#too much johnson

[deadpanwalking]

Introduction by Anthony L'Abbate, Preservation Manager, Moving Image Department and Caroline Yeager, Associate Curator, Moving Image Department

The announcement that Orson Welles’s missing (and unfinished) film Too Much Johnson had been found and preserved, sent a pleasant shock wave through cinema circles in 2013. Discovered with a group of other film materials in a warehouse in Pordenone, Italy, in 2003, Too Much Johnson survived by a quirk of fate. Mario Catto, an enthusiastic cinephile who often collaborated with Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (a film festival devoted solely to screening silent films), was told by a family friend about a crate full of potentially dangerous old film that had been abandoned years before in his shipping warehouse. Catto suggested that his friend donate it to Cinemazero, a highly regarded film society in Pordenone. Cinemazero accepted the films and began the laborious and years-long task of examining and identifying the mixture of 35mm and 16mm film elements on both safety and nitrate based film stocks. The films turned out to be the works of Orson Welles.

Prominent Welles scholar Ciro Giorgini positively identified nine nitrate reels as being Welles’s lost film Too Much Johnson. A tenth nitrate reel was decomposing and it was not actually verified as being part of the film until it was sent to a laboratory for preservation in 2013. Cinemazero recognized that the nitrate reels of Too Much Johnson needed long-term conservation, and so, nearly ten years after Catto first saw the crate, the nitrate positive work print of Too Much Johnson was consigned to their colleagues at the Cineteca del Friuli, also in Pordenone. Preserving Too Much Johnson now became the crucial issue.

Because the film was both nitrate and American, funding for full preservation would prove difficult to obtain in Italy. In January 2013, Cineteca del Friuli contacted the George Eastman Museum to discuss preserving Too Much Johnson, as well as providing permanent conservation for the 35mm nitrate master. The Eastman Museum agreed to accept the nitrate film and through an emergency grant arranged by the National Film Preservation Foundation, the nine identified reels of Too Much Johnson would be preserved. The tenth, decomposing reel, was preserved separately and joined the other reels prior to the film’s world premiere.

Produced by the Mercury Theatre, Too Much Johnson was meant to introduce each act of William Gillette’s stage play of the same name. Even in its unfinished state, the film shows all the hallmarks of Welles’s cinematic genius. Starring Joseph Cotten, Edgar Barrier, Arlene Francis and other Mercury Theatre actors, it is a lively, vibrant, funny, and exciting homage to silent film comedy and stands on its own as a cinematic gem. The new score provided by Philip C. Carli, was inspired by Paul Bowles’s score for the Mercury Theatre stage production.

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Too Much Johnson, originally an 1894 stage production, was first filmed in 1900 and then again in 1919 in a version directed by Donald Crisp. 

In 1938 Too Much Johnson became a Mercury Theater stage production with a cinematic component, both written and directed by Orson Welles three years before his film debut, Citizen Kane.  The film was lost until 2008 when it was discovered in Italy.

The world premiere was in Italy Oct 9, 2013, followed by Dec 1, 2013 in Belfort, France, and in the US, in Telluride, Colorado on Aug 30, 2014.

[beehunterkisser]

wanted to do my own take on these guys...

[night-eyes1]

[edgeasaurus-art]

What several levels of exhaustion does to a mother fucker.

I was listening to the album grow again by Moe Reen while making this. specifically Why Deny (The Climate of Our Love).

You could admit it's all on fire And confess to loving me This world is surely ending soon, Our love is certainly something true So why deny the climate of our love?

Theres so much to say about them. The world is on the precipice of disaster and yet they found each other, the successors to the emperor and empress titans. Did the emperor and empress wonder what their successors would become? did they wonder about who their successors would be? did they hope that they would find the love they had? or did they think the story of the titans ended then?

When Fearne was alone with Nana Morri did she ever dream about the people she has around her now? about sharing a bed, with no other expectations other than waking up together?

When Ashton found themselves left behind after the nobodies left him, did he dream about a group of people who listened to what they said and respected their words? did they ever dream of someone wanting to be with them just because they liked being around him?

when they were at their loneliest, was the thought of each other a fever dream?

I still stand as a firm believer that both Ashton and Fearne have two hands, but watching them grow closer together has been amazing. And I hope their relationship continues to flourish, platonically or romantically.

[textsofdanville]

Stacy couldn't bear to keep this a secret from Candace but Candace knows well enough to not throw stones at glass houses.

[shorthaltsjester]

Why are your children bound by rules you will not follow?

Critical Role, Campaign 3, Downfall Parts 1-3 // Commandments of The Prime Deities according to the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn

[panthermouthh]

And I said, “Hello, Satan

I believe it’s time to go.”

[allforthegayphase]

TW: rape

Something I really appreciated about The Sunshine Court was its nauseatingly realistic depiction of rape culture.

Jean’s (repeated, violent) sexual assault isn’t treated as something horrific; in the toxic environment of The Nest, it’s normalized. The real story — Riko ordering 5 male players to rape Jean as a sadistic way to ‘break him in’ — is quickly twisted by his abusers; Jean is seen as a calculating vixen who slept his way to the top, for a Perfect Court number:

They continuously mock and taunt Jean with senseless jokes about it. There is an element of jealousy at play; Jean is a prodigy player, and, as he says himself at some point in the book, his older teammates didn’t enjoy being shown up by a child. They certainly enjoyed knocking him down a peg, though, by humiliating him and creating an illusion that he only got his spot on the team for sleeping around, not his talent:

Even one of his rapists, Grayson, continues this false narrative despite knowing the truth (or maybe he even convinced himself this narrative is the truth; that Jean ‘seduced’ him for a spot on the starting lineup):

Other ravens who don’t know the truth seem to quickly believe the narrative that a 16 yo chose to sleep with a bunch of his superiors for a personal gain; that is certainly easier than entertaining the thought that your teammates (friends?) are capable of something this horrific. Or maybe they simply don’t question it too hard; after all, Jean can’t tell his side of the story.

The rumors eventually spread outside the Nest. Jean’s reputation is tarnished to the point that this is one of the first things strangers on the internet learn about him:

The most heartbreaking detail about it all is Jean’s age. He was a 16 boy on the college team, the youngest player on the lineup; a foreigner who couldn’t even speak English when he arrived; an outsider. Despite the fact that his young age is something that even the ravens find particularly scandalous about the whole situation, Jean’s agency is never questioned. He’s not seen as a minor who was taken advantage of by older, superior men — and most of them are quite significantly older, having already graduated by the time Jean’s 19; Grayson seems to be the youngest of them and he’s at least three years older than Jean.

As many victims of SA, Jean had no choice but to continue living with his abusers side by side, pretending like nothing happened. Knowing there’s absolutely nothing he can do.

The first time someone voices concern over the questionable circumstances surrounding the whole situation happens in this conversation with Jeremy (to be fair, it seems like Jean's age isn't public knowledge but the ravens obviously know):

And as many victims, Jean internalized his experience as something he deserved on some level:

TLDR: Sexual assault is, unfortunately, a very big part of our culture; it’s not just something that happens in the dark alleys; rapists aren't just scary strangers. They're also your friends, peers, teammates. The way the Nest (and the general public as a whole) turns a blind eye at best and mocks and humiliates the victim at worst is a microcosm of how SA is largely treated in real life. It was genuinely fascinating to see it depicted so realistically, even though it made for a heavy read at several points. I hope Nora keeps up the good work, and we'll see further exploration of the topic and Jean dealing with his trauma in the next book.

[darkblueboxs]

Glass Onion Spoilers - Foreshadowing and Among Us

I’ve seen a few posts dunking on glass onion for being “cringe” because of the Among Us scene and a few praising it for accurately reflecting the fact that this is all everyone was playing in 2020, but I haven’t seen anyone really talk about how brilliantly Among Us works as a foreshadowing/storytelling device.

On the surface - as the film itself points out! - the game is a neat little parallel of the island: one murderer hidden among us, with the objective being to find them out. But this comparison goes far deeper than the basic premise of the film.

Firstly, Benoit appears as the game’s imposter, and then, it is later revealed, is literally an imposter, arriving on the island uninvited under false pretences - one of the first major twists of the film spelled out to the audience in the opening act. And he isn’t alone - just as two imposters generally work together to deceive the other players, so Benoit and Helen work together to infiltrate the group. BUT, and this is the bit that really drives me wild, the endgame format of Among Us perfectly reflects the endgame of the film. The way to win Among Us isn’t necessarily a case of killing everyone or surviving every round - the way to win is by convincing your fellow players to believe you, and to vote accordingly.

During the trial Andi loses because the imposter - the billionaire impersonating a genius - convinces the other players that she should be voted out; she is as effectively thrown out of the airlock as she is the business, and then literally killed to protect the [fortune of] the “crew.”

But, Andi was not the imposter, and so the game continues.

The imposter kills again, and when Miles confesses to causing the lights to go out, this is another excellent hint - only the imposter can sabotage the lights!

Then, with all the characters assembled much like an “Emergency Meeting,” we reach the climax of the film: Miles burns the napkin evidence, and immediately the ensemble is back to the voting booth as Helen, like her sister, fights for the players’ support in voting out the imposter. Any Among Us player will recognise the infuriating feeling when you literally just saw them vent for the love of god you were all there vote them OFF- and that frustration - of speaking the truth and not being believed - is evident in this scene.

But these players don’t care about the truth; they care about surviving (ie staying rich), and so they will vote off an innocent person to placate the shark. Which is absolutely not how you win the game.

Then, then, the game’s final round: the imposter has lost his tools, is revealed for the useless fraud he is, and it’s when he has nothing left to offer the other players that one more vote is held - the characters literally raise their hands as they pledge their support to Helen, in part to give the appearance of swearing in upon the witness stand, but also in part to give the visual of a literal vote... such as that of an Among Us emergency meeting vote.

And it’s when Miles is finally, rightfully ejected that at last, the game is won.

Among Us is a game of social engineering, of lying and convincing others of your lies to prolong your survival, deception, and the malleability of truth. Presenting this game in the opening of the film is more than a gimmick or scene-setter: it illustrates the social structures at the heart of the story.

TLDR: Among Us foreshadows the film’s premise, but also plot twists, character choices, and significantly the film’s resolution by way of group vote.

[normasshearer]

CELIA JOHNSON as Alix Kinross in IN WHICH WE SERVE (1942) dir. David Lean

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Portal 2 AU - miscellaneous.

-

AU tag

[ariariari-freehounreal]

Something is coming

[autism-swagger]

Is this trend still a thing.

Reblogging is better than just liking.

[kevinsdsy]

LMAOOO SO THIS PICTURE IS FROM PT. 11 OF MY SOCIAL MEDIA TROJANS AU

and right now i was just scrolling through twitter minding my business and guess what showed up on my tl 😭

they’re twinsies your honour 😭

[lieutenantselnia]

Random appreciation post for TV shows about special task forces that are also oddly endearing (found) families, they just have a very special place in my heart❤️

Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971)

The Penguins of Madagascar (2008-2015)

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021-2024)