#very much inspired by Die Young - Kesha

[immortallylightbird]

Prompt #12

(SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME)

Three different pairs of eyes snap open in tandem, each during different points in time. But all equally confused on what was going on.

————

Danny Fenton awoke with a gasp, phantom pains shooting up his arm. The halfa looked around frantically before sighing in relief at the sight of his room. He grabbed his phone to see what ungodly hour he woke up at, only to stare in bewilderment at the date that was displayed on the screen.

'That couldn't be right.' He thought to himself, frowning. Last he checked it was not 20XX. Nor was it two months before the portal accident. After a bit of contemplating he groaned, getting out of bed and starting to get ready for the day while internally cursing Clockwork. He couldn't even visit the time ghost to yell at him! Danny then spluttered as a bright green sticky note was slapped onto his face.

'Have fun living.'

————

Jason Todd didn't immediately open his eyes, that'd be stupid and would against any and all training he got from Bruce. He could just tell that something was *off* though. He felt different, he couldn't place exactly what was different but it was definitely something. He carefully listened to his surroundings, trying to see what kinda place he was being kept in. After assessing the room for any potential threats he slowly opened his eyes. His brow furrowed as he looked around what seemed to be his room as a teen when he was living in the manor. Jason slowly sat up and got off the bed. He quickly gauged that his height was immensely different as he walked over to a mirror, he immediately stared in shock. A good description of his reaction would be 'what the actual fuck'. He was a teen again. Like, around the age he stole the batmobile tires. How the hell was that possible? Did Flash fuck up the timeline again?? His gaze drifted to a bright green sticky note.

'Enjoy your time living.'

————

As Peter Parker woke up sitting upright while gasping for air, his first thought was: 'I should be dead.'

But no, he was in his and May's apartment, very much not dust floating through space. He looked around at the many Star Wars Legos and other very distinct things that made up his room. Nothing was changed, and his spidey-sense wasn't going off, but there was definitely something wrong here. Peter looked down at himself, trying to find any evidence that was dusted away before grabbing his phone off his nightstand and looking at the date, 3 months before the snap. How was that possible? He should be dead- no, he WAS dead. He got up and walked around his room slowly, trying to look for anything that signaled that he was dreaming. There was nothing. It wasn't a hallucination either. Just as he turned around to walk out the door, he spotted a strange bright green sticky note stuck to the door.

'Use your time wisely.'

————

In another realm during a different moment in time, a deity smiled, shifting between forms. He would probably be getting in trouble for this later, but it would be worth it in the end. Afterall, he knew these kids would make the best of the time they had now that they knew of future events.

Well, hopefully. Nothing ever goes according to plan with time.

[mauesartetc]

Redesigning Helluva Beelzebub

Hoo boy, roll up the sleeves for this one.

The Original

In my review of Helluva Boss 108, I mentioned that Beelzebub's character design put me in mind of how some DeviantArt kid's fursona might look. And... Yeah I stand by that statement. The most likely reason I can figure Viv Medrano wanted her to be dog-like was to make a reference to her Die Young music video, which featured an anthro wolf singing a Kesha song (for context, Kesha herself voiced Beelzebub and co-wrote a song for this episode).

But for those who are unaware, Beelzebub's traditional depiction looks nothing like this.

Really the only visual similarities the Helluva version shares with the Infernal Dictionary version are the insect wings, six limbs, and the crown thingy over the head. (At least I think that's a crown-? Kinda hard to tell on both counts.)

Bee's eyes get somewhat more insectoid later in the episode, but that feels like a cop-out. Wow, her eyes and colors changed. Totally a bug demon, right?

They had the same problem in Hazbin Hotel with Katie Killjoy, who's allegedly supposed to be a praying mantis but barely resembles one, even after her transformation.

I understand the desire for fresh takes on old figures, and taking creative liberties so the new interpretation doesn't feel generic. But the changes should at least make sense. By now it's pretty clear Viv couldn't care less about representing Ars Goetia demons faithfully, as demonstrated with Paimon, Andrealphus, and now Beelzebub. You could slap completely different names on these characters and it wouldn't change a thing. I posted this meme a while back but it's never been more relevant:

On top of that, what reason could there possibly be for the design to be this damn complex? Why did she need so many markings on her face? Why did she need so many layers of hair? Why did she need flowing goo for her hair, tail, and body, each requiring dedicated effects animation?

When it comes to a hand-drawn production, less is more. Any superfluous details on a character just make unnecessary work for the animators.

Anyway, here's what Viv has to say about it.

Alright, I'll admit: The lava lamp bit is a little clever. Basically it works as a regular stomach does, but on demonic steroids. But it wouldn't look so much like Viv's making this up as she goes if we'd seen Bee's stomach performing its intended function in the episode. Let her chow down on a giant piece of food (maybe that cotton candy she's been handing out-?) and swallow it, and let Loona (and the audience) see it dissolving in her transparent belly. As a general rule, if it's not shown or explained in the work itself, it's not canon. Like I've said before, Viv: Elaborate on the nuances in the story you're telling, not on social media.

Also, "Her ears are designed after beehives"? Wh...Wha? Ma'am have you ever seen a beehive.

(Hell, even if you told me the ears were inspired by the generic cartoon beehive we're all familiar with, I wouldn't have guessed. There's a difference between being subtle and being vague.)

I can kinda see it in the overall shape, but that's a very specific design inspiration that wasn't clear at all in the design itself. Same with the "animal trainer" thing: I never would have picked up on that if Viv hadn't pointed it out. If a character design doesn't visually convey all the necessary information, it's not a successful design. Show, don't tell. There's a communication breakdown between what Viv's telling us and what Bee's design shows us.

(It's possible she actually meant "Her ears are designed after honeycombs", but even then, each compartment has a specific pentagonal shape that's not coming across at all here.)

I also find it interesting that Bee and Loona have almost the exact same body type. Of course Viv's pretty infamous for samebody syndrome, but it's actually unnerving how similar these two are.

Might this be a reference to Vortex's "type"? Is this foreshadowing a relationship with Loona? Am I overthinking this? Yeah, probably. Viv's demonstrated a clear preference for tall, skinny body types over the years, so it's safer to assume that's the explanation. It's all aesthetics. It ain't that deep. Occam's Razor and all that.

Finally, Bee how the hell does your shirt work.

The Concept

So at this point it seems most logical to lean into the "bee" thing for the redesign, and scrap all the canine elements. As for the blobby hair and tail... yeeeah let's nix those too. We're going for a streamlined version that's easier to animate. And because I ignored the ringmaster look for my redesign of Asmodeus, it only makes sense to do the same for Bee's animal trainer vibe (what little there is) for the sake of consistency. I know this version of Hell has a circus theme with its highest-ranking demons, but there's never been an in-universe explanation for why that is.

Let's look at actual bees, then. A quick peek at Google has informed me that certain insect species have smaller, "simple" eyes (also known as ocelli), in addition to their compound eyes. In bees, this manifests as a triangular grouping of three beady eyes on top of the head.

In her Helluva Boss episode, Bee's full demon form has three eyes, which could be a reference to this triangular arrangement, plus her regular form has two spots on her forehead in addition to the third eye. So it's possible Viv actually did research for something. Pleasantly surprised on that front.

Next, the body. I've noticed that some folks find Bee's skinny body type refreshing, as the sin of gluttony is too often personified with fatness. And that's fair. That's valid. But consider this:

Imagine any Vivziepop character saying that about a chubby person. Imagine the series sending the message that fat people can be sexy too, and that they have worth outside of their appearance, enough for at least one character to consider them girlfriend material. That they're valued and appreciated regardless of this culture's beauty standards (which we know nothing about since the worldbuilding is as thin and flimsy as tissue paper, but whatever). Imagine if this show finally had a fat female character who wasn't relegated to the background. Don't know about y'all, but that would be refreshing to me. And when you take into account all the fat-shaming of a character who isn't even fat, portraying a fat character as attractive would be a nice change of pace for this show.

Now let's talk about clothing. In the episode, Bee's clothes show off a lot of her body, with a cutout crop top and short shorts. We can take a similar approach for the redesign (something that still shows off her chest, belly, and limbs, in keeping with the extroverted "party girl" persona), but that perhaps includes more queenly elements.

The Redesign

Because this is a redesign, many elements were already in place, but I still had to figure out how this character would look as a bee. Here's where the preliminary sketches came in. Lots of trial and error in this process.

Wrestling with this character's face got a lot easier once I realized I could mold it into a pentagonal shape akin to a honeycomb compartment. It took a few tries, but at last, I had a final sketch.

All that was left to do was test out some color combinations.

I tried a few different approaches, but in the end, this is the version I felt worked best.

I used many of the colors from the original, but pushed the orange much harder since orange is the symbolic color of gluttony as a sin. And overall it gives Bee a nice honey-ish look rather than the generic black and yellow we already see on so many bees in cartoons. I thought the colored outlines on her clothing would add a soft, feminine touch, as well.

And just for kicks, here's a quick sketch of her giant form, inspired by the Infernal Dictionary drawing of Beelzebub.

Conclusion

The canon version of this character exists in the form she does for no reason than to stroke her creator's ego. "Hey guys, remember when I animated that Kesha fan video? Remember how cool that was? Wanna see me foist this unnecessarily-complex character design on other animators while I take a victory lap?" I wouldn't mind so much if Viv animated any of this herself, but she didn't. I could almost excuse this if she had no animation experience and didn't know how much work it requires, but she does. The self-aggrandizing entitlement is just off the charts. But a nonsensical design is leagues better than a stolen one, so... brownie points for that, I guess.

[radioluminescentoblivion]

Hazbin Hotel: The Corruption of Creativity. Part 1

1. Introduction

Hello everyone, I normally don’t make huge posts like these, but I thought it would be important to make this review and discussion about the latest animated show on Amazon Prime, Hazbin Hotel, and the people behind the scenes who worked on the show, mostly the show creator Vivziepop. Back in 2019 when I first watched the animated pilot of Hazbin Hotel, I was interested to see how this show, if picked up, would go about with its story. Like many people who were still fans of Vivziepop’s work, I wanted to see this show become a good adult animated series. In fact, as the production was going on behind closed doors, I supported viv and her work via Patreon for a time and bought some merch from Sharkrobot.com to help fund her endeavors—I even still have my Angel Dust t-shirt and Hazbin Hotel poster in a black picture frame. 

2. Personal Fan Origins

Though I wasn’t an og follower of viv back in her older days on DeviantArt, I was introduced to her work around 2014-2015, that’s when I originally saw her fan-animated Kesha Die Young music video and since then I became a fan of her work and was obsessed with her means of creating very expressive and stylistic characters. Vivziepop was the artist who not only introduced me to the furry community, she was also a big inspiration for my artwork and still is to some extent now, had it not been for her, I don’t think I would’ve been in the position I’m in now to make art or it would’ve taken me much longer than where I started. 

But as much as I was a casual fan of her work, I was also a skeptic of her as a person over time. Primarily due to how she would be overly defensive towards criticism, radiate a toxic personality on others and friends of hers, and how she would intentionally and unintentionally weaponize her audience against those that landed on her blacklist. These traits would only become more apparent over time, but I like many others had the mindset of “separating the art from the artist” And while there is some validity to be made on that notion, it makes it all the harder when the person intentionally makes the art inseparable from who they are or they’re still active or alive and will constantly change their position or view on things. I know there’s a much deeper discussion to be had about this notion and how relevant it actually is, but for the sake of this post, I won’t dive into it that much. 

Watching Helluva Boss in 2019 onward would prove to be a conflicting experience since the first time watching the first season wasn’t as bad, some episodes had some strong character development, decent action scenes, and enjoyable songs. 2, 5, and 6 were some of my favorites in the series, but around season 2 episode 4, I was losing interest and I began to see the cracks in the show and noticed that the charm had dwindled going into the second season. Episode 6 was where I stopped which is funny because the last episode (at least currently) was episode 7 which I didn’t even bother to give any attention to because I didn’t like the show much anymore: The characters were losing whatever charm they had originally, making the characters I did like lose that vibe I enjoyed and those I didn’t like before I just didn’t care or it made it all the worse, the pacing didn’t get any better as the show was always going so quickly but rarely having time to sit down and digest even when there were scenes that had those moments, and for a show that would have differing times from 10-30 minutes, it made it all the more rushed, the stories were all over the place in a way I had no fun engaging with or could get behind, sometimes plot points like D.H.O.R.K.S’s evidence of demons would be revealed but never brought up again or have the same impact on the show, and some of the songs were forgettable (though I did enjoy Cotton Candy).

After I stopped giving HB a watch I decided to be patient and wait for when Hazbin Hotel would drop, and on January 18th, 2024, the first episode would drop to present the new show to the world.

3. Hazbin Hotel Review (Spoilers, Obviously)

Summary - 

Hazbin Hotel is an adult animated series about the daughter of Lucifer named Charlie Morning Star, a demon princess seeking to rehabilitate sinners in a less violent way to combat overpopulation in hell. Along the way, she manages to get support from the enigmatic radio demon named Alastor who helps Charlie and Vaggie bring in sinners in an attempt to redeem their souls for a price while trying to be as cooperative as she can with the odds stacked against her. 

When I first watched the premiere of the show, I wasn’t really blown away or impressed by it, which isn’t a bad thing since not a lot of shows have a strong start with their early episodes in the season. Where it did get interesting however was around 4-6 when it started to focus more on character development and give some time for the main cast to shine and maintain some consistency with the story, though this has its limits. There were also some decent songs, some funny dialogue, and even some sprinkling of action around the end. Unfortunately, in the later episodes, it started to fall back to where the show lost its touch. So let me get around to the pros and cons of Hazbin Hotel:

The Good -

As someone who felt burnt out from Helluva Boss, this is an improvement as far as comparing viv’s older work goes, which is a slight benefit. 

Performances are great as far as voices go, especially when you have people like Keith Davids in your line up, though I would be a little more positive on the casting choices if it didn’t also come at the cost of the old cast, I genuinely believe they should’ve been given additional voice roles if not main ones for the show, so that sucks. 

Songs can be hit or miss in this show, with More Than Anything (both the first and reprise) and Loser Baby being the better examples and the rest not sticking out to me as much, either because I don’t think they had as much impact or they felt out of left field. I think it would’ve been better to not have every episode with a song number unless it was a grand introduction to something (i.e. Poison, Loser Baby, More Than Anything). Though I don’t expect this to be a popular opinion so whatever

The visuals are fairly competent with few to no issues that caught my eye, my only critique would be that due to how fast everything feels it can be hard to follow what's all happening, not to mention having the background and background characters look as eye-catching as the main cast can throw people off of where they should put their focus on. It's not as terrible enough where I loathe it, but it could make some contrast of who/what you should pay more attention to. 

The Bad -

The story loses track of the main premise of Charlie trying to redeem sinners and her relationship with Vaggie. The side plots don’t interest me as much aside from Angel Dust and Husk having some empathy for each other slowly through the series, and the other main cast aren’t nearly explored as much. Idk the best way to describe it, but it seems that most of the focus of the side characters isn’t where it should be (the hotel’s residents) and more so on those outside the hotel, which I think would’ve worked better in the second season rather than just the first. If season one was just focusing on the residents, Charlie and Vaggie more than the other characters, I wouldn’t mind that. I think the only exceptions to this would be the hell overlords discovery of how to fight back and Lucifer helping Charlie with the hotel. But back to the main cast, Charlie and Vaggie’s moments of romance and bonding seem few and far between, which sucks since this is supposed to be about them right? RIGHT?! The potential is just wasted.

Not every song is needed or has a place in every episode, though that could be because I wasn’t feeling them as strongly compared to the ones mentioned. Not much else to say there that hasn’t already been said.

Characters don’t appeal to me as much aside from Niffty and Sir Pentious (they’re the best) and unfortunately, the characters I should care about don’t get enough time to shine due to how this show is hastily paced—which leads me to my next negative.

Pacing is absolutely atrocious, for episodes that last 30 minutes, it feels like everything has happened yet also little has happened in such a short period of time (which is insane to me) Viv has had pacing issues in the past with her work which is concerning to me, mostly because she wasn’t always this speedy with her series, there were times she had more breathing room for her older works for instances like the Son of 666 and Timber, even the short Bad Luck Jack (which I liked) suffered from this in ways. Idk what exactly happened, but it seems like viv’s workflow has just gotten worse over time, and her artistic magic, patience, etc has just vanished.

Jokes? For what attempt of humor was there, it was very little. Once in a while, there was a joke that stuck the landing or made me chuckle, such as Charlie and Alastor swearing unexpectedly, only because it’s so out of left-field you wouldn’t expect it, so the joke works. Or when Niffty and Sir Pentious act their usual awkward selves in front of others. But everything else is just not funny to me because the majority of the humor is either sex or profanity jokes that don’t have that great of build-up or go for something more than just “haha adult words” which ironically makes it more juvenile than adult. I don’t mind stupid humor, but make it funny and not because you want to say “fuck” for the sake of it. Even if it’s just for casual talk, it's overly excessive. It doesn’t hurt to find humor in other ways even if those don’t land either, it's better than just resorting to profanity and sex.

Additional Comments -

When it comes to Vivziepop’s older works, it’s better than Helluva Boss but weaker than her shorts or animated music videos (fan-made or original), the strongest elements within the series lie within the hump of the season and fall short from the beginning and end. Though as annoying as that is, it pales in comparison to the other elements in the show. 

Heaven’s methods of carrying out exterminations every year to dissuade the populace of hell from rebelling is just a very dumb thing to do when there are so many other ways to shatter the morale of a persecuted people or nation without lifting a single sword that would’ve been better implemented and create a larger divide between heaven and hell and less costly as well. Perhaps this is just to further showcase how arrogant and incompetent Heaven is, but I have my doubts on that. 

Alastor as a manipulative radio host works well between Charlie and Vaggie, though I wish they wouldn’t have explained his ties to the disappearances of hell’s overlords so soon, it just takes away from his mysterious nature as this eldritch being. That part to me would’ve worked later on. (Yeah, I’m also aware they did something similar in the pilot too, which brings up another issue I have) 

Continuity between the pilot and the first episode is pretty murky, it doesn’t help matters when the plot of the pilot and the series episodes get collaged in so haphazardly. If I never heard of Hazbin Hotel or Vivziepop’s work before, I’d kinda be thrown off a bit and try my best to catch up on what’s going on. I don’t expect an expose of how everything works, but an organic flow of how things come together would’ve been nice. For instance: the pilot itself feels more like an episode one than the actual episode 1 of the first season. I know the point of the pilot isn’t as strict in its rules, since it's supposed to sell an idea to a network or distributor. Hell, The Amazing Digital Circus does something similar to how Hazbin Hotel does with presenting a first-episode introduction into the world and characters, only it does it far better and it hasn’t even gotten its first episode out yet, but I don’t want to compare apples to oranges on two different shows. The point is, the first episode should’ve had a better flow to it or at least maintained something more consistent like the pilot did. 

But by far the most glaring problem in the show isn’t part of the show itself believe it or not. But to keep this short, I’ll leave that for part 2. 

4. End of Part 1 

Originally when I watched the series I gave this a 7/10 on IMDB because I came at this from a perspective of how I would judge the work based on viv’s prior craft, this gave it a point above Helluva Boss, primarily with pacing, and direction of what it should be about and where to focus the story and characters. That being said, I was being very generous and didn’t also factor in on how it stood on its own two feet, and to be honest? It's not that good. For the first season of a new adult animated show, it’s too rushed, and not fleshed out enough in areas where it needs to be, The majority of the characters I have little interest or investment in, and despite having its moments, it's not enough to keep me hooked to know what happens within the next season. 

This would bring it down to 1 point for that to a 6/10, I know some fans would put the blame on Amazon, A24, or Bento, but here’s the thing, other shows have had episodes with similar limited space and time to tell their stories yet do a far more superior job in doing so than this, from what I understand, Amazon seems pretty open for a studio big or small to do as they please with what resources they have to get out what they can regardless of the restraint of episodes to be made, thereby making studios try their best to work harder on making a show work with such little episodes, so I see this mostly as a personal thing with viv and her team than just amazon. 

Now I would just leave it at that and move on, but I’m afraid this is where things get more muddy and grim.

[melonjelllo]

Lunar Café and Solar Sprites Asks from Instagram

These are some Lunar Café Asks from Instagram stories from the past few months.

Ask Tobias!

Q: What kind of novel are you writing?

Tobias: Murder Mystery, 1800s, Agatha Christie inspired. Love isolated mysteries.

Q: Is the red natural? It looks nice! ^^

Tobias: Yes, it’s natural and thank you (//>//<//)

Get to know Bruce

Q: Favorite food ♡3♡

Bruce: Radishes or spicy ramen for sure! I can’t pick TToTT

Q: Favorite season?

Bruce: Spring! It’s still chilly enough to wear hoodies, but there are so many beautiful colors! (Plus it’s radish season :})

Q: Any hobbies?

Bruce: Other than graphic design, I love reading comic books and most recently cooking. Though cooking is something I’m not particularly good at, I find it very relaxing and enjoyable.

Q: What is your favorite art medium?

Bruce: There is the obvious digital art where I use my trusty drawing tablet. But for traditional art, I love markers. The cheaper the marker, the better.

Get to know Amelia!

Q: Do you go to the Lunar Café Miss Amelia? If so, what is your favorite drink?

Amelia: Not as often as I would like. With school and parent permission, I’ve picked Ezra up a couple of times before school from there though. I think his uncle owns it if I’m not mistaken. When I do get something it’s a chai latte with some espresso. Flavor varies depending on my mood.

Q: Any hobbies? Favorite season? ♡^_^

Amelia: I love crafting! Anything from hand puppets to scrapbooking ^^ As for seasons, definitely fall! Cozy sweaters, warm drinks, and new students to meet! Plus I can see my old students again and how much they’ve grown.

And the Solar Sprites Asks from Instagram

What would you like to know about Macaroni and/or Mel?

Q: What are their go-to karaoke songs?

Mel: Die Young by Kesha, hands down. In my vocal range and great to sing full volume to.

Macaroni: What makes you think I would ever partake in something as silly as karaoke?

Mel: He always does Fancy by Twice.

Macaroni: How. Dare you.

Mel: • 3<

Meet Volu!

Q: Hi!!Question: how do you feel about… crocs (The shoes)?

Volu: Comfort and you can decorate them?? I mean the answer is obvious. Though they cost a fortune so I’m happy with my off-brand pair that’s lasted me just as long and are just as comfy.

[thinking-outline]

#thout #thinkingoutline

“I Take Responsibility” and the Limits of Celebrity Activism

The current cultural moment is one whose urgency feels particularly ill-suited to the sort of vapid pageantry on display in the video made to promote the “I Take Responsibility” initiative.Source: Confluential Films / YouTube

Hollywood is perhaps one of the last places to look for inspiration—practical, emotional, or otherwise—in times of crisis. Still, our gilded class’s response to the societal shitstorm that has dominated our minds and screens for the last four months has felt notably unfastened. In April, the comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres made headlines when she joked that life while quarantined in her ten-thousand-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion felt like “being in jail.” The same week, the Times reported on the four hundred inmates being held at Rikers Island for minor parole violations, despite a worsening pandemic. The inmates included Raymond Rivera, a fifty-five-year-old man who, after having his case delayed several months, contracted covid-19 in jail and died the day after state officials lifted the warrant against him. As public sentiment has turned from coronavirus-induced fear to sadness and anger following the tragic killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the celebrity response has ranged from milquetoast to head-scratching.

In a video shared to Instagram on June 2nd, the movie heartthrob turned Silicon Valley financier Ashton Kutcher choked back tears as he recounted a pre-bedtime conversation that he had with his two young children. He explained how his son wanted to be read to first, but Kutcher told him that his sister would go first because “for some boys, girls don’t get to go at all.” The story was meant to serve as a poignant and instructive allegory for the scores of Instagram users who had commented “All Lives Matter” under a recent post of his where he had opined “BLM.” Around the same time, Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of menswear for Louis Vuitton and the founder and C.E.O. of Off-White, was being memed into a fine dust after posting a screenshot of his paltry fifty-dollar donation to a bail fund started by the Miami art collective (F)empower. And, on Thursday, a two-minute video for an initiative bluntly titled “I Take Responsibility” joined the ever-growing canon of the unsought celebrity P.S.A. The video features a coalition of white actors and entertainers asserting their culpability in perpetuating anti-black racism. Filmed in a sombre black-and-white and scored with saccharine piano, the spot shows Sarah Paulson, Stanley Tucci, Kesha, and others vowing no longer to “turn a blind eye” or “allow racist, hurtful words . . . to be uttered in my presence” and “to stand against hate.” The Web site for the initiative allows visitors to decide which vice they feel most guilty of (“Saying racism doesn’t exist,” “not being inclusive,” etc.) and to “make it better today” by pledging to do things like “donate to families affected [by racism]” before directing them to various organizations and petitions. Elsewhere, many celebrities simply invoked proverbial, and often literal, “prayer hands” emoji (🙏)—a de-facto “get well soon” to society and all its ills.

The missed notes have been particularly grating in the pop-music world, where many stars have built careers and amassed huge profits working within black musical traditions and selling their work to black audiences. As black communities are being disproportionately decimated by the coronavirus and black people continue to die at the hands of law enforcement, there are some who feel that figures like Drake should use their gigantic platforms to do more than, say, offer a fan the chance to fly on his private jet. (On June 1st, Drake was challenged by his fellow Toronto artist Mustafah the Poet to match a four-hundred-dollar donation to a black bail-fund network. The rapper reportedly replied, “Say less, brother,” and posted a donation receipt for a hundred thousand dollars.)

A similar desire to push industry leaders toward more decisive action in combatting anti-black racism is likely how #TheShowMustBePaused was first conceived. Led by Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang—two black women who have worked in executive roles at major record labels—the initiative was meant to be an industry-wide day of observance for “the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard.” According to the stated mission on the project’s Web site, the women hoped that this day of reflection would be a positive first step in the effort to “hold accountable the industry at large . . . including major corporations and their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of Black people.” On Tuesday, June 2nd, scores of artists posted black squares on their Instagram feeds, often alongside the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday. Nearly all the major music labels observed the blackout, and explained, with varying levels of specificity, what a continued commitment to this mission would look like at their respective companies. The trend was quickly picked up by many people outside the industry, too. And, somewhat ironically, the flood of black-square posts ended up saturating the #blacklivesmatter tag on Instagram, displacing resources and information that some organizers had been compiling for years. By Wednesday, it was back to business as usual on many artists’ feeds—after all, there were deluxe-edition albums to promote.

The current cultural moment is one whose urgency feels particularly ill-suited to the sort of vapid pageantry that typically constitutes the “socially conscious” arm of a celebrity’s public-relations repertoire. Given all the vested corporate interests that celebrities have, and the timeworn tradition of rewarding famous people for the appearance of political integrity more than its actual presence, it’s wishful to expect every musician with more than a million followers to be schooled in the perils of systemic racial inequality, much less to be equipped to speak publicly about it. In fact, it would probably be in our collective best interest that not all of them did. Still, one hopes that, among the faction of the highly followed and highly influential who were jumping to post black squares and vague sentence fragments, there are some who could use their visibility to do more. The increased pressure on artists to monetize their personal brands and the subsequent professionalization of social media have turned these solipsistic Internet spaces into de-facto storefronts for mini corporations. Sadly, it seems that many of the famous names behind these accounts have also adopted the sort of risk-averse, politically opaque rhetoric favored by Fortune 500 companies—opting for tepid platitudes and lazy hashtag activism in lieu of more resolute (and potentially alienating) public displays.

The tiptoeing of the entertainment industry’s biggest names has been made all the more conspicuous by the activity of their less popular peers. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and now in the wake of the George Floyd murder and other police-related violence, smaller and independent artists have used their reach to compile and disseminate resources like recommended viewing and reading lists (flawed as they may be), to amplify the work of organizers, and to publicize bail funds to donate to in support of the many protesters who have been arrested in cities across the country, and they have gone to protests themselves. Corpus Family Mutual Aid Fund, the initiative started by the New York creative collective affiliated with the Queens hardcore band Show Me the Body, has amassed more than twenty-two thousand dollars in just over a month, with the bulk of proceeds going to members of the New York City D.I.Y. music scene who have been financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Of course, not all of the ultra-famous have blown hot air. Various high-profile figures have disrupted their seemingly endless promotion cycles and retrofitted their social channels to speak pointedly about the current moment. One such figure is “Star Wars” ’s John Boyega. Despite apparent pushback from some of his fans, the British actor, who is of Nigerian descent, has been very outspoken in disparaging racism and brutal policing and has voiced support for protests around the world. On June 3rd, a video of an impassioned Boyega addressing the crowd at a large Black Lives Matter demonstration in London circulated widely online. Elsewhere, figures such as the Chicago rapper Noname, whose popular online book club has highlighted titles by Frantz Fanon, Paulo Freire, and Octavia Butler, have continued to use their platforms to galvanize their following and espouse their unequivocal beliefs. Some celebrities who in the past had been perhaps overzealous in exploiting their soapbox (ahem, Kanye) even seem to have stepped back and taken a more measured approach this time around.

What shouldn’t be overlooked is the work that plain old non-celebrity people have been doing. Within the past few weeks, funds for, among other causes, pretrial bail for trans people being held in New York City jails, George Floyd’s young daughter Gianna, and Ramsey Orta—the man who filmed the murder of his friend Eric Garner in 2014 and was released from prison this year—have been flooded with contributions. Bail-fund organizers in particular have seen an unprecedented spike in support in recent weeks. Many people have been posting receipts of their donations and challenging friends in their network to match them.

What these examples show is not that every single celebrity has to commit to leading the revolution but what can happen if these platforms were treated less like public-relations buildouts and more like the powerful communication channels and resource vectors that they are. Ideological fluffiness on the part of people with huge online followings can be at its best a wasted opportunity and at its worst deleterious to more substantive activism happening on social media. A #blacklivesmatter post on Jennifer Lopez’s Instagram page reaches an audience larger than those of most regional television stations. And although reposting an aerial video of a street mural is nice, it lacks the efficacy of a bail-fund link to free those arrested while marching across it.

[weshallneverrevolt]

Porter Robinson - Worlds (2014)

I like EDM. There, I said it.

I think it’s a fun genre, music made for feeling alive and happy and young. Yes, it is a genre of clichés, rehashed ideas, and fans that tread the line between endearing and grating. But the sheer output of its artists results in a sort of centrifuge of ideas that, when it finally spits a new one out, is brilliance.

It’s also a very millennial genre. EDM is arguably the first genre of music we can claim as our own. Sure, electronic music has been around for years, but the especially melodic, loud, fist-pumping festival anthems of “EDM” are something new. They’re ours.

So much as records like Illmatic and The White Album pushed their genres and subgenres forward, there have been some definite trailblazers in EDM. My state’s very own Porter Robinson is one of those guys, and his album Worlds might do the same for our genre. Only time will tell if it holds up with those records above, but it’s still pretty damn good.

To explain why I think Worlds deserves more attention, I’m going to take a little detour into a very different genre of music.

I love Billy Joel. His album The Nylon Curtain (released 1982) has stirring songs about America reconciling itself with a world after Vietnam, a world where globalism was fast eclipsing the American dream. “Goodnight Saigon” tracks soldiers from training through the jungles of Asia; “Allentown” looks back home at blue collar workers.

But it stands out because the wounds were still fresh. Some had aged a bit – America left Vietnam in 1973 – and some were still ongoing, like the decline of Detroit and steel plant closures of the early 80s. It blended emotional immediacy with wisdom, expressing the fear of times still coming and gratitude for times long gone. Responsible nostalgia, if you will.

The Nylon Curtain’s songs are very authentic in that way, which is why they still resonate. Parts of “Allentown” sound like something Bernie Sanders would say:

“Every child has a pretty good shot To get at least as far as their old man got But something happened on the way to that place They threw an American flag in our place.”

As I mentioned in my entry about Kesha’s Rainbow, authenticity is extremely important for great music. Kanye put it best: when you try hard, that’s when you die hard. It’s why we cringe now at emo bands: the whole struggle feels a bit like a ruse.

I promised this would somehow connect to an EDM album from 2014. Worlds works because of who made it and the time he grew up in. Porter’s lyrics are escapist rather than introspective, and I doubt his synths will age as well as Billy Joel’s piano. But his album’s sound is one that evokes a very specific aesthetic, one that only someone from his time could represent accurately.

Above: Visuals from the “Worlds” tour by the Invisible Light Network.

Wordsworth said that poetry is a “spontaneous overflow of emotion, recollected in tranquility.” Worlds is a spontaneous overflow of 90s-00s geek nostalgia, reflected in tranquility. With bangers.

If you’re reading this, you likely had a similar childhood to Porter Robinson. He grew up in the 1990s, surrounded by video games, anime, and a world whose technology outpaced its maturity. It was an exciting and overwhelming time to be a kid.

Worlds is an album that owes a great debt to those influences, and that sensation of wonder.

The music is the most obvious part, marrying 16-bit video game synths with the brighter, clearer ones of modern dance music. Much of the album sounds like the soundtrack of a video game that never got made. ”Flicker” is a funky groove that would fit in a Final Fantasy item shop, complete with a cute Japanese counter girl. The thick textures of “Hear the Bells” would fit perfectly in a full-motion video ending, where a spiky haired hero watches an airship soar into the distance.

Despite that, this is not a chiptune album, very much adopting the modern principles of EDM: chopped and screwed samples, sing-a-long choruses, and lyrics that evoke togetherness and the power of the moment. Though the driving melody of “Years of War” soars above a pixelated skyline, its lyrics evoke burning it down. That mix of rage and youthful energy is echoed in the festival-friendly chorus of “Lionhearted.” Even “Sad Machine” would work at a festival despite its sci-fi tropes, with its hymn-like chorus of “she depends on you.”

Porter’s nostalgic sounds do distance him from his contemporaries, as do his lyrics. Take “Polygon Dust” for instance. Many an EDM banger has mentioned the importance of “tonight,” but this song also seems to mourn something, maybe tonights that weren’t so carefully guarded. “Sad Machine” is also a very lonely song, where the only characters are a protagonist and a mysterious robot girl they’ve just awakened.

That balance places the nostalgia of this album in the same category as The Nylon Curtain. It’s not idealized: it’s wistful. It wishes nostalgia was more powerful than it actually was. There’s a longing in these scenes, from the adolescent male fantasy of “Sad Machine” to the long-distance friendship in “Fresh Static Snow.”

A lot of period pieces feel fake because their creators never experienced their subjects. Worlds feels so authentic because, like Billy Joel, Porter lived through his influences. He escaped into those worlds just like we did.

But despite all that retro navel-gazing, Worlds is an album made today. And the world today sucks.

It’s easy to see why the predictable heroism of 90s RPGs, the bright futures of science fiction, the colors and whimsical stories of anime, the decisive victories of superheroes all comfort us as adults. They’re a tattered blanket, fragments of the world outside our windows before adulthood peeled back the curtains. They’re what we spend our nights at home doing when we’re tired of Facebook and the news and each other.

Nostalgia is the purest form of escapism because it involves a world we once knew. It’s one that requires no influence other than living, and one that lets us pretend more than any costume. Worlds, the EDM musicians it learned from and the culture that inspired it are all about pretending, about being somewhere else.

More than escapism in and of itself, Worlds is an ode to escapism. It’s a memorial for all the places that both never existed and have always existed inside of us. Perhaps that’s why Porter moved away from his first EP’s heavy dubstep influences: he missed those places.

Those places, more than any of Porter’s Worlds, are what he pines for in this lyric from “Fellow Feeling:”

“I cried, for I did not think it could be true; That you and I might have always known one another And that we could not only evoke, but conjure a place of our own That everywhere - that has ever existed Was all in service of our dream.”

Further Listening

“Sad Machine” Cover by Didrick and Ember Island – a beautiful rock version of Worlds’ most popular song with non-vocaloid vocals and real instruments.

“Shelter” – a collaboration with Madeon, another great EDM producer who shares Porter’s influences. The video is an anime short made with Japanese studio A-1 Pictures.

“Goodnight Saigon” – a hella dope EDM banger! Just kidding, it’s a piano rock ballad from The Nylon Curtain.

“Language” - a song from Porter Robinson’s pre-Worlds career that showcases the origins of some of the sounds on his debut album.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND March 29, 2019  - GODZILLA vs. ROCKETMAN vs. MA

As I mentioned over at The Beat, this is gonna be a doozy of a weekend, one where we can see some interesting things at the box office as three fairly strong movies open against the second weekend of Disney’s Aladdin.

The big (and I do mean “BIG”) movie of the weekend, and one I quite enjoyed was Mike (Krampus) Dougherty’s GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (Warner Bros.), which continues the story set in Legendary Pictures’ 2014 reboot and adds new characters, and more importantly, MORE MONSTERS!!! I think there are still fans of Godzilla out there who will want more monsters and hopefully an interesting way to build on the Shared Universe being created by Legendary with next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong. I hope this movie does well enough that they keep making these movies, which I’m sure aren’t inexpensive.

You can read my review of that here, and check out my interview with Mr. Doughtery over at The Beat.

A movie that I was surprised by how much I LOVED LOVED LOVED is Dexter Fletcher’s ROCKETMAN (Paramount), starring Taron Egerton as singer/songwriter Elton John.  It’s a straight-up jukebox musical of a biopic that uses John’s songs as the framework to share his memories with Egerton singing most of the songs himself. He’s absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t even be remotely surprised if he is nominated and wins in the Lead Actor category, because he gives an unprecedented performance.  (I’m hoping I can finish up my glowing review of the movie soon, but as you can surmise from the above, I loved the movie and I recommend it highly to anyone not interested in Godzilla – but I question those who aren’t interested in Godzilla, too.)

MY REVIEW OF ROCKETMAN

I wasn’t quite a big fan of Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer’s MA (Universal), a thriller with a fun premise that finally puts Spencer in the spotlight with a leading role. That said, I do feel like it gives way too much away in the trailers. It’s definitely a weird and pretty effed up movie, and Spencer is great, as is the young cast, but it just didn’t connect with me or wow me as much as I hoped. I wish I had more time to write a review, but I will have an interview with Tate Taylor soon. (Honestly, the interview didn’t go great, which didn’t help when I wasn’t that enamored with the film in the first place.)

LIMITED RELEASES

My favorite movie of the weekend, outside of Rocketman, and one of the few I’ve seen is the new film from Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasion). THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE (Sony Pictures Classics) seems like a different movie from him, starring Alexandre Landry as Pierre Paul Daoust, a courier who happens upon a botched robbery and ends up taking millions of dollars left behind by the robbers.  Of course, he uses his newfound riches to hire a high-priced escort (Maripier Morin), who he falls in love with, and hires an ex-con imprisoned for money laundering (Remy Girard) to be his financial adviser. Unfortunately, the gang whose money he stole and the police are all looking for the money, and they get very violent with anyone they think might know where it is.  It’s another fantastic ensemble piece from Arcand that has all of his humor but is a bit darker and more violent, and there are aspects of the film that reminds me of the films of David Mamet. Ultimately, it’s quite an amazing fable about how if you help out others (as Pierre Paul does), things will come back to you in return.

Filmmaker Brian de Palma is back with DOMINO (Saban Films), which stars Game of Thones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a Danish police officer named Christian who wants to get justice for his partner killed by an ISIS member. This puts him into a conflict with a CIA agent (Guy Pearce) who is using that ISIS member to trap others. Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to see this, but it also stars Carice van Houten (from Black Book) and it will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday.

Premiering at Film at Lincoln CenterFriday is Dominga Sotomayor’s Too Late to Die Young (KimStim), which takes place in 1990 as Chile transitions to democracy as seen through the eyes of a 16-year-old named Sofia. The movie premiered at last year’s 56thNew York Film Festival, and Sotomayor will be in town for screenings on Friday and Saturday.

Premiering at the Metrographto correspond with and tie into the theater’s Northern Ireland: Battle of Images series (see below in Repertory) is Donal Foreman’s THE IMAGE YOU MISSED, which goes through thirty years of footage left behind by his late father Arthur MacCaig (who has two movies in the series) and shows never-before-seen images from the war in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’m deploy interested in the “Troubles” that plagued the area for decades, and I hope I can get over there to see this and some of the movies in the series.

Some interesting stuff at the IFC Center (and possibly other locations) this weekend, including  A.B. Shawky’s Egyptian film Yomeddine, as well Joshuea Riehl’s doc The Russian Five about how a quintet of Russian hockey players helped save the Detroit Red Wings in the late ‘80s. (This has actually played in other parts of the country, but I missed the listing. Sorry!) Richard Miron’s doc For the Birds (Dogwoof) also opens there, looking at a woman named Kathy who has 200 pet chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. It will then move to the Laemlle Monica on June 14.

New York’s Film Forum gets Gerald Fox’s doc Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank (Greenwich) starting Wednesday about the famed photographer.

I wrote about Andrew Slater’s doc ECHO IN THE CANYON (Greenwich) when it opened in L.A. last week, but I finally got a chance to watch it before it opens this Friday at Angelika Film Center, and it’s much better than I expected. The film covers the California Sound out of the Laurel Canyon area in the mid-60s, which included the Beach Boys, the Mamas and Papas, as well as the Byrds and others. I was never really into that scene or music so much but hearing some of these songs again in this context gave me goosebumps, as Slater and exec. producer Jakob Dylan, who does many of the interviews, did a fantastic job telling the story of this music scene.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

There’s some great festivals taking place in New York and surrounding areas as well as a place quite a bit away.

Let me start by mentioning that the New York African Film Festival continues on Thursday up at Film at Lincoln Center, beginning with Frances-Anne Solomon’sHERO: Inspired by the Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross, about a West Indian lawyer who joined the Pan-African movements in the ‘60s. The Centerpiece of this leg of the festival is Joel Karekezi’s The Mercy of the Jungle on Saturday about the Second Congo War. It’s quite a rich line-up that you can read about at either of the links above.

Next, let’s go down to the IFC Center for the 3RD ANNUAL SPLIT SCREENS FESTIVAL which celebrates the “Art and Craft of Television” with a number of amazing events and screenings, beginning Weds. May 29 and running through Monday, June 3. People who attend can see an early screening of Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us and Deadwood: The Movie (see streaming below), as well as events/presentations for CBS’ Instinct with Alan Cumming in person, as well as Pamela Adlon’s Better Things (she’ll be there, too!) and a special presentation of (S)Heroes: Women of Action.  Check out the schedule, because if you’re into television, there is a LOT of great stuff here every year. (I attended theVanguard Award presentation last year for Sandra Oh, for instance.)

If you don’t mind hopping on a train trip out of the city, you should try to get out to the 5th GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, which will present early screenings of lots of movies, as well as panels and presentations with Eva Longoria Baston and Bobby Walker Jr. receiving special honors. Some of the filmsbeing shown include Gurinder Chanda’s Blinded by the Light, Tom Shadyac’s Brian Banks as well as Mads Brügger’s doc Cold Case Hammarskjöld and the doc I Want My MTV. Local animation house Blue Sky Studios has a special panel on Sunday, and there’s also an anniversary party including a performance by Kesha, so this is a pretty big deal.

A bit off the beaten path is this year’s Overlook Film Festival, held in New Orleans, which is becoming one of the must-attend genre film festivals. (Of course, I’ve never attended.) It’s being billed as “a four day celebration of all things horror in America’s most haunted city,” opening with Jim Jarmuch’s The Dead Don’t Die and Tate Taylor’s Ma, but also including a bunch of films that have played festivals like Ant Timpson’s Come to Daddy, starring Elijah Wood, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, which both played the Tribeca Film Festival.

Basically, there’s a lot to do this weekend if you’re not busy with some of the movies mentioned above.

STREAMING AND CABLE

I’m really looking forward to the Netflix romantic comedy ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE, which stars stand-up Ali Wong and Randall Park (one of my favorite comic actors) as childhood friends who have an awkward tryst in college and suddenly run into each other 15 years later. The two actors co-wrote the script, it’s directed by Nahnatchka Khan, exec. producer of Park’s show Fresh Off the Boat, and it also stars Daniel Dae Kim (as Wong’s fiancé who breaks up with her) AND Keanu Reeves! Can’t wait to see this!

Also premiering on Netflix Thursday is the Ava Duvernay=directed series When They See Us (premiering a night early at the Split Screens Festival mentioned above) about the Central Park Five.

HBO will premiere David Milch’s Deadwood: The Movie, which I’ll have to watch but only after rewatching the three seasons which ran from 2004 to 2006, which I haven’t watched since then.

I don’t have DC Universe (yet!) but premiering this Friday is the new SWAMP THING series produced by James Wan, which might finally give me the excuse to subscribe to the network so I can see this as well as Doom Patroland other things I’ve been meaning to check out.

Also streaming on Hulustarting Saturday is Ryan White’s doc Ask Dr. Ruth about Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the Holocaust survivor turned sex therapist who celebrated her 90thbirthday last year.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This is a huge week at the Metrograph as they’re kicking off an extensive Jim Jarmuschseries with some of his best movies, ranging from his earliest film Permanent Vacation (1980) and Stranger than Paradise (1984) right through his 2016 films Paterson and the Stooges doc Gimme Danger. Jarmusch will be there for select screenings, although as of this writing, it hasn’t been announced which ones. This weekend sees Down by Law (1986), Dead Man (1995) and Stranger Than Paradise.

I’m also intrigued by another new series called Northern Ireland: Battle of Images, a series of docs and shorts about the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Sadly, I haven’t seen any of what they’re showing but I generally trust the Metrograph programmers and many of the films in the series only screen once, so don’t miss out.

Late Nites at Metrograph  presents Georges Franju’s 1960 thriller Eyes Without a Face which inspired both John Carpenter’s Halloween and Billy Idol’s hit song, while Playtime: Family Matinees is Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953), which is a great introduction to the French mime-turned-filmmaker. Also, on Wednesday, Metrograph is presenting a new restoration of Derek Jarman’s little-seen 1990 film The Garden (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber), starring Tilda Swinton, which was never been released on DVD or Blu-ray.  (Tilda will introduce a screening of this Tuesday night as well as be there for a sold-out screening of Sally Potter’s Orlando.)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

If I get this up on time, you may be able to see the Weds. matinee of Howard Hawks’Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. Weds. and Thurs. sees a double feature of Eve’s Bayou  (1997) and Daughters of the Dust  (1991), while Friday and Saturday is a Dorothy Arzner double feature of Dance, Girl, Dance(1940) and The Bride Wore Red  (1937). This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is one of my favorite early Disney movies,The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes  (1969), starring a very young Kurt Russell. Friday night’s Midnight movie is Tarantino’s Death Proof, while Saturday’s midnight is the Canadian comedy Outrageous! (1977), starring Craig Russell – no relation to Jane or Kurt, I imagine. Monday afternoon offers a matinee of Neil Jordan’s Anne Rice adaptation of Interview with a Vampire (1994), starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Also, Sunday and Monday sees double features of Stanley Donen’s gay comedy Staircase (1969) and John Huston’s Reflection in a Golden Eye (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema continues its run with Edward Ulmer’s 1940 musical comedy American Matchmaker. Harold Lloyd is back at Film Forum Jr with his 1923 film Safety Last! with piano accompaniment. Also, the international retrospective The Hour of Liberation: Decolonizing Cinema 1966 – 1981continues over the weekend with the 1969 Brazilian film Macunaima, the Bolivian film Blood of the Condor (also from 1969), Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971), Med Hondos’ 1970 filmSoleil O (which is supposed to get a 4k restoration soon), Perfumed Nightmare  (1977) and more.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

TheCassavetes/Scorsese: Love is Strange isn’t quite finished yet, but on Thursday, it continues with Love Streams  (1984) and Casino  (1995).Thom Anderson will be on hand to show his 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday, then on Saturday, there’s a Malcolm McDowell double feature of Cat People in 35mm(1989) and Time after Time (1979). There’s a special FREE event on Sunday for the TV show Good Girls with a panel of the creators/cast that’s followed by a screening of the 1980 movie 9 to 5.

AERO  (LA):

The late French filmmaker Agnes Varda gets a tribute double feature with screenings of One Sings, the Other Doesn’t  (1977) and the 2017 doc Faces Places on Thursday, and then Whit Stilman has a TRIPLE feature Friday for the 25thanniversary of 1994’s Barcelona, along with Metropolitan (1990) and The Last Days of Disco  (1998). Saturday sees a Terry Gilliam double feature of 1985’s Brazil – my all-time favorite #1 film by the way – and 1981’s Time Bandits, and there’s a family matinee of Brian Levant’s The Flintstones  (1994) with Levant in person, celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary. Not to be outdone by Metrograph, they’re showing a double feature of Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise  (1984) and Down by Law  (1986) and next Wednesday, there’s a free screening of Jarmusch’s new movie The Dead Don’t Die.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend, Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance shows Mary Lambert’s movie based on Stephen King’s Pet Sematary  (1989), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad will screen the classic Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Late Night Favorites: Spring will show Dario Argento’s 1977 film Suspiria… again. (Has anyone not seen it at this point?)

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Tribeca hotel-based theater is showing Luchino Visconti’s 1963 film The Leopard in 35mm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, eand then the ‘80s classic The Lost Boys (also on 35mm) Friday.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

Ester Krumbachova: Unknown Master of the Czechoslovakia New Wav eends Wednesday, while the reshowing of Sergei Bondarchuk’s 7-hour 1969 adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace (winner of the Foreign Language Oscar that year) will run this week through Thursday.

MOMA (NYC):

Abel Ferrara: Unrated wraps up this week with China Girl  (1987) on Weds., 2005’s Mary on Thursday and then Ferrara’s fairly recent Alive in France on Friday. TheJean-Claude Carrière series also continues.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Queens-based theater is also showing Thom Anderson’s 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday (as part of an “Essay L.A.” program), but obviously, if you read above, you know that Anderson will actually be in L.A. that night. Saturday afternoon, Jackie Chan’s Police Story  (1985) is playing as part of MOMI’s “See It Big! Action” series.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is the Beatle’s A Hard Day’s Night  (1964).

Next week, it’s Universal’s animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 vs. Fox/Disney’s Dark Phoenix! Plus Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson’s Sundance hit Late Night is also released.

[rebelmeg]

Another survey, you know how I feel about those...

1. You woke up naked next to the last person you texted, what would you say?   “Morning, sunshine.”

2. What’s going on between you and the last person you kissed?  It’s our 11th wedding anniversary today!

3. If your boyfriend or girlfriend was into drugs, would you care?  Yes, because drugs are one of the fastest ways to mess yourself up, and they never really ever let go.

4. Is your last name longer than six letters?  Yep.

5. Was your last kiss drunk or sober?  I’ve never been drunk, all of my kisses have been sober.

6. Have you ever wanted to have someone but you messed it up?  I don’t think having a crush on someone and then moving away when I was 14 really counts...

7. What does your last received text say? *Sobs*  I know!

8. How many times have you kissed the last person you kissed?  Oh, too many to count, been kissing him for 13 years...

9. Where was your last kiss at?  Either on the couch or on the bed.

10. When is the last time you saw your sister?  I saw both of them yesterday!

11. What do you drink in the morning?  Water and Dr. Pepper

12. Where did you sleep last night?  In my bed.

13. Do you think relationships are hard?  They shouldn’t be that hard.  I think being an adult makes life hard, and that stress can easily transfer to relationships.  If a relationship is hard, and it’s not just normal responsible adult stress making it hard, maybe there’s something wrong.

14. If you could go back and change something in the past 5 months, would you?  Oh, I’m sure I would.  Not sure what, I’d have to think about it, but there’s always something I think I could have done better or different.

15. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, any problems?  Absolutely not, he’s my favorite person.

16. Would you rather it be sunny or rainy?  Rainy all the way!

17. Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you?  Um... not off the top of my head, no.

18. Are you wearing jeans, sweatpants, or pajama pants?  Khaki shorts with cotton lace on the hem to make them a little bit longer.

19. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 years from now?  Yep.

20. Does anyone like you?  I think so, yeah.

21. Have you ever kissed someone with a name that starts with an S?  Nope.  There was a D, a B, and a T, and a P ever since then.

22. Is the last person you kissed gay? Nope.

23. Is there a person you CANNOT stand?  Oh, there’s a few...

24. Have you ever considered getting a tattoo?  I save tattoo designs that I like, but I won’t ever actually get a tattoo.  But I do love the art, sometimes I’ll use it as inspiration for other things.  I painted an awesome phoenix on a shirt that was inspired by a tattoo design.

25. In the past week have you cried?  No, not this week.

26. What breed was the last dog you saw?  Saw my mom’s mini American Eskimo yesterday.

27. Do you dry off in the shower or out of the shower?  Both, I usually do top half in the shower, lower half out of the shower, then hair.

28. Have you ever kissed a football player?  Nope, but I had a crush on one once.

29. Do you think you’re old?  Nah, got awhile yet for that.

30. Do you like text messaging?  I like the ease of communication, but I hate typing out long messages.

31. What type of day are you having?  Eh.  Could have slept longer than I did.  Have to do both jobs today, that’s never fun.  But it’s payday, so there’s that.  Paying bills, woot.

32. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced?  Nope, I just have my ears pierced.

33. Do you prefer warm or cold weather? COLD ALL THE WAY, I’M A POLAR BEAR!

34. Is there a person of the opposite sex who means a lot to you?  There’s my hubby, and then all my male family members.

35. Would you prefer a relationship or a fling?  Relationship.

36. Are you a simple or complicated person?  I dunno, depends.  Which probably translates to complicated, but like... I have pretty simple basic needs, but the way I like to do things can be complicated.

37. What song are you listening to?  Hold music... yes, I’m on Tumblr while working... no, I don’t apologize for it.

38. When you say you’re sorry do you mean it?  I try really hard not to.  I like my apologies to be sincere.

39. Is there a girl that knows everything or almost everything about you?  I have a bestie that knows a lot, and also my sister, sister in law, and mom.

40. What made you start liking the person you like now?  I started dating my hubby because he was so cute and awkward and very funny.  He still is, he makes me laugh every day.

41. When did you last receive a text message?  Couple hours ago.

42. What is wrong with you right now?  I’m tired, I am the Grand Empress of Time Mismanagement, I have too much to do, I love food too much and hate exercise way too much, my sleeping schedule is way off, my self-control is on vacation somewhere, and I lost my motivation seeds.  I’m also a wee bit peckish.

43. How well do you know the last female you texted?  That’s my sister, so pretty well.

44. Does anyone disgust you?  Disgusting people do.

45. Would you date someone right now if they asked?  Nope, I’m taken.

46. Are you in a good mood right now?  I’m in an okay mood.

47. Who was the last person you talked to in person?  My hubby.

48. What color shirt are you wearing? Bright sky blue.

49. Has someone recently told you something you didn’t want to hear? Hubby told me it was time to wake up.  I whined at him.

50. Anyone you’re giving up on?  I did last year, then awhile after that they sucker punched me right in my heart, and I really don’t know what’s up with that anymore...  They scrambled to fix it right away, I needed time to recover, and haven’t heard anything since, so... yeah.

51. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? Nope, I love him.

52. Have you ever thought about giving up on someone but couldn’t? Not yet.

53. Do you like rain?  I absolutely LOVE rain!

54. Do you care if your boyfriend/girlfriend drinks?  Yep, there’s no way drinking leads to good things.  We don’t drink.

55. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them?  Probably when I was a teenager.

56. Do you like to cuddle?  I do, yes.

57. Are you shy?  Not really, no.

58. Do you get along with girls?  Yep, I do.

59. Have you dated the person you texted last?  Yep, we dated for two years.

60. What do you carry with you at all times?  My phone.

61. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you?  Sure, why not?  I don’t really believe in that kind of stuff, so it wouldn’t bother me.

62. Do you think you can last in a relationship for five months?  I’ve lasted in one for 13 years, so yeah, I can.

63. Think back to October, were you in a relationship?  Mmhmm.

64. The person you like kisses you on the forehead, do you find this cute?  Yes I do.

65. Did anything “cute” happen in the last week?  Lots of stuff, I’ve got a hubby and two cute girls.

66. How old are the last three people you kissed?  30, 9 and a half, and 3.

67. Would you rather pay to get your nails done or do them yourself?  I always do them myself, I love nail polish and I’m very picky about my nail shape.

68. Which do you like better- Zebra print or leopard print?  I don’t really like either, but probably zebra.

69. Do you have any stickers on your car?  We have a bunch.  Star Wards, Harry Potter, Avengers, Firefly, Batman...

70. Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne?  Luke Bryan!  I love country music.

71. Blackberry, Android, or iPhone?  Android.   

72. When’s the last time you had pizza from Pizza Hut?   Hmm, been awhile, I’m not sure.  Several months, probably.

73. Do you like diet soda?   Ick, no, I can’t handle the aftertaste.

74. What color are the walls in your room?  Off-white, very boring, I’d prefer something way more colorful.

75. Are you 16 or older?   Older

76. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars?   Nope.

77. Do you have a job?   Other than being a mom, I have two.

78. What are your initials?  MEB

79. Did you ever have braces?  No, but I had a spacer when I was a kid.

80. Are you from the south?  Nope, West.

81. What does your last status on Facebook say?  It’s a “happy anniversary to me” message.

82. Do you still talk to the first person you ever kissed?  Occasionally, we were friends in high school and we’re Facebook friends.  He’s a super weird dude.

83. Are you closer to your mom or your dad?  Uh, maybe mom, but I’ve been pretty close to my dad in recent years.

84. Have you ever done cheerleading or gymnastics?  Nope, but I did ballet and tap when I was a kid.

85. What’s the last movie you saw in theaters?  We saw Wonder Woman and Spiderman: Homecoming on the same day a couple weeks ago!

86. Do you smoke?  Nope, never have.

87. Would you rather wear heels or flip flops?   I adore high heels, but they hurt to wear, so I wear flip flops more often.

88. Is your phone touch screen?  Yep.

89. Do you normally wear your hair straight or curly?   It’s naturally curly/wavy, so my ponytail is usually that way.

90. Have you ever snuck out of your house?  Yep.

91. Would you rather swim in a river, lake, or pool?  Pool, it’s more clean.

92. Have you ever made out in a car?  Several cars, yes, in and on top of.

93. …Had sex in a car?  Several cars, yes, in and on top of.

94. Are you single or in a relationship?  Happily in a relationship.

95. What were you doing last night at midnight?  Watching Iron Man.

96. When’s the last time you saw fireworks?  We did them on the third of this month, my family came down and we set some off.

97. Do you like the camera on your phone?  Ugh, no, it sucks!  I keep my old phone on hand because the camera is so much better.

98. Have you ever had a friend with benefits?  Nope.

99. Have you ever passed out from drinking?   I’ve never had alcohol.

100. Are you friends with people on Facebook that you actually hate?  Nope, I don’t do that kind of nonsense.

101. Have you ever had a pregnancy scare?  Yep.

102. Name your favorite Kesha song:  Die Young

103. Do you have any tan lines right now?   Yep, farmers tan on the neck/chest and arms.

104. Would you ever wear cowboy boots with shorts?   I don’t think I could get away with it, but some people can.

[healthisfunbuddy]

19 Ways Your Body Modifications When You Fall in Love

How your body reacts to like

Butterflies in your stomach, a racing heartbeat-- you most likely keep in mind those symptoms well from your first middle school crush. As an adult, they're really your body's subtle clues that you're falling in love (or desire, a minimum of). At the start of a relationship, a series of truly fascinating chain reaction happen throughout your anxious system and hormonal agents. From the very first time you satisfy to climbing up under the sheets, here's what's happening to your body as you fall in love.

Remaining in love resembles a drug dependency

Kesha wasn't too away when she described love as a drug, according to a 2010 study carried out at Rutgers University. Researchers concluded that falling in love is just like the sensation of feeling addicted to drugs with the release of euphoria, consisting of brain chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, and vasopressin. Kat Van Kirk, PhD, a medical sexologist and certified marriage and household therapist, says these chemicals are launched throughout various points of tourist attraction, and assist bond you with your partner. Like drugs, the more time you invest with this person, the more addicted you end up being, she says.

It's likewise like being intoxicated

Having a few a lot of glasses of wine makes you less inhibited, fearful, and

anxious, and more aggressive and boastful-- therefore does oxytocin, the"love hormonal agent,"according to a University of Birmingham study. Scientist pooled existing research into the effects of both oxytocin and alcohol and although they affect different parts of the brain, they have comparable results.

Your cheeks flush, palms sweat, and heart races

Before a big date, you might discover your heart

rate tick up and your hands get sweatier. It's not simply a nervous tick that causes your stress and anxiety to rise; it's actually the stimulation of adrenaline and norepinephrine, says Dr. Kirk. "This can result in having a physical experience of craving and the desire to focus your attention on that particular individual," she states.

Your students dilate

When you're brought in to someone-- sitting across from you at the bar, on the street, laying in bed together-- there is a stimulation in your nerve system's supportive branch, which causes your eyes to dilate, states Dr. Kirk. (Proceed, you can test it with your partner-- it's fun!)

You might feel a little ill

It's normal to lose your cravings or worry when you have actually simply begun seeing someone brand-new. That's your body's method of informing you that you really like that individual. "Lovesickness might actually be the stress hormonal agent cortisol contracting the blood vessels in your stomach, making you feel sick," Dr. Kirk states.

This typically fades over time as you become more comfortable with your boyfriend or girlfriend-- but could also partly explain why numerous couples feel like they cannot consume at their wedding.

Remaining in love may give you superpowers

Ever heard stories of stressed moms raising vehicles off their trapped children? While it might appear insane that the mix of love and worry can provide you abrupt superhuman strength in an emergency, anecdotal proof suggests it truly can take place.

(It's basically difficult to clinically investigate this phenomenon, called hysterical strength, since it's challenging to reproduce those conditions for a research study.) It's not just parents who have actually experienced hysterical strength; people who are in love have, as well.

"The oxytocin released in your system when you fall in love can actually increase your tolerance for physical pain," Dr. Kirk says. Move aside, Prince Charming-- love will save the day.

You will not be able to keep your eyes off your partner

There's a clinical factor why you have photos of

your love set as your mobile phone background or framed on your desk. The desire to actually take a look at your partner's face originates from the brain's release of dopamine, says Dr. Kirk. "This is the exact same impact on the brain as taking cocaine because it stimulates the desire/reward reaction related to extreme enjoyment," she says.

In other words, when you scroll through images from your vacation together, you get a surge of energy, as your desire is being fulfilled.

Your voice might really get higher

Once you're past that crush phase and you're deepening your connection and dedication to your partner, you might notice other odd changes in your body-- including your voice getting greater (yes, really).

According to a study released in 2011 in the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, researchers found that when women spoke with guys they were more attracted to physically, their voice had the tendency to get higher and more womanly.

If you're a bit softer with your partner than you are with your co-worker who keeps missing your deadlines, blame it on love.

You will stress when they're not around

When we're separated from our partner for brief or prolonged time periods, we respond like a drug user who is

coming off of their addiction, says Serena Goldstein, a naturopathic doctor in New york city City. "Corticotrophin-releasing factor is increased as part of a tension response when we are far from our partner, contributing to anxiety and anxiety," she says.

Those couples who are in far away relationships learn how to deal with this feeling, often through developing attachments to their partner's voice as a way to stay linked to him or her.

Falling in love may tinker your hormonal agents

Throughout the honeymoon stage of a relationship-- the first one to two years when you go ga-ga whenever you see your sweetie-- your hormones go crazy.

According to a 2004 research study released in Psychoneuroendocrinology, cortisol (the tension hormonal agent) increases in both men and women.

And throughout this time, testosterone, the male sex hormonal agent, reduces in men and boosts in females.

Love can actually break your heart

You can die of a damaged heart-- it's a scientific fact, according to

the American Heart Association. The scientific term is "stress-induced cardiomyopathy" and it can strike even the healthiest individual when their stress hormones rise throughout an emotionally difficult occasion, such as the death of a partner, divorce, and even a bad breakup.

Symptoms often simulate those of a cardiovascular disease and consist of shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, and chest pain. While broken heart syndrome can cause irreversible damage to the heart and, in unusual cases, even death, the bright side is that many cases are treatable and can be totally dealt with within a few weeks.

Your sex drive is the greatest at the extremely beginning

At the beginning of a relationship, couples cannot keep their hands off each other, however it can be hard to keep that spark alive long-lasting, particularly for females, according to a research study released in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy. Scientists from the University of Geulph in Ontario, Canada surveyed 170 males and females in monogamous heterosexual relationships about relationship fulfillment, sexual satisfaction and libido. Scientists discovered that although the guys'sexual cravings held steady over time, women experienced a. 02 drop on the Female Sexual Function

Index for every month they remained in a relationship. If you begin to feel your libido beginning to cool, try these daily libido-boosting habits to crank it back up. You might put on a few pounds You'll hear jokes that people"let themselves go"when they

remain in a happy relationship, and there might be some fact to that stereotype. In a 2012 evaluation in the Journal of Obesity, scientists discovered that people tend

to put on weight as they settle into marital relationship. Another study discovered that after relocating with a man, women tend to consume more high-fat

, high-sugar foods, and more research study discovered that newly married young females got 24 pounds in the first five years after getting wed. Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, Health's contributing nutrition editor, sees this happen firsthand to much of her customers, and has 5 tips for

beating relationship pudge. If you get wed, you might live a longer, much healthier life

Connecting the knot may lengthen your life. According to Duke University Medical Center study, those who entered their 40s married had fewer danger factors for premature death than those who were divorced or never married.

Another research study from NYU Langone Medical Center in New York found that both family men and women may have more powerful hearts than those who've never ever strolled down the aisle. Men especially have stronger hearts thanks to their other halves, with 5% lower chances of any vascular disease, according to the research study.

It might strengthen a man's bones

More excellent news for guys who decide to couple up: a UCLA study discovered that men in stable relationships or marriages after the age of 25 have stronger bones.

The study had one catch: only those with supportive ladies in their lives in fact saw the advantages from the long-lasting relationship. Those with girls who weren't as loving or mentally encouraging didn't enjoy the exact same bone-building rewards.

You may have problem sleeping

Staying awake imagining that Tinder match date that went surprisingly well? Those feel-good crush-like symptoms may disrupt your sleep.

Inning accordance with a study of teenagers, when you're in those initial stages of ecstasy, you feel more energized and positive in the morning and nights, causing you to not sleep too, or have agitated sleep.

Dr. Kat states that of those hormones bouncing around when you're considering your could-be relationship can also impact your capability to focus throughout the day, too.

Your imagination might be triggered

Though lots of famous writers have actually credited anxiety as the source of their inspiration, a 2015 research study released in the Journal of Household Issues discovered that when you remain in a relationship, your creativity may be sparked. Why?

Scientist concluded that many individuals in love start to focus on the long-term, instead of the short-term, providing a more holistic technique to their projects and enthusiasms, altering the method they process info.

To puts it simply, when you're dating, you're overanalyzing, but when you're in love, you enable yourself to dream a little bit more.

It'll make you more sexually daring

Penn State sociologists who interviewed females in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York discovered that when they remain in a dedicated relationship, ladies are more eager to attempt something brand-new-- including in the bed room.

It likewise makes the entire experience of getting it on a general more satisfying for ladies and could make them more open to experimenting. Good news for dudes who are willing to dedicate!

It can reduce chronic discomfort

A passionate, all-consuming relationship might work just as well as medication at reducing chronic discomfort, inning accordance with a 2010 Stanford University School of Medication study. Extreme sensations of love activate the exact same areas of the brain as pain relievers state, researchers.

Doctors aren't quite prepared to prescribe love affairs as replacements for drugs but are positive that comprehending how neural-reward pathways activated by love will assist them establish brand-new techniques to treat discomfort.