#mara is up for a production design award!

[squirrellypoo]

IWTV S2 Floorplans

Christmas has come early for floorplan enjoyers! 🥳

Exqueeze me... the WHAT table?

Omg, they built the SF rooftop onto the side of the Paris street in Barandov?? That's what the "walkable rooftop" was for??

All floorplans and a bunch of high quality production stills from this pdf. And if you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy my S1 Rue Royale townhouse floorplan post...

[quotes121sworld]

Women Talking director Sarah Polley is in talks to direct Disney's live-action Bambi film

Women Talking director Sarah Polley is in talks to direct the live-action Bambi for Disney, 81 years after the animated classic debuted

By Eve Buckland for Dailymail.Com Published: 4:11 PM EDT, Jun 13, 2023 | Updated: 4:15pm EDT, June 13, 2023 --> --> --> Women Talking director Sarah Polley is in talks to helm a live-action remake of Bambi for Disney.The 44-year-old filmmaker, who won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay earlier this year for the Rooney Mara-directed flick, is said to be directing the feature film, which is in "very early development." meeting.The intention to adapt the 1942 classic was first announced in 2020. Depth of Field Production, created by Chris and Paul Weitz, would direct the film, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer writing. However, the current writers and production team are unknown, and the launch date for the project is also up in the air. The original 1928 Disney children's classic and book told the story of the love, life and loss of young fawn Bambi. The film's most heartbreaking moment came when Bambi's mother was shot dead by hunters.

New Project: Women Talking director Sarah Polley is in talks to helm a live-action remake of Bambi for Disney

1942 classic: The 44-year-old filmmaker, who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay earlier this year for the Rooney Mara-directed flick, is set to direct the feature film, which is in very "early development," reports Deadline Fans can expect the "same photorealistic CGI" used in previous remakes - such as Disney and director Jon Favreau's The Lion King - to tell the story of everyone's favorite fawn.The film's arc revolves around some heavy themes, such as dealing with losses and questioning the morality of the hunt.Seeing the loss of Bambi's mother in overly lifelike CGI form may be unsettling to some viewers, but it probably won't be a deterrent. It was announced back in November that the director behind 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' is planning a horror version of Bambi with a new film called 'Bambi: The Reckoning'.The independent horror film about the beloved storybook characters of the Hundred Acre Wood who go on a killing spree delighted fans - and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield hoped a "Bambi Against Rabies" version of the classic tale would resonate equally .However, viewers familiar with the doe-eyed Bambi are in for a shock, as director Scott Jeffrey, who will be working with executive producer Frake-Waterfield, said the deer will portray the antler-human body hybrid featured in Netflix's " The Ritual” can be seen.He said DreadCentral: "The film will be an incredibly dark retelling of the 1928 story we all know and love." Inspired by the design of the Netflix series "The Ritual," Bambi becomes a vicious killing machine that lurks in the wilderness. Prepare for Bambi against rabies!”The announcement comes on the heels of another horror remake - Frake-Waterfield revealed he's planning a new film, Neverland Nightmare, about sane character Peter Pan.Peter Pan, the iconic free-spirited boy who can fly and never grows up, has been portrayed many times on screen, but this will be only his second appearance as a horror character after Robbie Kay's vicious portrayal in Once Upon a Time.

Heavy Issues: The film deals directly with loss as Bambi loses his mother in the first few minutes of the film

Critically acclaimed: Women Talking - starring Rooney Mara (pictured).

All too real: Disney turned The Lion King into a live-action film in 2019 Share or comment on this article: Read the full article

[ratingtheframe]

10 Films to watch this Valentine’s Day if you’re single as hell.

If anyone or anything is making you feel worthless on the Capitalist Holiday that is Valentine’s Day because you’re single AF, then don’t fret because it means one of two things;

You’re happy enough with yourself to not need anyone else.

You’re allergic to people.

Though mine is both the former and the latter, I can still get down to a good romance movie now and again. Now I’m not talking about those horrendous rom coms that Netflix seems to be churning out every damn minute, but those emotionally invested, earthy and well written dramas that has you ugly crying into your bathrobe for 17 minutes straight (me at the end of Her.). Here is a compiled list of some of the best romance films I’ve seen over the years and how each one doesn’t showcase an abundance of clichés and brands them as “acts of love”.

A Star is Born (2018 or 1953, take your pick)

I’ve found that both the 1953 version of A Star is Born with Judy Garland and the 2018 newer version to be a perfect and well rounded love story. What makes this love story so fierce is the vulnerabilities and downfall of its characters, which even though there are many sad moments, it perpetuates and strengthens the acts of love shown in the film. Both versions are similar in that they follow a woman who’s rise to fame as a performer becomes overshadowed by her jealous partner, who is also a notable celebrity. In the 2018 version starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Gaga’s character Ally is helped by a country singer, Jackson Maine to become a successful singer and icon amongst the music industry. As she rises, Jackson falls and the character dynamics and intensity between them is a fitting love story. I was thoroughly bawling at the end and I guarantee you will too as Lady Gaga’s rendition of Love Again was the true scene stealer of the film. 

Call me by your name (2017)

I have an incredible bias towards this film and it has nothing to do with the film’s context or characters or even Timothée Chalamet The reason why I feel so connected to this film and proclaim it as my favourite film of all time is because of when I watched the film. It’s almost like seeing a film about a political event right after it's happened; you have this rush and connection towards something that’s actually affected you in the real world. I had the same feeling with Call me by your name after going through a rough and confusing patch whilst trying to get over someone I thought I truly loved. Turns out I didn’t (thank god) and yet Call me your name was almost like a shoulder to cry on. It’s a film that’s taught me to love and love hard but most importantly, not beat yourself up or try to distinguish the pain felt by true love. If you haven’t been fortunate to catch this beauty of a film, it follows two men, Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer) and their brief relationship in the summer of 1983 in Northern Italy. 17 year old Elio lives with his parents and his father (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a scholar who invites students from outside the country for the summer in hope of passing on his wisdom to them. This is when Oliver arrives, a handsome twenty something American who becomes the infatuation of Elio. 

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the monologue that Elio’s father gave his son at the end, explaining to Elio why he shouldn’t feel embarrassed by the pain he felt after loving Oliver:

“We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster, that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste”

That, ladies and gentlemen and all in between, is what love is.

Her. (2013)

Once again, another film about love that had a profound effect on me because of when I watched it. Her. follows the story of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and his search for a story using an A.I to help him write. However, after getting to know this A.I named Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) and hearing the way she adapts and shows emotions, he soon falls in love with it. Some may deem this as rather sad (which it is) but I think it speaks to bigger constructs like internet dating and letting go of people you loved thus diminishing the fantasy and world you created for the two of you. This part of the film got to me a stark way as I felt the pain of letting go of not only a person, but a fantasy, just like Theodore had to do in letting his past partners go. Her. is truly beautiful, with some great production design, cinematography and acting.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

The absolute queen of love stories would be Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a film about the romance between two women in the late 18th Century. Definitely not a narrative you see every day or one that’s been painted in such a way (pun intended). Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to paint the beautiful and stubborn Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and the portrait is to be gifted to a suitor of Héloïse’s from Milan. But instead of getting the painting done and sending it off, Marianne and Héloïse unexpectedly fall for one another at a subtle and well timed pace that had me gawping at the screen the entire way through. Slow, sensual and moving is Portrait of a Lady on Fire and I would definitely say is one of the best LGBTQ plus films ever made to date.

Broke Back Mountain (2005)

Ang Lee scooped up a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Oscar for his direction on his adapted screenplay of Brokeback Mountain. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) form a romantic bond after shepherding alone together on the side of a mountain. Once their time herding sheep comes to a close and they return back to their respective lives, it's clear that their bond is stronger than they had anticipated. They live in constant fear of their relationship becoming apparent to those around them, which leaves one of them taking matters into their own hands. A controversial yet extremely successful film of its time, Brokeback Mountain does a fabulous job of showcasing the consequences and despair of love using two of Hollywood’s finest actors.

Carol (2013)

It’s difficult to fully appreciate LGBTQ plus films set in the past as they mostly focus on the persecution of homosexuals as opposed to the love they wish to express. However, this was pretty accurate of the time and it's only very recently that we have begun to accept one another’s sexualities and genders fully so much that we play these stories out on screen without the persecution part. Carol is a film directed by Todd Haynes and stars Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. I found them to be an extremely intense pairing whilst they unravelled as their characters on screen. Therese (Rooney Mara) works in the toy department of a department store when one day she lays eyes upon Carol Aird, a beautiful and elegant married woman who becomes the infatuation of Therese. Therese throws all caution to the wind in order to be closer to Carol and because of this and the 1950s society they live in, their relationship is doomed from the beginning. I was in complete awe of the way Carol had been shot and created into this sensual and rich drama set in the 1950s. From the costumes, to the lighting to the acting, everything about Carol held weight to it showcasing the devotion of a truly talented director.

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)

Usually I’d pass on a Charlie Kaufman film, seeing as they make no sense, however I felt that it was time I delved into this cult classic starring Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood. It’s a really well made film with a clear and distinct message to it that’s represented in some phenomenal filmmaking techniques. The plot line of this film follows a man trying to erase a past lover and his memories of her get wiped away physically before your eyes on screen. It made me wish that I could do the same with people I’ve liked in the past, but the contradictory of this would be the trauma of eventually ending up with someone you had already met in another life. I haven’t experienced a break up nor felt the pain of one, though I could judge that this film tells that experience really well.

Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight is one of few films that I would genuinely worship if it were a religion. It's also one of the films that I outwardly shame people for not having seen, as it is truly a masterpiece and film lover’s film. Deep, emotionally connected, colourful, harsh, moving and eye opening, this film takes you on an emotional rollercoaster through the eyes of Chiron and the three stages of his life that have carved out his essence as a human being. Not only that, but he falls in love with another boy at his school, and when he does, he’s hurt rather badly. Literally. Moonlight is the definition of profundity and was awarded the top prize of Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards. 

Loving (2016)

When I think of a truthful and honest testament of love, the film Loving comes to mind which is a fitting title for such a delicate yet strong story. The film is based on a true story of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) being banned from Virginia in the 1950s for choosing to be together. If that ain’t a true sacrifice of love, then I don’t know what is. Choosing someone you love over your own home is an unfathomable thing and certainly shows the strength that this couple had in facing the judgements of others whilst remaining emotionally truthful to themselves. 

The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water is a strange yet enlightening love story between Eliza, a deaf woman (Sally Hawkins) and a creature being tested on in a laboratory. Awards season went mental for this back in 2018, winning four of the THIRTEEN Oscars it was nominated for. I would categorize it as quite the niche film and wouldn’t usually think that such a film could be garnered with Oscar success. However everyone who worked on this film really pulled out the stops in creating an entire new world and perspective that has many layers to it, as well as an abundance of conflict and dynamics for audiences to lull over. The relationship between Eliza and the feared swamp monster that’s being cruelly tested in the laboratories where she works, is heartfelt and honest, which is strange seeing as Eliza’s virtually in love with a monster. The casting in this was outlandish yet it really worked as all actors in this melded well into the story as their prospective characters. It also has one of the most touching endings to a film I’ve ever seen.

And there you have it, ten Romance films for you to enjoy this Valentine’s Day. Watch them all at once, or maybe just watch one. Whether you watch it alone or with someone, it doesn’t really matter!

Lots of love

Ang x

[365days365movies]

February 16, 2021: Carol (Review)

Might be just because it’s so fresh, but I REALLY enjoyed this movie!

It could also be because, unlike the last two entries, this one had a more hopeful, borderline happy ending. I mean, not completely happy, obviously, but a realistic joy, given the circumstances! Carol is an extremely romantic film, and one that I do think is borderline perfect. And, if I’m honest, and I realize this is blasphemous...

I think I like it more than Brokeback MountainI’M SORRY

I can’t deny it, I do actually think I like this movie more...but again, that might be because it;s not as much of a tragedy as Brokeback Mountain is, in truth. And this definitely isn’t to say that I think Carol is a BETTER movie than Brokeback...but I do like it a little bit more.

But all right, enough navel-gazing; shall I get into why? Probably should explain myself. Recap can be found here and here. And the Review can be found below!

Review

Cast and Acting: 10/10

...Yeah. Yeah, it’s perfect, I have no problems with this rating. Cate Blanchett is amazing as Carol Aird, and Rooney Mara disappears into Therese, but together? Together, their chemistry is hauntingly good. I was rooting for them both the entire time, which is natural of course, but they are just wonderful together. Rest of the cast is great, too, as Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy and Corey Michael Smith are all memorable for various reasons. And I honestly don’t have too much else to say here, because the acting is pretty goddamn spot on.

Plot and Writing: 10/10

Based on 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, which was the first lesbian-themed novel with a happy ending, by the way, this screenplay as adapted by Phyllis Nagy is...shit, man, it’s GOOD! S’fuckin’ GREAT! And I also don’t have much to say here! The writing and plot are spot-on, and I’m genuinely not sure how to complain about it. It’s just...GODDAMIT, it’s fantastic.

Directing and Cinematography: 9/10

Todd Haynes knocked this one OUT! Again, an amazing job, with some great shots, and...y’know, I’m starting to feel like these reviews are getting, I dunno...repetitive? I really need to up may critical game, huh? Well, look there are legitimately some great shots in here, both in terms of shot construction and in terms of overall camera movement and direction. The scene in the car comes to mind, not to mention any other scenes of emotional expression between the two characters. Is it perfect? No, not really, but it’s still amazing. Seriously, I know it’s getting repetitive, but I don’t have much else to say. Haynes’ direction and Edward Lachman’s cinematography are amazing.

Production and Art Design: 9/10

Remember how I said that the costumes in Brokeback weren’t as time-accurate as I’d hoped? Well, this movie DEFINITELY makes up for it, as the production design feels extremely accurate to the time period. In fact, sometimes it feels...too accurate? Yeah, yeah, I KNOW, not the best of criticisms, but hear me out. Sometimes, in this movie, the fact that this takes place in the 1950s punches you in the face, while it’s also understated at other points, and it never really evens out for me. But still, it deserves high points, so high points it gets.

Music and Editing: 8/10

But as compared to Brokeback Mountain...yeah, Carter Burwell’s score is fantastic...but not quite as iconic or notable. Like, just talking about it now, I can vividly remember the score for Brokeback. But for Carol? Nothin’. I know it was impactful in the film itself, but I don’t think it was as good, is all I’m saying. But as for Affonso Gonçalves’ editing, it’s great. I know, RIVETING commentary, but I don’t have too much to say here. Still, great score for great music and editing.

Hey, look, a 92%! This really was another Brokeback.

Which makes sense, because not only do I think this is just as good...it got slept on by the Academy Awards SO MUCH HARDER than Brokeback. That’s right, it’s time for another edition of The Oscars...are...BULLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!

And what have out contestants won? NOTHING. Not just that, but this film wasn’t nominated for Best Picture (Mad Max Fury Road was, and this movie’s definitely as good as that; Spotlight won, and that was admittedly deserved) or Best Director (The Revenant won, deservedly, but this should’ve been NOMINATED). Sure, Blanchett and Mara were nominated, as was Nagy for Screenplay, Burwell for Score, and Lachman for Cinematography. And sure, it lost those categories to some deserved entries, but the lack of nominations for those two categories is...yeah, not great.

OK, now that this is done, I’m probably gonna watch Blue is the Warmest Color, right? What if I were to tell you...that I wasn’t? I’ve never seen BitWC before, and I should...but you know what? WE’RE GOIN’ OLD SCHOOL, FUCKIT

THEY ARE LESBIANS, HAROLD! THEY. ARE. LESBIANS!!!

February 17, 2021: Desert Hearts (1986)

[soph-elle]

British singer-songwriter Jorja Smith takes the May 3rd, 2021 cover of Porter magazine. Lensed by photographer Danika Magdelena, she wears a Valentino shirt, paired with Loewe sunglasses and Carolina Bucci earrings on the cover. For the cover story named ‘’High Note’’, stylist Natasha Wray dresses the Brit Award-winning and Grammy-nominated in designs from labels such as Bottega Veneta, Christopher John Rogers, Missoni, Calle Del Mar, Gucci, The Attico, Max Mara and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Hair: Zateesha Barbour Make-up: Carol Lopez Reid Manicure: Pria Bhamra Set design: Ibby Njoya Art direction: Phil Buckingham Production: Rachael Evans, China Ruby Hill, Erin Shanahan

[mask-of-anubis]

Reviewing HOA based on Season

Season 01

Most endearing

Obviously has the most integrity to HHA

Steady character development and definitely the steadiest structure (this season absolutely knew where it was going)

Satisfying ending. The build up was long enough, it had a great tension, the right amount of twists, and a sweet ending that was earned.

Healthy mix of funny and sweet moments

Only season where I actually believe all the students are going to school and learning something.

Lowest quality production (costume, cinematography, acting, sets) but it earns nostalgia points

Villain points: 7/10. From the mid-section on, we know who the villain is, he’s terrifying, and it’s a steady climb to defeating him with a good twist at the end. A few points for the Victor of it all. He’s at his most docile, just kind of grouchy and he gets surprising redemption points at the end.

Season 02

The most visually appealing season, the aesthetics were off the charts

Best plot structure, not only did they know where they were going but they nailed it. The finale was well earned and just the right amount of surprising. Points off for a few plot holes.

Lots of points for new, interesting situations. Constantly putting the main characters into sticky situations and they work their way out with cleverness, hard work, and trust in each other. 

Most solid version of Sibuna. I trust they would absolutely do anything for each other.

Incredible set design! Three new, unique sets: the library, Frobisher’s study, and the fricken tunnels. The gatehouse is beautiful in S3 but it has nothing on the intricate design of the tunnels. Each task had some element of original and unique design. Not to mention a lot of the features were operational (the pendulums, the hopscotch trap wall, the spinning senate pieces, the spider webs) Don’t even get me started on the falcon light effect, so gorgeous

Huge points for interconnected plot lines. Jerome’s gem plot lines and the mask plot line came together is such a satisfying way that was unexpected but also made total sense. Both were huge parts of the season and were equally as interesting.

Acting and writing improved dramatically, relationships and dialog felt more authentic and endearing

Big points for family drama. Jerome, John, and Poppy. Patricia and Piper. Eddie and Eric. Nina and her Gran. All developed and all so interesting.

Points off for relying on shock factor drama to fill space.

Villain Points: 9/10. It’s all Vera. Vera is the villain Rufus and Victor wish they could be. Senkhara is decent, but she’s too steady, no surprises. Rufus’ reveal was good, but points off because he’s been-there-done-that. Jasper is a decent sub-villain with his own motivations.

Season 03

Production and costumes are at their absolute peak.

Hands down, funniest season. The amount of jokes, baffonery, and insane situations that come out of this season? *Chef’s kiss*

Beautiful set design. Introduction of the gatehouse is a huge plus. Prop design was fantastic (Frobisher’s tank, the bracelet, the staff.) Cant decide if that Frobisher wax figure was a plus or minus.

Plot is all over the place, can’t stress that enough. But since it had a loyal fan base it got away with it

Points off for character inconsistencies, but points gained for authentic character friendships based on the real life friendships in the cast

Award for best friendships of any season (Mara/Joy/Willow, KT/Eddie, Fabian/Eddie) And best relationships of any season (Alfie/Willow, Joy/Jerome)

Most off-the-rails season, they literally did whatever they wanted and somehow it worked.

Great character additions, especially in the face of losing two huge fan favorites. Willow and KT were fantastic.

Did a great job almost completely reinventing Sibuna after two seasons of the same formula. A difficult task but they did it well.

Best character growth by far, but a few points off for not doing enough with Fabian, the show’s longest-running main character involved in the main plot of the show, or KT, their newest main character who unfortunately stayed static.

The fact that the school wasn’t condemned and shut down after the finale is a plot hole

Villain Points: 6/10. Major points off for inconsistency. The Victor-Caroline-Eric was so ridiculous. They failed literally all the time. Caroline was a step down from Vera and she had the most confusing character-motivations of anyone. Only one bringing in points was Frobisher. Making the main characters tiny villains was a nice touch though. Victor had zero redemption, unlike in previous seasons.

Even though the finale was followed up by ToR, the actual finale was not nearly as satisfying as it should have been. The only characters that got a good ending were Joy, Jerome, Eddie and Patricia. A lot of characters are left hanging, but they could get away with it because of ToR. Just felt rushed.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND July 4, 2019  - SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, MIDSOMMAR, MARIANNE & LEONARD

It’s the 4thof July weekend, which is often the bane of my existence because I’m never invited to do anything with anyone. Fortunately, I’m going back to Ohio for the first time in nine months so I’ll be spending this 4thof July with family, and hopefully, that will include some movie-watching.

The movie I’m most excited about seeing again is SPIDERMAN: FAR FROM HOME (Sony), the sequel directed by Jon Watts that returns Tom Holland to the Spidey-suit and brings back all of his friends and classmates, as well as throwing Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio into the mix. You can read how much I enjoyed the movie in my review below, and also, check out my interview with the director, also below.

MY REVIEW OF SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

INTERVIEW WITH JON WATTS ON THE BEAT

The other wide release this weekend is Ari Aster’s sophomore feature MIDSOMMAR (A24), starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor (Sing Street) and Will Poulter as a group of friends who travel to Sweden to observe a Midsommar ritual held by the community of their friend, but things are not what they seem. Before you can say ���The Wicker Man,” they’re finding out the real intentions for their hosts.

Mini-Review: Like most, I loved Ari Aster’s Hereditary and saw it as the advent of a fantastic new vision in filmmaking and horror, specifically. Whenever a filmmaker delivers such an amazing debut, his or her follow-up is going to be eyed with equal parts anticipation and scrutiny, and that’s truly been the case with Midsommar.

Like Aster’s previous film, this one begins with the death of family members, in this case those of Florence Pugh’s Dani early on in the movie.  Dani’s boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor from Sing Street) is ready to break up with Dani, because he can’t handle her family drama. At the same time, Christian has been invited by his friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to go to his small Swedish community to take part in the Midsommar ritual along with friends Josh and Mark (Will Poulter). When Dani finds out about it and Christian invites her (think she’ll say “No’ – she doesn’t) – it soon becomes obvious Dani will be the fifth wheel threatening to bring down the mood. That’s okay because Pelle’s friendly community might have ulterior motives for the visitors.

There’s a lot to like about Midsommar, particularly Aster’s clever way of exploring The Wicker Man territory in a new way that offers terror and horror often in the brightest of daylight, an achievement in itself. Other than the film’s look and the production design that went into making it such a unique-looking visual film, it’s hard to ignore the fact that this is the exact same “stupid young people on vacation getting slaughtered” motif we’ve seen in so many horror films from Eli Roth’s Hostel movies to Touristas to so many more.

For the most part, Aster has another strong cast --  Florence Pugh is quite fantastic in a very different role, although she does a lot of crying in this movie. Jack Reynor could begin stepping into a few of Chris Pratt’s roles without anyone batting an eye, because he has similar rugged looks and charm. I actually liked Will Poulter’s obnoxious American to the point where when he mysteriously vanishes halfway through the movie, it loses quite a bit.

Beyond that, Midsommar explores some of the same themes Aster explored in his first movie, including death and grief and family squabbles with one character crying a lot, and of course, diabolical cult rituals and lots of nudity. Aster also use the same upside-down camera shot he used in Hereditary, which itself was borrowed from Darren Aronofsky. Maybe I’d have liked Midsommar more if it didn’t feel like Aster was retreading familiar territory. I do have to wonder if Aster has ever had therapy, because he certainly seems to have issues, maybe even with a sister, driving him to kill sisters in both his films?

Owing as much to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the more obvious Wicker Man, MIdsommar is still not your typical horror movie by any means. If your favorite part of Hereditary was its crazy ending and you didn’t think it was crazy enough, then Midsommar is the movie for you!

Rating: 7/10

LIMITED RELEASES

Because it’s the 4thof July this week, we’re getting far fewer limited releases but I do want to call attention to a couple docs opening this week.

But first, I want to draw attention to a movie that opened at the Film Forum last week, Lila Avilés’ The Chambermaid, an amazing portrait of a Mexican maid in a high-end hotel as she goes through the day-to-day while trying to achieve her goals and dreams, all which seem to move further and further away. I was a fan of last year’s Romaand though The Chambermaid is a different type of movie, it features another amazing performance by an indigenous Mexican, Gabriela Cartol, who had appeared in a couple other movies before, but she really keeps the viewer drawn to the movie and the things that she goes through. At times, it feels like there’s no way for her to fulfill those dreams, and it’s something to which we can all relate.

A doc that’s a must see for all Leonard Cohen fans is Nick Broomfield’s MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE (Roadside Attractions), an amazing look at the relationship between Cohen and Marianne Ihlen, the Norwegian woman with whom he lived on the isle of Hydra in Greece, one of his early muses and the inspiration for the song “Goodbye, Marianne.” It’s an amazing film by the award-winning documentarian that has a lot of revelations, including the fact that Broomfield as friends with Marianne going back to the ‘60s, making him the perfect filmmaker to tackle the subject. It opens in select cities including the Angelika Film Center in New York Friday.

Opening at the IFC Center in New York is Rob Fruchtman and Steve Lawrence’s The Cat Rescuers about New York City’s 500,000 street cats and a group of volunteers who go through Brooklyn getting these cats fixed and returning them to their colonies or getting them adopted. It’s a movie that cat lovers will probably enjoy similar to the film Kedi from a few years back, but it’s also kind of sad when you realize that some of this cat population will have to be put down, because cats are adorable and you don’t want them to die. 

Opening at the City Cinemas Village East in New York  almost two years since premiering at TIFF is Tali Shalom-Ezer’s My Days of Mercy, starring Ellen Page and Amy Seimetz (Pet Sematary) as sisters Lucy and Martha who attend state executions to demonstrate against the death penalty. At one such event, Lucy meets Mercy (Kate Mara), the daughter of a police officer whose partner was killed by a man about to be put to death. They quickly bond before Lucy confesses that her own father (Elias Koteas) is on Death Row.

The only other limited release this weekend is Frédéric Petitjean’s directorial debut Cold Blood (Screen Media), starring Jean Reno as Henry, a hitman who is living in a cabin by a lake in the Rocky Mountains when he encounters a young woman who survived a snowmobile accident and has to decide whether to save her life. It opens in select cities and On Demand Friday.

STREAMING AND CABLE

There aren’t any big movie releases on Netflix this weekend but that’s because Season 3 of Stranger Things will premiere on the 4thof July, and I expect many people will be spending the early part of the weekend watching that.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Unfortunately, I missed something last week in terms of repertory series at the Metrograph as I didn’t realize that former Village Voice critic J. Hoberman was doing another series in conjunction with his latest bookMake My Day: Movie Culture in the Age of Reagan. The series Reagan at the Movies: Found Illusionsincludes a mixed array of films including 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, a new restoration of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Clint Eastwood’s Firefox (1983), Hal Ashby’s Being There(1979) starring Peter Sellers and more!

Also on Wednesday, Metrograph will be premiering a special 20thanniversary restoration of Takashi Miike’s horror classic Audition, which I think is so perfect for the remake treatment due to the #MeToo movement and its implications. Can you imagine how well a revenge thriller about a young woman getting revenge on sleazy movie producer types would go over in this day and age? Call me, Jason Blum!  

This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Penelope Spheeris’ Suburbia (1983) while the Playtime: Family Matinees is Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988).

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds has a special matinee screening of the Bond film From Russia With Love (1963) and Tarantino’s theater isn’t taking off on the 4th of July. In fact, it’s holding a special event screening of Red Dawn (1984) and Rocky IV (1985) (You might notice a theme there… USA! USA!) Weds and Thursday are also double features of The Happening  (1967) with Anthony Quinn and Land Raiders  (1970), starring Telly Savalas. The Friday/Saturday double features are the 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage with 100 Rifles. The weekend’s KIDDE MATINEE is the Disney classic The Love Bug (1968), while Friday’s midnight screening is Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Saturday at midnight is a 35mm print of Richard Rush’s Getting Straight (1970), starring Elliot Gould and Candice Bergen. Sunday and Monday is a double feature of Dean Martin’s Murderer’s Row (1966) with Ann-Margret’s Kitten with a Whip  (1964).

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky (1976) gets a new 4k restoration that begins on Friday, plus May’s 1971 film A New Leaf will also screen through the weekend. The restoration of Jennie Livingston’s Paris Burning continues to play through the weekend, while the Film Forum will also continue showing Elaine May’s Ishtar and the Coen’s The Big Lebowski through the 4thof July.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The Friday after the 4thof July sees a double feature of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987), co-presented by Beyond Fest. Saturday is a screening of the classic Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in 70mm, while Sunday sees a double feature of The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2  (1986).

AERO  (LA):

Oh, look… Spielberg’s Jaws is playing here, too… but on Wednesday. Director Peter Hunt will be on hand Friday to screen his movie musical 1776 (1972). On Saturday, you can see a double feature of Jaws 3-D  (1983) and A*P*E (1976), co-presented by Cinematic Void, and on Sunday is a Baseball Double Feature of 1993’s The Sandlot and Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own  (1992), both in 35mm!

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

MOMI is having another screening of Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette  (1985), starring Daniel Day Lewis on Saturday, wrapping up Grit and Glitter: Before and After Stonewall. This weekend’s See It Big! Action movies are Robocop (1987) on Friday and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix on Saturday and Sunday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Opening on Friday is a 4k restoration of the Director’s Cut of Daniel Vigne’s The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), starring Gerard Depardieu.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

On Saturday, you can see Alfred Hitchcock’s terror masterpiece Psycho (1960) on the big screen again!

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Friday’s midnight screening is Tommy Wiseau’s midnight movie “classic” The Room (2003).

Next week, things slow down with two lower-profile films, the comedy Stuber, starring Kumhail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, and the alligator horror film Crawl, from Alexandra Aja and Sam Raimi.  

[mostfunnystuff247-blog]

Actors Who’ve Disappeared From The Spotlight

Celebrities & Pop Culture Some of these stars haven't been seen on the big screen in years. Anna Weaver 2018-09-05

Getty Images | Scott Halleran Celebrities who’ve reached household name status are often expected to stay that way. While it can be hard to imagine big-name stars slipping out of the spotlight, it happens. For some, it’s an intentional choice to step away from acting. Others simply are just waiting for a role that really gets them jazzed. Check out all the Hollywood stars we haven’t seen onscreen in years.

Michael Schoeffling

Could any teenage heartthrob ever hold a candle to Jake Ryan from “Sixteen Candles”? As loyal Jake Ryan fans may know, the actor who played him, Michael Schoeffling, has left Hollywood behind. After memorable roles in “Mermaids” and “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken,” he disappeared. Schoeffling now apparently lives in Pennsylvania and has a carpentry business. He and his wife have two grown children, including a model daughter.

Universal Pictures

Stacey Dash

Stacey Dash made a name for herself in “Clueless” as Cher’s best friend. But her acting career has fizzled since then. Nowadays, Dash is known more for being a conservative political activist. She’s appeared as a FOX News commentator and recently ran for a congressional seat before deciding to pull out from the race.

Getty Images | Kevin Winter

Phoebe Cates

Best known for her roles in “Gremlins” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” Phoebe Cates left acting years ago. She’s married to actor Kevin Kline, with whom she has two children. Cates did appear in the 2001 movie “The Anniversary Party,” but only as a favor to friend Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Getty Images | Frazer Harrison

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones has kept a lower profile in recent years. Up until recently, the Oscar winner’s last big project was 2012’s “Rock of Ages.” She’s been open about her bipolar disorder diagnosis and also dealt with husband Michael Douglas’ cancer battle. But Zeta-Jones came back to larger acting roles with last year’s “Feud” and is currently working on a TV show called “Queen America.”

Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Cruel Intentions” actress has left acting on the back burner. Instead, she’s been focusing on her new company, Foodstirs, which makes sustainable, fair trade and organic baking products. She has two kids with husband and fellow actor Freddie Prinze Jr.

Getty Images | Emma McIntyre

Freddie Prinze Jr.

After playing a teen heartthrob in “She’s All That” and other films, starring in the live-action movie remake of “Scooby-Doo” and leading his self-titled one-season show “Freddie,” Freddie Prinze Jr. left much of acting behind. He prefers to be a stay-at-home dad with side jobs like being the voice of a “Star Wars Rebels” character. He has also written a cookbook, “Back to the Kitchen,” and continues to have a strong marriage with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Getty Images | Nicholas Hunt

Matthew Fox

“Party of Five” and “Lost” made Matthew Fox famous, but he hasn’t made a movie since 2015 and has gone on the record saying he doesn’t love acting. Fox had a couple run-ins with the law several years ago, and he popped up in the news recently when his Bend, Oregon, house went on the market. Below, Fox and his wife Margherita Ronchi and their son, Byron, take in a tennis match in Rome, Italy, in May 2018.

Getty Images | Dean Mouhtaropoulos

Calista Flockhart

Calista Flockhart found a starring role in late ’90s/early ’00s classic “Ally McBeal” and then jumped quickly from that into the family drama “Brothers and Sisters.” But after the latter went off the air, Flockhart took a more low-key acting path. She had a prime role as Cat Grant on “Supergirl” until the show switched filming locations from Los Angeles to Vancouver and she became an occasional guest star. Perhaps she’s just more content spending time with her son, Liam, and husband, Harrison Ford.

Getty Images | Matt Winkelmeyer

Jack Nicholson

Iconic actor Jack Nicholson hasn’t been seen in anything since 2010’s “How Do You Know.” A U.S. remake of “Toni Erdmann” was supposed to bring Nicholson back to the big screen, but he backed out of the project. His friend Peter Fonda says Nicholson is basically retired.

Getty Images | Kevork Djansezian

Cameron Diaz

Remember the days of “There’s Something About Mary,” “Shrek,” “Charlie’s Angels” and the many other films that made Cameron Diaz famous? Where’d she go? Apparently, the last movie the actress appeared in was “Annie” in 2014. Turns out she’s retired from acting and is just enjoying life with husband Benji Madden. Though Diaz did say in a recent interview that she’d be open to a sequel to “The Sweetest Thing.”

Getty Images | Stuart C. Wilson

Amanda Bynes

The former teen comedian had a very public breakdown several years ago. After receiving treatment, she’s kept a low-profile life. She hasn’t acted on screen since 2010, instead choosing to go to fashion school. Though she did say in a 2017 interview that she’d like to get back into television acting.

Getty Images | Jason Merritt

Dominic Monaghan

The “Lord of the Rings” and “Lost” actor Dominic Monaghan hasn’t had a big role since “Lost” went off the air in 2010. He’s slated to appear in the Australian television drama “Bite Club” and he just scored a part in the currently filming “Star Wars: IX,” though what his role will be remains to be seen.

Getty Images | Jonathan Leibson

Bridget Fonda

Peter Fonda’s daughter (and Jane’s niece) Bridget made a name for herself in movies like “It Could Happen To You” and “Single White Female.” Fonda hasn’t had a screen credit since 2002, but she’s no doubt been busy raising her son, Oliver, whom she shares with music composer husband Danny Elfman.

Getty Images | Frazer Harrison

Chuck Norris

The last big roles the martial artist and actor best known for “Walker, Texas Ranger” did were in 2005. In recent years, he’s been supporting his wife through health issues. Even though Norris himself is in semi-retirement, his tough-guy legend lives on through things like the popular Chuck Norris Facts meme.

Getty Images | Jerry Markland

Dennis Franz

“Hill Street Blues” and “NYPD Blue” actor Dennis Franz hasn’t acted since the latter went off the air in 2005. Apparently, it was a hard act to follow. Now, Franz is just enjoying retirement. He did present an Emmy award with co-star Jimmy Smits at the 2016 awards ceremony.

Getty Images | Kevin Winter

Doris Day

Iconic ’50s and ’60s actress and singer Doris Day has been in too many great films to list them all. But the actress hasn’t appeared on screen since her sitcom “The Doris Day Show” went off the air in 1973. Instead, the now-96-year-old is known as an animal welfare activist with her own foundation, and lives in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Wikimedia Commons | Paramount

Gene Hackman

Prolific actor Gene Hackman isn’t planning to come back to acting, having been retired for a number of years now. His last role was in “Welcome to Mooseport” in 2004. He and his second wife live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he enjoys bicycling and writes books.

Getty Images | Vince Bucci

Rick Moranis

“Little Shop of Horrors,” “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” actor Rick Moranis seemed to be all over the place in the ’80s and early ’90s. Then his wife passed away and Moranis stepped out of the spotlight to raise his kids. He’s done mostly small parts, voiceover work and country comedy albums (believe it or not) in the years since. He recently came out of retirement to reprise the voice of Dark Helmet from “Spaceballs” in an episode of “The Goldbergs.”

Getty Images | Theo Wargo

Randy Quaid

Randy Quaid might be best known for “Independence Day” and the “National Lampoon” movies, plus some erratic behavior in the last decade-plus. But the Oscar-nominated actor is due to return in the movie “Weight” this year after a nine-year absence from the screen.

Getty Images | Scott Halleran

Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen

The Olsen twins have put acting behind them. Mary-Kate and Ashley declined to join the “Fuller House” reunion with their old “Full House” costars and don’t like to be in front of the camera much anymore either. The twins run clothing lines The Row and Elizabeth and James together. Mary-Kate is also married to French financier Olivier Sarkozy while Ashley is unattached.

Getty Images | Theo Wargo

Emilio Estevez

Emilio Estevez, son of Martin Sheen and brother of Charlie Sheen, has taken a quieter career path since his “Mighty Ducks” and “Breakfast Club” days. He’s focused more on writing and directing, such as in the 2010 film “The Way,” which he collaborated on with his father.

Getty Images | Matt Winkelmeyer

Ali MacGraw

“Love Story” actress Ali MacGraw has been off the screen since 1997. She toured with “Love Story” co-star Ryan O’Neal doing the play “Love Letters” in 2015. But nowadays, she lives in New Mexico, does yoga, is involved in animal welfare causes and designs clothes.

Getty Images | Aaron Davidson

Sean Connery

Even legendary actors with prolific careers want to retire at some point. Or so it is with Sean Connery, whose last onscreen credit was 2002’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” Connery is living a quiet retirement in the Bahamas with occasional public sightings, like at the U.S. Open.

Getty Images | Clive Brunskill

Mara Wilson

Mara Wilson was a well-known child actor back in the early ’90s. “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Matilda” made her famous. But a few years after her mother passed away, Wilson decided she was largely done with acting. She’s had a few bit parts primarily as a voice actor in more recent years, but Wilson is now focusing on a career in writing, and recently published a memoir.

Getty Images | Jason Kempin

Jack Gleeson

The “Game of Thrones” king hasn’t acted since he was killed off of the HBO miniseries. Instead, he did his university studies at Trinity College and has made a lot of fan convention appearances, too. He’s also gone on humanitarian missions.

Getty Images | Jamie McCarthy Originally published on The Delite. We were not paid to write this story. The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website. Previous post This Nurse Discovered Her Colleague Was A Premature Baby She Cared For 28 Years Ago Next post This is the most recent story. Read the full article

[the-celluloid-correspondent]

Nightmare Alley (2021)

An ambitious carney with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words teams up with a female psychologist who is more dangerous than he is.

Nightmare Alley was one of my most anticipated films of the year. From its stacked cast to director Guillermo del Toro at the helm, I knew that we were going to be in for a treat. Safe to say, del Toro delivers again with Nightmare Alley. The story and the world that del Toro has brought life are a masterclass of filmmaking, however, the story's pacing does bring the film down.

Nightmare Alley is one of the more fascinating films that have come out in 2021. The story, present here even though done many times before, feels fresh in this film. Del Tore's directing and writing are on point throughout the film. All of the scenes flow seamlessly together and at some points, you will feel hypnotized by the world the del Toro has made. The writing is incredibly intelligent and I hope for more films to have this level of writing.

With the elevated writing came some fantastic acting. Bradley Cooper truly gives it his all in this film and his performance is outstanding. However, part of me feels like he was miscast because he felt too old for the role. Everyone, in the film, talks to his character like he is in his 20s, but Cooper is in his 40s. Cate Blanchett is again the definition of elegance, intelligence, and fierceness in this film. Rooney Mara also gives a fantastic performance. Willem Defoe also makes a fantastic villain in this film and feels straight from the freak shows. Everyone else gave fantastic performances.

The world that del Toro has created in Nightmare Alley is incredibly immersive. The cinematography is absolutely stunning. He used a lot of shots that many would call too long, but the shows that he use truly bring a sense of immersion. The production design is some of the best that I've seen this year. Del Toro really shows off the production in this film because they deserve one hell of a raise. The costume design is elegant and powerful. I wish more films would create worlds like this instead of relly on CGI to create their world.

The biggest obstacle that this film faced was its second act. The first and third act in this film is absolutely outstanding. However, the second act drags on a lot longer than it should. Then when it finally begins to move, it moves way too quickly. If the second act was shorter and more condensed, then it would have heavily elevated the film.

All in all, Nightmare Alley is an excellent film. I hope that it gets some love at the box office, but seeing how it premiered the same weekend as Spiderman, I have a feeling that it is going to bomb, which truly makes me sad. Furthermore, I hope that it gets some love from the Oscars, but I feel like it is only going to be nominated for technical awards, which is also quite depressing.

I am giving Nightmare Alley, an A-.

[architectnews]

Madrid Architecture News: Spanish Buildings

Madrid Architecture News 2021, New Building, Construction Design, Spanish Capital Built Environment

Madrid Architecture News

Arquitectura España: Major New Buildings + Architectural Developments in central Spain

post updated 25 June 2021

Madrid Architectural News

Madrid Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

Madrid Architecture Design – chronological list

25 Jun 2021 Plaza Ruiz Picasso Building News

MERLIN Properties, the Madrid-based largest and most technologically advanced REIT and a leading developer and operator of green assets, announced today a long-term strategic partnership with EDGE Next.

The project will begin with the last major project of the Landmark plan, Plaza Ruiz Picasso in Madrid, with a total GLA of 36,899 sqm. Plaza Ruiz Picasso plans to incorporate the latest in smart technology, including EDGE’s own platform – EDGE Next – to optimise the office building’s performance, and to make it smarter, healthier, and more sustainable.

The platform uses multiple sensors and data sources to not only gather information, but also to deliver valuable and actionable insights to enable buildings, companies, and people to thrive. Tenants can also make use of a building app, which enables users to efficiently control basic features of their work environment, such as light and temperature. The asset is set to achieve LEED Platinum and WELL Core & Shell Gold certifications. In addition, it aims to become one of the first buildings in Spain to obtain both the WiredScore and the SmartScore certification, a certificate that represents the smart connectivity of the building

Furthermore, EDGE Next will help MERLIN implement sustainable and technological initiatives in their office portfolio, rolling out a multi-year project that will optimize their developments through the use of EDGE Next’s smart technology. As part of this strategy, the EDGE Next platform will be piloted in one of MERLIN´s existing buildings starting in 2021, with further rollouts expected in the near-term future.

ABOUT MERLIN Properties MERLIN Properties SOCIMI, S.A. (MC:MRL) is the largest real estate company trading on the Spanish Stock Exchange. Specialized in the acquisition and management of commercial property in the Iberian region. MERLIN Properties mainly invests in offices, shopping centers and logistics facilities, within the Core and Core Plus segments, forming part of the benchmark IBEX-35, Euro STOXX 600, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate, GPR Global Index, GPR-250 Index, and MSCI Small Caps indices.

ABOUT EDGE EDGE puts the people and planet first when developing and redeveloping buildings for global companies. Our buildings are developed with the highest levels of sustainability using the best solutions offered by modern technology. EDGE continues to learn from the people who work in our buildings, ensuring the most healthy and productive work environments in today’s market.

17 May 2021 REE Campus Tres Cantos Technology Park – news

30 Apr 2021 Norman Foster Foundation Centre Of Excellence

18 Mar 2021 Torre Azca Skyscraper Building, Paseo de la Castellana photograph : Javier Bravo Torre Titania Madrid Financial District Torre Titania, also known as Torre Azca, has already become a landmark building within Madrid financial district. Located in Paseo de la Castellana, this architecture built on the remains of Torre Windsor (destroyed in a fire in 2005), houses a shopping centre and office spaces in 27 floors raising 103.7m from the ground.

12 Mar 2021 Acciona Ombú Madrid office building

1 Mar 2021 La Maruca de la Castellana

8 Dec 2020 Valcotos Madrid Compound

10 Nov 2020 BUS House

4 Nov 2020 Freshly Cosmetics

30 Sep 2020 La Vaca Y La Huerta, Recoletos Street Architects: Zooco Estudio photographer : Imagen Subliminal. Miguel de Guzmán – Rocío Romero Rivasz La Vaca Y La Huerta Restaurant The name means “The cow and the orchard” and it talks about the main product of the restaurant and the starting point for us to start with the project.

26 Jun 2020 K House in Parque Conde Orgaz

9 Jun 2020 6House in North West Madrid

17 Apr 2020 REE Campus Architects: IDOM photo : Aitor Ortiz REE Campus Red Eléctrica de España has commissioned IDOM for the comprehensive rehabilitation of two buildings in the Tres Cantos Technology Park (Madrid). The action includes a comprehensive adaptation to the new training and technological needs of the company, modernizing the set of buildings through an envelope that enables compliance with energy efficiency requirements.

19 Mar 2020 University of Navarre Clinic Architects: IDOM photo : Aitor Ortiz University of Navarre Clinic The project for the new University of Navarre Clinic in Madrid follows a high specialization, teaching and research hospital model, in which the patient is at the centre of all care.

18 Feb 2020 Complete Apartment Renovation in Madrid Design: OOIIO Architecture image Courtesy architecture practice Complete Madrid Apartment Renovation The key to the comprehensive reform project would now be to bet on natural light.

24 Nov 2019 Miski Restaurant in Malasaña District

20 Nov 2019 Studio in the Woods by selgascano – refreshed post on this amazing Spanish architecture office

3 Jun 2019 B&B hotel in Getafe, Madrid metropolitan area Architect: CuldeSacTM Custom photo : David Zarzoso Getafe Hotel Building

17 May 2019 Castellana 77, AZCA district Architects: luis vidal +arquitectos photo © luis vidal + arquitectos. All rights reserved Castellana 77 Building The original 1977 tower is now a 62-metre-high office building and has received the prestigious LEED Platinum certification.

28 Apr 2019 SOM’s Exhibition, Calle de Hortaleza Architects: SOM Beyond the Structure Exhibition

10 Apr 2019 Atletico Madrid Wanda Metropolitano Stadium Architects: Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos image Courtesy architecture office Wanda Metropolitano The new Club Atlético de Madrid Stadium results from the expansion of the old Athletics Stadium of the Community of Madrid, completed in 1994.

28 Mar 2019 Bala Perdida Club, Calle de Atocha, 49 — 28012 Architects: EL EQUIPO CREATIVO photo © Bala Perdida Club Hidden in the underground of the Madrilenian neighborhood “Barrio de Las Letras” (today a neuralgic point of the city), under a refurbished palace of the eighteenth century where Hotel Axel Madrid is located, we find two vaulted spaces built in brick.

18 Mar 2019 Las Chicas, Los Chicos y Los Maniquies Restaurant, AXEL Hotel, Calle de Atocha Architects: EL EQUIPO CREATIVO photo © Paco Montanet Las Chicas, Los Chicos y Los Maniquies Restaurant in Madrid The design of the AXEL Hotel on Atocha Street superposes a series of historic references forming a complex and explosive tandem. Firstly, the privileged location in the very midst of Madrid’s literary neighborhood. Secondly, the palatial 19th-century building in which it is located.

5 Feb 2019 A House for Contemplation Design: Ramón Esteve La Finca

5 Feb 2019 Casa Miga

24 Jan 2019 Norman Foster Foundation Madrid

Madrid Building News 2018

15 Oct 2018 MAX&Co. Flagship Store, Calle de Serrano 18 Design: Ciszak Dalmas, Andrea Tognon, Studio Pepe and the Max Mara design office photograph : Ciszak Dalmas MAX&Co. Flagship Store The first flagship store in Spain for the Italian fashion brand Max Mara Group opens at Calle de Serrano 18 – featuring the firm’s new store concept.

24 Sep 2018 Vinoteka Ardoka Madrid Bar

20 Jun 2018 Axis Madrid – Plaza Colón Building Refurbishment Architects: Foster + Partners image Courtesy architecture office Axis Madrid The comprehensive refurbishment of the Plaza Colón building, at one of the most major intersections in the city, the project seeks to completely transform and revitalise the existing structure to create a new iconic landmark that reflects the prestige and importance of the site.

9 May 2018 Horse Riding Field in Cattle Farm Design: OOIIO Architecture images : OOIIO Architecture, Josefotoinmo Horse Riding Field in Cattle Farm The architects task consisted of integrating a horse riding field into a large traditional country house and reforming old stables to bring them up to date, so the new group of buildings will become first class riding horses facilities, at the service of some beautiful competition horses.

16 Jan 2018 Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Calle de Serrano Design: Frade Arquitectos photo © ERCO GmbH, www.erco.com, photography: Frieder Blickle National Archaeological Museum of Spain The contextual focus of the Archaeological Museum in Madrid is placed on Iberian art – such as the Lady of Elche. Precise accent lighting from ERCO lends the historical exhibits an expressive and contemporary appearance.

Updated Images added 15 Jan 2018 Caixa Forum, Paseo del Prado, 36 Architects: Herzog & de Meuron photo : Simon Garcia | arqfoto.com Caixa Forum This major building in the Spanish capital was opened in 2008 by King & Queen of Spain. The museum and cultural center was designed by the world-famous Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. The building combined an old abandoned electrical station with new construction of floors which are encased with oxidized cast-iron.

8 Jan 2018 The Norman Foster Foundation presents its annual Digital X Workshop photo © Luis Asín © Norman Foster Foundation Norman Foster Foundation Madrid The first Norman Foster Foundation Digital X Workshop – explore the kinship of Architecture and the Digital World in a week-long event -will take place on 15-19 January, supported by Future Planet Capital. After reviewing applications submitted by hundreds of candidates from around the world, the selection committee awarded ten scholarships to students from various universities and institutions. This year’s Atelier mentor is Nicholas Negroponte, cofounder and former director of MIT Media Lab.

More Contemporary Madrid Architecture News online soon

Building Updates 2017

14 Nov 2017 Blue Building, Alcobendas, north of Spanish capital Design: Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos photographer : Alfonso Quiroga Blue Building in Madrid

20 May 2017 New OOIIO Office in Madrid Rio Design: OOIIO Architecture picture from architecture office New OOIIO Office in Madrid Rio OOIIO, an emerging architecture studio based in Madrid with projects in Spain and Latin America, decided to move its headquarters because the team is growing thanks to a series of new commissions and some competitions won.

16 Feb 2017 La Finca House Architect: Ramon Esteve Estudio photo from architecture office House in La Finca

24 Jan 2017 Camarines House, Aravaca Design: A-cero, architects photograph : Luis H. Segovia House in Camarines

1 Jan 2017 Espacio Miguel Delibes in Alcobendas – approx. 13 km north of Spanish capital Design: Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos photograph : Alfonso Quiroga Espacio Miguel Delibes Building in Madrid The new building hosts the Universidad Popular, the headquarters of the PhotoEspaña International Centre in Alcobendas, as well as a media library and a citizen’s advice service of the City Council.

More New Madrid Architecture News online soon

Building Updates 2016

13 Dec 2016 COAM exhibition – “The Why Factory: Research, Teaching and Public Engagement (2006-2016)” picture from architecture firm Why Factory COAM Exhibition The Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) in collaboration with The Why Factory and TU Delft announce the opening of the exhibition “The Why Factory: Research, teaching and public engagement (2006-2016)” reflecting on a decade’s research on the future of cities.

28 Nov 2016 Museo del Prado Madrid Design by Gluckman Tang Architects Design: Gluckman Tang Architects – Estudio Álvarez Sala – Arquitectura Enguita y Lasso de la Vega image Courtesy Gluckman Tang Architects Museo del Prado Building Design by Gluckman Tang Architects After an international architecture competition, the only American firm on the final shortlist of eight teams has released its design for the Museo del Prado’s new expansion. The design teams were asked to reimagine this former wing of a 17th-century palace, which was acquired by the Prado in 2015.

25 Nov 2016 Museo del Prado – Salón de Reinos, Salón de Reinos, Museo del Prado Design: Foster + Partners with Rubio Arquitectura image from architects Prado Museum in Madrid Foster + Partners and Rubio Arquitectura have won the international competition to revitalise and refurbish the historic Hall of Realms (Salón de Reinos) as a new addition to the Museo del Prado campus in Madrid.

Mariturri School in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Not Only a Carwash

23 May 2016 New York Burger Restaurant, Almagro Design: Isabel Lopez Vilata + Asociados photography : Alejo Bagué New York Burger Restaurant Madrid

Cultual Center La Gota – Tabacoo Museum in Navalmoral

Guidelines for a Greener City

Cultural and Leisure Center in Getafe Village

Madrid Rio Landscape Design

Restaurant Orgaz

More Madrid Architecture News online soon

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School of Architects of Madrid – Montevideo Biennial

Moka House, Pozuelo de Alarcón Design: A-cero Architects photo : Luis H. Segovia Moka House Madrid

B&N House, Madrid Design: A-cero Architects photo from architects B&N House Madrid

Repsol Headquarters Design: Rafael de la-Hoz Architect photo from architects Repsol Madrid Building

Idom Office, north west Madrid Design: ACXT Architects Idom Office

Madrid Architects’ Association Design: Gonzalo Moure Madrid Architects’ Association

Casa C Design: ABIBOO Architecture Casa C Madrid

Buildings / photos for the Madrid Building News page welcome

Website: Madrid

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[typografika123456789]

Brochure Content

Cover Typograpfika’22

The Annual Conference on Type and Typography 20 January 2022 – 2 February 2022 Events and Information –– Backcover www.typografika22.com

The Annual Conference on Type and Typography: Typografika, is a highly anticipated international conference, bringing together more than 300 typographers, type and graphic designers, as well as printmakers and artists.  

As designers and artists, we want to create with expressive, engaging and readable typography that performs well across all devices.

With so many factors to take into account from typeface choice and layout through to page speed, responsive design and variable fonts, it’s hard to know how to keep up.

Over the course of two weeks, Typograpfika’22 will give you the full picture of what typography can and should be on web and print. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned pro, you’ll find masses to learn and take away. 

––

Join us for the official launch at the Ngā Wai o Horotiu Marae (AUT Marae) 10am, 20 January. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Lectures by the speakers provide insight into their research and work methods. These sessions will prove to be very informative and helpful. There will also be a Q&A session at the conclusion of each session.

Workshops There will be 2 different workshops offered during the conference. These are repeated twice, to include as many participants as possible. Please register your interest at the registration kiosk when you arrive on the fist day.

William Morris: Artist and Type Designer. William Morris is a British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He is a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he played a significant role proliferating the early socialist movement in Britain. William is offering two different lectures as listed below on two different days.

Tobias Frere Jones: Educator and Type Designer. Over 25 years, Tobias Frere-Jones has established himself as one of the world’s leading typeface designers, creating some of the most widely used typefaces, including Poynter Oldstyle, Whitney, Gotham, Surveyor, Tungsten and Retina.. He operates the company Frere-Jones Type in New York City, and teaches typeface design at the Yale School of Art MFA program.

Verena Gerlach: Type and graphic designer Verena Gerlach was an instructor of photography at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin in 1991 and spent 1992 doing a first-year course at Glasgow School of Art. From 1993 to 1998 she studied communication design at Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee and spent one year (1996) as an exchange student at the London College of Printing. FF Karbid, FF Sizmo, and Chambers Sans are some of the few typefaces she created, Verena has her own studio for corporate design in Berlin.

Nadine Chahine: Researcher and Type Designer Dr. Nadine Chahine is an award winning Lebanese type designer working as the UK Type Director and Legibility Expert at Monotype. She has an MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading, UK, and a PhD from Leiden University, The Netherlands. Nadine’s research focus is on eye movement and legibility studies for the Arabic, Latin, and Chinese scripts. She has numerous awards including two Awards for Excellence in Type Design from the Type Directors Club in New York in 2008 and 2011. Her typefaces include: the best-selling Frutiger Arabic, Neue Helvetica Arabic, Univers Next Arabic, Palatino and Palatino Sans Arabic, and Koufiya.

Carol Twombly Carol Twombly (born 1959) is an American designer, best known for her type design. She worked as a type designer at Adobe Systems from 1988 through 1999, during which time she designed, or contributed to the design of, many typefaces, including Trajan, Myriad and Adobe Caslon. Twombly retired from Adobe and from type design in early 1999, to focus on her other design interests, involving textiles and jewelry. American calligrapher and type designer, a graduate from Rhode Island School of Design where her professor was Charles Bigelow. Joined the digital typography program at Stanford University, also under Bigelow. Working from the Bigelow & Holmes studio she designed Mirarae, which won her the 1984 Morisawa gold prize. Since 1988 she has been a staff designer at Adobe.

Paula Scher: Graphic Designer Paula Scher is an American graphic designer, painter and art educator in design. She also served as the first female principal at Pentagram, which she joined in 1991. Scher studied at the Tyler School of Art, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1970. In 1972, she was hired by CBS Records to the advertising and promotions department. After two years, she left CBS Records to pursue a more creative endeavor at a competing label, Atlantic Records, where she became the art director, designing her first album covers. A year later Scher returned to CBS as an art director for the cover department. Her designs are recognized with four Grammy nominations. She is also credited with reviving historical typefaces and design styles.

Jessica Hische: Letterer and Designer Jessica Nicole Hische is an American letterer, illustrator, and type designer. She is best known for her personal projects, 'Daily Drop Cap' and the “Should I Work for Free” flowchart. She published In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector in September 2015, which gives insight to her creative process and work she has completed as a hand lettering artist. She has spoken at over 100 conferences worldwide, but splits her time between San Francisco, CA and Brooklyn, NY.

Erik Spiekermann: Educator and type designer Erik Spiekermann is a German typographer, designer and writer. He is an honorary professor at the University of the Arts Bremen and ArtCenter College of Design. Erik studied art history at Berlin's Free University, funding himself by running a letterpress printing press in the basement of his house. In this workshop Erik will be demonstrating some letterpress work in the relief printing studio at AUT.

[shorthaircutsmodels]

Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts - 25+ - https://shorthaircutsmodels.com/evan-rachel-woods-short-hairstyles-and-haircuts/ - Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, is an American actress. He began acting in several television series in the 1990s, including American Gothic and once again. Evan joined The Rachel Wood trend and sacrificed her long mane for a fairy with slightly longer covering hair and sideways fringes. She continues to surprise her followers with her creative hairstyles, as her hair is short. In October, Rachel Wood did it again. Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, The Ides of March actress gave her pixie a Sixties look. Straight Alice band is the perfect accessory for this fairy style. Evan Rachel Wood showed off her coolest short product, L'oreal celebrity hairdresser Mara Roszak. I love this length, it hits just below the ears and has curls at the ends. This fun and fancy hairstyle proves that short hair can be versatile. The edges are slicked back smooth while the top is styled in waves for contrast and shape. Evan Rachel Wood's Hairstyles and Haircuts Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, This fab do is great for thin ones with medium hair and you need the product to keep and shine. And I like that you have a slightly longer front section to frame your face perfectly along with a deep side part. I actually love everything about this haircut so much that I had to contact Roszak to get tips on how to communicate with roszak, I'll never get mad at cutting my long hair. Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, That is to say. Here, the Westworld and Forest star and frontwoman of the new Gucci Guilty Eau perfume share her beauty in highs and lows. Her beauty vibe is androgynous and a little bold is my personal look. Evan Rachel Wood's Short Haircuts Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, Evan Rachel Wood recently cut her long locks by debuting the super cute short cut in the episode pikie episode rockstar in the Season 4 premiere of True Blood. Compared to the long blonde hair she had before, it's almost hard to recognise her with shorter hair. But we love the messy texture on the back, and when it comes to work, we bet that this new cut will be surprising as it will never get in the way of any event it does. Wood would like to see more famous haircuts as big as most. Evan Rachel Wood's Hairstyles Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, check out the figure Gallery of the best celebrity hair makeovers. Let's do it before and after to confirm the 23-year-old actress looks more stylish than before. Repeat. That's how he looked at the Mildred Pierce premiere in March. Which Wood do you prefer. It looks great in both directions but I'm leaning towards this haphazardly tousled short cut. Evan Rachel Wood's Haircuts Post your comments now and share your views on this vital to humanity or at least cut a fierce figure on the red carpet with a styled blonde quiff like Evan Rachel Wood on Evan Rachel Wood's head. This look isn't for everyone, but it works. You have downloaded GLAMOUR hair and beauty apps. Evan Rachel Wood turned heads last night as she debuted a dramatic new pixie hairdo. The actress attended the season four premiere of hit TV show True Blood as she showed off her super short new look and ensured her small screen cast was slammed. Earn a designer bag every day this month. Enter now to win. Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hair Hairdresser Peter Butler's back-to-back Sports Illustrated covers seven Canadian actress Evan Rachel Wood recently returned to the Gliss Hair Care line that began working with the androgynous aesthetic but the New-based New York Ambassador is known for sultry beach to create waves. Unlike the typical fairly long wig she wore at Westworld, she progressed through awards season in her Altuzarra tuxedos, which set off with her bleached short hair. We asked Butler how to pull short hair. A creative style should not be set in stone. Evan Rachel Wood's Hair Most of the world doesn't know Evan is a musician. He has a band with his wife and they are really fun and have the same hair as who we are at the moment but it will change. I'm so excited to work with someone who's so docile and open. I have a great idea what you think of this, ‘ she says. It strengthens an unconventional hairstyle. Evan's air is power. The edges of Evan's hair are gelled and combed to polish this sleek bold look. Comic Con is a super fun event for many reasons. TRESemmé celebrity stylist John D. Evan Rachel Wood Has a Message for Short-Hair She came up with an incredible look for wood for Comic Con and gave Allure all the exclusive details about her process. John said Wood himself was the inspiration for the look and wanted something withdrawn and stylish. It was to think of something that made the business less traditional, and it certainly succeeded. They didn't necessarily have a plan for the night when they decided to go with the wooden feeling of just what they are now and still ended up with a stylish look that screams confidence. Evan Rachel Wood short haircut She wore a black and white jumpsuit with structured shoulders, so I wanted the hair to have a sharp modern vibe to complement John's jumpsuit. We chose to pull back to 2 graphic knots on the back of the super chic head. The make-up was gorgeous and soft to create a beautiful balance in the final look. Haircut inspiration alert. Anyone who says you can't do anything with short hair at the LACMA Arts and Film premiere over. Evan Rachel Wood's Short Hair Color Is Going The weekend is wrong. Just wood. Every day my style turns into something new and there are so many different ways you can wear it. From Punky pixie looks to retro finger waves she has tried it all. Click through our gallery to see the many ways the actress wears her hair and read her tips on working with short strands. Wow. Evan Rachel Wood seriously cut her long hair and I can't wait to hear from the ladies if I like her new short haircut. The last time we spoke about Evan, he was wearing an elegant updo at the Met Ball. Evan Rachel Wood red hair But look at her hair last night at the premiere of True Blood. These short spoilt backs and sides are swept into long upper layers to make the shape and style tapered into confusing sides. It is flipped over the forehead to soften the front face, and the extreme completes the entire look perfectly. It was really fun back then but in retrospect, why did you pluck all your eyebrows, man? The first smell is my memory. when I was little, I used to sneak into Victoria's secret and spray myself with strawberries and champagne. Evan Rachel Wood Beauty Evolution I was too shy to buy. I'd go in and spray it and run. The smell of it now. I wore Gucci Guilty for years. hot and sweet. Gucci is more romantic and spiritual than guilty Eau is a bit softer. We've all been patiently waiting for HBO's newest sci-fi drama, Westworld, to air last year. A remake of a 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton's the Western world is about an amusement park, no matter how guilty or desirable it is for a robot House to wealthy visitors who want to live out your fantasies. Evan Rachel Wood black hair We're excited to see how this plays out and after watching the trailer we know Evan Rachel Wood is going to kick a big ass. The Hollywood premiere photos are out and we no longer know if we're more excited about the show or Evan's hair. The 29-year-old beauty effortlessly rocked a simple black cut dress and looked absolutely stunning. But the new hair colour completely stole the show. Evan Rachel Wood seems to embrace the ingenious experiment. Example. new La last night's Season Four premiere of True Blood was notable for the cut in all-and-Away challenge on stage, which was very different for a very stiff Fairy on top of texture, but still gave her versatile long-looking flowing locks. Evan Rachel Wood's Hairstyles & Hair Colors he was sporting cropped up recently. The length at the front is no longer his chin, but he graduates in a shorter and choppy way at the back. The mouth of the neck is cut really short and cleanly, and the cut is given a bit of a surprise element. For the opening gala L'oreal Paris spray increase the hair moist and straight creating and maintaining a tidy edge rough fiction and the top tapered used to blast the mixing layers long enough to be styled short left and the edges behind the head advanced high lift the hairstyle straight. Evan Rachel Wood haircut This versatile hairstyle can be worn or slipped as funky as you like for a more conservative style. To prepare wood's hair for all that badassery John spritzed TRESemmé, repair and maintain 7 pre-styling sprays for his hair. Evan said of the product that I wanted to prepare this conditioning front styling hair because the hair is so colorful recently and I wanted to give it a little extra love and protection from the heat or stress it might have by styling. Make sense. Sometimes we can use a little extra TLC. Evan Rachel Wood's Hair Evolution Evan Rachel Wood is not for harmony. Whatever the moment the great beauty trend is likely to be doing something away from it. But look at this has served him well even though he has had learning experiences. And his personal style is among his best. Anything unless you have a personal style and gorgeous hair. The product is needed to keep this style in place and will improve regularly every 4 to 6 weeks. Evan Rachel Wood looks stylish and cool in a short hairdo. This is a statement. The roots are really dark and the ends are pale grey. Evan Rachel Wood hair color It's a matte tone and not a color found in nature. I actually cut her hair just before the sag Awards and it was longer and shattered rather than blunt, so I sharpened the line. Your favorite guy made the 2020 list of Sexiest Men. Evan Rachel Wood's hairdresser makes sure her styles reflect her badass personality. Evan Rachel Woods may have short hair length but her style is certainly long. The length and length of the thin long layers enhance the jagged cut and edgy look and feel of the whole style over the dark ends to achieve cool and comfortable. Evan Rachel Wood's Six Tips for Styling Short Hair This funky style needs a small amount of product to tighten the ends and make the hair fly. Copper highlights pale suggestion is a recent study of the hair length of blonde Rachel Wood Evan. Evan maximizes the height of his super-short strands by combing his hair from the brow and back. You can copy her style by adding a volumetric product at home and combing back or teasing your hair behind the smooth front section. Evan Rachel Wood hairstyle Evan Rachel Wood was never afraid to make a bold move. Her most recent. make chopping off her long locks in favor of a short summer. Not only do fans cosplay as their favorite characters who seem. Super impressive but we also get updates on some of our favorite shows and movies. It couldn't be better if some of our fave celebrities show up for Comic Con and we get to see them rocking their best personal style. Pics of Evan Rachel Wood Pixie Evan Rachel Wood star of HBO's hit series Westworld will be at Comic Con this year, showing off her staying power on Strictly with her pixie haircut. The style belongs to true hair style classics. Currently pixies claim their prominent place in hair fashion. Soft steps give the haircut its characteristic shape. This type of cut gives the Fairies a particularly natural and feminine appearance. She made a prickly fairy cut at last night's HBO premiere, and we think the look really suits her. Evan Rachel Wood bob haircut Working with an edgy style like this, she featured delicate features and opted for a swipe of dark pink lipstick and eyeliner to further balance the feminine make-up. Now of course we're dying to find out if this has anything to do with his character on the show. This short do is ideal for a square face shape as it shows off its strong jawline and cheekbones.

[surlefildesetoiles-blog]

Prix d'interprétation féminine au Festival de Cannes 2015 : Rooney Mara Todd Haynes : "J’ai repris le livre de Barthes, Fragments d’un discours amoureux en travaillant sur Carolcar c’est vraiment de ça que parle le film : le théâtre fou et solitaire de l’imagination amoureuse". - (Entretien Télérama) "Rooney Mara — dont on pourrait se contenter de scruter le visage, des heures durant, jolie figure à moitié cachée derrière la vitre arrière d'un taxi, sous ce qui devient par magie le plus beau béret du monde" - (Aurélien Ferenczi, Télérama) ~~ SYNOPSIS. Dans le New York des années 1950, Therese (Rooney Mara), jeune employée d’un grand magasin de Manhattan, fait la connaissance d’une cliente distinguée, Carol (Cate Blanchett), femme séduisante, prisonnière d’un mariage peu heureux. À l’étincelle de la première rencontre succède rapidement un sentiment plus profond et les deux femmes se retrouvent bientôt prises au piège entre les conventions et leur attirance mutuelle. ~~ "Pour tourner ce fim, Todd Haynes a fait appel au directeur de la photographie Ed Lachman. Le film a été tourné en Super 16 mm ce qui lui donne cette apparence de 35 mm de l’époque. Ed Lachman, qui avait déjà travaillé avec le cinéaste sur MILDRED PIERCE, LOIN DU PARADIS et I’M NOT THERE, souligne la qualité de son dialogue avec Todd Haynes : « Nous entretenons une relation de type yin et yang qui nous permet de fourmiller d’idées et nous ouvre de nombreuses perspectives. Nous nous sommes inspirés du travail des femmes photographes des années 1950. » Au cours de leurs recherches, Ed Lachman et Todd Haynes ont exploré la manière dont les images de l’époque offraient un certain regard poétique et un point de vue subjectif qu’ils ont voulu rendre dans le fim. « La photographie au cinéma ou l’art de faire raconter des histoires aux images, c’est ce qui va raconter une vérité psychologique dans un film », explique Ed Lachman. « C’est ce que Todd et moi cherchons toujours à faire, c’est-à-dire à trouver le contexte visuel de l’histoire. Et pour ce faire, nous intégrons de la psychologie dans les mouvements de caméra, dans la lumière, dans les décors et les costumes. »" ~~ "Rooney is just an impeccable talent. I feel she understands the medium of film and for somebody this age to know how to calibrate the scale of articulation for this intimate medium, I think it speaks to extraordinary intelligence and innate ability." (Todd HAYNES) ~~ "Rooney, it's so many great silences, too. Not done with dialogues, but just like the essence of screen acting to me, you know, through the eyes. And there is so much of that in this..."  (Screen Actors Guild - SAG-AFTRA Foundation,  Pete Hammond (Deadline), à Rooney MARA, à propos de CAROL, 13 novembre 2015) ~~ "(...) Carol est l’histoire de ce chromo parfumé et de la lente déprise qu’accomplissent deux femmes amoureuses l’une de l’autre pour s’arracher à la pellicule de plastique transparent qui menace incessamment de recouvrir leurs gestes, leurs émotions, leur désir et leurs craintes. (...) Tout le lyrisme du film de Todd Haynes (...) est contenu dans cette rencontre-évitement qui est aussi une scène de drague impossible où les périphrases, l’air moqueur, les silences et l’éloquence imperceptible des moindres mimiques remplacent les lourdes sollicitations plus ou moins amicales et sexuelles dont Therese est l’objet. Carol, elle, femme déjà mûre, mariée et en instance de divorce d’un riche mari qui l’aime mal, mère d’une petite fille, semble toujours au bord de basculer dans la pure fonction décorative que le monde alentour lui assigne. Femme fatale mais aussi froide effigie, elle embarque Therese pour un road-movie en direction de Chicago puis Waterloo, décision qu’elle prend dans un sursaut (...). Le film s’ouvre alors à une errance, de motels en palaces, au gré des routes couvertes de neige, toujours plus loin des fêtes de famille, toujours plus seules dans la bulle d’une tendresse altière et sexuelle. C’est toujours beau de voir l’indécence changer de bord, de s’imprégner au contact d’une fiction de l’inélégance des pensées parfois les plus bienveillantes, de voir l’amour officiel n’être plus que menace et mise en demeure quand l’idylle interdite se déploie en série d’épiphanies fragiles et minces comme une feuille de papier à lettre qu’une main maladroite peut froisser à tout moment. (...) L’inexorable brûlure du film, s’accomplit au gré des vertigineux enchaînements de plans suturant reflets, songes, fumées, peaux, soieries et fards alors qu’à l’intérieur des personnages quelque chose se déchire, éclate et se répand en un torrent de mélancolie. Le duo radieux et hanté, Cate Blanchett et Rooney Mara, porte Todd Haynes au-delà de lui-même, au sommet d’un geste pur". Didier Péron, Next / Libération Extrait - Lire la critique complète : «CAROL» : EMBRASEZ-MOI ~~ "Dans Carol, chaque mouvement de caméra semble trahir un état d'âme. L'écran est parsemé de couleurs vives : les robes rouges et vertes de Cate Blanchett donnent même à la grisaille de New York des airs de comédie musicale. Et puis, entre la psychologie des personnages et l'art se tissent des liens secrets : dans Le Chevalier des sables, l'un des Minnelli les plus beaux et les plus méconnus, Elizabeth Taylor incarnait une artiste qui, par misanthropie et mélancolie, ne peignait que des oiseaux. Chez Todd Haynes, Therese (Rooney Mara), apprentie photographe, se borne elle aussi, mais par peur et timidité, à ne saisir dans son objectif que des ciels, des fenêtres et des portes. C'est en voyant, au loin, Carol acheter un sapin de Noël à sa petite fille qu'elle ose, presque instinctivement, appuyer sur le déclic, voler cet instant indiscret. Chez Haynes comme chez Minnelli, l'art reflète toujours la naissance de l'humain chez ceux qui s'en excluent, mais qui l'acceptent après un périple qui les révèle à eux-mêmes. Donc, Therese, vendeuse dans un grand magasin de New York, rencontre Carol, grande bourgeoise en train de divorcer d'un mari qui, par vengeance, s'est mis en tête de lui retirer la garde de leur fille. Carol, qui aime les femmes, s'éprend de Therese, au risque de se perdre... « En travail­lant sur le film, a dit Todd Haynes, j'ai relu Fragments d'un discours amoureux, de Roland Barthes. Car le film ne parle que du théâtre fou et solitaire de l'imagination amoureuse. » C'est dans ce pointillisme exacerbé qu'éclate l'invention du cinéaste : la précision de la lumière qu'il exige de son génial chef opérateur, Ed ­Lachman. Et la minutie avec laquelle il dirige ses actrices. Cate Blanchett joue Carol comme Greta Garbo, jadis : avec une emphase légère, un emportement diffus. Une même extravagance les réunit : Garbo, toujours à la lisière du surjeu dans ses mélos, et Cate Blanchett, au seuil de la déraison en fausse héroïne de Tennessee Williams (dans Blue Jasmine, de Woody Allen) ou en avatar de Bob Dylan (dans I'm not there, de Todd Haynes, déjà). Dans Carol, chaque geste, chaque sourire, chaque silence qui pourraient agacer, tant ils sont maîtrisés, ne font qu'exprimer les efforts de l'actrice à se plier aux destins du personnage. Pour survivre, Carol doit composer. Tricher. Exagérer. Se déguiser. C'est en soulignant constamment l'artifice que Cate Blanchett parvient à être juste et vraie... Rooney Mara, elle, rappelle Audrey Hepburn. La Sabrina de Billy Wilder. Même frange. Même fragilité. Même androgynie. Même désir de s'élever dans l'échelle sociale. Même mépris devant la rouerie de certains êtres (un aimable représentant), lorsqu'elle la découvre... Durant tout le film — de la première rencontre jusqu'aux dernières secon­des du dénouement —, le cinéaste préfère le chemin qui mène à la passion que la passion elle-même. Et c'est avec la même subtilité qu'il suggère l'éternel poids de l'intolérance sur nos vies. La force du film, c'est de nous faire réaliser qu'en dépit des masques rassurants dont il s'affuble, le moralisme ne cède jamais. Il se cache. Il attend son heure". — Pierre Murat, Télérama (extrait - lire la critique complète) Rooney Mara ~ Cate Blanchett OSCARS 2016 : Carol nominated for 6 Academy Awards Best Actress (Cate Blanchett) Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara) Best Cinematography (Ed Lachman) Best Costume Design (Sandy Powell) Best Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy) Best Original Score (Carter Burwell)  4 New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards Best Film: Carol  Best Director: Todd Haynes Best Screenplay: Phyllis Nagy  Best Cinematography: Ed Lachman Ed Lachman - Best Cinematography (Carol) - Film Independent Spirit Awards - 2016 5 Awards - Intl. Cinephile Society (an online group consisting of about 100 journalists, film scholars, historians…):  BEST PICTURE“Carol” BEST ACTRESS Rooney Mara, “Carol” BEST DIRECTOR Todd Haynes, “Carol” BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Phyllis Nagy, “Carol” BEST SCORE Carter Burwell, “Carol” 9 BAFTAs Nominations Best Film, Director (Todd Haynes), Leading Actress (Cate Blanchett), Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy), Cinematography (Ed Lachman), Costume Design (Sandy Powell), Production Design (Judy Becker & Heather Loeffler), Make Up & Hair (Jerry DeCarlo & Patricia Regan) Golden Globe Awards 2016 5 nominations meilleur film, meilleur réalisateur, meilleure actrice à deux reprises (Cate Blanchett et Rooney Mara), meilleure musique originale SAG Awards 2016 (Screen Actors Guild Awards) 2 nominations Cate BlanchettOutstanding Performance in a Leading Role and Rooney MaraOutstanding Performance in a Supporting Role Online Film Critic's Society Awards 2015 Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Carol) Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara (Carol) Best Adapted Screenplay: Carol(Phyllis Nagy) Best movie of 2015 - Toronto Film Critics Association (Best Picture, Best Director awards for 2015) Alliance of Women Film Journalistsannounce 2015 EDA Award nominees. "Carol" leads with nine nominations: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted), Best Actress, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Best Film Music Or Score, Best Woman Screenwriter, Best Depiction Of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction. 'Carol' Leads Nominations in Australian Academy’s International Awards: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress 5th AACTA International Awards, January 29, 2016: AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress : Cate Blanchett - CAROL AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress : Rooney Mara - CAROL TODD HAYNES, ROONEY MARA, CATE BLANCHETT Conversation avec Rooney Mara (Carol) : la raison du Prix à Cannes, la question des femmes à Hollywood, une scène sexuelle de Carol coupée au montage › films7 | back up ↑

[showbizchicago]

Milwaukee Rep Announces Cast For HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Milwaukee Repertory Theater is pleased to announce complete cast and creative team for the much anticipated production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the Stiemke Studio January 28 – March 8, 2020.  Best known for his unique red carpet coverage of Broadway openings for Broadway.com, Matt Rodin will perform the title character Hedwig with Rep favorite Bethany Thomas (Songs for Nobodies, Milwaukee Rep) as Yitzhak. Hedwig and the Angry Inch with text by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask is a trailblazing rock-musical and winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival. This musical sensation played to record-breaking sell-out crowds on Broadway telling the story of one of the most unique characters to ever hit the stage. As Hedwig’s life changes and with nothing left, she returns to her first love — music. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is directed by Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements (West Side Story, Milwaukee Rep), with music direction by Associate Artist Dan Kazemi (West Side Story, Milwaukee Rep), scenic Design by Scott Davis (Things I Know To Be True, Milwaukee Rep), costume design by Mieka van der Ploeg (Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Milwaukee Rep), lighting design by Jason Fassl (Guys and Dolls, Milwaukee Rep), sound design by Barry G. Funderburg (A Christmas Carol, Milwaukee Rep), projection design by Mike Tutai (Holmes & Watson, Milwaukee Rep), casting by Frank Honts, New York casting by Michael Cassara and stage managed by David Hartig. Hedwig and the Angry Inch band includes Associate Artist Dan Kazemi conducting and on keys, Maxwell Emmet on Guitar, Tommy Hahn on Bass, and Patrick Morrow on drums.  The 2019/20 EPRs Isabella Abel-Suarez, Lauryn Glenn, Brooke Johnson ,Joshua Ponce, Gilberto Saenz, Nadja Simmonds, Austin Winter will round out the production as Roadies. Hedwig and the Angry Inch runs January 28 – March 8, 2020 in the Stiemke Studio. Opening night is set for Friday, January 31 at 8pm. Purchase tickets at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by calling the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or in person at 108 E. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch is presented by Mara and Craig Swan.  The Stiemke Studio Season is presented by Ed Seaberg and Patrick Smith and The Rep is sponsored in part by the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF). For more information, please visit our website www.MilwaukeeRep.com About Milwaukee Repertory Theater Milwaukee Rep is the largest performing arts organization in Wisconsin in terms of audiences served and one of the largest professional theaters in the country. Each year, Milwaukee Rep welcomes up to 275,000 people at nearly 700 performances of 15 productions ranging from compelling dramas, powerful classics, new plays and full-scale musicals in its three unique performance venues – the Quadracci Powerhouse, Stiemke Studio and Stackner Cabaret.  For over 65 years, The Rep has gained a national reputation as an incubator of new work, an agent of community change and a forward-thinking provider of vital arts education programs. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Clements and Executive Director Chad Bauman, Milwaukee Repertory Theater ignites positive change in the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its community by creating world-class theater experiences that entertain, provoke, and inspire meaningful dialogue among an audience representative of Milwaukee’s rich diversity. Read the full article

[its-just-like-the-movies]

The Letter (1940, A)

There is something wonderful about how the best Old Hollywood, big studio melodramas so deliciously inhabit a space between the visual beauty of their wealthy protagonists (and producers), the bigness of their emotions, and the sincerity of their realization. It’s almost funny watching Dark Victory, which fervently tugs on the heartstrings through its magnificent score, every element working in tandem to make you feel sympathetic for a dying Bette Davis. And yet, in spite of how overtly the whole thing is working to get to you, in spite of how much you can see the wires, it still works. Then again, being able to see the way these pictures are constructed isn’t because they’re poorly made, the methods of filmmaking are just more resplendently obvious than a comparable picture might be today. Then again, would a modern version of The Letter be able to be as compelling, given today’s filmmaking practices? There’s no tinkling score or over-reliance on actors to shape the material, no juggling between close-ups to film a scene, no affectation around the wealth of its protagonists, no cleaning up of the politics around it. Would it feel the need to do that, even if it set in a pre-WWII rubber farm in Singapore? What would a contemporary setting even be for this project?

But why fret about the movies of the never when we can gush about the movies of the almost eighty years ago, and how well they hold up? Even if some of why The Letter’s combined elements are so noticeable is because of the era in filmmaking it resides in, as much of it is because the film is so virtuosically assembled that you cannot help but notice the quality of the whole and how wonderfully constructed each of the parts are. Yes, there is the Hays Code ending that is so obviously tacked on, and how an oddly cast, imperiously framed Gale Sondergaard somehow turns in a bad performance despite never saying a word in English. But these are two minor perforations in an impressive vehicle, stuffed to the brim with peak contributions from almost literally everyone involved. Rare is the film with seven Academy Award nominations that I can happily stand by every single one of them, and in fact wonder where its Costume Design and Adapted Screenplay nominations, perhaps even Production Design. Even rarer is for a women’s picture of any kind to get that kind of recognition this day in age. Bette Davis is the sole, unabashed lead of this Best Picture nominee, and it’s practically impossible to attach that kind of Oscar heat to any recent Best Actress nominee that doesn’t have an accompanying Best Actor nominee waiting in the wings. Technical juggernaut Gravity is the only exception to the rule in this decade, throw in The Hours, Chicago, and Moulin Rouge! and we’ve got the millennium covered. It’s dispiriting to realize how many Best Actress nominees are the sole representatives of their films, and even more dispiriting to wonder if the same fate would’ve befallen The Letter. So let’s rejoice again that it was made in an era where women’s pictures were known as a valuable commodity at the box office and to those all-valuable awards bodies, and let me get down to actually talking about it.

You could hardly ask for a more galvanizing opening to The Letter, as the tranquil roll of the credits over workers luxuriating in their barracks in the moonlight is broken by the sound of a gunshot. Out bursts an unknown, wounded man who becomes even more doomed once we see that the person shooting him is Bette Davis. The steeliness of her posture, the rigidity of her arm, the hardness of her expression, everything about the way Leslie Crosbie kills the man she says tried to rape her is the only thing that feels like it contradicts her later recounting that she doesn’t remember killing Geoff Hammond. Her presence, her rage, is simply too potent to match her description - no, her recreation - of a frightened woman desperately fighting for her life. Not that Leslie’s retelling of the killing to her husband Robert and her lawyer Howard Joyce isn’t completely convincing. In fact, what sets off Joyce’s antennae is how perfectly she tells this story of fighting for her honor against a drunk acquaintance, how composed she is until she suddenly isn’t, how there’s something that’s just off about her otherwise spot-on description of events. These suspicions are given even greater weight once he learns from his assistant about the existence of a letter from Leslie, suggesting a relationship with Hammond and asking for a meeting the night he died, albeit threateningly. An explanation that Leslie wanted to corroborate on buying her husband a birthday gun doesn’t quite stick, but she tells it like a woman trying to save her life and get back to her husband, not a scheming murderess furious she isn’t being believed, though her rage is still palpable. 

And yet, because the letter is not public knowledge, the idea of Leslie being in any legal trouble is a joke to the wealthy whites of Singapore. Yes, she did kill a man, but because he died how he died, it’s not as though anyone thinks Leslie committed a crime. She defended herself from a drunk attacker, already ostracized for marrying a Eurasian local. Mrs. Hammond, who does not get get a first name, is the woman in possession on the titular, scandalous letter, and most of the film is devoted to Leslie and Mr. Joyce trying to get it from her, fulfilling her requests and meeting her in the ethnic part of Singapore to make the trade. The actual trade-off is perhaps the film’s second-weakest sequence, though one wonders how much this could’ve been elevated even a little had Gale Sondergaard decided to pick an expression other than Imperious Anger. Eyes lit by moonlight through window shades, the sheer electricity of her anger feels oddly one-note, though Mrs. Hammond being scripted only in unsubtitled Chinese denies us any way of understanding why she would give Leslie the only evidence that could possibly bring her husband’s killer to justice. It’s still as tense as any other scene in the film, though it’s just too obvious that Wyler doesn’t know what to do with Mrs. Hammond aside from framing her as a narrative obstacle, not a human person. As it stands, the central conflict of The Letter is not about the trial or the letter so much as it is the accruing of tensions around its main characters as these events come hurtling towards them. What is the state of Joyce’s ethics, his soul, as he commits himself to taking this letter away from the eyes of the prosecution and the hands of a widow to save his friends? What shall become of doting Robert once he finds out the letter exists, and what has been done to acquire it? What’s to make of Leslie’s soul as it is, and who is she really? A long-standing lover or a rattled wife, both perhaps responding a little too insouciantly after killing a man on front steps of her bungalow.

Still, say this for Wyler, Mrs. Hammond is by far the exception to the rule of quality in The Letter. All three of its tech Oscars are richly deserved; Georgy Amy and Warren Low make this is a fleetly edited yarn that knows when best to deploy a close-up, a two-shot, to jump to an insert of an important item. Max Steiner’s score is roiling, emotive, and malleable enough to fit into any emotion Bette Davis is telegraphing for us, even if her face isn’t quite saying it. And Tony Gaudio’s cinematography is a tremendous, nimble asset to The Letter, doing great work with moonlight coming in through window screens, with the blocking of actors, with finding the right angles to get a pang of unrest at an empty porch, a bedside confession, a shadow traveling on the lawn. . Much like the first hour of Malcolm X, Gaudio’s cinematography in the film’s lowest moments - the tradeoff with Mrs. Hammond and the tacked-on finale - creates a feast for the eyes and an interesting mood that almost takes away from how disinterested the director is in these moments. To hop off Oscar’s bandwagon for a quick moment, let’s not deny ourselves how scrumptious each and every one of Leslie’s outfits are, how well Joyce’s and Robert’s suits fit their bodies, how intimidatingly styled Mrs. Hammond is.

But let's not bury the lede here. The Letter lives and dies by how Wyler and Davis navigate the role of Leslie Crosbie, and they do incomparable work filling out this woman without betraying her. The first real genius of Davis’ performance is that Leslie’s responses to new information are in the basis on emotion and intellect without flaunting if these reactions are coming from an innocent or guilty mind. The questions of Leslie Crosbie’s innocence or guilt, steel and vulnerability, who she does and doesn’t believe in, is handled with remarkable subtlety and depth by Wyler and Bette Davis. The genius of her performance specifically is that she does not sell out Leslie, navigating her emotional and intellectual arcs without playing innocent or guilty outright. This isn’t John Carroll Lynch’s squirrelly prevarication in Zodiac, actively playing the perceptions of the audience or her fellow characters, but nor is this Rooney Mara’s shell-shocked, impenetrable innocence in the first half of Side Effects. Davis’ choices are compelling in the moment and hold up once every truth has been laid bare, every letter read and confession given. It is the way that Davis responds to new pieces of evidence, to questions, to statements of affirmation from friends, from her husband, from Joyce, emotionally and intellectually, in how she moves her eyes and cocks her head. Even if we doubt the honesty of what Leslie is saying, we never doubt the emotional Davis is an actress who knows how to use her entire body in a performance, not just those electric eyes but her posture and her physicality - the different ways she grabs her husband, her posture as she shoots Geoff Hammond, her unease with Mrs. Hammond - and that theatricality, on top of the bigness of her emotions and the subtlety of her playing, fits perfectly with The Letter’s tone, Wyler’s ambitions, and Leslie’s truths.

 James Stephenson as Howard Joyce gives the film’s other great performance, and in contrast to Davis his greatness is based in stillness, the variants and degradations of commonalities in a decent, hardworking man. Joyce’s willingness to go along with obtaining the letter goes against everything Joyce believes in, yet he cannot seem to understand why he’s putting his career in jeopardy, even if he is friends with the Crosbies. Stephenson finds the tremors in Joyce’s faux-cool exterior, seemingly taking the whole thing in stride as becomes increasingly fraught by his own actions. His closing statement to the jury of Leslie’s trial, the outcome so assured the prosecution doesn’t even bother to present their own finisher, betrays so many emotional conflicts while still functioning perfectly as an impassioned statement on behalf of his client. Herbert Marshall is very much the third wheel narratively and in terms of performance, though his turn is still poignantly sympathetic to this basically decent man being kept from the truth about his wife until he stumbles into it.

Robert’s stumbling happens almost immediately after the trial concludes, where a getaway plan is dashed once he learns about the letter, and what was done to acquire it. The truth about the night Geoff Hammond died, what prompted him to arrive and what he did to make Leslie shoot her, is finally revealed by Leslie herself. The final half hour is essentially a series of reckonings between Leslie and her husband as the two realize what their marriage can and cannot withstand, culminating in the film’s saddest confession as Leslie howls in the face of a failed reconciliation that she is still in love with the man she killed. It’s here that the tacked-on ending of the Hays Code takes hold, as an eye is exchanged for an eye on Leslie’s front lawn. A getaway stroll is immediately foiled by a police officer the killer stumbles into, an arrest seemingly made through a series of silent glances. It’s palpably odd, unlike a similar tacked-on comeuppance in The Bad Seed, where its ethics-code assigned bit of karmic justice fits the film’s cray-cray style. I suppose The Letter chooses the proper minor character to dole out vengeance, but the sudden resolution of the killing feels bizarrely enacted. As mentioned early, the sheer beauty of certain moments in the sequence feels as though Wyler is trying to find something to be interested in, and its truncated presentation suggests he’s trying to get through it as quickly as possible. The sheer distance Wyler stages us from the killing is odd considering how close we are to Leslie’s killing of Hammond at the beginning, how he does nothing to skimp on the violence of the moment and the responses it creates in Leslie, in the panicked workers. Yes, this killing is done in almost complete isolation, but even the audience is isolated from it, and the poignancy of the moment suffers for it.

If I’ve had a difficult time balancing between what’s inevitable about The Letter and keeping some of the mysteries intact, forgive me, but it’s hard to call the narrative trajectory the film’s most compelling feature. It’s a character study with the trappings of a film noir. The Letter is a deep plumbing of Leslie Crosbie by Wyler and Davis, and they do so with astonishing success and syncopation. There’s no distance between Leslie and Bette, even if the performance is so remarkably realized you can’t help but notice how good she is in the role. The diminished returns of the final minute is nothing compared to the preceding 93 minutes, and I’m amazed that in all my ramblings I’ve barely devoted a paragraph to Wyler’s direction. To be fair, Wyler credited himself totally with the success of The Letter once it was realized, though the fact that the man is perfectly willing to speak for himself is no excuse not to give my own praise. Wyler makes the film sing, coordinating perfectly not just with Davis but with Stephenson, with Steiner, with Gaudio, with Amy and Law. His is the hand that guides the whole thing to triumph, and he’s as worth crediting as Bette Davis is for making The Letter such a vivid, singular experience. Even if the trial is seen as a joke by many of the characters, Wyler’s investment in the trial is enough that the incriminating letter has real weight on him and on Leslie. The stakes of the whole thing, and how those stakes are different for Leslie and for Joyce, is never lost on him.

 Have I said enough to convince you to go and watch The Letter? Frankly, I’ve run out of nice things to say about the film. Taking into account the two quibbles I’ve made about Mrs. Hammond and the odd ending, it’s not enough to matter compared to the virtuosity that the rest of the film exerts. There’s no moment when the picture isn’t completely compelling, and if the sputtering disorganization of this paper indicates anything, it’s that my enthusiasm for the film far outweighs my interest in giving an organized testimony about it. You could never get a corker this finely tuned and psychologically rich made this day in age, let alone one starring a platinum-class actress operating in perfect sync with an equally invaluable director. The Letter has a gargantuan amount to offer, from the fascination of the central mystery to how marvelously it’s realized on every level. You could barely ask for a better version of the film, certainly not one with the Hays Code in play. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in top-tier actressing, sordid 40’s mysteries, stylized lighting, spiritual crises, all guided by a genius director, to rent this film as soon as you possibly can. Hell, buy it. Every choice in The Letter is carried out with finesse, fulfilling its duty to the moment and to the ultimate finale. At 95 minutes it’s built like a steel watch, endlessly rewatchable and sturdy enough to withstand multiple viewings. So go, my pretties. Find The Letter. Give it the attention that it deserves. Anything that has the hutzpah to open with a woman killing a man at the dead of night knows exactly what it’s doing from the start, and believe me, anything this confident and charismatic deserves more shots at our love and attention than the six that Geoff Hammond got.

[ppaction]

Black History Month 2017

Planned Parenthood strives to create a world where sexual and reproductive health care is accessible, affordable, and compassionate — no matter what.

Black women have always championed reproductive freedom and the elimination of racism and sexism as an essential element of the struggle toward civil rights. This Black History Month, Planned Parenthood honors the resilience of Black women like Dr. N. Louise Young and Dr. Thelma Patten Law,  two of the first Black women health care providers at Planned Parenthood — and the resistance of women like Angela Davis who continue to fight for the full dignity, autonomy and the humanity of all women.

In commemoration of Black History Month each year, we lift up and celebrate those who have defied their time and circumstances to become Dream Keepers and freedom fighters. #100YearsStrong of Planned Parenthood could not be possible without the vision, tenacity and determination of those who have kept and protected the dream of reproductive freedom, justice and autonomy.

The 2017 Dream Keepers

Ida B. Wells-Barnett Journalist, Civil Rights Activist

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was the most prominent Black woman journalist of the late 19th and early 20th century. Her research and reporting around the lynching of Black people helped to bring national attention to the crisis and pushed federal legislation to hold mobs accountable.

Marsha P. Johnson Activist, Stonewall Rioter

Marsha P. Johnson, co-founder of the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), is credited with being one of the first people to resist the police during the Stonewall Riots of 1969. On the commemorative anniversary of the riots in 1970, Johnson led protesters to the Women's Detention Center of New York chanting, "Free our sisters. Free ourselves," which demonstrated early solidarity between LGBTQ rights and anti-prison movements.

Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm Black Feminist, Former Presidential Candidate

In 1990, Shirley Chisholm — along with former Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Faye Wattleton, Byllye Avery, Donna Brazile, Dorothy Height, Maxine Waters, and Julianne Malveaux (among others) — formed the group African American Women for Reproductive Freedom to show their support for Roe v. Wade, doing so with what we now call a reproductive -justice framework. The former New York representative was the first African American woman elected to Congress. During her seven terms, Rep. Chisholm pioneered the Congressional Black Caucus and was an unwavering champion for women’s reproductive rights and access to health care, including abortion. In 2015, President Obama awarded Rep. Chisholm with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.

Dr. N. Louise Young

Dr. N. Louise Young, a gynecologist and obstetrician, opened her practice in Baltimore in 1932. She later operated a Planned Parenthood health center that was opened with the assistance of the local Urban League and other community partners.

Dr. Thelma Patten Law

Dr. Thelma Patten Law becomes one of the first Black women ob-gyns in Texas. She provided health care for more than 25 years at the Planned Parenthood Houston Health Center, which opened in 1936.

Faye Wattleton Author, Advocate for Reproductive Freedom, Former President of PPFA

In 1978, Wattleton became the youngest individual at the time and the first African American woman to serve as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). During Wattleton’s 14--year tenure, PPFA became one of the nation’s largest charitable organizations. Under Wattleton’s leadership, the organization secured federal funding for birth control and prenatal programs; fought against efforts to restrict legal abortions; and, along with reproductive health allies, helped to legalize the sale of abortion pill RU-486 in the United States.

The Coiners of Reproductive Justice

Black women's existence has inherently challenged the "choice vs. life" argument. However the creation and coining of reproductive justice ushered in a new framework where women of color could express all of the ways their sexual and reproductive autonomy is systemically limited.

Dr. Dorothy Roberts Author, Scholar, Professor

Dorothy Roberts is an acclaimed scholar of race, gender and the law. Her books include Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century (New Press, 2011); Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare (Basic Books, 2002), and Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty (Pantheon, 1997) — all of which have shaped and informed scholarship around reproductive justice.

@DorothyERoberts

Monica Roberts Historian, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of TransGriot

Monica Roberts, aka the TransGriot, is a native Houstonian and trailblazing trans community leader. She works diligently at educating and encouraging acceptance of trans people inside and outside the larger African-American community and is an award-winning blogger, history buff, thinker, lecturer and passionate advocate on trans issues.

Dr. Iva Carruthers Past President of Urban Outreach Foundation, General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

Carruthers uses her ministry as a vehicle for addressing social issues, particularly those involving people of African descent both in the United States and abroad. She is past president of the Urban Outreach Foundation, a nonprofit, interdenominational organization that assists African and African-American communities with education, health care, and community development.

@IvaCarruthers

Rev. Dr. Alethea Smith-Withers Founder and Pastor; The Pavilion of God, Washington, DC; and Chair of the Board of Directors for Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Rev. Smith-Withers has been an active advocate for reproductive justice for many years. She is currently serving as the chair of the board of directors of Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). She is the founder and pastor of The Pavilion of God, a Baptist Church in DC.  She hosts “Rev UP with Rev. Alethea”, a BlogTalkRadio show.

@RevAlethea

Rev. Dr. Susan Moore Associate Minister at All Souls Church Unitarian

Dr. Moore’s ministry has focused upon the challenges facing urban America. An HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy prevention educator and trainer, she has worked with several community and faith-based groups, including the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Planned Parenthood, and AIDS Action Foundation. She actively advocates for a national, coordinated AIDS strategy to reduce racial disparities, lower the incidence of infection, increase access to care, and involve all stakeholders.

Bevy Smith CEO and Founder of Dinner with Bevy

A Harlem native and New York fashion fixture, Smith is outspoken about women’s empowerment and social justice. She gives back by connecting and engaging a network of top leaders to promote social change.

@bevysmith

Mara Brock Akil Screenwriter and producer and founder of Akil Productions

Mara Brock Akil is the co-creator of hit TV shows Girlfriends, The Game, and Being Mary Jane.  She is a tireless advocate of women’s health and rights.

@MaraBrockAkil

Tracy Reese American fashion designer

Relentless PPFA supporter, Reese is a board member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

@Tracy_Reese

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw Scholar, Professor at the UCLA and Columbia Schools of Law

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is a feminist scholar and writer who coined the term "Intersectionality." Kimberlé  is the co-founder of the African American Policy Forum, which developed seminal research on Black women and girls and the school-to-prison pipeline and policing, including, respectively: "Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected" and "Say Her Name."

@SandyLocks

Angela Peoples Co-Director of GetEqual

Serving as the Co-Director of GetEqual, Angela is working to ensure that Black lives and gender justice is a guiding force in LGBTQ work.

@MsPeoples

Jazmine Walker Reproductive Justice Leader

Jazmine is a big fine woman who specializes in reproductive justice and agricultural economic development.

Her dedication to public scholarship and activism is driven by a passion to amplify feminist and reproductive justice discourse around Black women and girls, especially those in Mississippi and the broader South.

Amandla Stenberg Actress, Author

This Black queer feminist makes us look forward to the next generation of feminist leaders and thinkers.

Her YouTube video, "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows," clapped-back against the cultural appropriation of Black fashion and style and won our hearts.

@amandlastenbergs

Charlene A. Carruthers National Director for Black Youth Project 100

Political organizer Carruthers is building a national network and local teams of young Black activists.  She is committed to racial justice, feminism, and youth leadership development.

@CharleneCac

Monica Simpson Executive Director of SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective

At SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, Simpson works to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of indigenous women and women of color to ensure reproductive justice through securing human rights. She has organized extensively against the systematic physical and emotional violence inflicted upon the minds, bodies, and spirits of African Americans with an emphasis on African-American women and the African-American LGBT community.

@SisterSong_WOC

Deon Haywood Executive Director, Women With A Vision, Inc.

Haywood works tirelessly to improve quality of life and health outcomes for marginalized women of color.  Since Hurricane Katrina, Haywood has led Women With a Vision, a New Orleans-based community organization addressing the complex intersection of socio-economic injustices and health disparities.  

@WWAVinc

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Congresswoman, D-TX 18th District

Congresswoman Jackson Lee has been a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood and women's health.

This year she has become a valuable champion as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where she was vocal at both hearings displaying a clear understanding of the important role Planned Parenthood health centers play in the communities they serve. She also came to the floor on several occasions and attended a Planned Parenthood’s press conference, lending her voice in the fight against backwards legislation.

@JacksonLeeTX18

Del. Stacey Plaskett Congresswoman, D-US-VI

Delegate Stacey Plaskett became a supporter of Planned Parenthood this year when she spoke out for Planned Parenthood health center patients during a Oversight and Government Reform hearing, where she is a member, commenting that she would like a Planned Parenthood health center in the Virgin Islands.

@StaceyPlaskett

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton Congresswoman, D-DC

As a fierce, passionate, Black feminist and reproductive health advocate, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has supported Planned Parenthood unwaveringly. She also sponsored the EACH Woman Act and, in 2015, held an event with young women on abortion access.

@EleanorNorton

Rep. Joyce Beatty Congresswoman, D-OH 3rd District

Rep. Beatty has been an active supporter of women's health during her tenure in Congress, cosponsoring legislation, signing onto pro-letters and always voting in the interest of women's health.

Rep. Maxine Waters Congresswoman, D-CA 43rd District

Since arriving in office in 1990, Rep. Waters has voted in the best interest of the health of women and communities of color, making a career of addressing these issues by closing the wealth gap.