#movies 🎥

[xtruss]

The Real Ancient Roman Plot That Inspired 'Megalopolis'

Historians characterize the Catilinarian conspiracy as the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire—which director Francis Ford Coppola compares to modern-day America.

— By Gregory Wakeman | September 26, 2024

The Roman Forum was a hub for ever day ancient Roman life. It was here that Cicero delivered a famous speech denouncing Catiline in 63 B.C. Photograph By Andrea Frazzetta, National Geographic Image Collection

Francis Ford Coppola has been working on his epic sci-fi fantasy drama Megalopolis since the early 1980s.

Fresh off the success of Apocalypse Now, Coppola became fascinated by the story of Lucius Sergius Catiline, who in 63 B.C. sought to forcibly overthrow the consuls of the Roman Republic, co-led by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This attempted coup d’etat is known as the Catilinarian conspiracy.

Coppola wanted to set the conflict of two ambitious men with very different ideals in modern New York, so that he could draw parallels between the beginning of the end for the Roman Republic and the contemporary United States.

At a Q&A in New York before the premiere of Megalopolis on September 23, Coppola remarked, “Today, America is Rome, and they’re about to go through the same experience, for the same reasons that Rome lost its republic and ended up with an emperor”

Coppola was so adamant about highlighting the similarities between the Roman Empire and U.S. that he named the film’s leading characters after Catiline and Cicero.

In Megalopolis, Giancarlo Esposito plays Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who runs the decaying city “New Rome” and clashes with idealistic architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver). When Catilina is given permission to rebuild the city using Megalon, a material that allows him to control space and time, he recruits Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) to make a sustainable utopia.

A painting by Italian painter Cesare Maccari portrays Cicero denouncing Catiline in the senate. The conspiracy to overthrow Cicero inspired Francis Ford Coppola's film Megalopolis. Photograph By ICOM Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Why Cicero And Catiline Were At Odds

The Roman version of Cicero was “a new man, meaning, he was the first in his family to enter Roman politics,” explains Josiah Osgood, professor of classics at Georgetown University and a specialist in Roman history.

Catiline was a patrician from a distinguished family. He had fought alongside Roman general Sulla, helping him win Rome’s first major Civil War, before then rising through the political ranks.

In 64 B.C., Catiline stood to become one of Rome’s two consuls. The highest elected public positions in the Roman Republic, the consuls served one-year terms and were elected each year by the Centuriate Assembly. Accused of corruption, Catiline was defeated by Cicero.

“Normally, a new man wouldn't win the consulship,” adds Osgood.

An embarrassed and desperate Catiline ran for consulship again in 63 B.C. “By now he and Cicero were sworn enemies and Cicero did everything he could to stop Catiline,” says Osgood.

Catiline’s campaigns had also left him in debt.

“Roman elections were extremely expensive because they were extremely corrupt,” says Edward Watts, professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. “They required you to borrow a lot of money and outlay a lot of cash to try to buy support from people. The idea being you win the consulship, you can then get a command somewhere or govern a province, then make that money back. But if you lose, you're screwed.”

What made these defeats even worse for Catiline is that, in that period, “some older families with a deep history had fallen on hard times,” says Richard Saller, an American classicist and former president of Stanford. “Catiline resented new upstarts like Cicero, who he was having a hard time keeping up with financially.”

How Was Catiline Defeated?

With Cicero backed by wealthier Romans that lent out money to make their own income, Catiline adopted a more populist and radical message, insisting that he would cancel debts and relieve the debt crisis. When Catiline lost another election, he retreated to northern Italy, formed an army of veterans from the first Civil War and farmers in debt, and planned to march on Rome so that he could become consul by force.

But in January 62, B.C., he was defeated by the Roman Republic in the Battle of Pistoria. Roman historian Sallust would write that “Catiline was despicable, a real menace to the Republic, who represented all that was wrong with Rome” because of his pursuit of demagoguery, says Osgood.

With Megalopolis, Coppola focused on Catiline’s ambition to release the lower classes from debt in order to make him a sympathetic figure. In his director’s statement for the film, Coppola explains, “I wondered whether the traditional portrayal of Catiline as ‘evil’ and Cicero as ‘good’ was necessarily true … Since the survivor tells the story, I wondered, what if what Catiline had in mind for his new society was a realignment of those in power and could have even in fact been ‘visionary’ and ‘good’, while Cicero perhaps could have been 'reactionary' and ‘bad’.”

Saller acknowledges that accounts of the Catilinarian conspiracy are “Cicero centric” and “from a historian’s point of view there are reasons to think there are biases.”

In 1969, Robin Seager argued that “Cicero really manufactured the conspiracy and drove Catiline to violence, but his view is not broadly accepted,” adds Saller.

Coppola’s Message For A Modern Era

After the Catilinarian conspiracy, Cicero was briefly driven into exile because of how he administered justice to members of the coup, in particular killing associates of Catiline without a trial. The conspiracy exposed how extensive poverty and debt was in Roman society, created a climate of paranoia in the Senate, and is ultimately regarded as the first step to the Civil Wars that ended the Roman Republic and built the Roman Empire.

Both Watts and Osgood can see some similarities between the late Roman Republic and the current political rhetoric of the U.. ] “I think there’s been a significant loss of trust in the integrity of systems,” says Watts.

But Saller remains skeptical about such parallels. “The constitutional situation in the U.S. and Rome are very, very different. One of the things that Rome did not have was anything like our Supreme Court. Whatever problems we may think we have with our current Supreme Court, the Roman Republic had no institutional way of resolving differences between leading senatorial generals in their contest for power.”

Ultimately, Esposito believes that Megalopolis is a cautionary tale: “There's a line in the movie, ‘Don't let the now destroy the forever.’ That’s such a powerful thought to have right now. The film is a call for hope, for us to think larger than just ourselves.”

[cas-backwards-tie]

10 Comfort Movies 🍿 🎥

Rules: List your top ten favorite comfort movies and then tag ten people to see theirs!

Thanks @safarigirlsp ! I hope you’re doing well, I know I’ve been tagged in a lot of your stuff recently and am so excited to catch up and read it! You know I love movies, so this was super awesome to do!

It’s funny because, firstly these aren’t in order, but secondly I had to contemplate many different ones because I do have some favorites that aren’t necessarily comfort movies though. But these are for cinematography, story, or maybe even the music! All depends on the film 🥰 Funny though that a lot of them are animated.

1. Coco ; “Never forget how much your family loves you.” ❤️

2. Luca ; “You and Me? We can do anything!” 😄

3. Wreck It Ralph ; “There’s no one I’d rather be than me.” 🫂

4. Jurassic Park ; “Life finds a way.” 🦖

5. The Maze Runner ; “At least out there we have a choice.” ���

6. Interstellar ; “ Love is the one thing that transcends time and space.” 🪐

7. Spiderman: Homecoming ; “I’ve just got to do this on my own.” 💪🏻

8. The Iron Giant ; “You are who and what you choose to be.” 🤖

9. Big Hero 6 ; “I will always be with you.” 💞

10. Nightmare Before Christmas ; “Just because I cannot see it, doesn’t mean I can’t believe it!” 🎁

tags: @kylosjuul , @clumsycopy , @driversmutbucket , @driverdelight , @mrsclydelogan , @sacklerscumrag , @itsaconquestofimagination , @inkinflux , @alladeline

[occulthoss]

T h e A t t i c u s

I n s t i t u t e. (2015)

[bohemian-nights]

FRIDA (2002) dir. Julie Taymor

[cin3maa]

sorry no posts💔ive been playing zenless zone zero so no time to draw (i have been drawing on paper though theyre mostly just bad doodles)

[ride-the-gutsfuck]

Back to the Future (1985)

Movie birthday today!!

[kacievvbbbb]

I watched the wild robot yesterday (great movie!) and everytime the fox spoke I always expected to hear Jason Bateman’s voice. Every. Single. Time

Zootpoia you have ruined me. Jason Bateman is now the definitive fox voice in my head.

Nick Wilde, unleash the hold you have on me ✝️

[soulofgod]

Jake Gyllenhaal icon

[10158142]

Wyatt Earp - Tombstone (93)

[xtruss]

Professional Storm Chasers Monitor a Tornado in Kansas, where tornadoes are common. The new movie Twisters features storm chasers like these who often take adventurous weather tourists along for the ride. Photograph By Jim Reed, National Geographic Image Collection

'Twisters' Put Storm Chasing On The Map—But Here's What It's Really Like

A Reboot of The Classic Disaster Film Has Caused A Surge In Amateur Storm Chasing. So What Is It Really Like To Chase Tornadoes?

— By Gregory Wakeman | July 18, 2024

Twisters’ trailer shows its cast of characters driving full pelt towards tornadoes, launching fireworks into them, and hatching a plan to defeat Mother Nature.

While these dangerous antics are very much the creation of Hollywood, storm chasing has been a major tourist attraction in the central U.S for decades. Over a dozen tour operators in the area—with names like Extreme Chase Tour, Extreme Tornado Tours, and F5! Tornado Safaris—promise to get their high-paying customers as close to the tornadoes, clouds, rain, winds, and hailstorms as is safely possible.

Unlike the action-packed movies, storm chasing often involves driving hundreds of miles for hours at a time before they come face-to-face with anything. Sometimes they even have to patiently wait in place until the storm starts.

A "Mesocyclone"—A type of Miles-Wide Vortex found inside storms—forms in a massive supercell near Elk City, Oklahoma. Storm chasers rarely venture closer than a couple miles near an active tornado. Photograph By Keith Ladzinski, National Geographic Image Collection

“It’s a lot of driving and a little bit of action,” says Erik Burns, the owner and tour director of Tornadic Expeditions. “But the action you do see is amazing and you instantly forget about the miles and hours it took to get there.”

Who Was The First Storm Chaser?

David Hoadley is credited as the first storm chaser. In June 1956, the recent high school graduate spent the day after a fierce downpour driving around his hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota, taking 8mm movies of razed trees and torn down power-lines.

“I was soon hooked on the power and fascination of Mother Nature,” Hoadley told Storm Track, the magazine he founded and edited, back in 1987.

Twisters’ release is likely to see interest in the expeditions soar, just like they did after its 1996 predecessor Twister put storm chasing on the map. Ronald Stenz, a meteorology professor at the College of DuPage in Illinois, who leads educational storm chasing trips each spring and summer, struggles to see how demand can grow any further.

“I imagine it will make storm chasing even more popular, if that is possible,” Stenz said in an email.

A truck outfitted for storm chasing waits for a tornado to form in the southwestern U.S. "Tornado Alley" is not a scientifically defined region, but the region generally refers to everywhere from Texas to South Dakota. Photograph By Carsten Peter, National Geographic Image Collection

Kim George, guest relations manager for Tempest Tours, believes that they’re already seeing the impact of Twisters. Their 2025 storm chasing season, which lasts from the middle of April until the end of June, has already sold out. There’s even a waiting list for the 2026 tours.

“At the start of May we opened our season for 2025, and it just went zonkers,” she declares over the phone. “By the end of June it had completely sold out and we have a long waitlist. We were like, ‘This is unusual. It must be because the movie is coming out.’ I’ve been with the company for 11 years and I’ve never had the season sell out so quickly.”

What Is It Like To Chase Tornadoes?

In 2023, there were 1,423 tornadoes across the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The majority unfolded in Tornado Alley. Originally coined to describe extreme weather around Texas and Oklahoma, Tornado Alley doesn’t “have any officially agreed upon boundaries,” says Stenz.

For George, it starts on the south coast of Texas and goes all the way up beyond the Canadian border. Tempest Tours have also conducted tours in Kansas, New Mexico, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota. While the eastern Dakotas’ road networks and terrain provide the best chasing conditions, Nebraska has produced the most photogenic tornadoes, says Stenz.

The storms differentiate depending on the month and location of the tour. Spring storms usually move much faster than the ones later in the season. Although the spring storms in the High Plains don’t move as quickly, according to George. In May, storm formations start to slow down.

A radar image shows storm chasers their location inside the calm eye of 2012's Hurricane Isaac as it passed over southern Louisiana. It's common for hurricanes to spin off tornadoes. Photograph By Mark Theiss, National Geographic Image Collection

“The lighter storms move pretty fast, depending on how they form and how much wind shear they have,” says George. “We’re in and out of the van really quickly so we can keep up with them. We often have a longer time to view storms later in the season. Especially up in Montana. You can watch them form for an hour. You don’t have to rush as much, but they’re still very intense.”

Tornadoes are usually visible from two or three miles away, but storm chasers will sometimes get within a mile and a half for better visibility. Once they register thunder and lightning strikes, they know they’re too close and they’ll use their already planned escape routes if necessary.

Has Climate Change Made An Impact?

Deciding exactly where to look for storms has started to become more complicated.

Though Twisters declined to include climate change in its plot, shifting climate conditions are reshaping what we know about how storms form and where.

Evidence suggests the “number of tornadoes in areas more favorable for storm chasing has decreased slightly over time,” says Stenz. Research shows that tornadoes are moving eastwards towards the more wooded Mississippi Valley and away from the flatter and less populated High Plains.

It is yet to be determined whether this is the direct result of climate change. Stenz notes that it “could simply be some kind of natural variability.” He’s also skeptical that climate change has impacted the amount of tornadoes per year.

A tornado touches down in the grasslands of Laramie, Wyoming. One major question scientists have about tornadoes is how they will change on a warming planet. The exact changes remain unclear. Photograph By Keith Ladzinski, National Geographic Image Collection

“It is unlikely that climate change has had any major impact on my storm chasing,” he insists. “Tornado counts have large variability year to year, but over the long-term there do not appear to be any large trends in tornadoes per year.”

While the effect of climate change on tornado activity remains uncertain, research is actively underway. Any impact is likely to result in fewer tornadoes, thinks Burns.

What he has observed is that the transitional years between the El Niño and La Niña climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean, which occurred this summer, are creating more volatile weather conditions.

Storm chasers stop near a tornado formed under a supercell thunderstorm. While scientists have a clear understanding of how climate change will influence disasters like floods and fires, the influence it has on tornadoes is under investigation. Photograph By Mark Theiss, National Geographic Image Collection

“This has been a particularly violent year,” says Burns, highlighting April’s Nebraska and May’s Iowa tornado attacks

Not that any of this will keep the storm chasers away. Whatever the weather, they’ll be there to hunt, document, and educate. Sometimes they might even inspire, too.

“People will go on a tour several times so that they can learn how to chase on their own,” says Burns. “To see people who really love science, ask thousands of questions in the week, then go out and chase on their own, and live out their dreams of seeing tornadoes. It’s an amazing feeling.”

This tornado touched down a few miles east of Rozel, Kansas. Photograph By Colt Forney, National Geographic Your Shot

But while anyone can technically go storm chasing, Stenz recommends taking part in the National Weather Service’s free training in storm spotting and a meteorology class, as well as “chasing first with experienced storm chasers before venturing out on your own.

“So many people want to tick storm chasing off their bucket list,” insists George. “But it’s about keeping yourself safe while chasing. That’s most important of all.”

[lix-ables]

reader wearing that one shirt han loves so much and han going crazy over it and can't keep his hands off them 💛 thoughts?

lords, because BOY WOULD GO CRA-AAZY – him seeing you wear his favourite supreme shirt ( you know the one - the black supreme shirt of his. THAT LOOKS SO GOOD IMAGINE THOUGH ) , seeing it hang loose on you barely covering your skin or reaching your knees – he's already lost his mind. you're the only thing in his line of sight. he'd do anything , and i mean ANYTHING to keep clinging onto you.

if you're in the kitchen , trying to reach for something , you can expect him to come up behind you and wrap his arms around your stomach.

while ofc his crotch is up against your clothed ass ; one thing leads to another , next thing you know you're on the couch , with his fingers gripping onto your shirt to pull you closer while also thrusting up into you ‹33

( tehehehe @bbyquokka 🤭🤭 )

[randgugotur-6]

August 9, 1999

On this day 25 years ago the KISS movie “Detroit Rock City” premiers at the Fox Westwood Village Theater in Hollywood, Ca. It would be released in theaters across America the following week.

Did you like this movie?

[springforaspell]

Just a reminder that a good 90% of the early reviews of the film have been absolutely glowing 🥹🥰 Don’t let other people’s negative reactions affect your enjoyment, and have fun!!!

[cin3maa]

happy birthday to me!

thank you for all the early birthday wishes.. my birthdays have never been very crazy or anything and it means a lot that i have people who will wish me a happy birthday.. ily all

[ride-the-gutsfuck]

I need her hat so bad 🙏🙏

[mema0]

‏- هل الشيطان هو من يُغرينا يا أبي ؟

- نعم يُغرينا ولكنه لا يُجبرنا .

"The pursuit of happiness"❤