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claudethecrabdemoness · 2 months

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Ok so I think I found a way to fix Vox LOLLOLOL.

And by fix him, I mean make him much, much worse.

🔌 📺😝🎩⚡️

So I was drabbling in my head w Claude and Vox and they got to deep talking about their previous lives and regrets and all sorts of existential meanderings, when Vox surprised me by saying “I was a Christian, ya know. A good one. Never even missed a Sunday- come late night or hangover or hellwater. *chuckle* Fat lot of good it did me, right?”

And then I was like oh. OHHHH.

He should’ve been a televangelist.

So now this is canon as far as I’m concerned, and can even make perfect use of the little priest getup from his song number. After all, that is essentially what he’s doing with the V’s: amassing a hell-wide cult through the power of his broadcast monopoly. And explains why Claude had never heard of him before- he’s not your average kind of celebrity.

I picture he got his start on local access TV, in the early 40s, just right after Al would’ve had his heyday with radio. He was an East Coast boy, no doubt, and mastered the quick-talking pander of the telecasters at the time. He often ran small broadcasts for local churches- fundraisers, telethons, what have you- and the Christian community ate up his All-American boyish charm. Especially the ladies. He married one who went to his church and really believed his words had the power to change lives, urged him to start his own televised worship, and boy did he thrive. They quickly became a household name, and he basically kick-started the whole televangelist movement into high gear. Like the bastard he is. Soon he gained a country-wide following and had money pouring in from the faithful by the buckets, and of course it all went straight to his head. Hence why it’s a TV now as punishment. That’s when he began exploiting his pulpit, believing himself a prophet, staying with his wife only to maintain their image, buying houses and toys and cars all with parishioner’s money, staying awake for days on cocaine and coming back down with barbiturates, the whole nine yards.

It eventually caught up to him when his followers tried to commit a mass murder/suicide in his name, and a lengthy court appeal didn’t really smooth over their new reputation as a dangerous cult. Which is so unfair. It wasn’t like he told them to go all Old Testament, buuut… it’s not like his message was that far off from it either. Idiots. From then on, he started overworking, overthinking, and overdoing the whole thing right into the ground. His wife left him, he lost a ton of money in legal fees, and he had to hire protection now to keep up with the death threats from angry loved ones of his devotees. All the stress and resentment drove him into religious fanaticism, and his sermons just got more and more ego-driven and manic, asking for larger tithes and claiming it would be help him work the Lord’s magic even faster. He eventually was killed by a hit put out on him by an up and coming newer cult- ironically a spinoff of his original one- proving that he was very much mortal, but his faithful followers still believed he was a messiah of some kind.

And that’s because- in his haze of drugs and self-destruction- he believed he was one too. He was sure that what he was doing was for all the Right Reasons, even if the methods were unorthodox. But hey- even Jesus flipped tables and rebelled against the Romans, so who’s to say his path is any less holy? He was SURE that he’d still be getting a ticket to Heaven, despite some minor setbacks…

So you can imagine his rage when he very much woke up in Hell.

All his hard work, all his devotion, all his MONEY- for what?? Damned to live with a TV instead of his beautiful face and nothing to show for his decades of faith??

What the fUCK??

It was then that he realized God was the biggest scam of all and immediately renounced his faith, spending the first few years of demonhood sinning and drinking as much as possible. He had no idea how to cope with it all, and saw no point to trying, really. What good is having a TV head when you can barely stand the thought of using it- just a constant reminder of the empire you left crumbing behind you.

And that’s when he met Alastor.

Now here was someone else cursed by his favorite medium and a deer form that boasted anything but the predator he saw himself as- only this man was anything but deterred by it. The Radio Demon’s broadcasts may have terrorized everyone else in Hell, but they invigorated something deep inside Vox. Something he hasn’t felt since his first televised sermon… something like worship.

He had to seek him out.

This then ties in perfectly with his one-sided crush/obsession with Al, their doomed stint at friendship, and the impending rejection he receives at the end. AGAIN. First God, now Alastor…? You’d think that second blow would reduce him into an even greater depression than before, but instead, it flips a switch inside him. That’s when Vox decides ENOUGH. He’s done pandering, he’s done negotiating, he’s done elevating anyone else above himself. And why should he?? If anything HE should be the one on that pedestal, HE should be the only one to get credit for all HIS deeds…

HE should be God.

And dammit, if he can’t join the original up in Heaven, why not try to become one down in Hell?

The rest is canon as we know it, but I just really realllllly love the idea of ex-Christian Vox, and all the disillusionment religious trauma can bring. He went straight from communion to capitalism, and I like that in my hell-bound guys. I will def be using this as his canon backstory for my AU with Claude, bc I needed to bring even more conflicted suffering and RSD to this character before I can truly ship them together hahaa.

And…. despite what his real backstory actually is…. this is the only one I subscribe to now. 😈

ALSO:

TELL ME THIS ISN’T HIM!!??!??? HELP. CREEPY HANDSOME IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO FOR THIS CURSED TV MAN I HAVE DECLARED IT SO PLS ADJUST YOUR FANART ACCORDINGLY.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk I’m going to go rot in my hole now thinking of more hcs for this akskshagaga-

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heavenboy09 · 3 months

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Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You

The Iconic American Actor Of 2 Of The Greatest Iconic Action Packed TV Shows 📺 Of 1985 & 1997 That Became Cult Classic Phenomenons Over The Years & Still Regarded As A Iconic Hero Of Both Science & Science Fiction, Playing 2 Titular Characters.

1 A GENUIS Action Hero Who Can Make Anything Of Out Anything and He Doesn't Use Weapons To Solve Problems. He Uses His Brain 🧠 & The Other, A 4 Star Colonel 🌟 Who Is Part Of A Interstellar Secret Government Team Who Travels The Universe Via A Ancient Alien Technological Device Known As A Star 🌟 Gate ⛩

Born On January 23rd, 1950

He is a retired American actor. He began his television career in 1976, playing Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, and then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver (1985–1992). He later appeared in films such as Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992), Pandora's Clock (1996), and Firehouse (1997).

In 1997, Anderson returned to television as the lead actor of the series Stargate SG-1, a spin-off of the 1994 film Stargate, replacing actor Kurt Russell. He played the lead from 1997 to 2005 and had a recurring role from 2005 to 2007. Since 1997, he has starred in only one film: Stargate: Continuum, released in 2008 as a sequel film after the Stargate SG-1 film The Ark of Truth. He appeared in the follow-up Stargate spin-off series Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe (reprising his role from SG-1 as Major General and later Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill).

PLEASE WISH THIS ICONIC & LEGENDARY RETIRED ACTOR OF THE 2 BEST ACTION & SCIFI TV SHOWS 📺 OF THE MID 80'S & LATE 90'S

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

YOU SHOULD KNOW HIM

YOU BETTER HAVE SEEN HIS WONDERFUL SHOWS

& IF YOU HAVENT. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. WATCH EM

THE 1 & THE ONLY

MR. RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON AKA ABC'S MACGUYVER & SCIFI CHANNEL'S COLONEL JACK O'NEILL OF STARGATE SG-1

#RichardDeanAnderson #Macguyver #StargateSG1 #ColonelJackONeill

#Richard Dean Anderson #Macguyver #Stargate SG-1 #Colonel Jack O'Neill #Spotify

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scotianostra · 1 year

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The Scottish actor Alex McAvoy died on June 16th 2005.

Most famous for two roles, Sunny Jim in the original Para Handy tales of The Vital Spark, through the 60’s and the teacher in Pink Floyds, The Wall, McAvoy was much more than a two horse trick! the two roles you might know him from.

Throughout his career he was a stalwart of Scottish theatre, especially pantos, starring at the top theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He was also a master of mime.

In the earlier part of his career, McAvoy ventured into the world of variety and light entertainment, and was the first foil to the kilted Scottish comedy singer Andy Stewart.

The summer show promoter George B Bowie envisaged him as a future star comedian, and headlined him in the holiday-season revue of 1963 at the Barrfields Pavilion, Largs. But despite success in that field, he was not cut out to be a Scotland-based funny man; a wider field, especially in mime, beckoned.

As a schoolboy growing up in Scotstounhill, Glasgow, second eldest of a family of eight, McAvoy was always an artistic lad, creating small puppets out of colourful old clothes and running his own mini-puppet theatre. He also loved to act.

The wee boy who just had to become an actor enhanced his love of the arts by enrolling for classes at the School of Art in Glasgow’s Renfrew Street; his first job was in the big fashion stores of the city, increasing the profits of the owners by dressing their windows with all the delicate artistry at his command. Young McAvoy had a flair for the arts, even in the sterner world of retail commerce.

Inevitably, in the fabulous 1950s, when Glasgow was seeing a new interest in the dramatic arts, he just had to join other aspiring thespians at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow’s Athenaeum building. The burgeoning Citizens’ Theatre in the Gorbals needed trained actors, which is why young McAvoy found himself alongside such future performers as John Cairney and (set to be a gem of television presenters) Mary Marquis. He had the built-in creative sense but he needed the basic study and training. Live theatre, especially in so vibrant a nursery as the Citizens’, then housed in the old Princess Theatre building, was to hone the talents of the lad from Scotstounhill.

Just look at his credits. Small parts and big parts, character roles in Z Cars and Dad’s Army, and meaty parts in Sunday night dramas. Old lags or angry army sergeants, McAvoy could transform each role into something truly realistic. He was also a performer in musicals, some of you might remember the original TV movie for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1972, before the 80’s revival, McAvoy starred as Joseph’s father Jacob in that, a role I know myself having appeared in my school production in 1978 as Jacobs youngest son, Benjamin. Other notable appearances include The Bill, Minder and the Peter Capaldi film, Strictly Sinatra alongside such Scottish stalwarts as Una McLean, Brian Cox, Iain Cuthbertson, Tommy Flanagan and Kelly McDonald.

Not everybody knows that McAvoy’s role as the Teacher made him a familiar face from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the 1982 global cult film with Bob Geldof as a burned-out rock star. It spawned thousands of items of memorabilia, and McAvoy’s animated character in the college cap was seen on t-shirts around the world, introducing him to millions.

His love of mime was intense, and he made a mark, naturally, in the busy world of Scottish pantomime, with featured roles at the King’s theatres in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The mime in pantomime had strong appeal. One day, borrowing from his actress friend Mary Marquis a French vocabulary and phrase book, he crossed the Channel to Paris to study and work in L'Ecole de Jacques LeCoq. It had been his secret ambition to go there for some years.

LeCoq was his idol, and friends at the school say his miming skill was such that he could make anyone know what he was saying without words. He became deeply immersed in the international world of mime and right up to his death was still in touch with that famous school.

McAvoy had been ill from leukaemia for some years, but retained his link with live theatre and, before being hospitalised, had taken on a cameo part on the London stage. He was a sensitive man of the arts to the end. He died on 16 June, 2005, in London, aged 77.

#scotland #scottish #actor #the wall #pink floyd #para handy #history

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signalwatch · 1 year

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Watch Party Watch: Reform School Girls (1986)

I'm sure this movie had a poster, but mostly existed as a worn out VHS

Watched: 04/28/2023

Format: Amazon Watch Party

Viewing: Unknown

Director: Tom DeSimone

So, first: Apologies. It's probably best that I actually remember the movies we're going to watch more than a few key scenes. This movie turned out to be a bit much more than I recalled it being, and I find it insane I was watching this on cable when I was like, 13.

Ah, the 1980's.

I was a bit surprised that no one had seen this, and many never heard of it. It's a cult-classic of the 1980's, and a lot of what made it so has faded in the ensuing 37 years.

This is a movie that, as Jenifer put it, covers all the tropes of the "women in prison movie" and then cranks up the exploitation (this is New World Pictures, one of the Roger Corman brands). So, it's assuming an audience that has grown up on slew of "women in prison" pictures that started showing up post WWII as earnest socially conscious filmmaking paired with, you know, ladies kicking each other, which was a novelty. Plus a host of other sketchy activities, some explicit, many implied.

1983's Chained Heat - which stars Sybil Danning but as a prisoner - is a pretty good indicator of what was going on at this point. It has legit actors (Henry Silva, John Vernon) but is clearly an exploitation picture. Mostly I remember 1980's-me wandering the aisles of the video store and being acutely aware there was more than one movie about women in jail, and some vague promise of sexiness. But since my Mom was paying, I was not asking to see these films.

Reform School Girls is loosely based on the 1957 film Reform School Girl, which I have not seen. But also familiar if you've seen other pictures. It's mostly been forgotten, but 1980's hip young adults were very into reflecting back the absurdities of the 1950's American monoculture. If you go back and watch other 1980's movies, usually lower budget stuff, but you can see the Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, etc... But also much as folks like myself born in the 70's grew up with 4 or 5 channels, most of which was reruns of stuff from decades prior. So, yeah, I imagine replays of those old movies were part of all that.*

The movie itself follows a teen girl who gets in trouble with the law, which lands her in court and on to "reform school" (but good luck pointing out when anyone is in class in this movie). The movie hits all the notes of prison and women in prison films, starting with the "you don't know what you're in for" messaging to the lead and therefore us. And then cue the humiliations of entering prison, paired with the exploitation of a 1980's Corman flick. And that's when I realized "oh yeah. This is probably full of nudity", which is an awkward moment with a chat full of people.

The movie's stars are Sybil Danning (who many dudes of a certain age has a passing knowledge), Pat Ast (whom you should Google), and Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics, who is 37 and playing... 45? and 17? I dunno, but I've thought she was great since I was 13 or 14. And then actually stars a supposedly 16 year old Linda Carol (I am suspicious of her listed birth year) as our POV character hero.

I *do* think the movie is funnier than was taken by the group. Everything is at 11. It's all absurd, including the atrocities of the film, and that's kind of the point. But maybe that's just not where we're at these days. We kind of are more aware of actual exploitation in a way the 1980's was not. But the movie could have leaned into the absurdity more and had fun with it instead of saying "no, the joke is how woefully dark this is going to get, and we're going to refuse to take it seriously".

All in all, I wish I'd revisited it solo, but here we are.

*it's funny. Growing up in Austin, we really didn't have much in the way of TV on local channels after 10:30 PM except SNL. I read lot of references to latenight movies playing on local TV, but by the late 1980's, I was watching Reform School Girls on cable, not the movies that inspired it. I don't remember what would have been playing on our UHF channel, if, in fact, they hadn't signed off. I suspect the larger cities of the 1970s had more of this, but we just didn't.

https://ift.tt/b0l3V2E

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/pQq6k1y

#movies #prison movies #Reform School Girls

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our-flag-means-death-ao3feed · 1 year

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Bride of the Kraken

by Apollojetson

Have you ever wondered if Stede Bonnet would be as inept at making movies in 1950's Hollywood as he was a pirate captain? It's more likely then you might think! Heavily inspired by the life of real inept Hollywood B-movie icon Ed Wood Jr. (particularly the 1994 Tim Burton bio pic of his life starring Johnny Depp) maker of infamous cult classics "Glen or Glenda?" "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" here Stede Bonnet dreams of making his own movies and becoming a legendary film maker and meets legendary down and out actor Edward Teach. Feeling compelled to help him get back into the movies, Stede casts him into his movie and the two become fast friends and perhaps...lovers? Ed's agent Israel Hands, doesn't think these movies he's making with Stede are going to bring him back into the limelight though.

Words: 1887, Chapters: 1/17, Language: English

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV), Ed Wood (1994)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M, Other

Characters: Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Israel Hands, Mary Allamby Bonnet, Spanish Jackie (Our Flag Means Death), Roach (Our Flag Means Death), Oluwande Boodhari, Nigel Badminton, Chauncey Badminton, Jim Jimenez, Wee John Feeney

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Mary Allamby Bonnet/Stede Bonnet

Additional Tags: Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Transphobia, Alternate Universe - Our Flag Means Death Fusion, Alternate Universe - 1950s, ofmd, No Beta, Crossdressing, Film Industry, ed wood - Freeform, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Drug Addiction

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46451485

#Our flag means death #ofmd #https://archiveofourown.org/works/46451485

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maximumbob-universe · 1 year

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In the 1920's, Yankee Stadium became known as "The House That Ruth Built", referring to the phenomenal Babe Ruth, who was credited with brining back baseball after the black socks scandal, and establishing The New York Yankees as the games dominant team. In 1950's that same moniker was given to a another New York institution, Atlantic Records, but this had nothing to do with The Babe. The phrase was adopted due to the huge success of the companies first big star, Ruth Brown. She left her Virginia home and headed for the big apple in the late forties. She was singing in a club there when she was signed by Ahmet Ertegun, owner of Atlantic Records. A car accident postponed her debut session, she was still on crutches when she first recorded, but the payoff was big. "So Long" became the labels first big hit in 1949, and over the course of the next decade, she ran up an impressive list of best selling R&B records that established Atlantic Records, and Ruth Brown, as forces to be reckoned with.

youtube

She had a big, powerful voice, one that could shout the blues as well as plunge it's saddest moods. She also had a theatrical stage presence, where she would mug, clown and holler to get the audience on her side. Her big hits included "5-10-15 Hours", "Teardrops From My Eyes", "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "Oh What a Dream." She embraced rock and roll, scoring a big crossover with "Lucky Lips" in 1957. In the sixties, her career faded as she took time to raise a family. She made a comeback in the seventies, adding TV and stage to her resume. She won praise for her work on television in a show titled "Hello Larry",and was in the cult classic "Hairspray" on the big screen. She won a Tony Award in 1989 for her work in "Black and Blue",and toured with Charles Brown and Bonnie Raitt in the nineties. Her recordings from this period show that even at an advanced age, she still had the goods. She was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. She passed in 2006, but her lifetime of great performances remain for us to enjoy today. Wildly entertaining and highly influential, Ruth Brown is a legend.

youtube

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mewnyan · 1 year

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yeah ok so i just told some of my friends abt this at first but now i believe it's interesting enough to warrant its own post

last night, before i watched a summary video about theodore sturgeon's short story called "microcosmic god", youtube decided to give me a very... weird ad. the ad went like this: it was a slideshow of various planetary/space themed stock photos, some edited with christian crosses. there is a voice over of a child reading out a script about the origins of the universe. and then it ends with something along the lines of "you can read more by reading the urantia book". in the middle of watching, i had the feeling that this ad was up to some wild shit, so i managed to take a few photos of my tv a few seconds before it ended.

i think youtube gave me the ad because the video i was watching was a book about a metaphorical god, despite the story being fictional and sci-fi.

at this point, my curiosity regarding the "urantia book" overtook my interest on the video. i looked up the book on google, and to my surprise, it has a wikipedia page and an entire website dedicated to the book ran by the "urantia foundation". according to my surface level browsing, the book attempts to combine science, philosophy, and religion to create a definitive theory on the origins of the earth and humanity. it was published around the 1950s although its author is anonymous (though there is speculation that some guy named william s. sadler wrote it) and that it boasts about 2000+ pages.

since the book was long as hell, i decided to move on.

but as i was browsing youtube like a deadbeat dad, i saw a video made by illuminaughtii about a tea company whose founder is a firm believer of the urantia book. even so much as becoming its ceo.

turns out, the book is embroiled with racist and eugenicist beliefs. it claims that there are six human races based on the colors of the rainbow, like a new age spiritual version of the homestuck hemospectrum. and much like the hemospectrum, the color races have a hierarchy. but apparently adam and eve were supposed to purify the earth's races but failed to do so. and bc of this "failure" the book promotes striving towards "racial improvement" which yknow, is eugenics.

youtube

basically, youtube just gave me an ad for a low rent version of the scientology books. while it's not a cult per se, as i have mistaken it for originally, but it's a spiritual text with rather alarming beliefs that could be used as basis for cults.

#mew's shenanigans #mew's rambling #Youtube #urantitties

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irvinenewshq · 2 years

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Harry Potter actor Robbie Coltrane 72 has died

Robbie Coltrane. Picture: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Photos through AFP Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane greatest identified for his position as Hagrid within the Harry Potter movies, has died. He was 72. “My shopper and buddy Robbie Coltrane OBE died on Friday 14 October,” his agent Belinda Wright stated in a press release. No explanation for dying was given, however Wright thanked the medical workers at Forth Valley Royal Hospital for his or her ‘care and diplomacy’. Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who performed Hagrid within the Harry Potter movies, has died aged 72, his agent stated on Friday. “My shopper and buddy Robbie Coltrane OBE handed away on Friday, 14 October,” Belinda Wright stated in a press release, calling him “a novel expertise”. Coltrane, who was born Anthony Robert McMillan on 30 March 1950, in Rutherglen, close to Glasgow, cast a profession as an actor, comic and author. On tv, he starred alongside Emma Thompson within the cult BAFTA-winning BBC mini-series Tutti Frutti in 1987. He got here to prominence and received extra awards for his portrayal of the hard-drinking legal psychologist Dr Eddie “Fitz” Fitzgerald within the ITV collection Cracker (1993-2006). He was the English creator and lexicographer Samuel Johnson within the TV comedy collection Blackadder the Third alongside Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie (Home). On the massive display, he had roles within the 1987 Neil Jordan crime drama Mona Lisa and teamed up with former Monty Python star Eric Idle within the 1990 comedy Nuns on the Run. He additionally performed a former KGB agent-turned-Russian mafia boss in two James Bond movies – Goldeneye (1995) and The World Is Not Sufficient (1999) – with Pierce Brosnan. However he’ll greatest be remembered globally as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant half-human gamekeeper and Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts college within the movie franchise of JK Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter books. The position “introduced pleasure to youngsters and adults alike everywhere in the world, prompting a stream of fan letters each week for over 20 years”, stated Wright. She added: “For me personally, I shall keep in mind him as an abidingly loyal shopper. “In addition to being a beautiful actor, he was forensically clever, brilliantly witty, and after 40 years of being proud to be referred to as his agent, I shall miss him.” Coltrane is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his youngsters, Spencer and Alice and their mom, Rhona Gemmell. No explanation for dying was given, however Wright thanked the medical workers at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, central Scotland, “for his or her care and diplomacy”. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

#Irvine News HQ

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seo777777777 · 2 years

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With every generation movie stars have worn them. Rock stars have shredded them. And celebrities have stripped them. Paris anyone? The t-shirt has been the fashion essential for over 70 years and probably another 70 years and more. So how did it get here and what does the future hold?

Origins - Call to Arms in Short Sleeves

The t-shirts humble beginnings can be traced back to the early 1930's. WWI European soldiers entrenched in mud wore the t-shirt as an undergarment. The advantages of the light cotton underwear were quickly adopted by the US military. By WWII the US Army and Navy had supplied the t-shirt as standard issue. T-shirts at the time were still considered underwear and not worn casually.

1950's - Cult Movie Bad Boys

With the help of a sweating Brando in the 1951 film "A Streetcar Named Desire", and later a brooding James Dean in "Rebel without a Cause" the t-shirt had moved to mainstream youth culture. By the time Elvis had gyrated, the teenage rebellion seed was planted and along with denim jeans the t-shirt had become the hot fashion statement.

1960's - From Beatniks to Vietnam

1970's - Your Disco Needs You

Rock emerged beating to death the Hippy's with their own sandals. The black t-shirt was now standard issue with printed logos of stadium rock Supergroups such as Led Zeppelin, ACDC and Pink Floyd. In the course of the mid 70's Surf apparel started appearing. Niche surfing brands such as Lightning Bolt, Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver would later become big corporations. Athletic giants Adidas, Puma, Reebok and Nike also gained prominence with their branded printed tees, shoes and apparel. The decade was also known for it's many classic t-shirt motto's including the Smiley face, "Sh*t Happens" and "I love NY" which would see a revival after 911. Fonzie in the TV sitcom Happy Days paid homage to Brando and Dean 20 years before by reintroducing the blank white tee. In 1977 the Star Wars phenomenon had exploded. Star Wars t-shirts were everywhere for the tween. But for the twenty something's there was of course Disco. With movies like Saturday Night Fever and Thank God it's Friday the flared trousers and tight t-shirts became the usual 70's silhouette.

1980's - Fashion beep beep

The influence of music had an extreme effect on fashion in the 80's. The New Romantic movement in the early 80's had passed on the simple tee, opting for a more extravagant look. Remember Flock of Seagulls? On the opposite spectrum the Punk movement was in full flight with black ripped up tees, Doc Marten boots, piercing and lots and lots of hair gel.

By the mid 80's the Japanese fashion influence had caught on. Designers Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake had reinvented the t-shirt to a large oversized kimono style cut. Katherine Hamnett in 1984 took it even further with the notable "Choose Life" print which was immediately embraced by Wham! in their video "Wake Me Up Before you Go Go". Not long after Frankie said "Relax" and The Smiths said "Meat is Murder" regurgitating the political t-shirt.

From the oversized tee stemmed the woman's "t-shirt dress" which developed into neon and day glow colours.

Springsteen brought the jeans and a t-shirt back to basics with rolled up macho sleeves during his Born in the USA phase. For the MTV generation Armani took the t-shirt to high fashion wearing the tee underneath a suit jacket. Of course the suit jacket sleeves were rolled up ala Crocket and Tubbs Miami Vice style (parodied exceptionally in that Friends episode).

Surf tees saw a rebirth pioneered by new brands Stussy and Mossimo. Also adopted by Skaters long sleeve t-shirts became ever more popular. The Hypercolor t-shirt fad where the fabric changed colour with heat was very popular. Entertainingly if the wearer worked up a sweat big unsightly patches of colour change would occur around the armpits.

Again the influence of music came back into play. Hip Hop proved it wasn't a phase adopting at first Adidas as a brand. Later various Rap specific brands emerged such as Sean John and Phat Farm. Dance, Trance and DJing gained prominence and tighter and sleeveless t-shirts worn with baggy pants become the mode. Grunge anti-fashion also took the tee in another direction with a dark worn appearance.

21st Century Brand Child

According to branding experts Al and Laura Ries in the book "The Origin of Brands", as a product category evolves the category then diverges further into more categories. Like a tree some branches may whither and die while others will further grow and diverge again. This is probably best explained with the invention of the TV. The TV has diverged from the humble B&W television to many other categories. We now have CRT, Plasma, LCD, HDTV, Rear Projection, portable and widescreen.

There is no doubt that divergence has affected the t-shirt. The shape of the t-shirt itself has diverged to anywhere from tight, regular, hip hop loose to baby tee. With the advent of the Internet we've seen a boom in smaller t-shirt label startups. Now there are so many categories we are almost overwhelmed for choice. Some

t-shirt/apparel categories are:

Skate Brands: Hurley International, Globe, Element, Volcom, World

Surf Brands: Billabong, Mambo, Rip Curl, Rusty Quiksilver which has diverged to girl surf category Roxy.

Snowboard Brands: Burton, Salomon

Hip Hop Brands: Sean John, Ecko, G-Unit, Phat Farm.

American Retro Classic Brands: Dickies, Von Dutch, Harley Davidson.

Martial Arts Brands: Drunken Munky and various Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris logos.

Funny t-shirts: Vote for Pedro. Jesus is my homeboy, White canadian made hoodie Castle.

Internet Brands: T-shirt Hell, Café Press, Threadless.

Sport Brands: Puma, Nike, Adidas, Reebok.

American Basic Brands: Hanes, American Apparel, Fruit of the Loom and GAP.

High fashion Brands: Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein.

The Future

So which category branches will whither and die and which will survive to the next decade? Would you rather look like Eminem, Kelly Slater or Tony Hawks? And what is a t-shirt anyhow? Is it a simple apparel design with a coloured screen printed artwork featuring a hobby, sport, band or affluence that you may identify with? Or is it a product branded, marketed and directly mass produced for your particular demographic? Either way T-shirts have become a billion dollar industry.

What next for the now not so humble tee? We're seeing 21st century fibres like Gortex, Merino wool and Lycra blends being used. As for logos some growing trends seem to be the Video Game t-shirts, Internet t-shirts and Poker t-shirts. Will these be the next surf or skate brands? Quite possibly. Will others develop out of our favourite past times? Could there even be a Sudoku brand, a MySpace brand, Porn brand, or an iPod brand of t-shirts? Perhaps design your own the new black? One thing is certain; history has shown us that there will be even more diversification far into the next decades. The power of the t-shirt has never been greater. Awesome!

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willfightevil4food · 2 years

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Today's News- 1950's Revival, Orgies, Cocaine, Non-Twitter Cults, Hookers, TV Dinners... And You!

Today’s News- 1950’s Revival, Orgies, Cocaine, Non-Twitter Cults, Hookers, TV Dinners… And You!

A few weeks ago I decided, for my own well-being, to stop doom scrolling. I don’t watch the news on television, either. I restricted myself to Phys.org, Smithsonian, and sometimes a little MIT Review. And you know what? The daily hatred and paranoia that never came naturally to me faded away and I felt waaaaaay fuckin’ better. It was always just under the surface, like an LSD hangover or a gas…

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claudethecrabdemoness · 1 month

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⚡️🧿📺 ✞༒Tune On In༒✞ 📺🧿⚡️

“Sinners rejoice! For your salvation is just a TV station away…”

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scotianostra · 11 months

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The Scottish actor Alex McAvoy died on June 16th 2005.

Throughout his career he was a stalwart of Scottish theatre, especially pantos, starring at the top theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He was also a master of mime.

In the earlier part of his career, McAvoy ventured into the world of variety and light entertainment, and was the first foil to the kilted Scottish comedy singer Andy Stewart.

#scotland #scottish #actor #sunny jim #television #theate #film

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1skittler1 · 3 years

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Maila Nurmi - Vampira 🕷️🦇

#maila nurmi #vampira #goth #gothic #50s #50's #1950s #actress #cult classic #horror #tv show #tv shows #vampire #vampires #movies #classic hollywood #cult icon #iconic #legend #female host

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octaviasdread · 3 years

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any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)

SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.

Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember

Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

1950s Women’s college

Art professor! Julia Roberts

She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world

Feminism vs. Tradition

Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.

Does not end how you expect

Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)

MY FAVOURITE!!!

Free on YouTube under one of its various names

Comedy

1960s all girls boarding school

Young Kirsten Dunst

Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own

Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)

girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme

TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark

1930s girls school in Edinburgh

Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals

Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist

Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1970s movie or 2018 mini series

Never watched either but I plan to

Wild Child (2008)

00s romcom every UK teen girl loves

Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school

Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her

And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no

ICONIC SCENES

Everything! Goes! Wrong!

omg she burns the school down

Feel good, comfort, nostalgia

St Trinians (2007)

English girls boarding school

The kids are all criminals, no joke

So are the teachers

CHAOTIC

gay awakening for british girls

Art heist pulled off by school girls

Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers

Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag

Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...

embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)

Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure

omg Shakespeare was a woman

girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school

Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene

Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood

like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???

The Falling (2014)

1960s all girls school

best friends! but its unrequited love

Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues

Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls

Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)

TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault

READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST

The Book Thief (2013)

Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak

set in 1940s Nazi Germany

Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls

Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window

Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war

TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism

Mary Shelley (2017)

Overall good & roughly biographical

Pretty costumes and aesthetic

Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period

So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth

Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified

Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on a fave childhood book

1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England

Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside

Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens

local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes

Happy ending!!!

Hidden Figures (2016)

African-American women as mathematicians for NASA

1960s space project

Women balancing a career and family obligations

Deals with racial & gender discrimination

Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians

Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)

Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)

Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo

Small town & school years comedic drama

Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers

Inspiring new woman teacher

Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™

Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀

Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics

Collette (2018)

biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette

Victorian & Edwardian era France

More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him

Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels

Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting

Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)

Enola Holmes (2020)

Netflix book adaptation

Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes

Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes

Mother-daughter focus

Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

1960s England

best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years

poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger

off the rails but also catholic! Rosa

Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want

family troubles

TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old

Testament of Youth (2014)

based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain

young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University

abandons to become a war nurse

romance, tragedy and war trauma

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Little Women (2019)

Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy

Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics

the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*

champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood

Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on

set in 1860s America

ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice

Lady Bird (2017)

coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California

all girls catholic school

writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'

Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!

I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction

school theatre program

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Another Greta Gerwig gem

Beguiled (2017)

Virginia, civil war era

Girls school with only five students and two teachers left

Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside

Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him

(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)

Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze

TW: violence, death, underage

Legally Blonde (2001)

No questions will be taken

Elle Woods was the blue print

TV series:

House of Anubis (2011-2013)

I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it

ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!

Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)

Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life

Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff

new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au

Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism

The Alienist (2018 -now)

Mid 1890s, New York

Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)

Serial killer mystery

Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime

TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Woman chess prodigy

1950s & 1960s

TW: drug & alcohol abuse

Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister

Victorian Yorkshire, England

Upper-class lesbians

Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker

Business woman! Anne running the family mines

Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)

TW: violence

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter

bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college

Small town drama is comedic gold

Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references

Comforting & nostalgic

TEAM JESS

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!

Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community

Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation

Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher

Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart

TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school

Victoria (2016-2019)

Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life

Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life

Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)

Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite

Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics

TW: bury your gays trope

Derry Girls (2018-now)

1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles

Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long

English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin

✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher

Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles

Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)

Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon

Main Character! Erin Quinn

Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool

Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire

Dickinson (2019-now)

Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US

Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY

gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems

💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕

Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2

Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage

TW: opium use

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Based on great childhood books

Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth

Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune

Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES

Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes

Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point

Killing Eve (2018-now)

Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down

British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team

Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion

Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section

Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation

‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'

🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨

Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)

Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid

Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in

Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists

girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!

UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!

Gorgeous costumes and set

Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up

TW: abuse, violence, death

Outlander (2014 - now)

haven’t watched yet but plan to

Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743

Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war

Time jumps between 18th & 20th century

#CO posts #answered asks #asks #dark academia girls #dark academia recommendations #dark academia recs #dark academia women #dark academia movies #dark academia tv

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grigori77 · 3 years

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Summer 2021′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 1)

The Runners-Up:

20. LUCA – I’ll admit I really wasn’t sold on Disney/Pixar’s coming-of-age fantasy comedy, which revolves around a pair of young sea monsters living off the coast of the 1950s Italian Riviera, who discover they can assume human form when they dry out and go on land on a quest of discovery. Thankfully the strong reviews convinced me to give it a chance – this is a frothy and irreverent romp through an exotically nostalgic world filled with Vespas, pasta-eating contests and found families that’s fun for kids of all ages.

19. FAST & FURIOUS 9 – the high concept action franchise may be bursting under the ever-increasing weight of its own ludicrousness, but it’s still TONS of fun, packed with stunning over-the-top action, colourful globe-trotting and a loveable bunch of misfits we’ve grown incredibly fond of over the past TWENTY YEARS. This time Dom (the irrepressible Vin Diesel) and the team are up against ruthless hi-tech mercenary Jakob (John Cena), a lethal jack-of-all-trades with a dark connection to the Toretto name.

18. REMINISCENCE – Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy’s attempt to make it on the big screen looks set to go down as one of the biggest cinematic flops of 2021, which is a shame because the feature-debuting writer-director has crafted a genuinely fascinating speculative sci-fi noir detective thriller. Set in a darkly dystopian future in which Global Warming has caused the sea levels to rise and society to start breaking down, it tells the story of Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), a former soldier who ekes out a living using revolutionary tech to help the idle rich relive their fondest memories, until a life-changing mystery from his own past resurfaces, threatening to tear his whole world apart. Frustratingly, it looks like most audiences are going to bypass this, which is a criminal loss.

17. FREE GUY – after a seven year hiatus, Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy returns to the big screen in fine form with this deliriously inventive fantastical comedy adventure about Guy (a typically on-fire Ryan Reynolds), an NPC in an anarchic, Grand Theft Auto style MMORPG called Free City who discovers his own sentience after falling in love with Millie (Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), a player with a hidden agenda that puts them both at odds with the game’s nefarious creator, Antwan (a thoroughly hilarious Taika Waititi).

16. EVANGELION 3.0 + 1.01: THRICE UPON A TIME – visionary anime creator Hideaki Anno brings his long-running sci-fi saga to a close with this fourth instalment to his wildly ambitious cinematic “Rebuild” of cult TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s as frothy, melodramatic and bonkers as ever, packed full of weighty themes and crazy ideas, while the animation maintains this series’ ridiculously high levels of quality and the action is as explosive as ever, and Hideaki brings the whole mad mess to a climax that’s as rich, powerful and thoroughly befuddling as the saga deserves.

15. THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD – Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan returns to the director’s chair (after impressive debut Wind River) with this intense and enthralling suspense thriller adapted by bestselling author Michael Koryta (along with Sheridan and Blood Diamond’s Charles Leavitt) from his own acclaimed novel. Angelina Jolie is (ahem) fiery but fallible as haunted smokejumper Hanna Faber, whose PTSD drives her to protect a desperate boy (Finn Little) who’s being hunted through the wilds of Montana by a pair of relentless assassins (Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult).

14. CRUELLA – far from the clunky cash-in retcon many were predicting, Disney’s ambitious black comedy crime caper does a thoroughly admirable job in delivering this fascinating and deeply compelling reimagining of the story of rogue fashion designer Cruella de Vil (one of the best performances I’ve ever seen Emma Stone deliver, hands down), the dastardly villainess of 101 Dalmatians. She’s certainly far more complex here, no longer a raging monster, but far from a whitewashed PC apologist, either, much more of a morally grey antihero with a very wicked dark side – then again, with I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie at the helm it’s not really a surprise. Richly designed and dripping in spectacularly adventurous period detail, this is an divine romp from start to finish.

13. THE GREEN KNIGHT – the latest feature from writer director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saits, Pete’s Dragon, The Old Man & the Gun) is as offbeat and unusual as you’d expect from a visionary filmmaker with such a wildly varied CV. Adapting the fantastical chivalric romance Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, he’s crafted what’s surely destined to be remembered as the year’s STRANGEST film, but it’s a work of aching beauty and introspective imagination that sears itself into the memory and rewards the viewer’s patience despite its leisurely pace. Dev Patel is unbearably sexy and wonderfully complex as Gawain, while Sean Harris delivers show-stopping support with stately charisma and world-weary integrity as King Arthur. This film is sure to divide opinions as well as audiences, but I think it’s a bona fide masterpiece that must be seen to be believed.

12. CANDYMAN – after watching this wildly imaginative and frequently gut-wrenching soft-reboot/sequel to Bernard Rose’s acclaimed adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story The Forbidden, I feel supremely confident about emerging writer-director Nia DaCosta’s coming MCU breakout with The Marvels. Wisely papering over the clunky previous sequels, this streamlined trailblazing deep dive into the pure horror of the legend of the righteously mad spectral killer haunting the Chicago housing ghetto of Cabrini-Green sees a daring modern artist (Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) find his latest project turning into a dangerously self-destructive obsession. Writer-producer Jordan Peele’s fingerprints are all over this, but DaCosta clearly shows signs that she’s going to be a hell of a talent to watch in the future.

11. THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF – I wouldn’t normally shout about an animated spinoff to a TV series like this, but I was SO INSANELY IMPRESSED with this brilliant prequel to Netflix’ popular fantasy show (which clearly intends to lay some origin story groundwork for the impending second season) that I just can’t help myself. Recounting the backstory of Geralt of Rivia’s own Witcher mentor Vesemir, this beautifully expands on the already compelling universe the series has created, as well as delivering some breath-taking thrills and chills through some of the most exquisite cell animation I’ve ever seen outside of the greats of anime. A must-see for Witcher fans, then, but one I’d also highly recommend to anyone who likes their animation a bit more grown-up and edgy.

#movies 2021 #luca #disney luca #fast & furious 9 #reminiscence #reminiscence movie #free guy #evangelion thrice upon a time #rebuild of evangelion 4 #those who wish me dead #those who wish me dead movie #cruella #cruella movie #the green knight #the green knight movie #candyman #candyman 2021 #the witcher nightmare of the wolf #awesome sauce

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timeless-hollywood-classics · 4 years

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Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi (December 11, 1922 – January 10, 2008), known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was a Finnish-American actress and television personality who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.

The daughter of a Finnish immigrant, Nurmi was raised in Oregon and relocated to Los Angeles in 1940 with hopes of being an actress. After several minor film roles, she found success in the Vampira character, television's first horror host. Nurmi hosted her own series, The Vampira Show, from 1954–55 on KABC-TV.

After the show's cancellation, she appeared in the 1959 cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space, directed by Ed Wood. She is also billed as Vampira in the 1959 film The Beat Generation, where she appears out of character and instead plays a beatnik poet. Nurmi also appeared in the 1959 crime film The Big Operator. She was portrayed by Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic Ed Wood.

Maila Nurmi was born Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi in 1922 to Onni Syrjäniemi, a Finnish immigrant, and Sophia Peterson, an American of Finnish descent. Her place of birth is disputed: according to biographer W. Scott Poole in Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror (2014), Nurmi was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. However, during her career, Nurmi claimed to have been born in Petsamo, Finland, claiming she was the niece of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, who began setting long-distance running world records in 1921, the year before her birth. Public U.S. immigration records show her father's immigration at Ellis Island in 1910. Additionally, Dana Gould claimed in a 2014 public interview that he had seen Nurmi's birth certificate, which listed her birthplace as Gloucester, Massachusetts.

During her childhood, Nurmi relocated with her family from Massachusetts to Ashtabula, Ohio, before settling in Astoria, Oregon, a city on the Oregon Coast with a large Finnish community. Her father worked as a lecturer and editor, and her mother also worked as a part-time journalist and translator to support the family. She graduated from Astoria High School in 1940.

In 1940, Nurmi relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career, and later in New York City. She modeled for Alberto Vargas, Bernard of Hollywood, and Man Ray, gaining a foothold in the film industry with an uncredited role in Victor Saville's 1947 film, If Winter Comes.

She was reportedly fired in 1944 by Mae West from the cast of West's Broadway play, Catherine Was Great, because West feared she was being upstaged.

On Broadway, she gained much attention after appearing in the horror-themed midnight show Spook Scandals, in which she screamed, fainted, lay in a coffin, and seductively lurked about a mock cemetery. She also worked as a showgirl for the Earl Carroll Theatre and as a high-kicking chorus line dancer at the Florentine Gardens along with stripper Lili St. Cyr. In the 1950s, she supported herself mainly by posing for pin-up photos in men's magazines such as Famous Models, Gala and Glamorous Models. Before landing her role as 'Vampira', she was working as a hat-check girl in a cloakroom on Hollywood's Sunset Strip.

The idea for the Vampira character was born in 1953 when Nurmi attended choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by Morticia Addams in The New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. Her appearance with pale white skin and tight black dress caught the attention of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr., who wanted to hire her to host horror movies on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV, but Stromberg had no idea how to contact her. He finally got her phone number from Rudi Gernreich, later the designer of the topless swimsuit. The name Vampira was the invention of Nurmi's husband, Dean Riesner. Nurmi's characterization was influenced by the Dragon Lady from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates and the evil queen from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

On April 30, 1954, KABC-TV aired a preview, Dig Me Later, Vampira, at 11:00 p.m. The Vampira Show premiered on the following night, May 1, 1954. For the first four weeks, the show aired at midnight, moving to 11:00 p.m. on May 29. Ten months later, the series aired at 10:30 p.m., beginning March 5, 1955. Each show opened with Vampira gliding down a dark corridor flooded with dry-ice fog. At the end of her trance-like walk, the camera zoomed in on her face as she let out a piercing scream. She would then introduce (and mock) that evening's film while reclining barefoot on a skull-encrusted Victorian couch. Her horror-related comedy antics included ghoulish puns such as encouraging viewers to write for epitaphs instead of autographs and talking to her pet spider Rollo.

She also ran as a candidate for Night Mayor of Hollywood with a platform of "dead issues". In another publicity stunt, KABC had her cruise around Hollywood in the back of a chauffeur-driven 1932 Packard touring car with the top down, where she sat, as Vampira, holding a black parasol. The show was an immediate hit, and in June 1954 she appeared as Vampira in a horror-themed comedy skit on The Red Skelton Show along with Béla Lugosi, and Lon Chaney, Jr.. That same week Life magazine ran an article on her, including a photo-spread of her show-opening entrance and scream. A kinescope of her The Red Skelton Show appearance was discovered in 2014. It is available as part of the Shout Factory DVD box set Red Skelton: The Early Years.

When her KABC series was cancelled in 1955, Nurmi retained rights to the character of Vampira and took the show to a competing Los Angeles television station, KHJ-TV. Several episode scripts and a single promotional kinescope of Nurmi re-creating some of her macabre comedy segments are held by private collectors. Several clips from the rare kinescope are included in the documentaries American Scary and Vampira: The Movie. The entire KABC kinescope, plus selections of the KABC pitchman who introduced the clips, is available in the 2012 documentary Vampira and Me.

Vampira and Me also features extensive clips from two previously unknown 16mm kinescopes of Nurmi as Vampira on national TV shows, including her starring guest spot on the April 2, 1955 episode of The George Gobel Show, a top 10 hit. The Vampira and Me restoration of the Gobel kinescope was documented in a 2013 short film entitled Restoring Vampira.

Examination of Nurmi's diaries in 2014 by filmmaker and journalist R. H. Greene verify longtime rumors that in 1956 she was the model for Maleficent, the evil witch in the Disney conception of the classic fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." The Disney archivist subsequently confirmed these findings.

In 2007, the kinescope film of Nurmi in character was restored by Rerunmedia, whose restorations include The Ed Sullivan Show and Dark Shadows. The restoration utilized the groundbreaking LiveFeed Video Imaging process developed exclusively for the restoration of kinescopes. The restoration was funded by Spectropia Wunderhaus and Coffin Case.

A reconstructed episode of The Vampira Show was released on DVD by the Vampira's Attic web site in October 2007. The release imitated a complete episode by using existing footage of the show combined with vintage commercials believed to have been directed by Ed Wood[citation needed] and the full-length 1932 feature film The Thirteenth Guest.

Nurmi made television history as the first horror movie hostess. In 1957, Screen Gems released a syndicated package of 52 horror movies, mostly from Universal Pictures, under the program title Shock Theater. Independent stations in major cities all over the U.S. began showing these films, adding their own ghoulish host or hostess (including Vampira II and other lookalikes) to attract more viewers.

Nominated for a Los Angeles area Emmy Award as 'Most Outstanding Female Personality' in 1954, she returned to films with Too Much, Too Soon in 1958, followed by The Big Operator and The Beat Generation. Her best known film appearance was in Ed Wood's camp classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, as a Vampira-like zombie (filmed in 1956, but released in 1959). In 1960 she appeared in I Passed for White and Sex Kittens Go to College, followed by 1962's The Magic Sword. The classic clip from Plan 9 from Outer Space featuring Vampira walking out of the woods with her hands pointing straight out was used to start the original opening sequence of WPIX Channel 11 New York's Chiller Theatre in the 1960s.

By 1962, Nurmi was making a living installing linoleum flooring. "And if things are slow in linoleum, I can also do carpentry, make drapes or refinish furniture", she told the Los Angeles Times.

In the early 1960s, Nurmi opened Vampira's Attic, an antiques boutique on Melrose Avenue. She also sold handmade jewelry and clothing. She made items for several celebrities, including Grace Slick of the music group Jefferson Airplane and the Zappa family.

In 1981, Nurmi was asked by KHJ-TV to revive her Vampira character for television. She worked closely with the producers of the new show and was to get an executive producer credit, but Nurmi eventually left the project over creative differences. According to Nurmi, this was because the station cast comedic actress Cassandra Peterson in the part without consulting her. "They eventually called me in to sign a contract and she was there", Nurmi told Bizarre magazine in 2005. "They had hired her without asking me."

Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role.

Unable to continue using the name Vampira, the show was abruptly renamed Elvira's Movie Macabre with Peterson playing the titular host. Nurmi soon filed a lawsuit against Peterson. The court eventually ruled in favor of Peterson, holding that "likeness means actual representation of another person's appearance, and not simply close resemblance." Peterson claimed that Elvira was nothing like Vampira aside from the basic design of the black dress and black hair. Nurmi claimed that the entire Elvira persona, which included comedic dialogue and intentionally bad graveyard puns, infringed on her creation's "distinctive dark dress, horror movie props, and...special personality." Nurmi herself claimed that Vampira's image was in part based on the Charles Addams The New Yorker cartoon character Morticia Addams, though she told Boxoffice magazine in 1994 that she had intentionally deviated from Addams' mute and flat-chested creation, making her own TV character "campier and sexier" to avoid plagiarizing Addams' idea.

In 1986, she appeared alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers in Rene Daalder's punk rock musical Population: 1, which was released on DVD in October 2008. According to a Daalder interview on the 2 disc special edition of Population: 1, "There was a wild lady living out in back in a shed. Tomata befriended her and found out she had played Vampira".

In 1987, she recorded two seven-inch singles on Living Eye records with the band Satan's Cheerleaders. The singles, entitled "I Am Damned" and "Genocide Utopia," were both released on colored vinyl, the second one with a swastika on the label, and are extremely rare collector's items.

In 2001, Nurmi opened an official website and began selling autographed memorabilia and original pieces of art on eBay. Until her death, Nurmi lived in a small North Hollywood apartment.

Unlike Elvira, Nurmi authorized very few merchandising contracts for her Vampira character, though the name and likeness have been used unofficially by various companies since the 1950s. In 1994, Nurmi authorized a Vampira model kit for Artomic Creations, and a pre-painted figurine from Bowen Designs in 2001, both sculpted by Thomas Kuntz. In 2004, she authorized merchandising of the Vampira character by Coffin Case, for the limited purpose of selling skate boards and guitar cases.

In the early 1950s, Nurmi was close friends with James Dean, and they spent time together at Googie's coffee shop on the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. She explained their friendship by saying, "We have the same neuroses."

As Hedda Hopper related in a 1962 memoir that included a chapter on Dean: "We discussed the thin-cheeked actress who calls herself Vampira on television (and cashed in, after Jimmy died, on the publicity she got from knowing him and claimed she could talk to him 'through the veil'). He said: 'I had studied The Golden Bough and the Marquis de Sade, and I was interested in finding out if this girl was obsessed by a satanic force. She knew absolutely nothing. I found her void of any true interest except her Vampira make-up. She has no absolute.'"

The 2010 public radio documentary Vampira and Me by author/director R. H. Greene took issue with Hopper's depiction of the Nurmi/Dean relationship, pointing to an extant photo of Dean and Vampira sidekick Jack Simmons in full Boris Karloff Frankenstein make-up as evidence of Nurmi and Dean's friendship. The documentary also described a production memo in the Warner Bros. archive citing a set visit from "Vampira" while Dean was making Rebel Without a Cause.

The Warner Bros memo was first mentioned in the 2006 book Live Fast, Die Young: The Making of Rebel Without a Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel, who were given access to the Rebel production files. An interview Frascella and Weisel conducted with actress Shelley Winters also uncovered an instance where Dean interrupted an argument with director Nicholas Ray and Winters so he could watch The Vampira Show on TV.

In Vampira and Me, Nurmi can be heard telling Greene that Dean once appeared in a live bit on The Vampira Show in which Vampira, dressed as a librarian, rapped his knuckles with a ruler because "he was a very naughty boy."

The English Punk rock band The Damned wrote a song about their relationship entitled ‘Plan 9, Channel 7’ and can be found on the 1979 album ‘Machine Gun Etiquette ‘ ( Chiswick Records )

On June 20, 1955, Nurmi was the target of an attempted murder when a man forced his way into her apartment and proceeded to terrorize her for close to four hours. Nurmi eventually escaped and managed to call the police, with assistance from a local shop owner.

She married her first husband, Dean Riesner, in 1949, a former child actor in silent films and later the screenwriter of Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick, Play Misty for Me, and numerous other movies and TV episodes.

She married her second husband, younger actor John Brinkley, on March 10, 1958.

She married actor Fabrizio Mioni on June 20, 1961 in Orange County, California.

On January 10, 2008, Nurmi died of natural causes at her home in Hollywood, aged 85. She was buried in the Griffith Lawn section of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

#maila nurmi #vampira #classic stars #classic horror #classic hollywood #1950s hollywood #1950s women

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