#the title came from a camp rock movie and it seemed fitting

[aryathesuper]

This Is Our Song

Okay, so @177-8 asked for this like -- Jesus, dude, this was ages ago -- and somehow I’m only just now getting around to posting it? It’s gonna be a lot longer than I thought, though, so here’s at least your first piece. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Jinx!”

Beca clamped her mouth shut on instinct, glaring at Cynthia Rose while Chloe looked on like a delighted child. Within moments, Stacie poked her head around the corner, grinning from ear to ear.

“Did you get one?” She looked around the room at everyone's expressions. “Beca? Yes!”

“Who'd she get?” Ashley called from somewhere upstairs, and Stacie scampered off before Beca could raise her middle finger.

“Are you guys playing that goddamn game?” Aubrey called from the kitchen, making everyone laugh. “Are we five?”

“Close!” Chloe called back, and Beca sat back in her chair, looking disgruntled but amused. She gave Chloe a pointed look, one that clearly said free me, but Chloe just shook her head and gave her a sweet grin that made her stomach flutter.

It was weird, but kind of awesome, to have the Bellas under one roof again. Somewhere between “I hit big shot status” and “That's a lot of zeroes on my paycheck,” Beca had thought, again, of the girls who had become her family. She had emailed them all on a whim, and, surprisingly, each one had replied. And so, working with the ever-efficient Aubrey Posen, and the always-excitable Chloe Beale, Beca had worked to pull the Bellas from all corners of the States, and, in Amy's case, Australia.

That was a conversation not to be forgotten.

“Are there gonna be male dancers?”

Beca rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as Chloe tried to stifle a laugh behind her. “Amy, I'm renting a lake house, not a strip club.”

Amy's disappointed sigh crackled through the phone. “The big BM can't rent a strip club?”

“Not for a whole week, Amy!”

“What about for a night?”

Beca sighed and Chloe's laughter burst free. Aubrey slapped a hand to her face and shook her head. “I'll think about it — Chloe, you are not helping.”

Amy gasped. “Ginger's there? Help me out here, Chloe!”

“Oh my god. I'll think about it, Amy.”

“Then I'm in!”

“Of course you are. I'll send a ticket.”

The lake house itself was huge, and although Beca had not told the girls how much exactly she was spending to pull them together for a week, it did make a sizable dent in what was a fairly sizable bank account. Aubrey was the only person she had told, and that in itself was an accident; she had mentioned it in passing as they were discussing plane tickets and when the girls were landing. The blonde had frowned at her, but remained quiet nonetheless, knowing that Beca had wanted to do it.

And now here they were, barely a few hours in, playing this ridiculous game. It was, Beca supposed, a bit of a Bella tradition, trying to get each other, so she tolerated it, but that didn't mean she couldn't come prepared. Beca got to her feet without a word, moved to the kitchen to retrieve a can from the fridge, winked at Aubrey on the way back out, and then returned to Cynthia Rose, tossing the can into her lap. Only then did she speak. “I already bought Coke. Your jinx is null and void.”

“That's cheating!”

“No, that is a loophole.”

CR looked semi-impressed. Chloe looked slightly disappointed, but amused all the same. Lilly said something indistinguishable from her corner that Beca was not sure she wanted to hear. She took in each of their expressions and could do nothing more than laugh, feeling something warm slot into place.

Yep. This was what she had been missing in L.A.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Beale, damn you, give them back!”

Chloe laughed, bouncing on her mattress to maintain her balance, holding Beca's headphones out of her reach while they roughhoused in the room Beca had chosen for the duration of their stay. Chloe bounced again as Beca clambered up onto the bed, laughing as Beca took a swipe and missed. “C'mon, shortstack, come get 'em!”

“You are two inches taller, you have no right to — oof!”

Beca lost her footing and tumbled into Chloe, knocking them both into the mattress. Beca's headphones went flying, but neither woman paid attention; Beca landed on Chloe's chest, their lips a half-inch apart, and for a moment, they just gazed at each other.

“Hi,” Chloe said, grinning and breathless.

“Hi yourself,” Beca returned, smiling. Chloe wrapped an arm around her middle and stroked lightly up and down her back.

“You know, for a while, I thought maybe you'd forgotten. About the Bellas, about me.”

“Not in a million years. Bellas for life, dude. And how can I forget you, when I skype you at least once a day?”

Chloe chuckled, and it warmed Beca all the way through, like hot chocolate after being out in the snow. Before she knew it, more words were pouring out of her mouth.

“I miss you, dude, like, all the time.”

Chloe's eyes brightened. “You do?”

“Yeah, I ….” Beca faltered, trying to find the words to describe the crushing loneliness she had been feeling, especially in the mornings, waking up with no redhead to greet her good morning, no Stacie to steal her favorite cereal. All was quiet now when she padded softly through her house, and the quiet was almost more than she could handle.

Before she could express this, Amy's voice startled them both. “C'mon, Bhloe, bonfire!”

“Yeah, let's go, aca-bitches!”

Beca hesitated, looking toward the door, and Chloe's fingers stopped tracing lines up her spine. She looked back at Chloe, conflicted. “I don't—”

But Chloe smiled fondly at Beca, and the brunette lost her train of thought. “Later,” she said softly. “I'll come by later. Let's go hang out with the girls for a bit.”

There was a crash, and they heard Amy cry, “S'mores!”

“Better tame Amy too,” Beca said with a reluctant sigh, “before she smashes any furniture.”

Chloe chuckled and pulled them both up. Taking Beca's hand, she led her from the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fire was warm against Beca's face.

Around her, the Bellas talked and laughed under the stars. Behind them, the lake gleamed and winked at them as the moonlight reflected off of the water. Beca was sitting cross-legged on the ground, listening to the sounds of the night and the Bellas' collective chatter. Chloe was laying with her head in Beca's lap; the small brunette found herself idly stroking back locks of fiery curls as the night wore on. Chloe was humming contentedly to herself; Beca didn't recognize the tune, but Chloe's voice soothed her nonetheless.

Eventually, softly, Beca said, “This is nice. Just having the time to do this.” Chloe hummed her agreement. “I miss the noise, sometimes. And all the improvised singing.”

Chloe chuckled. “We were pretty good at that, weren't we?”

Beca nodded. “It's one of those things I never knew I'd miss till it was gone.”

“I miss it every day,” Chloe said softly. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Chlo.” Beca grinned and poked her nose with the tip of her finger, causing Chloe to wrinkle her nose and swat at Beca's hand. “Even if you did invade my space more often than not.”

“You loved it,” Chloe teased. A beat, then, “This is okay? I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?”

Beca shook her head. “You're fine. I actually really like this.” She twisted a strand of Chloe's hair between her fingers, watching the firelight change and twist its colors. “I miss this, too. Being able to be your best friend up close.” It was more than that, but she wasn't sure how to properly voice it. It made Chloe smile, though, so she tried. “Like, I miss all the things we used to do. Sharing blankets on the couch. Studying together. You staying the night in my room when Amy was gone. Late night coffee runs.  Even just … talking. I never expected to miss it like I do.”

Chloe just smiled. “I miss that stuff too, Bec. It's not the same through a computer screen.”

“It's not.” Beca sighed and glanced up at the sky. “I wish there was a way we could be closer.”

Chloe hummed. “Well, we've got this week.”

Beca smiled at that. “Yeah, we do.” Chloe smiled and laced her slim fingers through hers, so Beca idly stroked the back of her hand with her thumb.

“Oooooh, Bhloe's getting cozy,” Amy called over the fire. A few of the girls snickered, and Beca rolled her eyes at their antics. Ever since their time at Aubrey's retreat, almost all of them referred to Chloe and Beca by Amy's ridiculous pet name, but neither of them minded. Chloe thought it was cute, actually; Beca thought they were all ridiculous. But these were her girls, so she went with it.

And it wasn't so bad that she had something, small though it was, that connected her and Chloe, just the two of them. She found that it was something she liked a lot, probably more than she should.

But that was a thought for another time, because suddenly she was being tossed over Amy's shoulder and the Australian was charging for the lake. A shriek behind them told her that Chloe had been unexpectedly picked up too.

“Amy!” she screeched, pounding on the other woman's back as her feet hit the dock and she heard the wood creak and knock together.

“I think you two need to cool down!” Amy said with glee, and without further ado, launched the brunette into the lake.

The cool water startled Beca's body after the warmth of the fire, and she came up sputtering in shock and surprise. Beside her, Chloe came up in a halo of fire and water, coughing but otherwise looking okay. The duo looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Up on the docks, the rest of the girls did too.

And so the night wore on.

~~~~~~~~~~~

So, that’s that. Any requests or prompts from you guys? I wanna get back into writing again! And a part 2 may come soon!

[aion-rsa]

Scarface’s Tony Montana vs. Michael Corleone: Which Al Pacino is the Boss of Bosses

https://ift.tt/3haJ9K7

Scarface hadn’t been made when Pete Townshend’s 1974 song “The Punk and the Godfather” came out, but The Godfather certainly had. The Who’s anthem was a musical allegory about the rock scene, but the lyrics might as well be interpreted as a conversation between Michael Corleone and Tony Montana. Possibly right before they rumble.

Al Pacino played both men in both movies, and in each film, he begins the story as a punk. But in The Godfather, at least, he grows into the establishment. Michael becomes don. Tony was a shooting star on the other hand, one on a collision course with an unyielding atmosphere. Both roles are smorgasbords of possibilities to an actor, especially one who chased Richard III to every imaginable outcome. Each are also master criminals. But which is more masterful?

The obvious answer would seem to be Michael Corleone because he turned a criminal empire into a multi-billion-dollar international business, and lived to a ripe old age to regret it. Cent’anni, Michael. Tony Montana doesn’t live to see the fruits of his labor, but his career in crime is littered with the successes of excess.

Montana is a hungry, young, loose cannon, just like real-life’s “Crazy” Joe Gallo, who went up against the Profaci family in the street fight which Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola used as inspiration on The Godfather. Gallo stand-in Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) did a lot of damage while he was trying to muscle in on Don Vito Corleone’s territory, selling white powder. Montana leaves a larger body count in the wake of his cocaine empire career. 

Scarface is Pacino’s film. The whole movie is about Tony Montana and his meteoric rise through money, power and women. The Godfather is a mob movie, crowded with top rate talent in an ensemble case, but it belongs to Marlon Brando. While Michael inherits the position by The Godfather, Part II, he shares Godfather roles with Robert De Niro there, and people come away feeling a little sorry for Fredo. Michael isn’t the focus of an entire film until The Godfather, Part III, and by then folks were only distracted by his daughter. Tony Montana owns the screen from the moment it opens until his last splash in the fountain under the “World Is Yours” sign. The picture was his.

Making Your Bones on First Kills

Pacino brings little of the wisdom of his Godfather role to Scarface’s title character. This is by design. Every crime boss has to make his bones. In mafia organizations, real and cinematic, the button men on the street are called soldiers. And every soldier has to go through basic training before they’re ready to earn their button. Michael gets assassination training from his father’s most trusted capo, Pete Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) before he goes out to enjoy the veal.

Scarface doesn’t give us many details of the crimes Tony was involved in while still in Cuba, so he makes his cinematic bones executing General Emilio Rebenga in the American detention camp for Cuban refugees. The two scenes are polar opposites in all ways but suspense.

When Michael is sitting at the dinner table with Sollozzo and Police Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), he lets Sollozzo do all the talking, easing him into comfort before pulling the trigger. Tony barely lets Rebenga get a whimper in during his first onscreen hit, which plays closer to an execution. Tony covers the sounds of his own attack with a chant he himself begins. It is a brilliant overplay, especially when compared to another scene that resembles The Godfather, with Tony killing a mid-level gangster and a crooked cop towards the end of Scarface. 

A major difference between the two roles is best summed up in a line Tony says in Scarface. He learned to speak English by watching James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Montana comes from the Cagney tradition of broad gangster characterizations. In The Godfather, Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) asks Michael if he’d prefer Ingrid Bergman. The young soldier has to think about it. This is because Pacino is miles removed here from Bogart, who played Bergman’s lover in Casablanca. Pacino’s two gangster icons approached their criminality differently, and Pacino gets to play in both yards.

Pacino remains on an even keel in the Godfather films, but gives a tour de force of violent expression in Scarface, which burns like white heat.

The Handling of Enemies and Vices

In Scarface, Pacino gets to be almost as over the top as he is in Dick Tracy. His accent would never make it past the modern culture board at The Simpsons, but he pulls it off in 1983 because he says so. Pacino bullies the audience into believing it. It’s that exact arrogance which makes us root for Tony Montana. We don’t want to be on his bad side. But the chilled reptilian stare of Michael Corleone is a visual representation of why Sicilians prefer their revenge served cold.

Michael is diabetic, and is usually seen drinking water in The Godfather films. Sure, he has an occasional glass or red wine, and possibly some Sambuca with his espresso, but Michael always keeps a clear head. Tony, not so much. He makes drunken scenes at his favorite nightclubs, and not only gets high on his own supply, but gets so nose deep in it he develops godlike delusions of superheroic grandeur.

Montana is impulsive, instinctive, and decisive. Tony kills his best friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) immediately upon finding him with his little sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). Michael waits until his sister Connie (Talia Shire) is on a plane to Tahoe before he has her husband killed in a hit years in the planning. Later Michael hangs his head silently as the shotgun blast which kills his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), echoes in the distance.

Tony, meanwhile, continues yelling at Sosa’s right-hand man long after his brains are all over the automobile’s interior.

Clothes Make the Man

Tony is written to be charismatic. Even coked out of his mind, he’d be a better fit in Vegas with Fredo’s crowd than with wet blanket Michael in Tahoe. Tony sports white suits, satin shirts, and designer sunglasses. Michael accessorizes three-piece ensembles with an ascot. This isn’t to say Michael had any issues with getting somebody’s brains splattered all over his Ivy League suit. 

Designed by Theadora Van Runkle, Michael preferred dupioni silk. That’s smart. The dark navy wool chalk-stripe suit Tony wears in his death scene was designed by Tommy Velasco and carries the class of a tuxedo. It was after 6pm. What do you think he is, a farmer?

“I’m the guy in the sky, flying high, flashing eyes. No surprise I told lies, I’m the punk from the gutter,” Roger Daltrey belts out on “The Punk and The Godfather.” This is exactly against the no-flash advice Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) tries to impart on his young protégé in Scarface. Tony was raised not to take any advice other than his own. He also ignores his consigliere’s advice on several occasions. When Manny reminds Tony the pair of them were in a cage a year ago, the rebel gangster says he’s trying to forget that, he’s going after the boss’ girl. 

“I come from the gutter,” Montana proudly contends. “I know that. I got no education but that’s okay. I know the street, and I’m making all the right connections.” 

By contrast, Michael attended Dartmouth College and then dropped out to join the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Michael is both intelligent and well-connected, loosely modeled on Joseph Bonanno and Vito Genovese. He also accepts the wisdom of his father, who most closely resembled “The Prime Minister” of New York’s Five Families in the 1950s, mafia boss Frank Costello.

The Better Family Man

Pacino’s Don Michael Corleone has access to all his family’s connections, stretching back to the old world. He learns to expertly pull the strings of powerful men, like his father did, but as he grew, he bent. Michael is friends with senators, meets with the President of Cuba, has money in the Vatican, and confesses his sins to a Pope. Michael was insulated throughout his childhood and criminal career. If Tony gets in trouble, he has to get out of it himself, or with the help of a handful of low-level operatives.

Michael is the family rebel, risking his life and getting medals for strangers. He also gets to be both the prodigal son and the dutiful son. He gets the fatted calf and pays the piper. He even tips the baker’s helper for the effort. Michael comes back to both of his families, crime and birth, with a vengeance. He is there for his father the moment he is needed. Michael is the better family man. Tony’s mother is ashamed of him, and he completely ruins his sister’s wedding. Michael’s family means everything to him, and while he still manages to lose them, he actually maneuvers his two families well over rough waters for a very long run.  

Tony Montana is the rebel’s rebel. Even before he tosses off his bandana at the dishwasher job to make a quick score, we knew. He was born bad, in the cinematically good way. This also makes Montana a natural at crime. In The Godfather, Michael has it in his blood as a Corleone, but has his heart set on college, a straight career, and a shot to bring his whole family into the American Dream, which for Montana only exists as a wet dream.

Tony never gets past the hormonal teenage phase of his love of America. He wants to love his new country to death. He is turned on by the dream. He wants to take it. Not earn it. No foreplay necessary, as he claims his latest victim’s wife as his own.

Managerial Skills

Michael is pretty good with his underlings, when he’s not having them garroted on the way to an airport or advising them to slit their wrists in a bath. He promises Clemenza he can have his own family once the Corleones relocate to Las Vegas. He lets Joe Zaza (Joe Mantegna) get away with murder as the guy he sets up to run his old territory in The Godfather, Part III. Michael doesn’t keep turncoats like his trusted caporegime Tessio (Abe Vigoda) around for old times’ sake, and he doesn’t suffer fools at all. It may seem he cuts Tom Hayden (Robert Duvall) loose a little fast, and without warning or due cause. But if he was a wartime consigliere, he would have seen it coming.

While Tony Montana may have a competitive and fast-tracked entry program for new workers (“hey, you got a job”), he’s also the guy who shoots his right-hand man Manny for marrying his sister. Tony exacts a brutal and dangerous revenge for the death of his friend Angel Fernandez in the Miami chainsaw massacre, but doesn’t lift a finger when his cohort Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) is hanged to death from a helicopter by drug lord Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). Michael does have a tendency to have his soldato kiss his ring, but he’s not entirely a .95 caliber pezzonovante.

Read more

Movies

Scarface: Where Tony Montana Went Wrong

By Tony Sokol

Movies

The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone Proves a Little Less is Infinitely More

By Tony Sokol

One of the most important skills a boss must exhibit is how to delegate, and Corleone is a minor Machiavellian master at his delegation. He whispers orders from behind closed doors. Tony is more hands-on. The only reason he tells Manny to “kill that piece of shit” Frank is because he’s already humiliated his former boss into a shell of a real man.

Montana is in the trenches with his soldiers and sets standards by example. He shoots a guy on a crowded Miami street in broad daylight. Montana is a born triggerman and only reluctantly delegates the duty. He has 10 bodyguards when Sosa men raid his mansion fortress. He takes the invading force with one little friend, an M16A1 rifle with a customized grenade launcher. But it sure doesn’t help the employees getting murdered outside.

A Handle on Finances

We don’t know what kinds of criminal activities the Corleone family were involved in between 1958 and 1979. Still, Michael had proven himself a traditionalist and a bit of a prude, so he spends most of his career shaving his take from harmless vices and avoiding drugs, which he sees as a dirty business. But through whatever means, by The Godfather, Part III, Michael has earned enough capital to buy himself out of crime.

Michael gambles successfully on Wall Street, keeps the Genco olive oil company going, and invests in hotels, casinos, and movie studios. He’s got to be pulling in a billion dollars a year in legitimate business. He makes enough to pad the coffers of the Vatican, and his share of Immobiliare stocks pulls in another $1 billion.

Tony looks like he’s earning about $15 million a month. But it doesn’t look like he puts much stock in his future. He makes no investments, only purchases. His only visible holding is the salon his sister works in. But we also have to take into account that he built his empire from scratch. Michael inherited his. And while the head of the Corleone family can blackmail a U.S. senator with a tragic sex scandal, Montana fares no better than Al Capone with tax evasion.

Who Would Win in a Mob War?

Scarface is as violent as the 1932 Howard Hawk original. Blood is a big expense, and 42 people are killed in the 1985 film. It came out amid other over-the-top action blockbusters like First Blood and the contemporary reality of the South American drug trade. So, it would seem, the film has far more violence. But they are easily matched.

The Godfather has a horse’s head, Scarface has a chainsaw. Michael’s brother Sonny (James Caan) gets machine gunned to smithereens at the toll booth, Tony blows the lower limbs off his would-be assassins at a nightclub. Omar is lynched in a chopper, the upper echelon of the mob is taken out by helicopter fire in The Godfather, Part III. Tony and Michael each get to kill a cop.

Both mob figures survive assassination attempts. Michael loses his wife Apollonia in Sicily in a car bombing meant for him. He also avoids the trap Tessio sets at the meeting with Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), on his turf, where Michael “will be safe.” Tony lives through his initial professionally ordered hit, as well as being saved by Manny from certain death by chainsaw.

While Michael Corleone is able to take care of Barzini, Victor Stracci, Carmine Cuneo, and Phillip Tattaglia – the leadership of the five families – at the end of The Godfather, Tony Montana can only put up a good fight. The Corleone family would win in a protracted war against Montana’s cartel, but there is a possibility Tony would have outlived Michael while the battles raged. Expert swordsmen aren’t afraid to duel the best in the field, but they’re scared of the worst. 

As far as crime tactics and strategic villainy, Michael Corleone plays a game of chess. Tony Montana plays hopscotch. He wins by skipping cracks in the street, but he only rises as far as the pavement.

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

The post Scarface’s Tony Montana vs. Michael Corleone: Which Al Pacino is the Boss of Bosses appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3o0W2Ie

[shemakesmusic-uk]

After releasing their album Play With Fire last year via Suicide Squeeze Records, Californian punk trio L.A. Witch are sharing a new video for their standout track 'Motorcycle Boy'. Speaking about the video, L.A. Witch singer and guitarist Sade Sanchez said "The song is inspired by Moto Boys like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, and Steve McQueen, so of course we took a lot of inspiration from our favorite biker movies like The Wild One, Rumble Fish, On any Sunday, Easy Rider, Hells Angeles '69 and The Girl on a Motorcycle. I had worked with (director) Ambar Navarro and Max on another project and loved their other work, so we wanted to work with them on this. They definitely did their homework and came up with a cool story line. I got to feature my bike that I'd been rebuilding during the pandemic. It was nice to shoot a video where you get to do two of your favorite things, riding motorcycles and play guitar."

Margo Price has shared a new music video for 'Hey Child', said to be the heart and “centerpiece” of her acclaimed 2020 album That’s How Rumors Get Started. It’s directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch. In the moving visual, the country star confronts the demons of her past. There are scenes referencing the time she spent in jail for substance abuse, as well as others depicting her struggles with addiction and depression. Price’s vulnerability is on full display here, and she ultimately uses it to heal and find strength again. Watch it down below. According to Price, 'Hey Child' was originally written back in 2012 “not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra.” She continued, noting how fellow country star and album producer Sturgill Simpson helped encourage her to release it: “'Hey Child' was a song that was written back in 2012 not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra. We were playing shows with our rock and roll band Buffalo Clover and occupying most of the bars in East Nashville. We had begun hanging with a rowdy group of degenerate musician friends and partying harder than The Rolling Stones…The song was about how many of our talented friends were drinking and partying their talents away but after a few years had passed, we realized it was just as much about us as our friends. I had retired it when the band broke up but Sturgill Simpson resurrected it when he asked me if I would re-record it for That’s How Rumors Get Started.” [via Consequence of Sound]

NYC collective MICHELLE has today unveiled their first new single of 2021. Titled 'FYO,' the track powerfully recounts the four lead singers’ experiences growing up with mixed race identities. The track arrives alongside a music video directed by the band’s own Layla Ku and Emma Lee. Speaking on the message behind the song, Jamee Lockard from the band shares: “'FYO' is about belonging to different worlds but feeling rejected by both. Growing up as a mixed-race minority in the US, my self concept was warped by other people telling me what I am and am not, pushing and pulling me between identities. Although my feelings of cultural dissonance still ebb and flow, now I have the vocabulary, support system, and perspective to unpack that inner conflict on my own terms. We should never give others the authority to define who we are."

With her new album Homecoming set for release on April 2 via Daemon T.V., Du Blonde is sharing the video for ‘Medicated’. Featuring Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Du Blonde says of the song, “‘Medicated’ is a letter to my 27 year old self who didn’t want to live anymore, from my now medicated, functioning and content self. It might sound depressing or concerning, but really it’s quite joyful. Like ‘look at how things can be if you hang around’. Shirley and I had talked about her adding vocals to a track and when I wrote Medicated it seemed like the perfect fit. She’s been a voice of reason for me many times when i’ve been struggling and it felt really appropriate to have her. I shot the video in my childhood bedroom using a green screen Girl Ray gave me at the start of lockdown,” she continues. “The spiders are a reference to a hallucination I had in my early teens where I pulled back my bed covers to see thousands of spiders writhing around in my bed, which now I see as a result of extreme anxiety. A lot of the scenarios in the video are a celebration of the things about me that I feel people might feel shame about. There’s so much stigma around taking medication in order to ease mental health conditions, so I wanted to express my feelings on the subject which is basically ‘I take medication and i’m stoked about it because thanks to that i’m still alive’.” [via DIY]

Back with her powerful Y2K sound, Spain's Rakky Ripper channels PC Music and Rina Sawayama on brightly catchy new single 'Whatever'. The new EP Xtra Cost is released  February 19. If you are over the age of 25, odds are that you can recall a very specific kind of pop that graced our launch into the new millennium. Since coined as "Y2K", chart music of that short era was flush with R&B beats, synthetic arrangements and sickly sweet hooks. Britney was the industry’s honey-highlighted princess whilst Christina made it dirrty. It’s something that Rina Sawayama has made 2020-relevant again with the release of her debut album Sawayama, whilst PC Music and Charli XCX took it to another extreme with the redefinition of what it means to be pop. Meanwhile, over in Spain, the alt-pop scene is flourishing courtesy of artists such as Rakky Ripper and her own unique blend of Y2K-meets-hyper-pop. Already gaining Charli XCX approval when the Mercury Award nominee asked Rakky to join her onstage at her Madrid show, the Granada talent shows crossover potential with her new single 'Whatever'. Punchy beats and playful synths capture the sticky heat of pop done well whilst its fuzzy guitar gives it an alternative edge, however it’s its hook-riddled chorus and Rakky’s Spanglish lyrical mix that make 'Whatever' a standout moment. “‘Whatever’ is the pop girl in my new EP Xtra Cost,” shares Rakky of her new release. “It’s my 2021 version of Britney, *NSYNC and the Spice Girls. The new video tells the story about two people who are in love but one of them pretends not to care, so the other person is always chasing.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Things are afoot in the FKA twigs camp. In October, the R&B star revealed that her third album had been completed during quarantine. Now, she’s back with a new song called 'Don’t Judge Me'. It's her first since dropping the masterful album MAGDALENE in 2019. In addition to a stunning performance from FKA twigs, the track features UK rapper Headie One and producer Fred again…, who’s worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Brian Eno. 'Don’t Judge Me' appears to be something of a companion release or sequel to 'Don’t Judge Me (Interlude)', an early 2020 collaboration that also featured all three artists. Unlike the intentional vagueness of that song, the themes on this version are a lot more direct. During her verse and the hook, twigs begs her lover to hold her and appreciate the “precious love” she sends their way with a devastating urgency. Headie One takes a different approach in his verse and goes off about racial injustice and police brutality. “Know more about my people from the streets than from my teachers/ I done a million speeches/ No justice, no peace, ’cause we in pieces/ Officer, am I allowed to breathe here?,” he raps with a conversational directness. It’s a really powerful pairing from two different yet complementary artists with voices that demand the listener’s full attention. Check it out above via a dazzling video co-directed by FKA twigs and Emmanuel Adjei, who was heavily involved in Beyonce’s Black Is King visual album. Like all of FKA twigs’ clips, this one is truly something to behold. [via Consequence of Sound]

Girl Friday have delivered a surrealistic visual for 'Earthquake,' the powerhouse lead single from Androgynous Mary, their acclaimed album of 2020 out now on Hardly Art. 'Earthquake' is one of the band's most gloriously raging moments and sees the group power through three and a half minutes of unadulterated catharsis. Girl Friday’s Vera Ellen, who directed the new video, offers this, “The greatest love story is between a song and a video. I wanted to deconstruct the creative process. How do ideas find each other? What happens when the artist lets outside forces get in the way of an idea? How is an idea affected by us, the audience and our expectations? What does an idea have to do to become it’s complete, purest, self. Beyond anything, it’s a story of fighting for true liberation. This will look different for everyone but I hope people can project their own struggle onto the story, and relish in the freedom experienced by the characters (if only for a moment)."

J-Pop girl-group, FAKY has released their first single of 2021, 'The Light' with an accompanying music video. This song was selected as a campaign song for the horror film Jukaimura (Suicide Forest Village), the most recent work by the master horror director, Takashi Shimizu, who also directed The Ju-on (The Grudge) and Inunakimura (Howling Village). This up-tempo and cheerful track was created to add another layer of eerieness and uncertainty to the hair-raising storyline and themes of the movie. 2020 was a successful year for the girl group. FAKY hopes to further their success in 2021 starting with the release of 'The Light'. “Our new single ‘The Light’ is an uplifting song with its pop melody, powerful live band sound, and motivating message to move forward towards the light” - FAKY. The music was composed by up-and-coming music producer, Maeshima Soshi (Hypnosis Mic, Hey! Say! JUMP, Rinne and Sorane). 'The Light' expresses that moment when your heart quivers, just when you are about to change, with the theme being about overcoming conflict and having “power to strike out into the world.”

Kinlaw's dark-pop quest has seen her shatter boundaries. Snapped up by Bayonet Records, her piercing, roving eye deconstructs her personal feelings, illuminating electronic structures in their stead. New album The Tipping Scale is out this month, and it expertly reflects the vagaries of winter, the spartan landscapes and the self-examination. Taken from the record, new single 'Haircut' deals with shifts in her life, with the urge to propel herself into something fresh. "I cut my hair to confuse myself," she comments. "It started as a mission to change who I was, to make a new and better version, but ended with my feeling like I no longer knew what I was mourning." A song about leaving trauma behind and embracing the possibilities of the present, 'Haircut' carries some inspired connotations for these troubled times. Kinlaw says the single offers "a question of personal power, and even speaking on this song today has been challenging because it was written when I was unsure if I had any power left. I think 'Haircut' can be a lot of things to many different people, particularly those who identify with the juxtaposition of in-depth, internal dialogue paired with everyday coping strategies. There is a sweetness to it, but also such substantial, unwavering difficulty. Today, I prefer to think of 'Haircut' as an anthem of resilience and an ode to the ways we keep going, we shapeshift, and we reinstall that there is a way to find what it is we are hoping to find." The visual leans on the intimate, opening up a window into Kinlaw's life, and her true feelings. [via Clash]

The Rhode Island born,  Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, musician and actress Emeline is known for her work with Thievery Corporation's Rob Garza as well as her solo music full of biting lyrics and catchy hooks. Her new music video for '6 Foot Deep' was filmed at the infamous Westerfeld Mansion a.k.a “House of Legends.” Icons like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin have lived there, as well as the founder of the Church of Satan. Covered in satanic etchings and scratches from his pet lions, the energy within the house added to the feel of the music video. Also previously used for the Russian Embassy, the house has featured on "Ghost Hunters" for it's haunted happenings.

The Charli XCX-crafted Nasty Cherry have returned with their first single of the year, 'Lucky'. The new track follows last year's Season 2 EP, and arrives as first taster of a new EP landing this spring. The band say of their new single, "'Lucky' is a song we wrote for each other during the pandemic where the six weeks we got to spend together felt incredibly precious and introspective. It's a reflective, sweet and spiky little song." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Griff has premiered the video for her incredible new single ‘Black Hole’. Launched as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World last week, the striking new visual sees Griff examine a past relationship through a surreal, Alice in Wonderland’-esque journey from the sewing room into self-discovery (directed by duo SOB). [via With Guitars]

Poppy Ajudha has shared her new single 'Weakness' in full. The London based artist blends together jazz, soul, R&B, and a whole lot more besides, resulting in a sound that is truly her own. 'Weakness' is a song about love, and it finds Poppy capturing that nuanced dichotomy between the rush of pleasure and an innate fear of being out of control. In a note, Poppy explains that her new single is "about feeling out of control and at the mercy of someone else because of how crazy they make you feel, but also feeling bittersweet about it, because you’re a bad b*tch and you don’t have time for that ish." The songwriter steered the video, too, a self-admitted "control freak" who oversaw the neat mixture of animation and a superbly styled set. "Self-directing was really fun," she comments. "I’m a control freak so it was great to get stuck into all the facets of making a music video. Choosing the team, the makeup looks, directing the styling ideas, writing the narrative, working out how to build the set. It definitely felt like a challenge to direct, star-in and perform choreographed moves for the first time but I love to push myself and am really glad I did." [via Clash]

GG McG’s latest single, ‘Good Morning’, is her first release this year and second overall, following ‘Boom’ in 2019. The song was written on GarageBand during lockdown and was produced by Japanese Wallpaper’s Gab Strum, mixed by Konstantin Kersting and mastered by Andrei Eremin. “‘Good Morning’ is about the total, complete chaos of the past year and the feeling of waking up every morning, reading the news and being blown away by just how much worse things were than the day before,” McGauran said in a statement. [via the Music Network]

Singer HyunA dropped her seventh mini album I’m Not Cool on Thursday, singing of the ups and downs of being the “cool girl” on stage. The album’s title song 'I’m Not Cool' sings about the nice things she tells herself. “It’s really about my originality. I try to compliment myself before going onto the stage. I tell myself it’s not bad to be myself. I’ve long dreamed of this moment right now, and I feel like I’m a bird flying freely in the sky or a flower blooming in the field. I know I cannot be loved by everyone, but I become perfect with just one person’s love. The song is about these kind of every day thoughts.” Donned in exotic outfits and flashy makeup, HyunA said she “became a snake” in the song that sings “No one’s as intense as I am, like salmosa. I tried to show as much of myself as I could in the music video. I wanted to show how intense the ‘not cool’ HyunA could become when fully set,” she added. The creativity behind the title track comes from the unique minds of herself, singer and the founder of her agency P Nation Psy, and her best colleague and boyfriend Dawn. “We worked on the song while just chatting about it endlessly with each other,” HyunA said. “When Psy threw in a big catchy chunk, Dawn would creatively unfold this, adding fun elements to make it fit my style and state of mind. I personally like writing those rebellious lines. Mingling these three minds together, every day, was just so much fun.” [via The Korea Herald]

THYLA are sharing their first new music of 2021, with new single 'Breathe', a track that the band confirm will appear on their long-awaited debut album, set for release later this year. Putting 2020 firmly in the rear-view mirror, the Thyla ethos of putting one foot in front of the other serves them well as they look toward what a long-awaited debut album might sound like. As self-confessed underdogs they've developed an attitude that aims at turning the possible into the inevitable, and with the hypnotic 'Breathe' they reach for reflective, melancholy sounds to accompany what is a time of intense loneliness for many. It is a theme that has been creeping into Thyla's music for some time, and 'Breathe' sees them further explore the idea that, in a world more connected than ever, we are paradoxically more shut off as individuals. 'Breathe' shows yet again that even at their subtlest, Thyla are capable of carving out an impassioned pop world full of the intricacies of our much-missed IRL interactions. Lead singer Millie Duthie offers these thoughts on the track: "'Breathe' was written in the early hours of the morning. Eventually we chanced upon this really vibey atmospheric lick that you hear in the intro, and the whole song grew from there. The song blossomed into a slightly melancholic dream-pop bop, it’s bittersweet and has a slightly inconclusive feeling to it; imagine a film where the main character never actually gets the happy ending you’ve been so long yearning for. The result of how the instrumental sounded no doubt manifested lyrics that held the same sentiment. The song is about loneliness, estrangement from family and close friends, yet despite this, feeling a sense of inner strength about the situation. It’s like recovering from a breakup and realising you’ve come out stronger, but a reflection of the scar tissue that resulted from the trauma."

[drooliasnott]

Return To Dust, My Love

Very recently, the last few evenings of my relaxation time have been spent languorously re-digesting my views as an adult on the Barry Sonnenfeld feature films, The Addams Family (1991) and The Addams Family Values (1993), based on the original characters by artist Charles Addams. Although there have been many adaptations over the years of the distinctly macabre and darkly wonderful family life of the Addams clan, no other cinematic versions grasp the mythology quite like these movies do. And in light of the brand spanking new trailer for the 2019 animated feature, which I admit had caught me completely off guard and a little alarmed, I thought no better time exists than now to delve back into exactly what kind of black magic it is that makes this source material just so enjoyable and unique. 

Though the Sonnenfeld films are nearly undeniably the jewel of the franchise, one cannot examine the Addams Family appropriately without appreciation for its origin. The energy and attitude generated at its inception by Charles (Chas) Addams for The New Yorker in the late 30′s feels unique even for the time. At 150 single panels, the original comic was a divisive satire on the modern 20th century family that was not only cheeky and clever, but also at times very beautifully rendered. Chas himself was an enthusiastic if not sometimes obsessive artist, often described as drawing with “a happy vengeance.” The through line of the story continues to this day to be positive relationships found within a family. All this plus a heavy splash of aristocratic dignity thrown into the mix, and The Addams Family has proven from the beginning to be a very distinct and sometimes even delightfully surprising blend of flavors. 

 Despite the fact that Chas Addams had already well established his characters by the time he came in contact with writer Ray Bradbury, their connection is felt in every further adaptation of the title. While Addams continued to serialize his strip in The New Yorker, Bradbury separately had begun his own endeavor in creating a monster family of sorts, The Elliotts, beginning their narrative with the short story “Homecoming” in 1946. All tales concerning the Elliotts involve the clan slowly gathering together in a mysterious house at the top of a hill, while each short focuses more intimately on the powers of a different, particular family relative. All Elliot stories were later collected in a book, From The Dust Returned, published in 2001, but portions of it have existed in different publications long before then, most notably Bradbury’s famous The October Country. Finding a kinship between them, Addams and Bradbury discussed a potential long-format collaboration, though unfortunately this never came to fruition. However, Addams did supply an original illustration for Bradbury’s “Homecoming”, which is still in use as a dust cover today. The striking resemblance the Elliott House shares with the Addams house is but one of many aesthetic touch points which will last for the rest of the series.  

The groundwork for the series was strong enough to launch several adaptations over the subsequent several decades, finding more palatable viewing content in the mostly forgettable and very safe 60′s television show, which was plain enough to get the Addams Family strip banned from The New Yorker for banal taste, until editor William Shawn’s retirement in 1987. Meanwhile, the 70′s offered an explosion of further efforts to market the title to children and average american joes, producing TV specials and animated crossovers to mixed results.  

It wasn’t until the 90′s when Orion, who by then had inherited the production rights, decided to begin work on a feature film. With a simple return to the story’s roots, the company assigned first timer Barry Sonnenfeld to direct 1991′s The Addams Family. The process was fraught with setbacks and pitfalls, and when the budget rose too high for the struggling company to justify continuing further, the decision was made to sell the film to Paramount, who finished the production and handled distribution. Though it was also met with mixed reviews, it was commercially successful enough to merit the stranger, longer, and bizarrely even brighter sequel, The Addams Family Values. 

Returning to the core of what made the original content special, both 90′s films focused heavily, if not borderline exclusively on matters of familial struggle. However, unlike many of the earlier adaptations, the 90′s films also took great care to place special emphasis on elements of the family which do function well, something which is delightfully counter-intuitive overall. A particular portion of that credit goes to the fantastic casting of the films, the warm and vivacious Raul Julia as the erratic, sensual, and often charmingly innocent Gomez, Anjelica Houston as the ageless, witchy, white-marbled Morticia, Christina Ricci as the irreverent, sharp-witted outlier Wednesday, and Christopher Loyd as the bug-eyed, emotionally un-tethered uncle Fester all make for a very difficult call on whose performance is best above all. Dana Ivey is a delight to hate as Margaret, and Judith Malina is a joy to laugh at as Grandma, but it is really the core cast that shines beyond any previous actors, and it is because of this chemistry that the family relationships can really resonate. Two dynamics in particular stand out as specifically exceptional;

GOMEZ AND MORTICIA ADDAMS

Opposite most long term monogamous relationships portrayed in media, Gomez and Morticia have a sustained romance which continues to burn more and more fiercely as time goes on. However, what makes their marriage unique as a film element is not necessarily their passion (and subsequently very active sex life,) but the equality found present within the marriage. They not only share common interests, (and possibly distant relatives?) but also take into consideration the same moral and social obligations. They value each other’s opinions, and both seek to create situations where the other can live as their best possible self. They are uninhibited in their public declarations of affection, and are adamantly devoted to their children, the family as a whole, and preserving the generations-long Addams way of doing things. They strongly adhere to old traditions, but as a couple they also are surprisingly malleable, attempting to navigate difficulties as a unit, though admittedly Gomez is occasionally a bit less good at doing this.

Gomez and Morticia consistently present a unified front to the Addams clan, and serve as the centerpiece in any scene they inhabit together, even in the very Ray Bradbury-esque gathering of Addamses for Uncle Fester’s surprise party during the finale of The Addams Family. The party is in celebration of Fester, but it is really Gomez and Morticia who serve as the jewels of the scene. It is the strength of their affection on which the emotional crux of the finale swings. What further enhances the succor of this particular relationship again falls to the actors, as time and time again Raul Julia shows a rending vulnerability in the way he portrays Gomez. It seems Gomez is still half-stuck in childhood, or maybe he lives in some tumultuous place inbetween as his innocent heart tet-a-tets with the passionate desires of a man. Morticia in turn seems ageless and timeless, a solid rock on which Gomez can throw his emotions again and again, and it is their intense and unique personality peculiarities that in the end fit them together in perfect harmony.  For a family as bizarre as the Addamses, their relationship is healthier than any other relationship found in canon, or in general just in film at large. 

   WEDNESDAY ADDAMS 

An interesting blend of sociopathy, pragmatism, nihilism, isolationism, and just plain attitude exists in tandem inside Wednesday Addams. It would be too basic to call her an outsider, because though she is aware of her differences, she makes no effort to enhance, emphasize, or change them in any way. She differs even from the Addamses in her nuclear family, citing specifically in The Addams Family Values to her dorky crush Joel that if a man were to ever love her unconditionally, to devote his life completely to her, that she would pity him. This seems a direct call-out of her father Gomez, the coldness of which is both cutting and fitting. She follows up by rebuffing Joel’s clumsy advances with saying she would murder that same, loving man. A literal death threat is as true to her character as much as it is a dime-turn from her behavior towards Joel in the film leading up to that moment. As a young woman, she has already begun to clearly define herself as free and independent, even within the context of the family.

 Wednesday’s views on the relationship her parents share is one of cautious distance, while she also still has her own loving, healthy relationships with both parents individually. Though they love one another, in almost every case Wednesday tends to slant slightly darker, taking the more macabre path of her own accord in a family already well-suited to that kind of thinking. She is both sharper and wittier than her father, and crueler than her mother, and often interacts with Pugsley as if he were a sort of accessory at worst, or sidekick at best. She shows him solidarity as an Addams, but also constantly tries to expunge him so she can be the only child, which is a vendetta she furthers at the birth of Pubert in The Addams Family Values. Many comparisons have been drawn to similar characters of the time, of Lydia from Beetlejuice and Nancy from The Craft, but I would argue Wesnesday’s alignment falls closer to the Daria camp, as she is already firmly established in her thoughts about the neutral impact of family, the trouble with idiot boys, and the negative experience of outside society. Wednesday is purely independent, and resonates a sense of deep internal knowledge and self-worth that extends beyond the parameters of her identity as merely an Addams, and in that way she makes a strangely excellent role model. 

Following the success of both The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values, the series moved on to a saturday morning cartoon of parallel quality with the animated Beetlejuice cartoon. A following additional live TV series, The New Addams Family, also made it to broadcast, but the opinion of most viewers is that the entirety of it should be thrown in a river and destroyed forever. A cancelled Tim Burton adaptation also briefly existed, counteracting the 90′s film aesthetic which seemed pretty much already to be a restrained version of his personal flavor of set design. This leads to today, and the beginning of this meta, when this afternoon I saw the trailer for the 2019 CG animated reboot of the franchise, inexplicably also titled The Addams Family.

Though I respect the nature of some reboots, stylistic updates for one thing seeming somewhat necessary to keep old content fresh, the new trailer immediately had me skeptical. Though the new designs very closely resemble Chas Addam’s orginal designs from The New Yorker strip, something vital seems to be missing, and there is a strange liberty taken with some of the new character models which feels disharmonious, and even borderline disrespectful. And though The Addams Family has a rich and storied history of zany one-liners and satirical cheekiness, the lines delivered in the trailer seem to fall flat. Though many series in this franchise in past have been saltine cracker level boring, one would expect a reboot this late in the game in the popular Pixar-launched CG style would be an opportunity to inject new life back into the old series. But something seems off, and this in turn brings me at last finally back around to the 90′s films. 

The reason the Sonnenfeld 90′s films were good is easy; they have a subterranean classiness. Pulling Bradbury back into it, the earliest and best iteration of the series is infused with a rich, sensual, and genuine darkness. Bradbury's stink is all over the films, from the set design to the Addams Family reunion ball, to the serious performances given to obscene, ludicrous roles and a questionably weak script, by very talented actors. The suburbs seem more ridiculous when the pastel, unfeeling beastliness of uniformity is stood up next to dark, dank, meaty, loving weirdness of oddballs. To make satire work, one has to play a game of balance. Without salty, sweet will never taste quite right, but balance in storytelling has many levels. Visual balance is one thing, but one must also have careful emotional balance. The 90′s films maintain an underlying level of sincerity and integrity, which is what is required to counter the punchy, often goofy scripts and scenarios. The films were good because they had just as much heart as the Addamses themselves, and without heart, a movie will never have any true substance. 

The track record this franchise has with creatively successful projects is pretty poor, but one can hope the example of cult excellence set by the 90′s movies will infuse into some part of the future film, and maybe into further projects later down the line. Voicing your opinion on pop culture subject material is something I believe in as a means to guide new content created in the future, so if you have thoughts on the new movie after it airs, let the world know! Help create the kind of content you want to see in the world by building a healthy, respectful discourse. Only time will tell if the 2019 Addams Family will be any good, but I’ll keep watching till then.

If you enjoyed reading this, drop me a line and let me know! I’m considering writing more meta for other films, and have dabbled up until this point with TV meta, so if you’d like more content in this vein I’d be glad to hear it. Suggestions welcome, though no timetable is attached. Thanks for reading!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z Movie 3: Tree of Might

Movie time again.    This time around it’s “Tree of Might”, which premiered on July 7, 1990, between Episodes 54 and 55 of the anime.

I feel like this is one of the more popular movies of the lot, but it’s never been high on my list.   There is a lot to appreciate here, but there’s some things that bug me, and I guess they don’t bug anyone else quite as much.    It’s definitely way better than “World’s Strongest”, so I don’t want to overstate my case here.  

The movie opens with a space probe heading for Planet Earth.    Pretty sure someone making this movie had just watched “The Empire Strikes Back.”

On Earth, Bulma, Krillin, Oolong, and Gohan are on a camping trip.   Okay, so I guess there was at least one other meeting between Gohan and Oolong after Movie 2, and this was it.  I’m curious to see if they ever interact in any later films, or the TV series.  

Honestly, I’m not really sure why Oolong would be involved here.    In the last movie, it made sense, because he was the only one who would drag Gohan out on a Dragon Ball hunt, which drove the whole plot.   Here’s he’s just chilling out with the trio who went to Namek.   He feels like an odd man out. 

I feel like this movie is angling at being an epilogue to the Namek Saga, since it depicts everyone safe and sound on Earth.  It doesn’t fit well with continuity, but the Namek Saga was still in progress when this movie came out, so I can’t blame the writers there.   In any case, the implication is that Bulma, Krillin, and Gohan all got back to Earth, and the first thing they wanted to do together was spend some quality time with Oolong.  

Anyway, Gohan’s mom made him pack a ton of stuff he probably wouldn’t need for a camping trip.

Nearby, that probe lands in the forest and the heat of the impact starts a fire!  Ruh-roh!

Krillin wakes up to the smell of burning everything, and we see all the animals fleeing in terror, including this little dragon.

Krillin tells Gohan to use his ki to put out the flames.   

While they do that, Gohan notices the dragon trapped under a... log?    It looks more like a really long piece of rock, but I don’t know what you’d even call that.    Gohan lifts it up and the dragon moves to safety.

Later, the fire’s out, but the forest is still ruined, and the gang feels sorry for all the homeless animals.   I don’t know, maybe I’m jaded, but I always found it a little cloying how all the animals just stand around at the edge of the forest, looking all sad, like they’re neighbors or whatever.    I don’t know what real deer do in a real forest fire.   Maybe they just die, but I’m pretty sure the ones who don’t just keep running until they find somewhere else to live.   

Then Krillin has a great idea...

Dragon Ball Z!   Wow, this is a great idea, Krillin.   This show kicks ass, but unfortunately they already made it, so it’s not really your idea, you know?

But seriously, Krilln plans to track down the Dragon Balls just so they can wish to have the forest restored.     In lieu of the usual opening credits, we get this montage of the gang collecting the Dragon Balls.    Here’s Gohan flying an aircraft.    I’d ask why they thought this made sense, but they had Gohan fly an aircraft in the last movie, so whoever made Tree of Might can just claim that the precedent was already set.  

Just a thought, but maybe the reason Gohan does all this zany stuff is because Chi-Chi makes him study too much.   By that I mean, she wants him to become a scholar, but for some reason she made him read an entire pilot manual, just in case it ever came up in some entrance exam.    We’ve seen how well Gohan absorbs information, so naturally  he’d finish the book and want to try it out for himself.    Chi-Chi probably made him read a book about lion taming, and then she wonders why Gohan ran off to join the circus.

Here’s a variation on the OP, only with a dinosaur chasing Gohan instead of Bulma.    Gohan ought to be strong enough to kick that dinosaur’s ass, though.

For some reason, Tien and Chiaotzu happen to be jogging by while they’re at it.    Small world, I guess.

And then Gohan shows up with the last ball.  Good thing, too.   The theme song was almost over.

And finally we get the title card.   Granted, these trees in the background don’t look very mighty, but bear with us, we’re getting to that.

DRAGON DRAGON!   ROCK THE DRAGON!   DRAGON!   BALL! Z!

DRAGON DRAGON!   ROCK THE DRAGON!   COME!  COME GET ME!

The sight of Shenron panics that little dragon Gohan saved, and it tries to attack him?   That seems like an unusual response.   Gohan calls him “Haiya Dragon”, so I guess he named him off-screen?   

In the English dub, the dragon was named “Icarus”, which I frankly prefer, because what kind of name is “Haiya Dragon” , anyway?   That’d be like naming your son “Hello Human.”

Shenron flails his tail around, and maybe he was getting ready to slap some sense into Icarus, or maybe he didn’t even notice the guy.   Anyway, Gohan holds Icarus back and makes their wish.

And the forest is saved!   I assume the gang finished their camping trip and went home.    All the animals return to their burrows and trees and bushes or whatever, and the probe robot crawls out of its crater.   Wait, that can’t be good.

The probe sends signals back to a group of aliens.   They confirm the presence of life signs on Earth, although no one can believe it, because they know the Saiyan Kakarot was sent to Earth, and he should have wiped out all of its life a long time ago.  

Okay, but why did they bother sending the probe if they didn’t think there would be anything there worth finding?    Well, anyway, the probe reports that Earthis a suitable environment for the Shinseijuu Tree, which is Japanese for “Divine Essence Tree” Tree.    Um, I think the subtitles goofed a little.   I’m just gonna call it the Tree of Might.   

That reminds me, the actual title of this movie is Chikyū Marugoto Chōkessen, which means “A Super-decisive Battle for Earth.”   It’s also been called “Super Battle In the World”, which sounds pretty dumb.   For some reason, most of the movies have Japanese titles that absolutely refuse to indicate what they’re about.     Literally every DBZ movie could have been called “A Super-decisive Battle for Earth.”    Well, I guess Movie 6 was a battle for New Namek, but Meta-Cooler would have attacked Earth eventually.

Later, we find Goku and Gohan chillaxing in the oil drum they bathe in.    Chi-Chi’s tending the fire that keeps the water hot.    Does Chi-Chi bathe in this thing?  She’d have to, right?    I’m surprised that erotic DBZ  fan artists haven’t jumped all over that concept.    “Oh, now that the fire’s going and I’ve taken off my clothes, I can climb into this oil drum and take a bath!    It’s a good think I live in the middle of nowhere, so no one can see my boobs!”  

But then Icarus shows up and frightens Chi-Chi until Gohan explains who he is.   Chi-Chi immediately takes a dislike to the creature, and I’m with her on this one.   Icarus is a stand-up dude and all, but he looks kind of creepy.   He’s supposed to be cute, but he ends up looking like one of those Precious Moments figurines.

Chi-Chi tells Gohan to take the dragon back where he came from.   Goku tries to stick up for him, but she won’t hear of it.   

Gohan shoves Icarus away, but let’s be real here, he could carry Icarus all the way back to his forest if he really wanted to.

Then Goku leads them both to this cave he fixed up as a hideout for Icarus.   This seems pretty dumb.   Goku tells him not to let Chi-Chi know about this, but how did Chi-Chi find out about Icarus in the first place?   He followed Gohan to the house where she could see him.   

But Icarus is grateful, and he licks Goku.   See, Goku looks way, way cuter than Icarus.    They really tried to hard with Icarus’ design.  

Meanwhile, Yamcha’s cruising around in a car he bought with a 15-year loan, when suddenly he gets blasted out of the sky by...

... one of these assholes, I guess.    If I understand correctly, they blasted a big crater in the ground so they could plant their Tree of Might seed, but I don’t really understand why they couldn’t just use a gardening spade.    

Tell you what, let’s go over these guys names right now.   The big red one in the center is Amond.     The guy on the left is Daiz.   He wears pink leg warmers.  

The alien in the silver armor is Cacao.   I think he’s a cyborg, but who cares?  And the two little purple guys are Rasin and Lakasei.   They’re all wearing Frieza Soldier gear, so does that mean they work for Frieza?   Well, we’ll get to that.

The seed starts growing almost as soon as it hits the soil.   

Meanwhile, the aliens’ mysterious leader notes that this was all made possible by Goku’s failure to destroy the planet’s population as he was supposed to do.

The Tree of Might is huge, to the point where its roots erupt underneath a whole city, which I’m pretty sure is miles away from the forest where it was planted.

In the forest, Icarus watches this enormous tree finish growing, and he knows things are looking bad.

Meanwhile, most of the major Dragon Ball characters have gotten together at Goku’s house.   I’m not sure why.    Also, they didn’t invite Launch, which is kind of bullshit.   

Bulma gives Yamcha shit for buying such an expensive car, and accuses him of trying to impress girls.   So yeah, about the continuity of this movie.     These characters won’t be reunited on Planet Earth until Episode 120 of the TV series.   By the time that happens, Gohan’s a few years older, and Goku’s learned to turn into a Super Saiyan, so this whole movie just doesn’t fit.    Nevertheless, it seems to depict a possible scenario where the good guys managed to return safely from Namek and wish all their dead friends back to life.    In other words, this is the first time Bulma and Yamcha are seen together again since his death in the Saiyans Saga, and what is she doing?    Yeah.

Same, Tien, same.    Chiaotzu’s not gonna let this stop him from enjoying free refreshments though.

Then Icarus shows up at the window, and Goku and Gohan get caught trying to keep him, but they miss the fact that Icarus came back to warn them about the Tree of Might.   Too bad he can’t talk.

Fortunately, King Kai can talk, and he can communicate with Goku telepathically, and he warns him about the Tree of Might.    Well, “warn” might not be the right word.    According to King Kai, the Earth was doomed the moment the tree took root.    It’s basically a parasite on a planetary scale.    As it grows, it sucks the nutrients and life force from the host planet, reducing the whole world to a lifeless desert.

So where does something like the Tree of Might come from?   King Kai says it was originally grown so that the gods could eat its fruit.    That sounds halfway plausible, until you consider that a lot of the “gods” in this franchise aren’t nearly as awe-striking as the Tree of Might.    It’s hard to imagine someone like Kami planting a tree like this, destroying a whole planet just to eat its fruit.    King Kai literally cooks his own meals, and he seems to eat the same stuff as everyone else.     King Yama has a tree in hell that bears fruit reserved specially for him, but it’s not nearly as big as this one.   I could imagine Beerus snacking on fruit from a tree that kills whole planets, but he’ll settle for cup ramen.    More importantly, Beerus and his ilk wouldn’t be introduced to the franchise for another 23 years.

I’m not sure what King Kai is trying to tell Goku.    If it’s too late, why bother telling him about this at all?   Is he trying to suggest that Goku should evacuate the planet? 

Well, King Kai should know better, because Goku stone cold does not give a shit.    As soon as he hears about this crisis, he immediately makes plans to go beat up a tree.   His plan: Let’s all go shoot it with our best hand lasers.   Diagnosis: Awesome.

Then they all put their hands together in a show of solidarity.     It’s time to show that tree who’s boss!    Look at Chiaotzu.    He’s literally lying on top of the table just to reach the others.

Then Gohan tries to join in, because hell yeah.   Gohan can help.   He fires some really good hand lasers, especially for his age.

But his mommy said no, so he’s gotta stay home.    Better luck next time, kid.

Krillin notes that his wish to restore the forest was a total waste, since this stupid Tree of Might wrecked it all over again.     I think the whole point of that forest fire was just to give the characters a reason to use the Dragon Balls early, so that way they wouldn’t be able to wish their way out of this situation.    I’m not sure Shenron could remove a tree this huge, but it’s a moot point now.   The Dragon Balls won’t work again for another year.

So they shoot their finest energy blasts at the base of the tree, and it does nothing.   Krillin suggests another try, but Yamcha points out that if they use too much power they could destroy the Earth instead.

Then these jerks show up.   Okay, so this is one thing that’s always bugged me about this movie.   From here on, much of the action takes place on the Tree of Might itself, so you end up with a lot of indistinct backgrounds which are probably meant to be super-giant tree bark.   It just makes it hard to tell where anyone is in relation to anything else.   What exactly are they sitting on here?   Why does the Tree of Might have all these convenient ledges and horizontal surfaces for people to stand on? 

Yamcha demands vengeance for his dearly departed car.   Uh, yeah...   Whatever gets you in the zone, buddy.

The boys square up for a fight.    You know, I remember watching parts of this movie on Toonami back in 1999, and scenes like this, and Yamcha’s appearancs in the Frieza Saga, were really my first introduction to the character.   What really stood out for me was that he looked almost exactly like Goku.    Kind of like how Flash Thompson was a big fan of Spider-Man, and one time he dressed up as Spidey for a Halloween party, and the real Spider-Man had to trick Green Goblin into thinking that Flash was the real thing.    It just really looks like Yamcha is this jock who decided to dress up like Goku because he loves Goku so much.

Anyway, these two guys do some dumb shit.   I really hate Rasin and Lakasei.    Just... everything about them sucks.   They sound terrible in every dub, they look like inflamed hemorrhoids, and they do absolutely nothing to move the story forward.   

Tien blinds them with the Solar Flare, and that’s about the only effective offense the Z-Figthers manage in this whole movie.

It’s really a shame, because this is one of the few movies that actually bothers to use Yamcha, Tien, an Chiaotzu, and they get jobbed out.   Would it have been so bad to have Yamcha use his Spirit Ball on Cacao and actually hurt him?  Krillin’s Kienzan is one of the more serious techniques in the series, so I might have been cool to actualy see him kill somebody with it.     I’m pretty sure Chiaotzu has never won a fight in Dragon Ball up to this point.    Would it have been so bad to just let him kill Rasin?     But no.  

I always wondered why they included Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu in this particular movie, but now that I’m watching them in sequence with the anime, it makes some sense.    Around this time, the TV series had just revealed that they were training with King Kai in the afterlife, and one could certainly speculate that they would get resurrected later on, and play a role in the final battle with Frieza and/or Vegeta.   I think “Tree of Might” was trying to play along with that idea, except it never actually pays it off.    

Chiaotzu is in trouble for a while, until Gohan suddenly shows up to help.  Turns out Icarus managed to bring him to the forest where the battle was going on, so now he’s here to turn the tide.    Or something.

This attracts the attention of the boss alien, who recognizes Gohan as a Saiyan.

So he goes out to meet the kid, and realizes that he must be Kakarot’s son.   He introduces himself as Turles and...

Yeah, he looks like Goku.  That’s the big twist.  

Only it’s not much of a twist at all.   Turles explains that it’s not even that big a deal that he and Goku look alike, since they’re both “disposable, lower-class warriors.”   According to Turles, low-class Saiyans “only come in a few types.”  

I’ve seen this line interpreted in many different ways.    Some fans have suggested that the Saiyans cloned their low-class warriors.   I think a lot of fans prefer the idea that Turles an Goku might be related somehow.  Bardock and Goten’s close resemblance to Goku seems to support this.    Hell, Gohan looks a lot like Goku if you don’t take the hair into account.  

I think there’s always been a desire to make something more out of Turles than what the movie offers.    The fact that he looks like an evil Goku is easily the most intriguing thing about the character, and this movie does absolutely nothing with it.   Turles himself acts like it doesn’t matter, and Gohan is the only character who even seems to notice.   So why did they bother making him look like Goku in the first place?

I feel like part of the idea here was to explore the idea of what Goku might have been like if he hadn’t hit his head and turned good.  Turles could be a glimpse into what Kakarot might have done as a villain, although he’s so different from the real Goku that it doesn’t seem all that convincing.   They could have made him look like another Saiyan, and it wouldn’t really affect anything.  

Turles’ main personality trait is that he seems to want to recruit Gohan and Goku to his cause, saying that Saiyans should stick together.    I’m not sure if he truly believes that, or if he just thinks that his gang could use a couple more Saiyan lackeys.   He talks up the space pirate life as an endless romp around the universe, taking whatever he wants and enjoying food and drink as he pleases.  Again, I don’t know if that’s a genuine sentiment, or if it’s just his recruitment pitch.

Piccolo shows up and tries to save Gohan, but Turles makes short work of him, and goes back to tormenting the kid.

Turns out he can make one of those fake moon things just like Vegeta.

He forces Gohan to look at it, and then he destroys it as soon as Gohan turns into a giant ape.

He says it’s because he doesn’t want to turn into a giant ape himself, but why wouldn’t he?    Why did he turn Gohan into a giant ape?    He doesn’t need any help to beat the Z-Fighters.   Is he trying to prove a point?  Gohan won’t even remember anything he did in ape form.   Also, shouldn’t the transformation wear off once the fake moon is gone?   Turles accounts for this by saying it’ll stick for a little while, even after the power ball is gone, but that doesn’t sound right.    When Piccolo blew up the moon, Gohan changed back immediately.

For that matter, what good is the fake moon technique if it can be dispersed so easily?    Krillin could have attacked it during the Goku/Vegeta fight instead of trying to cut off Vegeta’s tail.

So now Goku has to fight his own son in giant ape form.    To the movie’s credit, this is a big highlight, because it’s the only DBZ movie to feature a giant ape transformation.    And that’s all well and good, but it seems kind of empty to me because I have no idea why Turles set this up.   Does he want Gohan to kill Goku?   Is that supposed to make Gohan more eager to join him?

The fight ends up in a cavern, which I think turns out to be the same cave Goku used as a home for Icarus.   That, or Icarus just happened to be here.   Either way, just seeing Icarus calms Gohan down.

This is cute and all, but it seems odd that Oozaru Gohan would react so strongly to Icarus when he didn’t even recognize his own father.

Irritated, Turles tries to attack Icarus, which turns Gohan against him.    Turles tries to kill Gohan with a laser donut...

But Goku cuts off Gohan’s tail before it can hit him, and he shrinks back to little kid size just in time to fall through the donut.   I guess it’s lucky that Turles relies on donut-shaped attacks.

Turles then offers to spare Goku if he pledges to join him, but Goku refuses.   He came her to whip a tree’s ass, and if Turles is pro-tree, then he can get wrecked along with it.   

Then all of these creeps show up to fight Goku first.    See, this is dumb.    They not only made a clean sweep of Goku’s teammates, they didn’t even defeat them on screen!   

Here’s a shot of Tien passing out from the hypothetical beating he took from Amond or some other guy.   

Well, at least this sets up a cool scene where Goku has to fight them all by himself, right?   Not really, Goku squashes them all in  matter of seconds.

Meanwhile, Piccolo tries to take on Turles, but he’s just no match for him.

Boom, roasted.

I mean, why couldn’t Yamcha take this guy out?  What was the point of having Yamcha in the movie if Goku was going to beat all the bad guys by himself?

With the rabble cleared away, Goku finally gets down to business.   Turles panics when he sees how strong Goku is, so he runs away...

...and picks a piece of fruit from the Tree of Might.    Why does he stick his tongue out to eat it?   That just looks kind of weird.  

Basically, the fruit of the Tree of Might ramps up a person’s battle power, which allows Turles to overpower Goku with ease.    This is the core concept with Turles, I think.    The challenge with this movie was to invent a new villain who could challenge Goku in the same manner as Vegeta and Frieza.   Well, that’s a tall order, because Frieza was hyped as the strongest guy in the whole universe.    A Saiyan villain would have made sense, except Vegeta was the strongest Saiyan, and the only one left.     To introduce a new Saiyan, you’d have to explain why he’d be strong enough to rival Vegeta or Frieza.

The solution is the Tree of Might.    I can’t find the line now, but there’s a part of the movie where Turles or one of his crew mention that the Tree of Might will make Turles strong enough to defeat Frieza.   It’s pretty clear, then, that he’s a renegade from Frieza’s organization.     They have their old uniforms, but instead of working for Frieza, they just roam the universe looking for places to plant their Tree of Might seeds.    They grow a new tree, eat the fruit, get stronger, and then repeat the process.   Turles started out as a weakling like Goku once was, but he found a way to cheat the system, and now he’s on his way to becoming the strongest in the universe.  

Turles leaves Goku when he refuses to surrender, and then Goku’s friends speak to him telepathically.   I’m not sure when they learned to do that, but whatever.   They beg Goku to get up and try a Spirit Bomb, and Goku finally musters the strength to try it.

While he does that, the Z-Fighters assemble for one last stand against Turles.   I guess this is supposed to buy time for Goku, but I’m not sure he needs it.   Turles isn’t actually doing anything at the moment.  

But it doesn’t work.   The Spirit Bomb relies on borrowng life energy from everything on the planet, and that’s been drained away by the Tree of Might, so Turles thwarts Goku’s attack with ease.    Oh, he also clobbered the Z-Fighters, so they’re down too.  Triumphantly, Turles looks at his fruit crop.    Where exactly is this that he’s standing right now?   

But Goku isn’t beaten yet.    He drags himself back into the fight, and confronts Turles one more time.

See, this time, Goku has a way to make the Spirit Bomb work.   If all of the Earth’s energy is in the Tree of Might...

... then he’ll just draw the energy from the fruit instead of the planet, and make a Spirit Bomb from that.

There’s this tense standoff, and then they both attack each other in a single instant, and Goku’s Spirit Bomb wins out.    I always have trouble remembering how this movie ends, and I think it’s because the climactic moment is so quick.    I’m pretty sure they tried to imitate a gunfight from a western. 

Turles gets consumed by the Spirit Bomb, and it drives him up through the trunk of the Tree of Might.   Really, this makes a lot of sense as a finale.   Turles’ trump card was to eat one piece of fruit from the tree, but Goku drew power from all of the fruit, so naturally his Spirit Bomb would be stronger than anything Turles could handle.   And it’s an elegant solution to the problem posed by the tree.   It was completely invulnerable to Goku’s own power, so he ended up using the Tree of Might’s own energy against itself.

All of this causes the Tree to glow yellow and disintigrate into sparkles of light, which rejuvenate all life on Earth.

So this dying deer is okay again, and presumably so is everything else.

Later, everyone celebrates with another camping trip.    Launch got snubbed again.

Oolong tries to praise Icarus for his role in the battle, but Icarus nearly bites him.

And Piccolo sort of chills out by a waterfall somewhere, and that’s the end of the movie.   

So it’s a pretty decent entry in the movie series, but I find it to be a mixed bag.   The highlights are things that don’t quite get developed enough.   Yeah, you have Turles, Great Ape Gohan, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu, but for my money, merely having those things in the movie isn’t enough.    It’s what you do with them that counts.    I find it particularly frustrating that the Dragon Ball Wiki has all this lore on Turles’ gang, but none of it ever made it into the movie itself, which is their only appearance.    What’s the point in having a backstory for Daiz if it never comes up anywhere?     His entire character arc was blowing up Yamcha’s car, and then getting decked by Goku. 

Still, if you like Spirit Bombs, this is one of the best Spirit Bomb finishes ever.    And the Tree of Might is a pretty cool idea.   And the visuals are a big step up from World’s Strongest.   

[witchreflection]

Hello friends, so i while i was trying to keep writing the mad max/venom thing, i accidentally wrote an entirely different mad mad/mp100 thing. 

Also, 1am is about the perfect time to post this unfinished thing, so here it is the provisionally titled

Aloe Vera

Mad Max: Fury Road + Mob Psycho 100 crossover

Summary: 

In the end, it isn’t ESPers (particularly) what destroys the world; people with no psychic powers can doom everyone on their own.

In a completely unrelated event, one Wednesday Reigen and Mob accidentally time travel to the not so distant future.

*No more warnings than those you would expect from a Mad Max movie, and everything is implied and off-camera anyways. 

—

While being stranded in a desert, alongside his fifteen years old, without the appropriate equipment, is already a worst-case scenario, it only takes Arataka a glimpse of the settlement (maybe camp?) to realise it is about to get terribly, horribly worse. The precarious improvised buildings, the modified cars, the heavily armed people, the hungry hopeless looks of those who aren’t armed, it all points to something bad, what, exactly, he can’t tell yet, but his main guess is that they stumbled into a war zone.

And while he doubts they can get help in such a place, they already consumed most of the water they had (which was actually the barley tea for clients, Mob’s milk, Tome’s lichi ramune and Serizawa’s iced coffee, and not really water), Mob and Arataka are severely sunburned, and once the sun sets the temperature will begin to drop.

With a sigh he tells Mob to reinforce his barrier and to keep close, then they walk into the settlement.

---

They do not get help and there is no water to be spared, but they get the weapons to change hands and the people stop looking quite that hopeless.

Arataka doesn’t know what, exactly, will happen to the men formerly in charge of the camp now that they are at the mercy of the people they were abusing, but he imagines it is nothing good (not that they will not deserve it) and he doesn’t want to be there when it happens.

But before they go, they talk (faltering and in English) with the old lady who appears to be elected the new leader of the camp.  Through her they barter Arataka’s cellphone (they have no signal anyways and they still have Mob’s), all three packages of Tome’s melted strawberry pocky (they still have a bag of shrimp flavoured potato chips, rice crackers and assorted umaibo) and Arataka’s dress shoes, for more or less fitting sturdier boots (Mob’s trainers are leather, brand new and thick soled, so they should do) (the boots where probably taken from the men previously in charge and Arataka will not think too hard on that one), a tarp, a sheet of clear plastic, a canvas backpack thing and a pair of scarves to cover their heads with (and a handgun, given silently to Arataka along a fistful of ammunition, and then tucked discreetly in the back of his trousers, after making sure it wasn’t chambered and the safety was on).

(And if we are being honest here, they probably got that much, not thanks to Arataka’s superb negotiation skills, but to gratitude and sheer relief that they were leaving and not demanding more. Something he is not taking personally, considering the situation before their arrival and the demographics of the camp.)

And most importantly, from the old lady they get information. From her assumption that they came from Sydney (dressed like that, not knowing anything), Arataka learns they are somewhere in Australia (a fact confirmed at night when Mob identifies some southern constellations Tome explained to him once). From her talk about a “before”, the wonder over a working cellphone and her confusion about a government or authority, Arataka forms some hypothesis and learns that they will not be getting help soon and that they should avoid most permanent settlements, mountain passes and people carrying about a flaming skull symbol. More straightforwardly, Arataka learns that, no, there are no reliable sources of water, radiation is such a constant danger that it went full circle and people doesn’t concern themselves too much about it and that they should keep an eye out for sandstorms.

---

They survive.

Arataka has his foldable multi-tool and the know-how to make a moisture trap, light a fire and catch small game.  

Mob is a bit heartbroken the first time they have to kill and eat a lizard, but does not complain, not even once, not about the fact that they don’t have a destination, the sun, the cold, the sand, the lack of water, and it keeps Arataka from just giving up.

---

They encounter ghosts. Many.

The ghosts are usually mean, confused, hazy. Some are strong enough spirits for Arataka to perceive or affect the physical world, but most only Mob can see. Mob always exorcises them. Arataka thinks it is kinder than to let them wander the desert forever, Mob agrees.

They also find a couple friendly, helpful, ones. One guides them to the crash that killed her, upside down, half buried and pretty much invisible where a sandstorm threw it. The car itself may still be able to run and Mob’s powers could fix the crumpled cabin, but the gas has long since spoiled. Even then, it provides them with invaluable gear, materials, things to barter with, and it will serve as a shelter.

Once it’s cool enough, Arataka takes their new (old) shovel and buries the two bodies they found in the car. The ghost vanishes peacefully afterwards on her own.  

They don’t stay for long in the car, as there is no food around, and eventually they find another ghost that shows them a muddy patch that used to be once the source of a small stream. They stay there for a longer time, but the ghost advises them to leave, as the place is inside Rock Rider territory. They go, taking with them as much water they could collect with their trusty clear plastic sheet. Mob offered the ghost to exorcise him, but he refused on the hope that in the future he might be able to guide another person to the water.

Eventually, they come across the ghost of a blonde policeman.

---

Arataka follows after Mob carefully, just like Mob follows carefully after the ghost. They are traversing through what Arataka assumes used to be an opal mining site, with the added danger that someone, at some point, disguised the mineshafts, crating an unpredictable array of pitfall traps.

Mob stops walking, nodding mindfully from time to time and then thanks the empty air where Reigen assumes the ghost is, promising they’ll take care of it now. They are standing next to a recently disturbed trap.

Arataka approaches the edge cautiously, even though Mob would stop his fall if he where to slip. At the bottom, looking up at them, there is a man.

Unsurprisingly, the man points a gun at them.

---

There are voices overhead, not close enough to understand what they are saying. If they are the ones to set the trap or not, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter one voice is terribly familiar; they all get mixed in, scrambled around, and he doesn’t never quite remember to whom they belong to, and most of the time he prefers it this way. The odds point to someone with a grudge with him, anyways, so the wanderer sets himself and readies his gun.

At the edge of the trap stands a man and a boy. At first he doesn’t know what it is about them that makes him uneasy, as he doesn’t make an habit to be around people, but then starts to notice the small details, the man has a matching suit, for one. Sure it has seen better days, as has everything in the world, but the wanderer can’t recall anyone with a suit in such good condition in, let’s say, some 7000 days.

And they look hungry, as everyone else does, but the boy looks as if he had been well feed until recently, his shoes are not only matching, but runners, white leather underneath the red sand.

But overall, they look-- at ease; careful, cautious, but not really concerned. Had he seen them 4000, 3000 days ago, he may had still called it naivety, nowadays it rings like well deserved confidence, and that is dangerous.

They briefly talk to each other in some language the wanderer doesn’t recognise, another oddity. After a moment, the man crouches down at the edge of the mineshaft and finally addresses him.  

“Sir, my student here—”, the man makes a broad gesture to indicate the boy and almost loses his equilibrium in process, before regaining his footing with more exaggerated flailing “—can help you get out of there, but first we need to know if you are injured.”

The wanderer does not lower the gun, untrusting by necessity and experience. The offer seems honest, the question reasonable, but if they are the ones who set the trap, they may be searching for a way to subdue him, and there is the unseen owner of the third voice, besides.

Even if they didn’t set the trap themselves, they may still want some kind of compensation for their help.

Still, the wanderer has been down there already for a day and a night, trapped by the crumbling walls of the mineshaft and the wrecked brace on his bum leg. He left the Interceptor carefully hidden far away enough; he can’t trust that no-one would stumble upon her if he leaves her alone for too long, but he would have to keep these people from following him to her.

It’s not like he has much of a choice. He shakes his head no, and he took his time answering but the man seems to get it and turns to the boy. The mans says something in that unknown language again and the boy nods; the wanderer tenses and shifts of his gun, so he is pointing squarely at the man instead of pointing their general direction.

The boy frowns and reaches towards the man, as if to pull him away, but the man just rises his hands and starts waving them around as he talks, “no, no, it’s ok, I was just telling Mob to be careful, yeah. He is going to take you out now, it’s going to be startling, so don’t shoot us by accident”.

Before the wanderer has a chance to process that, he is floating in the air.

By reflex, he shoots.

The bullet stops before hitting the man in the chest and just stays there, still rotating slightly.

The man falls on his ass, shallowing.

The wanderer is unceremoniously dropped to the ground on his back, from about two meters in the air, as the gun is yanked from his hand, and it floats away, disassembling itself in the air, until it falls in the boys cupped hands.

That lack of concern? He now knew why.

“That went well,” says the man as he picks himself from the ground, dusting his trousers. The look the boys gives the man expresses perfectly the wanderer’s feelings about the whole situation.

---

So Arataka may have almost being shoot again, but they now got a drive and someone who knows his way around this desert.

The man they rescued from the mineshaft has not said a word in the whole time they’d been together, communicating only in grunts, shrugs and gestures. By his skittishness and the length of his beard, Arataka has the feeling that the man has not been around people in a while, which considering the people Arakata and Mob have meet, it’s understandable.

The other thing is that, according to Mob, the man is not only has some degree of ESP, but he is also literally haunted by several ghosts of varying levels of meanness, and apparently believed he was just hallucinating them until Mob confirmed he could see them too.

The man doesn’t give them his name. The ghosts know it, but Mob says it feels rude to use it, so Arataka decides to call him Ronin-san, because it sounds cool.

---

After some time traveling together, Ronin-san still maintains that air of skittishness and almost feral quality, but begins speaking a bit. Monosyllabics, incomplete sentences and a lot of mumbling, mostly in response to things Arataka says, but also to gently teach Mob this or that. Fixing an engine, navigating by the stars. Arataka may not like it, but he didn’t stop Ronin-san from teaching Mob to load a gun, mostly because Ronin-san had good gun safety habits and Arakata doesn’t have the stomach to be the one to hand a weapon to Mob.  

Ronin-san is also the one to confirm Arataka’s time travel hypothesis while also proving to be much older than Arataka first believed (after Ronin-san cut his hair and beard; Mob thinks that this apparent youthfulness is a side-effect of Ronin-san’s brand of ESP) and ruining Arataka’s faith in humanity in the process, because it’s been, like, at most 50 years since he and Mob went to the convenience store and stepped on a wormhole on the way back to the office, and society already collapsed this much.

Arataka is blaming it on those zombie apocalypse movies giving people weird ideas of what survival is supposed be like.

---

They get attacked one day as they rest at the edge of what Ronin-san calls the Powder Lakes. They try to avoid any confrontation at all, but once they are spotted, they are chased by what Arataka now understands to be a hunting party, one with the feared flaming skull displayed proudly on every vehicle.

In the end they are outnumbered, outgunned and outrun, but it still feels a little bit unfair when Mob subdues the skull people.

At that point they could run away, but Arataka stops to talk, in part because talk is what he does the best, and in part because these skull people are just so painfully young. Scarred and hungry, under that white paint and feverish viciousness, those boys are just that, boys. A good part of them about Mob’s age, the oldest may be 20 if Arataka is feeling generous.

It helps a lot that they are a bunch of fanatic followers of some death cult, because they don’t waste time in gladly and zealously telling Arataka about what he is setting against, so he doesn’t really need to ask them anything. And it also helps that they are, well, boys and easily impressed by flashy displays of cool psychic powers.

It is, in the end, a bit like talking with Claw members, except now Arataka is more conscious about the very real danger of the situation and he is not dealing with adults that should know better. He doesn’t get to convince them to renounce their Inmortan and Vahalla, but now they are listening to him because Mob listens to him and Mob is Very Strong, and they are now chattering to him, because they are teenagers and like to be heard and the attention.

Ronin-san is terribly uncomfortable with the situation and the curiosity directed to him, but Mob has desensitised him to having a rapt audience, so he just grunts and ignores questions, and steps aside to maintain his personal space, instead of shooting at them and bolting into the desert when they poke curiously at him.

At some point, a particularly responsible voice among the pack reminds the rest that they should return to the Citadel, this prompts a round of complaining and then some inspired soul suggests that Arataka, Mob and Ronin-san should go with them to meet the Inmortan, a proposal meet with excitement and enthusiasm and general approval.

Ronin-san is even more uncomfortable with this development and Arataka would have understood if he decided to get away while he could, but apparently being near another person who can also see his ghosts (and act as a buffer to them) wins in the end, and so Ronin-san just sighs and sticks closer to Mob.

---

timeline notes: in an attempt to make the original trilogy and Fury Road (FR) co-exist within a same timeline, using canon day counts and the 15 years gap between Road Warrior (RW)  and Beyond Thunderdome (BT), I made Max some 10 years older than the re-boot makes him be and 10 years younger than the original timeline proposes, so he is in his mid-forties.

Now, we know that the Citadel has a day count of about 32 years) as told by Max’s blood bag tattoo) and Furiosa was stolen 19 years ago. Max was 23 in the first movie (MM), 26 in RW and 41 in BT, I chose FR to happen 4 years after because reasons, so he is 45. This means that Furiosa was stolen around the time RW happened, and I calculate she was between 15 and 20.

If we suppose that the citadel day count starts from the day they settled, it can be before complete societal collapse (canonicaly it happens around RW) and the apocalypse (aka the desertification and receding of the ocean) doesn’t have to happen at once (and the comics completely ruin my timeline, so I’m cherry picking them). Hand-waving it, there was people at the Citadel before Joe arrived, so the count belongs to these people and Joe adopted it so it appears he has been in power for longer, Furiosa was kidnaped around the time they conquered the Citadel.

I’m proposing that the Oil wars were really long and ended a bit after MM, because there was no countries left to fight. The war started, officially, when Max was around 10, so he remembers Before, as society and infrastructure collapsed around him; people settled at the Citadel 2 years into the war, when Max was 12. The Vuvalini, being smart women, settled in the Green Place (it used to be a farm) in the first year of the war (they saw the conflict brewing for years and where a bunch of solar-punk preppers trapped in a diesel-punk scenario), either Furiosa was born as the war started or a few years before.

(Yes, the summary is a 45 years from next Wednesday reference. Yes, it was my intention to make Max be 45. Yes, Reigen miscalculated how much they time-travelled by 5 years. It is because I’m extra like that.)

The Old Lady thinking they are from Sydney thing contradicts the fact that apparently in BT is stated people flighted from Sydney early in the apocalypse, let’s just pretend that there is always a rumour in the wastes that the military has everything under control in Sydney.

[trevorbailey61]

Black Sabbath

Genting Arena, Birmingham

Thursday 2nd February 2017

And in the end...... They left home to take on the world, they have fought and conquered and their language has been absorbed and translated by a host of inferior imitators. For the warriors one last victory procession before the end, a finality that as they reach where it all started now seems very real. Of course the final tour doesn't always mean the final tour. The thought that there is just this one remaining opportunity means final tours are often highly lucrative leading to them going on for years. The Who have been on a never ending one for about three years, including another two visits to Birmingham since I wrote some drivel about the end of an era. When the end does come, it can be sudden and unexpected, we decided against paying the vastly inflated ticket price asked for Prince's “Hit and Run” tour fully expecting there would be another chance to see him. At nearly 80, it was always likely that we would regret not taking a last chance to see Leonard Cohen but then, about a year later we were to see Burt Bacharach still tinkling the ivories at 86. The grand statement, therefore, allows some sense of control in the face of the unpredictability of fate, one day you will be right. The feeling is, however, that for Sabbath, this really is the end. They are already one member down, Bill Ward embroiled in some contractual dispute with the others that also acts as a cover for his failing health. Tony Iommi looks lean and fit but has had his battles with cancer whilst Geezer Butler, who of the four appears the most unscathed, no longer posses the girth to carry off the leggings his younger self was known to wear. Then there is Ozzy, the charismatic front man who whilst in what appeared to be a permanent state of confusion, practically invented reality TV. It is tempting to see that his battles with drink, drugs and his dysfunctional family have left him a shell bit here, in front of a fiercely partisan crowd in his home town, he is in his element. His figure may be hunched and dressed entirely in black he may have forsaken the flamboyance of his glory days but his sheer presence is as magnetic as ever. Black hair, dark black eyes, white skin showing the lines brought about by age and those binges and the demonic stare that fills the giant screen combine to show that on this final tour, he has a look that complements the bleak intensity of the music. The proficiency and technique of those around him create the brooding atmosphere but it is on Osbourne's shoulders that the show rests and despite his demons he delivers.

In their thousands they came, an army in black swarming through the concourses and empty halls of the NEC. Their influence is such that this was so much more than a wake for those mourning the passing of an old friend, eager young faces mixed with craggy old ones and, for a band who always seemed very blokey, there were a surprising number of XX chromosomes present. The diversity only extended so far, however, and, as it always has done, Sabbath’s particular brand of hard rock appeals to a mostly white audience. T-shirts are proudly worn displaying the tours on which many had seen them before, the oldest of these, tightly stretched over the middle age spread of its wearer, was faded to grey and listed a series of dates in the early 70s. Like the band themselves, time has not been kind to many of their followers and some moved tentatively, stick in their hand to give them support and confidence but infirmity was never going to keep them away. Waiting just outside the station, a family walk past, different generations drawn to the dark lords but each expressing how they have personalised their connection with the music. Grandparents, dressed in denim and leather, grandad with a goatee and shaven head, grandma with bleached white hair and overdone make up, were 70s heavy metal veterans from when Sabbath first burst onto the scene, possibly a little surprised that both they and the band have survived this long. White faces, long black hair and huge boots, mum and dad were 80s goths, Sabbath temporarily absent in their youth meaning these darker paths were opened through some of those they had influenced. The confidence, and a figure that has yet to show the ravages of time, mean that the children can take the look of their parents to its striking and extravagant conclusion, tight ripped jeans and t-shirts, spiked hair and the same huge boots. A love shared by the family but each with their own version.

A toiling bell announces the princes of darkness, the solemn signature of the “Black Sabbath” song, Iommi’s tritones forming the devil’s interval to create the unsettling setting for the doom laden lyrics. Osbourne’s straight and impassioned delivery gives them the substance they would otherwise lack and the prog rock twists and jazzy rhythms immediately show the subtleties and variations that made them so much more than just a heavy metal band. “Let’s go crazy”, shouts Osbourne igniting a ferocious Iommi riff to release the built up tension into a frenzy. It was the song that started it all and the tone and structure of much guitar based music that followed, the cartoon new metal sound of acts like Iron Maiden, the dense goth of The Cult or the slacker grunge of Nirvana, can all be found in the legacy that Sabbath left, particularly over the course of four stunning albums released in the early 70s.

Bringing it all back home, the set is dominated by these four albums, a celebration of their power and influence. Some choices are obvious, “War Pigs” shows that whilst their lyrics often lacked subtlety, the breadth of the themes they tackled was much broader than they were often given credit for. A reflection on peace that comes straight from Woodstock, they were almost hippies, it’s anti war message is all the more forceful through being stated so plainly and at such volume. Wailing sirens, Iommi’s power chords and Butler’s fluid bass lines create the tone for the apocalyptic lyrics; “Evil minds that plot destruction; Sorcerers of death's construction”, some things don’t change. “NIB” is introduced by a surprisingly funky Butler bass line and leads to an instrumental section where Iommi gives the teasing signature of songs that had failed to make the set, This concludes with one of those rituals of the early 70s - the drum solo. There was certainly no doubting the technique but with over a dozen false endings it is a relief when the rest of the band reappear. When they do it is with the thumping beat and the instantly recognisable motif of “Iron Man”, fittingly about a man returning from the future to warn of an impending apocalypse, perhaps now this is the future.

“NIB” casts Osbourne as the devil, something that feeds speculation on the bands interest in the occult, particularly in their early days. Sabbaths devils, however, are more Hammer Horror than Aleister Crowley, not to be taken too seriously and a bit camp. The humour was mostly lost on their more obsessed followers and, as is the case with “NIB”, the satanic themes were often used to illustrate more worldly concerns. “NIB” shows how easy it is to give into temptation, something explored more directly in “Snowblind”.  In introducing the song Osbourne briefly reflects on his own addictions, saying it is something he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy, and the lyrics are some of their most incisive. These were written by Butler and show terror, pain and a frightening descent into dependency; “Winds of ice that soon will spread; Down to freeze my very soul”; a path the person singing them was already taking. “After Forever” shows that, despite their reputation as purveyors of the black arts, their background and religious views were Catholic and rather than a celebration of the occult, is an attack on atheism, “Is your mind so small that you have to fall; In with the pack wherever they run”. Through “Fairies Wear Boots”, “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes”, “Into the Void”, the pace and density of the sound never lets up and each is built around Iommi’s glorious signature guitar. His playing is possibly at its most fluid on “Dirty Woman”, but appearing on “Technical Ecstasy” it is the one time they step away from the first four albums and lacks the urgency of their best work. “This is the last one” Osbourne tells us before “Children of the Grave”, unless of course we earn another one but with the ferocity of the playing that was never in doubt and as balloons fall from the roof engulfing the stage the party is almost complete. All that was needed was, of course, “Paranoid”, a short burst of self doubt that displays both individually and collectively the strengths of this formidable band. Purple confetti, each piece having “Black Sabbath” printed on it, flutters down across the hall, a group hug, a wave and they were gone, one more performance and that is it - the end of their dark era.

In 1968 an oddly worded ad appeared in a music shop in Birmingham, “Ozzy Zig Needs Gig”, Intrigued and having just seen their jazzy blues rock band Mythology fold, Toni Iommi and Bill Ward  replied and thus found themselves alongside two other survivors from a failed band, a psychedelic outfit called Rare Breed. Having tried different names without success, they found themselves rehearsing above a cinema that specialised in the horror and sci-fi b movies that were to give them so much inspiration. After one such evening, Butler had a dream, "I was asleep and I felt something in the room, like this weird presence, I woke up in a dream world, and there was this black thing at the bottom of the bed, staring at me. It was just this apparition. It just lasted a second. But it just freaked me out.” Osbourne captured Butler’s description of his dream in the ominous lyrics, Iommi added the guitar motif and the title was lifted from a Boris Karloff movie. The band had a song and an identity. On a chilly night, the song that the dream inspired will be performed by its creators for the last time, or will it. No sooner had the last piece of confetti softly landed, than Iommi announces that the band may work together again, perhaps another never ending final tour is just beginning.

[sinceileftyoublog]

theMIND Interview: The World Is Burning

Photo by Bryan Allen Lamb

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Protest music is not “timely” when what’s being protested is pervasive; we’ve seen as such from music as recent as Run The Jewels’ fourth album. On Juneteenth, Chicago-via-Philly artist Zarif Wilder, aka theMIND, released “A Spike Lee Jawn”, a lyrically blistering, musically funky list of righteous demands: “To Whom it May Concern, FUCK 12 and reparations have been due. This song is a 400 year old invoice. Best, theMIND,” Wilder wrote to introduce it. But the song wasn’t written last month. It was three years old. The difference is that Wilder’s now ready to tell the world what he thinks.

Wilder moved to Chicago in 2007 to study music business at Columbia College, eventually forming a production group (THEMpeople) and releasing a debut mixtape called Summer Camp in 2016, the same year he, up until this point, more publicly started to pop up on music you’ve most certainly heard. He had two writing credits on Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book and appeared on Noname’s Telefone and Pete Rock and Smoke DZA’s collaborative album Don’t Smoke Rock. Last year saw his most prominent feature to date, on Jamila Woods’ brilliant “SUN RA”. His name should gain more recognition later this year when he releases a new album called Don’t Let It Go to Your Head, but partially because he’s not afraid to present the truest version of himself. “A Spike Lee Jawn” is not on the record--the only track released from it so far is 2017′s “Ms. Communication”--but its combination of truth and grooves serves as a blueprint for the type of songs that will appear on it, according to Wilder. Even “Ms. Communication” will fit. Speaking to me over the phone last month, Wilder laughed, “It’s kind of crazy to think that the first single in my project was released in 2017. Once people hear the whole project, they won’t be like, ‘Why are we having this callback moment to 3 years ago?’” Part of the cohesion is because of this dichotomy of honesty: “‘Ms. Communication’ is a song about ghosting someone, and I was in the wrong,” Wilder said. “But who knew that a song about ghosting somebody could be a groove?”

During our conversation, Wilder spoke about the context and inspirations behind “A Spike Lee Jawn”, his relationship with the filmmaker’s movies, protest songs, and the limits of streamed performances. Read it below, edited for length and clarity.

SILY: What’s the history of “A Spike Lee Jawn”?

Zarif Wilder: I recorded it in 2017. It’s kind of funny because I was working with Cam O'bi on his project. I was doing a bunch of songwriting for him, and we did a bunch of songs in that time period. We started working on the production which came to be “A Spike Lee Jawn”. We made the majority of the song that day. I came back and added the guitar and bass to it a couple weeks later or so. 

I felt like I was poking the bear by revisiting topics like reparations or police brutality or social inequalities in general. I wanted to add to the conversation, but I didn’t want to keep on reopening old wounds. 2020 comes around, and the song is still relevant. The issues are still happening. It felt like I silenced myself back then, that I wasn’t trying to bring any light to the darkness we have in this world.

SILY: Obviously, a song like this in context of the protests surrounding George Floyd, it seems like it could have been written last week or last month, which just speaks to the prevalence and constancy of these issues. 

ZW: Continuously, yeah. It’s that truth I wanted to bring light to with this record. I wanted to make sure that at the end of the day, I’m adding to the conversation.

SILY: You’re from Philly--that’s the “Jawn” reference.

ZW: Exactly. Born and raised.

SILY: Is there anything else about the song you think is distinctly Philly?

ZW: I realized after I moved to Chicago that a lot of the experiences were the same [as in Philly]. It’s actually kind of weird to think about people having the same experience at the same time. When I’m talking about literally, “Cadillac with tinted eyes / See my 45 keeps me alive,” and all these different references to cars with tinted headlights. They weren’t just in my city. They were everywhere. All of these references I thought were regional were everywhere.

SILY: What’s your relationship with Spike Lee’s movies?

ZW: [laughs] I love all of Spike Lee’s earlier stuff. I think that somewhere along the line--as most people do--we kind of lose touch with the place that we’re from. The trouble comes with trying to speak for the places that you’re no longer in. Specifically when you make movies like Chi-Raq. Spike Lee is doing the movie from the perspective of someone growing up in Brooklyn. He can do that to a great tee, but to come to a different place and try to paint pictures without directly talking to individuals, it’s a little jaded. But I also believe he’s entitled to his opinion. It doesn’t mean that I have to like it as well. [laughs]

It changes. It varies. I liked Da 5 Bloods, I thought that was a good movie. I enjoyed that. But Spike Lee has his corny moments, as we all do.

SILY: Especially with Da 5 Bloods and BlacKkKlansman, he’s not subtle. He hits you over the head with what he’s trying to say, but at the same time, I feel like it’s almost good in today’s day and age. To a certain extent, what he’s talking about is not subtle at all. It deserves to be spoken loudly.

ZW: Guaranteed. Especially when based on historical instances, we have to be very careful with the creative licenses we take, but also be very open to someone’s artistic expression and how they want to tell the story. I fuck with Spike for that. I think Spike’s a legend and will always be. But that’s the one thing we should get to the point of with celebrity culture as a whole: being able to properly critique each other. We don’t want to get to a point where we can’t critique our legends.

SILY: Why did you decide to include him in the title of this song?

ZW: It’s still an homage to him. He’s one of the super great filmmakers. Spike Lee’s production company is called 40 Acres and a Mule. [Editor’s note: The chorus of the song starts with “I just want my 40 acres, fuck the mule.”] I fuck with his rise and his look, the way he kind of looks at creating a path for himself, especially in a cis white male-dominated industry like film-making. He was constantly pushing through to tell stories of people who look like him.

SILY: The song’s very pointed, but the instrumentation is funky. You can definitely dance to it. Was it important to you to make a “protest” song you can also dance to?

ZW: Guaranteed. Recently, there’s Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”. When that song first dropped, someone said to me, “This is it. This is gonna be the song for the movement.” I was like, “Man, are you serious?” And they were like, “I’m telling you, this is the one.” The next week afterwards, it was everywhere, at every protest, at every march, people were chanting, [sings], “We gon’ be alright!” But it was still a banger. I don’t think protest songs should be sung. They should be chanted. They should be something that pushes us to keep moving, not this super sad thing you want to sit down and say, “Man, the world’s fucked up.” You want something that makes you want to fight.

SILY: Have you been to any of the recent protests?

ZW: Yeah, I went to a bunch, and I went to a bunch of food drives after the CPS shutdown the food program.

SILY: Did you notice any other protest songs that were prevalent in your experience protesting?

ZW: It was mainly the chants we were familiar with, not the song chants at all. Chants of solidarity, like, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win.” I wouldn’t go to a protest and start to sing my own song. [laughs]

"A Spike Lee Jawn" (ft. Krystal Metcalfe); Single Artwork by fifthpower

SILY: Can you tell me a little bit about the single artwork?

ZW: It’s done by my friend fifthpower, and it’s based off the Quasimoto [Further Instrumentals] cover, in which Quasi is sitting inside of a house and it’s burning outside, but it’s in L.A. It also reminded me of the “This Is Fine” meme with the dog sitting there with the hat. When we kind of started this year off, with the end of last year, I was in L.A. during the fires. There was ash coming down. Me and my friend were having brunch, and literally, ash was falling, and I was like, “What is this? Is this snow? What’s happening?” And they were like, “That’s the ash from the hills burning.” And I was like, “Y’all are just okay out here eating brunch?!?” It kind of brought this revelation to me that the world is burning around us, and we’re kind of sitting around and saying, “This is fine.” Some people are yelling and screaming, but the majority is like, “This is cool.” I wanted to point to that, and the best way I could do that was have my two cats staring out the window watching it burn.

SILY: Your debut tape came out in 2016. How have you grown as an artist in the past 4 years?

ZW: I’m not afraid of my own reflection anymore. I don’t know if that makes any sense. Summer Camp was super metaphorical. I was afraid to dive in to topics I really wanted to talk about because of painful memories. As I grew, those topics, I couldn’t escape them anymore. I couldn’t think of the metaphors anymore. If the world is burning, I had to say, “The world is burning,” rather than, “I smell smoke.” There are so many different ways to dig deeper into my art. I’m comfortable being naked in front of the audience that listens to my music more so than I ever was before. The self-love I was yearning for on Summer Camp came to fruition. I’m still working on it, but a lot of the parts that made me uncomfortable who I was, telling those experiences, hoping that somebody else can find themselves in their journey as well.

SILY: Tell me about the video for “A Spike Lee Jawn”.

ZW: We dropped it on Juneteenth as is. It went under the radar purposefully. It went up at 11:00 AM, and the way we kind of promoted it was kind of like a teaser for the song and not a full-blown video.

SILY: What else is next for you? Have you planned somewhat of a roll-out for the upcoming record?

ZW: Yeah, I have. I’m super excited about it, specifically with this project. A lot of these fears I had on the first project were addressed on this one more directly, talking about it.

SILY: Have you planned any live streams?

ZW: The crazy part about this is I went on tour--I’ve been touring my new project for the past couple years, honestly. I went on tour with Ibeyi and a European run with Noname. Throughout that entire time, I was trying out songs I was playing. Of course, I was playing a lot from Summer Camp and a lot of my features, but I was pushing a bunch of these other songs. The response was good from the crowd. I want to do something, but a streaming concert just doesn’t look cool to me right now. I don’t know how to do it right. [laughs] One of my favorite things about performing is feeling people’s energy, and doing that through a stream is really tough. I was talking to my friend Jamila Woods, and she was saying that her stream was a bunch of other artists you could see on a Zoom call, and they were hyping each other up. So that was a cool idea, playing a festival and you could see them but not the audience.

SILY: The time lag is a thing, too. I’ve seen a couple performances where some bands were playing live in different rooms, but it was pretty heavily edited.

ZW: Exactly.

SILY: If people are hyping each other up, though, at least it has some of the energy aspect you’re talking about.

ZW: Exactly. It’s hard to replicate that. I know people who can’t perform unless they hear the crowd.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been reading, watching, or listening to lately that’s inspired you, caught your attention, or comforted you?

ZW: I’ve been trying to stay off of everything, but I’ve been watching documentaries. At the beginning of the video for “A Spike Lee Jawn”, there’s a clip of farmers from the Ivory Coast who have never tasted chocolate. They never even knew that the bean they farmed turned into it. So there’s a small clip of them eating chocolate for the first time. They’re older guys. It completely blows your mind. But the analogy between that and where America is, as far as all of the people who helped build this country not being able to participate in the beautiful aspects the American Dream supposedly offers.

I’ve been having conversations with individuals as much as I possibly can, to gain as much perspective from people as I can. 

[standuphippy]

March Favorites

Making this list really reinforced how much I miss seeing live music. Here’s what I enjoyed in March. Spotify playlist is here: https://spoti.fi/2xpcxYy (Some of these records weren’t on Spotify so I made substitutions where necessary.)

NEW MUSIC: 
 Anna Calvi “Hunter: Hunted Version” A remix album of songs from last year’s Hunter LP.
 Basia Bulat “Are You In Love?” I discovered Basia Bulat thanks to Daytrotter twelve years ago when she released her debut, “Oh, My Darling.” Scarcely missed an LA show since then. Her records are glorious chambers of melody and I love her voice. 


Caroline Rose “Superstar” Great pop record. I love the art direction on her albums.
 CocoRosie “Put the Shine On” The Casady sisters sound like no one else: Sierra has a soaring soprano and Bianca speak/ sings in what could best be described as a crone voice. They’re still making standout records.

Disq “Collector” 
Young rock band from Madison, WI.


Father John Misty “Off-Key in Hamburg” Available on Bandcamp. It’s a great set.

Four Tet “Sixteen Oceans”
 The track that I picked for the playlist is regrettably called “Love Salad.” I hope it’s simply an answer to whether or not he likes salad.

Half Waif “The Caretaker” I like this record.

Helen Money “Atomic”
 Alison Chesley was the opening act at a Shellac show that I saw many years ago (always catch the opener at a Shellac show) and I’ve been a fan ever since. This record is particularly good.

Human Impact “Human Impact” Unsane’s Chris Spencer has a new band with ex-Swans/ Cop Shoot Cop members and it satisfies a noise rock itch that’s hard to scratch.

Julia Holter “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” 
Holter’s spare soundtrack to adds so much to the film.

Matt Wilson and his Orchestra “When I Was a Writer” A catchy, witty record from the former Trip Shakespeare frontman.

Moaning “Uneasy Laughter” 
Well, the album title fits the cover art. I liked their first record as well. Deadpan anxiety.

Stephen Malkmus “Traditional Techniques” Has it really been a year since Groove Denied? This is his third in as many years. Knocking them out before that second Pavement reunion.

U.S. Girls “Heavy Light” Another pop original.

Waxahatchee “Saint Cloud” 
 Katie Crutchfield’s new record is excellent, easily one of my favorites of the year. (Related recommendation: Waxahatchee “Out in the Storm”)

Yumi Zouma “Truth & Consequences” 
 Four people in different cities making pop perfection.

OLD MUSIC (record store finds and new discoveries) : 

Belle & Sebastian “3..6..9 Seconds of Light”
 I found a copy of this at Amoeba. This EP was the first thing I ever heard by Belle and Sebastian over 20 years ago. I was living in San Francisco and had heard a lot about them and they didn’t disappoint. “Century of Fakers” is at once catchy, delicate, witty and cruel. I listened to that track over and over before I moved on to the next one. Happy to have it on vinyl, the type on the back was all but illegible on the cd.


The Jesus Lizard “Show” The best rock band I’ve ever heard, the best live act I’ve ever seen. I had a lot of missed connections before I finally got to see them live. This record came out eight months later and it’s a great document of that tour. David Yow’s banter is top notch. A year ago Amoeba had a copy of this on their website and I missed it; I finally picked it up on eBay. This is probably only the second time I’ve bought a record on that site.

Le Butcherettes “Don’t Bleed” This EP came out in in February. The best part of seeing Le Butcherettes live is watching an unsuspecting audience get bowled over by Teri Gender Bender. I didn’t even see her during the throwing-raw-meat years.

Shannon Wright “Providence” I discovered Shannon Wright when she opened for Sleater-Kinney at the Fillmore. She played a cover of the Smiths’ “Asleep” and it was glorious. I saw her again, years later, opening for Shellac (if you needed more proof of Shellac’s opening-act acumen). She’s made records that cover a variety of styles but anything she does is worth checking out. Having said that, this record came out months ago and I just found out about it. I need to get on more mailing lists.

NEW MOVIES (theatrical):
 Corpus Christi A delinquent on his way to a work camp poses as a clergyman and helps a village confront their grief. It was the Polish Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film. Bartosz Bielenia is riveting as Daniel.

First Cow The new Kelly Reichardt movie is about a pair of frontiersmen unsuited for their time and location who take advantage of a business opportunity. Almost all of Reichardt’s films are intimate personal dramas. I love them.

Sorry We Missed You Ken Loach film about the British family getting crushed in the gig economy. It’s a heartbreaker. 
 Never Rarely Sometimes Always 
Incredible film about a teenage girl who travels to New York with her cousin to get an abortion. The film says so much very quietly. The performances, cinematography, and Julia Holter’s score are all amazing. 
 OLD MOVIES: 

Tokyo Godfathers Any opportunity to catch a Satoshi Kon film in the theater is worth taking. The backgrounds show realistic details that other animated features would gloss over or ignore entirely. In a time before digital effects, Satoshi Kon was doing things in animation that simply couldn’t be done in live-action films. BOOKS:

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt Two psychotic brothers are hired to kill a prospector. I wasn’t a big fan of the movie but I enjoyed the book. Somehow the shifts in tone seem steadier when narrated by Eli Sisters.

SHOWS:

Kim Gordon Zebulon 03/01/20

A last minute tour warm-up show. Kim Gordon wasn’t slated to play more U.S. dates until the summer and wasn’t going to be back here in CA until August. A knockout show. The set was simply her entire album “No Home Record” resequenced for a live set. It will doubtlessly be the last show before a long drought but it was a good one.

[itsiotrecords-blog]

http://ift.tt/2s973JW

Yoga was developed sometime in the fifth century according to most records. Its exact origins are unknown as several cultures claim to have been the ones to develop it first. For centuries, it was listed as among the “mysterious actions” taken in mostly unknown cultures in the Middle East and Asia. It was introduced to the West in the 19th century but it was in the 1990s that it really began to take hold in the mainstream. Not just exercise but also meditation, yoga is intended to boost the mind and body and even the spirit as well to enhance the experience. It’s been credited with helping with many mental issues and a few physical ones as well. Of course, it’s the way it helps the body that gets attention. In Hollywood, a town where ladies are always pushed to look their best, yoga studios are all over the place. It’s a great thing, mixing in regular workouts with a bit more balance and the ability to do it anywhere, not just a gym, certainly helps. There’s also how more than a few ladies in Hollywood have…issues that can be helped by yoga immensely. The fact these are very sexy ladies in hot outfits and often wild poses also gets plenty of attention in a different way. Here are 20 starlets that showcase how yoga is truly taking off and making most anyone look great.

#1 Demi Lovato It’s been a very rough road for this former Disney Channel starlet but she seems to be emerging better for it. Demi Lovato came to attention with the movie Camp Rock and then her own sitcom Sonny With a Chance. But without warning, Lovato checked herself into rehab for issues involving drugs, weight loss and depression. She’s come out much stronger, her music pushing messages of empowerment and girls to be themselves. Lovato has also become notable for embracing her body and showing off quite a lot in various outfits. She even did a memorable spread in Vanity Fair showing off her nude rear end. Here, Lovato does a great backward stretch and shows off how she’s gotten a lot more comfortable with herself and not withdrawn. Lovato has given credit to yoga as part of her regiment to get herself back in shape mentally as well as physically and this pose showcases how she’s gotten herself back on top in more ways than one.

#2 Kate Hudson Her career has been interesting in many ways. The daughter of Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson followed her mom in the family business and broke out with her Oscar-nominated turn in Almost Famous. Her roles since had her falling into a lot of romantic comedies such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and the horror hit The Skeleton Key. She’s yet to really hit the A-list as most expected but still good turns such as a wild dancer on Glee. However, Hudson has long pushed fitness and even launched her own line of workout and yoga clothes with JustFab. She’s also written a few health books promoting the lifestyle and including herself in photos showing off her wares. This is a great showcase as Hudson credits meditation as a turning point in her life and wants to help others meet the same level of calm she has. While her acting career made be rough, this pose may show Hudson’s true great calling as a yoga icon.

#3 Gisele Bundchen Amazing as it sounds, Gisele Bundchen has been in the supermodel industry since 1997. She really took off in the 2000s with numerous magazine spreads, many showing off her incredible body and a run with Victoria’s Secret. To no surprise, a woman that gorgeous has been linked to numerous men, including Leonardo DiCaprio. She finally managed to land Tom Brady and has been his faithful wife since 2009. Her looks not quitting, Gisele enjoys showing off and has been a major proponent for yoga, insisting it not only helps the body but the mind as well. She shares many on Instagram, either alone or with model friends and promotes it with appearances at studios. This pic shows she can do it most anywhere, including this nice setting with the desert walls framing her excellent body. Looking at this pic just confirms one thing: Tom Brady really is the luckiest man alive.

#4 The Bella Twins At first, they were just a funny gimmick. In 2008, Brie Bella joined WWE as a wrestler with the idea of her getting pounded hard by opponents, rolling under the ring then coming out somehow totally refreshed to win. Finally, it turned out she’d been switching places with twin sister Nikki who’d join her. The duo spent the next few years are pretty much eye candy with hot outfits and flirting with guys. Total Divas did boost them more, especially with Brie, whose hard party behavior led to “Brie Mode” becoming a mantra. However, both ladies would impress by transforming into actually good wrestlers with Nikki holding the Divas title for nearly a year. It’s no surprise they do most everything together and that includes yoga. This pic shows them in matching poses and still amazing how well they keep their bodies to look as alike as their faces. Today, Brie is retired and just had a child while Nikki is engaged to John Cena. However, this pic shows the only thing better than one hot lady in a yoga pose is two who look alike.

#5 Ariel Winter The Modern Family star has enjoyed a huge change in her body and personality. Ariel Winter became famous for a legal battle with her mother, accusing her of abuse and was legally emancipated. She then hit puberty big time with a growth spurt so notable that she needed breast reduction surgery before she was 16. While on the show, Winter plays a genius who’s always bundled up in tight clothing, in real life she more than cuts loose. Instagram is packed with photos of her in very loose clothing and often skirting acceptable laws in how tight her shirts can be. She fills a bikini out very well as shown in this pic where she takes advantage of a break in a party to put on a nice pose with one foot on her leg. It’s pretty impressive for a woman so top-heavy and putting it on in such a loose bikini. While Winter may have it up and down in personal life, she brings the heat majorly in a yoga pose.

#6 Jessica Alba Jessica Alba is a fascinating case of a “sexy starlet” who ended up becoming far more famous and successful outside of movies. From the start, she boosted being in good shape in leather for the TV show Dark Angel that made her a star. Following that came roles in movies like Sin City, Fantastic Four and others that enhanced her in hot outfits and often bikinis to show a very nicely toned body. But lately, Alba has become more famous for her business work as the founder and CEO of the Honest Company which produces beauty and health products for mothers. It’s a massive success that’s earned her hundreds of millions of dollars more than she’d ever make with movies. As the face of the company, Alba keeps herself in shape and enjoys posting pics of herself doing yoga, including in a bikini. This comes from a magazine photo shoot, showcasing Alba’s great form still amazingly in great shape and how this Angel soars well showing her limberness off.

#7 Britney Spears Her life has seen a lot of ups and downs to be sure. Britney Spears started off as a sexpot in 1999 with her music videos showcasing her limber body and dance moves. She was soon marked as one of the hottest women alive with her blonde hair, great body and the object of desire for many a male fan. She then hit a very nasty period with a bad marriage, tough motherhood and issues like shaving her head bald and bizarre behavior. In the last few years, Britney has managed to bounce back with a new album and a Vegas stint and seems to be getting back in shape. That includes in her body as she credits yoga with helping her maintain a better lifestyle and handling her past addictions. This pic is like the Britney of old with her fantastic leaning backward to show her toned form off and how, all these years later, Britney is still an eye-opener.

#8 Kaley Cuoco Kaley Cuoco knows about being in good shape. The actress rose up as the ditzy daughter of the sitcom 8 Simple Rules and got a good following. That led to her starring as Billie on the final season of Charmed and some attention there. But Cuoco decided to boost herself up with some plastic surgery, fixing her face, enhancing her chest and other bits which she’s cited as a great decision. It’s hard to disagree as it led to her casting as Penny on The Big Bang Theory, now one of the biggest hit comedies on TV. Since then, Cuoco has been a great star and notable for keeping her toned body in shape. They work it into Theory with Penny doing yoga and even trying to teach her friends to do it to rather mixed results. Cuoco remains a hot lady and it’s common to see her in yoga pants going to and from the gym and whether her hair is long or short, Cuoco enjoys her “girly” image a lot and easy to see how her in a great yoga pose is a key reason Bang is a hit.

#9 Lea Michele There’s a lot of bad press about Lea Michele. She came to fame playing Rachel Berry on the hit series Glee, notable for her amazing singing voice and range. Yet Michele has gotten a pretty bad reputation as a major diva in real life, often quite arrogant and stand-offish. She tries to change that with her good public works yet it follows her around. Still, you can’t deny the woman is in incredible shape and has even posed in the nude for magazines. More commonly, on her Instagram page, Michele shows off a lot of yoga poses and really is committed to it. She credits it with helping her tone in body and mind and a much needed balance for her work. Having just finished the series Scream Queens, Michele is returning to TV in the comedy The Mayor which offers her more in suits. However, this pic shows that while her reputation may not be stellar, when it comes to Yoga, Michele hits the right notes.

#10 Trish Stratus She remains one of the most amazing transformations of a woman in wrestling ever. When she debuted in 2000, Trish Stratus was nothing more than eye candy. A stunningly stacked blonde in loose outfits and a cowboy hat, Trish flaunted her body a lot while just distracting guys. However, after some training, she became one of the best female wrestlers of her time, a multiple champion and wowing fans with her sensational ring work. Among her moves was the “Ma-Trish” where she would bend her body backwards to avoid a charging opponent. Retiring in 2006, Stratus keeps up with the wrestling world with some appearances for WWE and notable in that Playboy offered her plenty of money for a pictorial but she turned them down, wanting to be known for her in-ring work. She runs a yoga studio and this pic shows she has the credentials to do it without how well her leg is bent behind her. She’s not longer in the ring but this pose shows Trish can still bring “Stratus-faction” to her fans.

#11 Kim Kardashian Say what you will about Kim Kardashian but damned if the woman doesn’t know how to keep herself in shape. You have to hand it to a lady who managed to turn a sex tape into the basis for a multi-million dollar empire and one of the most famous women alive. From the start, Kim has boosted herself on social media (even before that was truly a thing) and her reality TV show and knows keeping herself looking good is important. She has to be toned in her body and that includes the now iconic shapely rear end and has actually said yoga is tricky thanks to how…curvaceous her body can be. But she looks great doing it as with this pose, nicely serene yet still that aura of heat only she can bring to the table. It always seems like Kim loves it when a camera is trained on her and does a great job in this pic to showcase that amazing body the world knows and even after motherhood, Kim knows how to make yoga a trend that gets her fans going.

#12 Miley Cyrus It looks like the “wild child” may finally be growing up a bit. Cyrus was launched to mega-fame as Hannah Montana, the squeaky clean kid playing a pop star for the Disney Channel. She changed that image big time in 2013 by going wild in her appearance. Her hair was bright blond, she showed off piercings and tattoos, she got into wild dance routines and “twerking” and very explicit in interviews. Toss in issues of partying and flaunting her nude body and one would worry Cyrus was in trouble. Still, you couldn’t ignore her, especially when she does yoga in her own unique fashion. This pic shows amazing balance, settled on her hands with folded legs raised up, very impressive in Cyrus’ body strength and actually seems pretty into it. She has gotten a makeover to a more “sedate” manner and seems to be settling down so maybe yoga is helping Miley get her head on straight.

#13 Jennifer Lawrence It’s still remarkable how quickly Jennifer Lawrence went from just another face in the crowd to the top of the Hollywood peak. She went from the teenage daughter in a TBS sitcom to an Oscar darling for Winter’s Bone. Then she wowed as Mystique in X-Men First Class, putting up with that complicated blue makeup job. Then came The Hunger Games making her an A-list blockbuster star and just months later, winning the Oscar. Since then, Lawrence has balanced sequels to those blockbusters with various roles, some small, some large while maintaining a down-to-earth attitude. Keeping in shape is a must for her job and this pic shows her putting those yoga pants to good use. Lawrence continues to work harder than most in Hollywood, not resting on her laurels yet the fact she seems so relatable than your typical “movie star” almost makes you think you have a shot at her in yoga class which just makes her hotter.

#14 Stephanie McMahon Fans can be divided a lot on her but there’s no denying just how hot the daughter of Vince McMahon can be. It’s fascinating seeing her trying to be the innocent young girl in angles like kidnapped by the Undertaker and other bits. It all changed when she joined with HHH and became a bitchy presence fans loved to hate. Since then, she’s bounced between the on-screen heel as leader of the Authority and backstage helping the company grow. Many of the current women in WWE credit Stephanie with helping them out and wanting them treated with respect. This pic actually has Stephanie joining with the various women of the NXT brand in a workout session and seems to really be having a good time. Despite two kids, her body is in excellent shape and seems downright eager using the yoga to help keep it that way. Love or hate her, Stephanie is a lady you can’t stop watching and that includes a yoga pose that can put many of the other WWE “divas” to shame.

#15 Eliza Dushku From her early roles, Eliza Dushku had a great aura that made folks want to keep watching her. It was there are the teenage daughter on True Lies and then her breakout role as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also showed her great form and moves off as a cheerleader in Bring It On and keeping herself in amazing shape. Since then, Dushku has bounced around with various TV and movie roles, including the Joss Whedon series Dollhouse and a feisty marshal on Banshee. She’s making a comeback with a recurring role on the hit CBS show Bull and the upcoming fantasy series The Black Company. Dushku enjoys showing her body off in various ways and this pic shows her nicely using yoga to keep herself in shape. That sultry smirk is a bright smile but still the aura of a wicked lady that wins you over. So even doing yoga, Dushku is an alluring presence.

#16 Beyonce Anything Queen Bey does gets attention and that includes yoga. Beyonce has become something more than just a typical singer and more a true icon. She’s even a trailblazer and can become a lightning rod with stuff like her charged “Lemonade” and other songs. Keeping in shape is a must for her and her background as a dancer helps with limber legs. But yoga is utilized as Beyonce continues to keep herself in excellent shape no matter where she goes. That includes this pic, taken during a vacation while touring in France. Even though her bikini is more inclined to hitting the beach than serious yoga, Beyonce still goes out for a nice backward handstand that shows her great form off. It should be no surprise Beyonce will be turning to it to get back in shape after giving birth to twins and no doubt looking amazing as ever to reign as music’s queen.

#17 Gal Gadot You pretty much have to be in great shape for an Israeli citizen. That’s because every citizen is required by law to spend at least two years in the military. Gal Gadot met that, overcoming their harsh training to serve her term. She then used her great looks in modelling before Fast and Furious made her a success in movies. Today, of course, Gadot is known for taking on the iconic role of Wonder Woman which required her to pack some more muscle onto herself. This pic from a magazine spread shows her great form off, limber yet also tough and perfectly in line for the comic book heroine. Gadot has a good humor and seems more getting into shape after having a child. Gadot mixes yoga with exercise, a rare combination but it has been credited with doing great for the body majorly. This sure showcases that and how Gadot is perfect for the Amazon Princess to make her a true wonder for viewers.

#18 Candice Swanepoel At only 28, Candice Swanepoel is already among the top level of supermodels. The South African native is notable for her lush blonde hair and pouty lips that have graced the covers of countless magazines. Believe it or not, she was discovered by a scout at a Danish flea market, showing you really can find anything there. She’s walked the runway at pretty much every fashion show there is and one of the best of the Victoria’s Secret Angels to rock their fantastic wares. Like many supermodels, Swanepoel uses yoga to keep herself trim and handle the pressures of the supermodel life. She does great with it, this pic showcasing her in an excellent pose with leg up and foot nearly touching her head, the suit tight on that great body. She has a long way to go in the business but this pose shows Swanepoel ready to join her peers in hot poses of any sort.

#19 Hayden Panettiere Yoga is something important to this young starlet. Hayden Panettiere took audiences by storm as the funny little girl of Remember the Titans and later starring on Ally McBeal. She then became an overnight star with her role as the indestructible cheerleader Claire on Heroes, her trimmed body in uniform a key part of the show’s promotion. After it ended, Panettiere took a break before taking on the role of Juliette Barnes on Nashville. It’s been notable as in the fourth season, Juliette suffered from post-partum depression but in a shocking turn, Panettiere checked herself into treatment for the same condition. She’s bounced back with the show revived by CMT and has been using yoga among her other exercises to help. Panettiere actually insisted on working in this scene to the show with Claire doing yoga while handling her meddling manager’s requests. Panettiere has credited yoga with helping her with her issues and how it’s as great for the mind and heart as well as body.

#20 Madonna Look at the photo and remember this woman is 58 years old. Given her…explicit romantic past, you can easily make a joke on how limber Madonna is. But it’s still impressive how the woman remains a fantastic knockout today as she was in her 1980s prime. The singer is now an icon with her style, her music and never stopping getting attention. She loves showing off a lot on the red carpet in a variety of frankly insane outfits but one can’t deny how she stays in great shape. This pic showcases it, a fantastic pose for her that shows a great style and impressive for not just her age but having a few kids. A lot can be said about the woman’s habits in the past, a bit too much smoking and drinking but she knows even she isn’t immune to age (despite how she seems to be fighting it pretty well) and this pic showcases that even after all these years, the Material Girl has a body to turn heads.

Source: TheRichest

[jefffeuerhaken]

Movie Review: The Fate Of The Furious

The Fate Of The Furious Shows That Big And Dumb Doesn’t Always Mean Bad

by Jeff Feuerhaken

I’ll be the first to admit that I was late to hop on the Fast and Furious train. Actually, it wasn’t so much a hop as it was a drag. Like as in, being dragged aboard the bandwagon, kicking and screaming the whole way. When the first Fast and Furious film was released, 2001’s aptly titled The Fast And The Furious, there was a bit of a divide amongst the audience. On the one hand, you had the movie’s target audience, which we will call the “street racing enthusiasts”. This group was all in from the get go, because the first F&F had everything they wanted: hot chicks, tough, macho dudes, and fast cars. On the other side of that divide, you had those who were just eye-rolling at the silliness of it all (guess which camp I was in). The modest box office success of the original film was no masterpiece, but it did pave the way for a string of sequels. While these sequels continued to add new characters to inject fresh blood to the franchise, that didn’t necessarily mean the main cast was always present. In fact, for the third installment, Tokyo Drift, none of the cast were returning characters (okay fine, except for the cameo at the film’s closing).  Besides the revolving door of cast members, there was a certain formula at work here, which was basically as follows: Fast cars + hot chicks + action – plot – quality = $. The fans continued to eat it up while the eye rollers continued their eye rolling.

What happened next, no one could have predicted. When the fifth movie came out (Fast Five), there was a new element introduced to the franchise: self-awareness. Sure, it was more of the same high octane action we’d come to expect from a Fast and Furious movie, but this time around, it seemed like the filmmakers were having fun with the material, rather than taking it so seriously. Perhaps they wanted a piece of the eye-rolling demographic, or perhaps they just recognized how damn silly these movies were and just ultimately decided to embrace it. The action was more over the top than ever, and unapologetically so. It became clear that fun was the endgame. The result was a surprising heaping of critical praise. The next two films, numbers 6 and 7, pushed this concept even further, resulting in even higher critical acclaim and ridiculously higher box office draws. What had started out as a modest, cheesy exploitation film had somehow become a franchise juggernaut, and suddenly The Fast And The Furious was one of the biggest movie franchises in history.

Jason Statham is perfect for these movies.

I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this, in that it should come to no one’s surprise that Fast and Furious 8, titled The Fate Of The Furious, is all about sticking to the plan. When a franchise is raking in the dough like this one does, the last thing you want to do is mess with the formula. In short, we all knew what we were in for here. There’s plenty of insanely over the top action, a solid heaping of hot, scantily-clad ladies, the ever-present motif of family (pretty much bro-dom), and as always, a lineup of fast, sexy cars. This movie knows exactly what it is, and exactly what it wants to do. And you know what? It does it pretty damn well. This movie isn’t trying to win any best actor nominations (although Jason Statham is pretty rad), but what it focuses on, particularly the action sequences, is undeniable awesomeness. It seems that when the top action and stunt choreographers in Hollywood are looking to step up on the world’s biggest stage and show what they go, it is these Fast and Furious flicks that provide that perfect opportunity to just go nuts. And the action in The Fate Of The Furious does not disappoint. It’s straight up nuts.

Props must be given to director F. Gary Gray, who has come a long damn way since he directed Friday back in 1995. Gray hit it big last year with the massively successful N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, which was a very different type of movie. In Fate Of The Furious, Gray shows that he’s got some action chops for days. One of the aspects of recent Fast and Furious movies that the franchise has been mindful of is bringing in fresh blood to the director’s chair and giving these guys a chance to shine. Justin Lin, James Wan, and now Gray were all unlikely star action directors before breaking their Fast and Furious cherries, but each of these guys have hit home runs when they stepped up to the directorial plate. As in other Fast and Furiouses, there’s roughly a 70/30 focus of action/plot. I’m sure that for some people, that may be a problem, but if the formula ain’t broke, why fix it?

Director F. Gary Gray brings some surprising action chops to the table.

The ever-growing and evolving cast of this franchise has been interesting to watch. Vin Diesel, one of the stars of the original 2001 film, is now a shot-calling producer. Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges and Tyrese Gibson have emerged as the primary sidekick characters, and in these roles, they’re fine. One of the biggest behind the scenes storylines in this franchise was the untimely death of star Paul Walker, and The Fate Of The Furious is the first FF film without him appearing onscreen. It’s abundantly clear that the producers felt they needed a new hunky white guy to step into his shoes, and Scott Eastwood (yes, Clint’s son) has been tapped to do the job. Eastwood is fine in this role, and I think we will likely see his role grow in this franchise. Paul Walker was well loved in his portrayal of Brian, but he was never really an amazing actor, so I don’t necessarily think Eastwood is in over his head here. However, the main villain of The Fate Of The Furious is played by a very accomplished actress, Charlize Theron, who is coming off a very hot action role in Mad Max: Fury Road. Unfortunately, Theron isn’t really given much to do here, and as a result her character is underwhelming. Perhaps when the next sequel comes out, and she inevitably finds herself on the good guys’ side (like The Rock before her, or even Jason Statham in this one) she will have better luck. On that note, Statham is probably the best thing about this movie. He has a certain type of charm that fits this franchise perfectly. He just seems right at home here. Interestingly, the production of The Fate Of The Furious has been overshadowed by a rumored beef between the film’s two alpha-malest stars, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johsnon (The Rock). This falling out manifested itself on Twitter at the tail end of the film’s production, and the cryptic nature of the jabs has led to plenty of speculation: Is the animosity real? Is this what happens when giant egos collide? Is this all just a sham, fabricated to promote an upcoming Wrestlemania? Stay tuned!

Come at me bro.

The Fast and Furious crowd is gonna love this one, for sure. It’s got plenty of exactly what that particular demographic is looking for: action, chicks, bros, and so on. While that should turn off the more serious filmgoer, I plead to them to give The Fate Of The Furious a chance. They might just decide that it’s actually a lot of fun, and (gasp) not really that bad. At this point you can’t argue that this franchise is the current torch bearer for pushing action movies to the limit, and for that reason, I ain’t hatin’. Trust me, I thought it was a given that I was gonna hate all these stupid Fast and Furious movies, but much to my surprise, I actually kind of dig them. Some of them, that is. This is truly a guilty pleasure for me, and I no longer feel shame in saying I had fun at a Fast and Furious movie. So check it out. You just might find you agree.

Score: 6/8 stars

Check out more movie reviews here.

Movie Review: The Fate Of The Furious was originally published on Loud Feedback

[aion-rsa]

INTERVIEW: Image Comics’ Extremity Is An Unconventional Revenge Story

Launching this week from Image Comics, Skybound Entertainment’s “Extremity” aims to present a revenge story unlike most others. Centering on the brutality of war and the opposing tribes caught in a conflict that divides families, the new series from writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson and colorist Mike Spicer combines elements of fan-favorite manga and science-fiction to serve up a post-apocalyptic tale as enticing and original as it is violent.

RELATED: Skybound Announces Image Comics Sci-Fi Epic: Extremity

CBR had the opportunity to speak with Johnson about “Extremity” in the lead up to the first issue’s release on March 1. Over the course of our conversation, we discussed the series’ real-life origins, and its unconventional spin on a revenge tale. Johnson also explained how anime inspired “Star Wars” inspiration for the series’ post-apocalyptic visual aesthetic, and more.

CBR: Where did the idea for Extremity originate?

Daniel Warren Johnson: I had been working on “Space-Mullet” for more than a year — it was super tongue and cheek-ish, kind of like a fun rock and roll vibe, not very serious. Even though it would get dark sometimes, I never purposefully got serious with it; it was just kind of an experiment for me, which I like doing. Doing “Space-Mullet” for a year, [I decided] I wanted to start doing something a little more serious. I was just keeping my eyes and ears open for any inspiration for any kind of story that really got me thinking — because it’s hard for me to create something from nothing — and my wife told me about an NPR interview that she heard around that time by a Jewish woman who was in the Nazi concentration camps. She’s famous for forgiving her Nazi captors. What really intrigued me about it was that the rest of the global Jewish community said, “You’re not allowed to forgive these people.” These people who would be considered her family more or less turned their back on her, and I thought that was really interesting and made me think about what causes families to turn against each other.

[“Extremity”] has had many iterations over the years — it took me two and a half years to really figure out what I want to do. It got me thinking, and then basically I created a world to fit what you see in “Extremity.” The emotional component for me, being an artist, you know, is, what does the main character feel losing her hand? That’s kind of the emotional core of the story. That’s what drives it home for me. That’s the only way that I could make another revenge story work.

Why is the series called “Extremity”?

I had been trying to find a title for a really long time, something that would show the themes behind the book — how far are you willing to take this quest of revenge? I can’t really take credit for the title. Our friend and comic book artist, Bryan Lee, was spit-balling “That’s it, that’s the perfect title.” I wish I could say I came up with it myself, but I did not.

What is it about revenge stories that you, personally, find so compelling?

I think there’s something really interesting about how — when you see a movie like “John Wick,” there’s a righteous feeling, at least for me, when you see a movie like that. It’s like, this person who kills John Wick’s dog is gonna get it, and he’s gonna get it so hard, and it’s gonna be great, and he’s gonna deserve it. Eventually, after seeing a lot of these, like “Kill Bill,” there’s really no relation to real life. People who go through revenge in non-Hollywood, non-novel experiences, it’s never really that clean, and there’s not this feeling of victory. It seems like in American storytelling there’s like this completely righteous, anything goes attitude in revenge stories in general. I was trying to find a way to take this genre that I really loved, and I think does have value, but also instill it something that’s a little more personal and also…make something that people haven’t seen before when it comes to revenge stories. Maybe it’s a little heavy-handed, but this is the story that was in my heart and it had to come out.

There are many things that I think in “Extremity” will make people go, “Wait, I thought this was a revenge story.” And it is a revenge story, but it’s a revenge story that maybe has a bit more element of — I think you know what I’m trying to say! When you watch a revenge movie, or you read a novel or a comic, there’s plenty of times and plenty of instances where you’re enjoying yourself, but everybody knows what’s going to happen in the end — which isn’t a bad thing — but I wanted to try and throw people for a curve through “Extremity.”

Why was it important for your story to focus on family?

In line with me trying to buck the trend with revenge stories, as I was kind of developing it in my head, it started sounding like “Kumbaya.”. Everybody’s getting along, it’s going to be awesome — and, of course, that’s not how anything in life is. Part of the reason that’s so difficult is, there’s so many ways to look at something. While I’ll feel one way about something that happened, another family member may feel differently. It was a way to bring more viewpoints to the table, instead of it just being Thea’s point of view, and only Thea’s. We have different characters that are responding to crisis in different ways. That makes it easier for Thea’s personality to bounce off — it allows for drama. It’s sort of character-driven over McGuffin-driven.

What’s so evil about the villains of “Extremity”?

I think it’s just their willingness to engage in brutality. You meet people in life, and you experience people, and there’s just like this darkness about them. You don’t really know where it comes from, and maybe they’ve made decisions in life that led to this path. There’s these people in life that just have this energy about them that’s very negative, and those are the villains in “Extremity.” [But] it’s not totally cut and dry.

What’s your inspiration for the visual aesthetic of the series, combining monsters, technology, and this post-apocalyptic world?

When I first came up with the story concept, I started crafting a world that would fit that as well as I could. One of the reasons that you have the Paznena was that it looked kind of Middle Age-y, because they reside in a world where the Roto do not. World-building and inspiration is awesome, and it’s all super important. It’s kind of like window dressing; without window dressing, you’ve got a really boring window, so I wanted to try and take different visual inspirations to make that exciting. I took a lot of inspiration from medieval architecture and armor, and I also did a lot of “Star Wars”-style scrappiness, piecing things together. You’ve got one side that’s kind of Middle Age-y, and another side that’s all scraps and manages what they can, and put them together, so you have two very distinct visuals for each side. As soon as you see an outfit or location you instantly know where you’re at.

In a comic, anything you can highlight to show people without telling is a positive thing. And, of course, “Akira,” specifically the comic, has been monumental. I’ve been reading that forever. “Appleseed,” of course, and a lot of manga. I love the tattered look of “Children of Men.” There’s a lot of different stuff, but those are definitely big inspirations.

What does colorist Mike Spicer bring to the series?

I actually had a colorist before Mike, and the deadlines didn’t work out. We were looking for a new artist — Mike Spicer was kind of a happy accident, we had another colorist, Brian Level, who recommended me to Mike. We gave him a try, and he completely blew us away. It was a really happy surprise. Ever since then, it’s been a fantastic experience working with him. He brings a lot of new ideas to the table that I didn’t think would work, and they totally do — that’s 50% of the time, and the other 50% he is in my brain, exactly putting down the pallete that I imagine. I give him a few sentences before he starts coloring the issues, to give sort of the vibe and feel that I want, and he takes it to a whole new level. It’s amazing!

“Extremity” #1 arrives in stores on March 1.

The post INTERVIEW: Image Comics’ Extremity Is An Unconventional Revenge Story appeared first on CBR.com.

http://ift.tt/2mH538t