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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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What Went Wrong With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze?

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The story of how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went from underground comic book to the highest grossing independent film of all time is the stuff of Hollywood legend. But ask producer Tom Gray about the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and you are likely to hear an altogether different tale. One of a frantically rushed production, censorship backlash and a change of director and direction. Actors were replaced, there were clashes with the comic book creators and a series of strange and unusual characters were added to the mix – including Vanilla Ice.

Gray was head of production at Golden Harvest, the Hong Kong studio behind martial arts classics like Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, when comedian-turned screenwriter Bobby Herbeck first approached him about a live-action film adaptation of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s cult comics.

It’s fair to say he took some convincing.

“I hated the idea. I thought it was stupid,” Gray tells Den of Geek. Undeterred, Herbeck pestered Gray for months until the Golden Harvest chief had a sudden change of heart.

“I had an epiphany and thought we could just put stunt guys in turtle suits and make all our money in Japan. That was why I was interested; making it low budget. It escalated when Steve Barron came onboard.”

Barron had made his name with groundbreaking music videos for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and A-Ha’s “Take on Me” and sold Gray and TMNT creators Eastman and Laird on his vision for the movie.

More importantly, he enlisted the late Jim Henson and his legendary Creature Shop to bring the Turtles to life using state-of-the-art animatronics, which came at no small expense.

Even so, Gray found the project was a hard sell when it came to finding a major studio willing to distribute the movie.

“George Lucas’s Howard the Duck had just come out and bombed,” he recalls. “When I went around people would say ‘oh no I’m not going to put my name on the next Howard the Duck. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, how absurd.’ Nobody wanted to step up in the major studios.”

Undaunted by the mass rejection (“Hollywood is always the last to know”) Gray eventually secured a deal with New Line Cinema, then best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The rest, as they say, is history.

That first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came from nowhere in the spring of 1990 to make an astonishing $135 million, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process. A sequel was inevitable but the results were anything but.

“It was rushed,” Gray says when asked for his overriding feelings about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. “Once the first film opened, we figured we had to get another one out as quickly as possible because this whole thing could fade away very quickly if we didn’t come back.”

Incredibly, a release date for the sequel was set for almost exactly a year on from the original. That seems crazy to think now, in the era where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is carefully plotted out years in advance, but this was 1990 and New Line Cinema. At this point the production company which was working on its sixth Nightmare on Elm Street Movie in the space of just seven years. The quality of those films had varied wildly but one thing had remained consistent: the quick turnaround.

“New Line wanted it out on pretty much the same date, maybe a week earlier in fact. So, we rushed into the production, got a script together. The overarching thing was speed. We had to get it out,” Gray remembers. “I think that’s probably the reason why it doesn’t top many people’s list of the best Turtles movies.”

A Change in Tone

One of the first challenges facing Gray was a tonal one. While the first TMNT film had garnered praise for maintaining the dark and dangerous feel of the original comics, not everyone was happy.

“We started getting some pressure from parental groups. They felt it was a little too dark and a little too frightening for children,” Gray says.

In the US, there were reports of Turtles toys and merchandise being banned in schools over worries they encouraged aggressive behavior in kids. In the UK, the characters were even rebranded the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles amid concern among censors that the word “ninja” promoted violence. Michelangelo’s nunchucks were also banned. It wasn’t just the censors who expressed concern either.

“The toy company was also telling us that maybe we shouldn’t be too dark,” Gray said. “And then, of course, then there was Jim Henson himself, who died while we were making the first film. His whole thing from the beginning was that he didn’t want to make a really dark film. Steve [Barron] was able to convince him it was the way to go even though it was different from the Muppets and everything he had done before. They had a great relationship. Jim trusted Steve.”

The decision was made to approach the material with a lighter tone, with Todd Langen’s original script undergoing a major rewrite to address the change. Despite the change Gray insists an attempt was made to retain some of the darker elements.

“We tried to get somewhere in between but probably didn’t succeed.”

Ultimately, however, the looming deadline left little room for nuance.

“If you sit down and think about this thing too much, you’re never going to get underway,” he reasons.

A New Director

In another notable shift that fans have questioned down the years, Barron did not return for the sequel.

The Irish filmmaker told Flickering Myth that the shift in sensibilities was the deciding factor.

“[It was] lighter, and all the instructions that had gone on from the first film were coming from the producers about keeping the color and lightness and getting away from the dark edge in number two,” he said. “For me it was poppy, and that wasn’t my sensibility.”

Gray tells Den of Geek Barron didn’t come back “for reasons that I won’t go into” but during the interview paints a picture of difficulties during their work together on the first film.

“I fought with the crew every single day but they did a hell of a job. Budgets were not adhered to but I’ve always given them credit because of their vision,” Gray says.

The producer also revealed that the first film was re-edited from Barron’s original version after his bosses were left unhappy with the director’s cut.

“The studio did edit the film in the end to come up with a different version. It was felt it was cut so you didn’t get to see the roundhouse kicks and fighting which was the hallmark of Golden Harvest. When the bosses saw it in Hong Kong, they complained that they couldn’t tell what the turtles were doing. They wanted to see these guys kicking and fighting. Steve’s style was good but we wanted another look.”

Despite Gray’s diplomatic tone, it’s not difficult to imagine such developments might have created tension. In Barron’s place came American filmmaker Michael Pressman, who Gray knew from his days at United Artists.

“What I liked about Michael was that he was a disciplined director. Having gone through the problems with the first picture I wanted someone who shot fast and stayed on budget. That was my main motivation,” the producer says.

A capable director who has gone on to enjoy a long and varied career in television, little of the blame for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2’s failing can fall at Pressman’s feet though it’s undeniable that some of the creative spark of the first film was lost with Barron’s exit.

So was much of the original’s violence, with the Turtles rarely shown using their weapons in the finished film while the action set pieces were also significantly watered down.

Eastman and Laird

Despite the criticism levelled at the sequel for failing to retain the tone of the comics, all of what went into the movie was greenlit by the TMNT creators. Part of the deal inked by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman saw them retain final approval on anything in the film. But that created other issues both at script and production level, as Gray recalls.

“Kevin was certainly more malleable with going along with things because of the budget but Peter was very difficult to get things by because he would say ‘Oh, well Michelangelo would never say that’. So, it was very hard from the point of view of the writer trying to figure it all out.”

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With Barron no longer around to mediate and sell them on the plans and with time ticking on, the pair’s reluctance to sign off on ideas led to increased tensions.

“We argued a little bit,” Gray says. “These things are never sweet or nice. It gets down to what we can do and, in the time provided. It’s about compromise. In the end they approved Langren’s changed script. Maybe it was reluctantly but we weren’t going to meet the demand and get this out if they kept changing things.”

Tokka and Rahzar

One of the most noted criticisms of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 concerned the decision to introduce two new sidekicks alongside returning villain Shredder, rather than draw on the wild array of mutant animals that had featured in the comics and TV series.

Many fans had expected to see Bebop and Rocksteady, the mutant warthog and rhinoceros supervillains made famous in the cartoon, feature. However, that cartoon outing proved both a blessing and a curse.

“I didn’t want them in any of the movies,” Laird later revealed on his personal blog. “It’s not so much that I disliked the characters so intensely, but more that I found their constant one-note shtick in the first animated series to be extremely annoying and silly to the point of being stupid.”

Gray’s version of events differs slightly.

“We wanted new villains because we would get a piece of the royalty, which we didn’t have with the first movie. We figured if we created something they didn’t come up with we would get a piece of the pie. It was a business decision.”

Together with the creatives at Henson’s Creature Shop, they “threw together” Tokka and Rahzar, a mutant Alligator Snapping Turtle and wolf respectively, based on pretty much whatever was available.

“Those things were basically the Henson Creature Shop’s ideas, because they had to figure out, technically, what they could do, how big they were going to be and how they could move,” Gray says. “They had to design all this stuff, put someone in the suit and then wire them up or get the animatronics going to make it work. So, we just went to them and said we need a couple of villains.”

Indeed, the resulting animatronics proved less complex and less compelling than the heroes in a half shell – and it showed on screen.

“They were just big models,” Gray admits. “We cut corners, there’s no question about it.”

Sweaty and Claustrophobic

Meanwhile, the turtle suits themselves had undergone little in the way of upgrades since the first film, when the actors playing the four leads experienced any number of issues. Not the least of which being the claustrophobia and sweating that comes with wearing up to 70lbs worth of turtle suit.

The animatronics also, despite being state-of-the-art, continued to suffer their fair share of glitches.

“We knew what the difficulties were and they were unbelievable,” Gray says. “There were days when we couldn’t even get these things set up. We were filming right near the Wilmington Airport. We set up a shot and when it came time for action the Turtles would not speak. We realized they were on the same frequency as the airport.”

Gray blames the lack of a major upgrade, in part, on the lack of additional budget.

“The budget didn’t exponentially go through the roof, because of the speed,” he explains. “I have read things saying it was $20 million. It wasn’t, it was $16.5 million.”

A New April O’Neil

Away from the animatronic issues, the human cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 proved a mixed bag. Corey Feldman didn’t return to voice Donatello after pleading no contest to a drug possession charge while, more notably still, Judith Hoag was replaced by Paige Turco as April O’Neil.

Hoag later told Variety she was never approached about the sequel, claiming her omission was a result of the fact she complained about the level of violence in the first movie and the six-days-a-week shooting schedule.

“Everybody was beating everybody up,” Hoag said. “I thought the movie suffered because of that. It was something I spoke to the producers about, I think they thought I was too demanding, and moved on.”

Not that Gray felt the production suffered as a result of either changes.

“No, not at all,” he says. “Certainly not with Corey Feldman because it’s a voice. Remember when you play that movie around the world it will be in 40 or 50 different languages and subtitled anyway. It makes no difference and nobody overseas even knew Corey Feldman was doing a voice…With Judith, we thought it might be of concern but then again it’s all about the Turtles. People aren’t showing up for Judith – though she did a fabulous job – it was really all about the Turtles.”

Elias Koteas also failed to return as the ice hockey stick-wielding vigilante and ally Casey Jones – though that was more down to the film’s shift away from adult themes and one of the more violent human characters.

“Casey was discussed but the reason he dropped out – and I don’t think this was a major issue – was the direction we wanted to take the film,” Gray says. “We wanted to go lighter. That was part of cleaning up the act.”

In his place came Ernie Reyes Jr, a rising martial arts star who had served as a stuntman on the first film and was introduced as Keno, a pizza delivery boy who befriends the turtles. It was a stark departure from Koteas’s character but, once again, it was one Gray says came with the backing of the TMNT hierarchy.

“If Peter and Kevin had wanted Elias back, he would have been back. So, either we were able to convince them that we wanted to go with Ernie and they went along with it.”

Vanilla Ice

Quite how they were convinced to include rapper Vanilla Ice in the proceedings is anyone’s guess, with the rapper turning up in a mid-film nightclub scene to perform new single “Ninja Rap.” His cameo continues to delight and horrify fans to this day. Few will be surprised by the commercially-minded circumstances that led to his appearance.

“SBK the record label producing the soundtrack album said ‘You gotta have Vanilla Ice in this, he’s hot’ so we put him in…We had a good album out of it. Sometimes you don’t make the movie for the reason of art you make it because the thing could go away in a heartbeat. I’ve always been fairly honest and upfront about our motives. It is a business.”

While others might disagree, Gray stands by the inclusion of Vanilla Ice in the film.

“He actually did a very good job. He’s a very cool operative and he loved doing it.”

Shredder or Krang?

Looking back on the sequel, as much as anything, the most disappointing aspect was the decision to resurrect Shredder rather than explore different villains in the way other comic book franchises have.

While Shredder has always been the main antagonist, as with Bebop and Rocksteady, there remained a plethora of colorful villain characters that could have been plucked from the pages of the original comic or the animated series. But the decision to stick with Shredder was not one takem lightly by anyone, and others were discussed.

“We went through the whole catalogue of villains and certainly Krang and all these other characters were in play,” Gray says. “We thought of them but we stayed with what works and that’s what you do in these situations. Don’t try and get too clever.”

As much as anything he blames the Hollywood system and a refusal to take risks. New Line too, would have no doubt been happy to press ahead with a Shredder-oriented sequel, seeing him as the TMNT’s very own Freddy Kreuger of sorts.

“Nobody trusts their instincts,” Gray says. “You go with what worked before and try to modify it a little bit. If it works [and the plethora of Freddy sequels suggests it did] then you are justified in using the same thing over and over again.”

Once again though the decision to stick with Shredder and avoid the kind of time and expense required to create something like Krang, a brain-shaped alien carried around in the waist of a robot man, was influenced by that release date.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze opened in theaters on March 22, 1991, less than a year on from the original. It went on to make over $78 million to become the second most successful independent film of all time.

Despite turning a profit, the film garnered mixed reviews and left Gray and others disappointed.

“It didn’t deliver on what we had hoped because there was this race against time to get it out one year after the first one. When you do that, you really have to compromise.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

After the rush to make a second film, it was decided that they would take more time over the third one.

But anyone hoping for a return to form was left disappointed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in TIme, which saw the gang head to 17th century Japan.

“With number three, we were aiming something at the Japanese market, which was the number one market for foreign films,” Gray explains. “That’s why we had the time travel storyline with the samurais. That was definitely one of the motivations.”

There was just one problem though.

“We hoped it would get the film released in Japan. To this day, it has not been released in Japan.”

Though Gray returned to produce an animated fourth film in the 2000s box office returns diminished with every film. By the time Michael Bay got involved in the franchise, Gray was long gone. He now considers himself “out of the turtle game” with this being one of the last interviews on the subject. But despite the highs and lows endured on the second film, Gray remains proud of what was achieved.

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“These movies were made by committee. It’s amazing they turned out so well.”

The post What Went Wrong With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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burntcopper · 6 years ago

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Mark Monahan, dance critic

7 MAY 2019 • 7:00AM

It is one of those volatile spring days where the weather can’t make up its mind, and I am in the studios at Three Mills Island, deep in the East End of London, watching rehearsals for Matthew Bourne’s brand-new production of Romeo and Juliet. To judge by the section of Prokofiev’s ever-astonishing score firing from the speakers, we are in the midst of the final, calamitous scene of Act II.

Tybalt staggers on, paralytically drunk. So far, so familiar to anyone who’s seen certain Tybalts in the Royal Ballet’s production – except that he is also clutching a revolver, which he brandishes at the terrified crowd of young onlookers. He then takes Mercutio and Balthasar hostage, forcing them, at gunpoint, to snog each other. As Bourne slyly tells me a little later, “I should say, it doesn’t follow the plot exactly – it is a Romeo and Juliet-type story We have got a couple of surprises up our sleeve…”

How could Bourne possibly not? After all, he is the dance-theatre supremo who, with his company Adventures in Motion Pictures (recast as New Adventures in 2002), has repeatedly put bold new spins on old works, often opening them up to entirely new audiences.

He is most famous for having redefined ballet at a stroke in 1995 by making all the waterfowl in his Swan Lake brazenly bare-chested men. But he also spiced up Carmen with a dash of The Postman Always Rings Twice and set the result in a steamy garage (The Car Man, 2000); transformed an obscure Sixties film, The Servant, into perhaps the other sexiest dance show so far this millennium (Play Without Words, 2002); and risked taking two adored, emphatically cinematic films – Edward Scissorhands and The Red Shoes – and putting them on stage (in 2005 and 2016). It was also Bourne who set Cinderella in Blitz-ravaged London (1997), thoroughly re-cracked The Nutcracker (1992) and sharpened up The Sleeping Beauty with vampires (2012). The fact that this master choreographer-producer and storyteller – already riding high with his superb current revival of Swan Lake – is now tackling the most stirring balletic tale of all makes this the single most eagerly awaited dance show of 2019.

“I think the key to the success of this company,” he tells me, “is that it brings in people who feel this is not something they’d normally understand, something they’re a bit scared of.”

So, besides the snippet of Act II that I catch, what sort of Romeo and Juliet can we expect when it launches in Leicester next week? The various New Adventures members I chat to prior to Bourne himself maintain an omertà-like silence about it, saying only that it’s set in an unspecified time in the near future, and reminding me that the show’s tag-line is “Imagine a time when love is forbidden …”.

Thankfully, the New Adventures grand vizier himself – remarkably affable and unstuffy in person – is a little more forthcoming. Designed (as usual with this company) by the terrific Lez Brotherston, the show, Bourne says, will be roughly two hours long, in three acts, but with just one interval, with the score rearranged (by Terry Davies) for a 15-strong live band. He also says that his scenario was “very vaguely” inspired by Anna Hope’s 2016 novel The Ballroom. Beyond that, however, Bourne is careful to tantalise rather than reveal, and this spirit of mystery extends to the show itself.

“We haven’t absolutely hit on a definite ‘this is it’ thing,” he says, “We think all these young people are in this institute. I want the audience to ask, ‘Why are they there? Is this to do with mental health? Is this a borstal? Is this a prison, a school? What is it? What’s going on? They’re obviously receiving some sort of medication. What it comes down to is that any excess of feeling is frowned upon and has to be, um…”

Quelled?

“Yes, quelled – good word! So, emotions are kept to a minimum, and they’re all young people who’ve been dumped there, because they’re trouble.”

Tybalt, Bourne explains, is now a corrupt guard. And, although there appears to be no Capulet family in this version, “we still get one set of parents, the Montagues, who bring Romeo there. We see him arrive, and they’re a bit like Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright in House of Cards, a political couple probably, and Romeo’s a bit of an embarrassment. He’s a bit like [the US President’s youngest child] Barron Trump, but a little bit older. He seems to have been locked away somewhere, bless him, poor boy.”

Bourne also hints that he, true to form, will not be holding back on the sensual side of things.

“I felt I could capture something that’s not in the ballet if we set it in a different time, something that was a bit more raw, a bit more like young people really are. I mean, when they get together, they go for it. They’re not thrilled by a kiss on the cheek – if they’re kissing, they’re kissing for hours.”

The regularity with which the word “young” comes up as we talk nods to another remarkable aspect of this new production. It marks the largest confluence to date of the two main strands of Bourne’s company: its fully professional performing side, and the charitable arm that aims to inspire young people to try their hand at dance. In practice, this means that a huge and heartening number of young people are involved in every aspect of the production which features two separate casts, each with their own set of star-crossed lovers.

It’s remarkable enough that two of the Juliets – Bryony Wood and Bryony Harrison – are just 19 and 21 respectively, and that one of the Romeos (Harrison Dowzell) is also 19. But many of the performers will be younger still.

A year or so ago, the company did a nationwide call-out for what they call the “local casts”. It whittled the 1,000-odd trainee dancers who applied down to 97, all aged 16-19, who will now be performing with the company. Throughout the 13-venue tour, New Adventures will be divided in half, with each half leapfrogging the other across the country. So, as one (dubbed the Capulets) starts performing in one town, the other (the Montagues) will begin a week’s pre-show rehearsal in the next. And waiting to join the company in every city, with the adrenalin doubtless pumping ferociously, will be six of those already-prepped youngsters. (The exception is the Leicester sextet, already involved in the London rehearsals.)

This, I suggest to the young-cast rehearsal director Paul Smethurst, looks like a project that could benefit British dance full-stop. “We have definitely found the next generation of star dancers,” he says. “And, we’ve found so many of them.”

What’s more, this youth drive extends to every aspect of the production. For example, young associate choreographer Arielle Smith is just 22. When she insists to me that Bourne often tells her, “Do what you want to do!”, and Smethurst, that “Arielle has a real voice and a real vision that she’s bringing to the piece”, I do privately wonder just how much trust the 59-year-old, Tony- and Olivier-garlanded Sir Matthew Bourne, OBE can really be putting in one so young. Then, minutes later – with Bourne coaching the principals across the corridor – there she is, working with dozens of corps members, and “holding” the room with complete command.

Now, these are, of course, gender-fluid times, especially in the eyes of the young. Besides which, Hackney-born Bourne (who these days lives in Islington with his partner, fellow choreographer Arthur Pita) has often toyed around with sexuality in his productions. Was he, I wonder, tempted to make his Romeo and Juliet a gay romance?

“Well,” he says, “I suppose years ago I may have gone with that. But, following on from Lord of the Flies [revived in 2014 with a largely teenage cast], which was all men, I didn’t feel this was the right time to go all male. So I thought, no, this is a chance to work with young people of both sexes.”

That said, Tybalt’s viciously enforced embrace does suggest that Bourne is up to plenty of gender-related mischief here.

“Oh, definitely, yes,” he confirms. “We wanted to have all life is here a little bit, especially with all the young people involved. I give them a bit of freedom with whatever sexuality they choose to be – how their character identified was important. For example, Mercutio’s got a boyfriend in this – that’s Balthasar. And there are a couple of girl characters who identify as gay, with one, Frenchy, who’s in love with Juliet.”

If anyone can get away with all this sort of thing, it is Bourne. His theatrical instincts have seldom let him down over the years (2008’s Dorian Gray the exception that proves the rule), and the brief section I see rehearsed – despite the absence of proper set, lighting, costumes and live music – is genuinely thrilling. What, I ask him, is the secret of his success? How has someone who didn’t even start dance training until he was 22 (at the Laban, in south-east London) made such a colossal mark on the dance world?

He credits his famous obsession with character – with giving every single person on stage a backstory and a purpose – with having collaborated on various non-New Adventures shows with “great directors” such as Trevor Nunn, John Caird, Sam Mendes and Richard Eyre. He also adds, “I think the key to the success is that I’m also quite reverential. I love the ballets, I love the scores, and I don’t want to mess with them too much. I want to honour the composers in a way that I feel is OK. And I want to tell a story to people.”

And want to get the audience involved?

“Yes,” he confirms. “And it just comes completely naturally to me. It’s not something I work at. I’ve never thought, ‘How do you get an audience on-side?’ It’s just completely the way I think about things, and I don’t see the point of it otherwise.”

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo + Juliet opens on May 13 at the Curve, Leicester, and tours the UK until October. Details and tickets: new-adventures.net

#romeo and juliet #matthew bourne

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jeromer-spatialdesign · 4 years ago

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Melanie Barron

University of Tennessee - Knoxville

_”The Material Landscape itself, as it is produces by the black subject and mapped as unimaginably black, must be rewritten into black, and arguably human, existence on different terms…. Invisible geographies, marginality, indicate a struggle and ways of knowing the world, which can also illustrate wider conceptual and material spaces for consideration; real, lived dispossessions and reclamations, for example. The margins and invisibility, then are also lived and right in the middle of our historically present landscape.” Katherine McKitrrick, Demonic Grounds - pp. 5-7

RECYCLING SPACES Curation Urban Evolution:

The Landscape Design Of MARTHA SCHWARTZ PARTNERS

GRAND CANAL SQAURE Dublin — Case Study

_Recuperation as a contemporary landscape architecture in response to the slow violence of economic restructuring globally

_Post Industrial Cities

_Since the late 17th Century, the dublin docklands area has transformed from river estuary, to agricultural fields, to industrial port, to gas works, to toxic brownfield, to vibrant urban neighbourhood. Grand Canal Square, the centrepiece of the new development, has played a catalytic role in the most recent reshaping of this once forgotten part of town..

_Dublin is a city of change. More than 1000 years the city has been ruled by the norse and normans the British and the Irish, it has ben an agricultural city, a shipping city, a manufacturing city, a service city and a technology city. As the economy shifts, Dublin shifts..

_The most recent wave of movement to Dublin came during the Celtic tiger boom of the mid 1990’s, when Ireland transitioned from being one of the poorest in western Europe to having one of the fastest growing economies on the continent…

_In order to transform the site and its toxicity that got left behind, from being derelict industrial site to a vibrant mixed used development, the DDDA (The Dublin Docklands Development Authority) combined an innovative relaxation strategy and public realm design…

_”If you want to make it something that people are drawn to, you need to imprint it in peoples imaginations, in a way that is fun, that is lively. It had to have an identity in and of itself and had to be of cultural and artistic value.” - John McLaughlin

_The docklands are has historically been important of Dublin, but it was a really tough place to live, Now 80,000 people living and nearly 30,000 jobs. Facebooks agency is near and google just opened up their European headquarters. Businesses are growing and there’s a young and energetic population…

BEAUTY REDEEMED: Recycling post industrial Landscapes

Ellen Braae

“INTERVENTIONS”

Learning from Landschaftspark Duisburg - Nord

_German Landscape Architect Peter Latz - Latz + Partners

_The transformation of former industrial areas for new purposes is a widespread phenomenon happening before our eyes..

_ “A space is thereby established in which the past, present and future can be seen together in mutual dialogue”

_The reuse of ruin ions industrial areas inscribes it self cultural in a wider artistic re-orientation and re-interprests on what we already have, contributing towards thinking behind sustainability.

_The Industrial areas can be seen as potential new cultural heritage, where preservation, re use and transformation becomes allies

_Transformation of industrial areas is ushering in an epistemological breakthrough in design… there’s a lot of things to be learned from transformed industrial areas

_The innovation in Latz proposal lay in decoding of features and qualities and the way they were highlighted and reworked. He saw structures in the area which could form settings and provide inspiration for new uses…

_Relics of Industrialism and The Process of nature

_Latz also developed a strategy for cultural re-use which no only re-incorporated the materials on the site but also incorporated entire structures such as the massive blast furnace which today houses an auditorium

_Latz intervention-based transformations with its desire to re use the decommissioned industrial areas in various ways, includes several aspect of sustainability.

_Sustainability in relations to the questions of future ruin ions industrial areas also involve cultural dimensions. There is cultural history hidden in these discrete areas, where the requirements of productions are intertwined with culturally determined values - but of far greater importance of how we can build a new future out if these ruins and derelict spaces

_ “How can we work on the new aesthetics qualities, functions and materials, and the new frames of understanding in the industrial leavings, in a way that is meaning for us today and helps to draw the counters of tomorrow?”

_ “German Historian Koselleck said each era is formed by its expectations of the future and if we are unable to take a creative approach to an absolutely crucial central element of our recent past and the present we live in, then in that respect there is little hope for our future. We must then develop our aesthetic views of these ruins if we are build a future from them and on top of them. This is where we find the new sustainability”

_ “Industrial areas can be regarded as a new form of cultural heritage, to be investigated and creatively treated”

FROM INDUSTRIAL TO POST INDUSTRIAL UBRAN LANDSCAPE

Industrial Landscapes as an element of post-industrial urbanisation

_Post Industrial urban landscapes, ruinous industrial landscapes are simply part of are not planned, unified entities, they are accumulations of a series of decision taken over time, each rational in its own right, which led to the current stage of urbanisation.

_Overlaid like a palimpsest on largely obliterated earlier uses of the land…

_ “In between landscapes” can be criticised as lacking both identity and aesthetic quality

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amberbeach · 4 years ago

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"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH."

gif belongs to me

When Kevin left to join the Power Rangers, fulfilling his destiny as the Blue Samurai Ranger, you remained in contact as often as you could, a phone call every week. But after two weeks without a single phone call you were starting to worry about him, and watching the news wasn't helping to ease your concerns.

You were walking out of a cafe, drink in hand as you looked around. You paused when you saw a black car parked across the road, eyebrows furrowing as the door opened, waiting to see who would exit.

Your eyes widened when you saw Kevin step out, crossing the street. He grinned when he saw you running towards him, catching you when you jumped into his arms, spinning you around. He held your waist, his other hand on the back of your head as you buried your head in his neck.

"I can't believe you're really here. I missed you so much." You pulled away, tears in your eyes as you placed your hands on his cheeks. "When you didn't call, I assumed the worst."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you. It's finally over."

You smiled, leaning up to kiss him passionately. He pulled away after a few moments, resting his forehead on your own. "I really missed that." He whispered, causing you to giggle. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

#kevin barron #kevin barron x reader #kevin barron imagine #kevin barron imagines #power rangers samurai #power rangers samurai imagine #power rangers samurai imagines

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unseelieaccords · 7 years ago

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Look if they ever start doing Dresden Movies I want the trailer to Skin Games to rip off all these gaudy, over the top, Mission Impossible Hollywodd heist films. Like put George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and for no reason Chris Tucker does all these awesome heist film things. Then near the end just have the camera slowly pan back as a cop car passes by and then lead into a bird's eye of the standoff between Police vs Binder while Dresden and rest are running through Marcone's place.

Imagine the lift scene instead where they’re going down in the lift and have a voice of “So you want me to work with a 2000 year old maniac” while showing scenes of the fight outside Michae’ls house focusing on Nicodemus, “and his twisted daughter/lover” showing Deirdre turning in to her monster form “and whatever freak shows he’s signed on” showing the creature beating the shit out of Harry when he first meets it “to break in to a vault” showing blowing a door off its hinges “owned by the Barron of Chicago” Marcone sitting at his desk. “So we can rip a hole in to the underworld” show a view of the underworld “And steal from a literal God.” Hades sitting in his chair by the fire. Switch back to the lift “And you want me to survive?!”

Mab, facing forward, shot from behind. “I expect you to do more than survive, my knight.” she turns and looks at him, giving him a cold and beautiful smile. The lift pings, the doors open. “I expect you to skin them alive.” she walks out.

Cut to title card. Coming soon.

Then flip back to Harry standing dumb faced in the lift. The doors start closing and he has to jump out between the doors and almost gets his coat stuck. He disapeaers off shot as the doors close, and something moves just inside one of the shadows off screen.

#Dresden Files #Someone hire me to write these scripts #They would be great #I have so many ideas #I'll do storyboarding too #Anon #Ask

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years ago

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Beirut After the Explosion: Survivors Pick Up Pieces, Try to Imagine a Future

Now Playing

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WSJ’s Dion Nissenbaum returned to his apartment in Beirut to assess the damage from the deadly explosion that injured his daughter and ripped through his neighborhood. In this video, he shares what he went through and reports on the aftermath. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/beirut-after-the-explosion-survivors-pick-up-pieces-try-to-imagine-a-future/

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deals360-blog · 5 years ago

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BEST AMAZON PRIME KIDS MOVIES FOR WHOLE FAMILY

Amazon Prime has still made the best way to update the user and keep to manage them for their features and functions. It doesn’t save a great selection of kid’s movies selection but it shows the best way of a limited collection of them. While updating Amazon Prime, there are some updated solutions that waded through every off-brand animation and each modern take on the after-school special and skateboarding chimpanzee adventure and many more options than a dozen of kid’s movies recommended right now. The Amazon Prime has designed a couple of PG-13 films that are not suitable or appropriate for the youngest viewers however, they deserve the quality as much as adults.

The lists of Amazon Prime kids movies trove the category that reserves those for a much bigger list and make them watch usually. Some of these make top choices for kids as under:

10. The Adventures of Tintin

https://youtu.be/7NWtW699XME

Directed by: Steven Spielberg in 2011

Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig

The first big screen treatment of the comic book character nearly about 40 years ago named as “The Adventures Tintin” where the intrepid carrot-topped reported with a fellow Franco-Belgian characters played a unique role as a guardianship of the property. The movie has been translated into 50 languages and successfully captured by the kids and liked by the viewers. In this movie, a resourceful boy and his dog escaped the clutches of the Disney merchandising.

Plot: With this story award-winning film-makers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson come with epic adventures of Tintin. The movie has completed racing worldwide and the whole story is based on the secret of the sunken ship which was coincidently known by the boy.

Click here to Watch The Adventures of Tintin on Amazon Prime Now

9. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

https://youtu.be/2cBja3AbahY

Directed by: Mel Stuart in the year 1971

Cast: Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Julie Down Cole, Denise Nickerson

Information: The movie is based on 1964 novel named as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. With effects of great imagery and music, the scares won’t soon be forgotten. Also, Wilder’s turn as Wonka still remains as one of best performances in kid’s movies category.

Plot: When Willy Wonka allows five children into the chocolate factory, he releases five golden tickets in five different chocolate bars. The fifth ticket going to a special boy which is called Charlie Bucket. Along with the Grandpa, Charlie joins the children to experience the factory which is among one of the most amazing factories ever. But with time, not everything goes according to plan.

Click here to Watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory on Amazon Prime Now

8. Iron Man 2

youtube

Directed by: Jon Favreau in the year 2010

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jon Favreau, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johnson

The thrilling sequel blockbuster movie chooses by young boys where Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire Tony Stark. Now, the superhero secret has been revealed in this series. According to its previous part, Tony’s life is more intense than ever. Thus, the story is totally based superhero secret has been revealed. The action-based movie creates Tony’s life which is no more intense than ever. Through this story-based movie, the characters played that everyone in on the Iron Man technology with revenge either for power or profit. Abruptly the movie shifts gears and tosses in another joyless chase sequence spent Tony Stark’s family History.

Plot: With the world now knowing about superhero Iron Man, the billionaire Tony Stark is been forced by government and press to share his technology with military. Unwillingly, Stark along with Pepper Potts must forge new alliance and face the enemies.

Click here to Watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory on Amazon Prime Now

7. Hotel Transylvania

youtube

Directed by: GenndyTartakovsky in the year 2012

Cast: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg

The animated movie where Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort and monster, as well as their families, can live it up and less human allowed. Although the movie is rated for some rude humor but still it found a place in heart of many kids who love to watch this movie again and again. It stars Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Kevin James as main characters who did their best in their respective part. The movie placed as one of the best-animated comedy movie collections.

Plot: The Hotel Transylvania movie is based where one special weekend, Dracula has invited all his best friends- Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the invisible man, and the Werewolf family, and much more related characters to celebrate his beloved daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday. When the party is ready to begin, a 21 year old guy named Jonathan stumbles upon the hotel and whole movie revolves around this theme about Dracula thoughts about humans.

Click here to Watch Hotel Transylvania on Amazon Prime Now

6. Alvin and The Chipmunks

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Directed by: Tim Hill in the year 2007

Cast: Matthew Grey Gubler, Jason Lee, Justin Long

Information: The 1980’s cartoon based movie that explains about a music group of chipmunks comprises of mischievous group leader Alvin. It is the first live action/animated film starring Alvin and the Chipmunks since, tall and quiet Simon, and chubby, impressionable Theodore lives in the same house. The film features as computer animation based.

Plot: In a tree farm, three chipmunks who are musically inclined find their tree cut down and then they are sent to Los Angeles where they meet frustrated songwriter David. Although the first impression was not so good but they impress David with their singing talent. Together they make a pact to sing David’s songs.

Click here to Watch Alvin and The Chipmunks on Amazon Prime Now

5. Mr. Bean’s Holiday

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Directed by: Steve Bendelack in the year 2007

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes, Max Baldry, Willem Dafoe

The film is based on family comedian story. Mr. Bean’s Holiday is a movie that causes chaos while sampling French seafood cuisine in a Paris restaurant. The whole movie is based on the story that Mr. Bean wins the trip to Cannes.The movie stars Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis who played their roles to the next level of comedy.

Plot: Mr. Bean enters a church and then wins vacation trip to France and a camcorder as well. After arriving in Paris, the French language seems to be a barrier as he struggles to catch a train. Then during his travel where unwittingly he separates a young boy from his father and then after he helps them both to come back together. At the end of the movie he discovers France, bicycling, and true love among other things.

Click here to Watch Mr. Bean’s Holiday on Amazon Prime Now

4. Paddington 1 & 2

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Directed by: Paul King in the year 2017

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Ben Whishaw, Sally Hawkins, Michael Bond

The followed comic misadventures of polite young Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British which is created and adapted from Michael Bond’s beloved books. It has created a high-quality visual movie loved by kids.

Plot: A young Peruvian bear who is passionate about various things, travels to London to find home. He then realizes that the city life is not as like he has imagined. Then he meet Brown family and offer him temporary heaven and then it seems his luck is changed when the bear catches attraction of museum taxidermist.

Click here to Watch Paddington 1 & 2 on Amazon Prime Now

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

https://youtu.be/FMJPwRWaZBI

Directed by: Steve Barron in the year 1990

Cast: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Corey Feldman

In this movie get the past explicitly turtle-based finishing moves. Although Steve Barron’s this movie is based on four fictional teenaged anthropomorphic turtles. It’s featuring a young, greasy Sam Rockwell as “Head Thug”, no less that appealingly gritty film. In this movie it is threaded throughout by the kinds of panoramic melees that designed a film years later M. Night Shyamalan attempted with the last movie The Last Airbender and then failed to look brawl especially in April’s family’s antique shop to watch how four grown men in turtle costumes.

Plot: Due to some contact with a substance named Ooze, 4 little turtle are transformed to giant turtles who can speak to other, walk upside down and they love pizza. In the process, Rat Splinter who is a wise rat becomes their mentor and teaches them to be real Ninja warriors against the bad guy named Shredder who wants to gain control over the world. The 4 ninja warrior will try their best to stop him.

Click here to Watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Amazon Prime Now

2. Sky High

https://youtu.be/G7aMWVN1ThM

Directed by: MacaelaVanderMost in the year 2005

Cast: Mary Elizabeth, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker

The Disney’s presented Sky High that manages at least bit offensive and praises the kids selection. On Amazon Prime, this films nerd learning adult can watch with his or her kids and enjoy for that cast alone. Sky High is one of those where different characters play simply. There are some other related films like The Wonder Woman Classic (by Lynda Carter), Ash (Bruce Campbell), Snake Plissken (by Kurt Russell), and other related movies. In this case, kids do not care about any of those names to watch this film.

Plot: The whole story begins when young Will Stronghold who is son of two superheroes named Steve and Josie. However, Will doesnot actually knows about any of his powers and along with his best friend Layla, he faces his first day at secret school. But with no superpower of his own, Will is not able to adjust in the school. But when he discovers his powers, he is on journey to find true potential of himself.

Click here to Watch Sky High on Amazon Prime Now

1. The Black Stallion

https://youtu.be/wMGaIr7kCqc

Directed by: Carroll Ballard in the year 1979

Cast: Kelly Remo, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr

In the package of Carroll Ballard movies, it is the best of 1979 achievements. The Black Stallion can partially recommend here. The original marketed solution that family and friendly action-adventure movie presented by Hollywood mogul Francis Ford Coppola. According to the director’s feature, the film looks and moves like art house cinema that visually driven with simple way dialogue and plotline. Now, subject to the current cultural landscape, specifically used in the given film untamed to masculinity. It explains the world in which women have no place and white Americans can be trusted.

Plot: Young Alec is attracted to mysterious Arabian stallion which is then stabled on the ship in which he is sailing on. During the travel, the ship sinks tragically and both Alec and the stallion is left to survive on a desert island. He is able to befriend the stallion and both return to his home where they meet a successful trainer named Henry Dailey and together they train the stallion to make it capable to race it against one of the fastest horses in the world.

Click here to The Black Stallion on Amazon Prime Now

The above lists of entertainment reach the viewer to access the original series of the movies what their kids want. As well as keep them a choice as high-quality viewed pictures for kids of their choice. To maintain the prior choice of kids Amazon Prime is the best ever a solution and solves the kid's favorites and hit movies in front of them. Whether you are setting your favorites and library for kids movies then Amazon Prime will make you as best entertainment solutions.

1. More about Amazon Prime

A high-quality video option “Amazon Prime” is that provides an ample of movies and video collections. There are many online video options but the most preferable choice of today’s market is Amazon Prime. However, it has uncountable options with more than 100 million members that access to Amazon Prime Video, free shipping, and the best Prime Day deals offer. With a wide variety of kids movies counted as much viewers for Amazon Prime app. The unlimited streaming of Amazon movies component may use for Amazon Prime users and provide a high-quality with original series of the movies.

2. Other Features of Amazon Prime Kids Movies

Need instant access to the list of winning films in the record of kid’s movies? Get the tons of top TV shows for kids of all ages and get their award-winning positions through the viewers who choose them. The kid’s movies include animated adventures and laugh-out-loud comedies to beloved classics and inspiring dramas and much more creates that plenty of top-rated titles shows for everyone. There are some points of solutions are as follows:

Watch anywhere from the web or with this app on your phone, tablet, or other devices.

Easy to watch offline on the Prime Video app while downloading on any device.

It also controls data usage.

It’s easy to use Parental Controls and a dedicated kids page.

Some other features of Amazon Prime kids movies also listed.

#BEST AMAZON PRIME KIDS MOVIES

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gyrlversion · 6 years ago

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Plans for stand-in home while the Commons is refurbished

For generations, MPs have spoken of the ‘Westminster bubble’. Soon, they could be going to work in a real one. For, after hundreds of years on the banks of the River Thames, MPs and peers are considering dramatic plans to temporarily relocate the Mother of Parliaments to a sort of lozenge-shaped greenhouse about half a mile away.

Under the intriguing scheme, a 151 metre-long structure, containing exact replicas of the Lords and Commons debating chambers, would be built on Horse Guards Parade, the arena behind Downing Street currently used for Trooping the Colour.

It would then be occupied for between six and seven years, while the crumbling Palace of Westminster is evacuated for major restoration works to take place.

The proposal is the brainchild of Norman Foster, the famous architect behind such existing London landmarks as 30 St Mary Axe (the so-called ‘Gherkin’), Wembley Stadium and the ‘wobbly bridge’ built across the Thames near the Tate Modern gallery to celebrate the Millennium.

He is understood to have formally pitched it to a committee overseeing the Palace of Westminster’s renovation in a meeting held at his architectural firm’s London office late last month.

According to detailed plans unveiled at the meeting, Foster’s so-called ‘Temporary Parliament’ will centre on elaborate copies of each of the historic building’s two 31-metre debating chambers, along with not just their adjoining lobbies, but also the imposing central lobby in which MPs and peers must rub shoulders with the public.

‘The existing Palace is one of the world’s most famous buildings, a Unesco World Heritage Site, and recreating it will send out a strong message of confidence in British democracy, and our place in the world, at a time when it feels under attack,’ says a source who was at the event. ‘It will also become a great tourist attraction and provide a terrific legacy.’

Under Lord Foster’s plan, every part of the replica will be exactly the same size as the Victorian original: 13.5 sq m for the new Lords lobby and 15 sq m for the Commons one. The layout of the seats in each chamber will also be identical, while both interiors will be four storeys high.

Intriguingly, almost all the internal features, from the tiled floors to the wood-panelled walls and Gothic windows of the existing Palace, will be painstakingly recreated in order to help maintain historical traditions and customs, along with a feeling of familiarity for lawmakers.

So detailed will Lord Foster’s architectural copy be that he even intends to hire craftsmen who will ensure that the leather benches on which MPs and peers sit have exactly the same amount of wear and tear in his temporary facility as they do in the existing one.

‘He wants it to feel the same, right down to the cracks in the leather,’ said the source.

Surrounding Lord Foster’s historical replica of Westminster’s political heart, which will take some 18 months to build, will be a more modern structure, spanning five floors and made largely from pre-fabricated timber.

Its upper floors will hold offices, committee rooms and media facilities with views through a glass panel to the debating chamber. The entire ground floor, meanwhile, will be given over to 2,300 sq m of catering facilities, replacing the eight bars and 15 cafeterias and restaurants in the current Palace.

On top will be an indoor garden, which can be used as a ‘flexible space’ for corporate events, exhibitions and presentations, helping to earn back some of the £125-£175 million that the temporary building will cost to build.

It will boast views of Big Ben, the London Eye, Nelson’s Column and Buckingham Palace.

Enclosing the whole thing, meanwhile, will be a striking glass ‘envelope’ or roof, made up of thousands of bomb-proof triangular panels, each side of which will measure roughly 6ft.

Some will be clear, to let in sunlight, and others ‘solid’. A selection will be covered with solar panels, providing renewable energy to the building.

A ‘ring of steel’ will surround the building, preventing vehicles and people from gaining access without security clearance.

When the division bell rings to indicate a parliamentary vote, MPs and peers will be able to access the new facility from their offices in under eight minutes (as tradition dictates), by using underground tunnels that already exist under Whitehall or a temporary walkway above Parliament Street that will bridge the roof of Portcullis House with that of HM Treasury on the opposite side.

Foster’s Westminster ‘bubble’ is designed to remain in situ next to St James’s Park while urgent works are carried out on the Palace of Westminster.

The historic building, regarded as one of the finest examples of Victorian neo-Gothic architecture, is in a state of extreme disrepair, with many parts having barely been renovated since the 19th century, when it was built by Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin, after most of the medieval Palace was destroyed by fire in 1834. It took over three decades to complete. Since then, none of the heating, ventilation, water, drainage or electrical systems has undergone a major renovation. Asbestos is present throughout and pollution is causing major decay to the limestone facade, parts of which are in danger of collapsing.

Most of the building’s 4,000 windows do not close properly, letting heat out and cold and water in, while the cast-iron roof is leaking to such an extent a Commons debate was suspended last week.

The Palace’s sewage system is 150 years old, while doddery electrics are causing a number of minor fires each year, mostly in the basement. In a debate on refurbishment works, Labour MP Kevin Barron last year noted there was so much metal holding up the place that it looked like the coal mine he used to work in.

With this in mind, MPs and peers decided last spring to evacuate the entire building in the early 2020s to allow for a full refurbishment, estimated to cost £4 billion.

Since then, parliamentarians have been debating where exactly to relocate. Some favoured upping sticks to a provincial city, such as Birmingham or Coventry. Others have floated the idea of moving to other historic buildings. In a Lords debate last year, Labour’s Meghnad Desai suggested moving to Buckingham Palace, as ‘it’s the only building large enough’. Lord Inglewood proposed the Palace of Versailles on the basis ‘I live further from London than Paris’.

After a time, though, they settled on a less drastic plan to move into existing buildings nearby — peers were to relocate to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre opposite Westminster Abbey, while a new debating chamber for MPs was to be created at Richmond House, a civil service building next to the Cenotaph on Whitehall.

But this scheme — which involved separating the two parliamentary chambers for the first time in 500 years — proved controversial. This is because the courtyard in which Richmond House’s debating chamber was originally supposed to be built has turned out to be too small to house MPs.

As a result, the entire building (apart from its facade) will need to be knocked down and rebuilt to accommodate them.

Not only is this hugely costly, but it has also outraged conservationists who point out that the Grade II*-listed building is an important and attractive work by Sir William Whitfield, who died only last month.

Another plan would see a Commons chamber created in the atrium of Portcullis House, where many MPs have their offices.

However, Lord Foster’s big idea appears set to become the most popular among conservationists, who believe it can capture the public imagination. ‘The current project, to relocate to Richmond House, is terrible and destructive,’ says Marcus Binney, president of Save Britain’s Heritage.

‘We are very pleased indeed that this more sensible alternative is now being put forward, and hope it gets seriously considered.’

Working in favour of Lord Foster’s approach is the fact that his pre-fabricated structure can be taken down and reassembled in an alternative location once the renovation of Parliament is complete.

Supporters of the project hope to creating a museum, concert venue or other tourist attraction elsewhere in the country, helping to offset the enormous costs of Parliament’s refurbishment — and meaning that the nation’s most eye-catching bubble doesn’t always have to stay in Westminster.

The post Plans for stand-in home while the Commons is refurbished appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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#Entertainment News

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nivenus · 7 years ago

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2017 in Film: A Retrospective and Ranking

So tomorrow’s the big day, right? The day when Hollywood’s elite gather and decide what films are the best?

In genre fandom there’s a reflexive instinct to reject the Oscars, which has long dismissed (sometimes truly impressive) efforts by science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genre filmmakers. I totally get that, even if it’s not always true (just look at this year’s nominees). But rather than grouse and complain about how we disagree with the Academy, I thought it would be more rewarding to talk about how we felt about the cinema of 2017.

It’s been a really good year, I think it’s hard to deny, even if Hollywood itself (and the world in general) has had a pretty awful one. Even some of the worst films I’ve seen were pretty darn good and the best were truly terrific. It’s also been a pretty stand-out year for genre films in particular, with some great additions to the horror and superhero canon in particular. With that in mind I’ve ranked every 2017 film I’ve seen and invite others to do the same.

19. Ayla by Elias

Ayla is one of two feature-length films I saw at Portland’s annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival at the Hollywood Theatre, an experience I can heartily recommend to anyone in the Pacific Northwest who loves horror or weird fiction. The basic premise of Ayla is that a young man who lost his sister as a child and is unable to let go of her memory finds what appears to be an adult and strangely mute version of his sister, who comes to occupy a central place in his life as he neglects every other part of his life, including his living family and friends. Essentially, Ayla is a story about loss and how it can consume us.

Out of all the debut films I saw this year, Ayla is unmistakably the weakest but that doesn’t mean its bad by any means. The central hook driving the story is a compelling one and the performances given by the film’s mostly unknown cast (Nicholas Wilder, Tristan Risk, Dee Wallace, and Sarah Schoofs in the lead) are actually quite good and do a great job of drawing you into the narrative. Unfortunately, the movie just kind of ends abruptly and there’s never really a satisfying explanation for why the protagonist is so obsessed with his dead sister (his other family members have all moved on… why hasn’t he?). Still, it’s a nice showcase for the cast and the director’s skills which are not insubstantial.

18. The Lego Batman Movie by Chris McKay

When it was announced that Warner Bros. had decided to make a spin-off of The Lego Movie centered on Will Arnett’s comically self-obsessed version of Bruce Wayne there was a fair amount of skepticism. Arnett’s Batman was funny but would the joke perpetuate itself for a full movie without becoming dull? The good news is no and The Lego Batman Movie not only is funny but actually tells a pretty decent story. The bad news is that it’s still mostly forgettable.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with The Lego Batman Movie but I have to confess that nearly a year later I barely remember it. I remember all the plot beats and who all the characters were but I don’t remember how I felt watching it. I remember the narrative theme and thrust of the story (“it’s braver to let yourself feel things for other people than to go it alone”) and I appreciated the thought behind it but it didn’t stick with me. Maybe that’s because I already feel that message has been told in more interesting ways. Maybe it’s because the movie never quite escapes the impression of being a merchandising cash-in, unlike The Lego Movie. I liked The Lego Batman, but ultimately I can’t give it more than a solid C in retrospect.

17. They Remain by Philip Gelatt

The other feature film I saw at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, They Remain is an adaptation of Laird Barron’s “-30-,” directed by Philip Gelatt, perhaps best-known to science fiction fans as the screenwriter of Europa Report (an excellent film I also saw this year, but which came out many years earlier and so doesn’t qualify for this list). They Remain focuses on a pair of scientists (William Harper Jackson and Rebecca Henderson) who are sent by a nebulous corporate employer to study strange animal behavior at the former site of a murderous cult that made headlines years earlier. A dark and moody film, They Remain examines the nature of cults, the effects of isolation, and the relationship between humans and their environment.

I was pretty excited to watch They Remain, especially since it was the actual premiere of the film, shown to audiences for the first time. Europa Report really surprised me when I checked it out earlier this year and I was eager to see what Gelatt’s newest film looked like. For the most part, I was very pleased with what I got. Gelatt does a great job at getting into the head of his lead character and the sense of dawning paranoia and psychosis that begins to overtake him at the film’s story progresses. You feel, like him, that reality is unravelling around you. Unfortunately, the film also has a last-minute twist (which I assume is in the original story as well) that didn’t quite work for me and I never was quite sure whether the cult’s past activities were a red herring or an important plot point. Then again, part of the appeal is likely considering such questions for yourself.

16. Blade Runner 2049 by Denis Villeneuve

Man was there any movie this year sci-fi nerds were more hyped for and the general public just didn’t care about? Blade Runner 2049 has at this point become somewhat infamous for being hyped everywhere by every nerd site imaginable and then just sort of dropping to the sound of crickets chirping. Which isn’t to say it wasn’t very well-received in some quarters. Hyperbolically (in my opinion) some have proclaimed it to exceed the original Blade Runner (itself a notable flop at the box office but darling among sci-fi fandom) in every way. Personally? I found Blade Runner 2049 a beautiful and ambitious but ultimately failed endeavor towards profundity.

The frustrating thing about Blade Runner 2049 is that it starts a lot better than it ends (far from the only 2017 film to suffer from that problem). The opening sequence where K visits the old replicant to “retire” him (which remains a chilling euphemism) is terrific, as are many that follow as K tries to uncover the nature of the mystery he’s stumbled on to. It’s only towards the end of the film, about the time that Harrison Ford’s Deckard finally makes his appearance, that things really begin to fall apart and you realize the movie was full of good ideas it didn’t know what to do with (as well as many half-baked ideas that should have been shelved). It doesn’t help that virtually every female character in the film is either defined by her relationship to men, a sexist stereotype, or both. There were parts of Blade Runner 2049 that I really liked, but in the end I couldn’t love it.

15. Alien: Covenant by Ridley Scott

More than anything else on this list I think switching the places of Blade Runner 2049 and Alien: Covenant will be a controversial choice. The funny thing though is that they share a lot in common for both good and bad, which may not be entirely coincidental considering they’re both follow-ups to Ridley Scott’s most widely praised films (even though Scott declined to direct Blade Runner 2049 in favor of Covenant). And like many I was pretty disappointed by Covenant when it finally debuted, though perhaps for different reasons than many (I’m very much on record as having been a big fan of Prometheus).

But despite Covenant’s confused narrative—which clearly wanted to be a sequel to Prometheus but got sidelined into being a more direct Alien prequel instead—I have to say that it stuck with me more. After I walked away from Blade Runner 2049 I rarely gave it another thought, at least after working out my disappointment. But Covenant is full of interesting ideas it actually commits to: the interplay of creation and destruction, the wrath of the created against the creator, and the nature of what it means to love. And if nothing else, Michael Fassbender provided was immensely enjoyable both as the Oedipal David and the gentler, kinder Walter.

14. Logan by James Mangold

Rounding out the three Michael Green scripts of 2017 (the guy certainly got around last year) is Logan, which is an interesting case in how far you can stretch the conventional boundaries of the superhero genre. It’s often been said that superhero films aren’t really a genre, with Marvel’s own Kevin Feige arguing that Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man actually represent different kinds of movies and whether or not you buy that argument it’s hard to argue that Logan isn’t a very different style of film than not only the aforementioned three but also Wolverine’s two previous solo outings. It has been described as a Western (though that itself is a very broad genre) and even noir but a typical superhero film it clearly is not.

I really liked Logan quite a lot when I saw it and had relatively few qualms with it other than some minor complaints about the ending. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen all give phenomenal performances and James Mangold was quite effective at weaving a story about aging, depression, and regaining hope. It didn’t really stick with me though and that’s one reason it doesn’t rate higher. Once I’d seen Logan I didn’t much think of it. Which is too bad because it’s very experimental style is something I’d like to see a lot more of in superhero films (more on that later).

13. Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan

There was a time when I was as big of a fan of Christopher Nolan as anyone. I was immensely impressed by Batman Begins when I saw it abroad in Britain back in 2005 and The Dark Knight only confirmed my intense affection for the way he reinvented Batman. It’s easy to forget now, given how slavishly DC and Warner Bros. have been (poorly) aping his style for over a decade now but Nolan’s take on the caped crusader was genuinely fresh when audiences first experienced it, wiping away not only the painful memories of Joel Schumacher’s take but also the still campy but more fun style of Tim Burton’s. And since then I’ve enjoyed pretty much every film Nolan has directed though with some reservations in a few cases.

I’m happy to say that Dunkirk is no exception: it’s a very solid piece of work that manages to be a war film where the war is actually horrifying and not simply a stage for rousing heroics. It’s fairly notable for not featuring any German characters at all: the enemy is entirely unseen which, although unconventional, is probably a far more accurate rendition of war than is usually portrayed in Hollywood films. The film does, however, fall victim to some of Christopher Nolan’s weaknesses as a director, lacking in compelling human characters to ground the action (though Cillian Murphy’s shell-shocked soldier, who goes unnamed, is a possible exception). Nonetheless, it’s worth seeing if you’re a fan of either Nolan or his frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer, who makes an already tense film even more riveting.

12. War for the Planet of the Apes by Matt Reeves

It’s often forgotten but the original Planet of the Apes film was not thought of as a particularly cheesy or silly film at the time. Released the same year as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 1968 picture was considered thought-provoking and though the makeup has aged somewhat (the characters look more like humans than actual chimpanzees or orangutans) it remains pretty visually striking. So the fact that the new Planet of the Apes series (which is ambiguously framed as either prequels or a reboot) has garnered critical acclaim is less a course change than a course correction, getting back to the core of the first film and the novel it was based on before the more campy sequels came along.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes were startlingly good. Both dealt with the concept of consciousness, bioethics, the politics of revolution, and non-human animal rights with a deftness that one would rarely expect from a major studio blockbuster. War of the Planet of the Apes, unfortunately, is a bit more of what one might expect. It’s still good, but compared with the pitch perfect execution of Rise and Dawn, it falters slightly. The villain is a little too simplistic, the arc of Caesar a little too predictable, and the plot basically just moves in a circle so that it’s not really clear if anything was learned or gained from the experience. It’s still worth seeing to finish out the new trilogy, but I’ll admit I was disappointed.

11. Spider-Man: Homecoming by Jon Watts

Given his recent faltering (as much a consequence of Sony Pictures’ financial troubles as anything else), one might be forgiven for thinking Peter Parker was a spent force in the superhero business. If you’re not familiar with comics or the merchandising that drives the genre, it’d be easy to assume the web crawling had long since been eclipsed by Iron Man or Captain America. And indeed, there’s hints of that in Homecoming, which features some heavy guest starring by Tony Stark and lots of references to the other Avengers. But Homecoming also proves that in the right hands, Peter’s still got a lot of storytelling potential.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is relatively unambitious by Spider-Man movie standards but where it aims it mostly hits on target. Compared with the cheeky melodrama of the Sam Raimi / Tobey Maguire films or the Batman Begins-style reboot of the Marc Webb / Andrew Garfield films director Jon Watts aims for a fairly simple coming-of-age story with actor Tom Holland at its center. And he more or less nails that. Holland’s Peter is a little self-centered, but in that very typically adolescent way we all are at a certain age and you can tell he means well. It helps that Homecoming grounds its whimsy with Michael Keaton’s take on the Vulture, which although hardly accurate to the comics makes for one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s better villains.

10. Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 by James Gunn

When Guardians of the Galaxy originally debuted in 2014, no one would have guessed it would quickly become one of Marvel’s most celebrated films. Indeed, many industry analysts wondered what the hell Marvel was thinking, making a colorful space adventure powered by 1970s one-hit wonders and starring a talking tree and raccoon. But the skeptics were proved wrong and it’s probably no exaggeration to say that the Guardians now stand second only to Captain America and Iron Man in their impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And so when a sequel was inevitably announced everyone got excited.

Perhaps it should prove no surprise than that Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 is perhaps the most hotly contested Marvel film since Avengers: Age of Ultron. I’ve seen people who’ve been moved to tears by it while I’ve also seen people who loved the first film bored and disappointed by it. It is probably no coincidence that Guardians also centers itself much more tightly on the first film’s nominal lead, Peter Quinn, and the mystery of his parentage. For many this resulted in a male-focused film that lost some of the diverse charm of the original. But others (most compellingly Charlie Jane Anders) argued it allowed the film to tell a compelling story about the dangers of toxic masculinity and patriarchal mythmaking. Personally, I fall somewhere in-between. I saw and appreciated what Volume 2 was doing but I can also acknowledge why some people felt it fell flat.

9. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi by Rian Johnson

Is there any bigger franchise in the world than Star Wars? Marvel, also owned by Disney, is certainly gunning for the title but the cultural impact of Star Wars, I would argue, goes far beyond what Marvel has achieved (so far). Indeed, Star Wars is so big and so popular that it’s really hard to remember just how weird the first movie was. But it’s worth going back through old interviews with the cast and crew and noting how no one (with the possible exception of Steven Spielberg) thought the movie would be a success, let alone a runaway hit that would spawn a massive media empire.

I’m noted among my friends and followers as being something of a grumpkin when it comes to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Part of that is just how safe J.J. Abrams played it, opting for a story that more or less replicated the beats of Episode IV: A New Hope and a setting that saw a scrappy rebellion once more engaged against a massive authoritarian empire (at the cost of essentially making the original films seem pointless). Perhaps because of that, Episode VIII was a breath of fresh air. After the fun but largely empty adventure of The Force Awakens, Rian Johnson throws us into a more complicated and at times admittedly dorky version of Star Wars… which is really what the franchise has always been at its best. Obnoxiously cute porgs, goofy humor, and odd pacing, I’ll take them all in a heartbeat when coupled with a story that actually has something to say about the Force and which takes its characters seriously enough to show them fail.

9. Okja by Bong Joon-hoo

Netflix has has a bad run in recent months, with a number of high-profile releases that were widely ridiculed or outright slammed by audiences and critics alike. But not all of Netflix’s “original” pictures (actually usually produced by outside parties and then distributed by Netflix) have gone over poorly and last year one picture in particular garnered critical acclaim: Okja, South Korean director Bong Joon-hoo’s newest feature. And it is certainly worth a watch.

Okja is, at its core, about a young girl and her friendship with a strange, fantastical beast dubbed a “super pig,” and raised as part of a massive corporate publicity stunt to raise support for their genetically engineered food. Of course, that’s simplifying quite a bit. In truth, Okja is an incredibly complicated film, one that can simultaneously criticize the packaged meat industry and animal rights activists, which can make you bond with the suffering of a digitally generated meat animal while also not feeling immediately grossed out when her friends and family sit down minutes later to eat some chicken stew. It’s crazy, it’s twisted, it’s unnerving, and it’s very, very good.

7. Coco by Lee Unkrich

Pixar is one of those studios that I always feel a little bit ambivalent about. They’re indisputably full of great talent and they’ve made some great classics, but often when a new film of theirs is released I’ll confess to usually feeling no great urge to see it. I think part of it is that they’ve been so successful that they crowd out most other animation studios and styles, to the point that even non-Pixar films often imitate their look and style. As a fan of traditional animation as well as animated films that aim at a more adult crowd, I’ll admit that bothers me a little. But every time I actually go and watch a Pixar film I’m almost always pleasantly surprised.

Coco is a really great example. I wasn’t exactly sure whether or not I’d enjoy Pixar’s take on Mexican spirituality, though I did make note of the fact that the studio made a special effort to do its research and hire Latin American performers. When I actually saw it though I was won over completely. Coco is an incredibly beautiful film, with rich music and a genuinely moving story about family, loss, and creativity. It is very easily the best Pixar movie I’ve seen in many years and quite competitive against the likes of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. So much for my biases.

6. It (Chapter One) by Andy Muschietti

I wasn’t always a horror fan. For a long time I actively avoided horror and was easily spooked by even the most timid forays into the genre. I’d convinced myself that as a person who was naturally anxious, who avoided the appearance of danger reflexively, horror films would ruin me. I eventually learned, however, that the opposite was true. Given the opportunity to experience fear within a confined, prepared context, I actually found I felt liberated. And I also gradually realized, looking back on my childhood, I’d actually always enjoyed getting a little bit scared from time to time.

It, based on one of horror giant Stephen King’s most famous novels, touches on some of that experience. It positions a group of children as the main characters, unusually for a horror film aimed at adults (as opposed to a children’s fantasy film with horror elements) but it largely works, in part because it reminds us how easy it is to feel as children that something lurks in the shadows that adults won’t tell us about. The film is not perfect—it telegraphs some of its scares too early and is uncomfortably comfortable with sexualizing its female lead, Beverly Marsh—but it is a very good example of a horror film that touches on the psychology of fear and the importance of confronting that which frightens us. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the second part turns out.

5. The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro

Technically, I didn’t see The Shape of Water until this year. But since it came out in 2017 and everyone’s going to be talking about it over the next few days I felt it was important to include. I often feel Guillermo del Toro is one of those directors who simultaneously gets too much and too little credit. He’s by far one of his generation’s best visual storytellers, with an expert eye for set design and special effects that is scarcely rivaled. He also sometimes tends to write simplistic stories with very easy to follow themes and easily identifiable heroes and villains. So I wasn’t sure what I’d think of The Shape of Water. The answer is that it may be del Toro’s most complex film yet.

That’s a heavy claim of course, given how excellent Pan’s Labyrinth is. But del Toro something does here he never does in any of his previous films (to my recollection) which is write actually complex, nuanced characters. The Asset, del Toro’s male romantic lead, is beautiful in that strangely monstrous way del Toro loves and full of love—but he’s also not above eating domestic animals, which reminds us he’s not human and a little dangerous. Colonel Strickland is a horrible human being in the same mold as Captain Vidal from Pan’s Labyrinth—but he’s also not completely dehumanized here and we get a sense of the pain and desperation that drives him as well. Of course, the real star is Elisa Esposito, the film’s mute heroine who nonetheless never feels voiceless and whose earnest desire to be accepted and loved is moving and universally relatable.

4. Get Out by Jordan Peele

Was it a good a year for horror or what? Not every film was a hit but there were certainly a lot of really high profile releases explicitly labeled as horror in 2017 as well as a number that arguably touch on the genre’s edges (such as Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Okja, and The Shape of Water). And the year’s horror extravaganzas arguably started with Get Out, one of the most talked about movies of the year and the long-form directorial debut of renowned actor and comedian Jordan Peele.

What is there to say about Get Out without entirely spoiling its premise or the major surprises? That it’s a horror film viewed through the lens of a black man’s experience in a white-dominated culture? That’s true but seems reductive. That it manages to be both deeply disturbing and laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes within the span of a single scene? Also true. That it will probably make your skin crawl and cause you to question some of your very basic assumptions about the black experience if you’re not black? Definitely. Altogether, Get Out deeply deserves every accolade its earned and makes a very compelling claim for required viewing in the horror genre as well as the examination of race in American cinema.

3. Wonder Woman by Patty Jenkins

If there’s one movie that’s felt neglected at this year’s Academy Awards after generating a huge amount of conversation it is without a doubt Wonder Woman. After debuting to nearly universal praise and an immense box office return (making it the highest grossing DC Comics movie ever without Batman as the lead character) it has been curiously overshadowed in this year’s accolades, especially considering the arguably favorable timing in the age of Trump and #metoo. Perhaps it’s because there are so many other good films to choose from. But for my money Wonder Woman beats many of them.

Wonder Woman is not a perfect film but is definitely excellent. Featuring a compelling and passionate lead in Gal Gadot and built around a story about war, fear, and why helping people matters even if they’re flawed, Wonder Woman impressed and thrilled me… and I’m not even a fan of the character (nothing against her, I just haven’t read the source material). I also have to give the film a big thumb’s up for telling possibly the best love story in a superhero film since Captain America: The First Avenger and for doing so in a way that centered the female gaze. Also, as someone who’s been continually frustrated with how small Marvel’s gods seem, it was gratifying to see some truly mythic mythology in Wonder Woman.

2. Thor: Ragnarok by Taika Waititi

Of course, Marvel had to come along the same year and prove that they can do gods right. I’ve never been as much of a critic of the Thor films as many others have—I thought the first Thor, while silly also had a great message and genuinely great chemistry between its too leads (I for one will miss Natalie Portman, who’s sorely underrated). But there’s no denying they’ve often felt trapped between embracing the melodramatic and mythopoeic origins and staying true to the style and trappings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But finally, with New Zealand’s talented son Taika Waititi, someone got it just right.

My greatest fear, going into Thor: Ragnarok was that, like previous Thor films it would be silly but forgettable. That the trailers seemed to be aping the style of the the Guardians of the Galaxy films did not do much to alleviate this feeling. But that was very much not the case. Far from being just a silly romp (which some critics still described it as), Ragnarok is actually a great story that examines the core of who Thor is, both as a Marvel superhero and as an actual, literal god. It also happens to be very funny. But ultimately it’s not the laughs that won me over. It’s Odin’s speech to his son about what it means to be a god, the responsibility that entails, and why it’s the ideas that matter, not the things or places we associate with them.

1. Atomic Blonde by David Leitch

As aforementioned it was a great year for horror. It was also very clearly a pretty good year for superheroes, with both Marvel and DC breaking out of their usual patterns. My number one favorite film was not, however, a superhero or horror film. It was a spy film, a genre for which I have great affection but which has become neglected in recent years. I am, of course, talking about Atomic Blonde.

I’ve never seen the John Wick films—a personal failing many of my friends are happy to remind me of—but if they’re anything like Atomic Blonde, directed by one of the men behind the camera of those films, I understand the love. Atomic Blonde is a pitch perfect spy film, combining intrigue, frenetic action, and the sexy thrills we’ve come to expect from the genre in a seamless fashion. It also happens to have come out right at the peak of 80s nostalgia but while the film makes extensive use of an 80s soundtrack for excellent effect, it doesn’t feel trapped by that style the way many other projects do. Atomic Blonde is without a doubt a modern film, doing things with cinematography and choreography I didn’t even know were possible. I can’t recommend it enough.

And that’s it me for me. I don’t even remotely expect my ranking to line up perfectly with any of yours (heck, my ranking changed several times writing this) but I’m curious. What did you love? What did you hate? Share your thoughts in the comments.

#film #2017 #ranking #my writing

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hometowndruck · 7 years ago

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HIGH SCHOOLS / ROME BRAVES / LOCAL COLLEGES / COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Rome High Lady Wolves and Wolves Basketball teams will take on Luella High at Philips Arena on December 30th. Lady Wolves tip at 12:45 pm followed by the Wolves at 2:15 pm. The teams will play prior to the Atlanta Hawks vs. Portland Trail Blazers game. Details

Darlington pulled out a 35-31 win over Trion on Homecoming. (photo by Jack Druckenmiller)

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

John McClellan: How did John pick’em Friday night? Next column posts Monday. McClellan

Friday’s games:

FINAL: Pepperell falls 56-42 at Rockmart.

FINAL: Woodland falls 41-21 at East Paulding.

FINAL: Sandy Creek downed 63-0 at Cartersville. (From Cartersville Football: Cartersville improves to 8-0, 4-0 in Region 5. Canes have won 38 games in a row; 50th career victory for Head Coach Joey King)

FINAL: Unity Christian School wins 22-16 at Harvester Christian Academy.

FINAL: Chattooga wins 42-13 at Model.

FINAL: Dade County downed 42-14 at Coosa.

FINAL: Rome wins 49-0 over Cass.

FINAL: Darlington tops Trion, 35-31.

FINAL: Armuchee falls 29-22 at Gordon Central.

FINAL: Adairsville wins 35-25 at Sonoraville.

OFF: Calhoun, Cedartown, Georgia School for the Deaf

SOFTBALL

1A private: At First Presbyterian Day School in Macon.

2A: Armuchee advanced to round two, will play Temple.

-Rockmart vs. Heard County, double header, 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18

3A: Calhoun vs. Franklin County, double header, Wednesday, Oct. 18.

Full brackets, schedules. (Or check GHSA now)

Coaches, please report scores by adding @hometown to your Twitter update.

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VOLLEYBALL

2A: Washington at Armuchee, Tuesday, 5 p.m.

Kipp at Coosa, 6 p.m. Tuesday (AA Sweet 16)

Chattooga vs. Douglass

Pepperell at Rabun County (Pepperell Volleyball will play its first state playoff match in school history).

3A: Sonoraville at Savannah

4A: Chestatee at Cartersville

5A: Rome at Chamblee (awaiting results; please send via Twitter, @hometown)

GICCA: Unity Christian defeats Shiloh Hills, hosts next round Tuesday.

Fall brackets for the playoffs: GHSA

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Norman’s No-Nos: My lesson from last week? Stay away from the Gators. Click No-Nos.

Berry Vikings sports updates. Football: Berry hosts Hendrix, 2 this afternoon. Schedule

Freebie alert for area local youth at the Berry Vikings’ next home football game: The Vikings host Hendrix at 2 p.m. Saturday and it will be a special event, a Youth & Community Appreciation Game. What’s planned:

Anyone who is a member of a youth athletic organization (sports team, ballet, anything) who shows up wearing a jersey/competition apparel will get into the game free with two parents. (three free tickets in all).

Starting two hours before kickoff (noon), we will have bounce houses, food and other activities for all those attending.

For more: Vikings Football

Shorter Hawks sports updates. Football: Shorter hosts North Alabama, today at 1 p.m. at Barron Stadium. Schedule.

Georgia Bulldogs‘ football. No. 5 Georgia hosts Missouri, tonight at 7:30.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Today at Miami, 3:30 p.m.; ABC.

Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama hosts Arkansas at 7:15 tonight.

Final TV schedule for the other SEC games this Saturday: South Carolina at Tennessee, Noon, ESPN; Auburn at LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS; Texas A& M at Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN 2

MORE COLLEGE UPDATES

Georgia Highlands sports reports.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College sports updates.

COMMUNITY SPORTS

550 already signed up for Saturday’s Harbin Hero Hustle in downtown Rome today. Online registration is now closed but you can register at the event this morning. When you do, you’ll be helping one of the five local charities competing for the $1,000 prize from Harbin Clinic. Those in the running include: Rome Floyd YMCA, Summit Quest, The Sweet Cocoon, Floyd County CASA, Living Proof Recovery.

Expanded report: Race-day registration costs $30 for the 5K race. Last year’s event drew more than 450 participants with many of them paying homage to their favorite superheroes and villains. “I never imagined so many super heroes lived in the friendly confines of Rome and Floyd County,” RFPRD Director Kevin Cowling says. “I can’t wait to see the amazing costumes and the fast times our local heroes turn in again this year.” A fun, fast course awaits this year’s group of heroes. The event also offers a way to help participants give back to a local charity in the Harbin Hero Challenge. During online registration and race-day registration, registrants can select one of five charities to support, earning that charity points in the Hero Challenge. The costume categories are: Best hero or villain; best junior hero (age 10 and under); Best league of heroes (two or more heroes). After the race concludes and the hustling heroes have once again saved the day, awards will be presented to race and age group winners. The charity which tallies the most points will be crowned the Harbin Hero Challenge winner and earn a $1,000 donation.

Race day details: Registration from 8:30-9:30 a.m. Start times: 5K at 10 a.m.; walk at 10:05 a.m. Starts at Bridgepoint Plaza, ends at Town Green.

Race day forecast (10 a.m.): 68 degrees, 3-mph breeze; light rain possible.

ATLANTA FALCONS

The Falcons host the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m. Oct. 15; game on CBS.

ROME BRAVES

16th season opener on Thursday, April 5, vs. Hagerstown at State Mutual Stadium. Mills Fitzner’s photo gallery for the 2017 season.

COMMUNITY SPORTS

Run for Shelter is Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Davies Shelter, 132 E. 18th St. in Rome. The 5K starts at 9 a.m. and the two-mile walk starts at 9:15. Stay after the race and join us for breakfast. The 5K course is out and back along the scenic Kingfisher and Silver Creek Trail. Packet pick up will be Friday, Nov. 3, at the Davies Shelter, from 4-6 p.m. Day-of race registration will be from 7:30 until 8:30 a.m. The run benefits the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter.. Learn more about The Shelter at daviesshelter.com or contact Haley Weldon at [email protected] to register or call (706) 622-5622!

Half Marathon, companion events return Dec. 2, to benefit local high school teams: To register and for more information: www.romehalf.com or contact GoGo Running at The Shoe Box at 706-291-0752.

Chick-fil-A Dwarf House Sports: RHS Basketball teams to play at Philips Arena. College football Saturday. Friday night scores. Harbin Hero Hustle today. HIGH SCHOOLS / ROME BRAVES / LOCAL COLLEGES / COMMUNITY EVENTS The Rome High Lady Wolves and Wolves Basketball teams will take on Luella High at Philips Arena on December 30th.

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helloworlddemo1122-yahoopar-blog · 7 years ago

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Kathy Griffin Breaks Down in Tears Defending Controversial Donald Trump Photo: ‘He Broke Me’

brightcove

Kathy Griffin is speaking out after receiving backlash for a controversial photo shoot with photographer Tyler Shields, in which she posed with a bloodied replica of President Donald Trump's head.

On Friday, the 56-year-old comedian and her attorney, Lisa Bloom, addressed the media to "explain the true motivation behind the image, and respond to the bullying from the Trump family she has endured," Griffin's rep said in a statement ahead of the press conference.

Bloom first spoke on Griffin's behalf as she stood beside her, and argued that the former My Life on the D-List star has the "right to publicly parody the president." Griffin's lawyer explained that the photo was designed to make fun of Trump's comments he made about Megyn Kelly when he told CNN during his presidential campaign that she had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever." Bloom added that Griffin "never imagined" that people would see the photo as a "threat of violence against Trump."

EXCLUSIVE: Jim Carrey on Kathy Griffin Controversy -- Comedians Are 'Last Line of Defense' Against Trump

Griffin then spoke to the press and said the apology she issued on Twitter "absolutely stands," but she is "not afraid of Donald Trump."

"He's a bully," she said of the president. "I've dealt with older, white guys trying to keep me down my whole life, my whole career. I'm a woman in a very male-dominated field. I love what do, I love making people laugh more than anything in the world."

Getty Images

Griffin admitted that there are some things she would change about the photo shoot. "I feel horrible. I have performed in war zones. The idea that this made people think of this tragedy -- people that have been touched by this tragedy is horrifying and it's horrible," she insisted. "Trust me, if I could redo the whole thing, I would've had a blow up doll and no ketchup."

"I make mistakes, I'm an out-there comedian, I'm an in-your-face comedian," she continued. "But I just wanted to say, 'If you don't stand up, you get run over.'"

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Foxx Weighs in on Kathy Griffin Controversy -- 'Don't Kill the Comedian'

Griffin also accused the first family of "trying to ruin my life forever," and claimed that she's been getting death threats and is under investigation by the Secret Service.

Speaking to one of the cameras, she declared that she had a message for Trump. "The Donald, it's me, Kathy," she said. "I'm teasing the president because this is America and you shouldn't have to die for it."

Griffin said that even her own mother, Maggie, took issue with the image. "Fox News ain't got nothing on me. Although, you should know, my mother -- who thinks Fox News is real -- is not speaking to me because she's in love with Tucker Carlson," she claimed, somewhat jokingly. "So, I'm even in trouble with my mother. So, don't worry, everyone hates me."

She added, "This president, of all people, is going to come after me. He picked the wrong redhead." Upon taking questions from the press, Griffin broke down in tears, admitting that she thinks Trump ruined her career and this happened because she's a female comic. "I don't think I'll have a career after this. I'm going to be honest, he broke me," she said while crying. "I'm broken."

"I'm 56 years old, I'm 110 pounds wet," she quipped through tears. "I've had everybody turn on me and I just wanna make people laugh. That's all I wanna do. So I screwed up." MORE: Anderson Cooper 'Appalled' by Kathy Griffin's 'Disgusting' Donald Trump Photo

The comic was fired from CNN's New Year's Eve special, and when ET's Kevin Frazier asked if she'd spoken with former co-host Anderson Cooper -- who publicly slammed her photo shoot -- she broke down in tears and shook her head.

After the photo shoot went public earlier this week, the president tweeted that he was disgusted with the images. "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself," he wrote. "My children, especially my 11-year old-son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"

First lady Melania Trump also commented on the photo controversy. "As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing," she said in a statement. "When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it."

In her initial video apology on Twitter, Griffin said "the image is too disturbing."

"I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it," she said. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. ... I beg for your forgiveness."

"I'm a comic. I crossed the line," she continued. "I moved the line, then I crossed it. I went way too far."

WATCH: CNN Fires Kathy Griffin as New Year's Eve Co-Host After Controversial Donald Trump Photo

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omcik-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/myl-tsla-f-vlkay-aapl-mjn-lvs-amzn-googl-ua-more/

MYL, TSLA, F, VLKAY, AAPL, MJN, LVS, AMZN, GOOGL, UA & more

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Mylan — The drugmaker expanded its recall of its EpiPen allergy treatment. The company had recalled 81,000 EpiPens in countries outside the U.S. in March, and has now expanded it to the U.S., Europe, Asia, and North and South America. The recall affects lots distributed between December 2015 and July 2016.

Tesla — Tesla delivered 25,000 vehicles during the first three months of 2017, its highest-ever quarterly total.

Ford — Ford recalled nearly 53,000 F-250 pickup trucks in the U.S. and Canada for a potential problem which could cause the vehicles to roll while the transmission was in the “park” position. Ford said it knew of no injuries or accidents associated with the problem.

Volkswagen — Volkswagen was on the losing side of a German court ruling involving its diesel emissions scandal. The automaker wanted to prevent prosecutors from using information they had seized from the law firm that VW hired to investigate the scandal. The raid on U.S. law firm Jones Day took place on March 15.

Apple — Apple said it would stop using graphics technology made by the British firm Imagination Tech in about two years. Apple — which owns an eight percent stake in Imagination — is developing its own independent graphics chips. Imagination, which does not trade in the U.S., saw its shares plunge by about two-thirds to a 7-1/2-year low.

Mead Johnson Nutrition — Britain’s Reckitt Benckiser is mulling options for its small food business, in order to reduce debt after its $16.6 billion deal to buy U.S.-based Mead Johnson is complete. That business includes well-known brands such as French’s mustard and Frank’s RedHot sauce, and some estimates value it at more than $3 billion.

Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts – These shares could benefit from new figures showing Macau gambling revenue rising 18 percent in March. That marks an eighth consecutive monthly gain and was a bigger rise than analysts had anticipated.

Amazon.com, Alphabet, and Apple — The three companies are reportedly among those who have joined the bidding for Toshiba’s flash memory unit, according to a Japanese daily newspaper.

Caterpillar — The heavy equipment maker is closing its Aurora, Illinois, plant, and transferring the production done at that plant to one in Decatur, Illinois, and another in Arkansas. The Aurora plant employs 800 workers, but about 650 positions will be added to the plants taking on additional production.

Texas Roadhouse — Texas Roadhouse will pay $12 million to settle an age bias lawsuit, which claimed that the restaurant chain refused to hire workers over 40 as hosts, servers, and bartenders.

Starbucks — Kevin Johnson officially takes over as CEO from Howard Schultz today. Schultz will remain in the chairman’s role.

ConAgra — The food producer recalled some of its Hunt’s Chili Kits because of possible salmonella contamination. ConAgra said there have been no reports of anyone getting sick from the issue, which centers around a material used in the chili-seasoning packets.

UnderArmour — The athletic apparel maker could see a 30 percent rise in its stock over the next year, according to a Barron’s article, after being the worst performer in the S&P 500 over the past year. The paper said the brand remains strong and that it still has many new markets to tap. Research firm FBR isn’t quite as optimistic — it downgraded the stock to “underperform” from “market perform” based on unfavorable trends and its recent channel checks.

Lowe’s — Lowe’s could rise 20 percent or more, according to Barron’s, which noted the health of the home improvement sector in general and that Lowe’s is the better value following the rise in shares of rival Home Depot.

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years ago

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Covid Chasers: The Nurses Fighting Coronavirus From Hot Spot to Hot Spot

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nofomoartworld · 8 years ago

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Hyperallergic: Artists Sift Through Archives for Memories of Miami

MemoryLab installation view (all photos by Barron Sherer unless otherwise noted; all work sources courtesy the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at Miami Dade College, HistoryMiami Museum, South Florida)

Juan Maristany’s “Untitled,” a two-channel video installation of archived home videos, is currently projected across a 32-foot-long wall on the second floor of the HistoryMiami Museum. The wall is curved, bending to match the gaze of the eye and the flow of a walk around its length. “Untitled” is part of MemoryLab, an exhibition curated by Kevin Arrow and Barron Sherer of Obsolete Media Miami. The 16 featured artists/collectives (all of whom have ties to Miami, but currently live scattered throughout the country) were invited to explore the archives of both HistoryMiami — dating back 10,000 years — and the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives. The artists searched through home videos, letters, documents, and images, finding physical ephemera and strange histories with which to create new work.

Each of Maristany’s found images or looped clips is visible only long enough to briefly imprint themselves the brain; then, they fade, dissipating into ocean waves or smooth blackness. In one shot, there’s an unmoving pistachio-colored house, single-storied, low-roofed, and blanketed with palms. It’s unclear when the video was taken, but it’s a familiar, timeless scene to anyone who’s grown up in South Florida: the intrinsically cozy quality of a subtropical landscape, homes ostensibly protected by the dense flora surrounding them.

Juan Maristany, “Untitled” (2017), two-channel video installation / projection mapped, 20 x 32 feet

What does memory look like? Don Arnold and Richard Roberts, two researchers at the University of Southern California, engineered small probes to light up the synapses of a living neuron in real time. They discovered that when new memories are formed, the synapses that appear as bright spots along the neuron’s branches (dendrites) change shape. Memory, then, looks like literal shifting patches of light, given the right conditions. And what of Florida’s memory? Does it, too, look like scattered patches of light?

Miami’s reputation — a long history of not caring much for its history — is unfair; consider efforts like the Florida Memory Project, or Obsolete Media Miami itself. The entirety of Florida has a complicated history, of diaspora and weird ecologies and “only in Florida” tales, and the future of South Florida specifically is equally complex, threatened with sea-level rise and the questionable ethics of its cities’ council members. All histories are multifaceted, contingent on who’s telling it, and that’s maddeningly clear here. In their examination of Miami’s history, the artists in MemoryLab are essentially communicating the city’s present and future, because life is too cyclical to keep it all separated.

Julie Kahn, “DEPOST (trading post)” (2017), Spanish-American war Cigarette trading cards, artist trading cards, Seminole trade objects, trade objects from Havana Biennial & Art Basel Miami Beach, audio, video, dimensions variable

Glowing like a bright synapse at the exhibition’s entrance is an installation by Domingo Castillo, who placed on a wall several maquettes depicting various developments throughout Miami. In the wall’s center are four videos displaying, in juxtaposition, the policing of Miami’s neighborhoods and Getty images of plastered shots of high-rises and birds soaring over an Atlantic Ocean intended for the rich. The piece has an accompanying reader titled “Yesterdays, Tomorrow, Today,” a 245-page document including the W.A.G.E. manifesto and essays like Paul S. George’s “Policing Miami’s Black Community” and Raymond A. Mohl’s “The Interstates and the Cities: Highways, Housing, and the Freeway Revolt.” Mohl writes, “In Miami, Florida, state highway planners and local officials deliberately routed Interstate-95 directly through the inner-city black community of Overtown…Even before the expressway was built…some in Miami’s white and black press asked: ‘What about the Negroes uprooted by the Expressway?’” Even without the dense reader — which you must ask for at the museum’s front desk — the dichotomy of the images provides enough unsettling context.

Racial exclusion and xenophobia are examined in “Passing Through,” an interactive piece by Elia Khalaf, who sourced home videos of a Cuban family in exile, letters from a mother to her immigrant child, and photographs of a tourist in Lebanon (Khalaf is Lebanese). These are placed along a wall designed to look like a television. The opposite side is grid-patterned, with each square left blank for museum visitors to write their own notes, working in collaboration with Khalaf to piece together a fragmented history. “We built Miami,” says one; “we were all immigrants once,” reads another. Khalaf’s accompanying text for the piece reads: “In fear of conflict between Christians and Muslims, the end of the Lebanese Civil War resulted in government-mandated censorship barring any mention of the atrocities that occurred within the country between 1970 and 1991. This state of forced amnesia leaves the writing of history to me.” All of us with diaspora in our blood understand what it means to occupy this space, of reimagining your own history, of writing yourself into a narrative that sometimes excludes you.

Elia Khalaf, “Passing Through” (2017), digital illustration, film, photography, 8 x 9 feet

In “Untitled (We will settle for a place among the pines and the palms; a city without walls),” Adler Guerrier touches on the idea of diaspora too, his images (both color and scanned black-and-white) of Florida’s plant life acting as backdrop to a small TV showcasing found footage. They’re mostly news reels from 1980 to 1984, showcasing local Floridian reactions to Cuban and Haitian immigrants — one segment features a doctor explaining that, despite a pervasive fear of Haitian refugees bringing AIDS to the US, it is not logical to designate a group of people as being a carrier of disease; another section discusses, pejoratively, the Miami-Dade public school system’s leniency in allowing teens who “can’t speak English” to graduate. But Guerrier, who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, tells me he does not want to simply highlight the negative backlash with this work, which is also about “the magnetism Miami had to waves of refugees. These Haitians and Cubans, they knew, ‘This is a place we want to be.’”

Shahreyar Ataie, “Lipstick Aviators” (2017), mixed media, dimensions variable

The duo Archival Feedback (T. Wheeler Castillo and Emile Milgrim) captures this magnetism by exploring the peculiar aural landscape of Florida via fieldwork and research. Their three “Audiographs,” displayed in a vitrine with headphones for listening, are made of polycarbonate, a material resistant to humidity. “Star Factory” draws upon sounds from the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium, whereas “Sounding the Bay” traces Biscayne Bay through hydrophone recordings — you can hear the gurgling of fish and the sound of cars driving above — and, most fascinatingly, there is “Greater Miami 1934,” which translates an old map into electronic sounds — the map is played like music.

Alliance of the Southern Triangle A.S.T. (Diann Bauer, Felice Grodin, Patricia Margarita Hernandez and Elite Kedan), “Landscape (Test Patterns for Future Positions)” (2017), video projection and monitor installation; three-channel video (color, sound), MDF set

Willie Avendano’s Invitation Suites, two sets of videos comprised of dreamy archival footage — a baby’s birthday party, a carnival ride — use data sequencing to repeat and dissolve the images over and over, mimicking the way memories feel inherently chaotic. (Full disclosure: Avendano is a friend.) Only real memory recall is more faulty. MemoryLab restrings memories like Christmas lights and data, and we begin to process them like dreams. These realities are composites of so many others, and as such do not really exist, yet we feel, hear, and experience them.

In fact, some of the works seem premonitory, and if so, they might come to fruition and imprint themselves on our memories in a much more deliberate way. In “Landscape (Test Patterns for Future Positions),” a video by the Alliance of the Southern Triangle (Diann Bauer, Felice Grodin, Patricia Margarita Hernandez, and Elite Kedan), weather maps and hurricane-tracking agents become a composite model of everything we can only try to understand about climate change, or weather in general. Foretelling sea-level rise or a hurricane’s power are ultimately abstractions, not yet added to our history, though their exigencies feel real enough to reach.

Jamilah Sabur, “A point at zenith: Become a body with organs and smell the flowers” (2017), three-channel video with hyper-directional sound, dimensions variable

Jamilah Sabur’s installation, “A point at zenith: Become a body with organs and smell the Flowers,” was the last one I explored, and the only one in which I was able to experience in utmost silence. One enters into a room fully projected with a green grid, watching a video in which Sabur is dressed as a jockey wearing a gas mask, trapped in a jai alai court on an upper floor of an abandoned building. This building, explains the piece’s accompanying text, stands at the corner of NE 2nd Ave and 50th St in Little Haiti: a current point of contention due to its impending, expensive development. Here, we have both the fate of a problematic situation and a reference to something that feels decisively Floridian (jai alai originated in Basque, but remains popular in South Florida), a fictional character stuck between the two. As Sabur explained to me, “I imagine that the building is surrounded by toxic air.” This is possible, maybe probable, but we try to reimagine a better outcome for Florida, over and over and over.

MemoryLab continues at the HistoryMiami Museum (101 W Flagler St, Miami) through April 16.

The post Artists Sift Through Archives for Memories of Miami appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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