#roger neill

[larapeteira]

Falling to a Devilish Exercise

Season 1 Episode 2 ‘Fifth Chair’

[I’ve had this episode (and the rest of season 1) kicking around as drafts pretty much since I did the pilot, and it’s really about time that I got on with them. We will call this episode the difficult second album.]

The orchestral version of ‘Lisztomania’ gets its first outing as opening titles for the series in this episode. The classical cover of a contemporary track with historical inspiration acts as a calling card for the series’ perspective on music: that what matters most is to make it, and vividly. More than this though its title speaks to the plot of this episode in a specific sense. Like the Ken Russell film its an example of how creative enthusiasm can lead to carnage.

‘Think less but see it grow’

As presented to us at the beginning of the series, Rodrigo’s global, cosmopolitan free-spirited, but ultimately self-centred vision of life shapes how he approaches the orchestra. In the ‘Pra não parar de Sambar’ sequence his appreciation of music is instinctive: he enjoys the busker’s playing, he pays her $100. Later, Hailey plays with the blood, so he finds a way to have her play with the NY Symphony. To his mind it’s all very simple and perfectly natural. At this point he’s coming to the orchestra as multiple musicians, not yet as its conductor. He’s driven by a love for each of their individual contributions.

Combining these factors, we get the main musical theme of this episode: Faustian pacts. Mahler’s 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) is ultimately swapped for Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. It’s almost immaterial whether or not Rodrigo intends to stage the works in full, both pieces are gargantuan. His underlying arrogance/overweening ambition and constant movement are the real problems. He makes his pact with his own enthusiasm and in this episode we see what follows when it outstrips his sense of practicality.

‘Follow, misguide, stand still/ Discuss, discourage’

I really enjoy how the Mahler conveys the ripple effects of Rodrigo’s decision to put it on the programme. The tension in the repetition of the piu mosso spreads into Lizzy and neighbour Stan’s annoyance at Hailey’s endless practising. On the one hand she suffers for Rodrigo’s pursuit of instinct, ending the episode out in the wilderness as the orchestra strikes up the Rákóczi March.  Her position as fifth chair is shaky and all too dispensable. Centring the story on her shows that the charm of his whimsy can only go so far.

On the other hand she is suffering the consequences of her own enthusiastic pact. There are advantages to getting to play with the orchestra, whether for her career or simply sharing the joy of their comradeship, and Hailey’s not blind to their enticements. Still its failure is a salutary reminder to be strategic about opportunities and to be wary of being too starry-eyed about people.

It tolls for three

Narratively and musically, Rodrigo and Hailey’s connection is apparent from the start, but there’s also Thomas to contend with. He appears to have detached himself from the situation, lost in his own wilderness, and this is reflected in the music. He’s still focussing on Rodrigo’s comments from the pilot about his conducting of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D. Yet at the heart of the episode - its musical hinge -  La Campanella signals a warning for all three characters.  Ultimately the music in this episode serves to establish the similarities in all their temperaments and aspirations, the variations playing out in their respective career and life stages.

[chernobog13]

Superman arrives in time to rescue Lois and Jimmy from some modern day pirates.

[cinemaquiles]

TOP 5: seleção de filmes do diretor Roger Donaldson para maratonar no streaming!

[vintagetvstars]

CLOSED! Preliminary Hot Vintage TV Men List

Alright folks! We have one week left on submissions for the Hot Vintage TV Men's Bracket! As promised here is a list of all the Hot Vintage TV Men who have been submitted and passed our preliminary eligibility checks. There are a handful of guys on this list and one or two not on it that we are currently still debating on so reminder that this list is not final and subject to change.

Currently we have 231 Hot Vintage TV Men!

Also in advance of the competition I'd like to remind anyone submitting propaganda for someone that starred in a show that aired only partially during our timeframe or was under 18 for a part of a shows filming, to please make sure you are only submitting propaganda that is from within our timeframe and when the actor was 18 years or older. This is also just good to keep in mind in general as several people submitted actors for shows that aren't eligible for our tournament either because it was outside our time period or in one case the actor was underaged for the entirety of the show (though many were eligible for other shows they were submitted for). We do our best to screen for these things but sometimes it's hard to tell or it’s a show we don't personally know well enough so we appreciate help from y'all letting us know if you do catch anything.

List below the cut

Preliminary Hot Vintage TV Men List

Dick Van Dyke

Alan Alda

Hugh Laurie

Peter Falk

Adam West

Donnie Wahlberg

Kevin McDonald

Scott Thompson

David Duchovny

Henry Winkler

Leonard Nimoy

Scott Bakula

James Garner

Tom Selleck

Dave Foley

John Astin

Joe Lando

Patrick Troughton

William Shatner

DeForest Kelley

Michael Ontkean

Russell Johnson

Kyle MacLachlan

Bruce McCulloch

William Hopper

George Clooney

Jeffrey Combs

Michael Horse

Mark McKinney

Jensen Ackles

Alejandro Rey

Mitch Pileggi

David Cassidy

Jeremy Brett

Anthony Head

George Takei

David Selby

Rod Serling

Paul Gross

Desi Arnaz

Tom Baker

Richard Dean Anderson

David Keith McCallum

Richard Chamberlain

Charles Shaughnessy

David James Elliot

Vincent Van Patten

Darren E. Burrows

David Hyde Pierce

Randolph Mantooth

Ricardo Montalban

Gene Anthony Ray

William Hartnell

Patrick McGoohan

René Auberjonois

Alexander Siddig

Reece Shearsmith

Michael T. Weiss

William Shockley

Spencer Rochfort

Danny John-Jules

David Hasselhoff

Conner Trinneer

Patrick Stewart

Jonathan Frakes

Paolo Montalban

Scott Patterson

Armin Shimerman

Anthony Andrews

David Schwimmer

Blair Underwood

Sylvester McCoy

Andrew Robinson

Pierce Brosnan

Thorsten Kaye

Anthony Starke

Darren McGavin

Clint Eastwood

Joseph Marcell

Michael Vartan

Richard Ayoade

George Maharis

Michael J. Fox

Dwayne Hickman

John de Lancie

Andre Braugher

Robert Carlyle

Dean Stockwell

Matthew Perry

Robert Fuller

Michael Hurst

Dana Ashbrook

Jonathan Frid

Dirk Benedict

Martin Milner

Demond Wilson

Robert Conrad

Telly Savalas

Peter Davison

Michael Praed

Jason Bateman

David Tennant

Brian Blessed

Miguel Ferrer

Micky Dolenz

Wayne Rogers

Mike Farrell

Michael Dorn

Cesar Romero

Eddie Albert

Nate Richert

Nicholas Lea

Brent Spiner

Dick Gautier

John Corbett

Jeremy Irons

David Suchet

Raymond Burr

LeVar Burton

David Wenham

Clint Walker

Larry Hagman

John Goodman

Matt LeBlanc

Tom Smothers

Erik Estrada

Jeremy Sisto

Colm Meaney

Stephen Fry

Ted Bessell

Ron Perlman

Luke Halpin

Ted Cassidy

Kevin Sorbo

John Cleese

Colin Firth

Colin Baker

Fred Rogers

Ben Browder

Keir Dullea

Randy Boone

Kent McCord

Jimmy Smits

Mark Lenard

Jon Pertwee

Fred Grandy

Mark Hamill

Ted Danson

Adam Brody

Noah Wiley

Eric Close

Lee Majors

Jamie Farr

Tony Danza

Kabir Bedi

Seth Green

Rik Mayall

Hal Linden

Diego Luna

Peter Tork

Sean Bean

Sam Neill

Eric Idle

Ted Lange

John Shea

Ron Glass

Tony Dow

Mr. T

John Hurt

Avery Brooks 

Billy Dee Williams 

James Marsters 

Robert Vaughn 

Kevin Smith 

Davy Jones 

Luke Perry 

Robert Duncan McNeill 

Simon MacCorkindale 

Keith Hamilton Cobb 

Chad Michael Murray 

James Earl Jones 

Bruce Boxleitner 

Timothy Olyphant 

Andreas Katsulas 

Valentine Pelka 

Peter Wingfield 

Sebastian Cabot 

Michael Nesmith 

Timothy Dalton 

Michael Shanks 

Joshua Jackson 

Michael O’Hare 

Robert Beltran 

Simon Williams 

Paul Johannson 

Daniel Dae Kim 

David Boreanaz 

Boris Karloff 

Robert Wagner 

Brandon Quinn  

Walter Koenig 

Richard Hatch 

Christian Kane  

Francis Capra  

Nathan Fillion 

John Forsythe 

Patrick Duffy 

Tony Shalhoub 

Ioan Gruffudd 

Garrett Wang  

Joe Flanigan  

Rider Strong  

Michael Tylo 

Bruce Willis 

Skeet Ulrich  

Jeff Conaway 

Paul McGann 

Scott Cohen 

Mario Lopez  

Martin Kove 

John Stamos 

Judd Hirsch 

Johnny Depp 

Tom Welling 

Matt Bomer 

Grant show 

David Soul  

Bob Crane  

Tim Russ 

Rob Lowe 

Neil Patrick Harris 

[dweemeister]

Whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I.

Born to a turbulent family on a Mississippi farm, James Earl Jones passed away today. He was ninety-three years old. Abandoned by his parents as a child and raised by a racist grandmother (although he later reconciled with his actor father and performed alongside him as an adult), the trauma of his childhood developed into a stutter that followed him through his primary school years – sometimes, his stutter was so debilitating, he could not speak at all. In high school, Jones found in an English teacher someone who found in him a talent for written expression, and encouraged him to write and recite poetry in class. He overcame his stutter by graduation, although the effects of it carried over for the remainder of his life.

Jones' most accomplished roles may have been on the Broadway stage, where he won three Tonys (twice winning Best Actor in a Play for originating the lead roles in 1969's The Great White Hope by Howard Sackler and 1987's Fences by August Wilson) and was considered one of the best Shakespearean actors of his time.

But his contributions to cinema left an impact on audiences, too. Jones received an Honorary Academy Award alongside makeup artist Dick Smith (1972's The Godfather, 1984's Amadeus) in 2011. From the end of Hollywood's Golden Age to the dawn of the summer Hollywood blockbuster in the 1970s to the present, Jones' presence – and his basso profundo voice – could scarcely be ignored. Though he could not sing like Paul Robeson nor had the looks of Sidney Poitier, his presence and command put him in league of both of his acting predecessors.

Ten of the films James Earl Jones appeared in, whether in-person or voice acting, follow (left-right, descending):

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – directed by Stanley Kubrick; also starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens

The Great White Hope (1970) – directed by Martin Ritt; also starring Jane Alexander, Chester Morris, Hal Holbrook Beah Richards, and Moses Gunn

Star Wars saga (1977-2019; A New Hope pictured) – multiple directors, as the voice of Darth Vader, also starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz

Claudine (1974) – directed by John Berry; also starring Diahann Carroll, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Tamu Blackwell

Conan the Barbarian (1982) – directed by John Milius; also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ben Davidson, Cassandra Gaviola, Gerry Lopez, Mako, Valerie Quennessen, William Smith, and Max von Sydow

Coming to America series (1988 and 2021; original pictured) – multiple directors; also starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, and KiKi Layne

The Hunt for Red October (1990) – directed by John McTiernan; also starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill

The Sandlot (1993) – directed by David Mickey Evans; also staring Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Adams, Grant Gelt, Shane Obedzinski, Victor DiMattia, Denis Leary, and Karen Allen

The Lion King (1994) – directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, as the voice of Mufasa; also starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, and Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, and Madge Sinclair

Field of Dreams (1989) – directed by Phil Alden Robinson; also starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster

[lordeasriel]

Lady Frances Croft from my short story The Sleepwalker. (and the dark version from Jonathan's dreams)

"Lady Croft exuded some kind of unnatural plainliness. Jonathan knew that tactic well. Whisperers often resorted to such tactics when they needed to create dissent, or so he had been taught, but the truth lay there somewhere between the lines of good and evil. Most of them had an intense expression, something that showed they had seen things not meant for their eyes, and while nothing branded a Whisperer, that was one of the many signs they showed. The kind of power they wielded was not something to be taken lightly, either by them nor others.

He knew what she was, knew it before she could ever say it out loud, their eyes crossing on the alley and showing, with as much subterfuge as each of them could manage, their fear, though they hadn't recognised it on the other.

And ever since they had seen each other, she had been haunting him day and night. He knew no Whisperers who could control dreams and warp them into horrid nightmares, but she was there, often, looking eerily with white eyes and body covered in runes written out of blood. His memories of her flickered and shifted, up until he no longer recognised her except for the husk that followed him in his sleep. Hunted, more like. That creature was relentless and it had been there for a while, long before he even knew Lady Croft, so while it took her shape, he tried his best to believe that was not her. His imagination played terrible tricks, but part of him still felt the lingering presence of power on his current nightmares. How powerful could she be, anyway? Without her source of power, her altar, he would never be sure.

His mind wandered, knowing she was watching him from across the room, her very normal and plain self version. Well, she tried to look plain, but at the end of the day, it wasn't as easy as it seemed, and while he would never admit it, the real Lady Croft was far more unsettling than any monsters from his dreams.

He had been trying to find the altar for weeks but with no success. Mary hadn't shared and he had sneaked about but couldn't find it anywhere in the house. He had entertained the idea it might have been somewhere far from the house, perhaps in possession of the masked musicians whom she had defended so strongly, but the altars were so specific and had to represent stability. It had to be close enough to her, and the closest place was her home, but where would it be?

Unsure, he had made the decision to go back to the interrogation room. Through the fake mirror, he watched her while Lady Croft sat patiently, legs crossed, arms relaxed on the table. Her eyes were stuck in the mirror and he moved around only to see her following him despite the fact she could not see him. She could not even know he was there, but she knew, because she watched him like a predator waiting for its prey.

The whole experience gave him goosebumps and he knew that in order to face her, he would have to be in full control of his emotions. She hadn't moved her body ever since he entered the room, except her eyes following him, and that showed the immense resolve she possessed.

He knew he shouldn't have told Neill about her nature. He hadn't promised her anything but it had been implied that the fact she was a Whisperer had to be secretly guarded. Watching her so smug had annoyed him though, enough that he lost his mind if only for a second.

Across the mirror, her lips quivered for a second and Jonathan breathed out, moving out of the observation room to the one where she was.

He walked in, silent, and sat across her, this time taking the central chair. Leaning on his elbows, he studied her face with care and found that her smirk never really reached her eyes. This wasn't fun for her at all, he realised. What a stunning liar she was!

"This doesn't have to be hard, you know. I'm sure you killed Sir Roger for a very good reason."

"I didn't kill him."

"You don't have to hide from me. I know who you are, Lady Frances." He reached out to her hand and she scoffed, pulling away slowly.

"Who am I, then?" She drummed her fingers on the table. "You don't know me at all, Jonathan. If you did, you would have shown some respect. After everything, to tell the inspector—"

"He deserves to know the truth."

"The truth wasn't yours to tell and, no, he didn't have to learn about this. It has nothing to do with him." Jonathan noticed her hands shaking just slightly. There was the beginning of wrath in her voice, but she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. "I am what I am for so many reasons you can't comprehend, Jonathan, and I trusted you the other night and told you some of my secrets because I wanted to believe you were different, but you disappointed me."

"You killed sir Roger because he found out you were a Whisperer, didn't you?"

Lady Croft smiled a knowing smirk and he felt the hairs on his neck rise. He had seen that smirk before, bloodied, as she clawed and fed on him like a beast. His dreams had been so real he felt everything in the strangest experience of his life, so he watched her now seeking comfort in the fact she was real, but somehow that only made him feel worse.

"Oh, Jonathan. You aren't even close to the truth." She clicked her tongue and leaned on the table, closing in the distance between them and he instinctively mimicked her gesture. "You see, I didn't kill Sir Roger, as I've told you many times. That night, at your home, I explained to you that I knew Sir Roger was Brotherhood, and that I was cautious around him.'

"Did he threaten you? Blackmailed you? Because he must have known you were a Whisperer."

"Why is his life more worthy of your pity than that of those the Brotherhood butchers?" She scoffed lightly. "I tried to trust you, Jonathan, I did my best to believe you were a good man, but you showed me that I was wrong to do that."

She lowered her voice even more now, to a point where he had to lean closer to her to listen. Perfume engulfed him and the little imperfections of her skin were more visible. There were wrinkles on her forehead and she seemed tired so up close.

"I should have known what kind of person you were. Mary will be even more disappointed, but I suppose one has to learn with life anyway."

"Don't bring her into this."

"Really? Because as far as I remember, you were the one who brought her into this. Toying with her feelings just to get her to turn on me, then betraying her and having her arrested, knowing that I would intervene."

"Sign your confession and this is over." He managed to say but she was doing a great job of tormenting him even from a position where she shouldn't have been able to do so. "None of this would be happening if you hadn't murdered an innocent man."

"Every Brotherhood man out there is dishonourable and a murderer but all you care about is to hound a Whisperer you happened to cross paths with." Lady Croft shook her head with disapproval and she seemed genuinely upset. "Judging me and tormenting me just because they told you all Whisperers are evil, but you are the true evil of this world, with your arrogance and your prejudice."

She rested on her chair, watching him closely.

"By telling the inspector who I am, you've done an immense harm to me and those around me, but I will do for you what you will never do for me, Jonathan. Troubled as you are, I'll let you keep your job by not telling the inspector what happened between us."

He swallowed hard, knowing what the implications of that meant. Not that he has thought about that then, but he should have, because as usual, consequences were coming hard at him.

"He wouldn't believe you. Neill may not fully think you guilty, but he trusts me."

"He trusts you now, because he knows who you used to be." She grinned unpleasantly. "The moment I say you and I were intimate, that is done for, especially now he knows I am a Whisperer. He will immediately distrust you and he will be forced to let you go."

"You assume too much. He understands I can resist the power."

Lady Croft's smile grew larger now. Her attitude resembled a hungry animal, ready to pounce.

"Can you, now?" She drummed her fingers on the table, resting against her chair with a smug attitude. Her eyes followed his movements closely, even his breathing, attentive to all details.

Doubt crept in, though Jonathan knew there were no reasons for that. The mark of the Brotherhood protected him, it had for many years, there was no reason to doubt it wouldn't now but her words rotted within his mind in a manner of seconds and fear showed itself through the cracks of his impassive nature.

[world-cinema-research]

Jurassic Park (1993) short essay By Everett Hunt

Jurassic Park (1993) is the first film in the absolutely massive Jurassic World franchise and sets the bar high. It is a thrilling film that pushed the boundaries of what was possible in movies with special effects and CGI. In this essay I will be covering the critical reception, weather the film was Conventional or unconventional, historical significance, as well as the content of the film. I will also be covering some of the differences that this film has with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).

Overall, the critical reception of the film was positive, although there were some aspects of the film that were criticized. In a review by Roger Ebert, he states "The movie delivers all too well on its promise to show us dinosaurs. We see them early and often, and they are indeed a triumph of special effects artistry, but the movie is lacking other qualities that it needs even more, such as a sense of awe and wonderment, and strong human story values." This quotation from his review sums up his opinions on the film. Although he appreciates the amazing special effects present in the film, he believes that many other aspects of the films, especially the characters, are lacking. Having watched the movie myself, I disagree with this assessment. I thought that the characters and story were well made. They weren't incredibly original; however I feel that it delivered on everything that I was hoping the film would be.

Above is the trailer for the film. This trailer is useful in assessing the film for a couple of reasons. One reason is because it shows that the movie is clearly a thriller that tries to keep the audience on edge. It is also significant because it shows off some of the CGI and special effects that were used in the film, which was a big part in the film's success.

"Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?" -Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill)

Above is a quotation from the film. This quotation shows one of the main plot points of the film, which is that it isn't possible to control the dinosaurs that they have created.

One important historical event that was happening at the time that was extremely important to the creation of the film was the Human Genome Project. This was a project with the goal of mapping the entire human genome which people thought could potentially lead to the ability to tamper with human genes. This was extremely important to the film because one of the main points of the film was that you should not every tamper with nature or genetics. At the time of this film's release, there were many people debating on whether it was moral to tamper with DNA and also about the moral responsibilities of doing so. I believe that this active debate was one of the reasons why this film was so successful.

This film has many similarities and differences to the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I will be stating some of the differences here. The biggest difference between the two films is the genre of film. Jurassic park is a thriller, while The Texas Chainsaw massacre is a horror film. This distinction is clearly seen through the endings of the films. While Jurassic Park has a happy ending with the main characters getting home safe, the ending to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre sees the survival of only one lone girl who is scarred for life. This distinction is also seen through the emotions of the viewers of the films. In Jurassic park, the viewers may be in suspense and on the edge of their seats, but they are never actually scared.

In conclusion, Jurassic Park is a classic film that pushed the boundaries of special effects at the time. It was made to be a box office success and absolutely succeeded in this goal. The critical reception of the film was mostly positive with a few critiques. Lastly, it covered and was very opinionated about a very contentious topic of the time.

[lisrox]

golden hair

streaming out when we’d ride

through the warm wind down by the bay

[borealopelta]

fic writer interview

tagged by @regseekings thank you sooo much <3

How many works do you have on AO3? 38

What’s your total AO3 word count? 129,960

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? i was something made for god to label fragile (now i'm stuck) (1,133) - Our Flag Means Death, stede/izzy/ed out of time, eternal heatstroke (631) - Our Flag Means Death, stede/izzy/ed sure as the sun come up from the south (371) - Our Flag Means Death, stede/izzy/ed steppin' around in a desert of joy (301) - Ted Lasso, isaac/colin I'm a stitch away from making it (and a scar away from falling apart) (279) - IT movies, richie/eddie

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? yes !! it takes some time usually but i want people to know i appreciate them taking the time to say nice things :)

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? i'd sayyy uh a carnival bear set free, which is a sumner/drax dead dove fic and leads directly into the endgame of the book which is angsty as hell in itself

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? most of them have a happy ending!! i'm nice!! but my most recent one, eyes on the horizon (chuck/roger) has a cute ending that i really like :)

Do you write crossovers? nope, i don't like to read them, write even less. i have attempted a fusion/AU of existing media or two before but none of those have been published

Have you ever received hate on a fic? crabsolutely, some people will leave death threats in guest comments and that's just how it goes

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yeah!! less so lately because i'm just not vibing with it atm, but i looove writing smut. i think i cover the whole spectrum of vanilla to kinky

Have you ever had a fic stolen? no thank god. i love tiny fandom

Have you ever had a fic translated? nope!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? no, and i don't want to either

What’s your all-time favourite ship? sighhhh i don't know, they come and go. i'm perpetually fond of tom hartnell/ john irving of the terror fame and doc thorne/eddie carr from the lost world (the novel) but it comes and goes

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? my lost world longfic........girliepop you are NOT getting done 😭

What are your writing strengths? i think i'm okay at vivid descriptions and getting characters' personalities mostly right :)

What are your writing weaknesses? long plots, group scenes, dialogue/description balance if i'm not 100% clear on what i want to accomplish in the scene (either too much dialogue or too little. good lord)

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? with good reason it's okay. i've read very very bad things where the foreign dialogue was just jarringly out of place and it put me off it p much for good

What was the first fandom you wrote for? sigh. hollywood undead rpf 👍

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? i reallllly want to write hunt for red october fic.........stupid as hell but it's in my brain so much !! ramius/borodin intrigues me greatly (i think sean connery and sam neill should have kissed)

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written? hmmm.... i think it's let me under your skin, my small eastern european village armitozer au. i really really really love the vibe of it, it means a lot to me, and i'm still very happy with it almost 3 years after posting (jesus christ) which is very rare for me. read it :) or not. but i do like it so so much

[ronnymerchant]

George Reeves,don’t know,Noel Neill and Gene LaBell-SUPERMAN (1952-1958)

Gene LaBell was a stuntman/actor who was also in theses superhero movies/shows-

.the GREEN HORNET (1966) TV

.MAN FROM ATLANTIS (1977) TV

.the INCREDIBLE HULK (1977) TV

.BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1979) TV

.DARKMAN (1990)

.BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997)

.MYSTERY MEN (1999)

.SPIDERMAN 2 (2004)

click to enlarge

[bzedan]

May! Officially springtime, I wanted my May playlist to key off of 'Les Fleurs' by Minnie Riperton, a song my bff shared in our family discord and has haunted me since (positive).

This playlist put itself together pretty quickly, and basically was in its final form by mid-month. And, since part of the whole point of me even starting doing monthly playlists was because I am prone listening to the same playlists over and over (and over), I had no problem spending two weeks of workdays listening to the same series of songs. It's comforting! My comfort playlist is six songs long and I used to play it on a loop through most of a workday at a Bad Place I Worked. Three hours of syrupy spring joy every day was a delight.

The vibe for May was, if I may quote what I sent my bestie in describing it: "Flowers and joy sweetness and fierceness is the vibes, Middle finger in a lace glove." I mean, I think I achieved that, anyway.

Several covers on this one, like the Cowboy Junkies covering Vic Chesnutt 'Flirted With You All My Life,' which is a hard one to cover for a lot of reasons but this is (to me) a successful attempt. The 'Goodbye Horses' cover by Dead On A Sunday is also a new favourite, it doesn't really change much about it, but it's just a good damn song. The Cardigans singing 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' hit me so unexpectedly, I was delighted.

Related media to some of the songs:

I enjoy the music video for Indigo De Souza's 'You Can Be Mean'. 

An Dro's arrangement of the Hieronymus Bosch butt music is probably my favourite version, and I'm grateful to this Tumblr post for introducing this artist to me.

There are two songs from Schmigadoon! season two in here, if you can find a way to watch it (Apple TV+) and are a musicals fan you're in for a treat. It's a damn tragedy how they've got so few clips for this show and were consistently late in sharing what little they had or in making songs available quickly on Spotify. It's a musical show! You're a giant network! Anyway, enjoy this Chicago-inspired piece that is not on this playlist but is a delight nonetheless.

Anyway here's a link to May's playlist on Spotify, with the track list below the cut.

Also embedded if you like that:

'Les Fleurs' - Minnie Riperton  

'Like Her Before' - Em and Dzeej  

'You Can Be Mean' - Indigo De Souza  

'Feel The Way I Want' - Caroline Rose  

'Temba, Tumba Y Timba' - Los Van Van  

'Army Dreamers - 2018 Remaster' - Kate Bush  

'Hieronymus Bosch Butt Music' - An Dro  

'Friends' - Ween  

'Replacements (feat. La Roux)' - Chromeo  

'Scarborough Fair / Canticle' - Simon & Garfunkel  

'Athena' - Tristen  

'Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall' - Simon & Garfunkel  

'Wear Your Love Like Heaven' - Donovan  

'Petals' - Mariah Carey  

'Lady May' - Tyler Childers  

'Miracle' - Caravan Palace  

'Hothouse Flower' - Tristen  

'Lavender' - Oneida  

'Sussudio' - Phil Collins  

'For Real' - Mallrat  

'Invisible Light' - Scissor Sisters  

'This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)' - Talking Heads  

'Cut To The Feeling' - Carly Rae Jepsen  

'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' - The Cardigans  

'Babalon' - Twin Temple  

'Bustin' Out' - Dove Cameron  

'Concerto In G' - Roger Neill  

'Goodbye Horses' - Dead On A Sunday  

'Faraway Look' - Yola  

'Paradise' - Sade  

'Electric Feel' - MGMT  

'Sugar on My Tongue - 2005 Remaster' - Talking Heads  

'Sweet About Me' - Gabriella Cilmi  

'Suspended In Gaffa - 2018 Remaster' - Kate Bush  

'So Sweet' - Nurses  

'The Windmills Of Your Mind - Mono Version' - Dusty Springfield  

'Bitter Sweet Symphony' - The Verve  

'The Orchids' - Psychic TV  

'Patchouli in the Morning / The Outlier' - An Dro  

'Sugar Daddy' - Thompson Twins  

'Kaput' - Dove Cameron  

'Sweet Turns Sour' - Macy Rodman  

'Savoir Faire' - Beth Ditto  

'Sweet Poison' - Naked Eyes  

'Violet' - Hole  

'Eat The Acid' - Kesha  

'Wave Catalyst (Low Tide)' - Pacific Coliseum  

'Flowers - Medieval Style Instrumental' - Stantough  

'Time Bandits' - Angel Olsen  

'Flirted With You All My Life' - Cowboy Junkies  

'Then Came the Last Days of May' - Blue Öyster Cult

[bornforastorm]

🎵 music tag game 🎶

13 songs i've been listening to lately in no particular order

tagged by my dearest @boasamishipper and then I forgot to do it for daaays

Strange Overtones, David Byrne

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Allison Ponthier

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Joan Baez

Stay, Cat Power

Blame Brett, The Beaches

Hey Lover, Daughters of Eve

Fast Car, Tracy Chapman

Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

Me & Magdelena, The Monkees

In Yun (from Past Lives), Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen

Magazine Printing (from Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Nate Heller

Motherless Country (from Motherless Brooklyn), Daniel Pemberton

Beginner's Theme Suite (from Beginners), Brian Reitzell, Roger Neill & Dave Palmer

taaagging: @iamdbcooper @majorbaby @marley-manson @anintelligentoctopus @born-to-run @ireallyamabear and whoever else would care to!

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

FOLLOW YOUR HEART TO HALLMARK CHANNEL’S ORIGINAL SERIES SUNDAY NIGHTS (Slight Spoilers)

SUSPICION CONTINUES TO RISE AROUND MONTAGUE IN EPISODE EIGHT OF ‘WHEN CALLS THE HEART,’ PREMIERING SEPTEMBER 10, ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

STUDIO CITY – August 18, 2023 – On “When Calls the Heart,” Elizabeth grows suspicious of Montague because of all the construction taking place on the land that Madeline now owns in, “What Is and What Never Should Be,” premiering Sunday, September 17 (9 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel.

The series stars Erin Krakow (“The Wedding Cottage”), Pascale Hutton (“We Wish You a Married Christmas”), Jack Wagner (“A Big Fat Family Christmas”), Kavan Smith (“Big Sky River”), Chris McNally (“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies”), Kevin McGarry (“The Wedding Veil Expectations”), Andrea Brooks (“Romance to the Rescue”), Martin Cummins (“Riverdale”), Kayla Wallace (“My Grown-Up Christmas List”), Loretta Walsh (“Love on Fire”), Amanda Wong (“Raise a Glass to Love”), Johannah Newmarch (“Gabby Duran & The Unsittables”), Viv Leacock (“Cruel Instruction”), Natasha Burnett (“The Journey Ahead”), Ben Rosenbaum (“It Was Always You”), Hrothgar Mathews (“Motherland: Fort Salem”), Jaeda Lily Miller (“Starbeam”) and Hyland Goodrich (“When Calls the Heart”).

Elizabeth (Krakow) encourages Gowen (Cummins) to seek forgiveness from Rosaleen (Mamie Laverock, “Spotlight on Christmas”) to heal old wounds. Meanwhile Montague (Benjamin Wilkinson, “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies”) continues to raise suspicion.

“When Calls the Heart” is from WCTH 10 Productions Inc. Erin Krakow, Susie Belzberg, Michael Shepard, Eric Jarboe, Jimmy Townsend, Lindsay Sturman, Brad Krevoy, Brian Bird, Michael Landon Jr., Vicki Sotheran and Greg Malcolm are executive producers. Lindsay Sturman serves as showrunner. Peter DeLuise, Neill Fearnley, Paul Redford, Derek Thompson, Elizabeth Stewart and Amanda Phillips serve as co-executive producers. Heather Nevin, Shelley Matheson, Doran S. Chandler and Vince Balzano are associate producers. Vicki Sotheran and Greg Malcom serve as producers. Alysse Leite-Rogers directed from a script by Derek Thompson. Based on the novel When Calls the Heart, by Janette Oke.

[archivyrep]

Archivists and archival themes in the National Treasure franchise

Occasionally, archives are shown in popular culture, whether in film or other media. This is because, as Jeff O'Neal put it, "Hollywood loves a library" because the "combination of ambiance, seclusion, hidden knowledge, and the sheer beauty of shelves upon shelves of books" make libraries a fantastic setting for films. Hollywood does not portray the debate within the archival field or any nuances. There is a lot of the confusion between libraries and archives in the Star Wars franchise. To start this, let me begin with the National Treasure franchise.

Reprinted from my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks WordPress blog on July 28, 2020.

In the 2004 movie, the first of the franchise, two would-be thieves do research in the Library of Congress and try to find "a way to break into the National Archives so they can steal a priceless historical document." While there are parts of this movie which make some cringe (understandably), like historical inaccuracies and bad preservation practices, some say that "anything that...puts butts in the seats at the National Archives is alright by me."

Diane Kruger (as Dr. Abigail Chase, the archivist), Nicolas Cage (as Benjamin Franklin Gates, treasure hunter), and Justin Bartha (as Riley Poole, a computer expert) look at the Declaration of Independence, courtesy of the Peel Archives blog.

In the film, Chase is an archivist working at the National Archives and is accidentally kidnapped when he "steals the Declaration of Independence" leading to wacky and historically inaccurate adventures. As some archivists make clear, she is not typically "archivisty" or "librarianistic" but instead is "all Channel suites and evening dresses," meaning that while she "wears attractive clothing she manages to avoid the sexed up male-fantasy version of the librarian/archivist." She isn't "your wilting-flower variety information professional." Instead, she is "full of feistiness and one liners throughout ridiculous and dangerous events" but does, jokes the archivists, "lose points for allowing Cage to use the Declaration as a bullet shield." Another review by a fellow archivist, Kyle Neill, adds that "Chase comes to embrace the adventure, although she, like any good archivist, remains fiercely protective of the Declaration document" and that the team is "ultimately successful, locating the treasure deep underground in Manhattan." At the end of the film, as Neill writes, Chase isn't drawn to "the gold jewelry, statues, or other artifacts found in the huge underground cavern." Rather, she is fascinated by "what she identifies as scrolls from the lost Library of Alexandria."

However, as Catherine Lucy, Technical Services Manager/Archivist at Fontbonne University wrote in Solo, the quarterly newsletter of the Lone Arrangers chapter, depictions like the one in National Treasure end up reinforcing "stereotypes that surround the profession," especially of archivists. The film that followed, National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), is worse, having Nicolas Cage return as a treasure hunter, hoping to solve the "mystery behind Abraham Lincoln's assassination with missing pages from his killer's, John Wilkes Booth, diary," with his father (played by Jon Voight) assisting him. And of course, Chase, still working at NARA, assists him. They have some sort of fight behind Mount Rushmore, discovering a secret indigenous city of gold. That's where the movie becomes silly and worthless. Sure, it grossed a lot of money, but that doesn't mean that it is a good film. In fact, the movie critics gave it awful reviews. For instance, Peter Bradshaw, in The Guardian, writes that although the film is sometimes entertaining it is "mostly pretty tired, with worryingly semi-serious conspiracy theory stuff" while Roger Ebert notes the strange plot holes, saying that there is no plausibility or logic in the film. Ebert notes how the movie has the same National Archivist and only praise it for its "completely unbelievable special effects." Ebert similarly criticized the 2004 film, calling it so silly that "the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line."

Beyond this, Lucy mentions two articles which review mentions of archives in popular culture: Tania Aldred, Gordon Burr, and Eun Park's "Crossing a Librarian with a Historian: The Image of Reel Archivists" in 2008 and Arlene Schmuland's "The Archival Image in Fiction: An Analysis and Annotated Bibliography" in 1999. The first of these articles talk about National Treasure, notes the librarian character in The Mummy, while noting films like In the Name of the Father and Citizen Kane (considering the character is an archivist). [1] They also reviewed The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959), Agnes of God (1986), Treasure (1990), Secret Nation (1992), Just Cause (1995), Ridicule (1996), The Avengers (1998), Blade (1998), John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998), 8mm (1999), Erin Brockovich (2000), Bartleby (2001), Possession (2002), Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and The Time Machine (2002). Looking at a sample set of 21 films, they found 14 male archivists and 7 female archivists, with almost half of the female characters wearing buns. Almost half of the characters were only cameos, which is unfortunate. They found that reel archivists are "physically and behaviourally following...established stereotypes," and are not used interchangeably as "librarians in the films." This article attempts to fulfill the call by the writers for further study:

Future research, including an expansion of the current study to increase the sample film size, is clearly necessary in order to solidify the results we have discovered. As well, the study, or related studies, should be expanded to include other forms of popular culture such as television programs, movies, and advertising; an exploration of the positive or negative portrayal of reel archivists; the amount of technology reel archivists are portrayed as utilizing; an examination of the archives represented in films; and a comparison of archival characters in books-to-film with their counterpart literary sources...The current study benefits the archival profession by providing a solid base for archivists to begin examining their portrayal in the media...the influence of the media means that its vision or perception is imparted to the public on a regular basis, and thus ultimately shapes how the archival profession is viewed, either positively or negatively. By examining how the public perceives them, and how they are being portrayed, archivists can gain a better understanding of themselves and their perceived place within society, identify areas of longer-term concern, and thus work toward strengthening that position.

The second article looks at 128 novels, noting how perceptions of librarians are shaped by films like The Music Man, and looking at various novels. [2] Schumland notes that, simplistically, archives are "not only repositories for the source documents of history, but for history itself" which many authors and filmmakers have not recognized. She also notes that the fact that documents or information is stolen from archives "implies that archival holdings have value" although not every author follows this advice, with archivists as custodians of paper and "representatives of history." As such, records are either seen as history, secrets, or garbage in fictional writings, although many fictional archives "represent more than just collections of papers," having the potential to reveal the truth, represent history, and provide information. However, stereotypes are often useful tools for authors, acting as a shorthand for character description. Furthermore, male archivists are often in supervisory roles while female archivists are not, with archivists generally middle-aged to elderly.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] In their analysis, they eliminated Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (Doppleganger) (1969), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Phantom (1996), The Bone Collector (1999), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), DaVinci Code (2006), and Silent Hill (2006) after watching all these films.

[2] Schumland specifically reviews Robertson Davies' The Rebel Angels, Robert Barnard's The Case of the Missing Bronte, Robert Goodrum's Dewey Decimated, Martha Cooley's The Archivist, Carol Shields' Swann, A. S. Byatt's Possession, Catherine Aird's The Stately Home Murder, Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, P. D. James' Original Sin, Jeffrey Archer's Honor Among Thieves, Frank McDonald's Provenance, Charles A. Goodrum's The Best Cellar, Clive Cussler's Treasure, Caroline Preston's Jackie by Josie, Julie Smith's Huckleberry Fiend, David Carkeet's I Been There Before, Ralph Mclnerny's On This Rockne, and many others. She also talks about various other authors like Robert Ludlum, Sarah Bird, Elizabeth Scarborough, Duncan Kyle, Katherine Neville, Terry Pratche, and Patricia Cornwell, along with the role of archives in Lempriere's Dictionary.

[vintagetvstars]

Hot Vintage TV Men’s Bracket - Round 2

Round 2 (All Polls)

Dick Van Dyke Vs. Russell Johnson

Claude Rains Vs. Patrick Troughton

Eric Idle Vs. Michael Nesmith

Ted Danson Vs. Demond Wilson

Robin Williams Vs. John de Lancie

Andrew Robinson Vs. Brent Spiner

Colm Meaney Vs. LeVar Burton

John Hurt Vs. Hugh Laurie

John Corbett Vs. Skeet Ulrich

Timothy Olyphant Vs. Eric Close

Jonathan Frid Vs. Ted Cassidy

John Astin Vs. Cesar Romero

Woody Harrelson Vs. Dean Butler

Henry Winkler Vs. Wayne Rogers

Tom Selleck Vs. Ron Perlman

Anthony Head Vs. Mitch Pileggi

Will Smith Vs. John Stamos

Luke Perry Vs. Matthew Perry

David Tennant Vs. Seth Green

Rik Mayall Vs. Richard Ayoade

James Garner Vs. George Maharis

Larry Hagman Vs. DeForest Kelley

Alan Alda Vs. Walter Koenig

Fred Rogers Vs. Peter Davison

Avery Brooks Vs. James Earl Jones

Jonathan Frakes Vs. Michael Dorn

John Shea Vs. Danny John-Jules

Sylvester McCoy Vs. Patrick Stewart

Keith Hamilton Cobb Vs. Michael Shanks

Andre Braugher Vs. Tony Shalhoub

Robert Fuller Vs. Michael Landon

Clint Eastwood Vs. Richard Dean Anderson

Jimmy Smits Vs. Billy Dee Williams

David Soul Vs. Ricardo Montalban

Michael Praed Vs. Kyle MacLachlan

Spencer Rochfort Vs. Sean Bean

Michael Horse Vs. Christian Kane

Alexander Siddig Vs. David Wenham

George Clooney Vs. Scott Cohen

Tom Welling Vs. Paolo Montalban

George Takei Vs. Kabir Bedi

Leonard Nimoy Vs. Jon Pertwee

Desi Arnaz Vs. Jamie Farr

Mike Farrell Vs. Peter Falk

Luke Halpin Vs. Micky Dolenz

Gene Anthony Ray Vs. Craig Charles

Charles Shaughnessy Vs. Joseph Marcell

Jeffrey Combs Vs. Tim Russ

Daniel Dae Kim Vs. Connor Trinneer

Rob Lowe Vs. Blair Underwood

David McCallum Vs. Dean Stockwell

Richard Chamberlain Vs. Robert Wagner

Jeremy Brett Vs. Simon Williams

Erik Estrada Vs. David Hasselhoff

Ron Glass Vs. Scott Bakula

Bruce Campbell Vs. James Marsters

David Duchovny Vs. Dana Ashbrook

Garrett Wang Vs. Michael J. Fox

David Boreanaz Vs. Nicholas Lea

Milo Ventimiglia Vs. Jensen Ackles

Rod Serling Vs. Robert Vaughn

Pierce Brosnan Vs. Sam Neill

Timothy Dalton Vs. Colin Firth

Nathan Fillion Vs. Neil Patrick Harris

[latenightcinephile]

Film #908: 'Sleeping Dogs', dir. Roger Donaldson, 1977.

The first New Zealand film to get major distribution in the United States, Sleeping Dogs is a bit of a strange case. On the face of it, the film resembles many other projects being made here in the 1970s and 1980s - low-budget pieces made with the financial support of other national media (in this case, New Zealand's television network) and a strong vibe of 'Just ask for what you want and see who says yes'. This is a film about the New Zealand government becoming a fascist regime, which has its fascists turn up in helicopters borrowed from the country's Air Force. Despite the unlikable characters and a sense of ambivalence that runs through it, the film commits to its tone and has a few thrills. This is just as well, considering the plot is made of tissue paper, spit and hope. I haven't read the novel it's based on (written by C. K. Stead, a lion of New Zealand literature) but I can't imagine it's much of an improvement. This is not a story about plausibility.

Sam Neill plays Smithy who, following an acrimonious split with his wife, heads to a small island for a chance to regroup. This isolation leaves him unaware that the government has moved to full-on authoritarianism following a series of labour disputes. Things rapidly descend into chaos - a bomb is detonated in the town and a local is later killed - and Smithy is arrested under the accusation of being an anti-government revolutionary. His claims to innocence are ignored, as apparently the island he was on was full of unexploded mines and military surplus. Smithy is able to escape his captors but finds himself shuttled around between various revolutionary safehouses and sympathisers. While working in a rural motel, he is approached by Bullen (Ian Mune, one of the film's writers), the man Smithy's wife was having an affair with. Bullen confesses that he and Smithy's wife have joined the resistance, and he pressures Smithy into assisting with an attack against a group of US troops who have been called in to support the government. Now on the run, Smithy and Bullen are forced into an uneasy alliance against Jesperson, the leader of the special forces who also organised the false flag operation that allowed the government to increase its powers in the first place.

Back in 1977, this plot would have resonated in a number of ways with its viewers. Some of New Zealand's most famous literature, such as John Mulgan's Man Alone and the poetry of James K. Baxter, rely on the country's history of rebellion and labour disputes. In a very real sense, we are a nation of protest, and simultaneously the country's geographic isolation has meant trying to balance our ideals with the concessions required for trade. In the 1970s, oil shortages were a real concern, and it perhaps wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to imagine a combination of fuel insecurity and class discontent spilling over into an authoritarian government. Additionally, the Vietnam war was still fresh in the populace's minds and so it seemed plausible that the United States might be called in to quash another insurrection. The problem, however, is that the government in Sleeping Dogs doesn't seem to be accruing this power for any particular reason. I'm sure it's intended as a Kafkaesque world where answers are impossible to come by - Smithy's days-long imprisonment in a dark basement certainly conveys that - but it feels like the Prime Minister ought to have some reason to consolidate his power. Even if Smithy isn't aware of the wider political landscape, it's information that would help a viewer buy into the film's fiction.

The contours of the central conflict are also hazily-drawn. Resistance members are very easy to find, it seems - every minor character we're introduced to is a revolutionary or a sympathiser, and they casually tell Smithy exactly where to find his next contact. Meanwhile, the government teams are astonishingly bad at finding Smithy, whose job at the motel draws no suspicion with anyone he encounters even though his face has been on news bulletins for weeks. There's a certain level of blindness you can expect your villains to have before it starts to impact the believability of the story overall, and Sleeping Dogs blows right past this. Towards the end of the film, following the bombing of a guerrilla encampment, Smithy and Bullen hike across the mountains towards what they hope is a friendly farm. Given the other stretched coincidences we've seen so far, this by itself doesn't seem implausible. But on a narrative level, with most of the other revolutionaries dead and helicopters combing the bush for the survivors, it doesn't seem like reaching a safehouse would actually improve things at all. We're clearly heading for an ending where either Smithy and Bullen die, or one where the entire government fails for no reason, and it feels like only one of those endings can be reached from where the film is at that point. The film feels like it's treading water before an inevitable ending, and the extra time spent isn't valuable overall.

So, the narrative of the film doesn't bear much scrutiny afterwards. Why is Sleeping Dogs good? Let's leave aside the obvious reasons why it's on the list: landmark in New Zealand cinema; Sam Neill's breakthrough role. These aren't small things, and in fact Neill's charisma really helps bring the film beyond its ambivalent and cynical characters. The scenery is beautiful, and represents a rural New Zealand that doesn't exist in quite the same way after forty years: a lot of wide streets with quarter-acre sections and minimarts, where now most of the towns in the Coromandel are full of million-dollar apartments. One of the things that I found particularly compelling about the film is that it succeeds in merging a genre associated with American filmmaking, and a set of visual signifiers heavily associated with rural New Zealand. A lot of films made here in the 1970s and 1980s did this, but Sleeping Dogs arguably started the trend, or at least was the most successful example of it. This is a thriller where the major action scene takes place in a cinderblock motel, where one of the revolutionary contacts runs a fish and chip shop, and where the old guy who's always fishing on the wharf and never has much to say can take a bullet to the head under suspicious circumstances. In other words, Sleeping Dogs is recognisable to New Zealand viewers in the same way that Children of Men might be recognisable to Britons: our world, flexed slightly towards fascism.

I think the comparison to Cuaron's film is instructive, especially now. One of the things that sometimes accompanies five-minutes-into-the-future dystopia, which I perceive as a weakness in the genre, is the assumption that when a regime shifts to fascism, everything around it changes to match. A repressive government is more believable and scary, especially now, when we see it juxtaposed with the world that we know, with all its inertia and resistance to sweeping social change. Sleeping Dogs and Children of Men are films in which the world is tonally much the same as the one in which the film was released. Both focus on an everyman hero getting wrapped up in revolutionary politics against his will. Both have been somewhat predictive, too: in Europe's steady political shift rightwards, and in a growing mistrust of authority here in New Zealand. New Zealand is renowned for what we call the 'she'll be right' attitude - a blithe optimism in the face of powerful forces. Sleeping Dogs shares this attitude in many places. We're encouraged to believe that, even though the resistance doesn't seem to be making material gains, its cause is still worth fighting for, and that it is the fight itself that is noble. Weirdly, and chillingly, the end of the film reveals this attitude to be insufficient. At the end of Children of Men, Theo dies, but still succeeds in his mission: the cause goes on. At the end of Sleeping Dogs, it feels like this might genuinely be the end - Smithy, fed up with running, goads the military into shooting him, and the credits roll. What I can't figure out is whether Donaldson intends this failure to mean anything. Is this an indictment of rebellion? A fatalistic view that authoritarianism will always succeed? Or is this a rebuke of Smithy in particular? If Smithy had bought wholeheartedly into the rebellion, would the story have been any different? If he had listened to the radio more while he was on the island? If he hadn't gotten involved in the revolutionary plot at all?

I am wondering, as I write this, at what point we started expecting pop culture to be our blueprint for getting out of real-world messes. At some point, we stopped viewing a film like this as just an escapist 'what if' story, and started wanting it to be edifying in some way. Because Sleeping Dogs is so relatable, because it's a world I live in and recognise, I want it to have something meaningful to say. At its worst, this expectation makes us like Smithy, staying out of the fight for as long as possible until we can't ignore it any more. By that point, it's too late to help, and we just follow the path to the foregone conclusion.

Two years after the film was released, the New Zealand government introduced mandatory carless days to try and reduce reliance on fuel imports. The measure didn't achieve the government's aims. Four years after the film was released, New Zealanders of all stripes were involved in violent clashes with police while protesting the South African apartheid regime. Some of the scenes from those protests eerily resembled scenes from Sleeping Dogs.

I don't expect this film will resonate as much outside of this particular cultural context, but it's still an entertaining twist on the action film. Without an idea of what attitude the film holds, or whether it believes in the power of resistance or not, Sleeping Dogs only becomes more tantalising and ambiguous.