#robert and nicola scenes

[bobbie-robron]

Hey, I’m wrangling your bug-filled brats single-handed here.

Robert with Nicola’s kids clip

20-Nov-2018

[justforbooks]

Donald Sutherland

Commanding and versatile actor known for his roles in MAS*H, Don’t Look Now and The Hunger Games

Donald Sutherland, who has died aged 88, brought his disturbing and unconventional presence to bear in scores of films after his breakthrough role of Hawkeye Pierce, the army surgeon in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H (1970), one of the key American films of its period. It marked Sutherland out as an iconoclastic figure of the 60s generation, but he matured into an actor who made a speciality of portraying taciturn, self-doubting characters. This was best illustrated in his portrayal of the tormented parent of a drowned girl, seeking solace in a wintry Venice, in Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973), and of the weak, nervous, concerned father of a guilt-ridden teenage boy (Timothy Hutton) in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People (1980).

Although Sutherland appeared in the statutory number of stinkers that are many a film actor’s lot, he was always watchable. His career resembled a man walking a tightrope between undemanding parts in potboilers and those in which he was able to take risks, such as the title role in Federico Fellini’s Casanova (1976).

Curiously, it was Sutherland’s ears that first got him noticed, in Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen (1967). During the shoot, according to Sutherland, “Clint Walker sticks up his hand and says, ‘Mr Aldrich, as a representative of the Native American people, I don’t think it’s appropriate to do this stupid scene where I have to pretend to be a general.’ Aldrich turns and points to me and says, ‘You with the big ears. You do it’ … It changed my life.” In other words, it led to M*A*S*H and stardom.

Sutherland and his M*A*S*H co-star Elliott Gould tried to get Altman fired from the film because they did not think the director knew what he was doing due to his unorthodox methods. In the early days, Sutherland was known to have confrontations with his directors. “What I was trying to do all the time was to impose my thinking,” he remarked some years later. “Now I contribute. I offer. I don’t put my foot down.”

Sutherland, who was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, was a sickly child who battled rheumatic fever, hepatitis and polio. He spent most of his teenage years in Nova Scotia where his father, Frederick, ran a local gas, electricity and bus company; his mother, Dorothy (nee McNichol), was a maths teacher. He attended Bridgewater high school, then graduated from Victoria College, part of the University of Toronto, with a double major in engineering and drama. As a result of a highly praised performance in a college production of James Thurber’s and Elliott Nugent’s The Male Animal, he dropped the idea of becoming an engineer and decided to pursue acting.

With this in mind, he left Canada for the UK in 1957 to study at Lamda (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), where he was considered too tall and ungainly to get anywhere. However, he gained a year’s work as a stage actor with the Perth repertory company, and appeared in TV series such as The Saint and The Avengers. He was Fortinbras in a 1964 BBC production of Hamlet, shot at Elsinore castle and starring Christopher Plummer. He also appeared at the Criterion theatre in the West End in The Gimmick in 1962.

In 1959 he married Lois Hardwick; they divorced in 1966. Then he married the film producer Shirley Douglas, with whom he had twins, Kiefer and Rachel; they divorced in 1971. Kiefer, who grew up to become a celebrated actor, was named after the producer-writer Warren Kiefer, who put Sutherland in an Italian-made Gothic horror film, The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Christopher Lee played a necrophile count, while Sutherland doubled as a dim-witted police sergeant and, in drag and heavy makeup, as a witch.

In an earlier era, the gawky Sutherland might not have achieved the stardom that followed the anarchic M*A*S*H, but Hollywood at the time was open for stars with unconventional looks, and Sutherland was much in demand for eccentric roles throughout the 70s.

He was impressive as a moviemaker with “director’s block” in Paul Mazursky’s messy but interesting Alex in Wonderland (1970), which contains a prescient dream sequence in which his titular character meets Fellini. In the same year, Sutherland played a Catholic priest and the object of Geneviève Bujold’s erotic gaze in Act of the Heart; he was the appropriately named Sergeant Oddball, an anachronistic hippy tank commander, in the second world war action-comedy Kelly’s Heroes; and he and Gene Wilder were two pairs of twins in 18th-century France in the broad comedy Start the Revolution Without Me.

Sutherland was at his most laconic, sometimes verging on the soporific, in the title role of Alan J Pakula’s Klute (1971), as a voyeuristic ex-policeman investigating the disappearance of a friend and getting deeply involved with a prostitute, played by Jane Fonda.

Sutherland and Fonda were teamed up again as a couple of misfits in the caper comedy Steelyard Blues (1973). It initially had a limited distribution due mainly to their participation together in the anti-Vietnam war troop show FTA (Fuck the Army), which Sutherland co-directed, co-scripted and co-produced.

Sutherland always made his political views known, although they surfaced only occasionally in his films. In among the many mainstream comedies and thrillers was Roeg’s supernatural drama Don’t Look Now, in which Sutherland and Julie Christie are superb as a couple grieving their dead daughter. Despite the dark subject matter, the film was notable for containing “one of the sexiest love scenes in film history”, according to Scott Tobias in the Guardian, the frank depiction of their love-making coming “like a desert flower poking through concrete”. The actor so admired Roeg that he named another son after him, one of his three sons with the French-Canadian actor Francine Racette, whom he married in 1972.

John Schlesinger’s rambling version of The Day of the Locust (1975) saw Sutherland as a sexually repressed character – called Homer Simpson – who tramples a woman to death in an act of uncontrolled rage. Perhaps Bernardo Bertolucci had that in mind when he cast Sutherland in 1900 (Novecento, 1976), in which he is a broadly caricatured fascist thug who shows his sadism by smashing a cat’s head against a post and bashing a young boy’s brains out. “And I turned down Deliverance and Straw Dogs because of the violence!” Sutherland recalled.

In Fellini’s Casanova, the second of his two bizarre Italian excursions in 1976, Sutherland coldly calculates seduction under his heavily made-up features. The performance, as remarkably stylised as it is, still reveals the suffering soul within the sex machine.

In 1978 he appeared in Claude Chabrol’s Blood Relatives, a made-in-Canada murder mystery with Sutherland playing a Montreal cop investigating the murder of a young woman. More commercial was The Eagle Has Landed (1976), with Sutherland, attempting an Irish accent, as an IRA member supporting the Germans during the second world war, and as a chilling Nazi in Eye of the Needle (1981). Meanwhile, he was the hero of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), who resists the insidious alien menace until the film’s devastating final shot.

In 1981 Sutherland returned to the stage, as Humbert Humbert in a highly anticipated version of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, adapted by Edward Albee. It turned out to be a huge flop, running only 12 performances on Broadway. Both Sutherland and Albee played the blame game. “The second act is flawed,” Sutherland said. “Albee was supposed to have rethought it, but he never did.” Albee told reporters that he had scuttled some of his best scenes because they were “too difficult” for Sutherland because “he hasn’t been on stage for 17 years”.

Continuing his film career, Sutherland played a complex and sadistic British officer in Hugh Hudson’s Revolution (1985), and in A Dry White Season (1989) he took the role of an Afrikaner schoolteacher beginning to understand the brutal realities of apartheid. In Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991), he held the screen with an extended monologue as he spilled the conspiracy beans to Kevin Costner’s district attorney hero Jim Garrison.

After having made contact with young audiences in the 70s with offbeat appearances in gross-out pictures The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), the latter as a pot-smoking professor, he was cast as an unconvincing bearded stranger in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992).

On a more adult level were Six Degrees of Separation (1993), in which he played an unfulfilled art dealer; A Time to Kill (1996), as an alcoholic, disbarred lawyer (alongside Kiefer); Without Limits (1998), as an enthusiastic athletics coach; and Space Cowboys (2000), as an elderly pilot. By this time, he was gradually moving into grey-haired character roles, one of the best being his amiable Mr Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (2005).

The Jane Austen novel was also featured in the television series Great Books (1993-2000), to which Sutherland lent his soothing voice as narrator. Other series in which he shone as quasi baddies were Commander in Chief (2005) – as the sexist Republican speaker of the house opposed to the new president (Geena Davis) – and Dirty Sexy Money (2007-09), in which he played a powerful patriarch of a wealthy family.

Sutherland continued to be active well into his 80s, his long grey hair and beard signifying sagacity, whether as a contract killer in The Mechanic, a Roman hero in The Eagle, a nutty retired poetry professor in Man on the Train (all 2011), or a quirky bounty hunter in the western Dawn Rider (2012), bringing more depth to the characters than they deserved. As President Coriolanus Snow, the autocratic ruler of the dystopian country of Panem in The Hunger Games (2012), Sutherland was discovered by a new generation; he went on to reprise the role in three further films in that franchise, beginning with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

He played artists in two art-world thrillers by Italian directors: in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Deception, AKA The Best Offer (2013), he was a would-be painter helping to execute multimillion-dollar scams, while in Giuseppe Capotondi’s The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019) he was on the other side of the heist as a reclusive genius targeted by a wealthy and unscrupulous dealer (Mick Jagger).

Aside from James Gray’s science-fiction drama Ad Astra (also 2019), in which he co-starred with Brad Pitt, Sutherland’s best late work was all for television. In Danny Boyle’s mini-series Trust (2018), which covered the same real-life events as Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, he played J Paul Getty, the oil tycoon whose grandson is kidnapped; while in The Undoing (2020), he was the father of a psychologist (Nicole Kidman), reluctantly putting up bail when her husband (Hugh Grant) is arrested for murder.

For the latter role Sutherland was in the running for a Golden Globe, having already received an honorary Oscar in 2017.

He is survived by Francine and his children, Kiefer, Rachel, Rossif, Angus and Roeg, and by four grandchildren.

🔔 Donald McNichol Sutherland, actor; born 17 July 1935; died 20 June 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[elipheleh]

mary & george feature in tv & satellite magazine. airs in the uk on tuesday (5th) at 9pm on sky atlantic & sky showcase. boxset will be available on sky boxsets/NOW.

text under the cut

Hollywood star Julianne Moore adopts her best English accent this week when she plays Mary Villiers, a mother-of-four determined to secure her family's future, in Sky's seven-part drama Mary & George.

When she learns that King James (Tony Curran) is in a sexual relationship with his adviser, the Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson), Mary realises she could gain considerable power and influence if her son George (Nicholas Galitzine) becomes the King's new favourite.

'Mary is from a kind of middling aristocratic family,’ explains Moore, 'She's living in less-than-ideal circumstances, looking for a way to educate her children and keep herself alive. The only way she's really able to do that is through her relationships with powerful men.’

After sending George to France to learn refinement, Mary endeavours to get him noticed - and King James is soon enamoured with the handsome young man.

'At the beginning, the relationship is very transactional for George’, explains Galitzine, 29. 'I don't think he develops feelings for James until a few months, perhaps years, into the relationship. George definitely has something to gain, but the love is very much real between them.'

Although the King is aware of the power games being played around him, he finds it refreshing that George comes from outside the usual circles of the royal court.

‘James is comfortable when hes in the company of his lovers - he wants to forget about being a king,’ says Curran, 54. ‘He wants that distraction of feeling safe with another person, as opposed to lords and politicians constantly grabbing at him, wanting him to make decisions about affairs of state.’

OUTRAGEOUS TRUESTORY

The series is based on the nonfiction book The King's Assassin by Benjamin Woolley, and Moore was drawn to the project by the way Mary seemed ahead of her time.

‘There was something outrageous and direct about her’, says Moore, who won a Best Actress Oscar in 2015 for her role as an early onset Alzheimer's patient in Still Alice. 'She seemed to have her own desire for power and agency in a situation where she might possibly have none. It's interesting what she achieved at a time when women couldn't even own property.’

The cast also includes Trine Dyrholm as Queen Anne of Denmark, Niamh Algar as Mary's confidante, prostitute Sandie, and Nicola Walker as the Queen's lady-in-waiting Lady Hatton.

Mary & George's salty language and revealing sex scenes may surprise some viewers, but the stars believe it reflects the earthy instincts of its characters as they grapple for power.

"The sensuality in the show isn't crass in any way, says Curran. 'It was certainly interesting for me. I'd ask the producers, "What am I wearing today?" and theyd reply, “Your birthday suit, pal!"’

'It's not a typical period drama because of the licence it takes with behaviours and sexuality,’ agrees Moore. 'It's beautiful and opulent and a wildly entertaining romp through history.’

Who’s Who (top right of image)

Mary Villiers

Julianne Moore

The deeply ambitious mother lives on her wits and wants to create a lasting legacy for her family.

George Villiers

Nicholas Galitzine

Mary's second son gains new-found confidence and charm after an educational visit to France.

King James

Tony Curran

The first joint ruler of Scotland and England, the King is seldom seen without an entourage of male companions.

Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset

Laurie Davidson

The King's current favourite is determined to stop George from usurping him.

Queen Anne of Denmark

Trine Dynolm

The Queen would prefer her husband's favourite to be someone she can control.

Sandie

Niamh Algar

Mary's confidante is a prostitute in a high-end brothel, making her privy to the secrets of the rich and powerful.

[sugdenlovesdingle]

I'm in the 'barely watched 2019' gang!

(let's be real it's the 'barely watched after The Incident' because I fell completely out of love with the show and robron after that episode...it took a long time to recover).

It just frustrates me how fantastic Rob was during Aaron's abuse story but everything after (Iain's favourite Mary Sue character) Rebecca turned up was like 'nah we're gonna ignore that character development and turn Robert into whatever the plot/every other character needs'.

Aaron's been pretty consistent over the years, but Robert? Wildcard character, depending on which writer it was.

It could have been so good. They had time after Ryan announced he was leaving! They had time!

it could also have been SO MUCH WORSE anon. We got robron in love until the end, Robert sacrificing everything so Aaron could have the life he (in Rob's mind) deserved and generally putting himself LAST - when everyone always called him selfish and self centred.

I mean Luke - big reveal that he used to date Ethan's old MALE roommate and he fought with his brother the same day Robert hit him, a few DAYS later he's moving to Manchester.

Bernice - suddenly has money problems and debts in Nicola's name (or something - i didn't pay much attention to that story tbh) within a week she's gone to live with Diane in Portugal

David - wants to get back together with Vic after being an insufferable manchild for ages over a speeding ticket, finds out she's dating his son, throws another tantrum and suddenly leaves to go help Priya with Amba in London.

Dan - poor man's version of Robert's exit, with the same actor as in Robert's story playing his lawyer

Meena - on the run after she escaped Charles (I think) and could have been good as this lingering threat Out There - but they kept bringing her back and every time the story had the potential to let her go out in a blaze of glory, they pulled some Twist™ to finally have her arrested and sent down because Murder is Bad.

Marcus (Ethan's ex) - Ignoring the whole Pierce's son thing that was dropped after 2 episodes, he and Ethan are happy (as far as we know), living together, everything is all sunshine and rainbows... suddenly HIS EX shows up and he sleeps with him in his and Ethan's bed while Ethan wants to propose. Within a few days he's gone.

Marshall (Arthur's ex boyfriend) - has more scenes with Laurel than Arthur in the entire time he's on the show, suddenly has a plot aunt somewhere that he wants to go live with and oh yeah, he and Arthur are having Problems™

Liv - killed off after getting crushed by a CARAVAN

Rishi and Harriet - killed off for shock and cheap drama.

the second half of 2019 was HELL but it could have been so much worse.

[brokehorrorfan]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will be released on 4K Ultra HD in both Steelbook and standard packaging on February 28 via Dark Sky Films. 

The influential 1974 horror classic is directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist) from a script he co-wrote with Kim Henkel. Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen star.

The two-disc set features over 400 minutes of extras, including a new, feature-length documentary, The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Details are below.

Disc 1:

Audio commentary by writer-director Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen. and cinematographer Daniel Pearl

Audio commentary by actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain and production designer Robert Burns

Audio commentary by writer-director Tobe Hooper

Audio commentary by cinematographer Daniel Pearl, editor J. Larry Carroll, and sound recordist Ted Nicolaou.

Disc 2:

The Legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - 87-minute documentary featuring filmmakers Fede Alvarez, Mick Garris, Marcus Nispel, Jamie Blanks, Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, Adam Marcus, Rob Savage, and more (new)

Friedkin/Hooper - A conversation between director Tobe Hooper and The Exorcist filmmaker William Friedkin

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth - 75-minute documentary (2000)

Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw - 72-minute documentary (2006)

Texas Chain Saw Massacre house tour with actor Gunnar Hansen

Interview with actress Teri McMin

Interview with actor John Dugan

Interview with production manager Ron Bozman

Interview with editor J. Larry Carroll

Deleted scenes & outtakes

Blooper reel

Trailers

TV

Radio spots

And more!

A group of young friends road-tripping by van through Texas fall victim to a bizarre family of cannibals – including a huge masked madman known as Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) who always has a gas-powered chain saw at the ready.

Pre-order The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

[artblooger19moon]

Renfield Movie Review

The movie was awesome and amazing. Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult are hilarious in this movie. There are some many references to DRACULA 1931. Nicolas Cage plays as Count Dracula and Nicholas Hoult plays his familiar Robert Renfield and how they have to live in the modern world while Dracula has to get back into full power. Renfield is also going to counseling to see if he can go against Dracula’s demands.Teddy Lobo and his Mafia gang Los Lobos are selling drugs & a police officer named Rebecca Quincy wants to get revenge on them for killing her father. Renfield & Rebecca met each other in one of Los Lobos attacks & team up to stop them. Also there are very funny scenes between them also some between Dracula with Renfield. The movie is awesome and very good !!!!

I give this movie 10 / 10

[thechanelmuse]

My Book Review

I finished this book a week ago. I’m still struggling to put my thoughts into words because this book jam packs a load of history in 430 pages. Where does one start? 

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams travels back in time to the founding of what would be Los Angeles in 1781 by a group of eleven families—forty four Black Spaniards— before building upon the land and establishing what would be the home of the film industry. This book spans six decades within the history of Black actors in Hollywood beginning with Madame Sul-Te-Wan, the first. It even includes those surrounding the Hollywood scene like dancer Carmen de Lavallade and Paul Williams, the foremost trailblazing Black architect who created the blueprint for the eye-catching structures and homes of the stars still standing firm today. 

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams is a lot to take in from the bad to the good. It’s partly because the wealth of info would be more digestible had it been fleshed out further without creating a sweeping effect (like snippets) through moments in time to build the larger framework. After all, we’re talking sixty years. 

I’m a cinephile so I would’ve enjoyed more focus into the actual creation of a number of films, particularly the all-Black productions in those days. As for the gossip scene and the 👀 happenings in their world, here’s a snippet: Duke Ellington had an affair with Freida Washington, whom she felt was the love of her life. Duke wouldn't leave his wife so Freida did work in Paris to keep busy and get over him. When she returned, she ended up marrying a member of Duke’s band 🙃. Also, Lena Horne had an on and off-again affair with heavyweight boxer, Joe Louis. Might be hella messy and pearl-clutching in our world, but you gotta remember Hollywood is its own world. Small. They operate differently and nothing is swept under the rug in their society. Though discreet, everyone knew everyone’s biz.

I can’t even imagine the amount of research that went into making this book. It’s def worth the read. Just know that it may feel a little dense because it’s so many actors, gigs ands so forth spanning decades.

PHOTOSET: Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Ernest “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison, Ethel Waters with Freida Washington, Daniel L. Haynes with Nina Mae McKinney, Mildred Washington, The Nicolas Brothers, Eartha Kitt with Sammy Davis Jr, Joe Louis with Lena Horne, and the Dandridge sisters: Dorothy and Vivian.

SN: Off-topic. The author’s surname, Bogle, caught my attention when I first got this book, which had to be about about 10 years ago now. (Yes, this book has been sitting on my shelf for that long...among the other 600+.) The only Black Americans I’m familiar with with that surname are from Philly dating back to chef Robert Bogle, the creator of catering: 

Whad'ya know? The author too is from Philly. I’m curious if they’re related. That’s a book in and of itself.

[mylifeincinema]

My Best of 2023: Supporting Actor

My Best of 2023 is a series of annual lists in which I pick the best of the best from 2023, all leading up to my official picks for My Top 10 Films of 2023.

This is usually my most difficult category… and almost always my favorite. This year's different. Yeah, Mark Ruffalo delivered one of my very favorite performances of the year, period. But the rest - aside from 8-10 - aren't really in any locked order, despite all delivering great, scene-stealing performances. Both Roberts turned in phenomenal, complex, villainous performances. Downey honing in on his character's ego, and De Niro nailing his character's evil entitlement. Gosling was an absolute blast in Barbie. But he was just Ken, so.... Willem Dafoe was wonderfully weird, but should've gotten more screen-time. Same goes for Cage, whose Dracula really should've been onscreen for every single second of Renfield's running-time. I'm not super familiar with Sterling's work, but I didn't know he had such impeccable comedic delivery. And the final three are all young actors who - much to my surprise - show little to no ego in the way they brought these characters to life. Again, all of these are truly great performances, it's only the order that - for once - has me completely lost (Okay, the Top 4 or so are pretty solid, but after that? Forget about it.)... but I guess this is close enough. Oh, and I have this gut feeling I'm completely forgetting someone I absolutely loved. There's that, too.

Anyway, here they are…

My Top 10 Performances by a Supporting Actor in 2023!

1. Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things

2. Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer

3. Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon

4. Ryan Gosling in Barbie

5. Willem Dafoe in Poor Things

6. Nicolas Cage in Renfield

7. Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction

8. Jacob Elordi in Priscilla

9. Dominic Sessa in The Holdovers

10. Charles Melton in May December

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

Next Up: Directing; Lead Actress

More of My Best of 2023...

[adamwatchesmovies]

Renfield (2023)

If those who would most enjoy Renfield go into it with low expectations, they’ll find an imperfect film that (mostly) caters to their tastes. This movie has such a great premise and such a good cast. If only the screenplay and story were better. I liked it more than I didn’t but while watching, I kept wondering “I should love this… why don’t I?”

Like in the novel by Bram Stoker, R. M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) is transformed into Dracula’s familiar when he meets the Count (Nicholas Cage) in the early 20th century. Unlike in the novel, Dracula and Renfield survive and defeat Van Helsing, along with every subsequent would-be vampire slayer they encounter. In modern day, Renfield has grown tired of the abuse Dracula throws his way. While searching for fresh victims for his master, Renfield crosses paths with Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz), the son of the notoritious Lobo crime family. The bloody aftermath catches the attention of police officer Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), who holds a grudge against the Lobos and is looking for an ally against them.

Even without doing any research, I could’ve told you from his performance alone, that Nicolas Cage is a massive fan of 1931’s Dracula. It’s pretty clear Robert Kirkman (who pitched the story but did not write the screenplay) and director Chris McKay are too. The film begins by showing us new versions of the most well-known scenes from the 1931 film, with the sets either recreated with immaculate attention to detail or the new actors digitally added in. For anyone who loves the Universal Monsters, it’s a delight to see new performers re-interpret the material. Remember the first time you saw the Spanish version of “Dracula”? It’s that exciting. Cage, in particular, is such a good fill-in for Bela Lugosi. Hoult doesn’t quite look like Dwight Frye and may not bring the same intensity to the role, but he turns out to be a wholly different kind of servant to this prince of darkness anyway, so it won’t bother you at all.

After the dynamite intro, we dig into the story. It’s a fun idea to show Renfield, now 90 years into his servitude, getting fed up with his situation. There are some good laughs as Dracula physically and emotionally abuses Renfield while he slowly builds the courage he needs to face this vampire he could never hope to defeat on his own. This Count doesn’t insta-die when exposed to sunlight, is super strong, immortal, able to fly, can transform into a swarm of bats, hypnotize people, turn into mist and recover from practically any injury given enough time and blood.

The problem with Renfield is that we don’t explore the vampire-familiar dynamic enough. The Lobos and Officer Quincy plot, with Renfield stuck in the middle, eats up about 60% of the film. While the scenes of Quincy and Renfield teaming up against a bunch of Lobos goons means there’s plenty of comedic gore, that's not what you came to see. Then, when we finally get back to Dracula, he announces he’s going to take over the world! With Renfield gaining superhuman strength and agility whenever he eats bugs, this horror-comedy (and I use the word horror in theory here, as none of this picture is even remotely frightening) starts to feel an awful lot like a superhero film. A superhero film that isn’t taking itself seriously but come on. I came here for a vampire movie with a fun anti-romance twist. Give me that!

Since I mentioned the gore, I want to praise the special effects. There are many shots of people get their arms torn off or getting ripped apart, gutted or dispatched in other hideous ways. In any other movie, you might ask “wait, how did they even manage to stand upright if they were that easy to turn to shreds?”. Here, it’s all part of the fun. The most impressive SFX are in the scenes showing Dracula in various states of injury. Be it a scorched skeleton that can talk or a gooey blood sucker with half his skull showing and all sorts of bits barely hanging on, it’s all mega gross and well done. I’m pretty sure most actors hate having to sit in chairs while tons of makeup are applied to them, but I’d wager that after seeing the results, Cage was like “oh yeah, I’m totally willing to do with 4-5 more times.”

In the end, I’m going to rate Renfield right down the middle. More than once, I was loving it. I felt like this movie had been made specifically for me. Far too often, however, it let me down. I know it probably doesn’t make any sense, but it’s a disappointment that I’m nonetheless glad I saw and have some affection for. (September 10, 2023)

[aimeedaisies]

BBC Factual announces Charles III: The Coronation Year, a new 90-minute documentary for BBC One and iPlayer

Published: 12:01 am, 24 November 2023

The cameras follow King Charles III and Queen Camilla through landmark moments of the first year of their reign, as they embrace their new roles and carry out their work and duties

Charles III: The Coronation Year is a new 90-minute documentary made by Oxford Films for BBC One and iPlayer. The film will offer a unique insight into the life of King Charles III and Queen Camilla and take viewers behind the scenes of the first year of the reign of King Charles. Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, it will air this December as part of the BBC’s Christmas offering.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, The King had to lead his family and the country in mourning. At the same time, he had to embrace his destiny on the most famous throne in the world.

With exclusive access, the cameras follow King Charles III and Queen Camilla through landmark moments of the first year of their reign, as they embrace their new roles and carry out their work and duties. Filmed as Buckingham Palace prepares for, delivers, and celebrates the first Coronation in 70 years, and in the months that followed, this historic documentary features contributions from members of the Royal Family and key players in The King and Queen’s Household.

With unrivalled insights from many of those involved, as well as moments of great poignancy and humour, this film gives a unique perspective on the inner workings behind a defining moment which marks a new era in the history of the monarchy.

CHARLES III: The Coronation Year is made by Oxford Films (1 x 90) for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The Executive Producer for Oxford Films is Nicolas Kent and the BBC Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Simon Young. It is directed by Ashley Gething, produced by Faye Hamilton and the writer and co-producer is Robert Hardman.

[triviareads]

What are your favorite Scottish romance novels?

I stuck to books that are mostly set in Scotland because I do have a few more favorites that have Scottish heroes and heroines but they don't have that Scottish setting that, imo, make a Scottish romance *Scottish*

Hannah and the Highlander by Sabrina York: This was recced to me by @jeanvanjer and it's one of my favorite underrated Scottish historicals; the hero Alexander aka THE WOLF OF DUNNET is this quiet, gruff laird who's so intimidating he just grunts at the man attempting to assault the heroine and he flees. Then Hannah tries to kiss Alexander as a thank you but then HE flees because he's wildly turned on and doesn't want to speak because he has a stutter, crippling Hannah's self-confidence and leaving Alexander with no doubt he's going to marry her without even knowing her name. He also misguidedly paints her bedroom walls brown because her eyes are brown and he thinks they're beautiful. And on TOP of all this, he houses orphans impacted by the Highland Clearances and quite frankly, idk how much better of a romance hero you can get.

In Bed with a Stranger by Mary Wine: Another gruff (but more rough) laird who's perpetually threatening to catch our English heroine every time she tries to run (including when she just steps out to fill her water bottle), but like, in a hot way. He also has a bit of a breeding kink. The plot itself is actually kind of bonkers— the heroine is illegitimate and her dad's wife devises a scheme to send her to marry the Scottish laird, and when she's preggo, she'll give the baby to her legitimate half-sister and the sister will take her place with the laird........ and he's just not supposed to notice??

Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson: A Scottish throuple consisting of James IV's ex mistress, a super repressed knight who's also a switch, and an innocent but horny debutante. Nicola isn't afraid to Go There when it comes to sex stuff, and her style is very earthy, bodice-ripper explicit, if that makes sense, and this is one of my favorites by her because of it.

Bed Me, Duke by Felicity Niven: The rare Scottish HEROINE rep! Helen is a Scottish countess in her own right and her land is in super dire straits so she asks for sex lessons from this random rake guy she comes across so she can seduce the local duke into getting money for her people, but she doesn't realize the guy is the duke.

The Chief by Monica McCarty: This takes place in medieval Scotland during the time of Robert the Bruce; Tor is the leader of a secret group of *elite* soldiers serving Bruce. The heroine Christina is forced to compromise him so they're hastily wed and while the chemistry is great, he's hiding his extracurricular soldier activities from her.

The Saint by Monica McCarty: So every title in the Highland Guard series refers to the hero's nickname and Magnus is nicknamed the Saint basically because everyone thinks he's tragically celibate and I'm pretty sure he is after being rejected by childhood sweetheart Helen, who is now betrothed to one of his fellow comrades. The vibes are very King Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot with a side of Persuasion.

The Recruit by Monica McCarty: The hero is Helen's brother Kenneth who did the most for me early on when the heroine Mary caught him having sex in the stables with another lady and he MAINTAINED EYECONTACT while finishing. Mary is a widow but basically hasn't had good sex before until Kenneth arrives on the scene.

[bobbie-robron]

We could end up losing everything for nothing.

21-Nov-2018

[123star3456]

i think robert was always chasing things for excitement and wanting more and chasing things for ulterior motives

Donna casual sex and make Katie jealous

nicola- infatuation/lose his virginity

Elaine- when he got bored of Donna

Katie was a prize to be won- he wanted to steal her because she was with Andy, I do think he also did take a real shine to her and thought he was in love with her but think fact he once he detached her from Andy he could not resist Sadie King shows their still something missing and the main attraction was because she was with Andy.

chrissie- money, status and maybe to get one over on lawrence, personally i never felt great love there, even on chrissie side she seemed more into andy than robert even though she married him but then andy maybe she seemed more into andy because she lost robert to cheating. which why she react bad to being cheated on again by his brother. i thnk probably did also take a shine to her and attracted to her personality

rebecca- i think he found bex attractive because she pretty but i think he more attracted to the danger of her being chrissie sister and her having a boyfriend 2 reasons why they shouldn't sleep together and been ego boost to get her into bed. no way would her personality would be someone robert would be with in a serious way

Sadie- again danger of affair, I think also because she a older powerful woman was the appeal/attraction and course materialistic things etc.

Debbie- simply to annoy and get one over on Andy by using her to take Sarah away.

Aaron- stands out to the others because Aaron was single, wasn't rich etc, I think also Aaron was his first true connection, he lowered his walls down to him in way didn't with anyone else, like scene HF robbery Robert pretty much almost telling his life story to Aaron re Lawrence. I personally think what drew Robert to Aaron was his personality alone and no ulterior motive like with Katie, Chrissie or was him just chasing excitement it was him truly meeting someone and having an connection with them. i think aaron is the first real love of robert life, someone he could be himself with and someone who truly accepted in probably for the first time in his life, i think katie, chrissie and rebecca only knew the robert he chose to show them, while aaron actually saw the real robert. i think his love for katie and chrissie was wrapped up in other motives and never fully gave himself to them the way he did aaron which is why he reverts to old behaviour when he feels rejected by aaron because he experiencing real heartbreak and can't just use aaron and toss him aside, i do think he devestated when he lost katie and chrissie because he loved them in a way he could back then but he able to get over them. but aaron is like a different ball park it was losing his home, soulmate, best friend, love of his life etc.

personally i feel same with aaron

jackson was first boyfriend and was him coming and a lot of guilt, jackson was always trying change aaron and guilt him etc, plus fact jackson even said when know you love someone you know it. i think he grew to love jackson as first love/coming out etc and lot guilt wrapped up in the relationship

while robert was the first intense love and think the first time he knew actual love like danny said robert is only person aaron really loved, i think robert and aaron loved/liked others in ways they knew how then but they the only real love of each other's lives.

[myhahnestopinion]

THE AARONS 2023 - Best Supporting Film Performance

Christopher Reeve will not be nominated for his part in The Flash this year. Hopefully, you’ll believe a man can die and rest in peace. Here is The Aaron for Best Supporting Film Performance:

WINNER: Ryan Gosling as Ken - Barbie

Gosling broke the mold in his performance in order to beach off his competitors for this award. Certainly, the actor modeled himself after well-known features of the popular toy in many regards, but his clueless characterization let his Ken take on a life of his own. Infused with the highest of himbo energies, The Nice Guys star reaffirmed his comedic chops and retained Ken’s sympathetic core throughout his curious character arc. Gosling goes on to accessorize this performance with delightful scenes of singing, dancing, and expert guitar playing, but he had more than (k)enough talent to win even without those.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss - Oppenheimer

Downey shines at the slimy Strauss, a role that stands in stark contrast to his suave superhero. 

Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie - BlackBerry

Howerton’s deftness for dialing up indignation continues to rate him as a five star man.

Nicolas Cage as Dracula - Renfield

It’s ironic, given the subject matter, how dependent Renfield’s entertainment is on Cage’s batty performance.

Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius Flickerman - The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Viewers will surely flip for the deadpan delivery of Schwartzman’s anchorman.

NEXT UP: THE 2023 AARON FOR BEST SCREENPLAY!

[thecrimecrypt]

Crimes That Shook Britain (North West)

Moors Murders Not just notorious in the UK, the name Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are synonymous with evil worldwide. In the 1960s the twisted couple tortured and violently murdered Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, 12, Keith Bennett, 12, Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17.

During their killing spree, Brady and Hindley posed for photos at the murder scenes and gravesites on Saddleworth Moor, near Manchester.

Both were convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to life. Hindley died behind bars in 2002, aged 60. She was so despised that 20 local undertakers refused to handle her body. Brady spent 19 years in standard prisons before being transferred to a high-security psychiatric hospital where he died in 2017 at the age of 79.

The Murders of PCs Bone and Hughes In November 2012, wanted killer Dale Cregan, 29, had made a hoax call to police. When PC Nicola Hughes, 23, and PC Fiona Bone, 32, attended, Cregan fired 32 bullets at them and launched a grenade before driving off. Both officers died.

In February 2013, Cregan admitted both murders at Preston Crown Court. He was given a whole life order, and also convicted of two other murders and three attempted murders.

Then-PM David Cameron honoured PC Bone and PC Hughes, calling their murders ‘an act of pure evil’.

Harold Shipman Britain’s most prolific serial killer, GP Harold Shipman, worked in The Hyde area of Manchester. In January 2000, he was found guilty of murdering 15 of his patients by lethal injection.

Sentenced to life, it was recommended he never be released. After the trial, an inquiry concluded Shipman had actually killed an estimated 250 victims.

Shipman killed himself in Wakefield Prison in January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday.

The Murder of James Bulger The unforgettable CCTV footage remains as chilling as it was back in 1993. Little James Bulger, 2, being led by the hand from The New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Liverpool, by the boys who’d go on to kill him.

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, walked the tot for over two miles to railway tracks where they murdered him.

When James’ body was found, he had multiple skull fractures and other injuries that suggested he’d been hit with a metal bar and bricks, kicked and stamped on.

Thompson and Venables became Britain’s youngest convicted murderers in November 1993 for what the judge called ‘an act of unparalleled evil and barbarity’.

The Murder of Anthony Walker At 11pm on 29 July 2005, popular student Anthony Walker, 18, and his cousin walked his girlfriend to the bus stop in Huyton, Liverpool.

As they passed a pub, thug Michael Barton shouted racist abuse at the group, which they ignored. But later, Barton and his friend Paul Taylor ambushed the teenagers.

Anthony’s cousin and girlfriend escaped, while Anthony was killed by Taylor with a blow to the head from an ice axe. That December, Paul Taylor, 20, got 23 years for murder. Michael Barton, 17, got 17 years, reduced by a year in 2016.

Derrick Bird It was the UK’s worst mass shooting since the 1996 Dunblane massacre. In June 2010, taxi driver Derrick Bird, 52, left his home in Rowrah, Cumbria, drove to the home of David, his twin, and shot and killed him.

Then he drove to his family solicitor Kevin Commons’ home and shot him dead, too. His next victim was a fellow taxi driver. By now, police were hunting Bird and told residents of nearby towns to stay indoors. But by the time Bird’s body was found at 1:40pm, he’d killed 12 people and left 25 injured before shooting himself.

At an inquest into Derrick Bird’s death, a medical expert described him as ‘delusional and paranoid’. He’d apparently murdered his brother and solicitor believing they were in cahoots against him over a tax bill. He’d targeted his workmate over a jibe that’d been made over his personal hygiene.

But no one could ever offer a satisfactory explanation of this senseless, devastating crime.

[brokehorrorfan]

Renfield will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on June 6 via June 6 via Universal Pictures. Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage star in the horror-comedy about Dracula’s loyal servant.

Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War) directs from a script by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty), based on an idea by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Brandon Scott Jones round out the cast.

Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by producer Samantha Nisenboim, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and crew

Monsters & Men: Behind the Scenes of Renfield featurette

Dracula UnCaged featurette

Stages of Rejuvenation featurette 

Flesh & Blood featurette

Fighting Dirty featurette 

Deleted & extended scenes

Alternate takes

The Making of a Deleted Scene: Renfield’s Dance featurette 

Nicholas Hoult stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.

Pre-order Renfield.