#the 1997 live version is the best thing to exist

[stayevildarling]

📣 YOU’LL 📣 NEVER 📣 GET 📣 AWAY 📣 FROM 📣 THE 📣 SOUND 📣 OF 📣 THE 📣WOMAN 📣 THAT 📣 LOVES 📣 YOU 📣

stop😩 silver springs is my roman empire

[archeronfilm]

The Fifth Element (1997)

"I don't care, he should have been a butch lesbian."

In case you don't want spoilers, or to hear my long verbose in-detail thoughts on this movie, here's the short and sweet version:

The Fifth Element is raunchy, corny, and campy in all the right ways, and some of the wrong ones. It's far from a perfect movie, but I really enjoyed watching and rewatching it, and I would recommend it! I guess um, 4/5 stars, maybe.

Okay, now let's get serious. I saw the first 15 minutes of this movie while visiting my mother, found it so intriguing that I watched it with a friend, and then watched it again to write this review. Let's get into the meat of it. Spoilers for a 30 year old movie ahead.

Word Count: 6,082

Okay, The Fifth Element (1997), dir. Luc Besson, is a sci-fi comedy starring such greats as Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman, who I've been in love with since I watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990).

We open in Egypt in 1914, in a scene I can only describe as "Mummy-esque." Seriously, this scene came on in my mother's living room and I thought we were watching a yet unseen installation of The Mummy or Indiana Jones. It contains, among other things, an incredibly hammy and not-at-all-subtle dump of exposition. They go out of their way to gravitate back to this wall of runes several times, to make sure you know as much background lore as possible. A later scene renders this odd choice kind of unnecessary, but I'll concede its existence for one key reason-- the Mondoshawan.

The Mondoshawan are the good-guy aliens in this movie, though they're only featured on screen two times, one of them being this scene. Their space ship looms awesomely over this strange Egyptian exposition-temple, and they are a star example of one of the best parts of this movie.

All the effects, or at least as many of them as possible, are practical. Of course, it's a movie made in the 90's, so they would be. But the beautifully clunky and real toddling of these men in alien costumes was a dead-ringer for New Who, and it was incredibly endearing to me. I am a major believer in the power and merit of practical effects and the tragedy of computer generation. And this movie is *swimming* in practical effects. It's a delight.

I will say there's this bit where the leader Mondoshawan is toddling towards this very slowly closing stone door and he doesn't make it through because his very slow waddling is somehow slower than the door is, and I think it was supposed to be semi-serious but I laughed at it. It was just a little ridiculous.

The back half of this first scene feels kind of oddly paced, like it's rushed, which is odd to me considering the scene didn't hold back on dumping as much stuff on me as possible just a few minutes ago. Very strange scene, seems to only have one purpose, which I'll get back to later.

So, flash forward 30 years to something dramatically different in aesthetic and vibe, of course. We're in space. We're gritty, we're militaristic, of course. There's an evil fucking orb of fire flying towards the Earth at top speed. Things aren't looking great.

The president, a man with eyes of a frightening shade, is black! This is not plot relevant, but I find the tendency of movies from this period to feature black presidents far before Obama's term to be really interesting. Is this social commentary? A thoughtful statement about how fantastical the idea of a black man in office is to the average American? I will never know. I really like this character, he's a fun guy. He has more personality than most president characters do, probably due to him being on an awesome spaceship with a team of nodding yes-men in a delightfully Star Trek-esque uniform. I like him a lot. He's my boy.

This is the same scene where we get introduced to Vito Cornelius, a priest who appears to be Catholic because he does the sign of the cross later in the movie, even though I definitely assumed he was some weird member of the church of the Fifth Element or something.

Cornelius is here to suggest that the ball of fire is sentient and evil, and that the president shouldn't shoot it with missiles, because it's so sentient and evil that it'll get even sentienter and eviler. Of course, the president disregards this warning, because that's what movie presidents do to random old men in robes.

From this blunder comes one of the many incredibly hard lines in this movie. Where Mr. President tells Staedert, his military commander, "I have a doubt." and Staedert replies "I don't, Mister President" and then presses the fire button on the huge gigantic missiles. It's awesome, only slightly undercut by the fact that it doesn't work and Staedert and his crew get fucking obliterated right after. By the evil sentient ball which shoots out a flare of flames that has an evil spooky skull in it. That's not a joke at all, that seriously happens in this scene. I laughed.

Now we smash cut to Bruce Willis. He's Korben Dallas, this sort of gritty ex-military guy with a very cute cat. I love this cat. She is an adorable, slightly cross eyed white longhair. It's honestly a tragedy and a waste that she was only in like two scenes. She should have been ever-present, fitted with Air Bud esque mouth animation so she could act as Bruce Willis' voice of reason throughout the film.

Korben Dallas is trying to quit smoking. He's a cab driver who's dogshit at driving his cab and is mere seconds away from losing his license. He is, and I quote, "Still stuck on that two-timing slut." He wants a perfect woman. There are about two Chekov's guns in that last block of text.

He opens his first scene with us in what I can only describe as the sluttiest most hot and sweaty chest binder I've ever seen. And a pair of tight belted leather boots that it really seems like he fell asleep wearing.

And then he gets mugged by a guy, presumably so they can show us how much he knows about guns, and that he has been mugged enough that he now has a secret shelf that is just completely full of guns. Hilarious. I love this bit. It's not even relevant, I just loved it.

Okay so the evil sentient ball of fire. We didn't forget about that. This scene is one that confused me really badly during my rewatch. Here, Cornelius explains in full detail and in much less vague terms than before what the Fifth Element does and why they need it to save Earth from this evil ball of fire. This scene renders most of the in-narrative purpose of the first scene moot. The only reason it now exists (other than some background stuff that could probably have been introduced in a less odd way) is to address a more meta issue, which I'll get to later. But while I was watching it, I couldn't help but think "Well... then what the hell were we doing in the desert with Luke Perry?"

In this scene, we get to see the Mondoshawans again for the final time, so we can introduce the bad guy aliens, the Mangalores. They jack the stones (the elements) from the Mondoshawan ship and blow them up.

I thought this scene was supposed to set up the stereotypical "military incompetent" idea that's often present in this type of sci fi, but the president honestly makes mostly good decisions that don't make him feel like a bumbling idiot once through the entire movie. Honestly, he's kind of cool. I like him.

Okay, now that the Mangalores have been tragically exploded, we get the vehicle towards one of our main characters. Using a saved body part from the Mangalores and some utterly and delighfully made up genetic scienceology, we recreated the perfect genes of some alien into... a skinny white girl with the orangest hair I've ever seen. This scene features one of the only costuming choices in the movie that I truly hate. Leeloo's weird strap undies (and subsequent inability to wear normal pants, but mostly these strap undies?). I just hate it. Why is it here. It's not even that sexy looking. She looks like a ham in an asylum.

The set design in this movie is also delightfully Whovian and Star-Trek-ish. Tinfoil walls, lava lamp type sensibilities. The costumes are camp the set is camp, everything is camp. It's an absolute whale. The costumes the policemen wear while chasing runaway Leeloo are just hilarious. Many fantastic choices made all around, except for those fucking weird underpants.

Some of the sci-fi concepts in this movie FEEL overplayed and hammed up, and then I remember that it was released when a lot of this stuff was new and in-vogue, and it becomes an interesting exercise in perspective. Maybe they were pioneers, what do I know? I'm having an absolute ball.

Okay, so Leeloo falls directly through the roof of Korben Dallas' cab, and before you say anything, I do have many choice words throughout this recap/review about the infamous trope borne of this movie, "Born Sexy Yesterday," and I am aware of its existence. These opinions are sprinkled throughout alongside my others.

So Bruce Willis seems to be a big fan of this strange woman who, especially in this scene, acts very childlike. Korben's interest doesn't really read as creepy in this scene, until later when he randomly assaults her. You know, like a creep would do. I digress.

Leeloo knows how to read Roman lettering, and while I understand this choice in this scene, I do think it doesn't make sense and kills a little bit of world building. Whatever. Language guy complaining about language stuff.

Speaking of world building, there are a lot of worldbuilding things conveyed visually and through dialog in this movie that arent ham-fisted exposition vomit, and I am very fond of them. The hitch inside the rear door of Dallas' cab, saying Leeloo "doesn't have a file," the Fog? That is never explained? This world has some suggestion of richness and intrigue that I love to see from sci-fi. They waste no time painting "THIS IS THE POINT" with big red letters, because it's just setdressing, and I think that ultimately makes these details really sing.

I love the dialog and energy in the high speed chase scene, the vertical train, the Fog??? The way this movie doesn't need to explain itself. Until it does explain itself. Blatantly. And then I get sad.

In a lot of ways, I think this movie's actual plot is the least interesting part of it. More on this later.

It also *really* seems like this movie was sponsored by McDonald's.

A nearly unconscious Leeloo begs Korben Dallas to take her to Cornelius, before passing out with such cartoonish vigor that I originally thought she was kidding.

So Korben takes Leeloo to Cornelius' apartment, getting originally turned away for being mistaken for newlyweds (barf). Instead of knocking again, he just kicks down the door. Cornelius realizes due to a tattoo on her inner wrist that she's the Fifth Element (!) and passes out. Korben places her on the couch.

Now, I don't really understand why Korben Dallas chooses to sexually assault Leeloo by kissing her while she's unconscious in this scene. It not only feels gross, it also feels kind of unprecedented. They've met once, had approximately the amount of chemistry you'd expect, and then she passed out. Maybe in the 90's this felt spontaneous and romantic, but to me it just feels like he did it for no reason. I wish she had actually shot him. Thankfully, her outburst of rage at this momentarily makes her feel a little less like a literal grade-schooler, a much needed respite.

Milla Jovovich does what I think is a pretty good job at keeping her pronunciation of the divine language consistent throughout the scenes where she speaks it. She's Ukranian-American, but I have no idea if she's bilingual or had an accent coach or something. Either way, well done Ms. Jovovich!

Anyway, Cornelius walks in having suddenly changed into these silly ass robes, a great sight gag, and kicks Korben out of the room, but not before he reveals that the words that Leeloo yelled at Korben meant "never without my permission," which really made me wish she had shot him *twice*.

The scene where Korben talks to his friend, Finger, about Leeloo was clearly supposed to be romantic, I'm sure. It actually makes him look like a freak. I hated him for much of this movie.

Now, Back to the Mangalores. The Mangalores are a warrior race who have been hired by the big evil of this movie-- Gary Oldman. For some reason, they decided to make him southern. Not that I'm really complaining, but characters in this movie seem to have accents for no reason, and I really love it.

I love Gary Oldman in this movie. His character, Zorg, is fitted with one of the most ridiculous wardrobes of the entire cast. He has this odd plastic cap on his head, a flaccid mohawk, and the filthiest facial hair possible (a soul patch). He is fucking awesome. I love Zorg.

Spliced between parts of this arms deal, we learn that the stones aren't in the case. Leeloo tells Cornelius that in case they were stolen, the stones were given to someone trusted by the Mondoshawans, but not before changing clothes in front of him and his apprentice. I swear, she does this like three times in this movie.

The cut back to Leeloo in this scene right after Zorg realizes the box is empty is really well done. Effective, funny, punchy. She laughs like a freak, it's great.

There's a bit of dialog Zorg has with his right hand man right after this failed arms deal where he talks about his philosophy around warriors and why he prefers killers. I love this bit. The way he just coldly leaves them with a bomb built into his holy-overkill-gun is hard as shit, and it gives us a nice insight into our villain in the first scene he's in. I like it. I like Zorg.

Speaking of Zorg, we get a proper introduction to him just after. Here is one of the most interesting scenes in this film, where we get some insight about Zorg and Cornelius' respective opinions on life and death.

The interesting thing about this scene is that I kind of agree with Zorg, his saying that death exists to create life for the living, ostensibly feeding the cycle of life and progress. Regardless, he is painted as stupid when Cornelius has to rescue him from choking on a cherry.

And why the hell would you ever put a whole cherry in a glass of water? You're basically asking to choke to death. And Cornelius has a point, why don't you, a guy who has a special button to unearth his bizarre elephantine freak creature from the secret drawer in your desk, have a special robot to smack you on the back when you're choking? *Especially* when you do dumb shit like putting whole pit-in cherries in your glasses of water? Answer me that, Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg.

Actually, I don't know how this bit is supposed to disprove Zorg's point. All it really proves is that people need each other sometimes, which has nothing to do with what Zorg was actually saying to Cornelius here. Now, we could argue that it goes against the way that he executes this philosophy, which is true, being that he is a weird freaky villain who has henchmen, but I don't want to argue that. Because the fact that they have this strange sum-zero philosophical argument where they're ostensibly not even talking to each other is way funnier.

Right after this there's a bit where he sends his right hand man to literally bug the space-oval office. As in, it's a cockroach with a little camera and microphone on it. This bit is super funny. No thematic relevance, I just loved watching the president fucking cream the roach with his shoe while Zorg's henchman writhed in pain from the mic feedback.

The next important scene, by which I mean the next scene, starts with a healthy serving of "Sci-Fi setting that is weird about Asian people." Get behind me, Mr. Kim, this movie doesn't respect you enough.

Anyway, Korben's hilariously young adult-sounding mother calls him on the phone to bitch at him insanely about how he never calls and gives us a key piece of information-- Korben has won an all expenses paid trip to Fhloston Paradise! This coincidentally is where Leeloo told Cornelius the person with the stones was. This contest was actually alluded to on Korben's television in his first scene as well. This movie is very, *very* good at setup-payoff. Lots of domino situations.

Korben professional-improvs his way out of a police confrontation (organized by Zorg) just to get walloped over the head by Cornelius, who intends to steal his tickets so he and Leeloo can save planet Earth. In the process, he also puts his former superior officer in a freezer. Everyone wants Korben's sweet sweet bod in this scene. It's really something.

There's a couple of details about Korben's character and his relationship with Leeloo in this scene that jumped out at me, and I will be addressing them alongside the others of their ilk later in this review.

Cornelius hatches a plan to make his apprentice David impersonate Korben so they can get to Fhloston. It doesn't work, of course, because this movie chose to represent being knocked out the most realistically I've ever seen in a blockbuster flick. Korben is only down for the count for a second or two, which means he caught up with them and pulled some more startlingly effective improvisation out of his ass to get on this flight with Leeloo. It's really remarkable how good this ex military guy is at improv. Get his ass behind a mic. Get Korben on Whose Zorg is it Anyway, and pay me royalties.

I have a note here that just says "Everyone in this movie wears what I can only describe as rave wear. It's pretty hilarious." I have nothing to add. That's accurate.

So they're boarding this flight, right? And here's a real doozy. 1 out of 2 of my impassioned rants on one specific character in this movie who we meet in this scene. Ruby Rhod. Ruby ffffucking Rhod.

I actually *need* to talk about this guy. He is like the Prince of outer space. His scenes where he does his talk show are mesmerizing, zany, all over the place. I felt like I was having a nightmare. He's fascinating, fabulous, flamboyant, some other f word that I'm choosing not to say right now. His use of "green" to mean "good" is just perfect. Korben's completely dodgy and stiff responses are honestly the perfect contrast to Ruby in this scene. They're foils. This scene has captivated me. Ruby prowls around while tiger growling noises play in the background and flirts with this random stewardess ON AIR, inches from her face with the mic separating their mouths, promising to have sex with her later. ON AIR. It's implied that this is a normal thing that is acceptable on his show.

Ruby also has a whole gang of yes men, all of which are only slightly less flamboyantly homosexual than he is, but still feel more explicitly homosexual than Ruby, who has sex with as many women as he can possibly manage, which seems to be many, because every woman who mentions his name in this movie appears to cream their pants if he so much as breathes near them. That girl he flirted with? She moaned and collapsed on the floor right after.

The scene after the show, where Korben Dallas pins Ruby to the wall and threatens him, would have been beautifully compelling if Korben Dallas was a butch lesbian. This is the furthest thing from thoughtful character analysis, I just would have liked it more.

It's implied in the following scene that Ruby has only ever really wanted to fuck aliens before meeting this random stewardess, and we get to watch a very cleverly compiled set of scenes from wildly different locales that all fit together. Ruby having sex with this stewardess, the ship taking off, and Zorg blowing up his right hand man for failing him. They also use the Wilhelm scream in this scene, but given that the movie was made in the late 90's this is par for the course, and is really much more tasteful than usual.

For some reason, rasta(?) music is playing. There is a vaguely rastafarian man in this scene, but only for around 12 seconds. The use of regionally and culturally specific music in this movie that has no bearing on the actual space the characters inhabit is absolutely fascinating to me. There was some music earlier, playing in sci-fi New York, that I swear used a Raga scale. All the music is very good, good job Éric Serra.

After Zorg finishes exploding his frankly very competent right hand man, we get a scene where we discover that he's after the stones because some man he's working for, Mr. Shadow, wants them. Zorg is the main antagonist for most of this movie. Mr. Shadow never comes back again, and we do not need him. All he really serves to do is to make Zorg look more pathetic and give him an excuse to be more desperate when he can't get his hands on the stones, which, while fine, I think the movie could have gotten away with just having Zorg being a dramatic villain who freaks out when he doesn't get his way without this bit. Not egregious, but not really a necessary scene.

Okay, I have a big question. Why is Fhloston paradise Hawaii? It just *is* Hawaii. Did Hawaii escape to a separate planet at some point? Good for them, except that Fhloston is still a crazy tourist spot full of annoying white people, so not really. This is just Super Mega Hell 2 for Hawaiians. The song they sing in the first Fhloston scene is really good, though. Thanks, Éric.

On the topic of Fhloston, I really love the use of color in the set. Given the way the rest of this movie is, it's possible that it's more for visual contrast and not theming, but there is a scene during the opera performance that switches between complements, and the visual contrast is, well, good.

Speaking of the opera, Korben has front row seats, and its 5pm. You know what that means.

It's fucking Ruby Rhod time, baby! Ruby is back in black, in the most fantastic costume in this entire movie. Despite it showing off his entire clavicle (no exaggeration), it manages to get more and more revealing as this scene plays out. This bit where he asks Korben if he's happy with being on Fhloston in his usual over the top, loud, flamboyant way and Korben looks into his eyes, leans into the mic, and says "Thrilled" drolly is a short interaction so packed with sexual tension that I can't even argue for it without just telling you to watch the scene. This is their only interaction that really FEELS like gay sex, and it made my jaw go slack for a couple of seconds, even as the movie immediately moved on to the much more important opera segment.

Speaking of the opera, for real this time, I have one complaint. It's an annoying complaint that nobody ever wants to hear, but I'm saying it anyway because that's what I'm here to do: Diva is *not* singing. Now, maybe in some later movie review we can learn my detailed opinions on live recordings of singing performances in film (short version: I don't think they should happen, and I hate them) my main complaint is mostly that Diva's actress is just not very good at *pretending* to sing, much less opera. She doesn't pretend to breathe, doesn't try to move her mouth with the incredibly strong vibrato (understandable to some extent) but most of all, her mouth shapes just aren't right. I can concretely point to certain mouth shapes and say "that's not the shape her mouth should be when singing that vowel," it's obvious enough that I can do that. Granted, I have some experience in singing on stage, so maybe that's just my personal annoying musician experience speaking, but it was really noticeable to me. Okay, annoying complaint over, now I can say nice things

This opera, Lucia di Lammermoor with a poppy remix track towards the end, is ridiculously well performed. Diva's vocalist, Inva Mula, does a stunning job at both the formal and informal portions of this song. It's actually amazing how little of her voice had to be computer edited to sound more "alien," it's only done like twice in the portion that it's done at all, and the rest is pretty clearly just her. She really knocks it out of the park here.

The movie does something interesting here that I really enjoyed, where they periodically show us different characters reactions to this opera. Mostly Korben and Leeloo. I want to focus on Korben, who looks at Diva like this is the first time he's ever been moved in his life. Seriously, his eyes are wet and shining with unshed tears and I really mean that. Right when we get this poignant reaction out of Korben, the pop track starts playing and the somber moment abruptly ends, which is kind of what it's like watching this movie, or clicking on a Read More and discovering a film review that is easily over 5k words.

This movie has a great penchant for match cuts. Actually, most of the transition and shot choices made in this movie are really top of the line. They're all punchy, sharp, playful, to the point. Fantastic cinematographic choices, guys.

Diva finishes her performance right after Leeloo finishes fighting Zorg by getting shot at while up in an air duct. The opera is then laid siege by the Mangalores, who brutally murder Diva. This is sad for me, because I wanted her and Leeloo to be friends, and for Korben Dallas, who just felt the strongest emotion he's ever experienced thanks to her.

Ruby, of course, continues reporting on his talk show throughout the assault, because he's a goddamn professional. He also spends the next scene and a half shrieking in fear.

The reveal that the stones are literally inside Diva's body not only makes me watch one of the more disgusting scenes in this movie, it also makes me wonder-- Was Leeloo just supposed to kill her? Also, how did they get in there? Many questions and no answers, because we aren't here to fuck around.

While Diva is giving Korben this weird spiel about how Leeloo needs him and his love to survive, there's this brief cut to Leeloo, bleeding in the air vent. This cut is an absolute pang to the gut. She sits, curled up, alone, sobbing painfully with a bullet wound in her leg. She looks small, helpless, childlike in this brief scene. It was so impactful to me that it just made me angry about the way Korben and Leeloo's relationship in this movie is executed. This is another "get back to it later" thing.

For the rest of this "getting shot up by Mangalores" scene, Ruby Rhod is cowering and sniffling and screaming for Korben to help him. It's honestly like this for the rest of the movie. They're just friends now. It's awesome. I love this guy. He accidentally shoots a guy in the head and then asks Korben "You think he'll be okay?" He's the best character in this movie.

We get one of Korben's final fantastic moments of improv in this scene. It's around this point, during the "negotiation" scene, that I realized that the problem with this movie is that the best parts of it are the parts that aren't about the two characters who I'm supposed to care about the relationship between.

This scene, where Korben gets in a fighter jet, says it's just like driving a cab (a contrast from his conversation with Finger in his first scene, where he says driving a cab is easy because he isn't driving a jet) and then blows a fucking hole in the airlock and guns it out of the Fhloston ship, is so fucking cool. I'm a very simple man. It was awesome. One question, does Korben have some kind of allergy to reminding people to put seatbelts on? This is the second time he's just allowed his passengers to fly around the cabin while he drives recklessly.

Ruby's show ends at 7pm, when he tiredly proclaims that it's the best show he's ever done. I was thinking the same thing. In fact, Mr. Rhod, I really think you should hire Korben. There, now he has a new job.

Right here is where I'm going to address one of my main points (gripes) about this movie. Yes, I know, over 5k words in.

This part of the scene, where Leeloo has her weird crisis of faith about the evil of the human race, learns about war and concludes that humans aren't worth saving, falls flat to me. Sure, it feels over-played, but ultimately the problem is just that it's not done well, much like the rest of her characterization. Leeloo's depiction as being naive and childlike, which honestly only holds because she doesn't really speak fluent English, holds back her character because of the movies comphet insistence that her and Korben be romantically involved. A narrative where Leeloo, naive and unfamiliar, Leeloo, who needs other people, who sobs painfully alone in an airvent, who needs to be dried off with a towel after getting soaked with water, is actually a child, would be more compelling. And her not being able to reconcile with the evils of humanity would also have felt more convincing if she was literally a child. Like, of *course* she can't see the situation with any nuance, she's a kid. A narrative where Leeloo and Korben's dynamic is more familial would be more interesting, and honestly the way she's characterized already lends itself so perfectly to this narrative that there were points where I got actually upset that the movie refused to go that direction.

I'll go ahead and talk about Korben's character here as well. Korben is a refreshing detraction from the classic grizzled tough guy trope that we tend to see in action movies. Whether this is a result of 90's zeitgeist or just the writer's own preferences, I don't know, but I noticed it. I was expecting Korben Dallas to be a sort of obnoxious, emotionally stunted brick wall of a guy-- but he isn't, really. Korben is quick on his feet, improvisational, messy, and sure he's genius with a gun, but he's also *nice*. He's nice in a distinctly not "Grizzled emotionally stunted guy" way. When he accidentally gets Leeloo soaking wet, he gets her a towel at warp speed, apologizes up and down in a much softer tone than he ever uses for anything else. I thought at first "of course, because he likes her," but then-- Then! When he discovers that he's accidentally plastic-wrapped Cornelius, he rips the plastic and apologizes-- in the same sort of tone. He adapts his approach to the Mangalore barrage in the cruise ship to Ruby Rhod, never complains about Ruby being a nuisance or being in his way, just brings him along and asks him to help out. I honestly really like Korben Dallas. Which is why, upon reflecting on earlier scenes in this movie, it really irritates me that he just kisses Leeloo for no reason, or even that he's in love with her at all.

That scene I mentioned, where Korben dries her off, or even as early as the cab scene where she's talking animatedly to him in the divine language and we get the "bada boom" dialog, just oozes a kind of gentleness and care that doesn't speak satisfactorily to romance or sex. Leeloo, this childlike character, and Korben, this gentle man who happens to be great with guns, don't feel like husband and wife. They don't feel like sexual partners. He feels like her father. That moment with the shower soured the rest of their dynamic for me during my rewatch, because I kept thinking about how much better it could be. That dynamic, as I've already said, would have been deeply compelling, especially given the final reveal of the movie.

Now that we've escaped Fhloston, we've headed back to the temple in Egypt. This is that meta function of the first scene I said I'd address-- without it, there is no sense of a sort of circular journey the film takes. The film establishing this temple *is* important, because otherwise this scene where we return to it just wouldn't land as well. That said, I do still think the first scene is a little odd and clunky. Then again, so is much of this movie, and it's still a good scene.

Our characters spend a frustratingly long time decoding a "riddle" that Leeloo tells Korben, one which was so simple that I was yelling at my laptop the first time I watched it. We get another very gratifying and subtle payoff from an earlier scene where we see Korben has only one match left, which he needs for the fire stone. Earlier, we see him subtly take his penultimate match from the box. This movie's Chekov game is crazy.

Much like this review, Leeloo says something that feels deeply substantial nearly 2 hours into a 2 hour long movie. She says "I don't know love. I was made to protect, not to love. There is no use for me other than this."

This line is so compelling to me. It's the most CHARACTER I've seen from her in the whole movie, and its 2 hours in. We do not get to explore it.

You might have noticed, based on this line, what the Fifth Element actually is. What Leeloo needs in order to activate her Element and shoot the big fuckoff laser into the evil fire ball.

Its ~Love~.

This is, of course, ridiculously corny and requires them to kiss nasty on the mouth for longer than I would have liked to see (Of course, I would have like to not see it at all).

I don't actually mind this conclusion or the theming. It's silly, but so is the whole movie. But you might, like me, see an issue here.

If we had approached this movie the way I so desperately craved, made their dynamic more familial, made Leeloo a child and given Korben a new weird alien daughter, this conclusion would have been leagues more powerful.

Not only would it be a unique approach to what is usually a very hetero and sexual genre, it would have given a much more gratifying conclusion to Korben's character arc. At the beginning of his arc, Korben talks about how he's looking for a perfect woman after his wife left him. In the movie, Korben just... *gets* the perfect woman. He gets exactly what he wanted and he learns nothing. If Korben instead had to reckon with this new facet of his life and identity, had to reconcile with being thrust into quasi-fatherhood, he might actually have deigned to, you know, *develop* as a character. He would have *learned* something. I'm not saying every single character in the movie has to learn something, but the main goddamn character probably should, right?

But since it's an ~adult movie~ for ~grown ups~, we can't tell compelling family narratives, and the movie has to end with them having sex in a reactor pod. I hate that. I hated that conclusion and my least favorite part of this movie was its main conceit, which was genuinely tragic given how enjoyable I found the rest of the film.

So, I'll leave you with this.

The Fifth Element (1997) is a *good* movie. It's incredibly fun, zany, raunchy, and lively. The music is very good, the costuming and set design is whimsical and fantastic. It's a little weird about Asians. It birthed one of the worst cinema tropes ever invented, and it didn't even have to, because the movie would have been really, deeply beautiful if it hadn't.

And Korben Dallas should have been a butch lesbian.

Actually, I'll leave you by saying that the song that plays in the credits of this movie is really good. "Little Light of Love," it's called. I'm going to link it so you can experience it, too.

[the-master-of-space-and-time]

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’re here!!!!!!! Look, I’ve got a hat!!!!

🎩

🐍

Omg, I figured out how to hack the CIA account! What shall we post?

-Zerlan

[albertonykus]

"Which Doraemon Movie Should I Watch First If I've Never Seen/Read Doraemon?"

In reviewing the Doraemon movies, I've gone over which ones are my favorites, but ranking a movie highly doesn't necessarily mean I'd recommend it to someone who has never seen Doraemon before. Of course, the obvious way to experience the Doraemon movies would be to watch them all in the order they were originally released in, but seeing more than 40 movies from an unfamiliar franchise is understandably a daunting commitment. One of the nice things about the Doraemon films (at least from a newcomer's perspective), however, is that they generally don't contain any plot-relevant references to the events of the other movies, so for the most part they can be viewed in any order without missing much context (with a few exceptions that I will cover shortly).

After giving it some thought, I have narrowed down my suggestions for "someone's first Doraemon film" to the following three:

Nobita and the Birth of Japan (2016): Doraemon helps Nobita and his friends run away from home to… 70,000 years ago, before humans lived in Japan. (@killdeercheer can attest to the effectiveness of this one as an intro to Doraemon!)

New Nobita's Great Demon (2014): Doraemon and friends explore Central Africa and discover a secret civilization.

Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 (2022): Doraemon and friends help tiny aliens overthrow a dictatorship.

As it happens, all of these are recent remakes of classic Doraemon movies, so they're based directly on stories written by the original manga author, but have a more "modern" art style and often flesh out certain aspects of the plot. That wasn't something I had in mind while coming up with this list, but in a way, it makes sense: I think these movies combine the strengths of both the current and classic Doraemon series.

My main reasons for recommending these three:

I expect their storylines to be of relatively broad appeal without requiring much prior knowledge.

They're a good showcase of the main characters and their dynamics.

They offer a good sense of what to expect from most Doraemon movies (i.e., they don't deviate much from the usual formula).

I personally find them enjoyable (obviously).

I think any of the three would also be solid choices for one's second (or third) Doraemon movie, but some other candidates I'd pick for those roles include:

Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King (2000): Doraemon helps Nobita switch lives with a prince from a Maya-esque civilization.

Nobita and the Windmasters (2003): Nobita keeps a small typhoon as a pet, leading Doraemon and friends to discover its connection to a hidden village.

Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration (2019): Doraemon helps Nobita make an alternate reality where rabbits live on the moon.

For those who have gained some familiarity with the franchise, my top recommendations would be:

Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld (1984): Doraemon helps Nobita create a world where magic exists, which results in them having to fight literal demons.

Nobita and the Steel Troops (1986): Doraemon and friends defend humanity from an army of alien robots.

Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds (1992): Doraemon and friends build a kingdom in the clouds, only to find an actual civilization hidden in the clouds. (This is an unusual one in that it references events from the regular Doraemon series, but I think enough context is provided that one can still appreciate it without having read the relevant manga or TV episodes.)

There are a few movies that I suggest a first-time viewer avoid. As previously mentioned, some movies do contain explicit continuity references to older films:

It's best to watch Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express (1996) before Nobita and the Spiral City (1997).

It's best to watch Nobita's Dinosaur (either the 1980 or 2006 version is fine) before Nobita's New Dinosaur (2020).

It's best to watch Stand by Me Doraemon (2014) before Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (2020). (I suppose that one's obvious.)

A couple of movies I don't recommend because I honestly think they're terrible and not worth anyone's time. I'd only suggest watching these two if one either is a completionist who wants to see all the Doraemon films or really enjoys riffing on bad movies:

Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King (2010)

Nobita and the Island of Miracles (2012)

Last but not least, though I've seen other fans suggest otherwise, I very much do not recommend Stand by Me Doraemon (2014) as an entry point into the franchise. Regardless of my personal opinions on its quality, I maintain that its primary target audience is viewers who are nostalgic for Doraemon and the specific manga chapters it adapts. It certainly does not provide one with a good idea of what the other movies are like.

If anyone does end up taking these suggestions, I'd be interested in hearing whether or not they hit the mark! I'd also be interested in hearing from other fans which movies they'd recommend to someone unfamiliar with Doraemon.

[wandringaesthetic]

I wanted to kinda respond to @risingoflights post I reblogged re: FFVII Rebirth feeling shallow but didn't want to do it on the reblog of their post because this is going to be a lot

First of all, if I was grand czar of the universe, Remake/Rebirth/Reunion wouldn't exist. You can't go back, you can't step in the same river twice. I don't like the cash grab, I don't like the idea of replacing the original. Nothing can replace the original. It's not 1997 and we live in a world in which Final Fantasy VII already exists. I would rather they spent the time and money working on FFXVII.

However.

I am also mortal and weak and FFVII had a huge impact on my life and I'm against the concept of denying myself simple pleasures, so ofc I played them, preordered them asap, etc. And with Remake? With the understanding that I don't think that the game should exist, I also think that it is about the best possible version of the concept that could exist. In the words of Tim Rogers, it is more Final Fantasy VII than Final Fantasy VII. It's not flawless, but nothing is. I think of it like I think of the Lord of the Rings movies. Are they *perfect* adaptations of the books? No. But they're about the maximum good it was possible for them to be. And the fact that it is a stealth *sequel* to the original game actually makes me feel better about the whole endeavor. We aren't even really trying to replace the original. The original is a key component to what we're doing here. It's in conversation with the original.

(Adaptation may be an even more apt metaphor than I originally intended, because a video game in 1997 and a AAA video game in 2024 are for all intents and purposes different mediums. It's like comparing silent film to something that came out last week. It has a different toolkit, a different runtime, a different budget, etcetcetc)

(spoilers for all of Rebirth from here)

I enjoyed Rebirth quite a lot but I don't feel as rosy about it as I did about Remake. I spent about 130 hours on Rebirth. One could play the original game in its entirety three times in that time, and there's not that much more going on in Rebirth, plot-wise, than there is in this segment of the original game. There's a lot of *setup*. It looks like there's going to be a lot more going on in Wutai than in the OG in part 3, Rufus is having a really weird time, I love what they did with the Gi and with Cosmo Canyon &etc, but beyond texture there's not a huge amount of meaningful content here. The stuff that is going on with Cloud and Sephiroth is so much more *subtle* in the OG, but also it can be because it's doing it with a fraction of the runtime and the text. Sephiroth has to pop up a lot more here because while you're running around taking photos and making cactuar poses and finding every piece of the genji armor and soaking up the gleefully absurd world and its approximately 3000 minigames you might legitimately forget about him if he didn't pester Cloud repeatedly.

This makes me very interested in what Squeenix might do with a game/story/world that was built for this runtime/structure, and again, I had a really fun time with this game, but it does, I agree, make for a more shallow overall experience than the original did.

AS FOR THE PLOT where it diverges rather than just expands on the original and the multiverse/meta stuff: now that I know that they're going for multiverse shenanigans and not just straight up "we are taking a different path from here" like it looked like they might be at the end of Remake

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm how to put this

The more you increase the scope of a conflict, the more you run the risk of the whole thing collapsing in on itself. Now I know this is Final Fantasy and the stakes being no more or less than the fate of the world is the norm here. An epic scope is a necessity. But when you're dealing with the fate of multiple timelines and every reality, it makes the choices and stakes of the individual human characters and conflicts kind of trivial. Original flavor FFVII is, at least on one level, about holding off the corporate-greed-driven death of the planet we live on. Rebirth makes that kind of a side show to Sephiroth and Aerith's struggle to see who gets to say what reality is and maybe also their struggle for Cloud's soul. By making the stakes even bigger, you kind of make them even smaller. Instead of being about monopolies and energy consumption and breaking out of the matrix, etc, it's kind of just about this one guy (Sephiroth) who sucks. Why are Aerith and Cloud and Zack and Sephiroth determining the fate of every reality again? Why THESE guys?

(This is notably a potential critique of the original game, that Sephiroth kind of sucks all the light and air out of the plot post-Midgar. Wouldn't it be interesting if Shinra were the main baddies the whole way through? Yeah, but that would be a different story, wouldn't it?)

What was I saying?

Well.

Without something to ground these multiple realities-and-planets-and-universes types stakes it gets sort of hard to relate to and hang onto and be touched by the story. Since Aerith is dead in some realities and alive in others and since "dead loved one" is a reality many people face within our universe and "both alive and unalive" loved one is not.... I mean, again, epic fantasy story but it has to hang on to real life emotions in SOME way, right? If there are many universes does what we do even fuckin matter, man?

FFXIV grounds its grand multiple-universes-and-planets stakes by making Endwalker metaphorically about each person's struggle against despair and the knowledge of each of our own inevitable deaths. And, I don't know, maybe Reunion will do something like this eventually but Rebirth pretty much doesn't and so I don't know what to do with it at this time.

[asktoobzee]

The 11 Best Summer Horror Movies of All Time

What better way to beat the dog days of summer than hiding away inside, cranking the AC, and watching a horror flick? That’s why we put together a list of our favorite summer horror movies of all time. But just to clarify, by “summer horror movies” we mean movies that take place during the summer.

That means some “summer-ish” films — such as Cabin Fever (October) and Cabin in the Woods (weekend getaway) — aren’t eligible for the list. We also require summertime to be explicitly mentioned in the film, so that knocks 2 of our Mia Goth favorites, X and its sequel Pearl, out of contention. We’ve also excluded comedy horror flicks, so you won’t find The Final Girls lurking around here.

Without further ado, here are our favorite summer horror movies of all time.

#11: The Girl Next Door (2007)

This is not to be confused with the romantic comedy starring Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert from 2004. Not at all. Also known as Jack Ketchum’s Evil, The Girl Next Door is based on the multi-Stoker Award winner’s novel of the same name, which was itself loosely based on the true-life story of Sylvia Likens.

Without giving too much away, 2 recently orphaned sisters are sent to live with their aunt Ruth and her 3 sons. Very quickly, the older sister becomes persona non grata in Ruth’s eyes and is sent (or rather, sentenced) to live in the basement. Horrific things happen from there.

Stephen King called it “the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me.” But even with the Master of Horror’s stamp of approval, it’s still one of the most divisive movies around, with as many 10-star ratings as 1-stars on IMDb.

Whether you love it or hate it, the only way to find out is by watching it. The first hour and 15 minutes are disturbing, but the final quarter-hour is downright horrifying. Still, it’s nothing compared to the real-life story behind it.

Where to stream it:

Prime Video

FASTs: Freevee, Tubi

#10: The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The sophomore directorial effort by legendary horror director Wes Craven cemented his name — and filmmaking future — in the horror genre.

Based on the legend of Scotsman Sawney Bean and his merry band of cannibals, a suburban family’s California road trip is sidetracked by a clan of Nevada flesh-eaters.

Made on a shoestring budget of somewhere between $350k to $700k, it went on to make $25 million. Full of chills, thrills, and dark humor, the movie became a cult classic and was even included in Steven Jay Schneider’s 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (hopefully not on somebody’s dinner plate).

Pop it up on the screen for those in the backseat during your next summer road trip. It might be a good way to stop them from asking “Are we there yet?”

Where to stream it:

AMC+, Arrow, Screambox, Shudder

#9: Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Ask almost any horror fan and they’ll tell you that Sleepaway Camp is one of the classic summer camp slashers. Starring scream queen Felissa Rose, it’s got one of the greatest endings in movie history — which is all we’re going to say about that.

Aside from the ending, it’s notable for a cast mostly comprised of actual teenagers, rather than twentysomethings (or even thirtysomethings!) pretending to be young.

While not the most renowned horror franchise of all time, it spawned 4 sequels. Only one of them involved the original’s writer/director, Robert Hiltzik — who didn’t even know the others existed or that his film had become a cult classic! How’s that for a twist?

Where to stream it:

Fubo, Peacock, Screambox

#8: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Jennifer Love Hewitt leads a cast of beautiful people in low-cut, tight tees as they try to figure out who knows, uh, what they did last summer. And that’s not referring to where they went for vacation. It’s the deadly hit-and-run the group of then high schoolers covered up.

Loosely based on the YA novel of the same name by Lois Duncan, IKWYDLS has all the right ingredients for a summer slasher. Attractive, young cast? Check. A secret collective guilt? Check. Mysterious villain? Check. That’s probably why it’s the 7th highest-grossing slasher of all time.

Two forgettable sequels followed, and a third “legacy” sequel is reportedly in the works. But with no release date yet, you probably have at least one more summer to watch the original.

Where to stream it:

Hulu, MGM+

#7: Summer of 84 (2018)

Possibly (or likely) taking some inspiration from 1985’s classic horror film Fright Night, 15-year-old Davey suspects that his neighbor is a serial killer. Of course, Davey also digs conspiracy theories, so he gets a bit of the Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf treatment until he coughs up a bit more proof.

The film captures the feel and essence of the 1980s as well as any episode of Stranger Things and is a commendable homage to the horror movies of that time. It’s not surprising that it made many year-end lists in 2018.

The Summer of 84 is essential viewing for horror fans from June to September.

Where to stream it:

AMC+, Shudder

#6: Hostel (2005)

Hold on to your backpack. And your lunch.

In his follow-up to his Cabin Fever debut, director Eli Roth does for backpacking what Jaws did for beachgoing. Or at least tries his damnedest. When a trio of college friends traveling across Europe arrive in Slovakia, they soon wish they’d splurged for a room at the Marriott.

Instead of room service or a dip in the pool, our intrepid travelers end up on the wrong side of a torture chamber glory hole for depraved plutocrats.

Roth’s sophomore effort is reputedly the first to be called “torture porn”, although Hostel is hardly the first film to fit that bill. But fit the bill it does.

Where to stream it:

Hostel is apparently taking a break from paid streaming services at this time (August 2023).

#5: Friday the 13th (1980)

While the question of which Friday the 13th film is the franchise’s best is a hotly debated topic, they all don’t take place during the summer. But that doesn’t matter, because the first one does, and that’s our top pick anyway.

Before the hockey mask. Even before the unkillable man himself. This is where it all started. (And was one of Kevin Bacon’s first movies roles.)

It may not hold up as well visually as another old horror flick ranked higher on this list, but the Jason-less horror remains a classic for reason. Not only did it explicitly establish the have-sex-and-die slasher trope, but that first time at Camp Crystal Lake put summer camp massacres on the cinematic map.

Where to stream it:

Paramount+ (Apple TV Channel only)

#4: It (2017)

Commonly referred to as It Chapter One, — probably to avoid confusion with the 1990 miniseries It starring Tim Curry — It is the highest-grossing horror film of all time. And with all due respect to the fabulous Mr. Curry — and an impressive first adaptation of King’s 1,000-page tome — It is better than It.

The movie starts on a rainy day in October and immediately tells the viewer this ain’t no made-for-TV miniseries. Fast forward to the following June, and 13-year-old Bill enlists his friends to help him correct the mistakes of his past — and fight a primordial, extraterrestrial evil shapeshifter that materializes as your greatest fear.

Stephen King wasn’t consulted on the film, as he has been with many film adaptations of his oeuvre, but he evidently loves it:

Where to stream it:

Unfortunately, It is not currently available on streaming services. However, you can grab a digital rental for $4 at all the usual places.

#3: Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar is director Ari Aster’s sophomore feature film — after Hereditary — and you couldn’t ask for a better follow-up.

Similar to a movie 3 spots down our list, a group of American college kids join their European schoolmate on his home turf during the summer break.

Heading to a commune for a midsummer festival in the idyllic Swedish countryside starts out wonderfully — except for the fact that one of the guy’s brought his girlfriend along. They even get a bunch of free mushrooms, which is great until said girlfriend has a bad trip.

It’s an A24 film, so obviously things are going to get messed up. And boy, do they. Then you’re left watching the rest of the film with your jaw hanging open.

Granted, it’s not loved by all — dividing both viewers and critics — so some may take umbrage with it ranking so high on our list. But we call ’em like see ’em.

Where to stream it:

Paramount+, DirecTV Stream

#2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

When watching old movies, it helps to imagine being in the audience of the day. Only then can you truly appreciate when a film is doing something innovative or pushing the bounds of the norm.

And The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did exactly that. In his contemporaneous review, Roger Ebert gave the film 2 stars and a thumbs up but didn’t enjoy it.

It’s also without any apparent purpose, unless the creation of disgust and fright is a purpose. And yet in its own way, the movie is some kind of weird, off-the-wall achievement. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to make a movie like this, and yet it’s well-made, well-acted, and all too effective.

The landmark horror film has been given the 4K UHD remaster treatment at least twice, and both look fantastic. Certainly good enough to mollify those viewers who don’t like watching “old-looking” old movies.

Not only that, the movie itself holds up just fine after (almost) 50 years. That’s no small achievement, as there aren’t too many films that can deliver scares to multiple generations.

Where to stream it:

Peacock, Shudder, Screambox

#1: Jaws (1975)

While this may come as a surprise to some, as Jaws is not your typical murder-filled horror film. Some may prefer to call it a thriller, or even an action or adventure movie. And sure, why can’t it be all of them? But what’s more horrific than a primordial beast invisibly lurking in the shadows until it strikes?

Horror film: …the representation of disturbing and dark subject matter, seek to elicit responses of fear, terror, disgust, shock, suspense, and, of course, horror from their viewers.

And who can forget that music? You can still hear people mimicking it today in swimming pools around the world. Without a doubt, the inimitable John Williams is as much to thank for the horror of Jaws as Spielberg.

No other horror movie — or perhaps movie in general — in the history of cinema has had such an impact on people’s actual lives. People were so afraid to go in the ocean that beach tourism declined in 1975. How many films can say that?

Where to stream it:

DirecTV Stream

FASTs: Tubi

Which streaming service has the most summer horror movies?

When it comes to paid streaming services (and therefore ad-free with the right plan), it’s a dead heat between 5 streamers. AMC+, Parmount+, Peacock, Shudder, and DirecTV all have 2 movies on our list. Hulu, Prime Video, and Screambox each have 1 movie.

However, when it comes to the best overall — including free ad-supported television (FAST) services — Freevee takes the top spot with 4 films. Tubi and Plex tie for second with 3 movies each.

What perhaps surprised us the most was that Max has none of the films on our list. It’s usually a solid choice when it comes horror.

What’s the “most popular” summer horror movie on streaming?

The most popular summer horror movie — ie: the one on the most platforms — is Sleepaway Camp, which is streaming on 9 of the 25 services we counted. The second-most popular summer horror movie is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is available on 8 streaming services. And coming in a distant third — with only 3 platforms — is Hostel, which is only available on FASTs.

💀 Do you see a glaring omission from our list? What’s your favorite summer horror movie? Let us know in the comments below.

👀 And in the meantime, check out our Paramount Review, Peacock Review, and DirecTV Stream Review, to see if one of them suits your needs.

[aragarna]

For the movie ask :3:

2.Your most rewatched movie

10.Favorite movies from your childhood

50. A book you really, really, really don’t want to see made into a film.

2. Ocean's Eleven (2001). I've stopped counting after the 11th watch, but I didn't stop rewatching it LOL (and before you judge me, the movie is over 20 years old, so like, 14 or 15 watches, that's not even once a year. I could talk for hours about how good that movie is, how Soderbergh is a genius, how the cast is perfect, the whole thing delightful to watch or that one tiny plot hole... But I'll save you the bore.

10. Le Bossu (On Guard, 1997). I was 12, that's still childhood, isn't it? Here's a trailer. Best swashbluckler movie ever. Still to this day.

But the big hit of the grade school playground of my generation was The Mask (1994). We all knew all the lines by heart (in French, of course). Ssssssplendide!

I also saw Into the West (1992) with my school class (a few years after its release. circa 1997 I think), and that is such a good movie. It's a movie for children but that takes them seriously. It's tragic but magical at the same time. First foreign movie I ever saw in its original version and while the thick Irish accent didn't make it easy, I just loved the sound of "Tír na nÓg". Also Gabriel Byrne.

50. Honestly, can't think of one. I kinda wish they'd stop slaughtering The Three Musketeers but *sighs* that battle was lost way before my parents were born. And if I can survive a musical of Les Misérables, a live action Tintin skipping the shark submarine part, or a I Am Legend movie that contradicts the precise point of the book (that is in the damn title), then, there's not much left to protect, is there?

On the other hand, good adaptations do exist, and I'm not against good adaptations. I did enjoy The Martian or Good Omens. I would be tempted to mention All the Lights We Cannot See as a book I didn't want to see adapted (because one of its many qualities was the rich sensory descriptions from the point of view of the young blind girl and I don't know how that would translate onscreen) but I know Netflix is making it so... *anxious shrug*

Thank you for your questions <3

[hong-kong-art-man]

Busy Making A Great Book Alive As A Great Play For You：Why Will Dominic, Alex And I Re-do ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ In APA, 3rd to 12th Nov 23? Come!

Replays of captivating drama are wonderful because they must have something good to share again. One can securely look for something different from the past versions.

The play Tuesdays with Morrie (相約星期二) produced by me and to be presented in November (3rd Friday to 12th Sunday Nov 2023 in Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts香港演藝學院) will be your emotional discernment from a ‘vintage’ story and idolatry of a wonderful character: After being diagnosed with the illness of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 漸凍人症), Professor Morrie’s final days were spent giving his former close sociology student Mitch, the great inspiring lessons of life. The memoir by the writer Mitch Albom is divided into 14 different ‘days’ that he spent with Professor Morrie. Throughout the days, Morrie and Mitch discussed various topics important to life and living. Morrie’s death and his wisdom on life represent the book’s message: We never know the day that we shall leave this earth. If we live our life to the fullest and realize how valuable a meaningful life can be, we will know how to love one another, how to live with no regrets and how to face death if we have to.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a real story. The career of sportswriter Mitch Albom took a big turn in 1997 when his book Tuesday with Morrie was published. As it is the true story of his touching reunion with Morrie Schwartz who was his admired college professor battling with death, the book went on to sell millions of copies. Mr Albom became and has been a world-famous writer since 1997.

The story is simple yet compelling. It is short yet long-lasting in terms of the spiritual awakening that it has on one’s life. Tuesdays with Morrie has been turned, as a celebratory recognition, into a play and an amazing TV drama.

In Hong Kong, the book was made a play more than 20 years ago. The success was evidenced by its long-running record in excess of 200 performances. Sadly, the former accomplished director Ko Tin Lung(古天農) passed away in 2022 and the brilliant actor Chung King Fai(鍾景輝) who played the role of Morrie has retired for years. Most great things in life cannot have returns. The show ended but could we have a way to make it alive?

One day, it did happen. Director and actor Dominic Cheung(張可堅), actor Alex Fong(方力申) and I had lunch. I said, “Right now, there are many social conflicts in Hong Kong and such differences have resulted in a society of tension and misunderstanding. Many people experience a lack of direction due to undefined objectives and values in life. The play of Tuesdays with Morrie is relevant at this best possible moment. Through the play, Morrie teaches us to appreciate our life, feel happy for all the little things around us and live life fully. He inspires us to love, have faith and acceptance, and laughter. But above all, Morrie teaches us forgiveness.”

Alex said, “I met a few excellent teachers in my life. They raised my problem-solving abilities and confidence. I was empowered by them in my personal development. I really want to thank them. I have not taken part in any theatrical performance before. Why don’t we go ahead and present again Tuesdays with Morrie?”

Dominic said, “The friendship with Tin Lung (Ko Tin Lung) and King Sir (Chung King Fai) has been a bond that profoundly lifted my spirit. Together, we walked on the theatrical paths uncharted. If my existing drama group allows me to do so, I would have no hesitation in re-doing Tuesday with Morrie. I will be excited to share the spiritual connections with the past and my fond memories with the audience now!”

Some great things are done by a series of small things brought together. There can also be a great thing which is done merely by impulse. The desire to do Tuesdays with Morrieis an impulsive string in the heart of Dominic, Alex and myself that would best be vibrated. People seldom consider the consequences of impulsive actions. Following our decision, the group started an up and active struggle from the moment that the bell went off. There was always a mountain to climb at the beginning. We had to contact the author Mitch Albom, book the venue from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, gather the able teammates on and off stage, find the rehearsal space, prepare the posters, market the tickets, hold the press conference and resolve human conflicts…

We organized an online campaign called ‘Our Great Mentors’. Dominic, Alex and I are grateful to the teachers and mentors that we have come across during the past. There are many things to gain from having a role model steering us on the right path. Mentors help us avoid mistake, wiser and be a better person. They tug, push and lead us to the next plateau, poking us with a sharp stick which is ‘honest truth’.  I met a great teacher in my life and he is Mr D Chu.

Winning is fun. But, giving up is the biggest temptation when you have to embark. Nicole Scherzinger, singer and actress, correctly said, “You cry and you scream and you stomp your feet and you shout. You say, ‘you know what? I’m giving up. I don’t care.’ And then you go to bed and you wake up and it’s a brand new day, and you pick yourself back up again.”

Dominic, Alex and I put aside our worries and are busy working—making a great book alive as a great play again, and please come to support between 3rdto 12th November!!

Maurice Lee

Chinese Version 中文版: https://www.patreon.com/posts/11yue-chu-yan-yi-91757409?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Tuesdays with Morrie IG: https://www.instagram.com/tuesdayswithmorrie_hk/  Acknowledgement-TuesdayswithmorrieIG

Tuesdays with Morrie FB:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550639421962  Acknowledgement-TuesdayswithmorrieFB

Tuesdays with Morrie (1999) tv drama official trailer https://youtu.be/V1N4W7_Qhao?si=oR1pgis3TfPPml5k  Acknowledgement-Tuesdayswithmorry

[vintagegeekculture]

Xicor: the Character Who Didn’t Exist (A Tale of the 90s Internet)

The most important and influential Dragon Ball Z character in recent times is a guy who never existed at all, and was created entirely by Western fans playing a garbled game of telephone in the early internet, where lies and insane rumors could flourish unquestioned. In 1999, everyone had “a friend in Japan” who told them the next great Dragon Ball villain in the upcoming series was going to be a silent, intimidating Ivan Drago-like albino bruiser named Xicor, who is half-Saiyan and half-god.

There is some precedent for this. In the 14th Century, a forged letter spread among the people of Europe. A powerful Asian Christian king, Prester John, who lived beyond the domain of the Turks, offered to aid the Christians of Europe against the Muslims. There obviously was no Prester John, he was a fictional person from a fictional country (and skeptical people probably should have guessed that from the fact his letter mentioned he owned a griffin and the Fountain of Youth), but the search for Prester John changed real world history, even though this guy never existed. If you like this story, read Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, my favorite novel about the beginning of the Renaissance. 

To understand where Xicor came from, you have to understand that, in 1999, the great currency of the internet were lies and tall tales about fannish entertainment. Every single website had a “News and Rumors” section that passed on absolute unverified lies that were sometimes pulled from thin air or made up on the spot. There were no official sites releasing news and casting on new release movies and television at all. You often only knew a show existed when you saw a trailer or, at best, if it got a prerelease pictorial in Starlog magazine. And because sites were in competition, a weird unsubstantiated rumor posted in one place was quickly posted everywhere else in no time flat.

To be clear, we were not that stupid. We absolutely took all of this with a grain of salt and an eyeroll. When a Nintendo fan site mentioned someone’s story about how they found a way to play as Luigi in Super Mario 64, the reaction by most was to roll their eyes. Nevertheless, we kept on reading the News and Rumors, because sometimes, once in a blue moon, something would turn out to be true. It was kind of like the technique of cold reading in that people remember the one time someone got a real scoop, and ignored the 12 times they passed on weird, false rumors, like the idea that Episode I was going to have an R-rated version when it was released on home video (I don’t have time to go into it, but ask any Star Wars fan around in the run up to the prequels who SuperShadow is).

In 1999, Dragon Ball was the biggest anime fandom and it wasn’t even particularly close, but the trouble is, the show finished in 1997 and there was no indication more was coming. It’s not clear and probably never will be who started it, but there were rumors that, in Japan, there was a new sequel to Dragon Ball called Dragon Ball AF (After Future). Since then, “AF” is hip slang meaning “extremely” (as in “Frank is strong af”) but nobody used AF that way in 1999, making this extra-funny with the passage of time. A single piece of fan art showing an evil albino Saiyan in Super-Saiyan 4 (his albinism showed this was Xicor, not Goku in some new transformation as was sometimes believed) was passed around as “proof” this series was coming. Nowadays, we know this is just fan art. But the fact that this fan art has an albino Saiyan foe and has the title Dragon Ball AF, tells us that the rumors existed first and this fan art was made later, and in a weird cycle, the fan art was later used as evidence of the rumors, and so on.

These rumors got crazier and crazier because there was no official denial of any of this, because nobody was really on the internet, nobody official kept tabs on fan communities. In 1999, the only people on the internet were nerds talking about Star Trek and anime.

The interesting thing about Dragon Ball AF is that the rumors stayed pretty consistent on what the storyline was going to be. In other words, everyone hallucinated the exact same fake show into existence. I guess everyone had the same “friend in Japan.” The opening of the series was always described like so. Years after GT, a pair of pods arrive on earth, and two beings emerge: one, a beautiful albino woman, and the other is a massive, intimidating silent albino bruiser named Xicor. The woman, we discover is a former Kai, and Xicor’s mother, who works as the brain to Xicor’s muscle.

Now we start to understand exactly who Xicor is. He’s a secret son of Goku and the Western Kai (who faked her own death), making him half Kai and half Saiyan, or a Super Saiyan God. He’s essentially Sloth from the Goonies, in that he is a massively powerful, mostly nonverbal, monstrous and deformed third son, commanded by an evil mother (Mama Fratelli), who can throw everyone around easily when he really gets mad. Goku’s two earlier kids are kind of like the two less effective, squabbling Fratelli kids, I suppose.  Instead of tearing off his shirt to become Superman when enraged, Xicor became an albino Super Saiyan 4.

If you’re a long-time DBZ fan, you’ve seen the DB AF hoax image of Xicor so many times that it probably makes you pissed to see it now. Every 5 years, a rumor starts up that someone is going to do Dragon Ball AF “for real” this time, and it’s wrong every time…or is it?

This should be where the story ends, right? A crazy rumor from the wild west days of the fan internet created by wishful thinking.  Alone, it would just be a story about how crazy the 90s internet was. But here’s the thing: the story didn’t end here, because that’s the thing about rumors. People wanted Dragon Ball AF to be real so badly they created dozens of fan comics about it. And because there were all these rumors that were weirdly consistent, a true oral tradition right out of pre-writing cultures (or like those filthy rhymes we all learned at summer camp that have no point of origin, like “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man, I live in a garbage can”), the details of Xicor (albino, red eyes, wears green and shoots green lasers, silent, half god, Goku’s third superpowerful evil son, bossed around by an evil mother) stayed the same. 

The story of Xicor didn’t end here, because a funny thing happened; the guys who were big fans in the 90s started to run the asylum. That is, fans started to be put in charge of Dragon Ball Z. One person who made DB AF fan comics (and the idea of a “fan comic” of which there is no original is very funny to me) was Toyotarou, a fan comic artist. He was asked to do creative for the video game Dragon Ball Xenoverse. And…who were the villains of Dragon Ball Xenoverse? Mira and Towa, a mother-son pair of evildoers where the mother is the brains, and the son is a silent Ivan Drago-like bruiser who was pure intimidation.

The following is a fan comic done in 2000 by Toyotaro,  the guy literally making Dragon Ball Super now:

By the way, in case you’re not convinced Mira and Towa were inspired by Xicor, here’s a look at Mira’s final, albino and beastlike form in Xenoverse 2: 

It gets better. Traces of Xicor, a character who never existed in canon, are everywhere all over the DBZ revival, Dragon Ball Super, which is essentially a canon Dragon Ball AF. It’s as if fan desire wished the series into existence.  When I first heard the title, Dragon Ball Super: Battle of the Gods, my immediate assumption was that they were making Xicor canon and the villain (side note, but my initial reaction on hearing the premise of Star Trek Nemesis back in the day is that Tasha’s daughter Sela was going to be the villain). And he wasn’t, but they canonized the existence of Super Saiyan God. In other words, the instant fans got the keys to canon, they made Xicor real. 

It gets better. In a later DBS arc, there is a villain who is made from both Goku and a Kai, Goku Black, who is tremendously powerful for that reason. I guess the reason they went with Black is because Goku White would have suggested Xicor a bit too much! (Also, I wonder if the humorous viral clip would have been funnier....or less funny....if they said “don’t shoot, he’s not white!”) Personally, I think Goku Black would  have been more intimidating if he didn’t speak, like the taciturn and laconic Xicor. 

Interestingly, all this is a case of everything coming full circle. As I’ve written before, Dragon Ball was inspired by Chinese martial arts novels and shows, and the most popular martial arts series from China in Japan the year Dragon Ball was created was Bastard Swordsman, which inspired the Super-Saiyan transformation...except it turns you albino-white.

I’m not sure how to end this neatly except to bring up one thing: remember when I said the most annoying and persistent 90s internet rumor was that Luigi was somehow in Super Mario 64? Well...astoundingly, last year, a dump of Nintendo files leaked, revealing that Luigi was designed for Super Mario 64 all along. Xicor became real in every way but name, and Luigi was in SM64. Even SuperShadow’s insane prediction about Star Wars sequels came true. It’s like...the 90s internet rumors were right about everything, you just had to wait a couple decades. 

[newmusickarl]

Album & EP Recommendations

My word, the music world has well and truly spoiled us this week!

The past seven days has seen a colossal avalanche of new releases, so much so I’ve barely had chance to keep up with it all. Although this is not the full list of everything from the past seven days, here are the 16 (yes, 16!) new releases I’ve enjoyed the most this week.

As there is so much to get through the rundowns are (mostly) a bit shorter than normal and there is no single Album of the Week, instead I simply recommend checking out whichever album or track sounds most appealing depending on your preferred taste.

So without further ado then, here’s what’s good:

Californian Soil by London Grammar

It’s been four years since the release of London Grammar’s last record Truth Is A Beautiful Thing - an album that I enjoyed, but I’ll admit also left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed coming off the back of their incredible breakout debut, If You Wait. As it turns out, the band themselves were also having a tough time around that period, with front woman Hannah Reid in particular battling relentless industry sexism, as well as the persistent physical pain caused by her fibromyalgia condition. With this being the case, it is amazing that the young indie-pop trio have made it to their third album at all, let alone delivering what is their best work to date.

Opening on a grand, string-drenched Intro, the record soon morphs into the sun-soaked guitars and soaring orchestration of the album’s glorious title track. It marks an early highlight as Reid catches the audience up with the tribulations of the last few years – “I left my soul on Californian soil.” From there the album doesn’t really let up as the band move through a series of career-defining tracks – the gorgeous contemporary groove of Missing, the dance-influenced How Does It Feel, the chilled-out ambience of the dreamy Baby, It’s You and the sublime, stripped-back closer America.

However, the album’s strongest moment comes when Reid confronts music industry sexism head on with defiant anthem Lord It’s A Feeling. Beginning with some twinkly xylophone, before evolving into an atmospheric synth-laced backdrop where Reid pulls no punches:

“I saw the way you made her feel, like she should be somebody else,

I know you think the stars align for you and not for her as well,

I undеrstand, I can admit that I have felt those things mysеlf”

The cutting lyrics against some blinding quiet rave instrumentation leaves quite the impression, as does this sterling record in general. After a slight misstep, London Grammar have well and truly rediscovered themselves and they have honestly never sounded better – a truly incredible album.

If You Could Have It All Again by Low Island

Oxford electo-pop outfit Low Island are another band that have defied expectations to get to this point. This, their debut album, was not recorded in a professional music studio – in fact, the vocals were recorded in a bedroom cupboard of all places. The band themselves don’t even have a manager or a record label. In every sense of the word, they are a truly independent band. For a self-financed, self-produced effort, If You Could Have It All Again is a quite remarkable first outing.

From melodic, uplifting opener Hey Man, the record quickly jumps into spoken word electro punk banger What Do You Stand For, featuring acid-drenched synths and a dancefloor-ready groove. Fans of FIFA 21 will recall Don’t Let the Light In, with the glitchy pulse of recent single Who’s Having the Greatest Time also standing out. That said, it’s the smooth, infectious sway of I Do It For You that still pulls me in the most.

Having followed the band since their early EPs, I’ve been rooting for Low Island for a while now and this is one debut album I was highly anticipating this year. Safe to say, my expectations have been met – this is a fantastic, accomplished record, which leaves me eager to see where they go next.

The Greatest Mistake Of My Life by Holding Absence

There was a time when the difficult second album used to be a thing, but listening to the sophomore effort from Welsh rock band Holding Absence this week, I’m really not sure that exists anymore. After a dramatic and impressive self-titled debut two years ago, the band have wasted little time taking things up a notch, with this new album cinematic and masterfully produced from beginning to end.

From standout singalong anthems like Afterlife and In Circles, to the album’s epic seven-minute penultimate track Mourning Song, The Greatest Mistake of My Life shows a band pushing themselves and driving forward with ambition at every opportunity. In a year packed with outstanding rock and metal albums already, this is most definitely another one you can add onto that list. Soaring, impressive and demanding of repeat listens.

We Forgot We Were Dreaming by Saint Raymond

It’s been six long years since Nottingham-born singer-songwriter Callum Burrows, AKA Saint Raymond, released his debut album. However it seems the time away has been well spent as this long-awaited follow-up finds Burrows in fine form, with this album packed to the brim with catchy, glossily produced indie-pop anthems.

From the brilliant title track that opens the record, to the bouncy riffs of Right Way Round, Talk and Solid Gold, to more subdued and heartfelt moments like Only You, this album will have you smiling, singing your heart out and dancing your troubles away.

Flu Game by AJ Tracey

AJ Tracey may have only been three years old when Michael Jordan was winning NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, but that hasn’t stopped him making a record influenced by the legendary icon and his famous 1997 Flu Game. Like many others including myself, grime superstar AJ Tracey spent lockdown watching the brilliant The Last Dance documentary, and this record weirdly works as a fantastic unofficial companion, but also just a great summer rap record.

McCartney III Imagined by Paul McCartney

Even if like me you completely missed Sir Paul McCartney’s 2020 album McCartney III, it’s well worth checking out this reimagining, where he has called on the help of some of his famous musician pals. This is a real who’s who line up of guest features including Beck, Khurangbin, St. Vincent, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak and more, making for quite a fascinating mix of sounds and styles.

Moratorium (Broadcasts from The Interruption) by Enter Shikari

And finally on the albums front this week, genre-benders Enter Shikari have released a brilliant compilation of all their lockdown live performances, headlined by an incredible string-tinged acoustic version of The Dreamer’s Hotel and a beautifully stripped-back “At Home” rendition of Live Outside.

Tracks of the Week

Introvert by Little Simz

Wow, wow and wow again. Still fairly fresh off the back of her masterful, Mercury Prize nominated third album Grey Area, this week British rapper Little Simz released the first taste of her next record in the form of this epic and triumphant opening track. At six minutes in length, this majestic and operatic political anthem aims to grab the listener by the collar and shake them awake. Without a doubt, one of the best songs of the year so far, the powerful video for which you can view above.

Smile by Wolf Alice

The second taste of their forthcoming album Blue Weekend, Smile continues Wolf Alice’s pattern for alternating Loud/Soft releases, with this one featuring buzzy guitars, punky vocals and a hypnotic chorus melody.

Beautiful Beaches by James

Although written off the back of the California wildfires that impacted front man Tim Booth’s local community, the lyrics on the band’s latest anthem purposefully offer a dual meaning, giving hope to those dreaming of a post-lockdown getaway and fresh start.

He Said She Said by CHVRCHES

The Scottish trio made their much-anticipated return this week, with Lauren Mayberry also sharing her experiences of sexism on this arena-ready synth-pop banger.

Matty Healy by Georgia Twinn

Georgia Twinn delivers an infectiously catchy break-up anthem, inspired by an ex-boyfriend, who’s most interesting feature was supposedly looking like the 1975 frontman.

Kill It by Vukovi

Underground Scottish rock outfit Vukovi’s new single is so good, they even managed to get KILL IT trending over the weekend of its release. Masterfully produced with big bold riffs and trancey synths, this one just sounds huge.

Can’t Carry On by Gruff Rhys

The latest solo single from the former Super Furry Animals frontman is a stunning, super-melodic tune with an instant chorus you’ll be singing before the track has even finished its first play.

Ceremony by Deftones

One of the highlights off their last album Ohms, the nu-metal rockers have now delivered a cinematic new video directed by horror legend Leigh Whannell. Check it out!

Chasing Birds by Foo Fighters

And finally this week, Dave Grohl and company released a trippy new animated video for this Medicine At Midnight cut to help celebrate 420 in their own unique way. Again, well worth a watch!

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 08 FAIRY GODMOTHERS (FROM CINDERELLA)

@sunlit-music​ @princesssarisa​ @anne-white-star​ @mademoiselle-princesse​ @amalthea9​ @superkingofpriderock​ @metropolitan-mutant-of-ark​ @gravedangerahead​ @grafedelweiss​

Cinderella and the Prince may have fell in love on their own. But there is always an external force helping the two to actually get together and live happily ever after. Sometimes that force is a magic bird. Sometimes a fish. Other times a cow. Or a tree. But the most iconic force of good that helps our heroes is the Fairy Godmother, whose first appearance was extablished in the Charles Perrault famous version of the fairy tale. A chance to give a human face and personality to previously simbolic powers, sometimes comedic, sometimes serious, she is considered a staple of the Cinderella type of tale, becoming the heroine’s best friend, and today i will rank my eight favorite versions of the character.

08º  Yūko Mita as Paulette in Cinderella Monogatari (1996)

A lady who mix well as an elegant member of the high society, but secretly observes when that society comits an injustice, and uses magic to help those in need without that person even knowing that is being helped. Paulette is the definition of ‘Helping without asking nothing in exchange”, and for that she is one of my favorite Fairy Godmothers.

07º Jean Stapleton in Faerie Tale Theatre (1985)

In the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation of Cinderella, we have one of the most comedic versions of the Fairy Godmother: her powers have limits, those limits being that she can only transform a pre-existing object in another, instead of simply creating it from scratch, and they only endure untill midnight. But she only comes to help her Goddaughter with an optimistic spirit and merry sense of humour that irradiates to the audience that watches her, and she is not above making some pranks like turning the Stemother and her daughters in rabbits (temporarily). We wish we have a lady like her to make those small vendettas for us.

06º Paul Plishka as Alidoro in La Cenerentola (1981)

This is a film opera production of the aclaimed opera by Gioacchino Rossini, one of the most unique adaptations of the tale to date, that changed the Stepmother to a Stepfather, made the Prince a proactive romantic hero who disguises himself as a page while disguising his page as himself, to know wich woman would love his personhood and not his changes, meeting the heroine before the ball in the proccess, replaced the slippers with bracelets, and for the first time replaced the supernatural elements of Cinderella to give the heroine, in this version named Angelina, a human helper in the form of Alidoro, the witty Palace Tutor who assumed the disguise of a beggar to see how life in the Kingdom of Salerno was going, and promptly went to help the young orphan lady to meet the Prince, go to the ball and later reunite again with the Prince, and all of this by simply borrowing some clothes and jewelry and giving wise, comforting counsels to the heroes. Kindness was Alidoro’s magic power.

05º Verna Felton in Disney’s Cinderella (1950)

My first version of the Fairy Godmother. I could relate to the moments where she acts kind of bumbling, distracted and forgetfull when giving her magical gifts to Cinderella, while also believing that she was a wiser, more powerfull figure than Cinderella, and by extension us, who would be a strong shoulder of support for us in the hard moments. The scene where she slowly appears, sitting on a bench, caressing the head of her crying Goddaughter, is, for me, the key moment of this version of the character.

04º Annette Crosbie in The Slipper and The Rose (1976)

Talk about being a hard worker. The powers of this encarnation of the Fairy Godmother fail when she tries to do something for herself, while working fine when she did something for other people. And she complained occasionally about it, feeling stressed and tired. But  she would still help people, be it for two lovers to get reunited or to negociate the peace between two kingdoms, because she knew it was the right thing to do, and at the end she found satisfaction of seeing the people around her happy, and that is why she gaines the number four spot in this list.

03º Estelle Winwood as Mrs Toquet in The Glass Slipper (1955)

Mrs Toquet is the “Old lady who readed too much books and went mad because of it” in her hometown, going out to pick flowers to put on her hair, stealing stuff from people’s houses only to bring the stuff back, and murmuring random toughts about what her favorite words are. She is basically who learned not to care what others think about her and be free to be happy, and that is the lesson she is out to teach the heroine, tomboyish orphan outcast Ella, making her a Godmother in more ways than one.

02º Varvara Myasnikova in Zolushka (1947)

Often, the Fairy Godmother is portrayed as a simple, light humoured character, who helps bringinging the comic relief to the story. So imagine the surprise to see Myasnikova’s serious performance as the Fairy Godmother in this soviet adaptation of Cinderella. While she smiles, after all it is a light hearted sincere fairy tale movie, Myasnikova always acts in a wise, comanding manner, treating this fantastical figure as the most serious classic stage character she ever played. Ad to that the fact they kept the element of the original Charles Perrault text implying that Cinderella was already familiar with the old lady, calling her ‘My Godmother’ instead of ‘Fairy Godmother’, and you see that Myasnikova and the screenwriters went to give the dignity associated with archetypical wise parental figures.

And for my number one, i choosed someone who conciliated the humorous fun with the serious dignity of a stage dame: 

01º Whitney Houston in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997)

This TV Movie production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical has an interesting history: originally, Whitney Houston wanted to star the musical in the title role of Cinderella. But the producers kept delaying it, and delaying it. The years passed, Houston finally had the rights to make a TV Movie production of the musical, but had passed the age of playing Cinderella. However, instead of giving up because of that, she decided to continue with the project, working with the casting team to search young talents for the leads, culminating in the selection of Brandy Norwood and Paolo Montalbán to star in the production, and acting veterans for side characters, like Bernadette Peters for the Stepmother and Whoop Goldberg for the Queen respectivelly. Then, Houston landed the role of the Fairy Godmother, giving a fun energetic performance, specially during the singing moments, while still treating the character with seriousness and dignity. Ad do that the fact that now, millions of kids of color, who for years were told that they would always be excluded from fairy tales, finally had a period fairy tale movie that was color blind where they could see themselves as the beautifull Princess and Prince, the Queen, and the Fairy, wich was always been Whitney’s intention when she started the path to buy the rights of the musical and produce the TV Movie. So in a way, she did realize Cinderella’s dream in real life, because without her that production would probably not be made, and in fiction, by playing the Fairy Godmother. And that is why Whitney Houston is my Number One portrayal of the character.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Celeste Holm in Rodgers and Hammertein’s Cinderella (1965); Liz Torres in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child (1995)

[aion-rsa]

HBO Max New Releases: August 2021

https://ift.tt/3A1bKHN

Back when WarnerMedia (which technically no longer exists in the same form) announced that it would be premiering its entire slate of 2021 films on HBO Max, this is the kind of month they likely had in mind. For HBO Max’s list of new releases in August 2021 is highlighted by an honest-to-goodness blockbuster.

The Suicide Squad is set to premiere Aug. 5 on HBO Max. This film featuring some of DC Comics’ most curious villains borrows its name, format, and many of its characters from the David Ayers-directed 2016 film Suicide Squad. This time around, the rogues gallery is directing by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and his colorful disposition. In addition to The Suicide Squad, August sees the arrival of the Hugh Jackman-starring Reminiscence on Aug. 20.

Read more

Movies

The Suicide Squad First Reactions Are In

By John Saavedra

Movies

How The Suicide Squad is Different from Guardians of the Galaxy

By Mike Cecchini

It’s a good month for movies overall on HBO Max. Many intriguing library titles arrive on Aug. 1, including Collateral, The Fugitive (1993), The Shawshank Redemption, and Spawn. The Jurassic Park trilogy (Aug. 14), and Godzilla v. Kong (Aug. 17) make their return to the Warner streaming service a little later on.

HBO Max’s original TV offerings can’t compete with The Suicide Squad in August 2021, but there is still plenty to enjoy. The third season of erstwhile DC Universe series Titans premieres on Aug. 12. That will be followed by the second season of former Comedy Central delight The Other Two.

HBO Max New Releases – August 2021

August 1 2 Days in the Valley, 1996 (HBO) 9/11: Fifteen Years Later, 2016 A Mighty Wind, 2003 (HBO) A Walk Among the Tombstones, 2014 (HBO) The Accidental Spy, 2002 (HBO) The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, 2005 (HBO) Americano, 2017 (HBO) Anna to the Infinite Power, 1982 (HBO) Backtrack, 2016 (HBO) Basic Instinct, 1992 (HBO) Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, 2006 (HBO) (Extended Version) Best in Show, 2000 (HBO) Betrayal at Attica, 2021 The Betrayed, 2008 (HBO) The Birdcage, 1996 (HBO) Black Death, 2010 (HBO) Blue Ruin, 2014 (HBO) Brown Sugar, 2002 (HBO) Changeling, 2008 (HBO) Chasing Mavericks, 2012 (HBO) Collateral, 2004 (HBO) Constantine, 2005 Deep Cover, 1992 (HBO) The Devil’s Double, 2011 (HBO) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 1988 (HBO) Dolphin Tale, 2011 (HBO) The Double, 2014 (HBO) Empire of the Sun, 1987 The End, 1978 (HBO) Envy, 2004 (HBO) Epic, 2013 (HBO) Extranjero (aka Foreigner), 2018 (HBO) For Your Consideration, 2006 (HBO) Freejack, 1992 (HBO) The Fugitive, 1993 Ghosts of Mississippi, 1996 The Great Gatsby, 1974 (HBO) The Great Gatsby, 2013 (HBO) Gun Shy, 2017 (HBO) Hangman, 2017 (HBO) Heaven Can Wait, 1978 (HBO) Hitchcock, 2012 (HBO) Horror of Dracula, 1958 How to Deal, 2003 (HBO) Hudson Hawk, 1991 Humpday, 2009 (HBO) Imperium, 2016 (HBO) Inception, 2010 Joe, 2014 (HBO) Johnny English Reborn, 2011 (HBO) Julia, 2009 (HBO) Last Action Hero, 1993 The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011 Malcolm X, 1992 Man Down, 2016 (HBO) The Man in the Iron Mask, 1998 (HBO) Mean Streets, 1973 Mr. Soul!, 2018 New in Town, 2009 (HBO) Nobody Walks, 2012 (HBO) Nurse 3D, 2013 (HBO) One Hour Photo, 2002 (HBO) The Out-of-Towners, 1999 (HBO) Popeye, 1980 (HBO) The Pope of Greenwich Village, 1984 (HBO) The Prince, 2014 (HBO) The Reader, 2008 (HBO) Red, 2008 (HBO) Red Riding Hood, 2011 Requiem for a Dream, 2000 Scary Movie, 2000 The Score, 2001 (HBO) Sex and the City, 2008 Sex and the City 2, 2010 The Shawshank Redemption, 1994 Spawn, 1997 The Spirit, 2008 (HBO) The Square, 2017 (HBO) Stand and Deliver, 1988 (HBO) Tango & Cash, 1989 Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, 2006 Thirteen Ghosts, 2001 Vice, 2015 (HBO) War, 2007 (HBO) Woodstock (Director’s Cut), 1994 You’ve Got Mail, 1998

August 2 Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)

August 3 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, 1993 Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

August 5 Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets A Puppy, Max Original Special Premiere The Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021 (Available in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in English Only on supported devices)

August 6 Sin Aliento (aka Breathless), 2020 (HBO)

August 7 All My Life, 2020 (HBO)

August 8 A Different World

August 10 Hard Knocks ’21: Dallas Cowboys, Sports-Based Reality Series Premiere (HBO)

August 12 FBOY Island, Max Original Season Finale The Hype, Max Original Series Premiere Titans, Max Original Season 3 Premiere

August 14 Jurassic Park, 1993 (HBO) Jurassic Park III, 2001 (HBO) The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997 (HBO)

August 15 The White Lotus, Limited Series Finale (HBO)

August 16 Hard, Season 3 Premiere (HBO) Top Gear, Season 29

August 17 Godzilla vs. Kong, 2021 (HBO) (Available in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in English Only on supported devices)

August 19 Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground, Max Original Documentary Special Premiere Looney Tunes Cartoons Back to School Special, Max Original Special Premiere Marlon Wayans: You Know What It Is, Max Original Special Premiere Sweet Life: Los Angeles, Max Original Series Premiere

August 20 Half Brothers, 2020 (HBO) Reefa, 2021 (HBO) Reminiscence, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021 (Available in 4K UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in English Only on supported devices)

August 22 100 Foot Wave, Documentary Series Finale (HBO) San Andreas, 2015

August 24 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO) Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, 2021

August 25 Lincoln: Divided We Stand, 2021

August 26 The Other Two, Max Original Season 2 Premiere

August 28 Magic Mike XXL, 2015 (HBO)

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Leaving HBO Max – August 2021  

August 5 The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty, 2019

August 11 A Mermaid’s Tale, 2017 Against the Wild 2: Survive the Serengeti, 2016 Against The Wild, 2014 Alpha & Omega 5: Family Vacation, 2015 Alpha & Omega: Dino Digs, 2016 Blue Valentine, 2010 Earth Girls Are Easy, 1989 The Escape Artist, 1982 Hecho En Mexico, 2012 Jennifer Lopez Dance Again, 2016 La Mujer de Mi Hermano, 2005 Leapfrog Letter Factory Adventures: Amazing Word Explorers, 2015 Leapfrog Letter Factory Adventures: Counting on Lemonade, 2014 Leapfrog Letter Factory Adventures: The Letter Machine Rescue Team, 2014 Love and Sex, 2000 Mistress, 1992 Mother’s Day, 2012 Tender Mercies, 1983 The Men Who Stare at Goats, 2009 Turtle Tale, 2018

August 14 Leapfrog: Numberland, 2012 Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, 2019

August 15 Joker, 2019 (HBO) Space Jam: A New Legacy, 2021

August 27 Dead Silence, 2007 (HBO) White Noise, 2005 (HBO)

August 29 Assault on Precinct 13, 2005 (HBO)

August 30 Serendipity, 2001

August 31 54: The Director’s Cut, 1998 (HBO) 40 Days and 40 Nights, 2002, (HBO) A Cinderella Story, 2004 A Cinderella Story: If The Shoe Fits, 2016 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song, 2011 Alpha and Omega: The Great Wolf Games, 2014 (HBO) The American President, 1995 Another Cinderella Story, 2008 Astro Boy, 2009 (HBO) August Rush, 2007 Babe, 1995 (HBO) Babe: Pig in the City, 1998 (HBO) The Barkleys of Broadway, 1949 Barnyard, 2006 (HBO) Barry Lyndon, 1975 Battle for Terra, 2009 (HBO) The Bay, 2012 (HBO) Be Cool, 2005 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop, 1984 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop II, 1987 (HBO) Beverly Hills Cop III, 1994 (HBO) Beyond the Sea, 2004 (HBO) Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, 1991 (HBO) Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989 (HBO) Billy Elliot, 2000 (HBO) Black Hawk Down, 2001 Blade, 1998 Blade Runner: The Final Cut, 2007 Blow, 2001 The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990 Bright Young Things, 2004 (HBO) Butter, 2012 (HBO) Cannery Row, 1982 Capricorn One, 1978 (HBO) Carefree, 1938 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2005 City of God, 2003 (HBO) City Slickers, 1991 (HBO) City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold, 1994 Clifford, 1994 (HBO) Closer, 2004 Code 46, 2004 (HBO) Cold Creek Manor, 2003 (HBO) Cold Mountain, 2003 Countdown, 1968 The Crow, 1994 (HBO) The Crow: City of Angels, 1996 (HBO) The Crow: Wicked Prayer, 2006 (HBO) Daddy Day Care, 2003 Dave, 1993 The Dirty Dozen, 1967 Dream House, 2011 (HBO) Eight Legged Freaks, 2002 El Chata (aka The Sparring Partner), 2019 (HBO) Freddy vs. Jason, 2003 Free Willy, 1993 Free Willy: The Adventure Home, 1995 Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove, 2010 Free Willy 3: The Great Rescue, 1997 Frequency, 2000 Get Shorty, 1995 (HBO) Gone, 2012 (HBO) The Hard Way, 1991 (HBO) Harry and the Hendersons, 1987 (HBO) Heidi, 2005 The High Note, 2020 (HBO) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012 Home Alone 4, 2002 (HBO) Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, 2012 (HBO) Hudson Hawk, 1991 The Hundred-Foot Journey, 2014 (HBO) Innerspace, 1987 Inside Moves, 1980 (HBO) The Interview, 2014 Jack The Giant Slayer, 2013 Jackie Brown, 1997 Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, 2011 (HBO) The Last Exorcism, 2012 (Extended Version) (HBO) Lay the Favorite, 2012 (HBO) Let’s Go to Prison, 2006 (HBO) Life is Beautiful, 1998 (HBO) Live by Night, 2016 (HBO) Logan’s Run, 1976 Lolita, 1962 Look Who’s Talking, 1989 Malice, 1993 (HBO) Man on a Ledge, 2012 (HBO) Menace II Society, 1993 Miss Congeniality, 2000 Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, 2005 Monkey Trouble, 1994 Mr. Nanny, 1993 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989 National Lampoon’s European Vacation, 1985 National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983 No Eres Tu Soy Yo, 2011 Ocean’s 11, 1960 The Omega Man, 1971 On Golden Pond, 1981 (HBO) On Moonlight Bay, 1951 Osmosis Jones, 2001 Our Brand Is Crisis, 2015 (HBO) Over the Hedge, 2006 (HBO) Parental Guidance, 2012 (HBO) Pathfinder, 2007 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) The People vs. Larry Flynt, 1996 Pinocchio, 2012 Point Blank, 1967 Popstar, 2005 Prometheus, 2012 (HBO) PT 109, 1963 Replicas, 2019 (HBO) Running on Empty, 1988 Ruta Viva, 2018 (HBO) Saw, 2004 (Extended Version) (HBO) Saw II, 2005 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Saw III, 2006 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Saw IV, 2007 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Saw V, 2008 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Saw VI, (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Saw: The Final Chapter, 2010 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) Shall We Dance, 1937 Sherlock Holmes, 2009 Sinbad: Beyond the Veils of Mist, 2000 (HBO) Sling Blade, 1996 (HBO) Some Came Running, 1958 South Central, 1992 Spies Like Us, 1985 Spooky Buddies, 2011 (HBO) Steel, 1997 Still of the Night, 1982 (HBO) Striptease, 1996 Stuart Little, 1999 Stuart Little 2, 2002 The Stunt Man, 1979 (HBO) Summer Catch, 2001 Sweet November, 2001 Swimfan, 2002 (HBO) The Tank, 2017 (HBO) This Must Be The Place, 2012 (HBO) Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 2005 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948 Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, 1997 (HBO) Twister, 1996 Un 4to de Josue, 2018 (HBO) Unforgettable, 2017 (HBO) Unlocking the Cage, 2017 (HBO) Vegas Vacation, 1997 Wanderlust, 2012 (HBO) Wedding Crashers, 2005 Within, 2016 (HBO) Wolves at the Door, 2017 (HBO) The Year of Living Dangerously, 1983

The post HBO Max New Releases: August 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2TNiOZn

[from-a-reckless-writer]

Question Time!

Thanks for the tag @helpbutton95

Rules: Answer 30 questions about yourself and tag 20 others you wanna know more about (or ya know tag whoever u want)

Name/nickname: A.J

Gender: Female

Star sign: Aquarius!

Height: 5 flat (yes, im very, very short 😭 what i like in height i make up for in personality)

Time: yeaaaah, no, time doesnt exist for me... (it's about 1:47 am here)

Birthday: who gave u the idea i was even born? i could've grown from the depths of hell and out of the ground for all u know

Favorite band/groups: Oof. Too many to mention but currently, Wallows.

Favorite solo artist: Lorde & Halsey

Song stuck in my head: "Shampoo Bottles" by Peach Pit & "Marietta" by Upstate

Last movie: Oooh just finished watching Perfect Blue (1997) and i think y'all should watch it too.

Last show: I hate to admit this...but... Supergirl. (i havent had time to watch any others, okay?!)

When did I create this blog: Like 2 years ago i think???????

What do I post: Gay shit.

Last thing I googled: "synonyms for 'obviously'" I WAS WRITING.

Other blogs: this is the only one that exists, bruh.

Do I get asks: once in a blue moon babe

Why I chose my url: i write?? recklessly?? I dunno ask the me from 2 years ago

Following: 200+-ish? I dunno I don't check it.

Followers: 800-ish? Something like that

Average hours of sleep: Hm. What made u think I sleep?? Sleep is for the weak.

Lucky number: 8

Instruments: Guitar, Uke and a bit of keyboard

What I'm wearing: Wouldn't u like to know? 😏

Dream Job: either a surgeon or a biochem professor

Dream trip: As of the moment I just want a trip down to my driveway and back. (or ya know New York maybe)

Favorite food: the blood of men

Nationality: Filipino

Favorite song: Hmmmmmm... currently it's "Don't Take the Money" the live version by Lorde and Jack Antonoff

Last book I read: "Elsewhete Held and Lingered" by Conchitina Cruz. One of the best poetry books I've read in a long time

Top 3 fictional universes I'd like to live in: I'm obsessed with Avatar as of the moment so yep. Ba Sing Se or somewhere there.

im tagging: @uselesslesbian-98, @rangi-sei-naka-is-gay, @cawleyc, @liapetros, @inkedroplets

oh and feel free to ignore this & not answer if u don't feel like it. it's fine y'all.

[majingojira]

Brief Review of Every Dinosaur/Prehistoric Documentary/Educational Short I’ve ever seen (1923-1996).

And thanks to a certain project, I’ve seen a LOT! 

Evolution (1923) - This is the oldest of the bunch, a silent film.  Mostly it uses modern animals to represent ancient forms, with a few statues and brief animated bits to fill things out. The only real highlight?  Seeing where some of the “film real” segment from Gigantis the Fire Monster comes from! 

Monsters from the Past (1923) - A short documentary with original stop motion (this was pre-The Lost World, so that’s to be expected).  Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and Brontosaurus are the key creatures. Included as an extra on the second DVD release of The Lost World. 

Prehistoric Animals (1938) - Reuses footage from The Lost World (1925) for its prehistoric segments. This will not be the last time it happens. 

Prehistoric Times: The World Before Man (1952) - This thing is so quintessentially 1950s, it’s highly riff-able.  It uses a mix of paintings, sculptures and some live animals to represent prehistoric life.  

A World Is Born (1955) - Ya know what Fantasia needed?  Overbearing Narration! That’s it.  That’s what this documentary is.  I saw this thing rebroadcast in the 90s on the Disney Channel, believe it or not. 

The Animal World (1956) - Ray Harryhausen.  Willis O’Brian. Their stop motion segment is the ONLY notable part of this documentary.  This is also the only part that has seen some release in modern times, as a bonus feature on the DVD of The Black Scorpion.  

Prehistoric Animals of the Tar Pits (1956) - Black and white, but also quintessentially 50s and riff-able.  Aside from the bones, it shows some wooden models to represent the animals. 

Journey into Time (1960) - Fantasia this is not, but it TRIES to be.  Lord it tries.  Or, rather, there’s a Fantasia-adjacent thing elsewhere which does the same thing.  Has some unique choices for animals to represent, including showing Permian forms like Scutusaurus and Inostrancevia. 

Dem Dry Bones: Archaeology, Paleontology, Identification, and Preservation (1966) - This was a lucky find, it was on Youtube for half a second.  And not worth digging out, really.  Stuffy, dry, and mildly condescending.  It was still interesting looking at the dinosaur hall of the Smithsonian back in the 1950s. 

Dinosaurs - The Terrible Lizard (1970) - The stop motion here is pretty neat, if slow and plodding, it’s refreshing after all this crap. The puppets for many of these would later be re-used for The Land of the Lost.  Including Grumpy, Alice, and Spot. 

NOVA: The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs (1977) - Robert Bakker’s first appearance in a documentary.  HE HAS SUCH LONG HAIR!  Not bad, a little dry, with National Geographic titles.  It reminds me of 1990s documentaries, just so show how long it’s taken for various ideas to filter down.  Currently, it’s available on Archive.org. 

Dinosaurs: A First Film (1978) - The art style for this half-animated 70s abomination makes identifying various prehistoric animals almost impossible.  Almost painful to sit through. Stops with the Dinosaurs. 

Dinosaurs: The Age of the Terrible Lizards (1978) - Similar to the above, but available from Rifftrax, so much more watchable.  Also, it’s actually animated!

Dinosaur (1980) - Wil Vinton Claymation with Dinosaurs.  A few edits of this exist, the latter works a bit better, but the original is interesting to track down. Most of the edits are audio only, so you aren’t missing anything.  The dinosaur sin this are top notch for color and design.  They even have Corythosaurus and Tyrannosaurus not dragging their tails! 

Cosmos (1980) - the animated segment covering Evolution is still wonderful if only for the narration from Carl Sagan. 

The Age of Mammals (1981) - A follow up of sorts to Dinosaurs: The Age of Reptiles.  Decent stop motion if a little slow.  Decent variety for the time. 

64,000,000 Years Ago (1981) - A solid stop motion short film.  Still worth checking out for stop motion fans.  Available on Youtube legally! 

Dinosaurs: Fun, Facts, and Fantasy (1981) - Nostalgic for some, but aimed at a rather young audience.  Some interesting stop motion bits in here too... if awkward in that way British stop motion can be outside Aardman Studios. 

Reading Rainbow “Digging up Dinosaurs” (1983) - Definitely nostalgic for me.  Besides, it’s Reading Rainbow!  And opens with a clip from One Million Years B.C.!  What’s not to love?

Prehistoric Beast (1984) - One of the best stop motion shorts on this list.  Included because it INSPIRED a documentary from it.  Phil Tippett firing on all cylinders.  Well worth watching.  And he uploaded it on Youtube himself! 

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (1985), More Dinosaurs (1985), Son of Dinosaur (1988),  Prehistoric World (1993) - Gary Owens and Eric Boardman have a series of documentaries on dinosaurs and prehistoric life.  The presenters are what really make these work. Colorful, fun, and yes, silly, these still hold a nostalgic gleam for people like me.  The last one has Dougal Dixon talk about his After Man speculations.  Fun times. 

Dinosaur! (1985) - Hosted by Christopher Reeve, this is one of the best documentaries of its time.  Reeves loved dinosaurs and was happy to work on this project with Phil Tippet behind the animation.  Covers a lot in its hour long format, and well worth watching.  Do you know how good this special was?  When Reeve died in 2004, the Discovery Channel (or similar station) re-aired this thing as a tribute.  It holds up that well! 

Tell Me Why: Pre-Historic Animals, Reptiles and Amphibians (1986) - This is something I had when I was a little kid.  Dry, straight forward, a “Video Babysitter” at it’s best. It consists of a narrator while looking at pictures of the Invicta Dinosaur Toys that were also on the poster. 

Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time (1987) - Wil Vinton’s Dinosaurs! tied with a short setup/framing device with the kid from the Wonder Years involving a low-animation music video (this was the MTV age) and a guide through art from various dinosaur books from the 1950s through the 1980s.  Rather meh, but Wil Vinton is why we are here.  This was the only way to get Wil Vinton’s short back in the day, and is the version of the short shown in Museums like The Academy of Natural Sciences.  

Digging Dinosaurs (PBS-WHYY) (1988) - Something I managed to record of TV back in the day, though not much of it, about the uncovering and preparation of Avaceratops. Bone Dry. 

Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up (1988) - A VHS version of the picture book, with narration and the whole spiel.  Actually not to bad for what it is, but it is what it is.  The art for that book is rather wonderful. 

Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1988) - David.  Attenburrough. Need I say more?  Not one of his best, but still wonderful. Hard to track down.  

Dinosaurs (1989) - From the Smithsonian Institute, one of the video followups sold in various museums (I have one from the Royal Tyrell, but haven’t been able to track it down).  Not great, but I’ve seen worse. 

Infinite Voyage: The Great Dinosaur Hunt (1989) - A rather dry documentary, but one I find extremely relaxing and calming.  Very nostalgic for me.  But still dry. 

Vestie Video Sitter: Dinosaurs (1989) - This is for babies. It hurt to watch. 

In November, 1990, Jurassic Park (novel) was released, and thus began the great shift. 

In Search of the Dragon: The Great Dinosaur Hunt of the Century (1991) - a.k.a. The Dinosaur Project, The Great Dinosaur Hunt, The Hunt for China’s Dinosaurs.  Edited into a 1 hour NOVA special from a nearly two hour documentary, all about the joint Canadian/Chinese Gobi Desert Expedition in the 1980s that gave us Mamenchisaurus among many other species.  With another stop in the Arctic for good measure.  Some good stop motion and pencil animation for Troodon round this one out. 

A&E’s Dinosuar! (1991) - There’s so many things named “Dinosaur” that I have to specify.  Hosted by Walter Cronkite, this is rather dry, but still entertaining documentary series has some nightmare-fuel puppet-work.  The ‘sad’ music gets caught in my head sometimes when I think about it.  It is 4 episodes long.  “The Tale of a Tooth”, “The Tale of a Bone”, “The Tale of an Egg”, and “The Tale of a Feather”

T. Rex: Exposed (1991) - a Nova Documentary on T. Rex.  Not too bad overall, focusing on the Wrankle Rex unearthing. Parts of it are available on Youtube, but not all of it.  

The Case of the Flying Dinosaur (1991) - the third in the “NOVA” 91 trilogy, this covers the bird-dinosaur connection as it was still contentious at the time. 

PBS’ The Dinosaurs! (1992) - A gold standard for documentaries on dinosaurs. The hand drawn animation with colored pencil style still hold up today. The narrator has a bit of an accent and pronounces “Dinosaur” oddly, but that is the only complaint I can really give. It has 4 episodes: “The Monsters Emerge”, “Flesh on the Bones”, “The Nature of the Beast”, “Death of the Dinosaurs.”

Muttaburrasaurus: Life in Gondwana (1993) - A half-hour short about dinosuars and mesozoic life in Australia. Solid stop motion animation. Australian Accents makes it fun to listen too.

NOVA: The Real Jurassic Park (1993) - Jeff Goldblum narrates this bit of scientists going on about “But what if we really did it?” Quite fun, lotta fun details the movies and even the books didn’t get into. My favorite bit had Robert Bakker talking to a game keeper at the Rockefeller Refuge in a Louisiana Cypress Swamp about what could happen if they kept a few dinosaur there (Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, and T. Rex).  Namely, he talks about housing ‘about a thousand” Edmontosaurs on the 86K acre facility, with 2 or 3 mated pairs of Rexes.  It’s fun getting numbers like that. 

Bill Nye the Science Guy “Dinosaurs” (1993) - BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!  Not a bad kids entry for documentaries. Available from Netflix. 

Paleoworld (1994-1997) - Running originally for 4 years, and being revamps once along the way, this rather dry, “Zoom in on paleoart” style of documentary was a good holdover for bigger things, and covered some pretty niche topics.  Much of the later version has been uploaded to youtube. 

Dinosaur Digs: A Fossil Finders Tour (1994), Dinosaurs: Next Exit (1994) - These films hurt me.  They hurt me so much.  I’ve seen some painful things, but these are hour long tour advertisements for road trips with annoyingly earworms.  Available on youtube, but I ain’t linking anything! 

Eyewitness: Dinosaur (1994) - Not a bad documentary, but I still hold a grudge on it for replacing Wil Vinton’s work at my local museum! Still, it is narrated by Martin Sheen. The clip selection is wide and varied, but we’re still getting The Lost World (1925) footage. 

Planet of Life (1995) - This documentary series is rather dry, but boasts some interesting coverage of topics.  Though some of it’s conclusions regarding dinosaurs are... not great.  Still, the episode “Ancient Oceans” is a favorite of mine. 

Once Upon Australia (1995) - The bests stop motion documentary on Australia’s prehistory. Has some humor to is, and Australian fauna that it does cover is solid.  Though finding out how one of the animals is spelled, ( Ngapakaldia) drove me nuts for literally decades. 

Dinosaurs: Myths and Reality (1995) - Like a little more polished episode of Paleoworld, with a lighter-voiced narration, this covers common myths about dinosaurs. Overall, a Meh.  But it has a LOT of movie clips. Which makes sense given it was funded by the Disney Channel! 

The Ultimate Guide: T. Rex (1995) - The Ultimate Guide series of docs were overall rather solid, as was the Tyrannosaurus one.  Stop Motion animation along with puppets and some minor CG help round out the normal talking heads and skeleton mounts.  Along with a solid narrator, it has a real mood to it.  

The Magic School Bus “The Busasaurus” (1995) - The original Magic School Bus was a solid series, and their episode on Dinosaurs bucks trends even the reboot didn’t cover.  The core thrust here wasn’t just dinosaur information, but the idea that Dinosaurs were not Monsters, but animals.  And they conveyed it in a unique way.  

I may do more of these mini-reviews, but there are a LOT of documentaries post The Lost World: Jurassic Park that don’t have as much easy access.  Like, I’ve seen them, but digging out links/citing places to watch them is a lot harder. 

[footballhunter490]

Auto Tune Presets Free

Free Autotune Presets

Free Auto Tune Presets

Auto Tune Evo Presets Free Download

Auto-tune Presets Free Download

Free Auto Tune Pro Presets

Auto-Tune EFX+ is the powerful production tool which combines the core features of Auto-Tune with the powerful Auto-EFX multi-effects rack (vocoder, tube distortion, filters etc.) and Auto-Motion pitch-shifting melodic pattern generator. Must-have vocal plug-in for producers and sound engineers. Autotune Evo and 100+ presets Win auto tune evo presets as a “holy grail of recording,” by Recording magazine (and adopted worldwide as the largest-selling audio plug-in of all time), Auto-Tune corrects intonation and timing problems in vocals or solo instruments, without distortion or artifacts, while preserving all of the expressive nuance of the original performance – with audio.

If you’re looking for Autotune Vst or the way to download Antares Autotune free then you came to the right place! In this post, we explained how to download autotune vst for free.

For modifying different parameters of the audio signal, we have thousands of devices and software. These audio processing units like audio editors and many others have different application area. Also, they will alter either the digital or analog sound wave parameters.

Adding effects to the audio signals is one thing for which many useful devices exist. For examples, these effects include reverb, echo, noise canceling, filter, phaser, equalization and for creating many more effects.

Free Autotune Presets

This Autotune Evo software by Antares also provides Pitch correction VST for correcting the pitch and making it uniform across the audio signal.

Here are the few unique features of Antares Autotune VST Plugin:

A New, Streamlined User Interface

Classic Mode

Automatic Key and Scale Detection

Audio Random Access

MIDI Parameter Control

Auto-Tune Pitch Correction and Vocal Effect

Graphic Pitch Editing

Adjust Retune Speed, Vibrato, and Throat on Individual Notes

Download Antares Autotune 8 / VST Plugin

Recording music was quite an overwhelming task during 70’s since to get a smooth vocal intonation; the singer has to sing the song multiple times.

To fix this problem, the sound engineers invented a few devices, but they got the actual achievement only after the discovery of Auto-tune. Auto-Tune serves as the Pitch recorder and corrector highly used during music recording and live music performances. Fabricated by Antares Audio Technologies, Auto-tune launched for the first time in 1997.

With Auto-tune the fluctuating pitches and the lousy note of the singers while performing in the live music concerts is not a problem anymore.

For that matter, it shifts the audio tone to the nearest semitone which corrects the off-pitch notes of the vocal tracks. Additionally, it works when there is a need for distortion in the rising and lowering pitch of songs.

Auto-Tune can use as a plugin hosted on DAW during the studio recording, or it can work as a standalone device during live performances.

Free Auto Tune Presets

Versions of Antares Auto-Tune

After its launch in 1997 till now, Auto-Tune kept updating its features. Last year it launched its 8th version called Auto-Tune 8 which got quite an appreciation from the professional musicians.

Auto Tune Evo Presets Free Download

Auto-Tune 8 acquire the best features which make it working in the Graphic mode and Automatic mode. Also, its Low Latency Mode offers excellent pitch correction for high-quality sound during the live performances.

Auto-tune Presets Free Download

One can download the Auto-Tune licensed version from its official site in just a $399. There is an option of a free trial which will be valid for a few hours.

How Antares Autotune VST Works?

For the detailed knowledge of the Auto-Tune working, you may watch out for various tutorials present online. On the whole, it’s about selecting the right reference point for the music note or scale and the derivation rate for modulation.

You may adjust the derivation rate at times so that you receive a clean and seamless flow of sound. There is no limitation when it comes to the type of music it can edit. No wonder, it is the most widely accepted and used for getting perfect music.

Free Auto Tune Pro Presets

Read more:Soundcloud To Mp3 – Soundcloud Downloader

The upgrade in its features for time correction which makes the natural pitch correction. Furthermore, it has now Flex-Tune correction technology that helps musicians to extend their creativity.

It also provides with some more tools like formant correction and Vibrato Controls. Besides this Throat Modelling technology and the Humanize function are also its part.

Talking about the Humanize function, it controls the short notes distortion along with preserving the sustained notes for natural pitch variation.

Auto-Tune VST Plugin used by all the famous artists

Auto-Tune plugins will run correctly on various operating systems which includes Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. The world-wide artists like Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Lady Gaga, Future, Lil Uzi Vert and Migos use it during live performing or recording.

However, the software also got criticism and backlash in 2009 in the name of hindering uniqueness of every artist vocal. But, then many artists supported it by stating its enormous capabilities of enhancing creativeness in hip-hop and R&B music.

Antares Auto-tune 8 Video Tutorial

[randomvarious]

88 Fingers Louie - “Song X” Teenage Kicks Song released in 1995. Compilation released in 1997. Punk Rock

88 Fingers Louie might sound like the name of an old-timey, talented blues pianist ("that Louie fella sounds like he's got a finger for every dang key!"), but it's actually the name of a mafia-type character from The Flintstones, and that's who this awesome punk band from Chicago decided to name themselves after.

There's actually a bunch of fun things to know about this band though. One, a couple of them eventually split off to form Rise Against, and one of the drummers became a member of Alkaline Trio, too. So, to play the cheap butterfly effect game here, without 88 Fingers Louie, would Rise Against or Alkaline Trio exist, at least in the famous capacities that they have, and then would Matt Skiba ever replace Tom DeLonge in blink-182? So much to think about!

But other than that, perhaps the most fun fact about this band is that a lot of fighting took place between members, which in turn caused them to break up a lot, and then reunite a lot as well, and one of those breakups was, according to Wikipedia, caused by pee; yes, singer Denis Buckley apparently peed on drummer Glenn Porter. I don't know what the specific details are, but I'm imagining two guys yelling at each other over some shit and one of them just getting so angry that he decides that the best course of action is to unzip his pants, free his willy, and then chase the other one around the room while trying to grip, then aim, then release. Just pure, stupid comedy.

Anyway, this track here was pretty damn rare when it originally came out in 1995. That year, a very small label called Custodial Records released a comp on 10-inch called Teenage Kicks. But along with that comp, they ran a limited, 300-copy edition that included an extra 7-inch that had six more tracks. And one of those tracks was "Song X" by 88 Fingers Louie.

But then in '97, all the songs from the much more widely available version of the comp, as well as the rare tunes from that 7-inch, plus an added nine new other songs, were re-released again as Teenage Kicks by a bigger punk label called Liberation Records. And that same year, "Song X" also appeared on another 88 Fingers Louie 7-inch put out by Fat Mike of NOFX's Fat Wreck Chords. So, so much for paying the extra cash to get that rare, limited edition version of Teenage Kicks back in '95!

"Song X" is a sweet tune though that happens to tick a lot of 90s punk boxes. It's short-lived, high-flying, scratchily vocalized, gallopingly drummed, energetic punk rock, and it kinda sounds like early and fast Offspring to me. And I happen to really like the Offspring. Plus, this 69 (nice)-second song contains a cool bridge that sees a pair of parallel forces, one being a high-pitched piece of wobblingly ringing, chaotic guitar, and the other one also wobbly, but on bass, almost coming to blows, but then proceeding together into the final stage. It's a small touch, but it's pretty cool.

Good song from this good Chicago Punk band.