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demi-shoggoth · 10 months

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2023 Reading Log, pt 6

I have read a lot less this year than in the last couple of years. I'm not going to beat my previous record of 129 books, that's for sure. But I feel like I've hit a decent stride of quality over quantity with this batch (also, one of them is over 600 pages long)

26. The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters, edited by Jeffery Andrew Weinstock. For anyone who is remotely interested in either monsters or literature, this book is a must-read. Yes, I know it’s an A-Z encyclopedia format and is more than 600 pages long. You can skip around, or read it in chunks. This book is the perfect tool for thinking with monsters, and is an excellent reference tool for using monsters intelligently in a project, or just as a collection of “oh, I should check that out”. It’s not perfect. All kaiju are lumped together under “Godzilla”, which barely gets two pages. Pokemon gets a single, very dismissive, paragraph. On the other hand, the entry for Harry Potter is ridiculously long and very fannish, and the “HP Lovecraft, Monsters in” article ignores Lovecraft’s racism entirely (because it’s written by ST Joshi, who else?). My biggest complaint is the lack of a general Mad Scientist entry—mad scientists are the monster of the 20th century, and both psychopaths and witches get generic entries as well as specific examples. My two biggest highlights are “Women, Monstrous”, which is a college level course in institutional misogyny and how it has been celebrated by some authors and subverted by others; and "Nick of the Woods", which is possibly the most influential American novel that has been almost entirely forgotten in the modern era. You can draw a direct line from Nick of the Woods to everything from Marvel movies to Wounded Knee.

27. Tasting History by Max Miller, with Ann Volkwein. “Tasting History with Max Miller” is one of my favorite YouTube series, and the book of the show doesn’t disappoint. It’s beautiful, with color photos of the food and images of historical characters and events. Most of the recipes come from existing episodes, and so the stories therein are familiar, but not told identically, and there are some that have new lore to go with old recipes. Or lore covered in the show, but a different recipe because the one that was made for the video wasn’t very good. Also, my copy is signed! Max Miller came to a local book fair, so I got to hear a book talk and then get my copy signed afterwards. And that was… two months ago? My reading really has slowed down!

28. Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend by Rachel Warren Chadd and Marianne Taylor. This book collects legendry about birds from around the world, and compares the stories that different cultures tell about the same animal with the animal’s actual ecology and behavior. A fair amount of the stories were new to me, which I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting the science to be as well! For example, the book talks about a paper that suggests that lyrebird foraging is important for reducing wildfires, as they help to break up mats of eucalyptus leaves and encourage decomposition. Also, as can probably be expected in a book about birds, there’s a lot of very nice photography.

29. The Cat’s Meow by Jonathan Losos. Losos is an evolutionary biologist (he’s the guy doing all of the studies with convergent evolution in Caribbean lizards) who got the domestic cat bug, and this is his book about the evolution of domestic cats. It’s written in a very readable style and goes into quite a bit of depth on how we know what we know. So individual scientists and breeders are profiled for topics like, which population of wildcats do domestic cats descend from? How does the behavior of feral cats in the Australian Outback differ from feral cats in rural Georgia? How is a new breed developed from a single individual? Losos also shares plenty of anecdotes about his own cats, as any loving cat owner would, and shares his “million dollar idea” with the reader. Saber toothed housecats, bred for both long canine teeth and a calm, indoor-friendly disposition.

30. Iberian Monsters by Javier Prado. This was a birthday present from my girlfriend @abominationimperatrix. The book is an illustrated collection of Iberian bogeys specifically—monsters designed to scare children into doing X or avoiding Y. At least half of the monsters in here are altogether new to me, and each entry often discusses multiple related monsters, with the “headliner” getting a full page illustration. Three things that jumped out to me. 1) How many parallels there are between the monsters of Spain and the monsters in Spanish colonies, like Latin America and the Philippines. I mean, that’s logical, but since I knew less about Spain’s monsters, I didn’t see the connections. 2) The large number of monsters that are based on historical individuals. Mostly soldiers and bandits, but also a watchmaker and an anti-fascist writer. 3) The story that scared me the most as a little kid was “Tailypo”… and there’s a variant in here that’s even worse. You know, for kids!

#reading log #monster books #spanish folklore #bogey #evolutionary biology #cats #domestic cats #birds #world folklore #comparative mythology #comparative religion #food history #tasting history #nick of the woods #tailypo

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mclarenmotogp · 9 months

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#MotoGP

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newsgola · 1 year

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Victorian Sub-District cricket club Elsternwick identifies all of its first XI players including Test great Keith Miller

Subbies club Elsternwick has identified every one of its first XI players – and Test legend Keith Miller’s one and only game is now in the books, writes PAUL AMY. He didn’t bowl. And he didn’t take a catch. But legendary Australian cricketer Keith Miller did play one first XI match for Victorian Sub-District cricket club Elsternwick. It was in the 1934-35 season, against Ivanhoe. And in…

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sunshinecoastqldnews · 2 years

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Australian MotoGP: Jack Miller to have a nook at Phillip Island named after him

Australian MotoGP star Jack Miller might be immortalised at Phillip Island with a nook on the famed racing circuit named in his honour. Key factors: Jack Miller will be a part of different Australian MotoGP legends in having a nook named after him at Phillip Island Sunday’s race is the primary time the MotoGP has been held in Australia since 2019 Miller is but to win at Phillip Island, having completed third three years in the past Miller joins Australian motor biking royalty in Mick Doohan, Casey Stoner and Wayne Gardner being completely remembered on the Victorian monitor. Flip 4 on the island circuit has been renamed Miller Nook forward of Sunday’s grand prix, the primary MotoGP race in Australia since 2019. Followers have referred to as it Miller for the reason that Townsville product burst onto the MotoGP scene in 2015, but it surely turned official on Saturday. “It is an immense honour. The dimensions of it hasn’t actually sunk in but,” Miller mentioned in the course of the unveiling. “That is superb, one thing that I could not have even dreamed of as a child, to have a nook on this magical race monitor in my identify, yeah greater than phrases. “It is an unreal a part of the monitor and so many historic moments have occurred right here, so I really feel so lucky to have the ability to declare this one.” Stoner, who gained six-straight Australian GPs between 2007 and 2012, has flip three named in his honour. The legendary Stoner, who gained the 2007 and 2011 MotoGP titles, has been within the Ducati garages this weekend providing recommendation to his fellow Australian and Miller’s teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Miller is trying to breakthrough for his first MotoGP win at Phillip Island after ending third within the Australian race three years in the past. The 27-year-old is in very good type forward of his residence GP after profitable in Japan final month and secured a podium end in Thailand two weeks in the past. Earlier, Miller booked his place within the top-10 qualifying session. He left it late to set his greatest lap of the weekend, ending sixth after Saturday’s first session at Phillip Island. With simply three minutes remaining Miller nonetheless sat as little as twenty second, however was capable of finding some additional tempo in his Ducati to crucially end inside the highest 10. When is the Australian MotoGP? The Australian MotoGP will happen on Sunday, October 16 with the race set to begin at 2pm AEDT. Channel 10 holds the free-to-air rights whereas Kayo and Fox Sports activities will broadcast it on their streaming providers. AAP Originally published at Sunshine Coast QLD News

#Sunshine Coast QLD News

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thepeoplesmovies · 2 years

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Aussie Indie Drama Streamline Starring Jason Issacs Gets UK Release

Aussie Indie Drama Streamline Starring Jason Issacs Gets UK Release @101FilmsUK @AimPublicity #Streamline #LeviMiller #JasonIssacs #WorldCinema

Hello to Jason Issacs as 101 Films announce they are set to release Tyson Wade Johnston‘s impressive directorial feature debut Streamline in the UK next month. An emotionally rich coming-of-age-film, gritty and gripping feature is produced by Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe. Starring along side Harry Potter star Issacs, the film is lead by Levi Miller, Robert Morgan, Laura Gordan, Sam…

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#101 Films #2021 #Australia #Jason Issacs #Levi Miller #Streamline #Tyson Wade Johnston

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letterboxd · 3 years

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In Focus: The Truman Show.

Inspired by Letterboxd data that revealed it to be a lockdown favorite, editor-at-large Dominic Corry looks at the ever-evolving importance of contemporary masterpiece The Truman Show.

It has long been apparent that The Truman Show is an unnervingly prescient film. The story of a man who becomes aware that his superficially idyllic life is, in fact, a live-streamed television show has gone from being high-concept to every-day.

Thanks to the three Ps—the prevalence of mass urban surveillance, the proliferation of reality television and the pervasiveness of video in social media—the notion of cameras filming our every move is no longer a paranoid fantasy, but real life. The twist being that, for the most part, we all willingly signed up for it, and did all the filming ourselves. As Yi Jian saliently observes in his review: “Not to get all ‘we live in a society’ on Letterboxd but I know a person or two in real life that would actually give anything to trade lives with Truman, it do be like that sometimes”. It indeed do, Yi Jian.

So it’s something of a cliché at this stage to point out how we are all living in some version of the The Truman Show, and you don’t have to be a member of the royal family to feel that way. Yet, somehow, the film has become even more pertinent over the last eighteen months. And it’s a pertinence reflected in the massive uptick in viewership for the film as seen in Letterboxd activity.

During the month of February 2020, the last moment of the Before Times, The Truman Show had a modest 1,235 diary entries. That number tripled in April of that year, by which time the seriousness of the pandemic had become clear. And by July, deep in the worst of the pandemic, Truman fervor peaked, with a further 178 percent leap over April’s numbers, firmly placing it in the top 200 films watched by our members in a year of lockdown. (By the way, ‘diary entries’ mean activity where the member has added a watched date; many thousands more also marked Truman as ‘watched’ in those dark months, but didn’t specify a date.)

It’s not difficult to imagine why we might become more interested in revisiting this eminently re-visitable film. During lockdown, social media—including Letterboxd—took on a greater presence in terms of how we communicated with each other. We got used to seeing footage of faces more than actual faces. We were all the stars of our own ‘Truman Show’, and simultaneously the audience of everyone else’s ‘Truman Show’.

Christian Torres boiled it down effectively when he wrote: “Now every movie I see seems to be related to my life in quarantine. I am Truman and I want to escape.” And Sonya Sandra eloquently captured the film’s increased contemporary significance in her review: “This is a real-life daylight horror film. The best kind. Even more relevant in 2021 than ever. We are all Truman, we all want to find what is real in our fake lives filled with media, capitalism and ideology. And it’s our job to fight the storm and get to the truth of it all. Nothing is real, everything is for profit, and everyone is selfish. Go out and find what is real, because it’s definitely not here.”

With its deft, dazzling blending of the profound and the humorous, the optimistic and the cynical, it’s difficult to think of anything released since The Truman Show that comes as close as it does to being a modern-day Frank Capra movie. It’s hopeful, but has its eyes wide open. There’s a darkness in the themes of the film that is never replicated in the colors on display.

While everyone involved delivers career-best work, we must principally credit the triumvirate of talent at the center of the film: director Peter Weir, screenwriter Andrew Niccol and star Jim Carrey.

Star Jim Carrey and director Peter Weir on the set of ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

Weir is a director who inspires much online love whenever his name is mentioned, but he isn’t really mentioned all that often. Or at least as often as he should be. The Australian filmmaker has delivered masterpieces across multiple genres, and it’s extremely sad that he hasn’t directed a movie since 2010’s not-quite-true World War II drama The Way Back, arguably one of his lesser works. That’s also, insanely, one of only two movies he’s made since Truman, the other being Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the wide and rabid affection for which regularly kicks up on Twitter (not to mention demand for a sequel).

Weir doesn’t do many interviews, and while this 2018 Vanity Fair article marking Truman’s twentieth anniversary has many quotes about the film’s modern relevance, Weir doesn’t offer any commentary to that effect, presumably preferring to let the work speak for itself—though in this 1998 interview he did talk about the relationship between the media, the general public and the people we become fascinated with, as a “complex situation”.

The Vanity Fair article does, however, reveal a fascinating ‘what if’ scenario relating to Christof, the god-like director of the in-movie TV show played by Ed Harris, who offers up a pile of pretentious auteur clichés: mononymous, beret, etc. (beyond the whole god thing, that is). When Dennis Hopper, originally cast in the role, wasn’t working out, Weir considered playing the role himself, which would’ve added yet another meta layer. It brings to mind how George Miller styled Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) after himself in Mad Max: Fury Road, or how Christopher Nolan’s haircut shows up in most of his films.

Ed Harris as Christof in ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

And, at one point, it could have gone mega-meta. Weir, in the 1998 interview, talked about a “crazy idea” he had, a technical impossibility back then but easily achievable with live-streaming now. “I would have loved to have had a video camera installed in every theater the film was to be seen [in]. At one point, the projectionist would … cut to the viewers in the cinema and then back to the movie. But I thought it was best to leave that idea untested.” Imagine.

Weir also played a role in helping to shape the originally much more overtly dark screenplay into the cheerier (on the surface at least) shooting script, which is solely credited to fellow antipodean, New Zealand-born Niccol, also a producer on the film. Both men have done the majority of their work in America, but it’s tempting to credit the film’s tone-perfect sense of heightened Americana to the degree of separation offered by their foreign provenance. In any case, it’s clear that open-air mall designers were paying attention.

Niccol’s original screenplay made his name in Hollywood, and revealed a storyteller excited by big ideas. He moved into directing with the smaller-scale Gattaca, released a year prior to Truman (itself delayed to meet Carrey’s availability). Niccol’s subsequent filmography includes several legit bangers (Lord of War hive step up!), and his endearing dedication to lofty allegories in a genre setting makes him an increasingly rare breed in Hollywood.

Like Weir, he is not the greatest fan of giving interviews, but the Vanity Fair piece quotes him making an interesting point: “When you know there is a camera, there is no reality,” thereby making Truman “the only genuine reality star.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by MusicMoviesMe, who writes that “‘Truman Show’ beats all other reality shows out there like Bachelors, Survivors and Kardashians. Come on, when you know there’s a camera at your tail, there’s no reality. So yes, Truman beats all reality shows out there bar none!”

The role was perfectly suited to Jim Carrey’s affected mannerisms, and his status as one of the world’s biggest stars meant he could relate to Truman more than most people. Then, at least. Nowadays, of course, we are all Truman.

“It is always incredible to see how far The Truman Show was ahead of [its] time,” observes The Closer79. “In a world where celebs are monitored 24/7 and we are showered with unnecessary private information on the web, where talent-free wannabes become famous and where you sometimes [wonder] what kind of surreal show society you are in—Truman and his fake show life cleverly have anticipated all of this. Only Truman knew nothing of his luck and he was granted an escape from his glass prison. We don’t really have this possibility… Aren’t we all Truman? Sometimes even voluntarily…”

Austin Burke concurs: “I have always known that I really enjoyed this film, but I had no clue that it would hold up so well years later… Could this be because the strange world that he finds himself in is far more similar to our world today? Possibly, but the idea and themes are so much more relevant now compared to when this originally released.” And while DallasFrance is conscious of piling on about the film’s prescience, his review highlights how there really is no limit to the film’s meta qualities:

“Instead of writing a review about how this film predicted social media, or how we’re all Truman, or yadda yadda yadda, I’ll instead fixate on the miraculous fact that two absolute legends were cast as primary viewers of the Truman Show:

1. The old lady from The Running Man who starts betting on Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). ‘He’s one bad motherf*cker!’

2. The villain from The Karate Kid Part II:

‘Live or die, man?!’ ‘Die!’ ‘Wrong!’ *hooooonnnkkk*

I’ve never seen either of these actors in any other roles. With the second one, I felt like I was watching a character from my childhood watch a character from his childhood come to realizations about the characters in his childhood. So actually… the movie’s really about me.”

Never change, LB membership.

We are all generally pretty aware of how ahead of its time The Truman Show was, but that doesn’t lessen its impact. Maddie’s review shows that there’s always some new angle to consider: “Imagine being an extra in this movie… You would be an extra, playing an actor, playing an extra. Think about that long enough and tell me that doesn’t make you want to walk into the ocean.”

Kev goes even further: “Watching other people watch somebody else while also watching that person while also watching the person watching over that person is a great reminder that watching is weird, and to be watched is to not own yourself. Don’t watch, don’t try to be watched. Just live.”

Or perhaps Will encapsulates the film’s ability to present an ever-evolving message best, writing that, “clearly, this is video proof that we live in a simulation.” Beyond mere prescience, The Truman Show is a telling mirror to whatever era it is viewed in. Its message will continue to evolve.

Now that we’re finally (touch wood) emerging from the pandemic, it will be fascinating to see what The Truman Show has to say about its audience and the world they live in, in years to come. Rest assured, it will be well-documented by you, the Letterboxd audience.

Also: can Peter Weir please make another movie? Like, seriously.

Related content

A Meta-Reality: Robert’s list of layers of film in life and life in film

Follow Dom on Letterboxd

#the truman show #truman #peter weir #jim carrey #andrew niccol #letterboxd #lockdown #quarantine #coronavirus #pandemic #movies #comfort films #comedy #truman show

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beatdisc · 3 years

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Some more late-running vinyl through the shop this week! New records from Australian legends Jack Ladder and HTRK; the latest Mac Miller posthumous re-issue; a super limited 12" E.P. from DMA's; the newest Halloween soundtrack from John Carpenter; plus new albums from Ryan Adams, Chet Faker, Strand Of Oaks & more. Flick through the photos or see below for a rundown:

HTRK - Rhinestones $38

Jack Ladder - Hijack! (2xLP) $75

Mac Miller - Faces (Tri-Colour 3xLP) $110

DMA's - I Love You Unconditionally... (Blue 12") $30

Ryan Adams - Big Colors (Yellow LP + Bonus 7") $50

Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth - Utopian Ashes $45

Chet Faker - Hotel Surrender $45

Strand Of Oaks - In Heaven (Pink LP) $45

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Love For Sale $55

Jean-Michel Jarre - Amazonia (2xLP) $65

John Carpenter - Halloween Kills (Orange & Red Splatter LP) $45

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weekendwarriorblog · 3 years

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The Weekend Warrior 4/23/21: MORTAL KOMBAT, DEMON SLAYER, TOGETHER TOGETHER, STREET GANG, SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

Ugh. Trying to maintain this column as a weekly entity during the final few weeks of the longest Oscar season ever has been really hard, and I’m not sure that will change once the Oscars are over either, because I look at the number of movies being released both theatrically and streaming over the next few weeks, and it makes my head hurt. Sorry for the kvetching, it just is what it is.

There are two big theatrical releases this weekend, Warner Bros’ MORTAL KOMBAT and DEMON SLAYER THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAIN from FUNImation Entertainment, both which have already been released internationally. I also probably won’t be able to watch or review either before this column gets posted.

Mortal Kombat seems like the easiest sell being that it’s based on the popular Midway Games video game franchise introduced in the early ‘90s that led to a series of films, books, comics and you name it. It was a very popular fighting game that had over a dozen iterations including one in which MK characters fought against DC superheroes.

The very first Mortal Kombat movies opened in 1995, right amidst MK-mania, and it was directed by one Paul W.S. Anderson, his very first movie in a long line of video game-related movies, including a number of Resident Evil and the recent Monster Hunter. There are a lot of people who love those games, and yes, even people who love that and other movies, but to others, who may have been too old to get into the games when they came out, the whole thing about different fighters fighting each other just looks kind of studio. Even though I’m interested to see what producer James Wan brings to this reboot, I just don’t have much interest otherwise.

Unfortunately, and this is pretty daunting, Warner Bros. wasn’t sending out screeners to critics until Wednesday with a review embargo for Thursday night at 7pm, which is never a good sign, and yet, it continues Warner Bros. continuing the trend of being one of the only studios that screeners EVERY movie to film critics rather than just making them pay to see it on Thursday night or Friday. I hope to watch it and maybe add something Thursday night, time-permitting. Not sure you heard but the Oscars are Sunday.

As far as box office, Mortal Kombat opens on Friday but also premieres on HBO Max, and I’m not sure there will be as much urge to see MK on the largest screen possible, as there was with Godzilla vs. Kong. Because of that, I think the cap for this one over the three-day weekend is about $10 million but not much more and probably more frontloaded to Friday than we’ve seen in some time.

Mini-Review: As you can imagine from my statement above, I don’t hold the Mortal Kombat games or other iterations in any particular high esteem, so I’m basically jumping into this movie, directed by Simon McQuoid, just as a movie and not necessarily as a video game movie.

It starts off promising enough like a samurai movie with a flashback where we watch Hiroyuki Sanada’s hero sees his wife and son be killed by Joe Taslim’s character that will later become Sub-Zero. The general principle seems to be that there’s a world where people from other worlds fight each other to gain complete control. The hero is Lewis Tan’s MMA fighter Cole Young, presumably a popular character from the game? He is also soon attacked by Sub-Zero presumably because he’s marked with a dragon tattoo that deems him a champion of these fights, but he needs to find someone named Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to help him get to the “Mortal Kombat.” At the same time, he meets the movie’s most entertaining character, Kane,

played by Australian actor Josh Lawson, mainly because he swears constantly and cracks wise -- he’s a bit like Wolverine, actually, and he’s actually the best part of the movie.

Otherwise, everyone and everything is always so deadly serious that everyone else we meet just doesn’t have much impact, because frankly, none of these names or characters mean jack shit to me. Sure, some of them sound vaguely familiar but I was more interested in the great Asian actors who turn up including Tadanobu Asano’s Lord Raiden, who is gonna claim Earth if its champions lose at Mortal Kombat. And Sub-Zero basically just shows up and tries to kill everyone.

As with far too many action movies, the action itself is great, the writing and acting not so much.

As it goes along, things become more epic and fantasy-driven but that also makes the dialogue seem even worse. Similarly, the fight choreography is pretty great, but the movie still leans way too heavily on visual FX to keep it more interesting for anyone not too interested in MMA… like myself. When all else fails, they can show off Sub-Zero’s cool ice powers every chance possible as well as the other’s powers, but some of them (like Lord Raiden) just made me think of this as a rip-off of the great Big Trouble in Little China.

The thing is I’m not a fan of the video game nor of MMA, so Mortal Kombat really doesn’t have much to offer me. The whole thing just seems very silly, just like almost everything from the ‘90s. (How’s THAT for a bad take?)

That said, I thought the final battle was great, and I enjoyed some of the gorier aspects of the fights, too, and it all leads to my favorite part, which is the three-way fight between Cole, Sub-Zero, and… actually I’m not sure if it’s a spoiler or not, but it’s a pretty cool fight that almost makes up for some of the dumber characters introduced earlier on. (LIke that guy with four arms. I know he’s a character in the games, but I didn’t even care enough to look up his name.)

It’s perfectly fine that they decided to go Rated R with the movie since most of the nostalgia for this movie and franchise will be towards older guys, but at times, the CG blood is so hinky it feels like the decision to go R-rated was made well after it was filmed.

Even though I went in with the lowest of expectations, I still found most of Mortal Kombat kinda trite and boring, maybe something I’d appreciate more as a teenager but not so much as a grown adult. But what do you expect for a movie based on a video game that’s just a bunch of “cool fights”?

Rating: 5.5/10

And yet, Demon Slayer could be the surprise breakout of the weekend, considering the theatrical success FUNimation has had with theatrical releases of the My Hero Academia movies into theaters in 2018 and 2020, and the hugely successful Dragon Ball Super: Brolly, which grossed $31 million domestically after a surprise $20.2 million in its first five days in roughly 1,200 movies. In fact, it made $7 million its opening Wednesday in January 2019, and FUNimation is hoping that Demon Slayer will have a similar success by opening it for a single day (Thursday) in IMAX theaters before Mortal Kombat takes over on Friday.

Demon Slayer has already grossed $383.7 million internationally compared to Mortal Kombat’s $10.7 million, and you cannot ignore the huge popularity that anime has seen over the past few decades. In fact, a bunch of screenings for Demon Slayer in NYC have already sold out, although you have to bear in mind that these are 25% capacity theaters. Even so, I still think this can make $4 to 5 million on Thursday and another $7 to 8 million over the weekend, depending on the number of theaters. Yes, it will be quite frontloaded, and I’m not sure what the cap is on theaters and how that will affect how it does over the weekend, but expect a big Thursday and a more moderate weekend but one that might give both Mortal Kombat and Godzilla vs. Kong a run for the top of the box office.

Also hitting theaters before streaming on Netflix (on April 30) is THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, the new animated movie produced by Chris Miller and Philip Lord, following their Oscar win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s a little weird to open a new animated movies, presumably in select theaters, when such a hugely anticipated animated movie like Demon Slayer is opening, but Netflix won’t

The movie itself is directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, and it involves a family named the Mitchells, whose eldest daughter Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is leaving home for college, so her father (voiced by Danny McBride) decides that he’s going to drive her there and use it as the chance for a cross-country family trip. Meanwhile, it’s set up how the world becomes overrun with robots when a tech giant creates a new personal assistant.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this even though I’m generally a fan of all of Lord/Miller’s animated movies including both Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies. It took me a little time to get into the family and the general premise. In some ways it reminded me of Edgar Wright’s The World’s End where it’s trying to merge these two disparate genres, but when they actually merge, it just doesn’t work as well as it may have seemed on paper. That worry is soon expunged, because Rianda finds ways to integrate the two ideas over time.

On the trip, the Mitchells run into their perfect family neighbors, the Poseys -- voiced by Krissy Teigen, John Legend and Charlyne Yi -- and you’d think they might be a bigger part of the movie then they actually are. I’m not sure I would have liked doing the family-vs.-family thing so soon after last year’s Croods movie, but I did love the dynamics of the Mitchells being a very relatable imperfect family with Danny McBride being particularly great voicing the family patriarch. It even has a really touching Pixar’s Up moment of Katie’s father watching old home movies of them together when she was younger.

In general, the filmmakers have assembled a pretty amazing voice cast that includes Conan O’Brien, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett. Actually the weirdest voice choice is Katie’s younger brother Aaron, voiced by Rianda himself, and it sounds like a strange older man trying to be a kid, so it doesn’t work as well as others.

What I genuinely liked about Mitchells vs. the Machines is that it doesn’t go out of its way to talk down to overly sensitive kiddies or skimp on the action while also including elements that parents will enjoy as well, and to me, that’s the ideal of a family film.

While some might feel that The Mitchells vs. the Machines is fairly standard animated fare, it ends up being a fun cross between National Lampoon’s Vacation (cleaned up for the kiddies) with Will Smith’s I, Robot, actually, and yet, it somehow does work. It’s a shame that it’s really not getting a theatrical release except to be awards-eligible.

Next, we have two really great movies I saw at Sundance this year and really enjoyed immensely…

So as I mentioned, I first saw Nikole Beckwith’s TOGETHER TOGETHER (Bleecker Street), starring Ed Helms and Patti Harrison, at Sundance, and it was one of my favorite movies there with Helms playing a middle-aged single guy named Matt, who hires the much-younger Anna (Harrison) to be his surrogate, because he wants a baby. It’s a tough relationship thrown together due to each of their respective necessities.

Part of what drives the movie is how different Matt and Anna are, him being quite inappropriate with his suggestions and requests but not really having a working knowledge of female anatomy, pregnancy, delivery etc, but being really eager to raise a child and having the money that Anna clearly does not.

While I was familiar with Helms from The Office, The Hangover, etc. I really didn’t know Patti Harrison at all. Apparently, she’s a stand-up comic who hasn’t done a ton of acting, comedic or otherwise. That’s pretty amazing when you watch this movie and see her dry sardonic wit playing well against Helms’ generally lovable doofus. What I also didn’t realize and frankly, I don’t really see this as something even worth mentioning, is that she’s a trans woman playing a clearly CIS part, and she kills it. I certainly wouldn’t have known nor did it really affect my enjoyment of the movie, yet it still seems like such a brave statement on the part of the director and Harrison herself. The thing is that Harrison isn't just a terrific actress in her own right, but she brings out aspects of Helms that I never thought I would ever possibly see. (If it isn't obvious, I'm not the biggest fan of Helms.)

The movie has a great sense of humor, as it gets the most out of this awkward duo and then throws so many great supporting actors into the cast around them that it’s almost impossible not to enjoy the laughs. There’s the testy Sonogram tech, played by Sufe Bradshaw from Veep, who tries to maintain her composure and bite her tongue, but you can tell she’s having none of it. Others who show up, including Tig Notero, Norah Dunn and Fred Melamed. Just when you least expect it, Anna Conkle from Pen15, shows up as one of those delivery gurus that make the two of them feel even more awkward.

What’s nice is that this never turns into the typical meet cute rom-com that some might be expecting, as Beckwith’s film is more about friendship and companionship and being there for another, and the lack of that romantic spark even as chemistry develops between them is what makes this film so enjoyably unique. Beckwith’s sense of humor combined with her dynamic duo stars makes Together Together the best comedy about pregnancy probably since Knocked Up.

Another great Sundance movie and actually one of my two favorite recent documentaries AND one of the best movies I’ve seen this year is… you know what? I haven’t done this for a while so this is this week’s “CHOSEN ONE”!! (Fanfare)

(Photo courtesy: Robert Fuhring/Courtesy Sesame Workshop)

Marilyn (Mad Hot Ballroom) Agrilo’s STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET (Screen Media/HBO Documentaries) is a fantastic doc about the long-running and popular PBS kids show that’s every bit as good as Morgan Neville’s Mr. Rogers doc, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Which was robbed of an Oscar nomination a few years back.

Let me make something clear on the day I’m writing this, April 21, 2021, that this is my favorite movie of the year, the only one I’ve already given a 10/10, and the end of the year might come around, and I have a feeling it will still be my #1.

You see, I was raised a Sesame Street kid. It’s not like I didn’t read or play outside or not get the attention of my parents or family, but there was so much of my happy, young life that I could attribute to my time watching Sesame Street, and when you watch Marily Agrilo’s amazing doc, it all comes rushing back. There is stuff in this movie that I haven’t seen in maybe 50 years but that I clearly remember laughing at, and there’s stuff that got into the mind of a young Ed that influenced my love of humor and music and just outright insanity. Sure, I loved The Muppet Show, too, but it was a different experience, so to watch a movie about the show with all sorts of stuff I had never seen or knew, that’s what makes Street Gang such a brilliant documentary, and easily one of the best we’ll see this year. Of that I have no doubt.

From the very origins of the show with Joan Cooney developing a show that will be entertaining and educational to the kids being plopped down in front of the TV in the ‘60s and ‘70s, so they can learn something, it’s just 1:46 of straight-up wonderment.

Besides getting to see a lot of the beloved actors/characters from the show and many of the surviving players like Carol Spinney aka Big Bird/Oscar, you can see how this show tried to create something that wasn’t just constantly advertising to young minds.

More than anything, the show is a love letter to the bromance between Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and you get to see so many of their bits and outtakes that make their Muppets like Burt and Ernie and Grover and, of course, Kermit, so beloved by kids that even cynical adults like myself would revert childhood just thinking about them. Then on top of that there’s the wonderful music and songs of Christopher Cerf and Joe Raposo and others, songs that would permeate the mainstream populace and be remembered for decades.

The movie is just a tribute to the joy of childhood and learning to love and sing and dance and just have fun and not worry about the world. I’m not sure if kids these days have anything like that.

It also gets quite sad, and I’m not embarrassed to say that in the sequence that covers the death of Mr. Hooper, I was outright bawling, and a few minutes later, when Jim Henson dies in 1990, I completely lost it. That’s how much this show meant to me and to so many people over the decades, and Brava to Ms. Agrilo for creating just the perfect document to everything that Sesame Street brought to so many people’s lives. This is easily the best documentary this year, and woe be to any Academy that doesn’t remember it at year’s end.

The other fantastic doc out this week, though I actually got to see it last year, is Lisa Rovner’s SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (Metrograph Pictures), which will play at the Metrograph, both on demand and part of its Digital Live Screenings (available to join for just $5 a month!). This is an endlessly fascinating doc that looks at the women of electronic music and the early days of synthesizers and synthesis and some of the female pioneers. It’s narrated by Laurie Anderson, which couldn’t be the more perfect combination.

The movie covers the likes of Suzanne Cianni; Forbidden Planet composers Louis and Bebe Barron, who created the first all-electronic score for that movie; the amazing Wendy Carlos, who electronically scored one of my favorite movies of all time, Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange; Delia Derbyshire, who was also the subject of Caroline Catz’s short, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes, which tragically, I missed when it premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March. Derbyshire was also famous for creating the iconic theme to “Doctor Who” while working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the '60s. Others who appear in the movie, either via archival footage or more recent interviews are Pauline Oliveros and Laurie Spiegel, who I was less familiar with.

The point is that as someone who was a fantastic for electronic music and synthesizers from a very early age and for someone who feels he’s very familiar with all angles of music, I learned a lot from watching Rovner’s film, and I enjoyed it just as much a second time, because the footage assembled proves what amazing work these women were doing and rarely if ever getting the credit for what they brought to electronic music, something that still resonates with the kids today who love things like EDM.

An endlessly fascinating film with so much great music and footage, Sisters with Transistors can be watched exclusively through the Metrograph’s Live Screening series, so don’t miss it!

Hitting Shudder this week is Chris Baugh’s BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL (Shudder), which I didn’t get a chance to watch before writing this week’s column, but Shudder in general has been knocking it out of the park with the amazing horror movies it’s been releasing on a weekly basis. This one involves a quarelling father and son on a road who must survive the night when they awaken an ancient Irish vampire.

Also hitting theaters and streamers and digital this week:

THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

MY WONDERFUL WANDA (Zeitgeist Films)

WET SEASON (Strand Releasing)

CRESTONE (Utopia)

VANQUISH (Lionsgate)

BLOODTHIRSTY (Brainstorm)

SASQUATCH (Hulu)

SHADOW AND BONE (Netflix)

And that wraps up this week. Next week? No idea… I know there’s stuff coming out but I probably won’t think about it until after THE OSCARS!!!! On Sunday.

#movies #mortalkombat #demonslayer #weekendwarrior #reviews #sisters with transistors #togethertogether #mitchellsvsmachines #streaming

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waluigi-the-stripper · 4 years

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I’ve never been a huge fan of rap or hip hop-style music in general. BUT, there is one particular exception for me. The artist known as Joji. If you don’t know, Joji, AKA George Miller, is a Japanese-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer. He’s more famously known online, however, as former internet legend Filthy Frank. He just released his new album, Nectar, on Friday. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you get the chance.

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trendingtattoo · 4 years

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20 Biggest Tattoo Shops In The World

The world is full of tattoo enthusiasts today. People across the world are getting tattoos for several different reasons, from personal to fashion statements. Well, whatever the reason may be for getting a tattoo, here in this post we are sharing with you 20 biggest tattoo shops in the World.

Have a look!

1. Fortune Tattoo

Fortune Tattoo Studio is located in Portland, OR (US). This tattoo shop is one of the biggest tattoo shops in the world. The studio was started by Ms. Mikki in the year 2010 on April 1st. The founder and owner of Fortune Tattoo, Ms. Mikki has been featured in many renowned magazines, including Tätowier Magazine and Skin & Ink. Fortune Tattoo is a very well respected and well-known tattoo shop in Portland.

2. The Tattoo Temple

Another very famous and one of the biggest tattoo shops in the world is The Tattoo Temple. This tattoo studio is in the city of Hong Kong, China. The tattoo studio in Lan Kwai Fong, was founded by Joey Pang in the year 2006 with partnership with Chris Anderson, her husband, and father of her two sons (had parted ways). Joey is famous for her brush-stroke technique of tattooing, which is developed all by herself and the technique very much resembles elements of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Her tattoos have been featured on CBS, CNN, and The Travel Channel.

3. Tin Tin Tatouages

Tin Tin Tatouages is a very well-known tattoo shop in Saint-Georges, Paris, France. The name of the shop is after the owner and tattoo artist Tin Tin, who started this studio in the year 1999. Tin Tin is a renowned tattoo artist who has been tattooing for more than three decades now. His work has also been featured in various famous magazines, like GQ and Elle. Besides, his tattoos are also featured in advertisements for Givenchy perfume, and on celebrities like Philippe Starck and Marc Jacobs.

4. Caio Tattoo

Caio Tattoo Studio is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in a very beautiful location between the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The owner of Caio’s shop is Caio himself. He has been tattooing for the past four decades now. He started tattooing without machines, yes, manually. Caio used to tattoo when it was considered the art for bandits.

5. Boston Tattoo Company

Boston Tattoo Company is a very young tattoo shop, as it was opened in the year 2010 in the city of Boston, MA (US). The shop was started by Jason Zube, who won the “Best of Boston” readers’ poll by The Boston Phoenix 2011. Just in one year’s span he could gather both immense name and fame for himself. Zube is a renowned tattoo artist, he is known world-wide for his extraordinary talent and stunning tattoo designs.

Also See:

Best Tattoo Artists From All Over The World

6. Angel Art Tattoo Studio

Angel Art Tattoo Studio is situated in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. Angel Art Tattoo Studio was started by Mr. Tung, who is one of the most popular tattoo artists in Bangkok. He is famous for his free-hand tattoo designs which are drawn right onto the skin rather than on paper. His designs are unique and original and are very much loved world-wide.

7. Last Rites

Last Rites was opened by Paul Booth. He is very–well known for his dark, surreal horror work. Paul Booth is considered one of the pioneers and innovators of the black and gray tattoo style. Last Rites offers a one-of-a-kind tattoo experience to its clients.

8. Saved Tattoo

Saved Tattoo is a very famous tattoo studio formed by Scott Campbell in the year 2005. This studio is in the city of Brooklyn, NY, US. The studio is very famous in NY and its clientele includes famous celebrities, Sting, Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Robert Downey Jr.

9. Inkline Studio

Inkline Studio is a very famous tattoo studio in NY, US. Opened by Anil Gupta, a tattoo legend who is famous for his amazing tattoo designs. Moreover, you need to take an appointment very well in advance as a tattoo appointment with Anil Gupta can take even a year’s wait. Anil is a brilliant tattoo artist who always comes up with original ideas and can customize any tattoo for uniqueness.

10. Black and Blue Tattoo

Established in the year 1996, Black and Blue Tattoo studio is in San Francisco, CA, US. The studio was started by Germany-born Idexa Stern. Idexa, who specializes in “black work, scientific imagery, geometric patterns, and organically inspired designs,” was named 2009 and 2010 Best Tattoo Artist in the Bay Area in the San Francisco Bay Guardian‘s “Best of the Bay” Readers Poll. Apart from this, her work has also been featured in Black Tattoo Art and Tattoo World. She is a wonderful tattoo artist, whose work and studio both are famous world-wide.

11. Celebrity Ink Tattoo

Another very famous tattoo studio in the world is – Celebrity Ink Tattoo. The studio is located on the very beautiful island of Phuket, Thailand. The studio is run by Australians with a team of 31 Thai tattoo artists. This shop follows very high standards of cleanliness. The ones who come for tattoos here have to remove their shoes and sanitize their hands before they enter into the studio. They get their equipment along with ink imported from the U.S.A. It is one of the best tattoo studios in the world and very famous for its high quality work.

12. Toronto Ink

As the name says it all, this studio is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is one of the most famous tattoo studios in the world. This tattoo studio was started by Mark Prata in the year 2006. Prata is a very famous tattoo artist and TV reality artist, who has been featured on MTV Live in 2007 and was a tattoo designer for the A&E TV series “Breakout Kings”. Prata is not only famous, but also a respected tattoo artist.

13. Daredevil Tattoo

Daredevil Tattoo was started by Brad Fink, and Michelle Myles in partnership. This tattoo studio is situated in NY, US, it also has an onsite museum. Daredevil Tattoo Studio has a team of eight professional artists, including the owners. The Daredevil’s Tattooists are specialized in multiple styles, like, Japanese, traditional American, and black and gray. If you are planning to get a tattoo by any of the co-owners, then you will have to plan ahead of time.

14. Shanghai Tattoo

Shanghai Tattoo studio is a very well-known tattoo shop in Shanghai, China. The studio follows western standards of Hygiene, Disposable needles, cartridges, etc. are imported. Shanghai Tattoo studio has some of Shanghai’s most talented tattoo artists. The team of artists is expert in all styles of Tattoos from portrait realistic, black and grey, Asian traditional, American traditional, Neo-traditional, Dot works etc. The studio was started in the year 2007 by Zhuo Dan Ting, popularly known as the Queen of Tattoo in China. Shanghai Tattoo designs have been featured in many media, including Shanghai Daily, CNN GO, Adidas commercials, Inked Magazine, and Sueddeutsche.de.

15. Mana’o Tattoo Studio

Mana’o Tattoo Studio situated in the city of Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. It is the studio-home of Manu Farrarons, the owner and one of the most famous Tahitian tattoo artists. He is very famous for his traditional Polynesian tattoo designs. In the years 2011, he was even named as the Best Tribal Tattoo Artist at the Ink n Iron International Tattoo Festival in Long Beach, CA.

16. Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under is a tattoo studio that is located in California, US. This tattoo shop is formed by tattoo artist and TV personality Corey Miller. Corey began tattooing at the age of 15. Besides Corey, other artists include Henry Powell, Obid Compran, Neil Wilson, and Kevin Childs. Corey is a very famous tattoo artist with a worldwide reputation. Six Feet Under is famous for its versatile tattoo designs world-wide.

17. Into You

Another wonderful tattoo studio is Into You. It is located in the city of London, England. The studio was established in 1993. It is the first custom tattoo shop that was established in London. The studio is owned by Alex Binnie, who is popular for his large-scale tribal tattoo designs. His work is also featured in Henk Schiffmacher’s “1000 Tattoos.”

18. Monkey Fist Tattoo

Monkey Fist Tattoo is situated in Denver, CO, US. The studio was started in the year 2010 by Ortavio Griego, popularly known as OG. OG is famous for his various styles like Asian, new school, traditional, custom work, and black and gray. OG is famously known as the tattooer to the stars, as he has worked on Will Parks, Demaryius Thomas, Aqib Talib, Darius Kigo, Zaire Anderson, Brandon Marshall, Shaquil Barrett and too many other NFL stars and athletes.

19. High Voltage Tattoo

Located in the city of Hollywood, CA, US, High Voltage Tattoo studio was established by Katherine Von Drachenberg, popularly known as Kat Von D. The studio is also known as “Kat Von D’s High Voltage Tattoo.” Kat opened this studio in the year 2010. Her stint as a tattoo artist on “LA Ink” earned her a name in the tattoo world. She held a Guinness World Record for the most tattoos given by one person in a 24-hour period at 400.

20. Aliens Tattoo

Aliens Tattoo is located in the city of Mumbai, India. This tattoo studio was formed by very famous celebrity tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali. Sunny is a self-taught tattoo artist in Mumbai. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications from the University of Mumbai and evolved from basic sketcher to a professional charcoal painter to mastering digital art. Started in the year 2011, Aliens Tattoo is one of the fastest growing chain of tattoo studios world-wide. The studio is famous for providing top-of-the-class tattoo designs and tattoo services to tattoo enthusiasts. So far many sports stars, including Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have got their tattoos etched from Aliens Tattoo!

So, these are the biggest tattoo studios in the world. Thanks for reading! I hope you loved the list!

Happy Tattooing…. ☺ ☺

#Tattoo Shops #Biggest Tattoo Shops #Tattoo Studio #Tattoos #tattooshop #Biggest tattoo studio in the world #Biggest Tattoo Studios #Studios #tattoo ink #tattoo parlour #World biggest tattoo shops #List of Tattoo Shops #tat

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