#the bachelor vietnam

[victusinveritas]

[emptyheadmybeloved]

THEy’rE So FUCKinG HappY togetHER

The Bachelor: Vietnam - Contestant confesses to another contestant

[brenshor]

LOVE IS DEAD! THEY BROKE UP 😭😭 Minh Thu's Facebook says she's single...

[lgbtpopcult]

Best WLW Shows on TV Right Now by Country Part 2*

Here's your warning ⚠️: Some of these countries are just as evolved about their representation as any western TV Show. Some are just taking their first steps into representation and it's timid and/or flawed. If you want to see where things are at in that country or practice the language go for it.

Tunna blå linjen (Thin Blue Line) and Dystopia, Sweden

Cyanide, Indonesia

Original title: Sianida

Aldri voksen, Norway

Fair City, Ireland

Xia Ye Zhi Dao Feng De Tian (The Lost World), China*

It's a Chinese drama, there are limits to what they can show

Demente, Chile

Las Villamizar, Colombia

Rojst ’97 (The Mire 97), Poland

Undercover, Belgium

Jutro će promeniti sve (Morning Changes Everything), Serbia

Bir Başkadır (Ethos), Turkey

Καρτ Ποσταλ, Greece*

Each episode is standalone episode.

Hotel Mondial, Germany

Mine, South Korea

Ruxx, Romania

Stella Blómkvist, Iceland

Señorita 89, México

Special shout out to the 2018 season of The bachelor in Vietnam that did that

[gremlingottoosilly]

And they said I couldn't be a psychologist [COD x fem! Reader]

Tired of living with a family that genuinely thinks that being a psychologist is a wild ride to being poor and lonely? Got too many student loans to ever think that you will be able to repay them? Just join the army! Good company, great benefits and lots and lots of travel.

AO3

Characters featured in this chapter: Captain John Price This fanfic will contain incorrect use of psychology, my dead dreams of becoming a therapist instead of a journalist, basically a harem "The only girl on the team" plot and a reader who can't fight to save her life, literally. Each chapter will concentrate on one or few characters at the same time, I hope you will like it!

Google search: average school psychologist salary in my state

Allow Google to search for your location?

Fuck it, the government already know who you are, where you are exactly, and what you will do with this pretty wrecked mental state of mine, if I wouldn’t get an affirmative answer.

School Psychologists made a median salary of $62 000 in 202X.

Google search: average psychologist salary in my state without Master’s degree

National average salary for Bachelors in psychology is: $32,395 per year

Google search: master’s degree psychology how much

Average cost to earn a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology: $62,650

Average cost to earn your doctorate in psychology: $115,500

Google search: how many days can person not eat

Google search: annual striper’s salary

Google search: can I become a stripper if I’m not attractive

Google search: Army enlisting

💬💬💬

In highsight, perhaps, you should have stayed with the stripper option. Sure, it would be a lot more mentally draining, but at least you would make much more money out of the utter humiliation this work would promise to be every day. Military, on the other side of the spectrum, wasn’t really different from being a sex worker – you are still selling your body and mind, still have too much time in a dominantly male field, and will probably experience a lot more patriarchy sausage parties once you get there. The only thing that was different was the employer. 

And tax benefits. 

And health insurance. 

And a special program for those who would like to receive an education after they are done killing people, but don’t want to pay more than 100 000 dollars for a diploma that would look good on exactly one photo on the wall and then would be forgotten by pursuing the career of a sandwich artist. Ah, oh no. Negative thinking again. 

Jesus fucking – oh no, blasphemy, looking not good for your all-american goody-two-shoes portfolio – Christ, you have to get herself together – and at least somewhat presentable, even this would mean very little, considering the fact that for a woman in such masculine field, any signs of traditionally feminine things would be considered a bone thrown to a pack of wolves, but…no, no, no. You can’t have this new age psychology shit while she is on a mission…by being a new age psychologist, enlisted to the army just because you don't want to be a stripper, and too slow to become a good drug dealer. 

Cynthia Cockburn once wrote an essay about women's role in maintaining patriarchy by joining the army. How a lot of females are helping salvage the old system, that has to be put down for good for a long time already – and how this system continuously throws them out, without even acknowledging their input. 

You are wondering, if by applying your makeup right now, you are doing pretty much the same. Ah yes, a woman in a field dominated mostly by psychotic men! Let me just put on my brightest red lipstick, a short that will barely cover anything important and, of course, a pair of heels that would set anyone in the hearing range to a Vietnam flashback even if they never been in Vietnam to begin with. Oh no…is that a risky joke? PTSD is a serious matter, you know. You shouldn’t joke about flying helicopters and war flashbacks – not when the training for the military psychologist courses were so hard, that even you, with your pretty much good mental health, would have to check herself double time for any trauma that the instructor would leave with you. 

Two weeks of torture for an opportunity to apply the blandest eyeshadow known to mankind, the pinkiest lipstick that barely holds any pigments – it’s not like you have money to splurge on something better even given the permission – and a mascara as clear as the mountains fresh air. God – oh no, blasphemy again, you really don’t want to get a good grade with all of these God-fearing old-fashioned men, aren’t you? – you really hated just how bland you look. You feel like one of these girls in your college – with tightest buns, cream sweaters and perfectly high-pitched laugh that would make them desirable for even blander college boys. Ah, how much you hated this place. 

The military base, however, is far worse. 

First, there are just too many people here. Second, everyone looks at you like you are some sort of ghost. Judging by your loosely hanging white doctor’s coat, they aren’t too far from the truth, but it still was weird. And finally, third – you are still not sure that your papers have been sent correctly, and this is even the right place. 

Instructor – a terrible, horrible, horrendous woman – told you that there would be plenty of study material for you here. That with these people, writing your master’s or even doctorate would be a “ ‘king breeze, rookie, if they ain’t decide to eat ya first”. The males around you – and some women, of course, because the newest military recruitment made sure to include as many people as possible, providing everyone with the opportunity to kill people as much as they would want – doesn't sound quite as great material for your research. 

And you are not going back to the fucking college. 

She said that some Captain brought you here specifically – and that higher-ups made him do it, as he was dismissing any previous attempts of sending psychological help for any of his units. So this is going to be a classic conflict between a person and the government – and you, a useless specialist – are going to be stuck in the middle, as long as you don't get shot. Perfect, terrific, just a great fate for someone who got out of college after 4 years of destroying her own hopes and dreams in a giant cell of a US education system. 

You haven’t even met the man before, and now you are sitting here, in the middle of nowhere on this gigantic base. Fighting with the fabric of your clothing – a nice buttoned shirt, nothing that could be considered a provocation from your side, and trying to breath as the reality of the situation is slowly thinking it. 

Breathe in 

You stuck here for only god knows how long – until you either will be dismissed, or decide to go away by your own choice. With people you know nothing about, and who probably doesn’t even want you here. 

Breathe out 

This is a perfect opportunity for you to write your Thesis – just pick one of these perfectly twisted specimens, and make his mental state even worse. Or better, if you would feel nice enough for such hard work. 

Breathe in 

Perhaps, it’s not so bad – only a few years of service, and you will be back in your education. The children and their easily molded minds are waiting for you to be their perfect school psychologist. With average salary of “fuck you and your savings too”.

Breathe out 

Health insurance is nice. Would be even better with some dental insurance, but this is reserved only to soldiers. And you are…well, not a soldier, that is for sure. 

Breathe in 

– Greetings. I suggest you are the mental health expert? 

…and, all of your neatly putted breathing schedule is fucked. Stupid army people and their stupid questions with such nice and deep voices that would make you think of deeply fucked up stuff any other day and…

– Oh, um, yes. A psychologist. And you are..? 

– Captain Price. You have to work in my unit, but I figured out that just sending my men to get you would be too much on your first day. 

– Thank you, I…I would rather greet them myself, that is. I kinda have to. 

He frowned. Oh, great. A perfect example of stoic  fatherly type – the guy who is probably thinks of his soldiers as his kids, definitely don’t have a wife – alive one, at least – and slowly cooking himself alive in a pot full of misery, machism and “I don’t buy any of this mentally ill stuff”.

His mustaches are great though. And a hat. 

– Do you really? 

– Well, I don’t want to earn my paycheck for just sitting around. This would be nice though. 

– In that case, higher-ups would put us both in trouble for this. 

– Do you have anything for me to start working with? Like a personal file or…

– I’ll show you around. 

– Oh. Okay. 

He seems harmless enough. As much as one man wearing a full uniform with too many weapons and a tiny hat could be – but you still feel well protected while walking beside him. With this still hanging loose coat of yours – you’ll have to search for something more adjusted for your tiniest fucking height – you can feel everyone’s gazes on you. Jesus, you will have to work with this many people? Let’s just hope that no one here believes in magic powers of therapy, and you would be pretty much free for any of your working hours. 

— But you do have personal files of your soldiers, right? 

— I thought your people like more of a personal approach? 

— Well, it would be really great, but I need some documents to write off my work and…

— Then you are going to write those documents, kid. I don’t want to scare you, but a young miss like you really wouldn’t want to see real portfolios of my men. 

— Sir, with all honor, I am not a…

– We’re here. 

Oh. Saving you the humiliation of being able to recognise patronizing tones and understanding, that you are, in fact, a kid, a young miss, and generally a useless fucking person. Psychologists in a place, where most of the people probably believe, that getting drunk will save them from nightmares? What a joke. 

At least the office is nice. 

Tidy place, neatly furnished room with a table, a sofa – something right out of Freud’s fantasies. A small empty closet for all three of your psychology books. You can already picture whimsical and fun soldiers laying here, trying so bad not to laugh in your face as you were trying to uncover all of their mental trauma without being strangled to death. 

– Thank you, sir…captain? It’s nice. 

– Not much, but everything that we were able to put when they said that we need a mental expert here. 

– I will try my best not to disappoint you, I promise. 

– You can unpack here, someone will show you the bed later. Still don’t know whether to put you with soldiers or medics. 

– Um…I would really prefer a… A nice and roomy bedroom, preferably with no one to snore alongside you, and definitely not with soldiers who can get the wrong ideas about a nice and sweet lady psychologist sleeping right next to them on their base. Of course, you can’t say that. 

–...I need to gather as much material about them as possible, so it would be really neat to sleep closer to the soldiers. 

You are the architect of your own demise. You and your stupid Thesis that you are not even sure, whether you could write it right now or not.

– Oh. 

He scratched his chin in a manner that you have seen too many times. Do all older males with bears share the same mannerism? 

Then he smiled – a ghostly feature on his face, that almost made him look like he actually wanted you here, and not just putting up with higher-ups bullshit because every special task force needs its psychologist just so the soldiers won’t kill each other on one sunny day. 

– Okay. I’ll think about something, doc. 

– I am not…not a doctor, sir. Not yet, at least. 

– Well, it’s either a doc or a kid. What do ya prefer? 

– Doc would be better. Perhaps, I will earn my doctorate after the service. 

– That’s the spirit, kid. 

– But sir- 

Shit. He is gone already. 

You were never a fan of dad jokes. Or dad types. Or anyone, who is questioning what the fuck you are doing here, even though you spend 4 years fighting for this position in the college. Who cares, if you can’t shoot guns? Words are just as deadly! 

Well, judging by the size of the rifle on the Captain's body, maybe, your words would definitely be less threatening than his guns. But this doesn’t change the whole picture! 

Oh, well. You might as well try to get yourself as comfortable as possible – considering all of the possibilities, they might simply forget that you exist, and you would have to sleep on this tiny couch at least for today. What a great opportunity and definitely something that you spent four years waiting in awe of. Perfect, beautiful, something right from her dreams. 

“You can still get out of here, you know. Just go out of this door and we will never ever speak about joining the military ever again. Trust me, babe, I am your conscience.” 

Oh no. You hated talking with your conscience – mostly because it was an annoying prick, and also because, as studies were showing in many of the presentations you would make for your classes, this is a first sign of not just a person being self-aware, but also the step to being proclaimed a mad man. Even if you are, in fact, a very self-aware and mentally healthy person. Mostly. You liked to think of yourself as one, at least. 

“You don’t want to be here. And you shouldn’t – there is plenty of work outside.” 

Yeah, like a sex job. Or secretary. Or a waiter – what a beautiful line of work for someone already in too much debt to her government. And judging by the already dismissive faces of your parents, going home as a stay-at-home daughter is also not going to be an option. So, go far and beyond. 

You just need to find a few people who would be interested in psychotherapy – how hard is that?

[uvpartybomb]

Had a dream where there was a 64-bit/Horror Visual Novel game about Merged Conscious, so now I wanna talk about it

Nameless protagonist and their nameless dog that you can name both whatever you want. Protagonist is 24, possibly enbie, and has a bachelor's in an unspecified area, but it's also left in the open whether the game takes place in the 90s or 2000s, so protagonist could have been born in either the 70s or 80s.

Protagonist suffers from severe social anxiety, so bad actually, that their mother had to step in and be the one to negotiate their house purchase, in whatever state/county MC is taking place in, but since mom is from the mid-1950s, it's understandable that she might have gotten some stuff wrong, so she ended up coming into contact with a supposed "real estate agent" that she refers to as just 'Angel', and since 'Angel' is heavily implied to be an Echo in disguise, that is supposedly the reason Protag has been targeted.

Protag's father is already dead, and though they have many happy memories with him, they also have a very traumatic one which is of the day he died, and what little their brain allows them to remember, they know that someone tried to break into their old house, and that their dad managed to drive them away on his own, but he passed away from internal bleeding before authorities could arrive. Whether or not this means that Protag was a target for the Echoes ever since they were a kid is left unclear.

The only possession Protag has of their dad is a military jacket, implying that he could have been a Vietnam War veteran. Inside, is a charged L9A1 Browning that must have been left in there by accident, and will unlock two routes if picked up.

All the routes in the game are directly tied to Protag's dog, since it is either a service dog, or is so important to Protag's life that it is basically a therapy dog.

The "choosing point" starts after Protag has gone to sleep after a long day of unpacking, and they hear a creepy sound from downstairs, followed by their dog's incessant barking. Protag starts going downstairs to assess the situation, causing their dog to see them and start following them, and for them to see Damien trying to get through/around all the packing boxes in the living room.

The "Bad routes" can be achieved by hiding in any room that has a door, or in the bedroom closet, but leaving the doggo out. One of the reasons Damien will find Protag will be because of the barking. He shoves the dog out of the way and proceeds to either abruptly slam it open or break it down, depending if it was locked or not.

When Protag wakes back up (game was a bitch and didn't specify if they're still human or not), their dialogue options will either be very impulsive and without thought, especially about their doggo, or of complete silence. Bad routes can result in either Protag being killed if Damien and 'Angel' are irritated enough, or in them finding out that their dog died because Damien accidentally kicked it with too much force, and what happens next is left out in the open, presumably for you to imagine the rest.

Neutral routes are apparently numerous, but they have one theme in common: Protag is turned but their dog survives. My dream didn't provide me with too much of these, but I remember the few that there were. 1- Picking up the dog and evading Damien by making large noises in certain rooms and then hiding in another one, eventually managing to reach the front door, but since Damien is still after them, a chase sequence in the woods happens, which results in Protag getting their foot caught in a random bear trap. 2- The exact same thing but giving the dog a blouse with Protag's mother's phone number sown into it, and letting it run outside to maybe find help, thus Protag is caught but the dog is presumably safe. 3- Hiding in the bedroom closet along with the dog, but being unable to keep calm, eventually bursting into a panic attack, which for some reason makes Damien kill only Protag but leave the dog alone. 4- Shooting Damien with dad's pistol in either the arm or leg, but since the Good route pre-requisit wasn't met, this will just result in him ignoring the discomfort and attacking anyways. 5- After Damien has made it through all the boxes, having picked up the dog or not, shove the largest pile of those on top of him and bolt for the front door. It will refuse to open for whatever reason, and Damien will get up quickly, so Protag shields their dog with their own body instead of fighting back, resulting in their neck being snapped (screen goes black and a crunch noise is heard, so I assume it was that)

Protag will wake up in their living room, this time definitely no longer being human, and Damien is gonna try and talk to them out of the TV, because apparently, up until that point no one was ever so "creative" in trying to avoid him. Even if less polite dialogue options are chosen, D won't be offended or anything, just assuming that Protag is still agitated from all that happened. 'Angel' does eventually show up too, but so does Protag's dog (through the front door doggy space) and that's the most important fact for Protag. They're probably still in a sour mood, no matter if they expressed it or not, but they'll go along with their new "Echo agenda" out of obligation.

Neutral routes are sorta like "training routes" so it's understandable if their endings aren't the most satisfying.

The Good Route, I'd say, is the one that most requires fast reflexes and thinking. Perhaps it is the true ending of the game? After Protag sees Damien midway through the staircase and the doggo notices them, pick up the dog so it stops barking and grab dad's pistol. Go fully downstairs, try to hide and be as quiet as possible until Damien has made it through all the boxes, then run and shove the largest pile of those (kitchen stuff) on top of him, and quickly shoot him either once or twice in the head. Won't kill him, but will definitely give him enough of a headache (haha) for Protag to run away through the front door and reach a safe space without him still chasing them.

Yeah, that's it, I don't remember anything else lol :P

Holy hell this is a cool as fuck dream??

That's really interesting that Damien is so present in it despite there being an established Echo being 'Angel' but also makes some sense-

Your brain made a cool game within this dream, Anon goddamn! Love myself some multi choice games, i could see it in a few different styles, like you got a classic visual novel/RPG setting, like say.. The Crooked Man! Or maybe soemtimes more like Life is Strange or Detriot: Become human in a more 3D space with quick time events. Could even see it within a more retro feel of the styles that Fears to Fathom or Chilias art games has!

Oh this is cool as hell!

[when-gravity-has-fallen]

Okay I need to talk about Mr. And Mrs. Pines (Dipper and Mabel's parents) somewhere because idk how much will be revealed via asks. Maybe I'll write a proper fanfiction someday but for now I'm just yapping. The Axolotl should not have given me this power haha.

CONTENT WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING: 🚨⚠️

Death, injury, car accidents, abuse, family issues, cheating/infidelity, bad religious experiences, general discussion of war, and discussion of divorce

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I MISSED SOMETHING. I apologize in advance for possible missing warnings.

First off, Dad Pines' name is Connor amd Mom Pines' name is Lillian! Because why not? That's just the names I came up with 2014 and it's just continued to feel right ever since.

So that baby? Held in Caryn Pines' arms in A Tale of Two Stans? That confuses the hell out of everyone? Yeah that baby.

In my version of events here that baby is Shermie's kid. Dad Pines.

As is a popular headcanon, I also have Shermie being a Vietnam veteran and Ma Pines was helping Mrs. Shermie (I've called her Emma for a long time. Don't ask why. Maybe her name will change idk) to care for Baby Connor, which is what we see during the fight between the OG Mystery Twins.

When Shermie finally returns home from war, he finds out that Stan was kicked out by Filbrick, which... he's not happy about. As a result he moves his family west to Reno, Nevada. Due to moving, general hustle-bustle of life, and raising a family, he unfortunately is unable to contact Stan. He couldn't attend the funeral due to work conflicts and regrets not going. (Well. Until Ford comes back that is. Likely before or at some point during their boat travels they give ol Sherman a visit)

The Pines (aka Shermie and "Emma") also raise their family as Jewish but are more casual in it than Filbrick and Caryn were. Shermie in particular is more casual, especially after Vietnam whereas Emma is more devout.

They also have three more sons after Connor. Idk/remember their names. I'll just say one of them is Abraham. No they don't have a lot of details or relevance. Sorry kids.

Either during Connor's late high school years or time in college he becomes agnostic.

He's a football fool and he was a quarterback for his team in high school.

___________

Lillian was the result of a sex worker at a bachelor's party. Her parents initially were both in Illinois but her father moved to Minnesota (or fudging East Dakota if Bill is right about it not being real). She didn't know her father (John) until she was ~10, when she came under his care due to the passing of her beloved mother (Margaret).

Her father was shocked as to her existence and had to put together two and two. Something in him couldn't turn her away so he took her in.

Her stepmother (Agatha) was unfortunately of the Cinderella kind. She was very unhappy about the physical manifestation of her husband's infidelity and therefore shunned Lillian. Her father despite being unable to turn Lillian away, rarely properly parented her and stayed out of conflicts between his daughter and wife.

John and Agatha were Lutheran Christians, dragging Lillian to church until she was 14. As a little girl she liked it but developed a nullness over time, especially with how other church members discussed single mothers and sex workers. She became agnostic over the course of her teens.

She loved playing hockey in her spare time.

Lillian had two half-brothers and though they weren't the closest they helped make her home life more bareable.

Close enough she'd miss them when she finally was able to jump ship at 18.

And wouldn't you know it? She eventually came to Reno.

__________

Connor during his college years was a frat boy and became overly confident in his approach with women. Therefore when the fraternity were celebrating their graduations/last time officially together, he is *shook* when the most beautiful woman (one of the bartenders) he's ever seen replies to his pick-up line like this-

Connor: Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

Lillian: Are you calling me Satan?

Considering how Connor.exe was not working she tells him she's just joking, getting no response (or really anything indicating he's alive aside from an occasional blink). One of his buddies comes up teasing him and orders them drinks.

Yet throughout the night he can't stop thinking about her and occasionally glances over, watching her in her rhythm making drinks or wiping down the counter.

A couple days later, he decides to try that new diner (it'd actually been around almost a year but I digress) for breakfast. Lo and behold, Lillian is also a waitress there!

Despite the food or beverages not being his favorite it becomes his routine to go there. Any moment he can get to see this person who has caught his eye like none have before.

Around this time a few of his frat friends want to go have a weekend of fun in Vegas together and contact him. They arrange for the trip and head towards Vegas (Connor of course giving Lillian a heads-up).

Over time, they become good friends and it's now Connor's heart that has been caught as well. He means to ask her out but he keeps getting nervous just like he did with his first crush.

Then tragedy strikes.

They get into a terrible car accident, of which only Connor and one friend barely survive. The latter sadly passes later in the hospital.

When Lillian gets the news her stomach drops and races to figure out which hospital he's at. He's began to mean so much to her. She finally finds him, comatose.

She visits him whenever she can, meeting his family during those visits. Emma absolutely thinks her to be daughter in law material. Shermie does too he's just not vocal about it.

Connor finally reawakes and has to work through some grief (though maybe not all of it?). Lillian is by his side through it all.

When he's recovered the two start dating. Wahoo! They eventually get married! Wahoo! They get a house in Piedmont at some point (maybe an old vacation/summer home Sherman had? Idk)

_________

Around their early 30s in 1999 they have our favorite anxious boy and sparkly girl!

Emma is very excited for her grandkids and thus when they discover that their twins are boy/girl she releases a crapton of baby announcements. This is how Stan learns of them. He races down to Piedmont the closest weekend and surprises EVERYONE. He had to witness these twins for himself.

Stan becomes attached. He visits often. Him and Lillian actually bond quite a bit due to both having challenge in their pasts. As much as one can when disguised as their brother anyway.

(Shermie finds "Ford's" mannerisms similar to Stan's from what he can remember btw. Stan gives him the excuse of missing his brother. Knowing how the 2 could impersonate each other Shermie nods and moves on, much to Stan's relief)

This is how he ended up being there for the twins' birth.

______

I'm still figuring out the circumstances behind their martial issues in 2012.

Anyway regardless of how they got here, filled with emotions they attempt a divorce...only for the both of them to not be able to finish the paperwork. Deep down they still care so deeply for each other, how can they let go of everything they've built? The family they made? Not to mention how distressing it would be for their kids.

So despite their own skeptism with therapy, they're at their wit's end. They decide to try it. After all they could always still divorce if needed, why not give it a go? Turns out it's really good for them and they reconnect. So Dipper and Mabel get to come back to a healthier, happier, more wholesome household ☺️

And now that their parents have been introduced to the importance of therapy, they can get their now traumatized kids help...

They also renew their vows at some point with Mabel being the flower girl and Dipper bearing the rings.

That's pretty much all I have to say on them. I kinda love them a lot 🫶

Questions about these guys are so welcome, like seriously I've grown such an attachment to them.

[dweemeister]

2024 Movie Odyssey Awards

So here is the penultimate post for the 2024 Movie Odyssey. This awards ceremony, which used to be (insanely) done on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, all but puts the bow on last year's movie-watching for me.

The Movie Odyssey Awards honor the best in films that I saw for the first time last calendar year for me. Rewatches are ineligible. Other eligibility rules (such as whether or not a “TV movie” versus a “streaming movie” can count can be found here).

All of these films that were nominated or won (even Worst Picture, to some extent) are worth your time and are worth seeking. Even some of the most incredibly flawed films I saw this year may have gotten a nomination or two elsewhere (ten nominees per category certainly helps). As always, my Best Picture winners and my Personal Favorite Film nominees? Can't recommend them enough (although I think some of the Best Picture winners might need additional contexts for those who aren't well-versed in older films).

Best Pictures

Adam’s Rib (1949)

Awaara (1951, India)

The Big Heat (1953)

Detour (1945)

Dinner at Eight (1933)

Flow (2024, Latvia/Belgium/France)

One Way Passage (1932)

Son of the White Mare (1981, Hungary)

A Special Day (1977, Italy)

20 Days in Mariupol (2023, Ukraine)

See this post for more details! As is tradition, I do not name (or rank) my ten Best Pictures of the year. They are presented here in alphabetical order. However, I will note that Awaara, The Big Heat, and A Special Day received 10/10s; Detour received 9.5/10; all the others received 9/10.

Best Comedy

Adam’s Rib

The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)

The Caddy (1953)

Desk Set (1957)

Dinner at Eight

Funny Money (2013, Vietnam)

The Life of the Party (1920)

Room for One More (1952)

Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)

Theater Camp (2023)

Again, this boils down to which of these comedies amused me the most – not necessarily which comedy I thought was the best-made. And it just so happened it was Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's legal battle of the sexes that made me laugh the most this year (there were two Tracy-Hepburn team-ups here with Desk Set as well). Just behind it? The Caddy and Theater Camp.

Best Musical

Awaara

The Bells of St. Mary’s

Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

The Caddy

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Girl Happy (1965)

Theater Camp

Tom Sawyer (1973)

Week-End in Havana (1941)

Wicked: Part I (2024)

Awaara is the best film among these ten. But that’s not what wins this category. I largely decide this category by some strange combination of how much I enjoyed the music, the performances, and how well the film presents itself as a musical. In 2024, that was Wicked: Part I, an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical of the same name (which I have very much an emotional connection to and am quite biased towards). Now, I actually have serious issues with Wicked: Part I in terms of how director Jon M. Chu approached the material (like how he shoots and edits some of the numbers, as well as the desaturated color palette). But the other musicals I considered here for alternative winners – Broadway Melody of 1936 (1930s musicals really did not care for plot) and Daddy Long Legs (not enough notable songs) – had other issues in terms of structure I couldn’t overlook.

Best Animated Feature

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)

Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo (2022, Canada/France)

Flow

Inside Out 2 (2024)

Mars Express (2023, France)

Memoir of a Snail (2024)

Robot Dreams (2023, Spain/France)

Son of the White Mare

The Triplets of Belleville (2003, France/Belgium/Canada/United Kingdom)

The Wild Robot (2024)

Quite simply the finest lineup for Animated Feature since the 2017 Movie Odyssey Awards and maybe second-best overall since the 2014 edition. This is one of my favorite categories for this entire 2024 ceremony – an extremely worthy Inside Out 2 would be 9th here; with even the weakest film here, Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo (quite possibly the first animated feature taking place during the Syrian Civil War?), might have easily been more safely in another year. In the end, Marcell Jankovics’ gorgeous tribute to the ancient nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe wins out, ekeing out against Flow, Memoir of a Snail, and The Triplets Belleville (the latter two were also under consideration for Best Picture).

Best Documentary

Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman (1974)

The Empathizer (2024)

Ennio (2021, Italy)

Festival! (1967)

The Last Repair Shop (2023 short)

Nai Nai & Wài Pó (2023 short)

New Wave (2024)

Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today (1948)

Taking Root: Southeast Asian Stories of Resettlement in Philadelphia (2023)

20 Days in Mariupol

I don’t really do New Year’s Resolutions (and this isn’t to undermine our excellent winner)… but I need to watch more documentaries outside of Viet Film Fest contexts. Seriously. Curiously, five of our nominees here (Antonia, Ennio, Festival!, The Last Repair Shop, New Wave) had music or musicians front and center – a rare female classical music conductor from the mid-20th century, one of the best film scores composers ever, the Newport Folk Festival, LAUSD’s instrument repair shop employees, and Vietnamese New Wave music as the soundtrack to a director’s life story.

Best Non-English Language Film

Awaara, India

Casque d’Or (1952), France

Devi (1960), India

The Gold of Naples (1954), Italy

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023), Vietnam

Son of the White Mare

A Special Day, Italy

The Taste of Things (2023), France

The Triplets of Belleville, France/Belgium/Canada/United Kingdom

20 Days in Mariupol, Ukraine

I’m going to shame myself again here. I didn’t see a single African or Latin American film this year. That’s really regrettable and needs to be fixed in 2025. Among the films in this category I haven’t mentioned yet, I wanted to spotlight the delectable The Taste of Things. Trần Anh Hùng’s latest depicts a love forged through cooking. And boy, was it damn close to getting a Best Picture nod from me.

Best Silent Film

The Ace of Hearts (1921)

Annie Laurie (1927)

Cleopatra (1912)

The Conquering Power (1921)

The Enchanted Cottage (1924)

The Johnstown Flood (1926)

The Lady of the Dugout (1918)

The Life of the Party

Love (1927)

Once again, this is not going to cut it. I only saw nine silent films all year, and too is unacceptable. I didn’t even fill this category! In any case, The Johnstown Flood is a remarkable recreation of the 1889 disaster of the same name. A solid, though not spectacular, set of performances and storytelling to go along with the wonderful special effects, too. Runners-up included Lon Chaney in The Ace of Hearts and John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in Love (this is an adaptation of Anna Karenina and was originally entitled Heat… but then someone realized that the tagline “Greta Garbo in Heat” was a bit racy).

Personal Favorite Film (TIE)

Adam’s Rib

Detour

Dìdi (2024)

Dragonwyck (1946)

El Dorado (1966)

Ennio

Flow

The Last Repair Shop

Robot Dreams

Wicked: Part I

First, your winners. Both are about music. Ennio is a biographical documentary on Italian film composer Ennio Morricone (who consented to interviews in his residence before passing a year before the film was released). The film traces his entire life from childhood, his early musical studies, his first film score successes, his ‘60s Italian pop music arrangements, his atonal phase in the ‘70s, and his maturation in the ‘80s and onward. Though I wish it talked more about process, I can’t complain. At 156 minutes, I wish it talked a little more about process and what he thinks about modern scoring. But to get so much of his musicality and personality? I’ll take it. Then there’s the documentary short The Last Repair Shop. Seek it online because it’ll nourish your soul. It’s about Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) instrument repair shop and a few of its inspirational employees. LAUSD is the last major school district in the U.S. to offer free instrument repair to students, and that is something to be celebrated.

Now, let’s talk about those here that weren’t Best Picture winners or haven’t mentioned too thoroughly yet. Sean Wang’s coming-of-age Dìdi transported me back to the days of early high school. And though it is an Asian American film set in California, I didn’t necessarily “see” myself in it (for the record, I’ve never “seen” myself in a film and sorta hope I never do), but I saw elements of others and a time that I remember well.

Elsewhere, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Dragonwyck – starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, and Vincent Price – proves I’m a sucker for American Gothic dramas. I enjoy the landed gentry scheming, especially if the gentry is played by Vincent Price! And I even learned something totally new to me – that of the manorial rights of Patroons (descendants of the elites of the former New Netherland colony) in New York state.

El Dorado might be written off as a Rio Bravo (1959) redux. But, honestly? Without a weak link in the cast, it’s better than Rio Bravo – an opinion that is certainly unpopular, I’m sure.

Flow and Robot Dreams both exemplified this year the benefits of filmmakers remembering that silence can be golden. Neither film has dialogue, and both use their lack of dialogue to fantastic visual effect – a necessary reminder in perhaps our overly-talkative modern cinema.

Best Director

Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville

Adam Elliot, Memoir of a Snail

Marcell Jankovics, Son of the White Mare

Raj Kapoor, Awaara

Fritz Lang, The Big Heat

Satyajit Ray, Devi

Ettore Scola, A Special Day

Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Trần Anh Hùng, The Taste of Things

Edgar G. Ulmer, Detour

I feel like I’m just asking for forgiveness at this point. Because when I locked this category while I was writing this, I just realized, for the first time in the longest time, there are no female directors here. Looking back at the 2024 Movie Odyssey’s full list, I do notice more than a few films directed by women, but I simply didn’t think any were good enough to be nominated here or to win Picture.

That said, for the first time since 2014, the Best Director winner comes from a film that isn’t a winner for Best Picture (1939’s The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums and Kenji Mizoguchi won in 2014). I enjoy Douglas Sirk’s incredible directing of admittedly trashy material in All That Heaven Allows – he turns utter soapy dross into something well worth watching. And for that, alongside his incredible command of color, he beats out all of the other films here that were named as one of the ten Best Picture winners. Runners-up included Chomet, Ray, and Ulmer (Ulmer for getting so much out of a miniscule budget).

Best Acting Ensemble

Adam’s Rib

The Big Heat

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)

Conclave (2024)

Devi

Dinner at Eight

El Dorado

On Borrowed Time (1939)

The Teachers’ Lounge (2023, Germany)

The Wedding Banquet (1993)

Ralph Fiennes headlines Conclave, which is about the College of Cardinals attempting to elect a new Pope after the previous Pope’s death – but the election is thrown into turmoil by scandals and secrets that come out into the open. Fiennes is supported by solid performances from Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rosellini, Lucian Msamati, and Carlos Diehz.

I also considered The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, Monica Raymund, Lewis Pullman, Jay Duplass, Tom Riley, and Lance Reddick) and Dinner at Eight (Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, and Billie Burke) here.

Best Actor

Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Ralph Fiennes, Conclave

Glenn Ford, The Big Heat

José Isbert, El Cochecito (1960, Spain)

Raj Kapoor, Awaara

Marcello Mastroianni, A Special Day

William Powell, One Way Passage

Vincent Price, Dragonwyck

Spencer Tracy, Adam’s Rib

Kôji Yakusho, Perfect Days (2023, Japan)

The third time was the charm for Marcello Mastroianni, who was previously nominated here in 2018 and 2019 for two Federico Fellini movies – 8 ½ (1963) and Ginger and Fred (1986). And honestly? It’s the best Mastroianni performance I’ve seen. Opposite Sophia Loren, both actors play unglamorous roles that are against type for both of them. Mastroianni, so often playing the dapper playboys, is allowed to be fully vulnerable here, with an even more rickety façade than usual. Simply great work from him.

Also under consideration here were Glenn Ford (like Mastroianni, he plays against type… in The Big Heat as a decent man who has gotten to the point where he discards his values) and Raj Kapoor.

Best Actress

Kay Francis, One Way Passage

Lillian Gish, Annie Laurie

Gloria Grahame, The Big Heat

Katharine Hepburn, Adam’s Rib

Sophia Loren, A Special Day

Mikey Madison, Anora (2024)

Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Nargis, Awaara

Ann Savage, Detour

Sharmila Tagore, Devi

In 2015, Sharmila Tagore was someone who I had just discovered in Satyajit Ray’s Nayak (1966, India). I definitely took notice of her performance then, but didn’t give her a first Movie Odyssey Award nomination until a year later. Almost a decade since, I now see her as one of the finest big-screen actors – no qualifiers needed. As the young lady thought to be the incarnation of Kali by her father-in-law (Chhabi Biswas), Tagore plays a woman robbed of her agency and humanity while being worshipped as a deity – all in the name of religious zealotry. I imagine contemporary Hindu nationalists would absolutely hate this movie and hate my opinions about her performance and this movie. Honestly? I don’t care.

The distant runners-up included Kay Francis, Gloria Grahame, and Sophia Loren.

Best Supporting Actor

Chhabi Biswas, Devi

Richard Conte, The Big Combo (1955)

Bing Crosby, The Bells of St. Mary’s

Brian Donlevy, The Big Combo

Cedric Hardwicke, On Borrowed Time

Lee Marvin, The Big Heat

Lung Sihung, The Wedding Banquet

Robert Mitchum, El Dorado

Denzel Washington, Gladiator II (2024)

David Wayne, Adam’s Rib

The trickiest of the acting categories. Supporting categories tend to favor antagonists and villains. But this year, the antagonists and villains that could be deemed supporting roles just didn’t stand out to me as winners. So I went with the perpetually sleepy-eyed Robert Mitchum for his role as a recovering alcoholic sheriff in El Dorado (and a sheriff who doesn’t always seem he has a broom up his backside either). I think it’s a role that Mitchum is simply a natural for, and his banter with John Wayne strengthens the performance.

Also under consideration: Lee Marvin as one of the most repulsive gangster sidemen I have ever seen in a movie.

Best Supporting Actress

Jocelyn Brando, The Big Heat

Leela Chitnis, Awaara

Quinn Cummings, The Goodbye Girl

Julia Faye, The Life of the Party

Janet Gaynor, The Johnstown Flood

Gua Ah-leh, The Wedding Banquet

Jean Harlow, Dinner at Eight

Judy Holliday, Adam’s Rib

Eily Malyon, On Borrowed Time

Chantal Thuy, Ru (2023, Canada)

Sometimes, I like to tell folks that there was a subset of pre-Code comedies where many of the jokes stem from the fact that the characters are filthy frigging rich (closest contemporary analog: Crazy Rich Asians). But beneath that, there is usually some pathos and ennui – if we’re so rich, how come we feel like crap? Jean Harlow’s character in Dinner at Eight has none of that ennui. Zinger after zinger. Takedown after takedown. She’d be an awful person to be around in real life, but Harlow’s comedic delivery is pitch perfect, and she does a lot of work to make the movie tick.

Judy Holliday and Chantal Thuy were also considered here.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sydney Boehm, The Big Heat

William Friedkin, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff, Children of a Lesser God

Peter Straughan, Conclave

Martin Goldsmith, Detour

Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz, Dinner at Eight

Leight Brackett, El Dorado

Alice D.G. Miller and Frank O’Neill, On Borrowed Time

Pablo Berger, Robot Dreams

Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson, Room for One More

As I said in the Best Picture tidbit on it, there’s no way Dinner at Eight would’ve won this if I had seen it a half-decade or a decade ago. Stellar work from Marion and Herman Mankiewicz – its characterizations, and a structure that keeps the episodic nature from feeling too stop-start.

Those screenplays for Conclave, Detour, and Robot Dreams were also worth honoring too!

Best Original Screenplay

Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, Adam’s Rib

Rafael Azcona and Marco Ferreri, El Cochecito

Satyajit Ray, Devi

Neil Simon, The Goodbye Girl

Adam Elliot, Memoir of a Snail

Wilson Mizner and Joseph Jackson, One Way Passage

Trần Anh Hùng, The Taste of Things

Johannes Duncker and İlker Çatak, The Teachers’ Lounge

Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville

Ang Lee, Neil Peng, and James Schamus, The Wedding Banquet

In the 1990s, the notion of an LGBTQ+ film – let alone one centered around an Asian American experience – having a happy ending was a laughable notion. The Wedding Banquet, a dramedy, doesn’t have the storybook ending folks might fantasize over, but a sensible, pragmatic, and loving one. And I think it’s all the better for it. Before that ending though… what a heartfelt script, and what care it takes to address so many ideas of Asian and queer identity that blow so many movies from that decade away.

Adam’s Rib, El Cochecito, Memoir of a Snail, and One Way Passage also had original screenplays worth a mention here, too!

Best Cinematography

Tom Hurwitz and Robert M. Young, Alambrista! (1977)

Russell Metty, All That Heaven Allows

John Alton, The Big Combo

Lucien Andriot and Arthur Edeson, The Big Trail (1930)

Subrata Mitra, Devi

Đinh Duy Hưng, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

George Schneiderman, The Johnstown Flood

Stanley Kubrick, Killer’s Kiss (1955)

Karl Freund, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

Jonathan Ricquebourg, The Taste of Things

In textbooks that describe film noir, this image from The Big Combo is usually used to illustrate what film noir should look like. There are many moments across The Big Combo that demonstrate Alton’s complete command of black-and-white – the contrasts, the shadows, the mood. The scarcely believable thing is that Alton is most famous for being the co-director of photography on An American in Paris (1951) – a Technicolor extravaganza of a musical that could not be further away from one of the best-looking films noir ever made.

Behind The big Combo were All That Heaven Allows, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, and The Taste of Things.

Best Film Editing

Sung Ming, The Big Boss (1971, Hong Kong)

Tanya M. Swerling, The Boys in the Boat (2023)

Marguerite Renoir, Casque d’Or

Nick Emerson, Conclave

Howard Alk, Festival!

Phạm Thiên Ân, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

William Goldenberg, News of the World (2020)

John W. Wheeler, The Parallax View (1974)

Jaume Martí and Andrés Gil, Society of the Snow (2023, Spain)

Magda Hap, Son of the White Mare

I don’t watch a lot of political thrillers, but thrillers in general tend to thrive in this category. The Parallax View – borne out of the paranoia-minded Watergate era – is tautly told, and the editing work does all of the heaviest lifting across its runtime.

Best Adaptation or Musical Score

Lester Lee and Bob Russell, Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Frank Skinner, All That Heaven Allows

Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra, and Hasrat Jaipuri, Awaara

Robert Emmett Dolan, The Bells of St. Mary’s

Nacio Herb Brown, Broadway Melody of 1936

Alfred Newman and Cyril J. Mockridge, Daddy Long Legs

George E. Stoll, Girl Happy

Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, and John Williams, Tom Sawyer

Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, Week-End in Havana

John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, Wicked: Part I

This category tends to confuse people. Essentially, Adaption or Musical Score awards a score that would otherwise be an original score but quotes too liberally from preexisting music to be considered in the below category. The category also awards scores that go alongside musical films (musicals are ineligible for the category directly below this). This category also has tended to favor musicals that are wholly original, not adaptations (like Wicked: Part I).

And as such, that’s where Nacio Herb Brown comes away with his score and the songs to Broadway Melody of 1936. Newman and Mockridge might’ve had a better time in this category if they had integrated the melodies of their songs into their score more (while also composing more memorable songs aside from “Something’s Gotta Give”).

Best Original Score

Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot

John Debney, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (2024)

Michael Giacchino, Society of the Snow

Osvaldo Golijov, Megalopolis (2024)

James Newton Howard, News of the World

Ennio Morricone, The Mission

Alfred Newman, The Robe (1953)

Nelson Riddle, El Dorado

Amelia Warner, Young Woman and the Sea (2024)

Franz Waxman, On Borrowed Time

Original Score usually tilts a little older than this, but I do not mind this makeup at all. We have some examples from the best scoring of 2024 (The Wild Robot and Young Woman and the Sea the best here, in my opinion), as well as a nominal presence of Old Hollywood in The Robe and El Dorado.

But it’s the Hollywood outsider, Ennio Morricone, who wins it for what I think (and what the late composer thought) is his best score. Morricone, who might be best known for his work on Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy – A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few Dollars More; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – reportedly disliked his work on “Spaghetti Westerns” as time wore on (source: the 2021 documentary Ennio). To Morricone, his work on The Mission – which is about Spanish Jesuits attempting to convert the Guaraní people of the Paraguayan jungle to Christianity, while defending them from Portuguese and Spanish slavers – was his “revenge” on the Spaghetti Westerns that largely defined his reputation. Morricone wanted to compose something so unabashedly tied to classical music, all while combining musical elements from the Guaraní. And he got it. It’s a top-20 or top-25 all-time score in my books.

I adore all ten of these scores. If I could, I would have you watch all ten of these films, listen to the soundtrack afterwards, and we would talk about the music. But that’s a fantasy. And times marches onward for us all. Kris Bowers and Amelia Warner may just be the Next Big Things in (melodic) film scores, I hope – says this frequent critic of composers like Hans Zimmer Reznor and Ross. Bowers, loves his classical and jazz to equal degrees – trained in composition, he clearly respects the past while forging onward. Warner, a former actress, has shown incredible progress as a composer with each passing film (she composed an all-time sports movie film score in Young Woman and the Sea).

Best Original Score Cue

“The Alumni”, Kris Bowers, The Last Repair Shop

“Beach Celebration”, Amelia Warner, Young Woman and the Sea

“The Boys in the Boat”, Alexandre Desplat, The Boys in the Boat

“The Crucifixion”, Alfred Newman, The Robe

“End Titles”, James Newton Howard, News of the World

“Found”, Michael Giacchino, Society of the Snow

“Gabriel’s Oboe”, Ennio Morricone, The Mission

“Horizon Montage Begins / Closing Survey”, John Debney, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1

“I Could Use a Boost”, Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot

“New Rome”, Osvaldo Goljiov, Megalopolis

I don’t think you need to hear more wax more about The Mission and Ennio Morricone. I will say that “Beach Celebration” would’ve been one of my go-to cues if I had the editing skills to put a year-end Movie Odyssey montage. “End Titles” is one of the best end credits suites I’ve heard in some time. “New Rome” sounds like something composed from the ‘50s in the best possible way.

Best Original Song

“Aren’t You Glad You’re You?”, music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke, The Bells of St. Mary’s

“Awaara Hoon (I'm a Tramp)”, music by Sahnkar Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, Awaara

“Belleville Rendez-vous”, music by Benoît Charest, lyrics by Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville

“Giấc Mơ (Dream)”, music and lyrics by Túng, Before Sex (2024, Vietnam)

“Même plus l'amour (Not Even Love)”, music and lyrics by Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye, Mars Express

“A Million Miles Away”, music and lyrics by Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye, Mars Express

“On Earth as It Is in Heaven”, music and lyrics by Ennio Morricone, The Mission

“Something’s Gotta Give”, music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Daddy Long Legs

“That’s Amore”, music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Jack Brooks, The Caddy

“You Are My Lucky Star”, music Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Arthur Freed, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

To all those who participated in MOABOS, thank you!

Best Costume Design

André-ani, Annie Laurie

Adrian, Dinner at Eight

René Hubert, Dragonwyck

Jacqueline West, Dune: Part Two (2024)

Milena Canonero, Megalopolis

Orry-Kelly, One Way Passage

Holly Waddington, Poor Things (2023)

Charles Le Maire and Emile Santiago, The Robe

Gwen Wakeling, Week-End in Havana

Paul Tazewell, Wicked: Part I

Now we get to categories that I have, admittedly the least expertise in. But I thought Wicked: Part I had some excellent costuming work that put its own spin on things, without directly copying the stage musical. Dinner at Eight, Megalopolis, and Poor Things also considered.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Yvonne Coppard, Pat Hay, Paula Gillespie, Stephanie Kaye, and Tami Levi, Appointment with Death (1988)

Ben Nye, Dragonwyck

Donald Mowat and Judit Farkas-Arful, and Dune: Part Two

Janty Yates and David Crossman, Gladiator II

Valli O’Reilly and Terrie Velazquez Owen, Megalopolis

Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, and Josh Weston, Poor Things

Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, David Martí, and Montse Ribé, Society of the Snow

Frances Hannon, Sarah Nuth, and Laura Blount, Wicked: Part I

How do you get a 150+-pound actor seem like they’ve lost half that much without having the actor starve themselves? That is what the makeup team for Society of the Snow – along with all the grievous bodily injuries seen in this film about the Andes flight disaster and their rescue 72 days after the crash. La sociedad de la nieve won this without much competition at all.

Best Production Design                                                 

Suzie Davies, Conclave

J. Russell Spencer and Lyle R. Wheeler, Dragonwyck

Patrice Vermette and Tom Brown, Dune: Part Two

Gints Zilbalodis, Flow

Martial Le Minoux and Mikael Robert, Mars Express

Beth Mickie and Bradley Rubin, Megalopolis

Shona Heath, James Price, and Zsuzsa Mihalek, Poor Things

Lyle R. Wheeler, Geroge W. Davis, Walter M. Scott, and Paul S. Fox, The Robe

Uncredited, Son of the White Mare

Nathan Crowley, Wicked: Part I

When you pull off a sword-and-sandals epic film off, so much of it depends on your sets and production design. Historical epics like this category, and the fabulously designed Roman/quasi-Biblical epic gets this award.

Achievement in Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Dune: Part Two

The Fall Guy (2024)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

The Johnstown Flood

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Mars Express

Society of the Snow

The Wild Robot

It’s unfair to compare a silent film (The Johnstown Flood) to a 2024 release in terms of visual effects. As is policy, all films listed in this category have won.

Worst Picture

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

Game of Death (1978, Hong Kong)

Gladiator II

Moana 2 (2024)

Son of Godzilla (1967, Japan)

I gave it a 2/10, but as a fan of Toho’s kaiju films, I must say I greatly enjoyed the experience of watching this alongside other Godzilla fans – many of whom were much more diehard kaiju fans than myself, which only added to the enjoyment.

It feels wrong to single out Game of Death here, as it was unfinished at the time of Bruce Lee’s death. But the official “completed” version is pretty awful. The Corpse Vanishes is the worst non-Son of Godzilla movie of the year, but Moana 2 takes the cake for “Worst Picture nominee I most wish did not exist”.

Honorary Awards:

The Film Noir Foundation, for their tireless efforts to restore films noir and educate viewers about the subgenre

FILMS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS (excluding Worst Picture... 61)

Nine: Adam’s Rib, Awaara

Eight: The Big Heat

Seven: Devi

Six: Dinner at Eight, Son of the White Mare, Wicked: Part I

Five: The Bells of St. Mary’s, Conclave, Detour, El Dorado, Dragonwyck, Mars Express, Megalopolis, On Borrowed Time, One Way Passage, Society of the Snow, A Special Day, The Triplets of Belleville

Four: Dune: Part Two, Flow, The Johnstown Flood, The Robe, The Taste of Things, The Wedding Banquet, The Wild Robot

Three: All That Heaven Allows, Annie Laurie, The Big Combo, The Caddy, Daddy Long Legs, Gladiator II, The Goodbye Girl, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, The Last Repair Shop, The Life of the Party, Memoir of a Snail, The Mission, News of the World, Poor Things, Robot Dreams, 20 Days in Mariupol, Week-End in Havana Two: Affair in Trinidad, The Boys in the Boat, Broadway Melody of 1936, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Casque d’Or, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Children of a Lesser God, Ennio, Festival!Girl Happy, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, Room for One More, Tammy and the Bachelor, The Teachers’ Lounge, Theater Camp, Tom Sawyer, Young Woman and the Sea

WINNERS (excluding honorary awards and Worst Picture; 34)

3 wins: Dinner at Eight

2 wins: Adam’s Rib, Awaara, The Johnstown Flood, The Mission, Society of the Snow, Son of the White Mare, A Special Day, 20 Days in Mariupol, Wicked: Part I

1 win: Alien: Romulus, All That Heaven Allows, The Big Combo, The Big Heat, Broadway Melody of 1936, The Caddy, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Conclave, Detour, Devi, El Dorado, Dune: Part Two, Ennio, The Fall Guy, Flow, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Last Repair Shop, Mars Express, One Way Passage, The Parallax View, The Robe, The Wedding Banquet, The Wild Robot

96 films were nominated in 27 categories.

[theink-stainedfolk]

Fragile Feelings

Never had I thought that I,a mere theater actor, would get rich overnight. Never had I thought that I'd become rich by just marrying a pretty young lady,who just came out of nowhere, suggesting the job. But here we are.

Her eyes were like that of the siren's drawing me into those deep pools of brown. She elegantly sipped the milk tea from her intricately designed cup. Her butler stood behind her with his eyes focused downwards. Her cream white jacket hung loosely over her shoulders. 

“Have you stared enough?” She said, raising her brow.

“I apologize, madam. I didn't mean to be rude.” I immediately averted my gaze. 

“It's fine.” She said and I looked back at her slowly, her leg crossed over the other made her aura appear even more dominant than before. “We'll have to do a lot of staring in the future anyways.”

“...Excuse me?” I was dumbfounded. 

She strengthened her posture. “Let me introduce myself. I'm Khanh Linh Tiên, the owner of Aether Electronics. I'm looking for a partner.”

I stared at her for a good minute, then I laughed.

“I'm sorry, but you might be meeting a wrong person, I'm just a-”

“Theater actor? I'm meeting the right person then. You are Heather Abdahu, 25 years old. I am looking for you.” she stated.

“You know who I am yet you are searching for a partner? Won't you be going in a loss?” This can't be the only reason for meeting me. Either that or she is truly stupid like those magazines say.

Laugh escaped her lips. “You are misunderstanding something here. I'm Looking for a partner, not a business partner.”

“Then you might have even a greater loss.”

“For a year or longer depending on the situation.” 

“Are you not listening to me?”

“What is your rent?” she suddenly asked. 

I had no idea where this conversation was headed to.“$2,150 per month, why?”

“I'll give you $30,000 per month for this.”

My eyes widened.“Have you gone crazy!?”

“$50,000”

“Hey wait, stop.” I raised my hand to stop her, she really must be crazy like the magazines say. “Why are you doing this? Can I at least get the context?”

“You know about the Khanh family very well, everyone does, I believe. And you must also know about the death of Leon Calloway, my fiance.” she folded her arms.

“Yes, a plane accident, it was truly sad.” I feigned sadness, I genuinely felt nothing for his death, I never really cared what was happening in the rich people's world. Plane crashes were minor accidents in their world.

“No. Not an accident, a murder. He was murdered.”

“What?” so the conspiracies were true…. Or she finds it hard to believe that his death was an accident. 

“Leon Calloway was one of the few eligible bachelors my grandfather chose for me during my college years.” Her mind drifted into her memories. “He was from an influential family of industrialists. I never questioned my grandfather's choices, after all he was the only person left in Australia with me as my brother was away for business issues in Vietnam. A few months after my grandfather's death, Leon was traveling to America, where his private jet crashed.”

“And you conclude it as a murder because?” I found her conclusion for this very difficult to believe. 

“He received a threat, asking to break his marriage with me. He told no one about it though, I just know it because I went through his phone.”

“......Wow… and- and I'm… you are asking me to accept this position, knowing very well that I might die?” Does she not care that a person might die here? Regardless of the money she's giving out to people just for being her lover. Money won't even matter if I die, is this some kind of joke?

“You need not fear for that, you'll be living in my house, with approximately 30 or more experienced bodyguards, with armaments might I add. And I believe I offered you a good deal, do you plan to live like this? And, this is for a temporary period of time, I promise to not let harm touch, much less, think about touching you." Her words were firm. It ignited some kind of fire within me, a fire of hope I believe. 

“Fixed period? Will you get something between that period?”

“Yes, I'll find out who exactly is so brave enough to challenge me, out of all the residents of the Khanhs. Do you consent to this deal?” 

“.... Are you really going to give me this much amount just to pretend to be your fiance?” I asked, just to be sure. This job is hard, I might die, might never get to break through the industry. But the offer is just…. So good to ignore. I could live somewhere else, with protection and without the knowledge of my parents, I can provide fees for my siblings and then they'd be free to buy anything, whatever they desire without thinking about it over and over again. 

She smirked, her eyes glinting with amusement.“To be my fiance and pretend to be in love with me, yes.”

“What about your image?”

“My vengeance is more important to me than my image, to be very frank.”

“Then… I consent. I'll be in your care, I hope you are true to your words.” Fuck it. Might as well jump in fire instead of regretting not burning in it.

“Very well, Heather.” she stood up, her butler adjusting her jacket for her.

“Can- can my siblings live with me too? Wherever I'm going, my siblings are coming with me. If not then just forget all of this.” 

She stared at me, confused. “You have siblings?” 

“Yeah. Hadia, and Sagheer. One is in college and the other in high school respectively.” I smirked, “You knew so much about me but not about my siblings? Not so meticulous of you.”

She returned my smirk and walked up to me. Though I thought that it didn't affect me much, I felt scared for a moment, even excited. “What could I have done? I only had my interest in you, hence I know all about you. How about we spend a day together to know more about each other, hmm?” She teased. I felt my heart rate rising and my face burning. 

walked to the door but turned around just before leaving. “And just keep in mind. Khanh Linh Tiên, never goes back on her words.” she winked and left.

I, along with her butler, were left in the grand living room. Silence was so loud that I could hear my heart thumping loudly against my chest. Her butler then guided me outside in the car to drop me to my house. While driving out, I turned to look back at the grand mansion, which stood with pride and vigor. This turn of events might bring either the saddest events in my life or the happiest. I guess we'll have to wait until the time tells us itself.

[nananarc]

EXCUSE ME WHILE I RANT FOR A BIT

So anyway I finally started with the graduation project and, lemme tell ya, it was annoying. I mean I expected this, but it's still annoying.

The school and the mentor wants things to be of a certain aesthetic and standard so it can fit with the general public's taste and eventually it can be picked up by a publisher. it has to be commercial and easy to digest, for a lack of better words. Which is like, the opposite of essentially what i am as a person and as an artist.

So anyway I'll be doing Truyện Kiều again, illustrating the full book with better art this time. Here are some sketches I did:

Below is the mentor's very quick sketch for demo:

Which is. Ok cool, it's very traditional, Vietnamese fine art design and aesthetic. The thing that you see everywhere in books and media. The thing that is taught in fine art school. And it's also very HIM because he's a very prominent artist since a long time ago. I'm not talking about the difference in the era clothing tho because he demoed in Nguyễn dynasty while mine is of the Trần dynasty.

My style was criticized (politely) that the face doesn't look pretty, the nose is too prominent and big, the lineart is too scratchy and loose, and that I have to restrict the freedom in my lineart more.

Which is. Like. Pretty much all the things that i like about my art the most. I don't really like drawing "pretty" people, I wanna draw distinct and unique people. I like the fact that the nose is prominent because that's a very Vietnamese facial feature. Our nose is big, flat and flared. And I like it. AND I DIDNT EVEN DRAW IT THAT BIG. it's already stylized and stuff. The lineart is scratchy and spontaneous because that's how my ADHD brain works! And I like the freedom, the raw unfinished feel to it. And my way of scrawing is kinda similar to sculpting in a way that I like to put in a block of line or shape (yang) and then erase it and putting in more nothing space (yin). And I like Maximalism and Kitsch and Neo-traditionalism so I love to do things a bit crazy and new and filled with emotions.

My mentor comes from a very different generation, and a different field than me. He's very commercial, leaning more into minimalism, fine-art conservative and traditional aesthetic. WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF ME. Sadly we don't get to choose mentor cos there's only one lmao.

And also I don't understand why I have to aim for publishing in Vietnam too, because that's not where my target customer is. I'm a niche artist with limited customer base and they are international clients (who mostly pay better, treat you better, and appreciate your art more than the general public in VN do). Luckily I have a bachelor in business admin so I know how to do brand and marketing myself, othewise id just keep on trying to please everyone (flexing a little bit, but i was graduating with excellence and on the top 10 of my intake lmeo). Not to mention the fact that why do I even have to publish in the first place, because this is a school, it is a place to experiment, make mistakes, and learn. It's not a place to conform to the industry to make a living. If I wanna do that I would not be here and start working for a company already!

I understand it when they said that it would be a huge advantage if you can get published, but then again, that route is not for everyone, and it's not the only way to be an illustrator like they said. I have my own path to walk on, and I don't think they are aware that we even have those paths, because they are from a different generation. I mean, that's why I was struggling so much before to find a footing, because virtually no one here knows there are other paths! I had to dig things up myself through sweat, blood and tear.

Anyway I rant but i will keep trying to fight and do it on my own terms. They can't make me anyway. There's gonna be sticks and stones, but I mean, I can't physically make myself do something I do not wanna do. There's another option which is to drop it because I don't need the certificate anyway, but I wanna finish a big project of my own too.

[richincolor]

Audrey's 2023 Favorites

I always like digging through the books I read at the end of the year to decide which will claim a spot on my favorites list. Even though I've decided to crown just four with the title, I'm pretty pleased with the variety of genres represented. If you haven't had a chance to check any of these out yet, I'd encourage you to add them to your wish list or local library's wait list!

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang Scholastic || My review

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep. Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right? Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city. But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?

My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon Katherine Tegen Books || My review

At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner. Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong—buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead. Now Hana’s reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called “Three” to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life. But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you’ll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she’s forced to face a secret of her own.

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz Delacorte Press || My review

Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her. The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster. Not even when it happens again. And again. And again. If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran Bloomsbury YA || My review

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised. But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat. Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house—the home her family has always wanted—will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

[wutbju]

Jimmy Dale “J.D.” Herchenhahn entered into the presence of his Lord and Savior whom he so earnestly loved and served Thursday morning May 11, 2023 at the Lower Cape Fear Hospice LifeCare Center. Some people called him Dr. Herchenhahn, many others knew him as Pastor, but to us he was forever our precious Dad and Papa. His faith has become sight, and we believe he heard a big “Well done, good and faithful servant” when he entered heaven’s gates!

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of over 54 years, Jean Herchenhahn; his parents, A.B. and Iva Herchenhahn, two brothers, Allen Herchenhahn and Fred Herchenhahn; and five sisters, Lucille Jones, Jean Brunson, Gayle Mattheiss, Dawn Gunderson, and Louise Bates.

Jim loved his family dearly and will be most missed by his three children, Janna (Jeff) Attoe of Hampstead, Jay (Gina) Herchenhahn of Lancaster, SC, and Joy (Brad) Barth of Kernersville, NC; grandchildren Jensen (Ray) Rivera, Jonah Attoe, Jayse Attoe, Kalli Herchenhahn, Kassi Herchenhahn, Khloe Herchenhahn, Caleb Herchenhahn, Cooper Barth, Colton Barth, and Copley Barth; great-grandchildren, Vincent and Halston Rivera; two sisters, Wilma Jones and Judy Ray; many nieces and nephews. Janna, Jay and Joy would like to thank Steve and Joanna Groves, David Groves, and Tom Hayden for faithfully and lovingly caring for our dad. We would also like to acknowledge and thank David  and Cathy Lane, Edna Lancaster, Mark and Nancy Cramer, and Jimmy Sibbett for loving our dad and being the hands and feet of Jesus in dads time of need.

Jimmy Dale was born April 25, 1941 in Macedonia, Mississippi. During his junior year of high school in Pensacola, Florida, he received Christ as his Savior under the ministry of Dr. Dolphus Price.  As a senior, he surrendered to preach the Gospel.  He attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina before serving two years with the United States Army. He was a Vietnam Veteran.

Jim finished his college education at Tennessee Temple College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was involved in many aspects of college life including playing on the baseball team and serving as student body President. It was there that he met and married his sweetheart. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1968.  He pastored the Fellowship Baptist Church in Trion, Georgia for three and a half years during his tenure at TTC and afterwards. Then in 1970, the Lord called the Herchenhahns to Wilmington to work at Grace Baptist Church—first as Assistant Pastor under Dr. Ray Noland, and then starting in 1971 as Senior Pastor of Grace and President of Wilmington Christian Academy.   

The Lord used Pastor Herchenhahn in a great way during his thirty-six years in leadership of the church and school.  Hundreds of people came to know the Lord under his ministry, and many others grew in their faith.  A number of men and women were called to various areas of “full-time Christian service” under his leadership.  Many missionaries, pastors, teachers, and others are still serving the Lord around the world.

He retired from Grace at the end of December 2006. That freed them up to do some short-term mission work in Guam. After that he began filling pulpits for preachers in and around the Wilmington area. That ministry led them to Riley’s Creek Baptist Church in 2010, where he was called to be their Senior Pastor. He retired from Riley’s Creek in 2021 for the primary purpose of taking care of his beloved wife and soulmate who was declining in health. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he possibly could, and that he did.

Only eternity will reveal the impact of the life and ministry of Pastor J.D. Herchenhahn. He was an exemplary pastor, faithfully preaching the Word and sharing the gospel, as well as humbly serving and caring for people. He often quoted these lines from a poem: “Others, Lord, yes, others, let this my motto be, “help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee.” He certainly reflected Jesus through his life.

The family will receive friends for visitation from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Grace Baptist Church, 1401 North College Road, Wilmington, with a  memorial service honoring Pastor Herchenhahn will be immediately following. Close family friend and co-laborer Rev. Mike Meshaw will officiate along with Rev. David Lancaster and Rev. Jay Knolls.. There will be a graveside service at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at  Oleander Memorial Gardens. with Rev. Brian Beaver conducting the service.

In lieu of flowers  memorials  may be made to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare Foundation, 1414 Physicians Dr., Wilmington, NC 28401. We will be forever grateful for their gentle care and compassion given to our dad.

Online condolences may be made by selecting Tribute Wall.

[odkrycia-nauce-i-foldery-online]

Whether scientific research is needed for canidae assemblage?

Importantly, most of the canids are poorly known. The priority species and sites are two endangered ones: wild dog of Africa (Lycaon pictus) and dholes (Cuon alpinus). As for the first one, there is a need to pioneer a small project for evaluating ethnozoological status and presence-absence study of this rare creature in West Africa. The most important area is northern Cote D'ivoire, namely Parc national de la Comoé, where the species was recorded historically. Another priority site is located somewhere in Ghana, in the east part of the country. The area of interest is Kyabobo National Park near the border with Togo. Hunters that have lived there for years reported that dog-like carnivores occured in the park. Another canid of interest is dhole, and the ecosystem of Central China. We are keen for pioneer studies or update distribution records in areas covered vast territories, from Daba Shan up to Luoxiao Range. Most interesting is the so-called Shennongjia Sanctuary, an area of mystery of biodiversity. Dhole is rare, pack-hunter recorded in various habitats of Central China. With various local names and a great role in human-wildlife conflict it is a pejorative species. This elusive carnivore has collapsed by decades, due to diseases, depletion of prey base, persecution and a bit by habitat loss. There are of course ideas of small jobs, which are so-called species hunting. Little is known of ecological requirements of Canidae guild in high, wild plateaus of Katanga (south Congo), where explorers have recorded quaint undescribed canid. There is a lack of data about basal data on canidae guild in West Africa in such wild places, as the woodland of Nasarawa (central Nigeria), Kwahu Plateau of Ghana, but there are some studies in Atakora Mountains of Benin near well-known W-Arly-Pendjari Transboundary Park. We would undertake a small camera trapping survey for searching two canids of these lands recorded historically, such as Lycaon pictus and side-striped jackal. Short carnivore survey can be done in Koro-Toro of central Tchad. There are needed for conservation efforts in wild Asia in such wild places as indochinese region called Tonkin Jungle (of Vietnam). In such two regions research and conservation of rare canids are kindly appreciated. Other project can be undertaken in mountains of Central China, where scientists have recorded dholes Cuon alpinus of Szechuan and another canid of the Vulpes genera with shaggy fur, being not yet described by science. It is now believed to be only domestic dog but with lack of proof. Ecological requirements of these canids can be studied in this vast land. Authors of pictures: Aelurodon/paleosleuths.org, atlas of the world/Louis Hansel and Africa part of project/Top Gear. Posted by Tomasz Pietrzak, popular-science author and bachelor biologist from Poland/EU. Contact with @echlleaguescientific. This Q&A abstract is written under Creative Commons Licence.

Redigerat 2022-11-05, 14:33 av league-scientifique

[metzili]

bit of an educational post, but i want to know how other people see this

so, i just learned for the first time about apartheid in an optional art history course four years into my bachelor’s degree. i didn’t even know the word existed. i only recognized it ‘cause two years prior, i worked in a college bookstore that had the same book we were discussing in class. i remember confusing the word for ‘apartment’ when a poli-sci student came asking for it.

the only world history i ever received was in one class in 10th grade, and it was just the Renaissance period in Europe, WWI and WWII. For all that I’ve heard about the Vietnam war in the news, of which my grandfather was drafted in, I couldn’t tell you how the altercation began or when it started and ended. I’m Puertorican, and I only learned about the forced birth control trials done to unsuspecting women in my own birthplace not even 100 years ago through browsing in the social sciences section in a local bookstore.

I did my k-12 in Georgia, Mississippi and Florida, respectively. I did most of my high school in Florida. I graduated in 2019. All the limitations on education that are currently being placed in the last year alone are horrifying. These teens will know LESS than what I know, and I’m already alarmed at how much history I wasn’t taught. I was taught NOTHING of Asia or Africa that didn’t have events specifically tied to the United States. My parents were raised in Puerto Rico and even they’re shocked; they told me they learned a lot more than I did, that world history was something always incorporated, not just once for a few weeks. They were in high school in the late 1980s and they were taught more than me in the late 2010s.

Anyone else in the south, maybe more recently out of high school, have this experience? General PSA to browse your social sciences section whenever you go shopping for books. Stay informed so you can make better decisions and see through bullshit politicians!

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Ex-Moonie recounts his life as a follower of the Rev. Moon

Chicago Tribune March 1979

By Michael Hirsley

One week, he was a Yale University graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and philosophy, considering graduate school and beginning summer vacation in Berkeley, Calif.

The next week, he was on a farm with his new friends, jumping and pumping his arms up and down while chanting, “Choo-choo-choo-choo,” like a “choo-choo” train in a sort of rural Romper Room gone wrong.

After four weeks, he called his parents to assure them he was doing well. Within six months, his new California friends had become his only family.

He turned over to them his earnings from selling flowers, then from washing dishes, while settling for peanut butter sandwiches as nourishment, and four hours for sleep. Once, he sneaked away and bought himself a glass of milk and a cookie. After he finished them, his shame was instant. He threw up.

Why would a 22-year-old man with a college education begin acting like a child, pliantly follow orders and work for next to nothing, and be unable to eat a cookie in solitude without feeling like a traitor?

He met them that first week in Berkeley. A man who had been kind enough to direct him to a hotel invited him to dinner. There, he met the group.

“They didn't say anything about being a religious group. They were friendly and paid incredible attention to everything I told them about myself,” Edwards says. ‘‘I liked the atmosphere better than social hours in college.”

But still, it is disquieting to imagine that someone like Christopher Edwards — who still fits the Ivy League image in a vested suit, and still looks like a college student as he sips a cup of coffee in a Chicago hotel room — “gave” his soul temporarily to a cult.

His credentials are non-radical, middle-of-the-road: Son of a doctor, member of an upper middle class family, spent summers traveling in this country and in Europe... Was he really the typical college graduate he seemed to be when he became a Moonie?

“What’s typical?” he asks. “One of the last memories I have of college is sitting with a friend and watching (on television) the last troops leave Vietnam. I was somewhat disillusioned with the war and our society.”

He said his peers in the Moonies included many white, middle-class, college-educated men and women in their early 20s.

“There are people who are more susceptible to a religious group like this, people coming out of college, a little disillusioned, looking for a loving community,” he says. “But I really fight the notion that something has to be wrong with you to get involved in a group like this. I think only an extremely selfish, narrow-minded person would not be susceptible.”

He accepted the group’s invitation to go to the farm in California for the weekend. Once there, he ignored guards at the front gate, the silly “choo-choo” game and the fact that “someone followed me everywhere I went, even to the bathroom.”

Edwards admits he found those things “silly and embarrassing, and very odd, but they seemed harmless. I thought theirs was a simplicity that could be trusted.”

And, he concedes, that as a psychology student, “part of my motivation for staying was pure curiosity. Their tactics attracted me.”

His early days with the group consisted of repetitive exercises and lectures in which “you were praised for following directions and accepting repetitive boring speeches without questioning them,” he says. “I felt confident that I couldn’t be manipulated, but I was.”

Those childish games and dogmatic speeches were exercises to break down resistance to brainwashing, he says. “I was put in a hypnotic state,” he says. “I was in a trance.”

For nearly four months, his parents — Dr. Charles Edwards. a surgeon, and his wife, Betty, of Montclair, N. J. — were blissfully unaware of what was happening to their son. It wasn’t unusual to hear little from him when he was traveling on his vacation.

Even a letter, in which he described to them his work with a Creative Community Project in Oakland, caused them no anxiety until they saw the project name again in a newspaper article.

“It was about a meeting for parents who had lost their children to cults. It indicated that Christopher’s project was part of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, the Moonies,” Dr. Edwards said in a phone conversation from his New Jersey office. “We were shocked.”

The Edwards attended the meeting, and were shocked anew. “It was supposed to be a one-hour meeting, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” Dr. Edwards recalled. “It lasted until 8 p.m. There were over 500 parents there.” Unification Church membership is estimated at 80,000.  [There were never more than about 10,000 core members in the US and many of those were imported from Japan and Europe. If everyone who ever had any connection with the UC was counted the number of 30,000 might have been reached decades ago.]

After the meeting, the Edwards’ contacted Ted Patrick, the controversial “deprogrammer” who assists parents in kidnapping their children from the Moonies.

“Patrick had a three-and-a-half month waiting list,” Dr. Edwards said. While he waited for Patrick’s call, he read everything he could about the Moonies.

In January of 1976, Dr. Edwards met with Patrick to plot Christopher’s kidnaping.

The doctor closed his practice for three weeks. He flew to California, found his son after considerable searching, and said he just wanted to be sure Christopher was all right.

“I met him in a coffee shop were he worked,” Dr. Edwards said. “I saw all these kids there walking around with passive looks and mechanical movements. I thought they were in a trance, and I have had some training in hypnosis.

“I didn't say anything against the cult, and I was invited to lunch the next day. I watched recruiting techniques used on me. They looked me in the eye and spoke lovingly, flatteringly, and made me feel important.

The next day, Patrick and assistants helped Dr. Edwards pull his son out of a car and away from a fellow group member.

Dr. Edwards said the weeks of deprogramming that followed — including plane fares for five deprogrammers and assistants and a detective after the family received threatening phone calls and suffered two break-ins at their home — cost “tens of thousands of dollars.”

Christopher Edwards now lectures on cults, and has written a book about his experiences, entitled, “Crazy for God.”

“Its just coincidental that my book is coming out just when Guyana and Jonestown are making us worry about cults,” Edwards says.

“The People’s Temple suicides in Jonestown and thereafter; and an “informal” congressional hearing on cult worship last month; are heightening public anxiety about cults.

Edwards’ book provides fuel for such concern, citing mechanical movements, glassy eyes, and loss of intelligence and initiative as changes which cult members undergo hypnosis.

In one small section, where Edwards expresses hope that “a psychological test will one day emerge to verify these changes,” the book provides a scary glimpse at the potential for “psycho-war” between cults and deprogrammers.

“I fought against the deprogrammers for quite a while, and I told them I would die for my cult friends and leaders,” Edwards says “That still worries me a great deal.”

__________________________________

Crazy for God: The nightmare of cult life by Christopher Edwards

The Social Organization of Recruitment in the Unification Church PDF  
 by David Frank Taylor, M.A., July 1978, Sociology

Moonwebs by Josh Freed (the book was made into a movie)

__________________________________

Unification Church’s deceptive recruiting tactics - Part 1

4:00 Ford Greene “At the outset there is never a disclosure: 1) We are the Unification Church
 2) We believe that Rev. Moon is the second coming of Christ
 3) We believe that you are dominated by Satan 
4) The way for you to become free from Satan is by being unconditionally obedient to Moon because he is the only human being who has ever conquered and defeated Satan.”

1:30 Allen Tate Wood
“…The purpose of getting there is to get them off to a training center, run them through a training regimen of 7, 21 or 40 days. When that is complete that person is going to be on a bus for the next seven years, working 16 hours a day. They are not up front about that.”

Unification Church’s deceptive recruiting tactics - Part 2 5:00 Ford Greene:
 “The pitch that is always made is a pitch to conscience, is a pitch to a person’s highest, most moral inner yearnings and the ultimate result is enslavement.”

__________________________________

Ford Greene on Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church

Allen Tate Wood (was also interviewed by News Center 4) LINK to a webpage of interviews with Allen Tate Wood

[adrianparker]

ADRIAN PARKER

Welcome to Aurora Bay, [ADRIAN AWANG PARKER]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [HENRY GOLDING]. You must be the [THIRTY-FIVE] year old [ANIMAL ATTENDANT AT SEASIDE PET RESCUE & FORMER COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATER]. Word is you’re [SELFLESS] but can also be a bit [SCATTERBRAINED] and your favorite song is [I’M STILL STANDING by ELTON JOHN]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it!

Basics:

Full name: Adrian Awang Aati Parker

Birthday: July 7th

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Age: 35

Gender: Cismale

Orientation: Chaotic Bisexual

Hometown: Born in San Jose, CA; grew up in Colorado Springs

Education: Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology

Occupation: Animal Attendant @ Seaside Pet Rescue & Pro Figure Skater

Residence: Aurora Bay Drive

Personality:

Positive traits: Selfless, compassionate, active

Negative traits: Scatterbrained, impulsive, frivolous

Fears: Causing someone harm, earthquakes, tight closed spaces

Likes: Animals, travel, people

Dislikes: Being inactive for too long, when people are in their phones all the time, bad weather

Hobbies: Surfing, swimming, figure skating, dog walking, rock climbing, drinking coffee, pet photography.

Languages: English, Malay, Malaysian Mandarin, Iban, some Spanish, some Cantonese; From traveling & competitions: some Japanese, some Russian, some French

Bio:

Adrian was born well off financially. His father was a successful NHL player and his mother a medical director. They afforded him a very comfortable lifestyle and created opportunities that many can only dream of. It kind of shows that he lives comfortably even by the way he acts sometimes and he doesn't even realize it.

From the time he was four years old, Adrian devoted his life to the sport of figure skating. He was a successful singles skater well into his early 20s, competing in the Olympic Games twice before switching to the ice dance field when the men's field became too competitive. It was a learning curve but he found a lot of success as an ice dancer, which he always attributed to his talented partner in interviews. They won a bronze Olympic medal and two US national championships.

While he had his influential skating platform, he did collaborations to support animal rescue clinics and animal hospitals. The Seaside Pet Rescue in Aurora Bay is one that he personally helped get funding for.

He studied veterinary technology while he was still competing (and due to this, it took him a lot longer to complete a degree but he finally did).

During the off seasons, he sometimes went on missions to help provide care and medical treatment to stray cat and dog colonies in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Posting about it on social media got him popularity (though maybe looking pretty in the hot weather didn't hurt either).

Due to coming from a rich background, Adrian never really considered money to be an issue and it's sometimes a wonder if he even realizes some people legitimately struggle with it. He's always quick to help others without hesitation if he can. He never really considers it a burden and doesn't think twice about it. Because he gives so freely, he's gotten taken advantage of in the past, but life goes on.

Since moving to Aurora Bay, he's gotten into surfing. Though he's not amazing at it, he enjoys being out in the sun on the water. It's one of the reasons he picked a condo by the beach.

Mostly he's here to live a relaxed life as well as he can.

Wanted Connections:

Former (or current?) ice dance partner.

Flirtationship with a neighbor with whom there's sexual tension and chemistry but he doesn't want to make things weird due to how they live so close and have to see each other all the time.

Friends he does physical activities with such as surfing, hiking, etc.

more tba...