Martinez, Billie Jean King and Carl Weathers.

*****

The 76th Tony’s came on June 11. My best dressed were Rachel Brosnahan, Lea Michele, Lupita Nyong’o and Jessica Chastain. Winners included Jodie Comer, J. Harrison Ghee, Sean Hayes, Bonnie Milligan and Alex Newell. The big musical, play and revival awards went to Kimberly Akimbo, Leopoldstadt, Parade and Top dog/Underdog. Aaron Rodgers was there to support his friend, C.J. Cormac who produced Ain’t no Mo.

*****

Censure Adam Schiff for telling the truth??** Pelosi told her Republican colleagues that they looked miserable. It is a fitting twist on the “you look marvelous” era. I mean, they do always look miserable. ** John Durham keeps saying he does not keep up with the news so he couldn’t know if there was anything to the Trump/ Russia controversy. He did admit that Trump made use of the Russian hackers. He poo pooed the Mueller investigation that brought half a dozen convictions. ** Greene and Boebert have been fighting on the house floor. How do people this ignorant get elected.

*****

The Wagner mercinary group staged a March for Justice in Russia.

*****

President Biden hosted Modi of India and the man took questions from reporters, a first!

*****

Sofia Coppola is bringing us her take on Priscilla. The film is based on Elvis and me.

*****

Georgia poll worker Ruby Freeman was completely cleared of fraud in the election.

*****

45 bags of human remains were found in a gulch in Guadalijara, Mexico.

*****

President Biden had to have a root canal. He also called Chinese President Xi a “dictator” at a fundraiser. ** Hunter Biden pled guilty to filing taxes late and will avoid charges that he lied about his drug use when purchasing a handgun. McCarthy called it a sweetheart deal. ** Comer admits that they have these investigations to bring down Biden’s poll numbers.

*****

Everybody seems filled with anxiety and the world seems a little more rude but murder is down 12%.

*****

The bodies of 81 immigrants went into the water off the coast of Greece.

*****

Ted Kazinsky and Pat Robertson have died.

*****

Danny Bonaduce has been diagnosed with Hydrocephalus and had brain surgery. He is recovering nicely.

*****

A new landfill was halted in Peoria, Il. The current landfill should be full in a year or two. It was discovered that an old diamond mine, Black Jewel no. 2, was discovered underneath. The hazards are being looked into.

*****

Chris Licht is out at CNN.

*****

Mike Pence and F X Suarez have jumped into the Republican Presidential ring.

*****

Netflix got what they wanted. They did lose a few customers but got a big bump in new customers after they wouldn’t allow people to share. They are getting away from their old tag line: Love is sharing a password.

*****

Pat Sajak is finally retiring from Wheel of Fortune. Ryan Seacrest is taking over? That sounds about right. The blandness continues.

*****

Scary Clown 45 was indicted on June 13. ** When Trump runs, GOP loses. - John Thune** A new poll shows 59% of the country wants Trump to end his campaign.

*****

Can’t wait for the Doc, Chasing Chasing Amy.

*****

2 Southern Baptists churches were expelled for having women pastors.

*****

The Supreme Court has left Native Americans to adopt or foster their own children.

*****

Stetson and other cowboy shit is quite popular right now. The 70’s are coming back hard.

*****

A company out of Washington state called Recompose will let your loved ones go back to the earth naturally as mulch.

*****

American Auto and Grand Crew were cancelled. Damn, NBC, didn’t you learn your lesson with Brooklyn 99? American Auto and Grand Crew are some of the funniest shows on tv. ** Mindhunter and Perry Mason were also cancelled.

*****

Pete Davidson was charged with reckless driving. He has checked into rehab.

*****

Paul McCartney has a picture book of the things he saw as the Beatles invaded America. Eyes of the Storm: 1964 looks awesome.

*****

The PGA? The Saudi’s? What?? The Saudi’s are taking complete control of the PGA. They won’t tell us all the details.  Is that a security risk? Many of the players and 9-11 victims feel betrayed. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is looking into it.

*****

Trevor Noah is starting a podcast that is still to be named.

*****

Oceangate  lost 5 passengers that paid $250,000 each to ride to the Titanic in a submersible named Titan. Contact was lost and the mystery began. It looks like the ship claimed 5 more.

*****

I hate the word, homophobia. It’s not a phobia, you’re not scared, you’re an asshole. - Morgan Freeman

*****

R.I.P. Astrud Gilberto, Cynthia Weil, Mike Batayeh, Wade Goodwyn, treat Williams, Cormac McCarthy, Bill Lee, Marlene Clark, Daniel Ellsberg, Beyond Wonderland victims, Glenda Jackson, Carol Higgin Clark, Sheldon Harnick, Frederic Forrest, Julian Sands, Titan victims, Alan Arkin and Rick Bennett

[redvelvetpdf]

thank u for the tag kerry!!

r - rewrite the stars by zendaya and zac efron

e - evangeline by stephen sanchez

d - daydreamer by aurora

v - vigilante shit by taylor swift

e - enter sandman by metallica

l - lithium by nirvana

v - vampire by olivia rodrigo

e - eleanor rigby by the beatles

t - this is what sadness feels like by jvke

p - precipitation by bears in trees

d - disaster by conan gray

f - fall in love with a girl by cavetown ft. beabadoobee

i cant believe i actually did it lmaoo T-T

@home-for-the-slugs @gondolin-but-not-forgottenlin @vampiringg @springstarfangirl @ur-frndlyneighbourhood-gaykid @people-wxtching @mxtthew-fxirchild-apologist @alonetogethermp3 and anyonee <33

rules: pick a song for each letter of your url and tag that many people – no repeating artists!

Thanks for the tag @hunter-sylvester

G- give me novacaine - Green Day

L- leave - jojo

E- enchanted - Taylor Swift

E- ever fallen in love - The Buzzcocks

4- 4 minutes - Madonna

T- teenagers - MCR

W- we will rock you - Queen

D- don't stop believin' - Journey

No pressure to do this :) @dreamwatch @thefruityfours

[allwaysfull]

Bittman Bread | Mark Bittman and Kerri Conan

[binsofchaos]

My Mother, My Starter | Kerri Conan

How saving a sourdough starter took on the shape of grief

Before popping the top to take a whiff, I stood lit by the open refrigerator and turned the cold jar in my hands. I’d just returned home from two months at Mom’s bedside, helpless to keep her alive. And now my starter and I are weepy globs, a shadow of our bubbly selves, oozing the strong smell of alcohol.

I’ll save you, I whispered, letting the wet rye suck me under like quicksand.

In the Anna Rae Conan slideshow that orbits my head, she made sourdough bread when I was little, but it’s hard to be sure. She cooked, sewed, fixed, crafted, and grew everything. Papier-mâché. Ceramics. Candles. Decoupage ashtrays. Nude drawings and etchings. Macramé sculptures. Wire figures. Paintings in oil, acrylic, pastel, and watercolor. Barbie clothes that matched our outfits, down to pearl buttons and velvet trim. Ski pants for the whole family. Two fancy dresses for my Junior Miss farce. She hung wallpaper, laid flooring, tiled bathrooms, antiqued old furniture, and grew plumeria, cantaloupes, string beans, and broccoli. Her cornflake-crusted baked chicken was so crisp that as you chewed you could hear crackling behind your eardrums.

Only gardening and cooking — OK, and an underutilized knack for papier-mâché — rubbed off on me. I can do anything, though; A.R. taught me that. She was a teacher all right. Thousands of kids passed through her junior high classrooms during their peach fuzz years. Thinking of the influence she had on all these lives — people who don’t know she’s gone yet carry a piece of her with them — sparks another round of tears. Where would I carry my nugget of her?

Less water is what the starter needs to rebound, or so is the consensus among the online and collegial sources rallied for consultation. Beyond that, the only other agreement is frequent feedings during triage. But I can’t muster visitation that often; my raw grief is penance enough.

Catholic Friday in our 1960s kitchen: Milk-poached sole. Cracked Dungeness with homemade mayo and cocktail sauces. Frocia, usually made with spinach or leftover noodles. Breaded eggplant baked in sour cream and mozzarella. When Sissy and I ate cheesy tuna loaf or begged for fish sticks, she’d make herself a sardine sandwich. (I make the same choice now.) Spaghetti with garlic, Parmesan, dried herbs, and olive oil she called “alla ghierga.” A little help with the reference, please, someone? It’s spelled phonetically here, her voice dictating to me clear and bright.

Midnight Mass. Kid’s jingles. Christmas carols. Acapella anything. Blues and jazz standards spun as lullabies. Karaoke. Piano bars. Evening practice at her grand. She and Dad picked up a real bargain at a repossession warehouse in San Francisco; reach out if you know someone — we’re desperate to find her beloved instrument a new home.

My heart says to simply feed the starter; I wait for a reply from Mom, that voice. How could I ignore one drop? I manage, though, holding back 125 grams, a little more than usual. I lather and scrub the remaining death from the jar to give what I reserved, the mother I’ve nurtured for more than a year, a chance at survival. Then I stir in equal parts water and rye. Damn what anyone says about too much water.

The one who hatched me loved eggs. Deviled. Coconut macaroons. Crème brûlée. Rice custard. In the nest. Hard boiled until the pot accidentally went dry and they exploded all over the kitchen. Pickled. Sliced with a special tool that may have been her mother’s. After she couldn’t use the stove anymore, she scrambled eggs perfectly with cheese using a ceramic mug in the microwave, watching and stirring like a hawk.

Decades ago, Dad wooed clients with Mom’s renditions of restaurant dishes, like tableside Caesar, palm-size spinach-ricotta tortelloni, and braciola tied meticulously with thread. Or maybe a grill-load of shish kebabs was on the menu, or New Joe’s Special — a skillet of chopped beef, eggs, and spinach. (We ate a lot of eggs and spinach when I was little.) Whatever the main, dessert was either coffee-pecan pie or a sugar-crusted domed cinnamon cake with warm lemon curd sauce. Lord, I’ve got to find that recipe.

Cocktail parties. Pigs in the blanket, fondue, bacon-wrapped mushrooms and olives, fried-and-sauced meatballs, briny crab dip, giardiniera with slightly overcooked vegetables. Artichoke spread. Biscotti, rum balls, Russian tea cakes, and pralines. A.R. set an elegant table — including napkin rings she fashioned from gold-leafed plaster of Paris — or a functional buffet with warming trays and chafing dishes. Dad ran the HiFi and bar while Mom replenished hors d’oeuvres. She entertained calmly, wearing full makeup and an updo, in maxi dresses sewn in the wee hours of the previous evening.

My job was to polish the silver. You’re just supposed to let it oxidize now.

Maybe I should expose the starter to absorb whatever’s left of the yeast swirling around my kitchen. I decide to let the jar sit open for 19 hours to jumpstart salvation fermentation. I frequently stick my face up close for signs of breathing. I got you, mama. I got you.

Next morning, no visible action, but the starter smells yeasty, not so boozy. Hope prompts more consulting. I cherry-pick advice — as Mom would have — and decide to keep 100 grams of life-support starter and add 100 grams of rye flour and 50 grams of water, then wait and see another day before giving up. Has anyone seen my corkscrew?

I woke up early, this round now clocking in at 21 hours at room temperature. It smells good enough to taste. I dip in a finger and notice some bounce but no bubbles. Plenty dry, though. Bastard advice online. I pull out 110 grams, match it with water, and stir the slurry until smooth; then add the same in rye flour. Now I’m checking my mother frequently.

In a couple of hours, bubbles. I make a gorgeous loaf and return to the usual weekly feeding-and-baking protocol. Thank you for not dying, I say, this time out loud, relieved to hear my mother answer.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Bittman Bread

No-Knead Whole Grain Baking for Every Day

 Authors: Mark Bittman and Kerri Conan

Designed by: Toni Tajima

Photography: Jim Henkens

 Going back to basics…and what is more basic than bread…Bittman and Conan use a basic starter that incorporates natural yeasts in the environment to create bread from whole grains. This same dough can be used for a variety of baked goods and is versatile in its ability to use a multitude of whole grains.

 The directions are easy to follow, ingredients easy to find, and the challenge to try a loaf or more enticing. The photographs of baked goods made me think that the bread would be dense and heavy rather than light and fluffy but that it would also taste rich and earthy were I to take a bite.

 I questioned the use of parchment paper as it is not readily available where I live. Also, I wondered what one would do if they did not have a Dutch oven or covered baking dish that was requested/required. I have never made this type of bread though I have used starter in the past.

 I found the book interesting but as there are only two of us in the home now, I am not sure how often I would be likely to make bread from scratch. However, my husband did harvest grain and barley this past year so we COULD grind it with my old Kenwood grain mill and give one or two of the recipes a try.

 Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 4-5 Stars

  BLURB

 75 to 85 recipes plus essential information and advice for making delicious and nourishing whole-grain bread (and more!) from best-selling author Mark Bittman From best-selling author Mark Bittman comes the ultimate guide to perfect homemade bread—starting with a wholesome, nourishing, no-knead recipe that’s actually easy for the at-home baker (and also happens to set you up with a sourdough starter for future loaves). Plus, recipes for every taste and any grain, with all the techniques and tips to bake delicious bread at home. Mark has spent years perfecting delicious, naturally leavened, whole-grain breads, and those recipes are the backbone of this innovative book. But you’ll also find baguettes, mixed-grain loaves, sandwich bread, soft pretzels, cinnamon rolls, focaccia, pizza, waffles, and much more. Like all of Bittman’s cookbooks, these recipes are straightforward—no frills or overcomplications—and get right to the heart of how to make bread, making it great for beginners, but also, with Bittman's innovative techniques and unique insights, essential for bakers of all skill levels.

[muresetivoire]

My romantic awakening was when I read about Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, and now I am a simp for William Herondale and Thomas Cresswell. Coincidence? I think not.

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

Savage Sword of Conan #46 by Kerry Gammill