#thanks ethan hawke for portraying this so well ????

[armorangels]

late night sad todd hours because even in the scenes where todd’s confidence starts to blossom, he still has the most melancholic expressions :-)

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: The Northman

Gladiator, Braveheart, 300 and The 13th Warrior are in the pantheon of the greatest sword and shield films. Even if one of them is more stylized than the others, you still get the impact of not only the action, but the eloquence of their storytelling. In every shot you can feel the grit of the sand between your hands and toes, you can feel the sloshy texture of the mud, you can smell the grass and you can taste the blood splatter across the air. Those films have nailed all aspects of placing you in the boots or sandals the character walks in and this film evolves that quality. The amount of attention to detail and mythology behind everything on screen was astounding. I loved that amidst the carnage, their was a heartfelt family drama that had a predictable element, but it quickly goes a direction that was even darker than expected. I loved the character growth and visual storytelling the most. It was uncompromising and pure.

Oscar Novak was excellent as the younger Amleth and he delivers a powerful performance as Amleth witnesses the tragedy that propels his future. Ethan Hawke was excellent as his father King Aurvandill War-Raven. I loved their scenes together and it showcased the traditions of a father teaching his son the ways of becoming a strong man. Alexander Skarsgard was powerful, terrifying and a beast as Amleth grown up. You are with him as his journey for bloody vengeance begins and you thirst for him to succeed. He brings to life a character that is almost beyond humanity and is purely fueled by vengeance. As the film progresses, Alexander brings out the inner goodness of the character as he hunts, but also remembers that he can love as well. Nicole Kidman was outstanding as his mother Queen Gudrún. I loved that there were so many layers to her and a level of fearless passion. Claes Bang was awesome as Fjölnir, brother of King Aurvandill. He goes on a journey of torment and it was great to see him slowly come apart mentally. Willem Dafoe was fun as Heimir the Fool and he commits as you'd expect. Bjork was cool and frightening as Seeress. She may only be in one scene, but man was it mythic and compelling. Anya Taylor-Joy continues to be amazing and as Olga of the Birch Forest, she comes out the gate as one of the most powerful characters. Not because of her sorcery, but because of her will.

The score by composers Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough was the chef's kiss to the entire film. It is thunderous, powerful, scary and fueled by the Viking spirit. It's beauty knows no bounds and it will fill your heart with pulse pounding adrenaline. Visually this film was one of the most beautiful films I've seen this year so far. From the lushes greens to the warm amber light of the many torches that naturally light the many rooms and woods, it was wondrous to behold. I loved the many ties to Slovik folk lore and tales of Valhalla and how they are visually portrayed. Director Robert Eggers has made yet another masterpiece that is pure of all the standard story tropes and is absolutely an experience that shall not be missed. I loved this film and this definitely my number 1 favorite film of 2022 so far. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[aion-rsa]

Best Corrupt Cop Movies to Watch After Training Day

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Training Day is one of the archetypal crime dramas of its time. It features a classic standoff between a young, fresh-off-the-street rookie police officer named Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) and his veteran partner Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). The older cop is ostensibly evaluating his young partner, but in actuality he’s breaking Jake hm down and trying to corrupt him��just as Alonzo himself, one of the great screen monsters of the past 20 years, is corrupt beyond all redemption. Here is a supposed officer of the law who acts more like a crime boss, ruling over his neighborhood with an iron fist.

The tension that burns at the center of the movie–will Jake be turned and will Alonzo get his comeuppance?–forms the bedrock of a classic dramatic scenario. The power inherent from being in law enforcement can be both a force for good and a weapon of evil. The ability to wield that power over the lives of so many others can lead anyone or any institution to a moral crossroads. And whether a single cop or an entire police force can stand up for what’s right or descend into a cesspool of rot and amorality has been the basis of some of our greatest movies.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but if you’ve recently had a chance to revisit Training Day on Netflix, then here are five more superb movies in which a lone cop goes head to head with that insidious corruption. All the movies feature drugs, guns, money, and sometimes sex; but in the end, the most powerful and dangerous narcotic of all turns out to be power.

Serpico (1973)

Legendary director Sidney Lumet’s classic 1970s police drama was one of several films that established Al Pacino as among the greatest actors of his generation, and kicked off a loose trilogy of movies from Lumet himself that focused on police corruption in New York City–others being the less iconic but equally brilliant Prince of the City (1981) and Q&A (1990).

Serpico is also the only film on this list based on a real person: Frank Serpico, a plainclothes detective who uncovered widespread corruption and eventually blew the whistle on it during his 11 years of service. In keeping with the true-life inspiration for the story, Lumet shot the film in a documentary-like style and chose some of the grittiest locations in New York City in which to work. Pacino himself met with Serpico several times, immersing himself in the character and his life.

The result was one of the first major American movies to tackle real life police corruption head-on, and what’s frightening is that there is no single villain for Serpico to go up against: it’s the entire NYPD itself, which came under extensive investigation thanks to the real Serpico’s actions.

Internal Affairs (1990)

Richard Gere stars in this Mike Figgis-directed film as Dennis Peck, a corrupt Los Angeles police officer and womanizer who comes under investigation by Raymond Avilla (Andy Garcia), an Internal Affairs officer intent on taking down Peck even as the department around him portrays him as a role model. But the wily Peck has other plans, including turning Avilla and his wife (Nancy Travis) against each other.

Set in pretty much the opposite of Serpico’s rough NYC environs, Internal Affairs, as its punning title indicates, is less about widespread systemic corruption and more about ideas of masculinity. Gere’s charm and sex appeal is put to wicked use as Peck fucks or threatens to fuck the wife of every man he crosses paths with, using that as a weapon to undermine them as men and leverage his power over them. Using his family as cover for his nefarious deeds–he has three ex-wives and eight kids to support–puts a dark twist on the idea of the male as the head of the household.

Garcia’s Avilla is flawed as well, racked with jealousy and anger management issues, which gives what could have been just a sleazy potboiler an extra level of complexity. And no amount of ravishing L.A. locations will wipe away the slime at the heart of this low-key thriller.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

The late Curtis Hanson’s masterful adaptation (with co-writer Brian Helgeland) of James Ellroy’s novel remains one of the best films of the 1990s, mixing fictionalized versions of real-life figures with indelible characters in a complex, suspenseful, and epic tale of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity.

The two cops at the center of the story are LAPD Sgt. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) and officer Bud White (Russell Crowe); the former is upstanding yet aggressively ambitious while the latter is a blunt weapon used–unknowingly at first–by precinct captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) to advance Smith’s own ends. Also in the mix are a high-end prostitute (Kim Basinger), a jaded detective (Kevin Spacey), and a tabloid magazine editor (Danny DeVito), all of whom are caught in the LAPD’s web of corruption.

L.A. Confidential builds its story brilliantly to an explosive third-act confrontation between White and Exley that gives way to an even more thrilling motel shoot-out at the film’s climax. Relatively unknown at the time, Crowe and Pearce are outstanding while Basinger shines in a career-peak performance. L.A. Confidential takes the “cop vs. cop” scenario and drenches it in neo-noir style and Tinseltown sleaze, creating an unforgettable portrait of power gone mad.

Cop Land (1997)

An early drama from writer/director James Mangold–now known for films like Logan and Ford v. Ferrari—Cop Land stars Sylvester Stallone as Freddy Heflin, the sheriff of a small New Jersey town that is a bedroom community for a number of New York City cops. Although Freddy, who is partially deaf and perceived as somewhat slow-witted, reveres the cops and aspired at one time to be an NYPD officer himself, he becomes gradually aware of the rampant corruption among them. Eventually he must act.

Read more

Movies

Taxi Driver: A Look at NYC’s Inglorious Past

By Tony Sokol

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The Real Goodfellas: Gangsters That Inspired the Martin Scorsese Film

By Tony Sokol

Stallone put on 40 pounds for the role of Heflin and his performance cast him in a new light as a serious actor after years of mindless action vehicles or Rocky sequels. Mangold’s screenplay may be too overly complicated for its own good, but the lonely small-town cop making a stand against the men he once looked up to is a poignant, haunting image. The film is also bolstered by great work from an all-star cast that includes Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, and Annabella Sciorra.

The Departed (2006)

Based on the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed is an operatic, grand crime thriller as only the great Martin Scorsese can do it. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Billy Costigan Jr., a Massachusetts State Police recruit forced to go undercover and infiltrate the gang of crime boss Frank Costello (an over-the-top Jack Nicholson). Meanwhile another State Police officer, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), is actually a mole for Costello inside the force, and the machinations of both Costello and the police eventually pull the two undercover agents–one good but troubled, one corrupt–into each other’s orbit.

Loosely inspired by real-life figures like corrupt FBI agent John Connolly and Boston crime kingpin Whitey Bulger, The Departed has more twists than a winding mountain road and all the double-crosses and betrayals can be tricky to navigate, even for fans of the Hong Kong movie it dramatically remakes, Infernal Affairs.

But Scorsese’s expertise with this kind of material leaps off the screen and his cast is impeccable (including a career-best performance from Mark Wahlberg and a scene-stealing turn by Alec Baldwin). While it can be a little on-the-nose at times–we’re looking at you, Mr. Rat on the apartment terrace–The Departed nevertheless conveys its cynical view of human nature with style, wit and manic energy. As it turns out, we’re all basically fucked up and vulnerable to being fucked with.

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[baekchelor]

𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

pairings: George Mackay x reader genre: romantic comedy rating: pg13 synopsis: on the set of his new film, golden boy George Mackay learns a basic human truth: that the heart is deceitful above all things.

❝i  love  you  i’ve  never  loved  anyone  else, never  will.❞                                                                                                                  —linda  nightingale

                                                                                               EPILOGUE ◄ ᴘʀᴇᴠ

The night of the Academy Awards, George can't take his eyes off of Y/N. Truthfully, on a daily basis, George finds it hard not to stare at his girlfriend's pretty face. But this particular night of February, it is even harder.

She looks Gorgeous. Now that George [shamefully] admitted to himself he enjoys —to no say like— Taylor Swift's music, he can tell Y/N that Taylor must have written that song about her, not Joe Alwyn. He is a friend of George. They are close, and he is nice, but no way in hell, he is more gorgeous than Y/N.

As they walk through the red carpet, a cheeky smirk on his face, George sing-songs to Y/N's ear, "You're so gorgeous". When Y/N chuckles and briefly looks back at him, George continues, "I can't say anything to your face. 'Cause look at your face."

He remembers back when he decided on the nickname, not only he chose it because Y/N is drop-dead gorgeous, but because she made him so happy, it turns back to sad and there's nothing George hates more than what he can't have.

George laughs, wholeheartedly. He loves this girl more than life itself, and he is confident the internet is already flooding with pictures of him looking at Y/N Y/L/N with stars in his eyes. In fact, he can even imagine the headlines Dean will show him about it.

As Y/N tries to hurry away to give E!News an interview, George manages to grab her hand and pull her towards him. He kisses the back of her head, "Love you."

With a vast, crimson streak across her cheeks, YN playfully smacks George in the tummy, "Stop it you."

This time, Y/N turns around completely. She doesn't respond with another love confession or a mundane me too. It is explicit. It is in the aura around them, and it is in her eyes, and in her smile, "Forever."

She doesn't need to stand on her tiptoes, she's wearing heels, so she's at the perfect height to sweetly peck his cheek. The fans looking from the stands go nuts, squealing and shouting euphorically.

Y/N strokes a thin thread of hair away from his forehead. "Thanks," he smiles, and the crowd woos again. George still wears his hair long. Months ago, he wrapped up filming for the movie that requested him to let it grow —he portrayed a self-thought unconventional young doctor who lives in Namibia—. Howbeit, Y/N loves how he looks with long hair, and George loves how she twirls her fingers around the golden locks. So as long as he finds it bearable, he will keep the Bodevan Cash look.

"They're louder than usual tonight," he jokes, following Alma and Vanessa to the spot where they're meant to get interviewed.

"Wonder why," sarcastically, Y/N muses. "Mr Oscar Nominee."

George leans closer to her ear, out of earshot for their managers and Ryan Seacrest, "I prefer London Boy if you please."

Y/N laughs, but she isn't able to joke further because Alma announces they're up next. As they expected, the first question is how they feel about Dharma running for Best Motion Picture. The following is meant for George and concerns his nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Although Dharma is a contestant in seven other categories, George and Dev Patel are the only actors among the cast, whose performance were acknowledged by The Academy.

To say the least, he is the favourite on his category. Even Ryan Seacrest seems to think so, he didn't even try to hide his favouritism. "No reason to be nervous," he says, cheering George on.

If George answers with the truth, he would seem a haughty ass, so he just laughs Ryan's comment off. But George isn't nervous indeed. He is beyond honoured, of course, and when he heard his name as one of the nominees, he went nuts. Y/N went nuts. Daisy and his parents, even Alma, shed tears when George screamed the news via FaceTime.

The thing is, he had a month to think it through. Yes, it would be a lie to say he doesn't want to take an Oscar home, but if he doesn't manage, he couldn't care less. George is not an arrogant-ass, he believes Dharma has already given him the best thing in his life. And that is Y/N. Not an award. None award on his home would compare to wake up next to her (George did win a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award.) She is the award at home. They moved together into a flat in Notting Hill, and there's no bigger prize than brewing coffee every morning and snuggle until both really, really, really have to go. And that is what he tells Ryan Seacrest, "I won't get luckier than this."

George smiles, gazing affectionately at the point where his and Y/N's hands intertwine. They're at the designated seats inside the theatre, they've been inside for forty minutes already, and George still can't believe he got this lucky. Hell, he even offered his dad to buy a Lotto ticket for him. That much lucky George feels. He might even be Irish. Not because he is an Academy Award nominee, and won every fucking statue during the Awards Season. It is because he won Y/N over Luke Hemmings, Dev Patel and Henry Cavill, and she is his, and he is hers.

Every girl George has been with, once the light of reality bathed over them, shifted in form and emotion. Saoirse, Doone, Daisy... the better George got to know them, the most he realised they were perfect for each other on paper, but in real life, they couldn't be further from that. In turn, Y/N painted it all golden. She taught George love is not in the colours he encountered. Love isn't red —you are in love, but don't want to be in love. You don't want to deal with it—, like with Daisy. Neither is black and white —sometimes you treat each other great. Then there are other times when you just fuck each other's lives entirely up. No in-between—, like with Doone.

Y/N showed him love is gold, warm, like daylight.

"Hey, lover," Y/N calls his attention. He loves the nickname, it is his ultimate favourite. A month into their relationship, George learned the origin of Y/N's nicknames for him did reside in Taylor Swift's songs. And Y/N confessed it never got through her head that George called her Gorgeous to subtly let her know he discovered London Boy and Heartbreak Prince were love songs. George chuckled at her naivety, and Y/N burst out laughing when the boy admitted to howling the songs on a bender. Several times. Nowadays she calls him Lover, he calls her as well, and last January, they did leave the Christmas lights. "It's time."

George lets out a breath, "Here we go."

On cue, instrumental music begins, and Sandra Bullock emerges on stage. The first thing that comes out of her mouth is a joke, and it helps George with the jitters starting to creep under his skin. "Timmy, dude, you won this award last year, you know. Wouldn't it be nice to let someone else have a chance? I mean, how much is enough? Think about it." Then she turns a bit more serious, praising the performances of the five nominees in the category, Timotheé included, before she introduces a clip of their astounding acting.

George shakes his head, half in amusement, half in disbelief when his face appears on the screen. The chosen scene to show the audience a glimpse of his performance reveals a blind James reuniting with Marina, the Mumbai Gate behind them. If the Academy knew what went through his mind while they filmed the scene, they would've never selected him. He feels like a cheater. The only bit of acting during James and Marina's reunion was the fact that James was blind. Nothing else. He loved the girl to whom he read the script, as much as James loved Marina, if not more. George wasn't acting. At all.

Y/N squeezes his hand, fingers laced, as she beams at him with love and pride. George is forced to break eye contact when Sandra Bullock speaks again, "Here are the nominees for performance by an actor in a supporting role." Sandra allows a brief pause, then resumes, "Don Johnson. Shall We?" The crowd applause. "Ethan Hawke. Blue." Another big acclaim. "Eddie Redmayne. Amaranth." Applause. "George Mackay. Dharma." The attendants burst into a fit of claps, as the camera broadcasts George's face. He is smiling, clapping as well, and he realises the jitters have entirely taken over. He is nervous. Fucking Nervous. The only way out is to trace his eyes in the direction of Y/N, George knows a mere glance from her has the same effect than a cup of Chamomile tea.

To George's relief, the camera stops paying attention to him as soon as Sandra Bullock mentions the last contestant, "Timotheé Chalamet. Because of the Flowers."

George tightens the hold of his fingers around his girlfriend's palm, he knows what will happen once the cheers for Timotheé dry down, and he doesn't feel ready. Daisy and his parents are peering at him, he can't see them, he doesn't even know where they're seated. Still, George can feel their gazes over him, and he can tell they're smiling, proud of his achievement.

Greta Gerwig has turned around on her seat to take a look at George. She gives him a quick thumbs-up, and she and her husband, Noah, share a cheerful mien. George winks her way. The next category Greta is up to is Best Director, and George really wishes she goes home with two Academy Awards tonight. She already got an Oscar for Best Screenplay, and both George and Y/N hugged her tight, exultant.

Sandra finally pronounces the coming five little words:

"And the Oscar goes to..." A knowing grin curves her features when she practically screams, "George Mackay!"

The Dolby Theatre erupts in cheers, some attendants even rise from their seats to give George a standing ovation. Before he rushes on stage, he leans towards Y/N and kisses her. The kiss is quick, not enough for George. Although she's resumed the clapping and stares at with so much joy, and contentment around her irises, George kisses her again.

The touch of their fingertips linger, he grabs her hand and pulls her up with him, to hug her tight. In the mids of all, Y/N whispers, "I love you." And without halting her applauses, she beams, "You deserve this, London Boy."

George lingers on his foot, the look in their eyes speaking for them. Y/N points at him, all flushed, and tells him he's got chapstick on his cheek. George laughs and lets Y/N wipe it off. She has tears in her eyes, she's still clapping, and George really wishes he could kiss her ten times more. Scratch that, make that twenty.

George walks to the stage. The path is short, but he fist-bumps Greta and points at Dev Patel and Michael Fassbender before hurrying up the short stairs to where Sandra is, waiting to hand her the Oscar. A motherfucking Oscar.

George gives her a kiss on the cheek, a quick hug, and receives the statue with a broad, crooked smile on his face. Baffled, he stares at it. Never in a lifetime, George thought his hands would carry the weight of an Oscar. Actually, it isn't as heavy as he imagined, its weight is due to its meaning. George dreamed about it, many times —Which actor doesn't?—, but never ponder he genuinely stood a chance. Y/N talked him into attending Vanity Fair's after-party, after all, and George is unsure if it ended up being a good idea or not. He does feel like celebrating, no point in denying it, but George also feels like kissing her all over the face and taking off her dress.

George's carefully written and memorised speech dies on his throat when he stands before the microphone, "I-I... Oh my god. Uh..." He just won an Oscar. He is an Academy Award Winner. Holy shit. "My parents are here somewhere. I love you. My sister, Daisy, thank you for everything." His trail of words is interrupted by another wave of applause. He smiles, "I'm so appreciative to Greta, to anyone who's had a hand in getting me here. To The Academy. To the crew and cast of Dharma, I could never be here without you."

George holds the statue up, in the course of Y/N. Her flooded eyes are fixed on him, and she's biting her pink lips in an effort to hold her tears prisoner. "Y/N Y/L/N", he says, voice shaky at the end of her name. He falters a minute. His throat has run dry, his legs have turn shaky, his palms are sweating..."To me, it seems a miracle that you exist...touch you, be with you —so much, that I'm terrified of losing you." George is no fool, he can see Y/N is trying hard not to burst into tears. She has her lower lip tightly hidden below her teeth, her breathing has turned heavy and slow, and George knows he understands what he means. He was so afraid of losing her, that they spent months apart due to it. Tonight, he wants her to know that he won't be afraid anymore, that he trusts in them, in their love. George is confident they are endgame, that one day she will wear a bright diamond around her pretty little finger. No paper rings. "But hear me out, love, even if we lived in different worlds, I'll find a way to you," It is Dharma main plot, an everlasting love that finds each other every time. What better way to honour the film that gifted him an Oscar and the best thing in his life, than to use it as a metaphor. "I will always be James, you will always be Marina, and we will always be in love."

A/N: Hello, hello! This is the final version of the Epilogue. I’m so so so hyped you like this story. Never in a million dreams did I imagined this would have the response that it did. I’m truly pumped that you have had fun while reading this and like the characters so much. Hope you like this ending better than the last haha 😛😛 And stay tuned because next week I will present all of you ASHORE, the Bo Cash fic. 

[wendylewis-blog]

03.27.2020 /fryday

Hello. Hi. Hey. 

I’ve had a slow, quiet, kinda lost and sad day so far. Made a real breakfast for B when he came home his 6:30-9:30am shift at work before leaving for his 1-4pm shift. That’s my new job—what’s keeping me grounded daily—cooking. So, I’m obsessing over cooking shows, videos, cookbooks, and making good meals for us. Keeps the spirits up. It’s a daily adventure to reinvent what’s on the plate. 

Friend Alex Ward, who returned to the states a couple months ago after two and half years living in Vietnam, sent me this amazing video today. One of his young students there, Minh Man, sent it to him and according to her, the song praises girls—young, hardworking, brave. The title translates to The Girl Paved the Way. Thanks, Alex. I’ll send the dark, haunting one to y’all another time. 

It’s day-to-day, as it goes. I messaged with (aforementioned) Alex for quite awhile, listened to the news until I couldn’t anymore, added to a tiny grocery list, texted with a few too many ppl until my spelling got jacked as my hands cramped. I’m sick of texting, probably gonna just call instead. Or, BETTER—writing letters by hand. Maybe tomorrow. That’ll be a different kind of hand cramp. 

There are so many musicians putting plentiful live Instagram videos up, which I’m sure you’ve seen but keep it up, if you are WFH, donate a little if you can. Full time musicians are really struggling. One of my faves lately has been from Lydia Liza Music, who has been singing a song or two but also acting out scripts and screenplays with varying reading partners. The last one I saw was Austin Powers. Fuuhhhnnny! 

I’m sure I’m not alone in this query, but a few days ago I thought, which billionaire is gonna step up? Who’s gonna be the first one, the one who breaks through the 1% borderline wall and does something that matters? 

Which brings to mind a moment I had with a cashier at my local grocery store a couple days ago. 

Did you find what you needed? 

Well, not exactly because, hoarders. (smirk)

Ya know, I stand here all day long and watch people taking more than their fair share—and, guess what? I know who they are! 

Hahahaha—yeah. We’re gonna figure out who is who as we go through this crisis and sometimes, it’s gonna hurt, watching people you thought you knew make really unflattering moves. 

No kidding. It’s really disappointing. Do you get the senior discount? 

Ummm... what’s the age qualification?

In my line, it’s 55! I figure you’ve earned a kickback by then. (grin)

That tiny exchange made my day. I wanted to say, Hey—let’s go get a drink! This pandemic will challenge us to manage fear, be generous and patient, be grateful, have real feelings instead putting on a mask, allowing others to have theirs, reach out, be kind and fair—realize we live in a community, a state, a country and a world. It’s a revealing struggle already, for all of us, and it’s gonna get more difficult and possibly, hopefully—more illuminating in the days and months to come. 

I’ve had a couple days of crying off and on, but when the sun sets, I feel better for having been real with my own self. I’ve also had some days when I feel more on task, getting a few things done, taking a long walk by the rising river with Sonny the Dog, listening to the birds sing. Some nights I get sleep. Other nights, I just don’t. 

Movie recommendation: Juliet, Naked. I don’t care much for Ethan Hawke and Rose Byrne has never really knocked me out, but I took a chance and this film is sooo well written/acted. It didn’t let me down at any predictable turn (esp for a kinda rom/com) and delivered. PLUS, importantly, it portrays a has-been musician in pretty believable way: the whatever and the shit, I fucked that up and the difficulty of being worshipped when it’s not, nor ever had been, about that. 

I’m gonna write my friend Anna back now. She sent me a lusciously long email and I’m sure it will help my mood right now. Ugh. It’s been a day. But, tomorrow will be another one and I have no idea what will happen. 

Be back soonish. :\

[phantom-le6]

Film Re-Review - Star Trek: First Contact

Carrying on the re-reviews of the TNG films, it’s time to look in on the film many consider to be the best of the films focused on Picard’s crew, namely First Contact.

Plot (as given by Wikipedia):

Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare in which he relived his assimilation by the cybernetic Borg six years earlier (shown in the television episode "The Best of Both Worlds"). Starfleet informs him of a new Borg attack against Earth, but orders the USS Enterprise-E to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone so as to not introduce an "unstable element" to the fight. Learning that the fleet is losing the battle, the Enterprise crew disobeys orders and heads for Earth, where a single, damaged Borg Cube opposes a group of Starfleet vessels. The Enterprise arrives in time to save the crew of the USS Defiant which is being commanded by Lieutenant Commander Worf. After Picard hears Borg communications in his mind, he orders the fleet to concentrate its firepower on a seemingly non-vital section of the Borg ship. The Cube is destroyed after launching a smaller sphere ship towards the planet. 

The Borg sphere generates and enters a temporal vortex. As the Enterprise is enveloped in the vortex, the crew briefly glimpses an Earth populated entirely by Borg. Picard realizes that the Borg have used time travel to change history, and orders the Enterprise to follow. The Enterprise arrives in the past, on April 4, 2063, the day before humanity's first encounter with alien life after Zefram Cochrane's historic warp drive flight. The Borg sphere fires on the planet; realizing that the Borg are trying to prevent first contact, the Enterprise crew destroy the sphere and send an away team to the Montana missile complex where Cochrane is building his ship, the Phoenix, to look for survivors. Picard sends Cochrane's assistant Lily to the Enterprise for medical attention, then returns to the ship and leaves Commander William Riker on Earth to make sure the Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. The Enterprise crew sees Cochrane as a legend, but the real man is reluctant to assume his historical role.

 Borg survivors invade the Enterprise, and begin to assimilate its crew and modify the ship, planning to use it to attack and conquer Earth. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with corrosive coolant used in the warp core, but the android Data is captured and meets the queen of the Borg Collective, who gains his trust by giving part of him human skin. A frightened Lily seizes the captain but he gains her trust, and they escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by using the holodeck. Picard, Worf, and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, stop the Borg from calling reinforcements with the deflector dish, but Hawk is assimilated. As the Borg continue to assimilate, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward and vows to continue the fight. Lily confronts the captain and, reminding him of Moby Dick's Captain Ahab, makes him realize he's acting irrationally. Picard activates the ship's self-destruct mechanism, orders the crew to abandon ship, and then apologizes to Worf. While the crew heads to escape pods, Picard remains aboard to rescue Data.

 As Cochrane, Riker, and chief engineer Geordi La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on the Phoenix, Picard confronts the Borg Queen and discovers she has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him an array of new sensations. She has presented this modification as a gift to the android, hoping to obtain his encryption codes to the Enterprise computer. Although Picard offers himself in Data's place, the android refuses to leave. He deactivates the self-destruct sequence and fires torpedoes at the Phoenix, but they miss and the Queen realizes Data betrayed her. Data ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive substance fatally dissolves the Borg's biological components. Cochrane completes his warp flight, and that night, April 5, 2063, the crew watches as Vulcans, attracted by the Phoenix warp test, land and greet Cochrane. Having repaired history, the Enterprise crew returns to the 24th century.

Review:

Back when I originally reviewed this film, I didn’t quite agree with the consensus of many that this film was somehow the high point of the cinematic run for Picard’s crew, but coming back to it several years later on the heels of watching and reviewing the whole preceding TV series, I’m re-considering my previous position.  It’s certainly an improvement over the previous film Generations, in large part due to the writers not being constrained by a wish list of plot elements from the studio, as well as long-time Trek actor and director Jonathan Frakes being allowed to make his cinematic directorial debut.  The films helmed by Frakes (who of course plays Riker in TNG) tend to be the best TNG films to me, which supports the idea that Trek films are best tackled by people who know Trek from having already worked with it.

 Now annoyingly within the wider TNG timeline, First Contact is the third feature-length time-travel story; we had Picard time-hopping in the feature length series finale ‘All Good Things...’, then Picard and Kirk meeting via the Nexus and doing time travel that way in Generations, and now we have First Contact. However, the reason for the time travel this time has more than enough resonance to compensate for this kind of repetition, because this time we’re going back to the birth of Trek itself. TNG’s best villains the Borg go back in time, and they pick the moment in the franchise’s history where Zefram Cochrane makes his initial warp flight and triggers the eponymous first contact with the Vulcans.

 Original series fans probably had some issues with how the film portrays Cochrane, due to the character having once appeared in that series, but as someone whose interest in Trek began with the Next Generation series, I don’t have that issue.  In addition, I also tend to rail against how much Roddenberry hamstrung the earlier incarnations of Trek with his infamous rules of Trek, known by writers as the ‘Roddenberry box’.  All too often, Roddenberry set the idealism of Trek too high, and at times probably didn’t think all of his concepts through (the no money one comes up in one scene), so I find it refreshing that this film took that character and made him flawed, suggesting the veneration of Cochrane within Trek is a kind of historical exaggeration of the man.

 Of course, it’s largely thanks to actor James Cromwell that Cochrane comes across as a great character, and to be honest all of the cast perform their roles well across the three plot-threads of the movie.  The first thread is an away team on Earth led by Riker helping Cochrane.  Second is that as Borg begin to over-run the Enterprise, Picard begins to fall prey to his past trauma at their hands and has to be talked down from putting vengeance above the greater good, and third is Data’s arc with the Borg Queen.  The last of these is interesting in that it brings Data a bit closer to his goal of becoming human by offering him the chance to take on flesh and experience physical sensation.  It’s a great expansion on Data’s ‘Pinocchio’ arc within the series.

 Picard’s arc used to be a bit non-sensical to me in terms of its timing, as Picard ran into the Borg a couple more times between his assimilation in the series and this film, but what I’ve realised after watching the show again is that actually it does make sense.  Not because of the whole trap of the ‘Roddenberry box’, but because the circumstances of each story in the overall Borg narrative doesn’t really allow Picard’s trauma to really come back at him.  After the follow-up episode to ‘Best of Both Worlds’ where Picard finally unburdens himself of the initial impact his assimilation had on him, he only faced any of the Borg twice, and in both cases, he dealt with one or more individualised Borg.  First Contact is the first story since ‘Best of Both Worlds’ where the Borg collective itself is involved, and rather than being on some distant planet or being on their ships, they’ve decided to hit at Picard on his home ground.

 In addition, the Borg just deal set-back after set-back to Picard and the Enterprise crew as the film goes on, which fuels his speech to Lily (played by Alfre Woodard) when he refuses to destroy the Enterprise;

 “I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again! The line must be drawn here... THIS far, NO further! And I will make them PAY for what they've done.”

 I think this line speaks to everyone who at some time or another has been forced to compromise something in their lives to someone or something else.  For Picard it’s having to give ground to a race of cyborgs who violated him, but this could just as readily apply to people seeking equality in the present day, who perhaps to compromise just to make progress or avoid being penalised for seeking equality.  It could apply to people in relationships that are one-sided at best and abusive at worst, always having to give ground to be ok in the short-term.  It’s not something that’s necessarily been with Picard all the time, but something that builds, and it takes the objective viewpoint of someone not of his era to call him on it and bring him back to the Starfleet officer he’s supposed to be.

 This leaves the away team story to provide comic relief (the Deanna drunk scene is a great example), and when you look at the plot and the performance together with a fantastic score and the new-style Enterprise, it really is a great film.  For the benefit of fans of wider Trek, the film even takes care to provide an explanation for the return of Worf, who after the previous films had become part of the main cast on Deep Space Nine, and we get cameos by Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips of Voyager in the film as well.

 Now discounting the fact this is the third time-travel story in a run as well as past quibbles I used to have with the film and don’t now, there’s not much I can say against First Contact.  I’m a bit concerned that so many men claimed to be slightly aroused by the Borg Queen if the film commentaries I’ve watched are to be believed, but that’s more about the film’s viewers than the films and to each their own, I suppose.  It’s also probably the most accessible film to an audience not versed in the Next Generation, though it requires some patience to reach the areas of exposition in the film that compensate for anyone not having that series knowledge to start with.  So, this time round, I’m going to up the film’s score.  Where Generations went down from 8 to 7 out of 10 on re-review, First Contact had risen like the Phoenix from 8 to 10 out of 10.

[nixonsmoviereviews]

"Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"- A visual powerhouse filled with great entertainment value, though the story and characters are a bit wonky...

Inspired by the long-running French comic-book "Valérian and Laureline", director Luc Besson's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is a peculiar film that was released to only minor fanfare in the summer of 2017, and became a minor box-office bomb thanks to its lower demand and massive budget. Met with a general apathy from audiences and critics alike, it failed to make any significant splash, though it was frequently praised for its high-end production values and awe-inspiring visual direction and design. It was sadly just the wrong film at the wrong time. Which is a shame, as now that I've finally given it a fair chance and watched it after having decided to skip it in theaters... I actually had a lot of fun with it. In a lot of ways, it shares some common traits with Besson's earlier and very well-received "The Fifth Element" in terms of both its broad themes and specific visual sensibilities. And much like that film, I could definitely see "Valerian" growing and maintaining a bigger and bigger cult following as time goes by. It's not a great film, mind you... just a very fun, engaging one that practically oozes with manic, creative energy. Several hundred years in the future, the massive starship "Alpha" drifts the cosmos, acting as a home away from home for thousands of different races and species from all over the galaxy. However, something is amiss... mysterious humanoid aliens begin to attack, seeking out a mysterious pearl-like energy source and an equally mysterious small creature whom has the ability to secrete exact replications of anything it eats. And it just so happens that both of these objects have been recovered by two hot-shot agents- the happy-go-lucky Valerian (Dane Dehaan), and his wildly intelligent and long suffering partner Laureline. (Cara Delevingne) However, Valerian quickly realizes something is a amiss, and that a conspiracy might be at play... as he has been having recurring dreams about the very same aliens that are now attacking... dreams that suggest they might be victims and not perpetrators... The film's strengths are in no small part thanks to writer/director Besson's wonderful and unique flair. The film is an absolute powerhouse in terms of pure entertainment, and its filled to burst with some of the most mind-bending action set-pieces and visual flourishes I've seen in years. From a stand-out scene early in the film set in a multi-dimensional marketplace, through a wild chase sequence through the bowels of the Alpha, to a brilliantly hilarious and hilariously brilliant scene involving Laureline being kidnapped by a race of peculiar and simple-minded hulking creatures looking for a tasty meal... it's just a ton of fun to watch. You'll certainly never be bored, and I liked how the film is almost divided up into episodic "mini-adventures" rather than following a more traditional narrative flow. Everything about the film's keen world-building works wonders, and its always a joy to behold from scene to scene. Besson is clearly trying his hardest to deliver something unlike anything we've seen before and I think he nails it. And this is no small feat in today's world. Every film has exceptional action and effects anymore. But Besson's visual sensibilities and quirky sense of humor help set "Valerian" apart in the best of ways. I also quite enjoyed the supporting cast, including a small but memorable turn from singer Rihanna, Ethan Hawke as a deliciously slimy pimp, John Goodman in a quirky voice-over role and Clive Owen as a military authority with a chip on his shoulder. They all do very well in their parts and they help contribute towards fleshing out the "world" of Alpha and its many citizens quite well. Where the film does falter, though- and this is a major issue- is our two leads in Valerian and Laureline and the central storyline the film follows. For all the rampant creative fun Besson has with the aliens and the action and the world around them, he really phones it in with what might be the most important pieces of the puzzle. Dehaan and Delevingne feel flat and miscast, seeming far too young and far too casual to be the super-agents they're portrayed as. It's hard to take them seriously when they both look to be about 19 at most and are going toe-to-toe with significantly larger, gruffer thugs and military superiors. If this was an origin story about how they became agents and partners, sure... but the film makes it seem like they've been doing this for years. What, did they get recruited when they were 8 years- old or something? And yeah, the central story, though not always the main focus, is about as basic as you can get. You'll be able to figure out who the good-guys and bad-guys are almost instantly and see most of the twists and turns coming from a mile away. So your enjoyment of the film is going to be about reconciling two key factors- a weak plot and weak leads against an incredibly entertaining and engaging sense of creativity. If you can't forgive the wonky casting and predictable central narrative, you're not gonna have a lot of fun with "Valerian." In fact, you might even hate it. But if like me, you can appreciate what the film does well and see its value despite the faults, you'll find plenty to love here. It's fast. It's wild. And it's mind-blowingly fun. And I give it a pretty good 7 out of 10. Check it out if you're interested but unsure... you just might like it!

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

New Post has been published on http://lifehacker.guru/the-13-best-movies-you-didnt-see-in-2018/

THE 13 BEST MOVIES YOU DIDN'T SEE IN 2018

LAST YEAR, FOLKS in the US spent $11 billion going to the movies. Yet the bulk of those people, and those dollars, went to the mega-blockbusters—the Panthers, the Venoms, the Avengerseseses. Even though indies are getting a renaissance thanks to streaming services, there’s just not the same thriving middle-class that there was in decades past, and a ton of legitimately great films still don’t get in front of as many eyeballs as they should. So, fine, you let some smaller gems slip by; now’s your chance to make things right. Got a few free evenings over the holidays? Queue up these 2018 unsung heroes first.

Suspiria

Amazon Studios’ art-house horror flick did modestly well in its small theatrical run, but limited distribution meant it didn’t get the attention it deserved. Directed by Call Me By Your Name‘s Luca Guadagnino, the film is, on the surface, a remake of Dario Argento’s horror classic of the same name. But it’s also much, much more than that. (Star Tilda Swinton, who actually plays a few roles in the film, went so far as to refer to it as a cover version of Argento’s original.) Beautifully shot, with an appropriately haunting performance by Dakota Johnson, this Suspiria goes beyond the tale of a witch-run dance school by digging its nails into the many ways the past will forever haunt us. It’s not for everybody, but if you have an itch for something truly gruesome and mind-bending, this’ll scratch it. —Angela Watercutter

First Reformed

Here’s a sentence I never imagined myself writing in 2018: Ethan Hawke gave one of the best performances of the year. It’s not that I didn’t think he was capable; I just didn’t see him showing up in a dark eco-conscious Paul Schrader film wherein he plays an alcoholic priest trying to keep his sanity and his congregation together. And yet, here we are. Moody, existential and even a little bit ethereal, First Reformed is one of the year’s craziest headtrips—right down to the ohshitwhatthefuck? ending. It got a very limited theatrical run but has been playing free to Amazon Prime subscribers for a while now (as well as Kanopy). If you happen to be one—or even if you’re not—go watch it immediately. —A.W.

Shoplifters

I’ve tried half a dozen times to explain director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s teleportative tale—about an ad hoc family living in near-poverty in urban Japan—and failed in each instance. So instead, here’s what Shoplifters is not: mawkish (though it is deeply moving); downbeat (despite its character’s increasingly desperate turns); nor needlessly twisty (though the family’s backstory is full of slow-building surprises). Instead, it’s a lovely, quite funny accounting of ordinary people staring down extraordinary circumstances with pragmatism, wits, and sporadic joy. And, in a year full of movies that viewed tough realities with deep empathy—from Roma to First Reformed to First Man—it’s the denizens of Shoplifters that have lingered in my mind the longest: Wondering where they are now, hoping everything turned out OK. —Brian Raftery

Mandy

You know what sucks? The fact that so few movies today are confident enough to feature coked-out demon biker gangs, strange Jesus cults, and a truly off-the-leash Nicolas Cage. Luckily, though, there’s Mandy—director Panos Cosmatos’ movie starts with that grand trifecta and goes about a thousand steps further. Shot using lush nighttime colors that would make the Stranger Things crew jealous, the revenge tale follows Cage’s Red Miller as he goes searching for his girlfriend who has been taken in by the aforementioned cult. Explaining it any further would ruin the fun (it’s also kind of impossible), but rest assured it has one of the best eviscerations of fragile masculinity ever put onscreen. —A.W.

Miseducation of Cameron Post

If you were an indie movie fan in 1999, you remember a delightful little film called But I’m a Cheerleader. It starred RuPaul as an instructor at a gay conversion camp and Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall as two of the unfortunate souls sent there for “treatment.” The Miseducation of Cameron Post, based on Emily M. Danforth’s novel of same name, is a much, much less campy version of that. In it, Chloë Grace Moretz plays the titular Cameron, a teenage girl who gets sent off to a conversion camp after getting caught in the back of a car with another woman the night of her prom. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, director Desiree Akhavan’s adaptation of Danforth’s novel is as vital and necessary as Cheerleader was in the late-1990s. It just has fewer laughs. —A.W.

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.

The last time you heard from (or about) agit-pop hitmaker M.I.A. it likely had something to do with her flying her middle finger at the Super Bowl or the term “truffle fries.”That was years ago, and a lot has changed in terms of how the public, and pop culture, treats its female artists. Well, maybe not a lot, but there’s been progress—and in Steve Loveridge’s documentary, the ways in which Maya Arulpragasam was mistreated and misunderstood couldn’t be more obvious. Built on archive footage and personal footage shot by the Sri Lankan artist over years and years, it creates a fuller picture of M.I.A. than any magazine profile or online hot take ever could. It might be a little late, but it’s also right on time. —A.W.

Shirkers

The set-up for Sandi Tan’s autobiographical Netflix doc sounds like something out of a pop-culture thriller: In 1992, Tan and two other bright, outsidery teenage girls decided to make a semi-surrealist feature film in their home country of Singapore. They were aided by a mysterious older American man who absconded with the footage—and then all but disappeared from their lives. Yet Tan’s story doesn’t involve tidy resolutions or shocking twists. Instead, Shirkers is actually something infinitely more compelling: A gorgeous-looking self-interrogation about creativity, power, and the strange twilight zone between adolescence and adulthood. It also contains the most succinct one-liner about ’90s alt-teen life I’ve ever heard: “When [we were] were 14,” Tan says of her pals, “we discovered unusual movies and unpopular music.” Decades later, they all reunited for a film more unusual and profound than they ever intended. —B.R.

Tully

Here’s the thing about Tully: It builds up to one really great twist. I won’t reveal it here, and maybe you’ll guess it before getting to the end anyway, but it’s a gut-punch. Before that happens, the setup is fairly simple. Marlo (Charlize Theron), a mother of three children, hires hip twentysomething Tully (Mackenzie Davis) as a nanny for her new baby. Over the course of weeks, Marlo and Tully become close and Marlo begins to yearn for the life she had when she was Tully’s age. Sounds dry, but this is a project from director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, a pair that has wrung blood, sweat, and tears out of domestic dramas (Juno, Young Adult) twice before—and does so double-time here. The quest to prolong youth while also raising children has never been so cuttingly portrayed. —A.W.

The Favourite

I truly thought that nothing could top Suspiria for the most haunting final moments of any film in 2018. I was wrong. Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ film about the love/hate triangle between Queen Anne of England (Olivia Colman) and her companions Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) ended on a note so unsettling, I’m still not done processing it weeks later. (I won’t spoil it, but I will say I’ll never look at rabbits the same way ever again.) Much like with his film The Lobster, Lanthimos’ latest lands somewhere in the gaps between drama and farce. It is, instead, a crooked glance at humanity’s relationship to power—the things people do to get close to it, to claim it, and to throw it away. In Lanthimos’ askew version of history, when Sarah’s relationship with the Queen is threatened by the arrival of her cousin Abigail, she does what she feels she must do to wrest back control and steer Queen Anne’s War to her liking. Anne, sensing the manipulation, grows closer to Abigail, only to realize her intentions might not be much better. It’s an unparalleled study in the utter lack of trust that accompanies being in charge, in the dread that comes with knowing those who seek your favor may never have pure intentions. It’s as bleak as it is laughable—and one of the most wonderfully weird tales to hit the screen this year. —A.W.

Annihilation

Director Alex Garland‘s adaptation of the first book of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy was easily one of the best dystopia films of 2018. It was also one of the year’s finest specimens of female badassery, featuring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as a team sent on a expedition to find out why nature’s rules seem not to apply in the mysterious, government-protected space known as Area X. Haunting, unpredictable, and science-y (someone turns into a plant!), it was a whirlwind head trip—and a weird examination of what it means to exist. —A.W.

Eighth Grade

Even the title strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who didn’t have the easiest time walking the halls of their middle school/junior high. In writer-director Bo Burnham’s film, that uneasiest of times is compounded by the fact that it takes place in the modern world, where all insecurities are reinforced by un-Liked Instagram posts and unreceived Facebook invites. Heroine Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) knows she’s on a pretty low rung in her school’s social hierarchy and with each new YouTube video she posts full of advice she doesn’t take, her story becomes more and more poignant, more and more real. And whether you grew up in the social media age or not, it’ll punch you in the heart—and make you glad you survived adolescence intact. —A.W.

Leave No Trace

Debra Granik, who every reviewer will remind you made a star out of Jennifer Lawrence with her film Winter’s Bone, pulled off another wrenching look at a family on the edges with this year’s Leave No Trace. When Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie)—a father-daughter pair who have been living off-the-grid outside Portland, Oregon for years—are arrested and put in the system, it tests their bond in new ways, and exposes Tom to a life unlike the one she’s lived with her father. Granik’s latest is almost deafening in how quiet it is, but its message about finding one’s place in the world is loud and clear. —A.W.

Three Identical Strangers

Were you surprised by the twist? What about the one after that? These are kind the kinds of questions folks ask you after seeing this documentary about three identical triplets who discover each others’ existence in their teenage years. At the time they found each other, they became America’s latest talk show feel-good story and national intrigue. Everything that happened after that, though, is so unbelievable it pushes all boundaries of credulity. It’s a Can you believe? story that quickly becomes an examination of heredity and (possible) corruption that goes beyond unbelievable into truly mind-boggling. —A.W.

(C)