#but paul giamatti is lovely so well done him

[dweemeister]

96th Academy Awards nominations reactions

Well, it wasn't doomsday. But it wasn't the best Oscar nomination morning I've ever experienced either!

And goodness me, the two major Best Picture contenders that have the most upwards momentum right now (Oppenheimer doesn't have upwards momentum, it's been top of the pack for the whole awards season) did well. And it just so happens, those two films are the ones I'm the most terrified to criticize.

Some thoughts:

From some of the talk going around and the lack of love from outside the United States, I'm a little concerned with Killers of the Flower Moon as it stands. It's my personal pick for Best Picture, jsyk. Ten nominations sure, but missing out on Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for DiCaprio is not a good look, despite the surprise Original Song nomination. Certainly, AMPAS is majority/plurality American, so the story strikes deep chords for any of us who care a smidgen about the nation's history and racial injustice. But I have been seeing chatter - not gonna name nationalities - from outside North America saying how they're tired of American racial guilt movies. That is an aspect of KOTFM, but that completely flattens a morally complicated, beautifully made work. A near-miracle it was made in 2020s Hollywood. I think another part of it is that we are all now taking the Scorsese and Spielberg generation of filmmakers for granted. They've come full circle. Their films have done wretchedly at recent Academy Awards ceremonies as of late, and undeservedly so.

The (imo) overperformance of Poor Things makes the Gladstone v Stone matchup look like it may be slowly tipping away from Lily Gladstone. I don't think I will be writing on the film on this blog but, suffice it to say, I didn't enjoy it. Yorgos Lanthimos is a director that has never truly clicked with me, largely due to his earlier, very cynical work. Poor Things is not as cynical, but I didn't care for the messaging at all (yes, Victorian men were sexual hypocrites and miscreants - how self-congratulatory, I found it) or its sense of humor. I guess some can say that I'm just another puritanical American prude, as well. But I thought the sex was getting into the male gaze-y territory, and the sex work subplot was way waaayyy too sanitized. I also despised the atonal score by Jerskin Fendrix, which was very close to stuff me and my orchestra mates might do if we were messing around in rehearsal (disclosure: I was taught classical piano and violin, have studied music theory up to the college level, played in various orchestras up to a decent level in high school, and am a massive film score fan).

It looks like Oppenheimer is running away with this. I just don't see how anything can stop it in Best Picture. I can respect an Oppenheimer Best Picture winner, even if I'm not even sure if it cracks my top three and Nolan is certainly not one of my favorite filmmakers.

I don't think Oppenheimer is getting Best Actor, though. Rooting for Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers on that one. Shame Dominic Sessa couldn't join him in Supporting Actor, but Da'Vine Joy Randolph has essentially got the Oscar in the bag - despite my reservations on how her character essentially disappears in the last third of the film.

But what about Barbie? It's a movie I respect, deeply. But I never thought it in the caliber of Best Picture nominee one bit. The America Ferrera nomination in Supporting Actress I don't support one bit. Gosling? Sure. Robbie? Had a better case than Ferrera, but I understand why she didn't get it. Gerwig? I'm on the fence over her exclusion in Director.

Sensational stuff for Justine Triet and Anatomy of a Fall. It's probably my #2 vote in Best Picture. I just wish Milo Machado Graner was in for Supporting Actor. This is a dark horse, folks, more than capable of pulling off an upset or two come Oscar night. And a damned good movie, too...

... But its success appears to have come at the expense of Trần Anh Hùng's The Taste of Things. And as the Artistic Director of Viet Film Fest in Orange County, California, that stings, as he's VFF alumni. When France passed over Anatomy of a Fall for The Taste of Things in Best International Feature, there was a lot of outrage directed at Taste by people who had and had not seen the film. Perhaps the damage was already done. A massive shame if that was the case.

Other than Poor Things, the other movie with tons of upward momentum right now is Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest. For the record, I think, on its face, you can still make a morally responsible movie about the Holocaust from a Nazi point of view - which I think Glazer mostly does. But my criticism comes from elsewhere. Glazer, in interviews, has said how he wanted to 1) make the movie not primarily about the 1940s, but about our time and our complicity in atrocities and 2) make a film shorn of cinematic artifice to absorb us into the setting. I think his messaging never evolves beyond the basics on the first point; I think he utterly fails on the second. Cases in point: the use of nightvision cameras that only serve to remind the audience they are watching an artistic exercise, the horrific score from Mica Levi that too many film critics (who don't know better, most notably David Ehrlich at IndieWire - really, everyone at IndieWire), and a weird sound mix that reminds me of when stage plays play off-stage sound effects or background noise but that audio doesn't sound sufficiently "far away" enough.

A slight underperformance by Past Lives. It was never going to get a boatload of nominations. But it appears Greta Lee was squeezed out (I have nothing constructive to say about Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in Nyad as I haven't seen the film) and there was scarcely a campaign for Teo Yoo.

American Fiction is, I think, going home empty-handed. Its nominations are the win, and I think it's a decent satire well worth watching.

Maestro doesn't deserve a Best Picture nor its screenplay nomination, but I'm not happy with some of the accusations of Bradley Cooper Oscar-thirsting that's flying around. You folks are taking it much too personally. Did he defecate on your kitchen table or something? Calm. Down.

And speaking about disrespect, there has been a ton of disrespect towards John Williams' nomination for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Again, we're coming full circle to an iconic figure of late twentieth century cinema. Especially from fans of Daniel Pemberton's score to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (who I agree should have been nominated in Score). No, Indy 5 was not great. No, Williams' score to the film was not the best score in the series. No, I don't think Williams should win this year. But did you listen to the score? Helena's theme was gorgeous and its integration across the score was the work of a master. The interplay between the Nazi and Dial themes is something lesser composers just simply cannot replicate. And for those complaining that Williams simply reuses material the entire time, I get the feeling you haven't seen the film or listening to the score by itself (or understand how themes can develop). Yes, I know melody is on its way out in film scores (see: Hans Zimmer, his acolytes, and any composer who thinks that orchestras should be used like drums) and pop music in general in favor of texture and a beat. But I bet you many composers will sell their souls to piece together something half as good as a lesser John Williams score. It's a great score, worthy of its nomination.

Where is Robot Dreams, Neon? This movie's been on my radar for some months now, but radio silence! Do you guys not know how to distribute an animated film? Flee (2021, Denmark) had this same problem! I'm so glad it's in, though.

That nomination for Nimona, though? Dreadful. Again, tumblr won't like I'm going to say this, but I thought it was gratingly written, poorly voice acted, and its humor and character behaviors are going to date like milk.

And a massive congratulations to Godzilla Minus One for its Best Visual Effects nomination. After 38 films in the series, the big fella with atomic breath is heading to the Academy Awards!

No Disney in Animated Short for Once Upon a Studio. Surprising, but not completely so. I'm excited for a slate of independent animated shorts when the short film categories come around!

The Live Action Short slate is rather disappointing. I like the category best when it's full of no-name directors and actors. Without having seen anything else, this is going to Wes Anderson isn't it?

Most prioritized films I haven't seen: all short films, Elemental, Io Capitano, Perfect Days, Robot Dreams, Rustin, Society of the Snow, 20 Days in Mariupol

#96th Academy Awards #AMPAS #Oscars #Killers of the Flower Moon #Poor Things #Oppenheimer #The Holdovers #Barbie #The Taste of Things #The Zone of Interest #Past Lives #American Fiction #ATSV #Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny #Robot Dreams #Nimona #Martin Scorsese #Lily Gladstone #Emma Stone #Daniel Pemberton #John Williams

[thelonesomequeen]

I don't know if you've been asked this before but what are your predictions for the Oscars?

Personally i really want Emma Stone to win an Oscar (i love her soooo much), i love the performance of all her fellow nominees (especially Lilly Gladstone) but i just really hope for her to win.

And i def want either RDJ or Mark Ruffalo to win as well. I really want an MCU dude to win an Oscar (A lot of MCU men have been nominated but not sure if any have won yet)

RDJ has swept so far, so I think at this point it’s in the bag for him for supporting actor. Same with Da’Vine Joy Randolph in supporting actress. I didn’t double check, but off the top of my head I believe both of them have won at every award show so far.

I think it’s also a done deal that Oppenheimer will run away with best picture and Christopher Nolan will most likely take best director. Justine Triet could sneak in for Anatomy of a Fall, but I have a feeling this will go to Nolan just because of how many times he’s been nominated in the past (going along with yesterday’s conversation).

Where we have a bit of a race seems to be in the best actor and best actress categories. It’s going to come down to Paul Giamatti vs. Cillian Murphy and Lily Gladstone vs. Emma Stone. I would be shocked if someone else popped up to win the Oscar over any of those four. Usually SAG is the biggest predictor of Oscar winners in the acting categories, but it can sometimes be different (see supporting actress last year 👀😒) 🦎

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week - 44

4 films about Underground Comix With Bakshi, Crumb & Harvey Pekar:

✳️✳️✳️ First watch: Ralph Bakshi’s adult animation American Pop from 1981. A uniquely wild story about four generations of Russian Jews, spanning nearly 100 years of pop music. It started extremely well, and had great style, originality and score, but eventually lost focus and clarity. 7+/10.

I never realized that Bakshi was born at the very same hospital as me, exactly 15 years earlier!

✳️✳️✳️ Bakshi and R. Crumb’s trippy and horny, Fritz The Cat. He’d “been up and down the four corners of this big old world, seen it all and done it all. He fought many a good man and laid many a good woman”. X-rated and politically-radical all the way.

The last hospital orgy scene and lovely final credits. 8/10.

✳️✳️✳️ Crumb, Terry Zwigoff’s fantastic bio of his weirdo friend and fellow musician R. Crumb. A moving documentary about a tortured family of 3 disturbed brothers, hyper-sexual, perverted, compulsive masturbators with unhealthy sibling rivalry and deep mental issues. Crumb who sounds exactly like Napoleon Dynamite, came out OK, while the film was dedicated to his brother Charles, who killed himself before the premiere.

10/10.

✳️✳️✳️ American Splendor, the least successful of these four, with Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar, a pathetic and unhappy file clerk, who somehow managed to turn his miserable life into a series of adult comix.

✴️

Tehran Taboo - Never heard of it before, and the most unexpected outrage of the week!

First of all, it’s a beautiful rotoscoped adult animation. But it’s a dark story of sex, drugs and Islamic law in today’s repressive and miserable Iran. The first scene is of a prostitute who must give a blowjob to a taxi driver, while her 5 year old mute boy is in the back seat. And it only gets grimmer from there. Still, this hard-to-watch film is sensitive, mature and nuanced.

Start with this trailer. 8+/10

✴️

3 with Irène Jakob:

✳️✳️✳️ Red, the final of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Color trilogy, the “only film to receive perfect ratings on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic”. An unlikely friendship between beautiful, young model and a retired judge who eavesdrops on his neighbors’ telephone conversations. Subtle and elegant. (Photo Above).

(Link is a private Danish Library copy)

✳️✳️✳️ Previous Kieślowski lyrical film, The Double Life of Véronique - Pure cinema, a joy to all the senses. A series of beautiful coincidences, beautifully told. Two green-eyed babies born on the same day in one in France and one in Poland, and they both grew up to be gorgeous Irène Jakob. Sensual and mysterious. 8/10.

✳️✳️✳️ Louis Malle’s perfect autobiographical film Au Revoir les Enfants about destroyed innocence and broken friendship. 10/10

(I noticed that many of the movies I now love the most are these I saw and loved years ago)…

✴️

2 by Henri-Georges Clouzot:

✳️✳️✳️ Clouzot’s twisty Les Diaboliques, a Hitchcockian thriller-noir that also takes place in a French boarding school. Hitchcock himself missed out on purchasing the rights to the novel on which it was based by just a few hours, Clouzot getting to the authors first. I can imagine how Hitch’ would have made it differently.

✳️✳️✳️ Would you like to watch Picasso create his art LIVE as if he wore a GoPro? Well, you’re in luck, because in 1956 his friend Clouzot filmed him drawing two dozen paintings in The Mystery of Picasso. It looks as if the art is being materialized by itself on white canvases as if by magic. The paintings were subsequently destroyed so that they would only exist on film.

The whole film is magical - Best film of the week!

✴️

Gus Van Sant’s chilling Elephant, about the last few hours before a Columbine High School killing. More horrifying than “horror”, because it documents quiet and mundane interactions of the teenagers, when the spectator knows what to come.

What an anti-social, fucked up country the US is. 9/10.

✴️

David Mamet’s clever directorial debut House of Games about the art of the con, starts, literally, with a Chekhov’s gun presented during the first 10 minutes. There was a time when Joe Mantegna was the cat’s meow. With Ricky Jay & young William H. Macy.

“..I’m from the United States of kiss-my-ass…” Re-watch.

✴️

Key Largo, John Houston’s mediocre crime-gangster drama, with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

(I only watched it because of this John Green little nugget about ‘Enough’, from Metafilter…)

✴️

2 by Spike Lee:

✳️✳️✳️ Spike’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ Vietnam epic, Da 5 Bloods. War drama mixed with Black history anger. A bloody mess. Raw performance by Delroy Lindo. 5/10.

✳️✳️✳️ Bamboozled, his outdated version of ‘The Producers’ from 2000. Also, Howard Beale did it better in ‘Network’. Messy Cliche City “satire”. 2/10

✴️

“Aline”, an animated music video directed by Wes Anderson as part of The French Dispatch, illustrated by Javi Aznarez.

✴️

Branded to Kill, a 1967 Japanese Yakuza B-feature, the one that got Seijun Suzuki fired and blacklisted for making “movies that make no sense and no money”. Incoherent and absurdist avant-garde piece. I, for one, didn’t get it.

✴️

Annihilation, an inferior Black Mirror copy with an all female crew (and Benedict Wong!). I hate such stupid pseudo science made-up premises experiments! This is the 4th of Alex Garland films I’ve seen, and none of them did anything for me. 1/10

✴️

Disaster-porn film Worth about the guy who was Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Attempting to recreate the successful formula of ‘Spotlight’, it even stars Stanley Tucci in the same role, and Michael Keaton with a weird accent in a similar place. But it ends up as a formulatic melodrama. 2/10

✴️

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a waste of Keira Knightley and a big waste of a good apocalypse. 1/10

✴️

All Nighter, a 2017 comedy with JK Simmons, which is the only reason I watched it, and the only worthwhile part of it. 2/10

- - - - -

(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Jungle Cruise

In this era of filmmaking, we are surrounded by films about space, comic book heroes and sometimes historical biopics. Those genres have taken the lead in theaters and sometimes you need a break from them. Sometimes you want to go on a globe trotting adventure that doesn't require anything, but a fun story that is filled with excitement, discovery and heart. The adventure film genre has almost been extinct for the longest time, but films like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise or even the recent Jumanji films have stocked life back into that old flame. I have been waiting for a genuine adventure film to come out that has that same heart and since of fun, but it seems I have to wait even longer before a proper film arrives. Disney has done the trick of taking their most beloved theme park attractions and turned them into films and it worked for the most part. Where they fail is when they create a story that appeases the fans of the attraction, but deliver a story that has been done to death or even try to add a complicated mythos that has the chance to be great, but is watered down. That was the tragedy of this film. The spirit of adventure was everywhere in the film and could've been easily taken to the next level, but it quickly gets watered down when it gets too dark or violent by throwing in poorly delivered jokes and horrible character development. The story was topical and was basically a lesson of inclusion, but it lost its charm very early in the film. The latter half was cool and added the mystical element, but the choppy editing and very quick story progression really took away any chance of living in the world that is created. This was a such a waste of potential with a great cast and I was baffled by it.

Emily Blunt is still one of the best actresses in the world and she was wonderfully charming as Dr. Lily Houghton. She gives off the action heroine that is tough, thirsty for knowledge and would stand up to the face of danger. A perfect example of an adventurer and worthy of your attention. Jack Whitehall was fun as her younger brother MacGregor and I liked that he wasn't completely useless. He had some genuinely funny and touching moments in a number of scenes. Dwayne Johnson plays the skipper Frank Wolff and I have seen Johnson deliver some great performances outside of his action films, but this was by far his worst. To like a character who constantly is lying to you is really hard and I felt in more capable hands, this character could've been so loveable. I couldn't connect with Frank and I ended up just not caring about him at all. Puns are a big part of the original Disney attraction and when he delivers them throughout the film, its done without an ounce of charm. You can deliver a joke in a dry manner, but there is a certain amount of charm or hamming up that makes it funny and this wasn't. Paul Giamatti was clearly having the most fun in the film as the harbormaster Nilo Nemolato. Jessie Plemons was excellent as the villainous Prince Joachim and I loved his viciously cold since of humor. Edgar Ramirez was good as the main villain Aguirre and I liked his story. I just wish he slowed down his Spanish so that you get his plot across clearer.

The score by James Newton Howard was outstanding and a proper score to jungle excursion type film. At times it reminded me of Jerry Goldsmith's score from the The Mummy. Visually the film was beautiful, but the shotty CGI really muddles it as the backgrounds and the creature visual effects take away from the artistry. There was so much potential story wise of where this film could've ascended into greatness, but it didn't learn from the past films that got it right. Too many punches were pulled where they should've followed through. The Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland is a decent ride through some fun sets, stories and for the ride to be fun and memorable, the Skipper has to sell it. Well, lets just say that Skipper on this boat ride was at the end of shift. The film is currently in theaters and streaming on Disney+ with Premiere Access. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

#jungle cruise #emily blunt #dwyane johnson #jack whitehall #Paul Giamatti #jesse plemons #edgar ramirez #Disney #disney attractions

[nothingunrealistic]

some extracts from the 2019 billions emmy q&a panel, moderated by jake tapper and featuring brian koppelman, david levien, asia kate dillon, maggie siff, damian lewis, and paul giamatti

TAPPER: Asia, big year for you, big year for Taylor. Was the relationship with your father the defining relationship this season for Taylor? How do you see the season, in terms of, what was the most important relationship?

DILLON: Well, you know, working with Kevin Pollak was really incredible, it was really a joy to have him play Taylor's father. You know, going back to season 2, in a session that Taylor has with Wendy, it is revealed that Taylor believes that their father had this idea and wasn't appreciated by his company and was ultimately fired, and the idea was stolen by the company. And I think Taylor has built the majority of their own sense of who their father is, what their relationship with their father is, and therefore who they are around that story. So, when we find out in season 4 that that is not actually the case, there is yet another betrayal of trust and loyalty, which echoes the betrayal that happened with Axe in season 3. So I think Taylor's really forced to reckon with the fact that the story they've told themself about not only their father and their relationship, but their own life and why they're doing what they're doing, what their motivations are, they're really forced to reckon with all of that. And so for me as an actor, it was just really fun to play all of those moments.

—————

KOPPELMAN: The two of us, in order to write the characters, and we've talked about this, we have to be able to understand the way in which they love themselves and how they see themselves, and we have to kind of love them, find things about the characters to love in order to write them. But the truth of it is, I think the best thing that we've all done together is cast the show. Because of the magnificence of what all of you do, the humanity that you bring to it, the amount of thought that you bring to it. Maggie, when you talk about that Wendy was going to become a bit undone and we talked about it, I mean, we had a lot of conversations about the psychology behind that. And then you would go away and do this incredible amount of work to internalize it. And Asia, what you had to do this season, we talked about it before the season started, we understood where it would go, the father relationship. You got into, you know, that great thing that happens when you've worked together for a long time and you're able to take bits of somebody's life and then turn it round and put it back for you in a different context. I mean, that's the gift of a long-running show with actors of this caliber.

—————

TAPPER: There are a lot of obscure references that are made every episode of Billions, that send us all to our laptops or iPhones to Google. And I'm wondering now if any of you have a particular favorite that either you heard or you said or that you loved.

[…]

DILLON: The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a handful of Big Lebowski references, this season in particular. It's a film I love. I love that last season, Taylor got to make a Top Gun reference, also a film that I love. There are a lot of synchronicities in this show that I love. Even working with Kevin Pollak, you know, A Few Good Men is a movie that I saw many, many, many times as a young person. And so, getting to quote it to him and have him quote it back to me was really fucking awesome.

SIFF: I had to, I quoted Heat this year.

LEVIEN: That's my favorite of Maggie's.

SIFF: Which I have to say is a film that I, I don't think I told you this, but I hated it. Oh my God, it's so macho. It's so over the top. […] But the way I always think about it with Wendy is that this is her doing her homework. Cause she knows that the vocabulary of these guys is a very particular thing. And so she has schooled herself on certain films, like The Big Lebowski and A Few Good Men and Heat, and, you know, like, gone down the list, so that she knows how to…

LEVIEN: That's exactly right. You know, the way we go about it, we’re in the writers’ room with four or five or six other writers. And we assume that all these characters know everything we know, plus whatever we can Google, and they have it at the tip of their fingers, and that they’ve all studied the other people in their lives so they have the right reference. Like, Taylor always knows the wrestling references that Mafee’s gonna make, because they just do the work in order to be conversant.

KOPPELMAN: And that was set up in the first season that Taylor’s in, because Taylor gets Mafee this gift, having researched it and learned about it, and you feel that Taylor’s doing that. It’s just become a part of the lingua franca of the show.

#edited and condensed for clarity. took out quite a few of asia's ''You Know''s #billions #taylor mason #douglas mason #wendy rhoades #dudley mafee #that last section was difficult because people kept talking over each other. take turns dammit #asia kate dillon #brian koppelman #david levien #maggie siff

[kichimiangra]

To celebrate Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart... I rant about things I would have done differently with the Ratchet and Clank Movie (2016)

Ratchet and Clank fans who saw the movie give it a read and tell me what you think! This isn’t solid or well written, it is seriously just a long rant of “Then they do this! Then That!”

To be fair I am a huuuge Ratchet and Clank fan, I enjoyed the film, I know it's not good, and I'm not quite sure exactly what happened here? I don't know why they tried to do a star wars esque "Save the galaxy; I wanna be a hero!" story when the games would better be described as a "Buddy Road trip".  The relationship between the titular characters is non existent because the film instead decided it was more important to cram about 3 games worth of character development into Quark instead. I like the designs for the Galactic Rangers but other than that I hate them because I am 100% sure I know why they're there and they take even more screen time that should be spent on the titular duo. This is my list of demands if I had been someone who somehow got to demand how this movie got made: -First of all, and I hate myself for saying this... *Don't Hire James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, and Jim Ward to reprise their roles as Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark respectively.* I love them, but I theorize it's their fault that the galactic rangers are even taking up space in this film. Lookit the movie poster! It list Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, and Rosario Daweson, before James and David. Jim Ward isn't mentioned in favor of Sylvestor Stallone. The whole point, (in my opinion) the Rangers were really a thing was to have a few more major characters.  John Goodman plays Grim and Sylvestor Stallone plays Von Ion. These parts are arguably smaller than Qwark or Nefarious... and I would say those two are more prominent that Clank!  But they try to get some names that will put butts in seats because UNFORTUNATELY people are stupid and many WILL go see a movie just because it has an actor they like in it. -Second... throw out the script.  Start over. *Buddy Road trip! * It's not hard.  You can't fit every planet into the film but you can fit enough for a road trip movie!  A few important ones? -Third... *CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS AND MOTIVATIONS.* I'm gonna be a bit detailed here.  First of all, NO MORE GALACTIC RANGERS PLOT! IT GOES BYE BYE!  And screw Qwark let him go back to being a frgging mid point boss!  This movie is about RATCHET and CLANK!  And you Know what they're gonna do? SOME RATCHETING and some CLANKING! And they are going to GROW AND DEVELOP TOGETHER! ---So this:  Clank gets made, gets the info on Dreks deathstar plans (But maybe we don't know that yet? Maybe we can play it Vague? Maybe we don't have Clanks whole origin story yet? That's for later...) and escapes to Veldin.  This is where he meets Ratchet.  Ratchet is building a ship to try and leave Veldin because it's a bupkiss nowhere desert planet!  Where's he going? GLAD YOU ASKED!!! He wants to go to the Blackwater City hover board tournament on planet Rilgar in which the trophy is being handed out by his celebrity hero: Captain Qwark. Why? We don't know this just yet but Ratchet is a Lombax abandoned on Veldin.  He's never even seen another Lombax, there's not a lot of them in Solana. He didn't grow up alone, but longs to find his lost family.  He thinks maybe... if he wins that Tournament, which will be Broadcasted around the galaxy and get a sponsorship with Gadgetron, being the face of the Hoverboard branch of the company for like 2 years (LEIK IN DA GAYM!) , his family will see it and they can be reunited. (hahaha no...)  Too bad Ratchet can't get his ship working without a robotic ignition (LEIK IN DA GAYM!) Clank crash lands and befriends Ratchet. Clank needs a Hero (HE'S HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO TILL THE END OF THE NIGHT!) to stop Drek and Ratchet knows just the guy!  His idol Qwark! Who he is also going to meet! At the Hoverboard tourney! So they agree to go together, Clank being able to turn the ship on and Ratchet able to pilot it.  They hop planet to planet for the first act because crap isn't going to hit the fan until they meet Qwark. So buddy road trip for a bit they help people along the way!  For example Ratchet only starts with the Wrench, but when they crash land on Novalis they meet up with Cora, who is the Presidents body guard and help her save the president (LEIK IN DA GAYMS!) and is rewarded by meeting the Plumber who fixes their crashed ship. Plumber is grateful that the Prez is safe (Maybe they related?) and gifts Ratchet the Weapon ring claiming he used to work for Gadgettron inventing all sorts of doodads, but they wouldn't put some on the market so gifts them to Ratchet, warning that the Attack ring is a little glitchy so you might not get what you want from it? So basically season 1 Ben 10's Omnitrix. Just for fun. They hop to another few places with the major take away being Clank being all like "Ratchet I am super logical and freshly baby and the galaxy is more important than the Local stuff so we gotta hurry to find Qwark!" but Ratchet is like "Sorry Clank my OCD won't allow it and we got time to kill before the tournament!"  The main point of this is Clank learning feels and empathy quickly from Ratchet and also gets to see Ratchet being a hero even if SpaceRat won't admit it.  They eventually end up on Rilgar and Ratchet enters the tourney with his home made garbage hoverboard because we are skipping the whole Skid McMarxx thing for time sake.  So Ratchet enters the hoverboard tourney, we get a cool music montage, it looks like he's gonna win! He's in first! BAM! His hoverboard craps out on him and leaves him tumbling to the pavement.  Someone passes him, he desperately tries to pull himself up, he tries to run to the finishline, more people pass him, he's in last place, he stops running. He's given up.  He screwed it up for both of them.  Now Clank won't meet and give his message to Qwark, and Ratchet won't get the sponsorship from Gadgetron that could get his face out there for his family to find him. Clank tries to cheer him up, but can only do so much.  Ratchet feels useless and defective and maybe that's why his family abandoned him? Maybe it wasn't an accident, maybe he just sucked?  But Clank knows a thing or two about being defective... so he tries to comfort Ratchet, but is interrupted when someone from the tourney approaches them and says that Captain Qwark was super impressed by Ratchets boarding skills and decided he wants to meet them. Things are looking up for the duo, but like.. you and I know Drekk told Qwark to keep an eye out fro a Lombax that's been ruining his plans and if he get's his hands on him, kill him and take Clank (LEIK STARWARS... Wait...?).  Qwark blows up Ratchets ass this whole being a hero thing so Ratchet can be known throughout the galaxy and Ratchets like "BALLER!  YEAH!  Sign me up!" and then he betrays them, I'm foggy on this part I ain't a screen writer! BUT ANYWAY Qwark can't just be blowing up his potential fans... that looks bad, so he plays along the whole "Oh yes I am Hero Qwark What is it you need from me?"  Clank then reveals his origin story of being a warbot in Drekks factory and what Drekks plans are.  This is confirmation enough and Qwark betrays the duo rips something out of Clank, leaving him robot-unconscious.  Ratchet defends Clank from Qwarks betrayal, Is it the Blargian Snagglebeast? I don't know who cares? And when he's done uses a leftover part from his broken hoverboard to fix Clank.  They have a minor Buddy fight.  Not a long one.  We don't have time for a long one we're getting close to the end here! Maybe Ratchets mad that Clank is one of Drekks warbots? Was this a trap? Clank then goes further into his backstory explaining he's a defect.  He had one purpose: to find someone to stop Drekk and give him that thingy. But Qwark made off with it. Maybe it was a virus to kill switch the deplanetizer? Who cares it was for Obiwan Kenobi and Qwark stole it. Now Clank has no purpose.  Ratchet though tells Clank that people aren't made with purposes, they find purposes and make purposes and Clank almost feels better about that level of freedom. Ratchet and Clank bond over being full of suck and how there are no real heroes out there to stop Drekk and Clank suddenly realizes that all of the traits that make a hero are right there in Ratchet!  All this movie he's watched Ratchet do hero shit and help others even if it's in a "Goddammit we're gonna miss the tournament but I have to save the orphans goddammit!" way.  They both decide that they need to be the heroes they want to see and agree to go stop Drekk themselves.They go after Drekk and have a final confrontation with Qwark and Clank retrieves his Macguffin. Then they go stop Drekk.  Clank has learned empathy and humanity, and Ratchet has got a found family in Clank.

#ratchet and clank

[theericardo]

*Part 2: “Do You Even Remember Yourself?” *WRITTEN BY: PAUL (ME). *DIRECTED BY:  HOLLY MARIE COMBS RYAN *SEASON 1, EPISODE 02

Staring

·          Alyssa Milano as Phoebe  Halliwell

·          Rose McGowan as Paige  Matthews Mitchell

·          with Holly  Marie Combs Ryan as Piper Halliwell

·          and Shannen  Doherty as Prue Halliwell

Co – Staring

·          Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt

·          Jacob Tremblay as Wyatt  Halliwell

·          Sunny Suljic as Chris  Halliwell

Recurring

·          Brooklynn Prince as Melinda  Halliwell

·          Dafne Keen as Coop Halliwell

·          Ivan Sergei as Henry Michell

·          Iain Armitage as Henry  Michell, Jr.

·          Dafne Keen as Hayley Michell

·          Dorian Gregory as Darryl  Morris

·          Victor  Webster as Coop Halliwell

Guest – Starting

·          LeToya  Luckett as Eloise Gannibal

·          Lovie  Simone as Eloise Gannibal’s sister

·          Paul  Giamatti as William Alford

·          Reese  Witherspoon as Miss. Alford

·          Keith  David as Slave #1

·          Uncredited  Baby as Letitia Gannibal

·          Tyrel  Jackson Williams as Zygon

·          Sandra Prosper as Sheila Morris

·          Ken Page as Adair

·          Ian Abercrombie as Aramis

·          Christopher Cazenove as Thrask

·          Jon Stewart as Crill

·          Oded Fehr as Zankou

·          Charisma Carpenter as Kyra

START  

[Scene: flashback to February 27th, 1670 – Salem Village, Massachusetts Alford’s plantation – Eloise Gannibal and William Alford.]

(Elosie was a “House N***er” at that time to slaver owner to William Alford and his missis.)

(With Eloise being a “House Nigger,” she did not have to work outside like the rest of the slaves did.)

(That night, William came home, drunk.)

(Him and the misses got into an argument.)

Miss. Alford: “WILLIAM, I HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT COMING HOME DRUNK FURTHERMORE!”

William: “YOU, DON’T RUN ME WOMEN!”

(The two argued back and forwards with each other.)

(Miss. Alford stormed off, leaving the dazed but drunk William there with Elosie, who happens to have overheard the whole argument.)

(William bolted towards and manhandled Elosie.)

Elosie: *screaming* “Let me go Missa!”

William: “Quiet N***er!”

(William dragged Elosie outside to the side of the house where he raped her tell she stared to bleed.)

(Slave #1 and Elosie’s sister found Elosie laying there.)

Elosie’s sister: *crying* “Elosie.” “Elosie, sweetie wake up.”

(Little did they know, Miss. Alford was watching from the widows’ view.)

[Scene: still in flashback but to February 28th, 1670

– Salem Village, Massachusetts – Eloise Gannibal and William Alford on the Alford’s plantation.]

(Miss. Alford demand for Elosie to not step foot back into their house.)

(Since then, Elosie has been working inside.)

[Scene: still in flashback but to October 31st, 1670 – Birth of Letitia Gannibal on the plantation.]  

(It was raining hail with high gusty winds at the midnight of 31st of October,1670.)

(Eloise along with every other slave was wearing “N**ro Clothing.”)

Eloise’s sister: “Keep pushing Eloise, she’s almost here!

Eloise: *grunts*

Eloise’s sister: “She’s here Eloise!” “She’s here!”

*baby starts crying*

Eloise: *crying, tears of joy * “She’s adorable.”

Slave #1: “What are you going to name her, Elosie?”

Eloise: “Letitia…” “Letitia Gannibal”

CHARMED THEME SONG MUSIC  

[Scene: September 22nd, 2017 – 11:00 pm. Living Quarters at Magic School with Chris, Melinda, Henry Jr., and Hayley.]

(Chris, Henry Jr., and Hayley are chatting among each other)

Henry Jr.: “So you’re telling me, Wyatt tried to kill you?”

Hayley: “Like, kill – kill you?”

Chris: “Yea, he actually did.” *looks over to Wyatt* “I can’t stand him sometimes, but he’s my brother, and I still love him.”

Melinda: *reads Wyatt’s mind* “He’s thinking the same thing Chris.”          

Chris: “Didn’t mom tell you stop reading people mind?”

Henry Jr.: “Yo, you can read minds Mel?” “That’s sick!”

Hayley: “Neither me nor Henry didn’t come into our powers till we were 10-years-old!”  

Henry Jr.: “You’re like 2, right?”

Melinda: *gives Henry Jr. a dirty look. * “Just because my birthday is on a Leap Day, doesn’t mean I’m 2-years-old stupid!”

(Chris and Hayley laughs at Melinda’s clapback at Henry Jr.)

[Scene: Still in Magic school, but with Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt, and Leo.]

(Wyatt sitting alone from the rest of the kids.)

(Paige orbs in with Piper and Phoebe)

Piper: “Wyatt Matthews Halliwell, get your butt over here now, mister!”

(Wyatt walks over slowly.)

(Wyatt approaches Piper with his head slumped down.)

Piper: “You sir, have gotten out of hand!”  “You used magic in public, that one!” “You used magic on your father, that two!” “You used magic-”

(Leo steps in and cuts Piper off.)

Leo: “Piper, let him catch a break”

Piper: *exhale* “You’re grounded, for 2 weeks!” “No magic, no video games, no hanging out afterschool for anything!”

Wyatt: “But Chris u-”

Piper: “Don’t you BUT me mister!” “I mean it!”

(Piper starts chanting)

Piper: “I don’t think he comprehend.”

“He uses magic to depend”

“Child lock them for two weeks, till then”

(White orbs form centers around Wyatt.)

(The orbs shift into a form of a lock and magically goes into Wyatt.)

Piper: “When I meant no magic, I meant it.”

(Wyatt walks away.)

Phoebe: “Piper sweetie, I don’t think that was a smart idea.”

Piper: “Whenever that” *points to Phoebe’s pregnant stomach* “comes into his powers, then you can do whatever you want to do with him and his powers.”

Paige: “Uhm, I have kids.” “Matter-of-fact, they developed powers similar to yours Piper.” “Honey, I feel like you did the wrong thing.”

(Piper sits down in a chair.)

(She fixes her long-layered bangs and crosses her legs.)

Piper: “What's done is done.” “I didn’t strip him of his powers, I just put a child lock on them so he can’t use them freely.”

[Scene: Still in Magic school, cuts back to Chris, Henry Jr, Hayley, and Melinda.]

(Chris, Henry Jr, Hayley, and Melinda are still chatting among each other.)

(Wyatt walks over.)

Wyatt: “Chris, can I talk to you?”

Chris: “Yes.”

(Chris and Wyatt walk over to the side from everyone else.)

Wyatt: “You know, I never had the attendance to harm you.” “I never should have used magic on you in the first place.”

Chris: “I never should have cut you off or be an asshole to you, or even st-.”

Wyatt: “Stop it Chris.” “I was in the wrong also.” “For god shakes, I almost killed you!”

Chris: “Can we agree, not to kill each other?”

Wyatt: “I can’t make any promises.” *laughs*

(Wyatt and Chris hug.)

Henry: “Ok kids, it’s time to go to school go to bed.”

(Every child heads to a room to sleep.)

(Henry Jr puts up a biker with Henry.)

Henry Jr.: “But dad, its Friday?”

Henry: “Bed, now Jr.”

Henry Jr.: “Fine!”

(Henry Jr. walks to bed.)

[Scene: September23rd, 2017 – 8:25 am In the Underworld with Prue.]

(Prue is now out of her outfit that was covered in dust “death outfit”.)

(She is now wearing a sheer-black tank top, black high waisted pants, and Yuko-40 platform heels.)

(Prue is sitting at The Source’s throne.)

(Demon shimmers into the underworld.)

Demon with shimmering power: “Prue Halliwell.” “What the hell are you doing here?”

Prue: “Haven’t you heard,” (hopes down from the throne.) “I’m here to run this place.” *flips hair* “And you are?”

Zygon: “Zygon.” “I’ve heard about you.”

Prue: “Ahh, do tell.”

(Zygon walks up to Prue.)

Zygon: *walking circles around Prue* “The Charmed One.” “The Power of Three.” “A trio, well quartet, of sister witches.” “Destined to serve the good and good only.”

Prue: *nods her head* “Stop.” “For starts,” *flips hair* “I’m not a good witch.” “I don’t do good.”

Zygon: “Oh, Honey, do you even remember yourself?” “You’re one of them.” “But something is different about you.”

(Zygon stare into Prue’s eyes.)

Zygon: “You’re newly empowered.”

Prue: “What does that even means?”

Zygon: *still circling walking around Prue* “The Window of Opportunity, my dear.”

“Prue: “What does that mean?”

Zyon: “You, can easily be persuaded to be either good or evil.” “By the looks of it, you’re already chosen that path.”

(Prue folds her arms.)

Prue: “I got to get my hands on that book.”

Zygon: “What book.” “Are you referring to The Grimoire?”

Prue: *little smirk*“No, stupid” “It’s this book, that I keep having flashes about.” “Ritch-violet, red cover, with the named engraved into it, kind of on the smaller side.”  

Zygon: “Never heard of it.”

Prue: “Maybe those women who called me their ‘sisters’ have it.”

Zygon: “Might I say, I could be some help.”

(Prue uses telekinesis tosses Zygon into a wall.)

(Prue then uses telekinesis to pin him down on the floor.)

Prue: “Thanks for the offer, but I got this.” “I’m going to look for that book.” “Regardless of what I have to do.”

(Prue gives Zygon a wink as she astral teleports out from the underworld.)

[Scene: 9:00 am – Split screen phone conversation between Darry, who is at the San Francisco Police Department. Paige, who is at Magic School.]

*cellphone rings* Darryl: “Go for Morris.” *clutches his mobile with phone with shoulder* *Paige explaining to Darryl about Prue* “Say what now!?”

Paige: *abbreviating herself* “Prue, is alive.”

Darryl: “But ho- how?”

(Paige explains to Darryl how Prue came back in further details.)

Paige: “Can you put an IP out for her?” “Just in case she shows up?”

Darryl: “Sure, Paige.”

Paige: “Thank you.”

(Paige hangs up the phone with Darryl.)

(Darryl walks out his office.)

Darryl *in a loud voice*: “Alright, we are putting IP out for a ‘Jane Doe’.” “Caucasian, black hair, green eyes, mid-to late 40’s.”

Female Detective: “Does she have any medical conditions?”

Darryl: “She, doesn’t remember herself.”

[Scene: 9:20 am- Living Quarters at Magic School with Paige, Phoebe, and Coop.]

(Paige hangs up the phone with Darryl.)

Phoebe: “So, what did he say?”

Paige: “Well, he placed an IP out for her, just in case she decides to resurface back on the Earth place.”

Phoebe: “Maybe I could sense her to see if she did.”

Coop: “Phoebe, I don’t think it would be good to use your powers to the distinctive level.” “It might induce your labor.”

Phoebe: This is my sister for god shakes, I at least have to try.”

(Paige pulls Coop to the side.)

Paige: “Piper, Leo and I are going to speak The Tribunal.”

Coop: “The Tribunal?” “Why?”

Paige *bobbing her head*: “For starters, we don’t know, hell, nobody from ‘Up there,’ knows about the book.” “Maybe The Tribunal could help.”

Coop: “Last time you all went there for help, they stripped Phoebe of her powers.” “We don’t know what they might do to Piper for finding the book, let alone for Wyatt for casting a spell.”

(Piper walks in.)

Piper: “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” “We are all willing to take.” *walks closer to Paige and Coop* “We need answers, and we need them now.” “Even if that requires a consequence of having are powers striped, goddamnit, I’m willing to do so.”

(Leo walks in.)

Paige: “Are you ready?”

Piper and Leo: “Yes.”

(Piper and Leo hold on to Paige and orbs out, leaving Coop with Phoebe.)

[Scene: 9:48 am- Still in Living Quarters at Magic School with Phoebe, and Coop.]

(Phoebe gets into a mediation position.)

Phoebe: “I need complete quietness, please.”

(Phoebe closes her eyes and starts of sensing for Prue)

Phoebe: “I can’t sense her.”

Coop: “Phoebe, I think you should stop.”

Phoebe: “Instead of me sensing her like any other normal person, I’m going to try sensing her through are blood relationship.”

(Phoebe was able to sense her.)

(Phoebe starts to levitate)

Coop *with panic in his voice*: “Phoebe, stop.” “You’re scarring me.”

Phoebe: “I can sense her.” “She’s not in The Underworld, but where?”

(Phoebe’s eyes turn pure white as her premonition power kicks to get a glace of the area.)

(*flashes* The San Francisco Police Department.)

(*flashes* Prue walking into the station.)

(*astral premonition in an invisible form*)

Darryl: “Prue, you don’t have to do this.”

Prue: “Oh, but I do.” “If you’re going to put an IP on me,” *punches Darryl* “leave a women age out of it!” “Oh look, I got blood on your white shirt.” “To bad.”

(Darryl passes out.)

(Prue hears astral Phoebe’s thoughts.)

(Prue starts to chant.)

Prue: “What is not seen”

       “Make seen”

(astral Phoebe visibly fades into a corporal form.)

(Prue gives an evil smirk.)

astral Phoebe: “How can yo-”

Prue: “- You read thoughts?” “I guess my powers are growing also.” “I don’t know where you and your *air quotes* sisters hiding, I will get you.” “I will get that book.” “And I will be the new Queen of the Underworld.” “LEAVE!”

(Premonition ends.)

(Phoebe flops back down to the grown from levitating.)

(Phoebe’s water’s breaks.)

Coop: “I told you that you should have stop, Phoebe!”

Phoebe: “Would you shut up for one second and get me to the infirmary!”

[Scene: 10:00 am- At The Tribunal’s meeting area with Leo, Piper, and Paige.]

(Paige orbs in with Piper and Leo.)

(Piper and Paige starts chanting.)

Piper and Paige: Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!

(The Tribunal appears)

Tribunal all together: “How may we help you this time, The Halliwells?”

Piper: “Well, I found this book while having work done at the manor and I came across this book with the title Book of Damned.’”

(All the Tribunal have a puzzled look on their face.)

(Start to whisper among each other.)

Piper: “Helllo people, we still need answer?”

Crill: “Book of Damned goes back to Salm Witch times.”

Paige: “That is why we seen Melinda Warren in Phoebe’s vision.”

Thrask: “As long as nobody cast a spell from that book, we should be fine.”

(Piper, Paige, Leo give each other a startled look.)

Leo: “Why not?”

Adair: “That book is magically linked to Letitia Gannibal.”

Piper: “I’m sorry who again?”

Crill: “Letitia Gannibal” “Just like how the Warren- Halliwell bloodline stared, the Gannibal-Bennett line started.” “She’s was the first of her bloodline to earn magic also.”

Thrask: “Instead of using her magic for good, she used it for evil.” “Starting the mythological of The Window of Opportunity.”

Paige: “What would happen if such casts a spell from the Book of Damned?

Adair: “If anyone casts a spell out of that book, will awaken Letitia herself!”

Leo: “Well we have a problem.”

Piper: “Wyatt cased a resurrecting spell, which brought back Prue from the dead.” “She doesn’t remember her and she’s using magic for evil acts.”

Adair: “Prue is going through the Window of Opportunity, meaning that she has 48 hours to choose a side to align with.”

Piper: “What the hell you mean the Window of Opportunity, she was already a good witch!”

Thrask: “By the looks of it, she self-choice evil.” “She has time to algin with good if she pleases.”

(The Tribunal looks among each other.)

Crill: “As for Wyatt, he will be held accountable for his acts for using forbidden magic.”

(The Tribunal summons Wyatt present.)

Wyatt: “Why am I here?”

Thrask: “Wyatt Halliwell, you are charged with using forbidden magic, by awaking a force of evil.”

Wyatt *with range in his voice*: “How the hell I suppose to know it was an evil book.” “Bullshit!”

Piper: “Language, mister!”

Wyatt: “I want a trial!” “I demand a trail now!”

Thrask: “Piper, Paige, I’ve just been informed that Phoebe just had her baby.”

Piper: “Paige you go back and check up on Phoebe, I’m staying her.” “There is no way in hell they are going to strip Wyatt of his powers.”

Adair: Actually Ms. Halliwell, we prefer Leo to stay while you and Paige go back to aid your sister.

(Piper rolls her eyes.)

Paige: Piper sweetie, just come on.

Piper: “Fine!” “Leo, let me know what happens.” Don’t leave any details ou—”

(Paige orbs her and Piper out before Piper gets to finish her word.)

Crill: “Let the trail begin.”

Adair: “For the plaintiff side, we have Zankou”

Leo: “Zankou!?”

(Zankou is summoned in flames)

Zankou: “Miss me?”

Thrask: For the dependent side we have Kyra.”

(Kyra is summoned in white orbs.)

Kyra*with a big smile on her face*: “I guy!”

Leo: “Kyra, I haven’t seen you since- ”

Kyra: “Since I was vanquished.” “I know.”

The Tribunal: “Let us begin!”

[Scene: 1:20 pm- Magic School’s infirmary with Phoebe, Coop, Piper, and Paige.]

(Paige orbs in with Piper.)

(Phoebe is swaddling her newborn.)

Piper: “Phoebe.” “Phoebe, are you ok.”

Phoebe: “I’m fine Piper.” “Everything is fine.”

Coop: “I want everyone to meet Ryan Victor Halliwell.”

Piper *with a smile in her face and tears forming in her eyes *: “Victor.”

Phoebe *smiling, crying*: “Dedicated after are father Victor.”

Coop: “He weighted a whooping 9 pounds.”

Paige: “Well, we know he was going to be healthy because Phoebe kept her mouth stuffed with food.”

Phoebe: “Hello, right here!”

(Everyone busted into laughter.)

Phoebe: “We got to get Prue, because she has Darryl in the Underworld.”

Piper: “That’s it.”

Paige: “What Piper.”

Piper: “She has to go.” “Paige orb me to the manor to get the book to from the attic.” “

Paige: “Piper, she’s are sister.” “You just can’t vanquish her like any other demon.”

Piper: “Are Prue died in 2001.” *in tears* “Are Prue would never attack a friend, yet alone an innocent.” *wipes tears* “She needs to be vanquished.”

Phoebe: “Hey, we are not vanquishing our sister Piper.”

(Phoebe climbs out the bed.)

Phoebe: “I got an idea.” *wipes the tears off of Piper’s face* “It requires the Book of Shadows and Sheila.”

[Scene: 2:50 pm- In the Underworld with Prue, Darryl, and Zygon.]

(Prue has Darryl pinned down in a chair.)

Zygon: “Why do you have this mortal in The Underworld.”

(Prue is sitting in The Source’s throne)

Prue: “Have you heard of touch your goddamnit nose.” *crosses her legs* “He’s leverage.”

Zygon: “Ahh, for what?”

Prue: “the Book of Damned, dip-shit.” *sighs* “I read your mind when I first meet you and know you was slow.” “But good god, I didn’t know you was this god damn slow.”

(Darryl wakes up dazed)

Darryl: “Pru- Prue?”

Prue *mimicking Darryl*: “Pru- Prue?” “Stop calling my name like that!” You wouldn’t like for me to call your name like that.” “Da- Darryl.”

Darryl: “Why can’t I move?”

Prue: “Because, I’m using my powers to tame you.”

Darryl: “What do you want from me?”

Prue: “It’s not what I want from you” “It’s what I want to trade you for.”

(Darryl brakes loose from Prue’s telepathic withholding.)

(Zygon used his powers to melt Darryl’s shoes in spot.)

Prue*walks up to Darryl*: “Poor Darryl.” now you don’t have any shoes.” “Now, shut up and SITT!”

(Darryl flops to the ground.)

[Scene: 2:45 pm Magic School’s with Phoebe, Piper, Paige, and Sheila.]

(Paige orbs back into Magic school with Piper and Sheila)

Sheila: “So let me get this straight.” *tilts her head at Paige* “You want me to roam free in The Underworld, just to use me as bait?”

Paige: “Yep, that’s the plan.” “But, trust us, we will be right there behind you.”

Piper: “Phoebe what did you want with the book?”

Phoebe: “I’m looking at the binding potion in the book.” “Something had me thinking, what if we tinker with the potion.

Piper: “Go on.”

Phoebe: “Instead of binding with Prue’s powers, we remove them, hoping it would break her from The Window of Opportunity.”  

Paige: “That might actually work.”

(Ryan, who is in his bassinet, starting crying.)

Phoebe: “Oh is little Ryan hungry?” “Oh yes he is, Oh yes he is.”

(Sheila walks over to the bassinet.)

Shelia: “He looks just like Coop.”

Phoebe *bottle feeding*: “He really does.”

(Phoebe stops bottle feeding Ryan.)

(She takes him out the bassinet, burps him a couple of times, and places him back in.)

Phoebe *walks over to Coop in the other room*: “Ryan has been feed and sleep.” “I’ve pumped milk just incase he wakes back up.”

Coop: “Phoebe-”

Phoebe: “Be safe, I know.”

(Coop kisses Phoebe on her forehead.)

(Paige, who has already made the revamped binding potion, approaches Phoebe and Coop.)

Paige: “Ready, Phoebe?”

Phoebe *nods*: “Ready”

(Phoebe, Piper, and Shelia holds on to Paige as she orbs them into The Underworld.)

[Scene: 3:00 pm- The Underworld with Phoebe, Piper, and Paige, and Sheila where Prue was with Darryl.]

(Phoebe, Piper, Shelia, and Paige orbed into The Underworld.)

Shelia *running over to Darryl*: “Darryl, oh honey, are you ok?”

(Darryl mouth was shut and he was still.)

Shelia: “Honey what’s wrong?’

Prue *struts out the shadows* *mimicking Shelia*: ““Darryl, oh honey, are you ok?” “No, he’s not.” “He’s under my control.”

(Prue uses advanced telekinesis to throw Shelia.)

(Paige catches Shelia using telekinetic orbing, placing her back on the ground.)

Paige: “I don’t think that’s nice, Prue.”

Prue: “You’re right dear, let me pick on someone my own size.”

(Prue uses advanced telekinesis to create a telekinetic energy ball, and chucks it at Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.)

(Piper explodes it, midway.)

Piper: “Nice try.”

Prue: “I’m going to ask one more time, where is the book!?”

Phoebe*pulls out the Book of Damned*: “This book?”

Prue: “Yep, now be a gem and hand it over, or Darryl here will be a vegetable for the rest of his living, breathing live.”

Piper: “Now!”

(Paige throws the potion as Phoebe opens up the corked glass bottle so that she would be able to capture Prue’s powers.”

Prue: “No!”

(Prue uses advanced telekinesis to have the bottle bust before traveling her way.)

(This causes the bottle to burst in front of Piper instead.)

(The potion working biding every sister power, but Phoebe, that makes them Charmed - Piper’s Molecular Immobilization, Prue’s Telekinesis, and Paige’s Telekinetic Orbing.)

(The bottle then magically teleports back to magic school.)

Prue: “I’ve had it with the games!” *tries to use telekinesis but does not works*

Phoebe: “You know what Prue, me to.”

(Phoebe’s lounges herself using levitation at Prue.)

Phoebe: “Feel this, bitch!”

(Phoebe uses her Empath and Premonition power to make Prue see her childhood and make her experience the emotions that occurred during that time period.)

(It was enough to knock Prue out, releasing Darryl her Telepathic hold.)

(Shelia and Phoebe walks over to help Darryl)

Paige: “Ok, Let’s go now!”

(Paige orbs all of them out of there back to Magic School.)

 THE END

#charmed #Prue halliwell #piper halliwell #phoebe halliwell #paige matthews #wicca

[ogamagirl]

Gather round friends, grab a snack and get comfy, because I’m about to recount a tale. The tale of Bob, the Unfortunate Ear of Corn.

Most of you who know me know I have a younger brother; he’s three years younger than me. This story takes place years ago, when we were both still in school; I was a junior (3rd year) in high school, and he was in 8th grade (the last year of middle school). He had to write a poem for his creative writing class and brought it home and asked me to proofread it.

Usually Mom proofread our writing, as she was very good at writing and catching grammar stuff, but she was also...very passionate about certain things. She hated the word “it”; once, when proofing an essay I wrote where I used the word “it” once, she got down on the floor and rolled around in the fetal position screaming “IT” for a while. Kieran (my brother) didn’t feel like dealing with Mom and her proofing that particular day, so I agreed to proof his poem.

His poem was called “Bob, the Unfortunate Ear of Corn.” And...it was not good.

To be clear, Kieran is a great writer; I proofed a bunch of stuff for him over the years and I could tell when he was half-assing stuff. Bob was half-assed. It had no sense of structure (he insisted it was “free verse”) or meter, and while humorous (the story concerned an ear of corn named Bob who is separated from his family in the corn field, sent to a supermarket, purchased, cooked and eaten. ...so it was dark humor, but still) it just wasn’t very well constructed. You could tell he just wanted to be done with the assignment. I told him it needed improvement.

“Well I’m not changing it.”

“Then why did you ask me to proof it????”

We went back and forth and he stuck to his guns; I shrugged and said he could do what he wanted. He did end up showing it to Mom as well and she told him the same thing; his response to her was the same. He ended up turning in the poem as is.

His teacher loved it. So much so that she submitted it to our regional scholastic competition. Mom and I were floored. It ended up winning a gold key, the highest prize a piece could win.

Gold key pieces are automatically entered into the national level. Kieran didn’t hear anything for a while, so we thought that was the end of the saga of Bob; it was a fun story to tell to people (”my brother wrote about corn and won a prize”) but we were in for one more surprise.

It won a national silver medal. To be clear, that’s national as in “pieces from all over the US are submitted and only the best of the best win”. Silver and gold medalists are invited to a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City. So of course, my whole family went.

The trip to New York was a whole other fountain of great stories that we still tell in our family (like Kieran convincing a fellow winner his name was John) but the whole thing was so wonderfully surreal. They have actors read excerpts from winning pieces at the ceremony and that year Paul Giamatti was there, which we thought was pretty neat. Sadly Bob was not among the read selections. But it should have been. All these other pieces were these big important sounding stories about huge sweeping ideals. And there was Kieran. Who won a medal for writing about corn. It was fantastic.

#I FELT LIKE TALKING TONIGHT *shrugs* #I tell this story better in person skdjfgdfg orz;;;;;; #but! it is one of my family's favorite stories to tell xD #Erin rambles #long post

[thedeaditeslayer]

Bruce Campbell Talks Life After Ash And Much More In An Interview.

Bruce Campbell, that’s a name every horror fan knows. The writer/actor/director/producer has been involved in so many iconic films and series. One of the jewels in his crown is The Evil Dead franchise in which he plays the unforgettable character Ashley “Ash” Williams.

His “Ash vs Evil Dead” series premiered back in 2015 on Starz, giving us three seasons of Ash, along with his deadite fighting sidekicks Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) and Pablo (Ray Santiago) as well as the sometimes evil Ruby (Lucy Lawless).

Fans were heartbroken to learn earlier this year that “Ash vs Evil Dead” wouldn’t return for a fourth season. Soon Bruce announced that Ash had been permanently retired, leaving fans to wonder what was next for the one of a kind, suave, badass.

When I had the opportunity to talk with Bruce I jumped at the chance (and with excitement) to find out what is next for our favorite leading man and ask a few questions that I’ve always wanted to know the answer to.

Horror Fuel: “Among other things, Ash is known for his one-liners, what is your favorite?

Bruce Campbell: “I don’t have one, I leave that up to the pundits. I kind of like one from Evil Dead 2, there’s a demon going ‘I’ll swallow your soul’, and goes ‘swallow this’ and he blows it up with a shotgun. That one I made up, I’m happy with that one. Ash is full of them. Ash vs Evil Dead gave us three new years worth of one-liners. I can’t remember half of them.”

Horror Fuel: “That is a great scene. I really enjoyed Ash vs Evil Dead. Is it true that they used a dead chicken for some of the sound effects in Evil Dead?”

Bruce Campbell: “It was a dead, raw, store-bought chicken. They needed like a fleshy sound. It wasn’t a live chicken that we killed. It left a smelly residual in the studio after a while because it was there for a couple of days. It got a little gnarly. That’s why I wrote a book about it to dispell any myths. In my first Chin Book, I wrote all about the Evil Dead and dispelled any rumors.

Horror Fuel: “Not long after the series ended you announced that you were retiring Ash, How do you feel about that decision now?”

Bruce Campbell: “I retired him so why would I feel bad about it? I feel great about it. It was time. No more dicking around. I don’t want to tease fans anymore. They’ve been teased and tormented for a long time. They wanted more Evil Dead, we gave them thirty episodes, fifteen more hours of the character. Basically, you know what it’s all I got. There is no more I can give the character physically, or mentally, or spiritually. I left it all on the table. The last season almost killed me, to tell the truth. These are difficult shows and movies to make. I’m sixty now. I’m like hey, let’s stop doing this before it gets embarrassing. Ash is supposed to have some physical skills and I’m already declining. Let’s get out before the wheelchair.”

Horror Fuel: “I respect that, I really do. Ash has always been a very physical character. He’s constantly fighting something. I respect that you retired him while he’s still on top.”

Bruce Campbell: “With actors, there is an expiration date. Their eyes go. You can’t hear anymore because of explosions. They’ve got random injuries. There is a perception I think that actors are carried around on a pillow.

Just look at Brandon Frazer, in an interview not long ago they were like ‘What happened to you?’ He was like, ‘What do you mean what happened to me? I got the shit beat out of me making these dumb action movies for years.’ He’s not a little guy, so when he bashed into stuff, that shit’s gonna leave a mark.

That was one of the motivations for retiring Ash. I think that we wrapped it up. We took care of the character. We brought him back fully fleshed him out, used our new skills when presenting that character to the world. Boom, now I can say I’m done. And I’m fully done.”

Horror Fuel: “I understand. He was such a physical character. He was never a character to just show up and just talk, there was always a fight.”

Bruce Campbell: “I would long for those days. In three years of Ash vs Evil Dead, there were probably two scenes where Ash just talked. Normally, when he talked boom, a demon would pop up. So, I’m longing for that type of gig, where I can sit in a room talking.”

Horror Fuel: “Besides Ash, what has been your favorite role to date?”

Bruce Campbell: “I have about a handful, Brisco, Autolycus in Hercules and Xena was fun, Bubba Ho-Tep was fun, a couple of random things. I’ve done some fun ones.”

Horror Fuel: “You’ve been great in so many roles. I loved you as Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep. You do a mean Elvis impression. I know a lot of fans wonder if we’ll ever see a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep.”

Bruce Campbell: “No. I’ve already told Don Coscarelli and Joe Lansdale no. I’m out. I’m done with that character too. I thought that the movie was very special. I didn’t care for subsequent scripts. I just pulled out of it. Just let that one be, it’s a little gem of a movie.”

Horror Fuel: “Sometimes sequels can be a bad thing.”

Bruce Campbell: “Sequels can ruin movies sometimes. All you remember is the shitty sequel.”

Horror Fuel: “Can you tell us anything about your role as Gary in the upcoming series Lodge 49?”

Bruce Campbell: “It’s a great part. I was finishing a book tour last year – it started in August and I did thirty-five cities, for my third book. At the end of a book tour you’re throwing up blood, you don’t know what your name is. I was going down to Florida for my last book signing in Tampa. Paul Giamatti contacts me and says ‘Dude you’ve got to play this part. I haven’t been talking to anybody else, I’m not auditioning anybody. You have to do it.” I wasn’t prepared to do anything except sleep for a week. I read the script and it was three episodes for this show Lodge 49. I was like ‘Oh shit. He’s right, I have to do this. So against my better judgment, I went back up to Atlanta. Hopefully, it came out nice. I don’t think my episodes come out until next year.”

Horror Fuel: “We’ll be watching.”

Bruce Campbell: “It’s such a great part.”

Horror Fuel: “Sam Raimi is working on a project with short films. Will you be involved?”

Bruce Campbell: “I don’t know. Sam and I had a fun little excursion recently, but I don’t know. I don’t have any plans to do that but never say never. Sam’s my homie. It’s always fun to be in his stuff.”

Horror Fuel: “You mentioned your books a few minutes ago, any chance we will get another one?”

Bruce Campbell: “I’m working on a new deal with my publisher right now. I’m going to tour and hopefully do twenty cities in 2020 for the new book.”

Horror Fuel: “By any chance can you reveal the title?”

Bruce Campbell: “I can, but I won’t. Things like that can change, then people go ‘[changes voice] What happened to that book Flight of the Pheonix?” No, now it’s named Death Wish 3000. Sometimes titles change.”

Horror Fuel: ” Oh, okay. [laughter] I can’t wait to check it out.”

Bruce Campbell: “It’s part of the new chapter in my life. The new non-Ash chapter of my life, more homegrown material, I want to write new stuff. Over the years I’ve developed a lot of stuff. A dozen different projects, books, movies, TV shows. The other day my wife was like ‘If we don’t start doing this now when are we going to do it? You’re sixty, you’re old.’ That’s the thought behind that.

As far as writing, it’s the most gratifying work I’ve ever done, more than movies. You make a million dollar movie there is a lot of opinions and ideas. Make a really expensive movie there are even more people with opinions, and ideas, and demands. The creative process gets horribly worn down. In the book world, I’ve got one guy, my editor, who reads stuff and gives me feedback. That’s it, one guy. I like that world. The last book I put out, good or bad, it’s a bestseller. We got to number eight. It’s the book I wanted to put out about ninety-eight percent. You make a movie, you’re lucky to get thirty percent of the shit that you like before somebody gets it. A lot of the time in a movie, if you’re a director, you turn it over to the producer and you never see it again. They could cut it into a musical if they want to. People talk about how creative movies are, they’re okay, but being creatively satisfying, nah. They are not that creatively satisfying because they go through so many processes of approval because they cost so much money. It’s much more of a pure artistic experience with writing, I’ll tell you that.”

Horror Fuel: “What type of writing will you be doing? Will there be more books like your previous ones?”

Bruce Campbell: “There will be everything, fiction, nonfiction. It’s fun to mix it up. Then there are movies, I’ve got a couple of scripts, some for TV shows too. Act three has begun.

Horror Fuel: “I can’t wait to see your third act. If they are anything like your first two they’ll be epic. Are you working on any other roles right now?”

Bruce Campbell: “There’s plenty of stuff. Right now I’m working on Tangled, the Disney cartoon. They are doing a TV show. I’m playing the king.”

Horror Fuel: “Hail to the King, baby.”

Bruce Campbell: “It’s fun to do voice stuff. There’s an Evil Dead video game coming too. There will be more of that. There are things that are there and that will happen, but aren’t worth talking about yet.

In the meantime, I’m doing my game show Last Fan Standing. We’ve got about half a dozen events coming up, everywhere from Berkeley, California to Denver. I’m doing this game show for geeks, Last Fan Standing. I’m in the game show phase of my career now [laughter]. It’s keeping me busy and I’m still doing conventions as well.”

Horror Fuel: That sounds fun. What’s your next stop and where can fans find your convention schedule?”

Bruce Campbell: “Horror Hound, but I have a website. Anybody can always go there.”

Horror Fuel: “If you could go back and give your younger self some advice, what would it be?”

Bruce Campbell: “I don’t take advice and I try not to give advice because it’s so meaningless. Even if I did tell my younger self I think I still would have done my own damn thing anyway.  The film business is so topsy-turvy. It’s a strange world. There’s no advice that really holds any water. The best advice I would tell any actor is that no one is going to do anything for you.

Thank god for Twitter. Thank god for Facebook. That’s your way of saying hey to the world. Think you got talent? Make a video and put it on YouTube, start your own YouTube channel. There’s really no excuse for people to not get their stuff seen. Back in my day, before social media, how the hell would they know who you are? If it wasn’t in newspapers or magazines no one would see it when I started. Now you can go into your backyard and make a dumb movie and put it on YouTube or Twitter. It’s easier now for people to sell their wares. But you know what, at the end of the day, show me a lazy person and I’ll show you someone who is going to fail. It’s that simple. If you’re a lazy actor don’t come crying to me. There are always ways that you can get out there. You want to act? Call your local community theater and find out when they are doing Little Abner and go audition. How hard is that? It’s not that big of a deal.

On social media, there are certain topics that you just don’t touch. These days you can lose half your fans with just one Tweet. These days you can lose your whole career with just one Tweet. You have to be careful man. Don’t be drunk Tweeting or Ambien Tweeting. There’s your advice, beware of social media.”

Horror Fuel: “That makes a lot of sense. We’ve seen a lot of people in the news lately who have gotten in trouble over Tweets. ”

While you’re waiting for Bruce Campbell’s next film, series or book, be sure to check out the long list of his past work, including his books which are best described as “groovy”.

Follow Bruce on Facebook and Twitter. Stay up to date on all of his projects and to learn more about “Last Fan Standing” please visit his official website, where you can also find the schedule of his upcoming appearances and so much more. Meet the legend himself at the Fandemic Comic-Con running September 14th through the 16th in Houston, Texas (get your tickets HERE).

Don’t miss Bruce in “Lodge 49” premiering on AMC on August 6, 2018.

#Bruce Campbell #Ash vs. Evil Dead #Ash vs Evil Dead

[abitterlifethroughcinema]

         #ABitterLifeThroughCinema’s WOKE! Film Reviews

     The Top Ten (+1) Best Movies of 2018 and where to find them!

                                                          by

                                           Lucas Avram Cavazos

+1…11. Overlord  Having its premiere at this year’s Sitges Int’l Film Fest, Overlord not only happened to be one of the fave films screened there this past festival, but this cinematic fantasy is an all-too-real and stark portrayal of a horror that actually occurred, and it deserves a nod from the Barcelona film critic family, so here it goes. Duly noted, I’d say. It starts with an insane aerial combat mission on the night of D-Day, one which goes awry and sees only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop when enemy fire rains hell. They land in provincial France and the plot sets out to detail some of the inner workings of the Third Reich in reference to the insane, gruesome experiments done on captured Europeans and Jews. Those stories you’ve heard about turning these poor people into guinea pigs for super soldier intent using potent, injected serums…yeah, those? They’re true, if you believe the words of JJ Abrams. Are they as utterly brutal and horror/zombie film-like as displayed here? I sure as hell hope not. (now available On Demand and DVD)

10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs There once was a film called O Brother Where Art Thou? While this is not its sequel, there is a sharp-witted vein to this film that could only be crafted and gifted to us by the Coen Brothers. What a hoot it is, even if it is a rather darkly-tinted hue of that hoot and humour. It is also one of their finest in years. Revolving around the singing cowpoke Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) and five other tales brought to us with the commonly-threaded theme of death in often brutally funny ways, this film is a fine return to oddball form from two of the finest sibling directors of all time. Starring Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, even Tyne Daly and so many in its vignettes, and that acting star power fuses this Western comedy into new territory for the brothers. Their previous works set in the west always seemed to be re-hashing works of years gone by but here, with their usage of almost comic-book-like details and witty banter make this much more enjoyable than their other historical works like O Bother and their remake of True Grit. Best western in absolute years! (available on Netflix or VOD)

9. Eighth Grade This poignant little film, which should have been wide-released everywhere the world over, is given fierce and bittersweet star power by Elsie Fisher, protagonist and student at the heart of this film. Comedian Bo Turnham has brought us the quintessential coming-of-tweenage story and along with Fisher, everyone in this film is so perfectly placed in their roles, especially Josh Hamilton as her dad, who deserves some nominations for this film but is unlikely to get any. Telling the story of 13-year old Kayla, we the audience get a sneak-peek into the minds and lives of today’s young adults. From her simple YouTube videos made to encourage other young kids to her obvious desire to fit in with older kids to her insecurity with boys, this film paints a stark reality that too many have lived through and this little indie film deserves aplomb from anywhere it can get it! (now available On Demand and DVD)

8. A Star is Born I skipped the critics’ screening of this film for the mere fact that I couldn’t bear to see if the acting and plot lines were another torrid take on a much-redone film. Even into the holiday season, I had not yet seen it and then when I did, I certainly took back any reservations. Bradley Cooper’s update of the film starring himself and Lady Gaga is just about as good as everyone said it was, and that was beyond refreshing to note post-viewing. In many ways, I feel that Cooper is likely revealing a few things about himself with the guise of “it’s a movie” being a nice cover; in some ways, he gives us what I believe are hints of his covert life, and it’s with Gaga’s turn as Ally that we really see him shine beyond the shtick of his character, country-rocker Jackson Maine. In a tad corny-tad, gripping way that takes hold the moment you see Gaga, let’s be frank and real, this film goes on to detail a Diet Coke version of the grim realities that often detail too many a tale of celebrity in Hollywood. Without revealing too many details of the film’s plot and denouement, we are looking at a necessary conversation about alcoholism, drug addiction and fame (plus a lack of ’NO’ men/women in many relationships) that needs to addressed for all ages. Well done, Mr. Cooper Goes to the Oscars. (At select screens, On Demand & DVD)

7. El Angel Incidentally, this may be the first time in a rather long time that I say something good about Argentinian men, so do take note. Telling the true story of fresh-faced boy killer Carlos Robledo Puch, played to Oscar-worthy perfection by newcomer Lorenzo Ferro, the masterful detail to which director Luis Ortega has crafted this arthouse meets dramedy-thriller is astounding and easily touches heights set by dePalma and even, dare I say it, Scorcese. We follow young Carlitos Puch, who is just nearing the edge of seventeen, as takes up with a rough and tough family of his devilishly attractive school chum Ramon, played by the spirited Chino Darin, son of Ricardo Darin. But as Carlitos comes to find out, his street crimes can easily be paved to real ones and his sadistic tendencies suddenly yet gradually paint a picture of someone who is in part desperate for attention and tacceptance and in part a fairly smart, well-to-do young adult. He parlays his sociopathy at pubescence into psychopathy with time, and this film will likely be, but should definitely not be, forgotten come awards and Best Of lists time.(available On Demand and DVD)

6. Black Panther As Oscar season comes to a head, it is worth talking about one of the most striking films that you’ll see for a while. Black Panther is that good, not only because of its genre but also because of its message: that seeking freedom through recreating systems of oppression will only extend the ill-treatment and broken nature we find ourselves in nowadays. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, protagonist King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) brings us the first real black superhero from the Marvel universe. With a cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Michael B Jordan, the acting is beyond impressive. What is even more amazing, however, is how the plot power-plays many elements of our world’s current political climate. (now available On Demand and DVD)

5. Chappaquiddick Another film which is nothing short of striking in its relevance to the current political situation in the USA. Senator Ted Kennedy was the only remaining Kennedy that I was familiar with throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Jason Clarke as the Massachusetts senator is astounding, as is the cut of his jib and chin, although the accent was a tad weak, to be ever sincere. This is a complete revelation on the many details that were only gingerly touched upon during the course of the week following the death which this movie is detailing . As the facts are laid out in the film, it astounds me that the American people continued to vote and elect Kennedy for decades after. This is a study on arrogance, class and governmental ambiguity. And if that was the case with liberals in the Sixties, how much more so with conservatives in this digital age? My favourite film of last year’s BCN Film Festival. (now available On Demand and DVD)

4. Private Life Good Lawd this is such a heartwarming/breaking story with the finest elements of believable comedy and situational realism that define the art of the classic Gen X film from the 90s to now. May we never forget that it was Gen, and even those a few years before them, who gave us the digiverse-Netflix-instant oatmeal www.orld in which we live today and when I see a very NYC film like this one, it makes it a true reality check. Being the age that one should be married with kids, I watched Kathryn Hahn as Rachel absolutely slay the silver screen and am eager to see if she picks up any more accolades throughout the current awards season. Simple plot…she’s in her early 40s and her hubby Rich (played by Paul Giamatti) is entering his late 40s and they are fully entrenched within the confines of every single way to conceive a baby. Following the couple through their trials and tribulations really get pushed up an ante when sort-of relative Sadie (the lovely Kayli Carter) decides she will be the surrogate mum for them as things get a tad pear-shaped. This could easily be dubbed a dreamed, for in effect, it is; what needs to be known is that this is also a morality tale for a new age. The old-fashioned ethics of yesteryear just do not apply anymore, at least not in big cities, and the less is more factor easily makes this one of the finest films released within the last year. (available on Netflix)

3. BlacKKKlansman Without a doubt, this is the finest work in all too many years by Spike Lee, and he takes no prisoners in letting you know that the spilled essence of blaxploitation all over this celluloid is to egg you into knowing that this story is 100% true…and crazy. The mere fact that David Duke is literally cheerleading for the current President of the United States should scare us all and wake those who are not. Watching actor John David Washington portray Ron Stallworth, the real-life cop who slyly infiltrated the inner workings of the Klu Klux Klan 40 years ago. After signing up for the Colorado Spring PD, he realises the lack of trust in the 98% Anglo-Saxon workforce, as he’s thrown into monitoring the goings-on of any Black Panther student situations. Eventually, he takes up with a guy on the force that he can dig called Flip and played to skilled excellence by the oddest of lookers Adam Driver. Basically, the plot follows the twosome, as they tag team the aforementioned white supremacist movement, Ron being the voice and Flip being the wingman as they start an investigation on grand wizard bastard himself David Duke, played to troubling perfection by Topher Grace, evoking all of the calmness and utter sociopathic tendencies of a man reviled by most yet revered by still too many. And watching this taut film and how it rolls through such a daunting story with comedic aplomb and vicious realness gives you goosebumps. That said, as the film gets toward its ending, is when Lee gives you the goods when he flashes to scenes from the crazy Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, AntiFa protesting and subsequent death of Heather Heyer, may she rest in peace. God Save the World…and Amerikkka.

2. Fahrenheit 11/9  Premiering a few weeks ago here in Spain at very select cinema screens across the country, this is the first documentary in some time by Michael Moore that could play across an international landscape and should be required viewing on any critic’s or person’s list. The titular oddity refers to the day after we all woke up across the world in shock and awe that Donald J Trump had won the Presidency of the USA. Even if this is not Morre’s best film to date, it is undoubtedly the one that holds the viewers’ feet to the fire and calls for them to fight the nasty funk of this administration. But, it’s when he takes it back to his roots, to Flint, Michigan, and ends up involving all local and state politics, that we start to see the more sinister undertakings happening amongst conservative parties, ideals and societies. When you add in the fact of the Parkland High School shooting and the way Moore later fuses footage of Hitler and his minions and followers with a rally speech made by the current occupant of the White House, it becomes all too obvious that things are exactly as we think they are (A HOT MESS!) and we have very little recourse rather than claiming truth. (now available On Demand and DVD)

1. ROMA There are tender moments of realism that are permitted to happen with the rise of instant cinema on VOD and direct-to-home films, and it has been a pleasure to see that sites like Netflix and Amazon and Canal+ have truly added to the foray in which great celluloid can be brought to the masses. Case in point comes the finest piece of dramatic celluloid that graced the silver screen in the last year. Being a Mexican whose father is a naturalised citizen of the US and a mother who is Chicana from the US, like myself and my siblings, the sentimentality ran deep with this film. One of the differences I experienced was the fact that we were the only Mexican-American family in a stately US country club…and we had an entire childhood spent with loving housekeepers, which is what this film inherently is honouring and depicting, using the backdrop of Alfonso Cuarón’s take on growing up in 70s-upper middle class Mexico City in the neighbourhood of Roma. Depicting the life of the house assistant Cleo (first-time performer Yalitza Aparicio in a J.Hud moment, frankly) and the family of Sr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor in the Mexican capital, what Cuarón has called his most personal film to date, is also a B&W modern tale in the vein of Gone with the Wind, and the fact that he centres around a privileged Mexican family is poignant for several reasons: it not only takes a focus away from how Donald bloody Trump has painted Mexicans, in general, to the world, but it also highlights a very human element to how many classes of society function and live there in the frontier regions of North America and, more importantly, EVERYWHERE…easily put, this is a sweet, oft-times simple, oft-times brutal story on humanity. What binds so many critics together on this film’s merits is that fact that Alfonso Cuarón has crafted the past year’s most enigmatic movie, leaving us to make our own answers to what happens to Lady Cleo, her best mate Teresa, and this beautiful family. Absolutely and quietly stunning! (available on Netflix and selects screens across the country)

#abitterlifethroughcinema #BCNinEnglish #englishradiobcn #overlord #theballadofbusterscruggs #eighth grade #elangel #a star is born #blackpanther #chappaquiddick #privatelife #Blackkklansman #fahrenheit119 #roma film #LucasAvramCavazos

[livehealthynewsusa]

Paul Giamatti on Gunpowder Milkshake, Jungle Cruise, and Billons Season 6

Everyone knows Paul Giamatti from something. Perhaps you are a Howard Stern loyalist who remembers him as “Pig Vomit” from Stern’s 1997 biographical film Private Parts (adapted from Stern’s book and starred as himself). You may remember his little role in Saving Private Ryan or his Oscar-nominated role in Cinderella Man. You may have seen him on the small screen portraying the perfect John Adams on HBO’s John Adams or going on par with Damian Lewis on Showtimes Billions for the past five years.

Personally, I always think of the first movie I’ve ever seen him in: Big Fat Liar, a 2002 family movie in which Giamatti plays a selfish Hollywood producer who literally steals a movie idea from a kid (Frankie Muniz). But the whole point is that everyone has something. He’s one of those actors who makes any movie, show, play, or commercial he’s in better, and the latest to get that Giamatti bump is Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake.

The film, which features Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji: The Next Level star Karen Gillan in her first butt-kicking lead role, clearly takes a bit of DNA from its spiritual predecessors, John Wick and Kill Bill. But the movie’s wonderfully choreographed action comes non-stop, with fights, sequences, and imagery that you’ll want to see again right away. Gillan and Giamatti are not alone either; while they play assassins or handlers, they are accompanied by Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino and Michelle Yeoh as a quartet of totally tough killers.

Netflix

As always, Giamatti’s character is complicated. He’s not a good guy, but we’re not entirely sure if he could be called a really bad guy. He can talk a little more about that. His screen time is limited, but as always, it’s the line deliveries, facial expressions, and general lingering memorability of the 54-year-old that make him such a valuable presence.

In addition to talking to Giamatti about his role in Netflix’s new hyper-stylized action film, we also talked about a few other important topics, including one of his decades-old cult classics working with both The Rock and a Majestic Bird, and what projects he can do for tease or not a release later in 2021.

I would fail to start this interview without asking you about the first movie I saw you in as a kid in the 90s: Big fat liar.

For sure.

I am curious to see how often you hear that this person is brought up. I suspect some other people my age, but maybe it doesn’t resonate as much with other or older generations.

It comes out pretty much which is great. I think now, you know, generations of people … you are right about older people, but how old are you?

I am 28.

Um. Yes, people your age and a little older, and their kids are seeing it now, too. So it’s been a success with children for generations. Children still see it. It is great.

Lots of people see you with all that blue paint on you, don’t they?

Yup! Yup.

Giamatti and Frankie Muniz in Big Fat Liar.

Universal

Well, Gunpowder Milkshake is quite a shift from Big fat liar.

[LAUGHING]

I was tied up the whole time. But I’ve seen you in a few other action films in the past. If you decide to make an action movie, how Gunpowder milkshake, What are you looking for?

So I haven’t done that many action films yet. I have a lot of these, but when I do them I try to pick the more unusual ones that come. I also did a movie called Shoot ‘Em Up a while back, which was similar in some ways to that movie. It was really weird and strange. So, I like something that’s a little weird than just straight ahead. And that was really strange, I thought. It has a strange sense of humor, and I like that kind of very complete, strange world that you don’t get told much about, but you can feel that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end, beyond anything is you’ve just seen what’s really cool.

The color palette is really noticeable at times.

Yes, it’s a beautiful looking movie. And it’s beautifully recorded and edited, and it’s really, really well done. Just a strange movie, too. It has a strange tone, kind of. I liked it.

Giamatti in Shoot’em Up.

New Line cinema

You mentioned Shoot ‘Em Up – that was actually the other action movie I had in mind. You happen to be a villain in this movie too. Is there anything you particularly like about playing a villain character?

I don’t really think the guy in this movie is the bad guy, in a weird way. The character of Ralph Ineson actually seems to be the villain. I mean my character is a compromised guy but he actually takes care of the girl and it seems like he actually helped her get her back together with her mom. So I don’t necessarily think he’s the bad guy, which is what I kind of liked about this guy.

But I don’t mind playing bad guys at all. And Shoot ‘Em Up — one of the things I really liked was that I would get movie villains a lot, but I was like, “Uh”. And then the bad guy in that movie was so weird and twisted that I thought, “Well, that’s a good bad guy part.”

But I don’t mind playing villains at all. I like to play them. I don’t do it that often. I feel like I play bad guys as opposed to the bad guys who mostly. I kind of play shitty, ambiguous guys, but I don’t necessarily play the bad guy.

Those “grayscale” characters.

Yes. That’s what I think this guy is. The guy in Shoot ‘Em Up was great. I mean, that was a great character. I have to break Clive Owen’s fingers and run over a baby and all. I mean, that’s a lot of fun.

This is the first time I’ve seen Karen Gillan star in a movie like this. What was it like working with her?

She was great. I mean, you know, I guess you’re right – it’s kind of her first. But it didn’t seem like the first time she’d had to take a lead. She mastered it perfectly. But she was great. It was really fun and we had a good time.

I’m impressed with these people who can do both the physical and the acting part of this kind of thing. It’s always very impressive.

Another movie that you have is Jungle cruise, this is another movie you do with The Rock. However, I don’t think you had any scenes in common San Andreas.

No we have not.

How was it this time to meet him and work with him?

He seems like one of the few people I can think of in this business who is pretty much what you think he’s going to be. And pretty much what it appears to be. He’s just a really good guy. He’s an incredibly approachable guy, and he’s just plain fun. He’s having a good time. He’s working his ass off.

I mean, he works out a good part of the day and then he comes in and does his acting. These types of athletes are just great when they act because they just want to play, they want to have a good time, they want to do the right thing, they want to do it well. It is very nice. He’s a great guy. He’s a really, really, nice guy. He is exactly what he seems to be. It really is. I really enjoyed it.

Giamatti (and Vogel) in jungle cruise.

Disney

I don’t know much about this movie, but I saw your character in the trailer and on the poster. It looks like you have a big bird on your arm.

Yes I do.

What can you tell me about this bird

Well, the bird, originally I wanted him … there really was no character. It’s actually a bit like Shoot ‘Em Up where there wasn’t really a character. They said, can you just come in and do something with it? And with it the same. They were like just want to do something with them? And I thought: okay.

And so I originally wanted a monkey to light my cigars. But it’s a Disney movie, so I couldn’t smoke cigars, and then a monkey was too difficult. Monkeys are too difficult to handle. And so they said: do you want another kind of animal? And I said what about a cockatoo or something? A really beautiful bird.

So they got me a beautiful bird. And I’ve worked with birds before and it’s really great to work with because they are really smart and can be very loving and cool, and when you are cool with them they really connect with them, you, and they are very sweet to work with. And this bird was really great. In fact, I was thinking pretty seriously about adopting this bird. But I didn’t end up doing it because there’s a lot to do, birds. But the bird was fantastic. Beautiful bird. Really cute bird.

Amazing. That sounds fun.

Yes.

Before we go, I’d like to ask a few quick questions, too potential things to come. I say potential because I saw some rumors on the internet claiming that you will repeat your repetition Amazing Spider-Man 2 Role in the coming Spider-Man: No way home Movie. Can you give us a hint, yes or no?

All I can tell you is that as far as I know I don’t. [LAUGHING]

OK. We can leave it there.

Yes.

There are also a lot of fans of your show Billions, and a new season is just around the corner. Can you give us a little hint what to expect there?

Oh … big stuff. Big stuff goes down. You’d kill me if I said something, but all I can tell you is that some big, big shit hits the fan. That’s all I can tell you.

This interview has been condensed for content and clarity.

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source https://livehealthynews.com/paul-giamatti-on-gunpowder-milkshake-jungle-cruise-and-billons-season-6/

[theliterateape]

I Like to Watch | Billions (Showtime)

by Don Hall

Up until the last season, I loved House of Cards. The intrigue and four-dimensional chess playing done in the name of acquiring power were fascinating but what made it work for me was the incredible writing and the masterful actors spinning those words like strippers working a pole.

Kevin Spacey may very well be a creepy dude, using his personal success to seduce teenage boys into the sack, but he is an incredible actor on the screen. In the first two seasons, it's obvious these scenery-chewing thespians were having fun playing villains and heroes set in the halls of American governmental power-grabbing.

At least once per episode there would be a turn of phrase or a statement made that had me smacking my face and thinking Fuck. I wish I had written that.

“There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.”

“I’ve always loathed the necessity of sleep. Like death, it puts even the most powerful men on their backs.”

“Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.”

Given that I have as much use for power or money as a boy born without hands has for a deck of cards, I can view this melodrama from a vantage of fascination rather than life lessons. I know a few people hungry enough for this sort of worldview and their take on Frank Underwood is a bit more instructive. Me? I'd love the money and maybe the power but the only pedagogical metric provided by Frank is that, in order to achieve the money and the power, the kind of work necessary is just not my bag.

Like the ancient Greeks and Romans, however, the stories of gods and kings are still fascinating. In 2021, the gods are coming from Marvel and the kings are coming from both the political sector and Wall Street. The odds of my having a gamma radiation accident and developing a rage monster alter ego are as stacked as they are against me running for higher office or making more than $50,000 a year, so I can only enjoy the intrigues from my streaming device.

Showtime’s popular series Billions has been locked in the streaming vault since 2016 and features Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti as a rogue billionaire hedge fund owner versus the United States District Attorney of the Southern District of New York. Both kings in the monied and political sense.

In the house-bound pandemic distancing, I discovered five seasons (with a sixth on the way) and I am hooked. Great actors with a fun storyline of corruption, betrayals, alliances, and vendettas. The selling point is the writing, though.

Created and written by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, this is a series of scripts that combine sumptuous language that most actors could not pull off but this cast nails it. Reminiscent of the scripts of Joel and Ethan Coen without so much of the over-the-top comic performances, Billions is just a blast.

And in each and every episode there are at least five separate moments where I am filled with venomous envy that I didn't write those specific combination of words myself.

“Self-righteousness is an indulgence I cannot afford.”

“I like nightmares. When I wake up, they leave me deeply valuing my reality.”

“You know what it takes to find a truffle? A hog, a dog, whatever keenly scented, carefully trained animal gets the assignment, spends a lifetime traipsing through the dark, sniffing out the slightest aroma. And only then the digging begins. And what do you think they’re digging through?Shit. That’s the thing we don’t say much about, right? The things we most value, the things we pay most dearly to ingest are grown in shit.”

“Only people with money forget about money.”

“As long as justice is served, credit doesn't matter.”

“Corrections are in order. There’s a way to make this work, and that way is hard, but necessary. As Taleb says, 'become antifragile, or die.'”

Goddamn.

My favorite, however, is Mike "Wags" Wagner. Played by David Costabile, it is no mean feat to shine on screen with actors like Lewis and Giamatti but he manages to steal every scene he's in. And the writers love writing phenomenal things for him to say:

“It's time for you folks to sharpen your pencils, and you better come back with one Traci Lords of an idea. And if you need that fucking defined, here it is: a barely legal, market-dominating, brilliant cocksucker of an idea.”

“You know those poison-tip arrows that certain tribes use that go through one guy and kill another? This might be like that — golden frog poison. I tried to smoke it once. Shaman jumped across the tent to stop me.”

“Why should I trust you to do anything other than point me to the nearest avocado toast?”

“Surrendered like a French fucking soldier!”

"Three things in life you can’t postpone without dire consequences: calling a doctor when gutshot, finding a toilet when traveling in India, and paying your people."

"We have to be more pure than the Virgin Mary before her first period."

"To Bobby Axelrod, fees are religion and money is his God. This makes him the perfect shepherd for you in the material world. And at least when you pray to his God, you get another fucking Bentley out of it."

I love Wags. He is a guy who grew up in the eighties and remains unapologetic about it. He manages to live larger-than-life despite being framed by giants and monarchs. He has no fear and lives for the moment.

I doubt I'll ever be a writer of great television. Not really my thing. But if I ever do decide to go that route, I want to write every word like I'm writing for Mike Wagner to say.

#wags #I Like to Watch #Billions #Showtime #Mike Wagner

[spentgladiator]

Year in review???

So 2017 was a big year!!! Last year i got my license and this year i got a sweet ride (thank you so much to @the-avenginator for all the help!!!!) that can get me places and places it did get me!!! I moved into a place just me and Mark!! Ugh commitment is weird. This is the first time since HS ive been consistently with someone from the beginning of the year to the end. How bizarre.

A lot of things i had always taken for granted got changed in my life this year, cat moved away and (CAT DO NOT READ) i definitely cried about it a whole bunch secretly because well. Sometimes its ok if people making the right choices for themselves makes others very sad, its very rare that other peoples decisions are meant to make you sad, even if thats a result. Its an unfortunate side effect of difference.

I saw los camp, live in Vancouver when they dropped Sick Scenes and in doing so took my very first real adult vacation, and reconnected with someone i had thought i lost forever. What a sweet and simple treasure, what a dream come true, all of it. Gareth autographed a cd for me and.... spelled my name so phenomenally wrong. Honestly? It fits so much into the god damn narrative thread of my life that i cant even be mad, only damned amused.

Coming off of birth control was very difficult. Being on it did what it always does, and made me really really sick both mentally and physically (think big angry cold sores and chronic yeast infections, something about bc DESTROYS my immune system tho i believe that the mental stress brought on by the imbalanced hormones is what really causes it yknow? Like when youre living every day in what is essentially a perpetual anxiety attack? Not healthy. Not fun. Fuck all that noise.)

My birthday party this year was possibly the best night ive ever had. It was just a few folks at my house, a big roarin fire in the pit and some inebriants. I made alfredo at like 2am and as we were all layin around on my bdrm floor all i could think is "god it feels like it used to" while cradling andrews head and trying not to cry bahaha

I got really close with scoot who turned out to be one of the coolest dudes i ever met. @co0t ily, imy, hope to see you sooooooon!!! Because he also moved away and it also made me very sad :(

I did smth im really proud of this year, i stood up to my boss who was not paying us up to labour code. It was very scary, i am not the kind of person who is very good at standing up to authority but i called her t.f. out in our work facebook group in front of everyone so that she couldnt dismiss my concerns (as she had done to other employees in the past who brought things like this up privately. However unlike the past girls i did my research and had receipts from the labour code ready) that was a day i spent 3hrs on the phone bahahahaha but now we all get paid a lot more than we used to (to the tune of, at minimum for me, $15/wk usually a lot more)

I made countless trips back home to see my mom and went to the other city to see my sibling @carlos-isnt-all-that-perfect and they stayed at my house and we played jackbox and went swimming this summer.

Speaking of this summer? Can you say BEACH DAYS??? OH MY GOD I CANT COUNT HOW MANY DAYS I SPENT AT THE BEACH THIS YEAR. truthfully? @all my beach babes...@lanternkicker and johann i dont have ur tumlr and scoot and @therealstifler all of y'all made my summer worthwhile!!!

Also lilly and i laid to waste every decent yard sale in the tri county area bahahahaha!!! Got some gr8 scores, like a bunch of good board games for like ten dollars!!

Mark and i went to edmonton to see Blind Pilot!!!!!! We were there in the city less than 12hrs, damn being working stiffs!!! It was a great trip but i get very emotional at 4am as andrew and ty would learn like two weeks later LOL!!! Mark and I also went to Callaway park and it was a BLAST!!! His friend is a higher up there and even let us use some line jumper passes on the log ride!!!!! Oh my god he was so scared!!!! Bahahahahahahaha ❤❤❤

I took my shitty little neon to the coast and back. Twice. It was a dreamy drive, all four times. Even the time i was sleeping, it was all perfect and i love the two of you so frikken much ❤❤❤❤❤❤ got thrown in a pool, left my phone at the bar, everything was so amazingly perfect.

When i got back i had a wild night out of the time stream with the softest, sweetest boy and it was an amazing night and he bought me cigarettes and i chain smoked as we wandered around the city at 4am and just talked and i love him i love him i will always always always love him ❤❤

This fall everything went completely off the fkn rails and there was some really terrible shit to trudge through. Work pretty much consumed my soul, i sprained my ankle so bad i had to be home for six days but i made the most of it and took up painting again!!! I did some cool shit im really proud of :) someone i love very much got caught up in some very terrible stuff but it all worked out in the end and everyone was safe, and very very very loved ❤❤❤

"I just love that paul giamatti lookin motherfucker" -me at countless points this year

Finally started hanging out with @mollycolliex again!!! Missed u boo!!! I know things suck, but im glad ur still around!!

Christmas was nice :) this year has been the first year in a while ive worked the same job all the way thru the year and so its nice having a guaranteed income so christmas was much easier than last year. I got super drunk at my work party but managed to not make a huge ass of myself and thats all we can really ask for bahahahahaha

Anyway i love every single person i saw this year and i love every single person reading this!!! Its been weird, but its been fun. Hope to see you all next year!!!!

[ericdeggans]

After a Percolating Season Finale, Showtime’s #Billions Ranks as One of TV’s Finest Dramas

Fair warning: Spoilers abound from the final episodes of this season.

If the truest measure of a TV show’s season finale is its ability to leave you wanting more, then Sunday’s wrap up of Showtime’s drama Billions was one for the ages — a taut, slow burn that brought the urge to binge the next season’s episodes the moment the credits rolled.

For a while, I assumed my love for this series about an in-your-face hedge fund billionaire and the U.S. attorney obsessed with taking him down was a guilty pleasure. In a TV world filled with more showy, obviously cerebral dramas, the pissing match between a ruthless, law breaking self-made business titan and his prosecutor rival — weaned on the old money and storied influence of a well-established New York family — seemed, somehow a little less groundbreaking.

But then last week’s episode, “Golden Frog Time,” exploded onto the screen (check out my talk with Here & Now on this episode by clicking here). Through a complex and expertly-crafted story filled with flashbacks and asides, we saw billionaire “hedgie" Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) use illegal means to secretly crush a stock offering backed by the father of U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti) and his best friend. Both men lost millions — including all of Chuck Jr’s trust fund.

Viewers didn’t learn until the the episode’s final scenes that Chuck Jr. had engineered the entire thing — without his father and best friend’s knowledge — to push Axelrod into committing an illegal activity while investigators were watching. The last scene, in which Giamatti’s character is laughing and crying at the same time, ranks as one of the best performances in a single scene I’ve seen on television this year.

Then came Sunday’s episode, “Ball In Hand,” which essentially told the story of the day leading to Axelrod’s arrest. Like a lot of season finales these days, it felt more like a epilogue after the frenetic and surprising events of the penultimate episode — a few years ago, an episode like “Golden Frog Time” would have been the cliffhanger which ended a season. But last night we saw battle lines for the next season drawn, along with the fissures in Axlerod’s and Chuck Jr’s families which will only get worse as the prosecution grinds on.

As Axelrod spends the day getting documents destroyed and keeping under the radar to avoid arrest as long as possible, we see Chuck Jr. tell his best friend and his father that he engineered the play by Axelrod which cost them their fortunes. In an instant, we see a crucial friendship and the devotion of a father shattered. Since the season began, we’ve watched as Jeffrey DeMunn’s patriarch Charles Rhodes Sr. stayed in his son’s corner, even as Chuck Jr. displayed a thinly-veiled contempt for his father’s methods and goals.

It’s one of the show’s many delicious, intentional ironies that, as Chuck Jr. is finally maneuvering himself into the political career his father always wanted for him — angling to parlay the Axelrod prosecution into a shot at the New York governor’s mansion — he has done so in a way that finally causes Chuck Sr. to declare “I am done with you.”  This seems to be the ultimate message of the show; that the antipathy between these two men produces an obsession which crowds everything else out of their lives.

(i-r, Malin Akerman, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff and Paul Giamatti)

In the course of Sunday’s episode, Chuck Jr. learns his wife Wendy slept with another man while they were estranged and didn’t tell him, and that her curious connection to Axelrod continues, when tapping her cellphone finally reveals the billionaire’s location. Axelrod learns his wife won’t stand by him if he leaves the country, as he chooses to spend his last moments before arrest with Wendy rather than his wife and kids.

Billions achieved a lot this year. The introduction of superstar Axe Capital analyst Taylor Mason, TV’s first non-binary, gender neutral character, has created a unique protege for Axelrod and given great exposure to non-binary performer Asia Kate Dillon. “Golden Frog Time” — a reference to hurting your intended target by hurting someone near to them — was an exponential boost of the show’s storytelling. The crumbs laid throughout the season, including a long, tortuous metaphor comparing Chuck Jr’s lessons about turning an enemy’s strengths against them while taking jujitsu lessons, finally paid off.

We even got a wonderfully bittersweet scene between Axelrod and Wendy at the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan, as a poignant love letter to New York City and a nod to both characters’ shared history.

There’s lots of delicious questions left. Will Wendy’s impetuous move to make money shorting the stock Axelrod tanked become Chuck Jr.’s achilles heel? Will both men have to choose between self-preservation and protecting her? How will Wendy react when she learns the true scope of Chuck Jr.’s actions? And will both men wind up walking the road the foreshadowed in their last, delicious scene together this season, implying the only way their fight will end is when they both destroy each other?

It may sound a bit like a soap opera fueled by the powerful politics and big money of New York’s financial, legal and political establishments, because it is.  And I remain a little troubled by the show’s focus on its two Great Men as guys innately smarter than anyone else in the room, despite the presence of so many sharp women and a few quality characters of color.

Still, Billions was my favorite show on TV so far this year, for its potent mix of sophisticated drama, high-end soap opera and vision of how personal animus can affect the most storied institutions in American life.

My biggest challenge now: Enduring the many months until the next season starts.  

[nojudgingbybloodline]

A Lady in the Water: If You Liked Harry Potter

Submitted by: Melissa Anelli

If you liked Harry Potter

"Lady in the Water"

By Melissa Anelli

When Warner Brothers asked me to screen Lady in the Water, I wondered why; my idea, from the things I'd seen and read about the film, was that the eponymous "Lady" would be a psycho-chick type like the one in The Ring, who could slither out of whatever water the title implied, seek out impure people, and chew their faces off. Plus which, it's an M. Night Shyamalan film, which, as we all know, equals freaky cornfields and dead people who act alive, and the Big Massive Twist That You Should Have Seen But Didn't That Changes Everything At The End. What on earth does a Harry Potter fan want here?

What I found instead was a simple and creative modern fairy tale, one that surprises and is funny and whimsical all at once. It's certainly not perfect - a Harry Potter fan's love for tightly wound plots with smooth exposition won't go fully satisfied here - but it is a realization of a whole new lore and world in which fans can draw upon and play within. And just like Potter, it brings a storybook sequence of events to "real" people - like Hagrid brings magic to Harry, the "Lady" brings myth and fantasy to the film's hero, Cleveland Heep.

My conception of the "Lady" was far, far off; she is not a cannibalistic well-dweller at all, but a nymph, a herald from the "Blue World" who comes to land for some unknown purpose and who provides the film with the main characters' motivation: Get her back home.

In some ways, this film still feels like an M. Night Shyamalan thriller: withheld information results in would-be reviewers shrieking and jumping from their plush-velvet screening room seats. But in most, this is the biggest departure the filmmaker has ever taken from his usual lore. For one thing, there are actual creatures: The film doesn't hold back the identities of the people/things causing the threats, and many of them are not so different from what you would find in The Lord of the Ringsor Harry Potter, including dangerous dogs; giant, swooping eagles, and creatures that seem to be made up of twigs. There's even a sparkling trove under water - while it's tempting to break into a rendition of Disney's "Part of Your World" when this secret treasure is found, the overwhelming feeling is that the lore Shyamalan has created has leagues below it that don't get represented in this film.

Fantasy buffs won't be either thrilled or disappointed; it's not a full-on Tolkien experience or even as fully realized magically as Potter, but there is a whole new mythology to discover, a whole new lexicon of information to play with - a whole new generation of fanfic writers being born every minute.

The "real world" cast of characters are mostly likable, some lovable; as the stuttering Cleveland, the maintenance man who discovers the nymph and leads her through her quest to get back to her home, Paul Giamatti proves his status as a national treasure, the best thing on film since Lucius picked up his snake cane. There's even a critic that [SPOILER] gets appropriately turned to Dog Chow.

Yet while the film does an excellent job of making the new lore seamless with "real life" situations, and bringing elements previously only seen in watercolor drawings into 3-D life, some parts do feel unfinished.

One character's strong knowledge suggests she has an important role in the final payoff, and as new lore, the exposition required to encase it correctly often feels plodding and cumbersome. A big part of the lore does feel missing, however; we're never quite sure why the nymph is pushed onto land, why she makes her appearance when she does, and why we're supposed to care so much. She isn't as clearly defined as Harry, for whom the idea of going to magic school is motivation enough to leave the Dursleys, or who clearly fights in each book to save his life and that of those around him. We're aware of this creature and that she is important, but can't really love her the way we do Harry. I can't root for this girl until I know why she's there and what she truly wants: it's not enough for Frodo to go to Mount Doom because he simply knows that's his role (at least, it isn't for me) - his motivation for slogging there is important, too, and we're not really made aware of such a motivation in this film. Why right now, why this place, why her? Why did she come out of the Blue World? What happened there to push her onto land? Was she just lurking for a long time? I was also left yearning for more information about her origins. Our main character is from a whole other world, and we never see it, and it's barely spoken about.

Yet despite any flaws, I was captivated throughout the film; I wanted the characters to succeed; I was happy when they grew; I was satisfied at the way the mysteries always twined around the plot, how nothing seemed to settle everything, how even after the credits started rolling we knew there was more to discover in the new mythology he has created.

Yet the film does what Harry Potter does so well: it presents new lore as something that you may very well be able to find on your own. Look close enough at the quirky happenings around you, and you may find magic, Harry Potter seems to say; with Lady, Shyamalan may have kids peering into their pools in search of a nymph. But most of all, it's a story for story's sake, a lushly creative piece of new lore that exists with the simple aim of telling a good story for a good story's sake. And when it's done, there's a life outside the film to secretly wonder about. And that's cool. That's what fans are for.

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THEY SAY literary novelists can’t do genre. This is perhaps most acutely felt with mystery and noir, which has fascinated and occasionally defied postmodern eminences from Pynchon to Auster and beyond. Antony Lamont, antihero of Gilbert Sorrentino’s incredible Mulligan Stew, stands out as the funniest case study, albeit fictional. A fading, minor experimental writer immersed in an awful fusion of the new novel and a noir potboiler (the same sort of novel it seems Paul Giamatti’s character is working on in Sideways — his “Robbe-Grillet mystery”), the pompous Lamont’s tilt is equal parts cynicism and desperation — his radical approach really just a bald-faced cash grab, so smugly assured is he that the dark ambience, gratuitous sex, and abrupt violence of his meandering and largely content-free novel will finally nab him the hit he deserves. This is not, thankfully, the sort of novel that Jonathan Lethem gives us in The Feral Detective. Though you can be forgiven for imagining otherwise if you’re not familiar with his work, Lethem is no stranger to noir, or genre fiction in general — he came from genre, and is, in fact, a genre writer, especially when he promiscuously blends genres together as he’s been doing since his fantastic Philip K. Dick-meets-Raymond Chandler debut, Gun, with Occasional Music. In short, Lethem is a master, the sort of master for whom narratives about genres, as opposed to genres themselves, are the quarry. That he’s reached a high degree of mainstream success within the genre of literary fiction only burnishes his bona fides as a master of form.  

The Feral Detective follows Phoebe Siegler, a thirtysomething New Yorker and former Times staffer who has traveled to the West Coast to track down Arabella, the missing daughter of her friend Roslyn. Arabella, a freshman at Reed College, stopped answering Roslyn’s attempts to contact her a few weeks into her first semester, and Phoebe — newly liberated from her job — decides a trip to Portland to pay the girl a wellness call is just what she and Arabella need. Arriving to find her gone and school officials oblivious, Phoebe digs in and discovers a slim trail of several-weeks-old credit card transactions leading down the coast to Los Angeles’s Union Station and finally, cryptically, to a travel plaza purchase in an unfamiliar corner of San Bernardino County, where the lead goes cold. Because she is worried about Arabella, and because she loves her friend — Roslyn is herself a mother figure to Phoebe — and because she is not ready to go back home, Phoebe decides to extend her vacation. The reason she is not ready to face New York — the reason she quit her job — haunts the novel from its first pages:

Blame the election. I’d been working for the Great Gray News organization, in a hard-won, lowly position meant to guarantee me a life spent rising securely through the ranks. This was the way it was supposed to go, before I’d bugged out. I’d done everything right, like a certain first female nominee we’d all relied upon, even my male friends who hated her, as a cap on the barking madness of the world. Now she took walks in the hills around Chappaqua and I’d checked into the Doubletree a mile west of Upland, California.

The Feral Detective is not only a novel of the Trump era, it is a novel largely about it — specifically, how the Trump era has felt for a certain set of us who woke up on November 9, 2016, with a newfound appreciation for the arguments of reality simulation theorists. If noir is at its core fundamentally the cruel stripping away of illusion, there could hardly be a better subject than a liberal coping with the Trump era. So thoroughly and suddenly was the narrative of Hillary Clinton’s inevitable victory evacuated, so traumatic was the puncturing of the optimistic Obama-era bubble, and so bizarre and even nightmarish have been the subsequent years that it’s easy to think of the whole world as having taken a noir-ish turn: worst timeline confirmed, doomsday clock ticking ever closer to midnight. For Phoebe, it is all too much to take:

My room reminded me of a gun moll’s wisecrack, in some old film I’d seen, on entering an apartment: “Early Nothing.” I was left with Facebook, where my friends had responded to the election by reducing themselves to shrill squabbling cartoons. Or I could opt for CNN, where various so-called surrogates enacted their shrill hectoring cartoons without needing to be reduced, since it was their life’s only accomplishment to have been preformatted for this brave new world. Television had elected itself, I figured. It could watch itself too for all I cared. I read my book.

There is, in her quest to find Arabella, more than a little self-interest — it is also a quest to find, if not the fictional world she thought she inhabited, a way to understand the one she never knew she lived in all along.

Her guide in this is Charles Heist, the eponymous feral detective, so called because of his penchant for tracking down lost, troubled, cult-brainwashed, and otherwise disappeared or off-the-grid kids. Working out of a nondescript strip-mall office in Upland, Charles Heist takes Phoebe’s case with a typically non-committal “no-promises” sort of attitude, but also with a decidedly nontypical disinterest in any sort of upfront payment. Other unusual details include the presence in Heist’s office of a wounded possum, which Heist is doggedly though unsentimentally nursing back to health, and a ragged, mute young girl named Melinda, apparently recently and quite literally feral herself. Phoebe is nonplussed but also, she must admit, intrigued — and Charles is a looker in a flinty, sunburnt sort of way:

He resembled one of those pottery leaf-faces you find hanging on the sheds of wannabe-English gardens. His big nose and lips, his deep-cleft chin and philtrum, looked like ceramic or wood. Somehow, despite or because of all of this, I registered him as attractive, with an undertow of disgust. The disgust was perhaps at myself, for noticing.

His services are retained. With nothing to go on except the travel plaza purchase, and a hunch that Arabella — a devoted fan of Leonard Cohen — might have ascended nearby Mount Baldy where the late, great songwriter frequented an isolated Zen retreat, Charles sets out and Phoebe returns to her hotel to brood on the case and the mysterious dashing man onto whose broad shoulders she’s laid her last, best hope.

These introductory chapters are incredible — it truly is a lot of fun to see Phoebe fall so quickly and so hard for Heist. Making Heist the honest and unapologetic object of Phoebe’s post-Obama rebound fantasy is a delicious complication of the femme-fatale tradition, and it’s great to see her unapologetic voraciousness respectfully, even somewhat meekly, received by the terse but game Heist. Lethem wrings plenty of comedy out of the improbable culture-clash romance that rapidly develops between the two, but there is something troubling that develops, too. For a writer who is normally so good with voice and so adept at playing off types while still imbuing his characters with enough specificity and depth to keep them from becoming cartoons, Phoebe begins, as the novel progresses, to feel at times much too broad — a weird gestalt of awkward comedienne, working girl, and other tropes whose presence isn’t entirely exorcised by cheeky self-consciousness:

I’d go home with a California story or two in my back pocket. No, sorry, I didn’t ever set eyes on the ocean or the Hollywood sign, but did I tell you the one about the porta-potty levee? The trailer park blowjob? Oh, what a Manic Pixie Am I! I pictured telling this over late lunch at Elephant & Castle.

Through Phoebe, Lethem means to implicate himself and by extension the whole cohort of urbane, liberal, upwardly mobile folks too assured of victory and too preoccupied with themselves to imagine the failure of their certainties in 2016. But although Phoebe’s preoccupation with what Heist thinks of her, for example, is funny, it began to worry me. On the one hand, it is great that Lethem allows Phoebe to be shallow — as he does — and to seem at times to forget about the search for Arabella while daydreaming about her new gumshoe boytoy — as she does — but is this an unvarnished caricature of complacent white feminism of the sort that both the left and the right now routinely flog for predictable results?

The plot, depending on how well the conceit works for you, congeals, or thickens — it is discovered that Arabella is caught between two warring cultish groups of desert dwellers, the feminist “Rabbits” and the boorish “Bears” and some genuinely funny moments, striking passages, and typically excellent walk-on characters follow. Each band is a primal caricature of the current partisan divide and not much more nuanced than what you’d get from reading Daily Kos or The Daily Caller. It’s mostly burlesque, but there are hints at a deeper reckoning. Phoebe, who spends much of the book in sidekick mode, gets a memorable “flower-pot” moment. The gesture — which Phoebe names after the belated contribution of a corseted heroine in a half-remembered Western she used to watch with her dad, which involved the woman throwing a flower-pot down on the head of a villain from a second-story window — kicks off an extended denouement that pleasurably complicates the existing dynamic between Phoebe and Heist. By the novel’s end, most of my doubts were, if not totally expunged, at least leavened by the complex affection I’d begun to feel for Phoebe.

Heist, a kind of subterranean Trump foil — a paragon of non-toxic masculinity — is the more lovable character, but Phoebe is ultimately more interesting. The feral detective, true to form, spirits Phoebe away from the old assurances and dead narratives to which she reflexively, repeatedly, retreats, even, in the end, the old one about the guy getting the girl, and she realizes ultimately that learning to live in the new world means letting go of the old.

Perhaps the ultimate truth of noir is that no matter where you’re standing, there is always another floor to fall through. If there is a central lesson of The Feral Detective, it might be simply to embrace this fact; as the Cohen-head Arabella might quote: “You want it darker.” Yes, and for a reason. Darkness can be a renewal, death and inversion driving out the old to make space for the new.

¤

Seth Blake is a writer from New Hampshire living in Los Angeles.

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