#because god knows Kubrick fucked her over completely

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

259. Doctor Sleep (2019)

#doctor sleep #doctor sleep (2019) #2023filmgifs #my gifs #that was wonderful #such an excellent clever and sensitive adaptation #of such an important healing and deeply personal novel #i knew Flanagan would get it right #and even with the changes he made to the ending #i understood and accepted why he did #this ending is frankly what i expected from the book #but King was much kinder and much more focused on the healing #Flanagan chose to focus on justice for Wendy #because god knows Kubrick fucked her over completely #and i will never forgive him for that #so my fave line from the book had no purpose in the film and i got that #such fantastic well considered visuals #it was long and i loved every bit of it #it felt so well paced and true and faithful #and if Katie Siegel wasn't pregnant #she would have totally played Rose The Hat #i just know it #Rebecca Ferguson was amazing #everyone gave such good performances #and i loved the use of the score #i've been too afraid to watch this ever since i read the book #cos i was terrified of seeing Mrs Massey #but Flanagan got me through that with a sort of immersion therapy and i love him for it #this is why i watch horror #to look steadily upon the bad thing and survive

[bamon4bamily]

TVD 9x06 (part 1) Enjoy! =)

Cut to – freaky old mansion, Darius’s room. A portal closes; we see Bonnie laying on Darius’s bed, in a deep sleep, Danae still holding her hand.

 DARIUS: Hello, sister.

DANAE: (Looking terrified) Darius…

DARIUS: Don’t look so frightened, Lish, I’m the one looking at a ghost. God, it’s crazy seeing you in the flesh… (he tries to touch her, she quickly steps aside in a panic).

DARIUS: Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you. You made me a promise (looks at Bonnie) and you kept it.

DANAE: I did, now let me go.

DARIUS: I’m sorry, sis, but I can’t do that.

DANAE: We had a deal…

DARIUS: And I will keep my word. I said I wouldn’t hurt you, and I won’t, pinky swear. But I’m sure you can understand why I can’t let you go; can’t have any loose ends…

DANAE: You bastard!

DARIUS: (Sarcastic laugh) I think we both know who the bastard is; mother was always such a flirt.

DANAE: Please, just let me go. I followed your instructions; I swear I’ll keep my mouth shut and disappear.

DARIUS: (Changing the subject) You know, it truly baffles me that you would think I wasn’t aware that you have been alive for all these years… Come on, Lish, I thought you were smarter than that… Do you really think all that tragedy came from karma? Granted it must’ve had a hand in it, but… really? You couldn’t figure it out? Guess the genius genes do come from my father’s side…

DANAE: You’ve known all this time?

DARIUS: Of course, I have. The only reason you are still alive is not because of your flawed immortality serum, which I’ve perfected, by the way, but because I’ve allowed you to… What can I say, I’m a sucker for family drama.

DANAE: You are insane…

DARIUS: We all go a little mad sometimes… (with sarcasm) Yet, I wasn’t the one locked up in an Asylum for years.

DANAE: It was you...  You were the one that got me locked up…

DARIUS: Oh no, you did that all on your own; I only suggested the pertinent treatments.

DANAE: (In painful wrath) They put a needle through my eyeball, you crazy fuck!

DARIUS: Trial and error, sis, that’s the only way to verify a theory… just ask your “friend” Marie… Oh wait, you can’t…

DANAE: (Charges him) I’ll kill you!!!!  

DARIUS: (Restrains her with his hands; Bonnie starts to move) Shhhhh… you are waking her up. It’s time for you to take a time out; I’ll take it from here. (Some freaky hooded people come in and take Danae away, Darius sits by the bedside, holds Bonnie’s hand).

DANAE: (As she is being taken away) She is going to destroy you, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it!

DARIUS: (To the hooded people) Put her in the bunker.

Cut back to – The Mikaelson mansion, 12:05 am. It’s pitch dark. Everyone is passed out on the floor; after a few seconds, they start to react.

 DAMON: (Confused) What the hell happened?

ALARIC: I have no idea, but… (before he can even finish his sentence, Damon vamps upstairs to check on Bonnie; she and Danae have vanished… Damon, desperately, vamps his way through every inch of the mansion looking for her, she’s nowhere to be found).

KLAUS: (Also searching) Damon, we have searched everywhere, they are gone.

DAMON: How? We were all by the door, there is no way…

KLAUS: Cloaking spell, who knows? You seem to forget how magic works, my friend, anything is possible. Now, let’s go get the others. (They regather with the group downstairs, Klaus lights some candles so that everyone can have some visibility).  

ALARIC: What is going on?!

KLAUS: Bonnie and Danae are gone.

ALARIC: What!? How?

KLAUS: Enough with the how; we need to focus on the where and why.

TYLER: Uhm, guys, I think we have another problem (points to Katherine who is in a catatonic state, they try to snap her out of it, but she is unresponsive, completely lost in a daze).

LEXI: Can’t believe this is happening! I thought we had the perfect plan...

ALARIC: They must have figured it out, orchestrated some sort of stealth attack…

RADKA: All I remember was waiting by the door to attack upon arrival, then I saw an overwhelming light and blacked out.

KHUYANA: Me too…

ALARIC: I think we all did.

DAMON: Enough with the chit chat; we need to find Bonnie.

ALARIC: And we will, Damon, but we have to figure out what we are dealing with first.

DAMON: What is there to figure out, Ric? We know what we are dealing with; a lunatic mind-freak asshole, and his cult groupies. So, let’s skip the over rationalization, and get to the action. Plan is simple, find these bastards, kill these bastards, get Bonnie back.

KLAUS: I agree with Damon, for once.

CAROLINE: Me too.

ALARIC: I would like nothing more, but we don’t even know where these cult freaks are!

KHUYANA: I have a feeling someone might… Matt.

KLAUS: Well, love, that’s not very helpful given that your husband was a no show.

TYLER: My bet is that he’s at the Mayor house; Matt told me he was hosting a Halloween ball; and, for some fucked reason, Matt always seems to be wherever he is.

DAMON: So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!

CAROLINE: I’m game, but first we need to stop by the house and make sure everyone is okay. And leave this one (referring to Katherine) to someone’s care.

DAMON: We can’t waste any time, Care. Klaus, Tyler and I will go find Matt, you guys go back to the house. Once we find Donovan, we’ll drag his sneaky ass back and figure out our next move.

CAROLINE: Okay, just please, don’t do anything without us.

KLAUS: We won’t, love, I’ll make sure of it.

DAMON: Whatever; (to Klaus and Tyler) wolf-boys, let’s move.

 Everyone leaves; as they are driving, they stare in disbelief at the scenery; the entire town seems to be having a total blackout; not a single light at sight.

Cut to – freaky old mansion. Darius takes Bonnie into a private section of the mansion. It’s a strange ballroom, set up as a worship haven, reminiscing of Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” scene…

DARIUS: My queen… behold your kingdom. (He takes her by the hand and leads her to the center of the altar, inside a Hecate symbol. All the guests, wearing hooded togas and masks, kneel upon her).

DARIUS: At last, the goddess has arrived! (They start chanting in her worship).

BONNIE: (Whispers to Darius) Darling, this is a bit much, don’t you think?

DARIUS: Nothing is too much when it comes to you. Bonnie Sheila Bennett, you are a goddess, you just need to believe it. You can do anything you set your mind to, no restrictions, no consequences. You are the alpha and the omega…

BONNIE: No restrictions... that does sound tempting…

DARIUS: Just let yourself be free, my love, embrace your destiny...

Bonnie, seduced by the feeling of absolute power, lets go of the last hold she has over who she is and embraces her power to the fullest. A huge energy field emerges from her, the biggest one yet...At this precise moment, a new Bonnie is born, a child of fire and desire, a purely instinctual creature with the power to create… and destroy.

Cut to- freaky bunker. Matt, sitting outside the heavily sealed door, which is now open. He is crying.

MATT: (To himself) What have I done… what have I done…

MILITARY MAN: General…

MATT: Don’t call me that! I’m not a General! I am the Sheriff of Mystic Falls, that is all…I don’t belong here...

MILITARY MAN: I’ll give you some space, Sir. (Walks away, approaches another military man) I think the General has lost his mind…

MILITARY MAN 2: Cut him some slack, he’s under a lot of stress. How would you react if that order had to come from you? That has to break a man...

MILITARY MAN: Do you think we are doing the right thing, here?

MILITARY MAN 2: Not sure if it’s the right thing but it’s the only thing we can do if we want to have a fighting chance.

Cut to – The Salvatore mansion. Stefan, Elena, and Sam are in the living room. The gang walks in. Caroline sees Stefan and runs to hug him.

CAROLINE: Oh, thank god, you are alright! The girls?

STEFAN: They are sleeping, they fine; we are all fine, it’s just a blackout.

CAROLINE: Oh, trust me, it’s much more than that.

ELENA: (To Caroline, looking quite pissed) Uhm, hello?!

CAROLINE: Elena! Oh my god, you are here! I totally forgot to…

ELENA: Oh, I know! Stefan put me up to do date…  what the hell, Care!?

CAROLINE: I’m sorry, we thought you didn’t want to be involved in these things anymore. (To Sam) Hey, Sam…

SAM: Hey… (looking quite uncomfortable, given the situation).

ELENA: Where is Bonnie?

CAROLINE: We don’t know, something went wrong…

STEFAN: What happened?

CAROLINE: As soon as the clock stroke midnight, there was this huge light blast, then everyone passed out. When we woke up, Bonnie and Danae were gone.

STEFAN: Where is Damon?

CAROLINE: He went with Klaus and Tyler to look for Matt; we think he might know where Darius is.

STEFAN: (Looking at a catatonic Katherine) And what happened to her?

RADKA: We don’t know either… she won’t snap out it; she is physically fine, but…

CAROLINE: She’ll be okay, she is just in shock. (To Alaric) Let’s go check on the girls…

ALARIC: They are asleep, Care, we don’t want to wake them.

CAROLINE: We won’t; just as kiss so they know we are fine. (They go upstairs).

ELENA: Lexi, glad to see you made it back…

LEXI: (With a bit of disdain; still resentful for how she hurt Stefan) Well it was all thanks to my girl Bonnie… now that’s what I call I real woman.

STEFAN: So, Lex, can you tell us exactly what happened?

LEXI: I’ll try my best…

Cut to – The Mayor’s mansion. Damon, Klaus, and Tyler arrive.

 DAMON: How come this is the only place that has electricity?

TYLER: Privileges of the elite…

KLAUS: Please, Lockwood, if that were the case, there be electricity at my house as well. (Tyler rolls his eyes; they ring the doorbell).

ANTHONY: Fashionably late, I see. Invitations, please.

DAMON: One vampire and two hybrids, how is that for an invitation?

ANTHONY: I’m afraid I don’t follow your sense of humor, Sir. So, once again, invitations, please.

KLAUS: What he means is that if you don’t invite us in, we will rip your insides out… how is that for a sense of humor?

ANTHONY: Gentlemen, I don’t want any trouble, but I cannot allow you inside without an invitation.

EDWARD: (Edward comes to the door, sensing something is up) Anthony, what is going on?

ANTHONY: Sir, I…

TYLER: Wow, you really went all out with your costume…

DAMON: (To himself) I freakin hate clowns…

EDWARD: What is the trouble here?

KLAUS: We are looking for Matt Donovan, we were told he might be around…

EDWARD: Well, you have been misinformed, the Sheriff is not here. Granted he was invited, but he declined. Feel free to come inside and see for yourselves.

ANTHONY: Sir…

EDWARD: It’ fine, Anthony. Come in; you are also welcome to indulge if you like.

Cut to back to – the old freaky mansion. Darius and Bonnie inside his illusion realm.

BONNIE: That kiss made me thrust, care to offer this lady a drink?

DARIUS: I would be delighted (holds her hand and takes her to the bar).

DARIUS: (To the bartender) Champagne for the lady.

BARTENDER: Coming right up, Sir.

BONNIE: Actually, I’m bourbon kinda a gal. (Mocking) I thought you knew me better...

DARIUS: Sorry, love, I assumed…

BONNIE: Well, you know what they say about assuming (winks, Darius looks confused). Just teasing, dear. (Gives him a peck on the cheek, then looks around). This is quite the party…

DARIUS: It’s all for you, my love.

BONNIE: You spoil me too much.

DARIUS: Anything for you…

BONNIE: You are making blush…

DARIUS: I love to see you blush.

BONNIE: Careful. I might not be able to control myself.

DARIUS: Neither will I…

(They kiss passionately, find themselves a private spot, and...)

Cut back to – the Mayor’s mansion. Damon, Tyler, and Klaus are looking for Matt.

 TYLER: (Looking at the decadence) Damn, and here I thought I had seen it all… These people are freaking insane…

DAMON: Concentrate, Lockwood! (Getting frustrated) Where the hell is Donovan!?

KLAUS: I think the clown was telling the truth...

EDWARD: (Who has snuck up on them) I told you...

DAMON: (Jumps in a fright) Jesus, holly shit hole!  

EDWARD: I take it you don’t like clowns (smirks)? I’m sorry, gentlemen, but he is not here. And, now that I know he wasn’t with you either, I think I just might know where, or rather, who he is with. As much as it hurts that he would betray my trust, I’m almost certain that he is with a man called Darius.  

KLAUS: You know Darius?

EDWARD: Unfortunately, I do. Has been the stone in my shoe for quite some time now.

DAMON: Where can we find him?

EDWARD: At a freaky old mansion… thing is, it’s not easy to find.

TYLER: What do you mean?

EDWARD: Well, it seems to appear and disappear; making it quite difficult to track.

DAMON: I’ve seen that trick before, we just need the location; we’ll figure it out from there. 

EDWARD: You make it sound so simple. You are aware of who you are dealing with, correct? Darius is the master of illusion, capable of making you believe whatever he wants…

DAMON: (Getting pissed off) Can you tell us the location, or not!?

EDWARD: Temper, temper… Listen, Damon, is it? All I can tell you is that the last time I was able to locate the mansion it was at this address (shows them a location on his phone).

TYLER: That’s impossible; that’s where Matt’s old house is.

EDWARD: Well, that´s uncanny...

DAMON: (To Klaus and Tyler) Let’s go...

EDWARD: If you are thinking that the trick is a cloaking spell, I can assure it’s not. Like I said, Darius is an illusionist, the only way to see through his illusions is to find a loophole; and trust me, that is not an easy thing to do; especially if you don’t have the proper abilities. So, unless one of you is a psychic-witch, it’s pretty much useless.

DAMON: How were you able to find him before?

EDWARD: With a little help from my friends (points to a mystery lady, and a strange man).

KLAUS: (Completely taken with her) She is breathtaking... (stares in intrigue) seems so familiar...

EDWARD: Does she, now?

TYLER: What’s with the freaky glove?

EDWARD: Let’s just say, she has quite a peculiar taste.

DAMON: Can she help us find Darius?

EDWARD: She can, but I must warn you, with her, there is always a price to pay.

DAMON: I really don’t care, as long as she can lead us to Bonnie.

EDWARD: Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Come with me. (They approach the mystery lady) My dear, I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine... 

LADY: Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, gentleman.

TVD 9x06 (part 2) coming soon! Hope you stop by, read and enjoy! =) 

#TVD #tvd fanfiction #vampire diaries #bamon fanfic #bamon #damon and bonnie #bonnie bennett #damon salvatore #dark bonnie #kat graham #ian somerhalder #ilovefanfic86 #animeeyes21 #absentmindeddreamer #stephm1587 #mademoisellevalerie85 #bamoniseternal #bamonisreal #bamon-iridiance #bamonisawsome #awsomebamon #yinix1 #maniq1 #stellanoble #clararosetylor #bamon shippers club #guilty-as-charged-i-ship-it #bamonstrash #bamondomesticity #bamily

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights: Critical Role Episode 115

Guests are Taliesin Jaffe, Matt Mercer, Sam Riegel, and Liam O’Brien. Full video on Project Alpha!

Issue #2 of the comic comes out tomorrow, October 18!

The first part of Taliesin’s multi-part (vampire) game airs this Thursday. Other upcoming highlights: Laura Bailey as DM, level 20 battle royale.

Name of the show is not changing for the new campaign. Well, it might become Colville’s Corner.

Art books are coming out on November 9! Deluxe version is $124.99, standard version is $59.99. Taliesin: “The notion of the book is these are archived collections that were built by the Cobalt Reserve, so the perspective of the book is very much in-universe.” Alpha members get 10% off.

Last d20 rolls: Vex: 4, Vax: 16, Keyleth: 12, Percy: 1, Scanlan: 6, Pike: 20, Grog: 20.

Everyone’s been bursting into tears checking their twitter feeds.

Re: Scanlan’s Wish: Matt would have allowed some possible wiggle room for Vax’s fate before the pact was complete, but the words would’ve been twisted. “But I don’t even know what that [wiggle room] would look like.” The real opportunity would’ve been before the pact was sealed.

Liam desperately wanted Vax to have a happy ending (retirement as Keyleth’s right hand in Zephrah), but realized that the chances of that happening were next to impossible. 

The first time Vax died, Matt brought up the Revenant as a possibility. Matt: “True Resurrection as a spell is the antithesis to what the Raven Queen represents.” At that time, Liam knew Vax would still come back if it was possible. After the Disintegrate spell, Matt mentioned that the Raven Queen wouldn’t take kindly to Vax waiting to be resurrected by his friends again, which was what tipped the balance for Liam.

Sam’s Wish: If the fight ended and we won and there’s no sign of the Raven Queen in that next few seconds, he was first going to try and stall by Wishing that the Raven Queen couldn’t sense Vecna’s death, which would buy enough time to go to another god for a fair negotiation. Matt: “That would’ve gone in a very interesting direction.” Liam: “Vax would never have gone along with that.” The other option was, if the Raven Queen just showed up, he was going to Wish for some sort of delaying factor, delaying until the end of Keyleth’s natural life, or delaying until the end of his natural life. Matt: “What happens if Keyleth starts getting unnaturally sick and her lifetime’s much shorter?” Adjustments to the deal without outright erasing it might’ve allowed a buffer.

Jason Charles Miller is going to be making original music for Talks Machina for the new campaign.

Taliesin hadn’t really thought his plan through, and suddenly he had to come up with a plan B when it obviously wasn’t going to work. He had no idea how to deal with Percy as a character at that point, but he remembered that the short story he’d originally written about the character had been about a clockmaker. After five years, he realized in a panic how to “fix this character”: just having that moment of realizing how badly he missed his family. Matt was really strongly affected by that moment and had to try to keep it together to stay in the moment.

Kit Buss’s first art piece ever made for CR features a raven on Matt’s shoulder. Liam: “Ravens focus tested well.” Brian: “Don’t you think if we did focus testing, someone should’ve said for episode one there should’ve been lights on?”

Sam: “I think I only really recently started to take [the game] seriously? It’s so fun to play! I just realized that!” Sam let Liam pick his race and class last time, and he had him do the same thing for the next campaign.

Matt wanted Vax to have the chance to see a bit of the fruits of his labors with the rest of the group before the Raven Queen arrived. 

Initially, when he had plotted out the encounter, Matt was expecting the party to arrive after Vasselheim had been destroyed. It was Vax’s Revenant abilities that made the difference. Liam: “It’s basically what he asked for 70 episodes before. I feel like I’ve just been playing the longest and most painful ‘Yes, and...’ for a year. It felt like the honest choice.”

Percy was going to sell his soul to the devil to find a way to get Vax back, preferably with nobody else noticing. He’d still get to live out his life, but his soul would be forfeit by the end of it. Matt points out that once a contract like that comes into play, events will tend to conspire to speed that death. To Percy, it was more about a fuck-you to the Raven Queen.

Matt had a whole speech for the Raven Queen about how insignificant everyone was in the face of the god of death if they’d tried to argue.

A theory that become canon: Lionel was a duck polymorphed into a half-orc.

Velora wants to be more like her older sister and the stories she hears now of her older brother, and it’s changed Syldor’s perspective on a lot of elements of Syngornian culture. Gilmore is doing quite well, is loosely franchising, he’s rebuilt the Westruun store, possibly expanded into Whitestone and abroad, visits his parents now. He’s mostly handed off the store in Emon and Sherri’s taking over while he indulges a little wanderlust. Allura’s still a key figure on the Council of Tal’Dorei, a voice of reason. Kima's original home was in Westruun, so she and Allura have a home there now. In the second game they ever played, the party went to a temple of Bahamut in Westruun and there was a reference to Kima being away. The players’ decisions and priorities really decided which characters became more important.

Sam had no idea Pike reciprocated Scanlan’s feelings.

Sam to Liam: Scanlan’s advice to Vax all those episodes ago was to leave the shit behind, and he left the S.H.I.T.s behind. “NOW CRY AGAIN.” Liam: “I will!”

Taliesin: “If I couldn’t figure out a way to resolve the character, I would’ve just burned him down.”

Scanlan Shortfoot.

Talks Machina: After Dark

Sam’s prewritten ending for Tary was a short-term letter for VM to receive days or weeks after the fight. He had nothing planned for the long-term stuff. He’s going to tweet the letter at some point. The biggest difference: in Sam’s version, Doty 3 died and Doty 4 was just an arm, an eye, and a tricycle, because Tary was broke at that point.

Gilmore has mourned Vax in his own way and has probably visited Keyleth to talk about him. He’s probably made a line of raven-related small items in his name. Gilmore thinks back on all of VM fondly and was honored to be part of that story.

Voiceover fancast: Courtenay Taylor as Kima, Mark Hamill as Vecna.

Victor survived. One of the big explosions near the Braving Grounds was his cache of blackpowder. Liam: “His head and arm are also now on a tricycle.” Victor would’ve blown his place up on purpose to take out the acolytes of Vecna.

Matt very much still has the Golden Snitch. Liam: “Give the ring back to Sauron, why don’t you?” Taliesin: “I got something out of the deal.” Sam finally knows what the Golden Snitch is a reference to, since he’s reading Harry Potter for the first time.

There’s only one name that Laura and Taliesin have agreed on for one of Vex and Percy’s kids: Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo IV.

Vax’s afterlife has been left vague on purpose, and Matt also wanted to leave some things with the epilogues open-ended in case elements of it came up later. Taliesin brings up the Kubrick quote: “Ghosts are the death of tension.”

Biggest fears with new characters: Sam is worried about falling into the same patterns or behaviors he became accustomed to (same personality, playing style, etc.). Liam is terrified/excited because this is the most amazing thing they’ve done over five years, how could they top it? Taliesin is terrified by all the weird accents they’re going to be trying. Matt: “Everyone’s Welsh.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

[mockjesse]

100 important questions about jesse girard.

PART 1: THE BASICS

What is your full name?

jesse thomas girard

Where and when were you born?

i was born in wilmington, north carolina on october 1st, 1988.

Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

hans girard ( my father) has owned his own pub since he first came to america in 1986. he’s hard working, emotionally distant, and very a man of few words. hans only speaks when he absolutely has to. frieda girard (my mother) managed finances at the pub and was a part owner of a gift shop downtown. she was also very emotionally distant, but she was much more outspoken than her husband. she passed away in september of 2017.

Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

N/A ( i’m an only child, thank god )

Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

now i reside in los angeles ( ocean park ), on my own in a 501 sq ft. studio apartment. it’s pretty cozy, i don’t think i’d ever upgrade, i like the space i have. my favorite spot is my balcony.

What is your occupation?

director/producer for the hit television show, countenance

Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

i’m 6′3, 196 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. i live in oversized sweaters and jeans, but sometimes i’ll venture out in a pair of sweats and a t shirt, that’s quite rare. not as rare as formal attire. i don’t think i own a suit but i have two nice button down shirts and one pair of navy slacks. i have a scar that stretches from the bottom of my belly button to my left pelvic bone from a sledding accident when i was nine. i have two tattoos that are very hidden. one on my right hip ( a dara celtic knot for my maternal grandmother, who was irish ) and a vacancy sign across the right side of my chest ( a drunken decision )

To which social class do you belong?

upper class.

Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

shellfish allergy, and a few mental illnesses.

Are you right- or left-handed?

lefthanded

What does your voice sound like?

deep and often monotone. friends have observed that i sometimes use a german accent (much like my fathers) to refer to anything german or my heritage.

What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

“like”

“actually”

“literally”

“fuck you”

“don’t touch me”

“ok so”

“no”

“jesus fuck”

What do you have in your pockets?

loose change as always, my wallet, a pack of spearmint gum ( which i religiously chew ) and my keys.

Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

i bite my nails down to a nub. it makes everyone crazy. i nibble at them until they bleed. i crack my knuckles when i’m nervous. sometimes i click my tongue when i’m trying to avoid saying something I’ll regret. when someone is talking to me at work, i may walk away halfway through the conversation to do something else, not because i’m bored but because i have so many things to do and if i don’t do it now, i’ll forget.

PART 2: GROWING UP

How would you describe your childhood in general?

it wasn’t easy growing up in my household. you developed thick skin very early on, and you learned to rely on yourself. there weren’t many warm and fuzzy moments, but they provided all of my essential needs such as food, water, and a roof over my head.

What is your earliest memory?

probably my fourth birthday party at mcdonalds. i hated clowns. it was hell. i swear ronald had it out for me.

How much schooling have you had?

i got my bachelors at university of north carolina at wilmington and my masters at nyu

Did you enjoy school?

absolutely. it was an escape for me. home life could be very discouraging, i could show up on campus, take a test, and suddenly i felt better.

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

i suppose my teachers and professors taught me most of what i know today.

While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

my role models ended up being directors i idolized growing up. my favorites are stanley kubrick and alfred hitchcock. i suppose you can call them role models. i want what they have, i want to direct thrillers and leave the audience on the edge of their seats. i think they each value suspense and storytelling, and i do too.

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

i did not get on very well with my parents. i think my uncles and aunts were easier to get along with, because they have become much more collectivist through the years. they gave me most of my affection in my childhood. my grandparents gave solid advice so i valued them too.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

at one point i wanted to be a police officer but most little boys do. that dream vanished quick, i think directing came at age eleven.

As a child, what were your favorite activities?

i liked to watch movies. i hated tv shows. i would turn on hbo or showtime and just watch movie after movie while my parents worked. i liked to skateboard as a teenager, and i also took up photography as a hobby during middle school and high school.

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

many people joked that i was a 40 year old man trapped in a 8 year old’s body. i was always very quiet, very observant. i never spoke unless spoken to, that was rare. i was very restless, i hated bullies. i would defend a kid i didn’t even know on the playground. i was suspended for many fights.

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like? When and with whom was your first kiss?

not popular at all, i was too quiet. i had a few friends in middle school and one good one in high school. i did not open up to a lot of people, so i think a lot of people took that personal. my friends in middle school were always studious but goofy. we drifted apart when we went to different high schools. my best friend in high school was nick staffield, who was a lot like me. we were both quiet and distant but we had this mutual understanding that we didn’t need to know what the other person went home to. he had a pretty rough homelife too. so we would go to the cinema after class or stay behind after photography to look at our negatives. my first kiss with a girl was with annaleigh winslow, she was my first girlfriend. it was freshman year. she had to make all of the first moves because i was really unfamiliar with romance. my first kiss a guy was with nick, our senior year. it unfortunately was one of the reasons we lost touch.

Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

not a virgin, no. i lost my virginity with a girl in college, freshman year. we hooked up at a party, i think her name was rachel. we didn’t do formalities. it was nice, and she didn’t expect much from me after, so i appreciated her. however, it set unusually high standards for hookups at parties. my first time with a guy was different. it was senior year of college and we went into it with no strings attached. he was some big jock so i went with it, i figured he wasn’t into relationships. but he also wouldn’t stop texting me afterwards. his name was alex, i think he has a fiancee now.

If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

PART 3: PAST INFLUENCES

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

i think my first table reading of countenance was surreal. it made me feel like it was all coming together. i feel bad, i made very few notes to the actors, but i think i was immersed, completely.

Who has had the most influence on you?

i would say my professors from tisch and uncw. their input, their criticism, and their teachings have pushed me to be where i am today.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

my greatest achievement was getting a second season of countenance. i honestly didn’t see it coming, but i’m a pessimist.

What is your greatest regret?

not saying goodbye to my mother before she passed.

What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

i don’t know if i’ve done anything evil but i did sleep with a married professor...

Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

just some minor tickets for drinking in college.

When was the time you were the most frightened?

i hate heights, so any time i have to go on a plane? i have a panic attack.

What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

one time i stretched during a presentation in grad school and my shirt button popped off and everyone started laughing and i wanted to die.

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

i think i would open myself up more to people and relationships. it would have prepared me more.

What is your best memory?

i think when i got a call about a network picking up countenance. i was floored, i threw up.

What is your worst memory?

finding out my mother had passed away while i was filming.

PART 4: BELIEFS & OPINIONS

Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

pessimist.

What is your greatest fear?

i think complete failure scares me a lot... but loneliness keeps me up at night.

What are your religious views?

agnostic.

What are your political views?

liberal

What are your views on sex?

love it, but it comes with a lot of strings attached so i’ve been holding off.

Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

nah i couldn’t kill. just seriously injure.

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

i think levels of disrespect are what lead us to be evil. i won’t dwell on it or expand because it’ll anger me.

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

no but i do believe in love.

What do you believe makes a successful life?

i think setting out to do what you want and then accomplishing some or most of it is pretty damn successful.

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

i’m never honest. i hate telling others what’s on my mind, or how i’m feeling. it feels too personal, and it feels invasive. i’m selective about who i share with.

Do you have any biases or prejudices?

i think we all do. i was conditioned to, but i’m unlearning all of them.

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

i refuse to fucking sky dive because i don’t see the point of plummeting to your death and relying on a flimsy piece of cloth to save me ? no ? fuck that ? why do people like to fall out of the motherfucking sky?

Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

uhh.. my friends. the few i have. if i form a close bond with someone, even if i don’t open up to them, i’d most likely take a bullet for them. i may be stoic but i’m a pile of mush inside.

PART 5: RELATIONSHIPS W/OTHERS

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

i keep most people at a distance as a default. i don’t treat anyone poor unless they absolutely warrant it. i try to remain civil with everyone. with people i’m close with, my softer side is more common. i like to give them more of my personality to make up for my lack of affection or emotional availability.

Who is the most important person in your life, and why?

i’m not sure i have someone like that.

Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

*

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people.

*

Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person.

no spouse, no s/o. it’s complicated.

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.

no i haven’t but i have experienced spells of infatuation and it’s probably the worst thing i’ve ever dealt with in my life. who likes to feel all that shit at once? jesus, what a mess.

What do you look for in a potential lover?

i’d really like.. someone who understands me without any invasive questions. they won’t ask me for more than i can give. i’m so inexperienced in romance so my s/o would have to be patient with me. i guess beyond that? a nice smile.. yeah i’d like them to have a nice smile.

How close are you to your family?

not very. i do speak with my aunts sometimes, that’s about it.

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

no family, i’m not really sure if i’ll ever reach that point in my life. it sounds terrifying. i don’t think i’m qualified to take care of another human like that. it’s miraculous my fish have survived as long as they have.

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

there’s some people in the crew and the cast that i might call if i absolutely had to. i really don’t like to rely on someone else, though.

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why?

not really.. i mean once again i feel like one person might come to mind but it’s.. yeah that’s dumb, sorry. we barely know each other so i’m overreacting.

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

my goldfish would probably miss me, they wouldn’t be able to eat, after all.

Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

i don’t despise anyone. i dislike a few people. i think they all know who they are.

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

god i should avoid conflict but i don’t. i try to remain neutral unless i’m having a bad day, or if i feel like someone is being treated poorly. then the gloves come off.

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

i hate doing it, but yeah. i think my job has taught me that the only way to succeed is to take a leadership role. it drains me, but the outcome is always rewarding.

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

jesus fuck, no way. those convention panels shouldn’t exist. that’s my hell. i hate answering questions, especially personal ones. thank god, the business related questions are usually directed at me, while the personal ones are directed at my cast. otherwise i think i’d lose it.

Do you care what others think of you?

i think it depends on the person. i care what my family thinks. other than that.. not really.

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

i like photography and painting with watercolors. it helps with creativity so i never run dry. i get inspiration from the smallest thing, so it keeps me fresh.

What is your most treasured possession?

my projector or my laptop. i love technology so much, i wish i had something more meaningful but that’s what comes to mind.

What is your favorite color?

navy or olive.

What is your favorite food?

grilled cheese. i think i eat it more than i should.

What, if anything, do you like to read?

i think i just thumb through the classics, the most. steinbeck is my favorite author, sometimes i’ll read thoreau.

What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

a movie with beautiful cinematography, a song with a symphony or large instrumental accompany, or a mini series.

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

i think if you drew blood from me, half of it would actually be red wine. i love red wine. i drink a glass or two every night. i used to smoke cigarettes... i’ll smoke one after sex because i’m a walking cliche. i hate drugs for the most part. they never give me the thrill people claim to have when they take them. to me it’s a waste of time when you could have a better night with a bottle of cabernet.

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

usually i’ll put a movie on my projector and i’ll pretend to start a book, but then i’ll just watch a tv show or something.

What makes you laugh?

i actually love certain vines. cute animal vines have a place in my stony heart.

What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

rain ponchos are fucking atrocious.

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

i usually get up and paint or i’ll sit outside on my balcony and people watch with a cup of coffee. usually everyone’s drunk, so what more could you ask for?

How do you deal with stress?

i stress clean. or i stew about it until i can nap.

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

planning is sexy. a top ten turn on for me.

What are your pet peeves?

well there’s a special place in hell for anyone who doesn’t use a fucking turn signal when switching lanes.

PART 7: SELF IMAGES & OTHER

Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

usually i get up, grab a cup of coffee and a granola bar and head to work. if i wake up late and forget the granola bar or coffee, my coworkers are in trouble.

What is your greatest strength as a person?

i think my determination and organization. i believe that’s how i got my own show at a young age like this

What is your greatest weakness?

my inability to relate to people or my emotional capacity. it’s just low and i think i really miss out on a lot because of it.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

i think i’d be more open with my friends. tell them more about myself.

Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

introverted.

Are you generally organized or messy?

organized.

Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

three things i’m good at: my job, anything requiring creativity, & organization

three things i’m bad at: anything with hand eye coordination, staying in my lane, & responsibility.

Do you like yourself?

this is a loaded question. i like traits about myself. overall there’s a lot i’d change.

What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing the strange and heroic things that RPG characters do)? Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons…

What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

i would love one oscar, at least. i feel like i could easily retire with one (1) oscar.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

hopefully still at countenance, maybe wrapping it up and venturing into movies.

If you could choose, how would you want to die?

in my sleep. please @ god or something.

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

travel is always on my bucket list but that’s hard in 24 hours. i think i’d make a lot of phone calls and say stuff to people that i couldn’t say right now. i would want everyone to know exactly how i feel about them. i’d probably eat a whole bowl of cookie dough because you gotta go out in a blaze of glory. and then maybe i’d have sex one last time because it’s been awhile...

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

hopefully, my accomplishments on screen. i know i can also be difficult on set... but i’d like my cast and crew to think of me in a positive light... maybe have an impact on them too.

What three words best describe your personality?

witty, tempestuous, & protective.

What three words would others probably use to describe you?

stoic, tempestuous, & enigmatic.

If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…)

ooc; honestly jesse ?! if you spent half your time telling others how you really felt, you’d solve 99.9% of your problems. it’s so hard to open up, but you’re missing out on life by holding everyone at an arms length, man !! please just @ people next time ? jesus christ dude.

#valencetalk #oh boy this is a mess im so sorry

[doomedandstoned]

BAILEY’S CHOICE

Youngblood Supercult guitarist Bailey Gonzales shares her 10 favorite albums of Autumn.

Photo by Johnny Hubbard at Doomed & Stoned Fest

First off, let me preface by saying that this list is just a fraction of what I would include on a good, solid Autumn playlist, but everything must end at some point. Most of these you’ve probably heard, some you may not be familiar with, and others perhaps long forgotten and thus need a good revisiting. So here goes:

1. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young – Déjà vu

This has been in my catalog since I first started smoking weed in the fall of my freshman year of high school and learned to enjoy the hazy, beautiful strains of intricate harmonies that permeate CSNY’s iconic brand of folk-blues rock. Their albums were always on rotation in my house when I was growing up, but until I started to fully understand its cosmic, layered beauty, Déjà vu fell more or less into the “lame music my parents listen to” category for me. Now it’s a staple, especially as the weather starts to cool and the leaves start to turn, and I’m thrown into some kind of sepia-tinged yearning for the past. Funny how things change. This album holds some of the group’s most acclaimed work; I can’t point out a single track I’d skip over.

2. Graveyard – Graveyard

Graveyard by Graveyard

Speaking of high school—I grew up in a very small town in Southeast Kansas, and when MySpace made its debut (yes, MySpace), I found a page for this indie label called Tee Pee Records that absolutely dictated what I would listen to take the edge of my Black Sabbath cravings—this is where I was ultimately introduced to stoner rock and all of the branches of the retro heavy metal genre—and one of them that always stuck with me as I worshipped this label’s releases thereafter was Graveyard’s self-titled album. There are so many great tracks on this album, with “Thin Line” being an absolute favorite and even an echoing of one of my darkest autumn remembrances (won’t delve into it, but the subject matter will lead you where you need to go). Fantastic, timeless album.

3. Jonathan Snipes & William Hutson – Room 237

Room 237 (2012) is a funny little documentary. I love it, despite the fact that this film lays out conspiracies about Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining that range from absolutely Kubrickesque crazy-but-plausible to totally ludicrous, leaping-to-judgement scenarios and breakdowns related to the hidden puzzles within the original adaptation. But, we are talking about music here: this album plays like Stranger Things meets Goblin meets John Carpenter. There is nothing necessarily special about it, but in trying to find an OST that would fit neatly within this list, this fella kind of jumped out to me. Not everybody enjoys soundtracks, and while I could listen to creepy, ambient synth all day long, every day, Room 237 seems like it could entrance any listener, especially with standout tracks like “To Keep From Falling Off” to “Universal Weak Male” and even with the closing track, “Dies Irae” which plays off the original theme from The Shining.

4. Trouble – Trouble

It blows my mind that this album was released in 1990. Everything about it screams, “I WANT TO MAKE YOUR EARS BLEED: ‘70s METAL STLYE.” It’s like a lost and very angry Sir Lord Baltimore album was found in someone’s murky basement and sold in a musty, long forgotten record shop. The kind of place where you might hear whispers of dark legends. Somewhere that may be evocative, in legend, of the kind of place that Mayhem’s late singer, Dead, slit his wrists, throat, and blew his brains out and everyone commenced for this orgiastic blood feast of mourning to say, uh, “let’s take a photo of his dead body and slap it on a bootleg album cover and make necklaces out of his skull...” It’s not that harsh, but there’s definitely something spooky, dark, and forbidden about it. You may ask yourself, if you’re just hearing this album for the first time: “Why don’t they play some of these tracks on the radio?” Well, my child...do you really want to know?

5. The Steepwater Band – Revelation Sunday

This collection of hot tunes from The Steepwater Band is, apart from 2011’s Clava, one of our band’s road staples. We often don’t agree on much when that road cagey feeling hits or when disagreements happen, which incidentally is why things tend to work well with us, but The Steepwater Band, Mount Carmel, and Gary Clark Junior are all things we can come to terms with through the van’s trebly stock speakers. Maybe it’s the bluesiness. Very moody folk-blues rock tunes, with a touch of whiskey-fueled country, is what these guys exhibit in songs like “Slow Train Drag,” “Dance Me A Number,” and “Steel Sky.” A plus material, in my book, and good for the road on a cold night’s ramble.

6. Black Sabbath – Never Say Die!

Can people stop it with the “I’m tired of Black Sabbath” comments??? You know they are the reason we’re all here, and whether you like to admit it or not, you dig a good Sabbath tune either once in a while or every day. Doctor’s orders. Now I don’t think that a playlist is complete without a Black Sabbath album, but autumn seems the appropriate time for their fumbling, but strong conclusion — 1978’s Never Say Die!   And I really don’t care that I know I’m in the minority for loving this album. To me, while it’s their most strained Ozzy-era album (I won’t even touch 13, so don’t ask), it’s full of premonitions of things to come, including a full out jazz brawl in “Breakout” that reminds me of the mean streets in Dirty Harry, and songs that might make the bravest of our genre cry, like “Junior’s Eyes.” “Shock Wave” goes through the typical rough and tumble changes that Black Sabbath fans learn to embrace, but it comes in wave after wave after wave. Hell, even the title track is nearly full-out punk rock. If you’ve avoided this album, please—give it a spin. Even if it’s only to hear Bill Ward sing. It’s the album I fell into when I joined my first band in the fall of 2008 and what pushed me into the direction of branching out to things I’d long avoided. I literally shit my pants every time the first synth breakdown in “Johnny Blade” comes over the speakers, and I think you should, too.

7. Madonna – Madonna

Speaking of shit you probably don’t wanna read…who out of us has given Madonna’s 1983 debut a spin? Anyone? Bueller? Yeah, I didn’t think so. For you folks who can appreciate this one, I applaud you for admitting it. It’s not a sin to listen to Madonna (tell that one to the Vatican), but unless she’s been covertly transformed into Lana Del Rey or someone else on the darker and more modern side of the pop spectrum, you’d be hard pressed to find an admitted fan in our heavy underground group. And you know what? I don’t give a single fuck (yes, I learned that language from M herself). She’s a goddess, an icon, a killer songwriter—if you don’t believe me, tell that to the $400 million she has neatly tucked away—and dammit, she taught me to give a little less of a fuck in times where I don’t have too many to spare. This is another reason my parents are badass. Who in the world would buy their kid the “Like A Virgin” album only if their 11-year-old can ask for it by name without getting too embarrassed at the thought of saying “virgin” out loud to the Camelot Music clerk? Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, listen to this. Just do it...Madonna would.

8. The Midnight Ghost Train – Buffalo

Buffalo by The Midnight Ghost Train

I met Steve Moss at a show in Topeka in late 2009 at a dive bar where the drummer from my first band was singing in his new group. We did the obligatory thing and then, holy shit—this band starts playing and glasses start clinking and I swear to god I thought the whole damn place was going to cave in. They play a bunch of tunes and I’m so fully entranced it’s stupid. After the show, I went up to their singer/guitarist and said, “Um, that was really fucking awesome. I loved how you slipped “Hand of Doom into the middle of one of your songs.” Bam. We were instant buds. I couldn’t believe that they had come out of Topeka, Kansas. Later, while they were prepping to record 2012’s Buffalo, we had a very memorable fall jam session and some shows together, and EVERY. DAMNED. TIME. I felt like there was just something insanely special happening. Buffalo proved to be an instant classic, and even though The Midnight Ghost Train boys seem to always be on tour, I visit with my old pal Steve from time to time when he’s around, and nothing can erase those crazy, almost LSD-like imprinted memories of our house shows together. Hell, we reunited again just last month in another Topeka dive bar. I still have almost 3 hours’ worth of an interview I need to write that documents Steve’s early life up until the recording of Cold Was The Ground. The circle goes round and round. And I sure as hell can’t shake that sound.

9. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River

I don’t know what everyone else thinks about when they hear the track “Green River” from Creedence Clearwater Revival, but I think of Gary Ridgeway. I know that’s way far off, but I can’t help it. I also think about the album cover, and how many people still try to copy it, unintentionally. And I think about Stephen King. If you’ve read a few of his novels, you know from some of his passages, he’s a total CCR freak. I’ll give him a pass for mentioning Springsteen so much just because he’s a damn genius. But I bet the casual listener has never heard the song “Sinister Purpose” on the radio airwaves. It sounds like it belongs on a damn Leaf Hound album or something. Thank god for small favors. This is the epitome of southern blues rock. All you Lynyrd Skynyrd fans can fight me (although I won’t knock them), but CCR has earned their grimy, yet rightful spot as the Bayou’s most raw and creepy rock group. And way down in the fall, there’s always a bad moon rising.

10. Buffalo – Dead Forever...

Man, I was going to write up a few more albums, but this is the end of the line, folks. Australia’s Buffalo caps it off with their 1972 album, Dead Forever...   I can see this piece being released today, and that’s why I’m so glad everyone in this community puts out music that can rival little-known bands like Buffalo. I have a sweet spot for this group. Nobody will ever be able to answer why this killer band could never receive any airplay, and that question still lingers as absolute over processed shit continues to infiltrate the airwaves and real emotion can’t shine through. One of the promotional stickers for this record was, “Play this album LOUD.” Seen that before? Is history repeating itself in belittling our efforts to get out there and WARP THE FUCK out of people’s minds? I guess so. But we can fix that. Put the needle on some Buffalo, don your battle jacket, and work on getting some fuzz into some onlooker’s ears. Listen carefully, and don’t let the Buffalo situation happen to us all.

Hear Bailey's 'Autumn Vibes' Playlist on Spotify

Photo by Johnny Hubbard

The Great American Death Rattle by Youngblood Supercult

#D&S Reviews #Baily Gonzales #Youngblood Supercult #Topeka #Kansas #Autumn #Playlist #Black Sabbath #Buffalo #Creedence Clearwater Revival #CCR #Crosby Stills and Nash #Graveyard #Jonathan Snipes & William Huston #Madonna #The Midnight Ghost Train #The Steepwater Band #Trouble #Doom #Metal #Stoner Rock #psychedelique #Hard Rock #Doomed & Stoned

[bthenoise]

Here’s The Best of 2019 As Picked By Members Of The Used, Periphery, Counterparts, Killswitch Engage, Grayscale & More

Well everyone, we did it. Somehow someway we all survived yet another 365 gloriously trying days on this place we call earth. In about two more weeks, we will officially begin a brand new decade with hopes of starting something beautiful and life-changing for the human race. Until then, we’d like to take a second to look back on some of the finer things that came out of 2019 – you know, like the best album, best song, best movie, etc.

Like we’ve done in years past, we’ve completely turned our year-end best-of list over to the artists we cover on a daily basis because let’s face it, their opinions are the ones we all really care about, right?

Right.

To check out what bands like The Used, Counterparts, Periphery, Killswitch Engage, Fit For A King, Grayscale, Atreyu, Wage War, Boston Manor and more have all been obsessing over for the past year or so, be sure to see below. We hope you enjoy this final list as much as we do and wish you all the most peaceful and positive holiday season ever.

Enjoy!

Jeph Howard and Dan Whitesides - The Used

JEPH HOWARD

Best Album of 2019: Sampa the Great - The Return And Knocked Loose - A Different Shade Of Blue

Best Song of 2019: “Blow Me” - from The Used and yes I’m biased.

Best Music Video of 2019: Wendall - “The Power of Wings”

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Sampa the Great - The Return. Her vibe reminds me of my favorite era of hip hop.

Best Movie of 2019: Dr. Sleep, great book too. Must have been tough rewriting the story just enough to mix both the book The Shining and the film adaptation Kubrick made and then making a movie based on both origins.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The OA season 3. So unfair that never happened.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Epstein was an inside job and also the cat playing the cell phone ring tone 😂

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: HodgePodge Superfest 2019 Indonesia, mostly because I got to hang with a couple family friends I haven’t seen in years.  

2020 New Year's Resolution: For 2020 I want to worry less about things I have no control over.

DAN WHITESIDES

Best Album: The Knocked Loose album A Different Shade Of Blue is great and so fuckin heavy! On the other side of things, the Billie Eilish album is really good front to back. Saw her live in Salt Lake and it was pretty sick.

Best Song: Honestly, it’s “Blow Me” by my band The Used. I’m not just saying that because it’s my band. It’s a great fucking song and it has all of my favorite elements in it.

Best Music Video: Blink 182’s “Darkside.” Love the stick tricks and the dancing kids.

Most Underrated Album: All the albums I liked in 2019, I rated them pretty high.

Best Movie: Dumb and Dumber has been the best movie every year since it came out. All the kids movies that came out in 2019 were good. I see them all. I didn’t really like The Addams Family though.  

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Atypical and Fuller House and I’m not fucking with you. I laugh out loud at Fernando every time!

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): When the deaf baby hears for the first time. I almost cried but I couldn’t because I’m a man and men don’t cry. Just playin! I did tear up a weeee bit.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Saw Rob Zombie and damn he puts on a great show. Back To The Beach was my favorite show I played in 2019. We did a cover of Linkin Park’s “Shadow Of The Day” at that show and it started raining. People were crying. It was nuts!

2020 New Year's Resolution:  I don’t really do resolutions but I wish people could just get along despite their beliefs. Life is too short.

Misha Mansoor - Periphery

Best Album of 2019: Mordial by Carbomb Best Song of 2019: “F it Up” by Louis Cole Best Music Video of 2019: “Genesis” by Devin Townsend Most Underrated Album of 2019: Forever, A Fast Life by Infinity Shred Best Movie of 2019: Jojo Rabbit Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Barry Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Gamer Girl Bath Water Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019:  Attended - Deadmau5 Cube V3.  Played - Sold Out London headliner at O2 Kentish Town 2020 New Year's Resolution: Drive more cars

Brendan Murphy - Counterparts

Best Album of 2019: Better Off - Reap What You Sow. Luke is probably the best songwriter I know personally. The album is an absolute fucking hit. I literally begged him to send me the masters before the album came out and I’ve listened to it non-stop since. Was hard to keep that album a secret. 

Best Song of 2019: Gotta go with what my Spotify wrapped tells me and aside from the 1975’s discography, my most listened to song of 2019 was “Slingshot” by Better Off. The song is amazing, the lyrics rock, chorus is fucking huge. Like I said, Luke can’t write a bad song. 

Best Music Video of 2019: I’ll be honest, it’s rare for me to watch any music video that doesn’t have the 1975 in it so I’m gonna go ahead and pick their video for “Frail State of Mind” because... I mean look at him, he’s so cool. If we could get away with making videos like that I might actually not dread shooting them haha. 

Most Underrated Album of 2019: BETTER OFF, YET AGAIN. ARE YOU SURPRISED? I don’t understand how they aren’t the biggest band on earth. 

Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar. I’m a total A24/Ari Aster fanboy and I love movies about freaky cults and this movie ticks all the boxes. It’s not as much of a “deep dive” as Hereditary, very surface level, but I mean it’s creepy and it’s shot beautifully and there’s flowers everywhere and in case you forgot I sing for Counterparts so it’s right up my fuckin alley haha. 

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Barry without question. Blake made me watch an episode when we were recording NLTL and I binged watched the show so hard I’d be up all night watching when I was supposed to be writing lyrics. Last time I was physically unable to stop watching a show was Lost, so that should say something. 

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): My own twitter hun xox 😘

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: I mean it’s hard to remember our shows because not only are they all fun, I’ve usually had a few chardonnays by the time we go on stage BUT one that stands out is the last day of Private Room 2.0 in Worcester... simply because for all of “Love Me” I didn’t have to say a fucking word, the crowd did the whole damn thing. I think there’s a video where I get so stoked I start screaming “YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT” and jumping. It’s fun and honestly, it’s 10 fucking words don’t make me do it by myself. 

2020 New Year's Resolution: Stop accidentally calling my teacher “mom.”

Mike D'Antonio - Killswitch Engage

Best Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Song of 2019: He Is Legend - “Resister Resist Her” Best Music Video of 2019: Death Ray Vision “Just Let It Die” Most Underrated Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Movie of 2019: Joker Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Yoda/Toyota meme Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Field Day played in Connecticut a few months back. 2020 New Year's Resolution: Refuse the new world order

Porter McKnight - Atreyu

Best Album of 2019: Angel Du$t - Pretty Buff Best Song of 2019: “The Dead Don’t Die” - Sturgill Simpson Best Music Video of 2019: Rammstein - “Deutschland” Most Underrated Album of 2019: The Act - The Devil Wears Prada Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Watchmen Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Paul Rudd “Look at us” on Hot Ones Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019:  Attended - Nothing More - New Orleans March 2019 Played - Mr’s Smalls Theatre - Millvale, PA  2020 New Year's Resolution: Establish a consistent physical art practice

Ryan Kirby - Fit For A King

Best Album of 2019: Just for the purpose of nostalgia, I am going to go with Shaped by Fire by As I Lay Dying. It doesn't re-invent the wheel but it's just some good ole metalcore that brings me back. 

Best Song of 2019: I absolutely cannot stop listening to "Masochist" by Polaris. This band is going to be huge!

Best Music Video of 2019: I feel like I have to say our own video for "When Everything Means Nothing" is the best strictly because we all almost died of hypothermia while getting sprayed by a fire hose.  

Most Underrated Album of 2019: I think The Valley by Whitechapel doesn't get talked about near as much as it should. Phil's cleans are fantastic and they keep bringing the heavy. 

Best Movie of 2019: I feel like this will be a lot of people's favorite movie but The Joker was an absolute masterpiece.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: This one is EASILY The Boys. It might be the most well-done superhero show OR movie ever made. Once you watch the first episode, you are sucked in.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): This one is really tough because at this point, I don't even know which meme is from what year. I guess I'll go with Baby Yoda since I know that’s 2019 but with a disclaimer: There are a lot of NOT funny Baby Yoda memes out there.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: The show in Cologne, Germany with As I Lay Dying was the biggest club show we had ever played, and at the same time, probably one of the best live performances I've ever seen. Amazing night.

2020 New Year's Resolution: I want to be able to run a half marathon with my dad. It’s pretty simple but he is out here running full marathons all the time and is double my age. I feel like I need to step it up.

Valentino Arteaga - Of Mice & Men

Best Album of 2019: Gideon - Out Of Control Best Song of 2019: Kublai Khan TX - “Self Destruct” Best Music Video of 2019: Ghostemane - “Bonesaw” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Ithaca - The Language of Injury Best Movie of 2019: Yesterday Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Cold Case Files Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Spotify Wrapped 2019 Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Wacken Open Air Festival 2020 New Year's Resolution: Eat less meat & make more music

Matty Mullins - Memphis May Fire

Best Album of 2019: Dermot Kennedy - Without Fear Best Song of 2019: Papa Roach - “Feel Like Home” Best Music Video of 2019: Asking Alexandria - “The Violence” Most Underrated Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Movie of 2019: Yesterday Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: This Is Us Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): @catatonicyouths IG Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Warped Tour in Atlantic City was LEGENDARY! 2020 New Year's Resolution: Write the best MMF record of our career

Nick Ventimiglia - Grayscale

Best Album of 2019: tryhard by The Band Camino and Fear Inoculum by Tool Best Song of 2019: "No Age" by Rich People Best Music Video of 2019: "Mantra" by Bring Me the Horizon was pretty wild Most Underrated Album of 2019: Third Eye Blind - Screamer Best Movie of 2019: Big fans of Us and The Irishman Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Peaky Blinders and Mindhunter Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Big fan of the Kawhi Leonard “Hey, hey, hey” memes. Really anything but that lady yelling at that fucking cat. Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Our headliner in Philly this past October at The TLA.  2020 New Year's Resolution: Rock harder than we did in 2019.

Cody Quistad - Wage War

Best Album of 2019: tryhard by The Band Camino Best Song of 2019: “See Through” by The Band Camino Best Music Video of 2019: “Resentment” by A Day To Remember Most Underrated Album of 2019: In Darkness by Varials Best Movie of 2019: Peanut Butter Falcon The Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Office, duh Favorite Internet Moment of 2019: The Epstein memes kill me Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour: Florida Georgia Line, Dan + Shay, Morgan Wallen 2020 New Year’s Resolution: Write the best songs I’ve ever written, love on more people, and be healthier 

Boston Manor

Best Album of 2019: Death Is A Warm Blanket by Microwave. This record is the best guitar music to come out in years. As our contemporaries, Microwave is constantly challenging and inspiring us to make better art.

Best Song of 2019: “The Brakeman Has Resigned” by Microwave. This song could not be more relevant to us, both instrumentally and lyrically. It’s just fuckin’ perfect.

Best Music Video of 2019: “DIAWB” by Microwave. You get the point.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Foreign Language EP by Can’t Swim. Always love to see friends changing up their riff game.

Best Movie of 2019: The Irishmen. I’ve watched it like three times in the van now and can’t choose which Tony is my favourite.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Rick and Morty. You son of a bitch, I’m in.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Eric Egan from Heart Attack Man.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Best concert we played would have to be Download Madrid. Right off the heels of ADTR in America, the airline lost our gear so we had to cobble together a backline and ended up playing after Tool to an insane amount of people.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Continue our world domination.

Mike Foley - Varials

Best Album of 2019: Feels Like You by Whirr Best Song of 2019: "Nothing Left To Love" by Counterparts Best Music Video of 2019: Tie between "Lips Like Lemonade" by Nick Prosper & "Mistakes Like Fractures" by Knocked Loose. Most Underrated Album of 2019: Deceiver by Diiv Best Movie of 2019: Joker Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: I Think You Should Leave Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Kombucha girl Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: The best show I attended was definitely the Balance & Composure farewell show in NYC. RIP. Best played was definitely the Atlantic City Warped Tour date. Also RIP. 2020 New Year's Resolution: Tour more internationally / spend as much time traveling as possible. Really hoping we make it to 3 different continents this year.

Kory Gregory - Prince Daddy & The Hyena

Best Album of 2019: Remembering The Rockets - Strange Ranger Best Song of 2019: “Mono No Aware” - Great Grandpa Best Music Video of 2019: “Must Be Wrong” - White Reaper Most Underrated Album of 2019: Super Enthusiast - Macseal Best Movie of 2019: Parasite Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Been really enjoying Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Baby Yoda forever and always. No questions asked. Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Our record release show in NYC was really special! That’s my favorite one I played. As far as the ones I attended, this Culture Abuse/Tony Molina show I went to in Boston was pretty legendary. 2020 New Year's Resolution: I just wanna keep writing songs that are better than the last!

Yvette Young - Covet

Best Album of 2019: The Japanese House - Good At Falling Best Song of 2019: “Shrugging Match” - Bobbing Best Music Video of 2019: Don Broco - “Action” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Town Portal - Of Violence Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: I Think You Should Leave Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Discovering bandmemes666, Chibson, catatonicyouths and allgasnobrakes on IG Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Orlando summer headliner show at The Soundbar 2020 New Year's Resolution: Make a dope full-length album

Carter Hardin - Chapel 

Best Album of 2019: Album of the year for me is KIN by Electric Guest. Every song is a bop and the production is so clean.

Best Song of 2019: I would have to say “Friends” by CHAPEL. The band is pretty cool and the song is a slapper.

Best Music Video of 2019: “Panini” by Lil Nas X is mine. It’s the most memorable one I’ve seen this year.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Pep Talks - Judah & The Lion. Not enough people are talking about that record.

Best Movie of 2019: MARRIAGE STORY. This movie broke me & I can’t stop thinking about it.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Fleabag is amazing. you need to watch it.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Baby Yoda memes are the best memes in the world.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: I saw Cherub recently and they always put on the best show. This recent one was super inspiring.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Release more music

Alex Biro - Selfish Things

Best Album: The Act by The Devil Wears Prada. Genre-defying and innovative, this was one of my favourite albums of the last decade. I’ve been a TDWP fan since Zombie EP but the growth they’ve shown on their latest release while still staying true to their roots was sonically refreshing.  

Best Song: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. This speaks for itself. I’ve never been one to shy away from popular music, but it’s Lil Nas X’s “love everyone but fuck everyone” attitude that kind of impresses me most? He’s punk as hell. He breaks stereotypes. He pissed off 90% of the country music industry. I hope he continues to succeed.

Best Music Video: “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish. I mean, it’s been Billie’s year. We all know that. But the whole “monster under your bed” motif coupled with her wanting to not shy away from the dark side of things in a genre filled to the brim with bubblegum songs and visuals speaks to her innovation as a creative and an artist.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Everyone I’ve Ever Loved by Valleyheart. This came out a week and a half before 2019 but I’m including it here. “Agnosia” is one of the best songs I’ve heard in years. This band is fucking amazing. Don’t sleep on them. They deserve better than they’ve been given.

Best Movie of 2019: Peanut Butter Falcon. Shia LaBeouf is a true artist, and he’s at the peak of his game here. If you’re a fan of Garden State, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Rocket Science or any other emotionally devastating indie films, this is a movie for you.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Simpsons. God bless you Disney+. I can’t even put into words how nice it is to watch all of my old favourites with my daughter. Treehouse of Horror forever.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Colton jumping the fence during The Bachelor. We admittedly got snowed in during the “snow cyclone” in Wyoming and binged this whole season. I’ve never been more disappointed. Still impressed by his agility, though.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Atlanta, GA w/ Microwave, Boston Manor and Heart Attack Man. We’ve never had that many kids over the barricade. It was one of those “wow, maybe our band isn’t totally shit” moments. We all got off stage and knew it was one to remember. I’ll never forget it. 

2020 New Year's Resolution: Learn to be happy with who I am without letting the toxicity of social media cloud my self-perception.

Ryan Donovan - Red City Radio

Best Album of 2019: Mannequin Pussy - Patience. "Who You Are" & "Drunk II" are some standout tracks on that record for me! It's just filled with melodic anthems that have killer soft harmonies and is kind of a technically ambitious record compared to their older stuff, which I also love!

Best Song of 2019: The Menzingers - "America (You're Freaking Me Out)." They fucking NAILED it with this track and our current climate in the US, socially/politically/economically etc. They seamlessly always write some killer tunes!

Best Music Video of 2019: PUP - "Free At Last." No one had heard the song yet. They posted the lyrics and chord chart to the song and took all submissions of everyone's interpretation of the song and edited that down. You just gotta watch it for yourself, IT FUCKING RULES. Most Underrated Album of 2019: Decent Criminal - BLISS. I love this band and their tunes/sound. Small indy label release and I hope they take some more strides forward and keep growing. They rip.

Best Movie of 2019: Favorite movie I have personally seen so far this year is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I heard it was a lot of either "love it" or "hated it" kind of reviews but I personally thought it was a killer film.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Ah man, with so much time on the road touring this year for RCR binge-watching older shows was a lot of my downtime when I got back home so here are some favs: Admittedly I had never seen Breaking Bad, that has now been binged and completed. Game Of Thrones (hadn't seen it until this Summer, I know, I know whatever). Animal Kingdom, Succession, Punisher, Jessica Jones and I Think You Should Leave.  

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): I LOVE THIS MEME and I do love pizza.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Probably the last show of our short tour with Hot Water Music over in Cologne, Germany. It was the largest capacity venue show we have ever played as a band - that wasn't a festival - at 4k humans, sold out! It was also extra special because Rockpalast had a 10+ human camera crew on hand and filmed the whole thing with live edits as it was streamed for anyone to tune in and watch. The edits and camera/audio/streaming quality was A+!!!

2020 New Year's Resolution: Better self-care.

Brett Boland - Astronoid

Best Album of 2019: HEALTH - VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR Best Song of 2019: Dinosaur Pile-Up - Thrash Metal Cassette Best Music Video of 2019: Billie Eilish - “bury a friend” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Nightmare Scenario - Beyond What is Real Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Succession Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Sonic The Hedgehog Movie debacle. Best Concert You Attended: Final Slayer show in MA Best Concert You Played in 2019: Exit 111 2020 New Year's Resolution: PUT OUT MORE MUSIC

Conversation

Best Album of 2019: Copeland - Blushing. I’ve been a huge fan of this band for years and years and years; to say that they shaped my songwriting is an understatement. I was lucky enough to catch Copeland for the first time on this tour and it was a truly tectonic moment for me. Blushing was a perfect step for this band in terms of tone, emotional maturity and instrumental creativity. I was just so happy to hear every single song.

Best Song of 2019: “Make It Better” by Anderson Paak. This track just puts you in a good mood!!

Best Music Video of 2019: Our music video for “You’ve Made Yourself Perfectly Clear” where we accurately and tastefully re-created the opening scene of Wayne’s World to perfection. I know it seems like a bit of a brag to say you had the best video of the year, but truth be told, nothing else even came close.

Best Movie of 2019: Joker - I’m sure this will be a pretty common response but IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Letterkenny - A hilarious show about small-town Canada. If you don’t know, now you know.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Jonathan Frakes Asking Questions.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019:  A close tie between Arkells at Scotiabank Arena and Barr Brothers at Mod Club

2020 New Year's Resolution: To tour all of the USA and Europe for our new record. We are all so excited for the new music that we’re about to put out into the world and our undying dream is to show our live show to the entire world. SO THAT’S WHAT WE’RE DOING!!!

#Best Of #The Used #Periphery #Counterparts #Killswitch Engage #Atreyu #Fit For A King #Grayscale #Memphis May Fire #Boston Manor #Varials #prince daddy and the hyena #Chapel #Selfish Things #Red City Radio #Conversations #Wage War #Astronoid #Of Mice and Men #Covet

[redscullyrevival]

Riverdale Liveblogging

Total Spoilers. 

I’m not gonna lie, I am very distracted that Kevin and make-out are wearing the same tank with cut off shorts and vans combo in these here winter woods. I need a moment; the double vision in unison with the Jugehead voice over is too much for me right now - I’m cracking uP THIS IS TOO MUCH.

RIVERDALE PLEASE  

Oh thank god, gunshots!

Ethel sighting ~ hey girl.  

I’m supremely (and surprisingly) moved by Veronica’s effort with her parents. I wonder if I’ll be crushed later or return to mild indifference. 

Betts, Betty, B, back up. You’re not Kevin’s babysitter. And Kevin seems completely fine all the time no matter what so why -

Ah, Cheryl. 

I am IN LOVE that this show makes such a hard cutting stance on “It wasn’t a ski mask - it was a black hood, right???”

It HAS to be a black hood y’all. 

With inhuman eyes. Devil’s eyes. 

So when it turns out to be someone we know we can all be completely shattered.

I’m kind of being an asshole this episode because I’m immune to this kind of set up so I have to make my own fun. Oops. 

Toni Topaz! Love her already.

I mean, Toni was (probably? yikes) introduced after my personal Archie Comics hey day so I don’t know her at all but I do know she must be from the comics because her name is fucking “Toni Topaz”.

That and she has been designated with distinctive hair.

Archie is like anime in this way.

PAUSE 

Lets get into this Jingle Jangle shit because I am fascinated by all of the choices involved in this:

1.) Why “Jingle Jangle” other than it’s obviously what the neighbors in Reefer Madness would name adderall? I’m convinced the name is what it is because this show loves slinging around out of use words together so as to corrupt slang and radiate a sense of unease when it comes to THE PAST but other than that like? It is a horrible drug name and very difficult to take seriously I adore it lets keep this going.

2.) Having to tilt your head 90 degrees jaw unhinged so you can shake Jingle Jangle down your gullet like some sweet summer child consuming Pixy Stixs has to be the most conspicuous drug consumption ever devised. It’s a bird of paradise level of attention seeking movement I also adore it keep it going.

3.) We have learned that Jingle Jangle (AKA “JJ” ohmygod give them awards!) is highly addictive and is a gutter drug. For clarification that means it is not a classy drug. That will come with the repackaging and renaming.

RESUME

Archie is going to save Riverdale! First let him move his Red Circle comics out of the way and - yes, on to saving Riverdale! Gonna shoot at it.

Promote whoever pinned “thirsty” as the word for tipping Hermione’s advice into the sinister. It made me incredibly uncomfortable. 

I’m in a weird goofy mood tonight but MILTON IS WHITTLING THREATENINGLY and there is this big board about NOUNS and VERBS and ADJECTIVES behind Archie and I just

Okay I’ve calmed down. We’re planing a neighborhood watch it seems, a very specific neighborhood watch. An exclusitory watch. Sounds legit. Sounds like the police.

Oh duh of course they’re called the Red Circle I am so slow. Too busy giggling this episode to pay attention! Love it. Love it. Really crossing my fingers for a training montage.

Lets get a Lean on Me thing going with Mr. Philips, lets do it.

TELL THAT BETTY, KEVIN. TELL THAT BETTY, CHERYL. *fans self*

Why did they give Ms. Grundy red heart glasses like the ones Lolita wears in Stanley Kubrick’s film? Is it meant to be like a haha reverse joke or something? It bothered me last season and it bothers me now. 

Black Hood of Black Hood confirmed. No one is shocked.

I’m just gonna pretend (and honestly there is a high probability) that the set for South Side High’s The Red and the Black is the same as that of the Smallville Torch. Legacy dust!

POSTER CHILD FOR SIN is a power move.

Moose is super cute I’m floored and invested

Reggie drives a Chevy Camero because of course he would.  

We shall all make the appropriate Fight Club associations but overall I’m getting and digging a heavy Warriors vibe.

I typed the above and then plot bits happened and now yeah oh boy has Archie gone full blown Tyler Durden. Calm down.   

#longer than usual #I'm on a computer! Ooo #Riverdale #spoilers #Archie #fandom talks

[spicynbachili1]

MPAA celebrates 50 years of screwing up movie ratings

At least we can show toilets now

The Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, introduced a ratings system and censorship board in 1968 as a means for the industry to self-regulate the content in their movies. If you have any knowledge of the movie industry, you know it’s complete garbage. A board comprising of 8 to 13 parents, the rating system is supposed to help inform moviegoers about the type of film they are going to see. Disregarding the insane amount of power the board affords so few people, they can’t even do their job well, but that doesn’t mean the MPAA won’t smell their own farts when they have the chance.

For its 50th anniversary, the MPAA released a strange report that is one part history lesson, one part ratings data and full part masturbatory sludge. Titled “G is for Golden: The MPAA Film Ratings at 50,” the document traces the origin of the ratings board and how it has changed over the years, but is really just 46 pages of the organization patting itself on the back. I could rail on this dumb leaflet all day, but showing is always better than telling, so the rest of this article will be a few ways that MPAA really “screwed” the pooch. (The previous sentence has been amended to maintain this article’s PG-13 Rating.)

G-rated Cartoons

 Throughout that glorified press release, the MPAA states its main goal is helping parents decide what movies will be suitable for their children. This includes not only the letter rating but descriptors as well, like if there’s alcohol consumption or “ribald humour” (thanks Wayne’s World). However, when rating animated movies, the movies that children usually like to watch the most, they miss some crazy messed up stuff. Chicken Run has a character beheaded offscreen and is rated G. Tarzan has Clayton hung by vines, his dangling body visible in silhouette, and is rated G. The Hunchback of Notre Dame has Frollo sing about his desire to rape Esmerelda, has him literally sent to hell, and is rated G. I legitimately suspect that the raters didn’t watch these movies in full.

Any PG movie before 1984

PG, short for Parental Guidance, had its own extremely problematic time period as well. PG-13 didn’t exist until July 1st, 1984, so any movie not deemed extreme enough for an R got a nice PG rating. Per the MPAA, that means there may be “some profanity and some depictions of violence, sensuality or brief nudity,” but nothing too major. Yup, the face-melting scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark or the heart scene from the sequel Temple of Doom were only a teensy bit bloody, right? Even terrifying movies like Jaws and Gremlins, the latter of which scared the poop out of a 6-year-old me, nabbed a PG despite the intense violence for their time. The MPAA doesn’t even deserve brownie points for introducing the PG-13 rating as they only created it after backlash from parents and god-of-filmmaking Steven Spielberg complained.

The Death Knell of NC-17

There used to be an X rating for highly sexual and extra messed up movies, but porn co-opted the rating, so the MPAA changed X to NC-17. In part due to public perception and some theatres choosing never to run NC-17 movies, receiving that rating means the movie is almost guaranteed to make farthings in the US. The economic issue isn’t even the most destructive part of NC-17 as the rating itself causes the films to be altered from their original cut (more on that later) or people avoid it altogether. That means people didn’t see Eyes Wide Shut the way Kubrick wanted them to or experience Blue is the Warmest Colour (its own controversies notwithstanding) and it’s frank take on lesbian sexuality in its true form. The ratings board is not to blame for studios, cinemas or audiences giving NC-17 the cold shoulder, but the rating has been around since 1990 and the board has still failed to address the issues and misconceptions with it.

Disaster Movies

Now, I admit that this one is low-hanging fruit, but it’s real strange how the board gets nervous about someone’s low-hanging fruit but is a-ok okay with mass violence. They even give a pitiful non-answer in their pamphlet to address the disparity. The ultimate confirmation of this supremely messed up fact appears in disaster movies where sometimes millions of people die. The one I remember most is The Day After Tomorrow. Even in the trailer, you see a man about to be slammed to death by a car and hundreds of people being swept to their doom by a giant tsunami. That’s totally fine for the ratings board to give it a PG-13 though, because unlike The King’s Speech or Philomena, it only dropped the F-bomb once. F stands for fuck by the way, as in fuck your arbitrary rules, MPAA.

Defanging R Movies

This final point is similar to the NC-17 issue, but at a much larger scale that affects regular movie-goers. Despite the fact that over 57% of all movies rated by the MPAA have been rated R (skewed somewhat by the lack of PG-13 rating from the outset), many studios aim for the sweet spot of PG-13 so both the parents and kids can buy tickets. That means the gore will be digitally removed from a freaking Die Hard movie and force Canadian treasure Ryan Reynolds to fight tooth and nail for Deadpool to be rated R. Again, the rating doesn’t prevent anyone from seeing any movie (theatres are the ones who require ID for R movies), but the clearly demonstrated massive amount of cultural power the board holds affects how the movies are made, cut and re-cut. I’m not trying to complain about censorship or the larger issues with the studio system; I’m just saying it really sucks we don’t get to see the movies the way the people that made them want you to see them.

I’m not averse to a ratings board despite all of this. It’s true that parents have much more pressing problems than worrying if Cinderella is going to slit her step-sisters’ throat with a broken glass slipper, and proper information could help them make the decisions they think is right for their children. Unfortunately, the MPAA doesn’t do that and can even misinform parents about the content of movies all because some dad from North Dakota fears stuff like female sexuality. One saving grace about the board being around for 50 years is that parents now grew up with it themselves, probably understanding its biases and shortcomings. Except for Red Band trailers. That shit is rad!

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from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/mpaa-celebrates-50-years-of-screwing-up-movie-ratings/

[lumierebros]

Movie Buff Questions

1. Favorite action film?

Imogen: Die Hard, Terminator 2

Shakya: The Dark Knight, Terminator, Alien, Ip Man +any Tarantino

2. What movie(s) could you watch over and over and not get tired of?

I: Grease, Inception, Gone Girl, Superbad, Hot Fuzz

S: There Will Be Blood, Deathproof, Grease, Django Unchained, Birdman, Whiplash, plus again, any tarantino let’s put it at that)

3. Any old school favorites (pre-70s)?

I: Rear Window, North By Northwest, Breakfast at Tiffany’s

S: On the Waterfront, Citizen Kane, Rebel Without A Cause, Psycho, A Streetcar Named Desire, Casablanca, Singin In The Rain, Dr Strangelove, 2001, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Apartment, The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 12 Angry Men, Ben Hur are allllllllll amazing

4. Top 5 directors?

I: David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve

S: Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, Coen Brothers, Damien Chazelle/Alejandro G. Iñárritu

5. Favorite dead actor/actress?

I: Grace Kelly,  Heath Ledger, Audrey Hepburn, Anton Yelchin

S: Heath Ledger had a lotttt of potential and Brando was great too

6. Favorite movie from the 90’s?

I: Clueless, Fight Club, Seven, Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty

S: Goodfellas, American Beauty, The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, The Usual Suspects, Good Will Hunting, Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, Dances With Wolves, Scream, Sister Act, Trainspotting. American History X, Forrest Gump, Casino, Leon, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park I could go on and on

7. Ever been/are you such a hardcore fan of an actor actress you watched/will watch any movie they were/will be in?

I: James McAvoy

S: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Leonardo DiCaprio

8. What movie are you looking forward to coming out the most?

I: Star Wars the Last Jedi, Blade Runner 2049

S: Alien: Covenant, Dunkirk

9. Pixar or Dreamworks?

I: Pixar

S: Pixar, but Dreamworks for Sinbad, Prince of Egypt and Spirit

10. Favorite animated movie?

I: Fantastic Mr Fox

S: Spirit, Fantasia, Ferngully

11. Favorite musical?

I: La La Land, Grease, The Lion King

S: Singin’ In The Rain, Grease, Moulin Rouge, La La Land, Oliver!, The Sound of Music, (does High School Musical count )

12. Are you against book-to-movie adaptations?

I: Nope

S: Noooo

13. Your guilty pleasure movie(s)?

I: The Narnia movies, X-Men Apocalypse, The Proposal

S: Burn After Reading, Snatch, In Bruges + Independence Day, Ace Ventura hahahaha

14. Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy?

I: Robin Williams

S: Robin Williams easily

15. Favorite chick flick?

I: Clueless, Ever After

S: When Harry Met Sally (is that a chick flick or)

16. Ever watched a movie just because you heard the effects were awesome?

I: Star Trek (ending up loving it), Avatar

S: Avatar, Gravity, District 9

17. Favorite indie film?

I: Memento, Lost in Translation, Drive

S: Reservoir Dogs, Drive, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, American History X

18. Favorite movie heroin?

I: Sarah Connor, Princess Leia, Liz Bennet, Lisbeth Salander

S: Ellen Ripley

19. Favorite movie action hero?

I: John McClane, Indiana Jones

S: Jason Bourne, The Terminator (arnie)

20. Ever read a book so you could understand the movie?

I: Gone Girl, The Life of Pi

S: A Clockwork Orange: Watched the movie to understand the book, but never got past the first 20 pages or past the rape scene in the film

21. Favorite kids movie?

I: How To Train Your Dragon, The Parent Trap

S: Space Jammmmmmmmmm

22. Favorite Disney movie?

I: The Beauty and the Beast

S: Snow White (childhood fav)

23. Favorite movie soundtrack?

I: Anything by Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore (LOTR)

S: Anything by Hans Zimmer, Justin Hurwitz and Howard Shore. PLUS Proven Lands - Jonny Greenwood, Dirty Walk and Doors and Distance - Antonio Sanchez, Revenant theme- Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nightcall- Kavinsky, The Child Pt. 1 & 2- Jed Kurzel, any classical pieces in Kubrick films.

24. Movie that makes you cry every time?

I: Atonement, Schindler’s List

S: Schindler’s List, Titanic hehe

25. VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray?

I: I watch my stuff online srry

S: VHS was amazing, we had a massive collection when I was younger. Nowadays I would say Blu-ray purely because of quality. Quality of sound is more important to me though (BOSE!!!).

26. Best experience going to the movies

I: Seeing Star Wars The Force Awakens in Gold Class

S: When my boyfriend randomly picked me up at 10pm to go see Arrival as a surprise because I’d mentioned I wanted to see it once.

27. Top 5 actors?

I: Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Ethan Hawke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, Ewan McGregor plus all the ones Shakya mentions that I don’t mention-- I LOVE EVERYONE

S: Daniel Day Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Spacey, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Ed Norton, Benicio Del Toro, Christoph Waltz, Javier Bardem

28. Top 5 actresses?

I: Amy Adams, Lupita Nyong’o, Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, Felicity Jones, Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Brie Larson

S: Natalie Portman, Frances McDormand, Emma Stone, Ellen Page, Julianne Moore, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Kirsten Dunst

29. Movie you completely regret seeing?

I: X- Men The Last Stand

S: 2012, The Accountant, Pacific Rim, Nymphomaniac P1 & 2

30. Movie you wish was never made?

I: X-Men The Last Stand HAHAHA

S: Eragon

31. Movie your parent showed you?

I: The Wizard of Oz, Grease

S: Legit everything, we still have Movie Night every Friday (and we’re not allowed rewatches)

32. Last movie you watched?

I: The English Patient

S: The Apartment

33. An overrated movie?

I: Batman (1989), also agree about The Notebook

S: The Notebook, Super 8, 500 Days of Summer, Brokeback Mountain, Zoolander, Rain Man

34. An underrated movie?

I: Before Sunrise, In Bruges, The Nice Guys

S: Nocturnal Animals, Drive, Snatch, Blood Diamond, Dogma, Biutiful, Tree of Life

35. Favorite comedy movie?

I: Hot Fuzz, Superbad, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Blazing Saddles

S: Burn After Reading, Tropic Thunder, Annie Hall, The Big Lebowski, Wayne’s World, Snatch, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, Borat

36. Movie quote you live by?

I: “I’m so much happier now that I’m dead. Technically, missing.” You know, bc fuck Nick Dunne.

S: There’s not any quote I LIVE by but I do love this scene:

‘Michelangelo? You know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations. Him and the pope. Sexual orientation. The whole works, right? I bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling. Seeing that. If I ask you about women, you'll probably give me a syllabus of your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. I ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right? "Once more into the breach, dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap and watch him gasp his last breath lookin' to you for help. If I asked you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet, but you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes. Feelin' like God put an angel on Earth just for you, who could rescue you from the depths of hell.’

37. Movie quote that will always make you laugh?

I: “Where the white women at?”

S: ‘I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!’ ‘You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?’ -long pause- ‘No!’

‘Shut the fuck up fat man this ain’t none of your goddamn business’

‘I have uh..uh.. lactose reflux’ ‘You’re lactose intolerant or you have acid reflux? They’re different things’

‘A shootout is a fucking shootout!!....Like a Western’

‘You think that’s a Schwiiiiiin’

‘I eat the Canadian? I don’t know what you’re talking about’

‘I don’t read the script, the script reads me’ ‘What the hell does that even mean??’

‘oh nothing Tommy, it’s….tip-top, it’s just i’m not sure about the colour’

All the other quotes I find funny are completely random movie quotes that my family has just turned into a joke and that we can easily incorporate into conversation e.g. ‘whadaya gonna do ranger rick, shoot me?’ ‘I could do that’, ‘you sir, too sir’, ‘I don’t want Nenat’, ‘I drive’, ‘you want uhhh money or something’, ‘yeah i like dags’, ‘there is no spoon’ ETC you get the point

38. Film(s) you’ve watched on a date?

I: Any action/superhero movie that has come out recently.

S: The Conjuring 2, La La Land, Arrival, Sausage Party, The Accountant (bf loves accounting but it was shit), Fantastic Beasts, Captain America: Civil War, Shine (anniversary reshow with Geoffrey Rush doing a q&a after teehee), Nocturnal Animals, Suicide Squad, Moonlight, Sully, War Dogs, Jason Bourne, heaps more that I can’t remember

39. Favorite cult film?

I: Pulp Fiction, Fight Club

S: The Big Lebowski, Taxi Driver,  Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction

40. Directors you’d like to see work together?

I: David Fincher and Denis Villeneuve could be interesting

S: Coen brothers and Guy Ritchie would be fkn awesome OR Coens and Tarantino would be screenplay heaven

41. Actors you’d like to see work together?

I: Felicity Jones and Oscar Isaac (can you imagine the chemistry)

S: Miles Teller and Emma Watson ;---)

42. Films you wanted to watch, but never got around to watching?

I: American History X, 28 Days Later

S: Amadeus, The Deer Hunter

43. Favorite teen movie?

I: Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Fast Times at Ridgemont High

S: Juno, Grease, The Breakfast Club, Rebel Without A Cause

44. Top 5 favorite films?

I: American Psycho, Her, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Seven, Inception, There Will Be Blood, Inglourious Basterds, LOTR, No Country For Old Men ARGH SO MANY

S: There Will Be Blood (no. 1 fav), Good Will Hunting, No Country For Old Men, Raging Bull, Fargo, The Dark Knight, Goodfellas, LOTR, American Psycho, Deathproof, Tree of Life, The Usual Suspects, So many so many.

45. Favorite superhero film?

I: Logan, X-Men Days of Future Past, The Dark Knight

S: The Dark Knight, The Incredibles

46. Favorite cop film?

I: 21 Jump Street, Hot Fuzz, The Departed

S: Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, Seven, Mystic River, The Departed, Silence Of The Lambs

47. Favorite road trip film?

I: Fear and Loathing Las Vegas

S: Borat HHAHAHAH

48. A disappointing film from your favorite actor?

I: Pick any rom-com of Matthew McConaughey’s

S: Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List and Anger Management. So fucking bad. Good actor, shit movies.

49. A disappointing film from your favorite director?

I: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

S: The Lovely Bones, Only God Forgives

50. The first movie you ever remember watching in theaters?

I: I don’t remember any, but the first film I saw was A Bug’s Life

S: I genuinely have no idea

51. A movie that was better than the book?

I: The Shining (lmao bc Stephen King hates the movie)

S: Yeah The Shining and There Will Be Blood (based on Oil! which was beautifully written but nothing beats PTA’s adaption)

52. Vin Diesel or Bruce Willis?

I: Vin Diesel is so cute but I like Bruce better

S: it’s not a motorcycle baby it’s a chopper

53. A movie that not many have heard of that you’ve seen?

I: Hunt For the Wilderpeople

S: Vampire’s Kiss, Children of Men, Ip Man (VERY good foreign film), Dr Strangelove, Inherent Vice, Shame, Biutiful, Macbeth, Cool Hand Luke, Room In Rome, To Sir With Love

54. A movie that changed the way you view the world?

I: To Kill a Mockingbird

S: American History X

55. Favorite sci-fi movie?

I: Star Wars, Star Trek, Interstellar, Arrival, Gattaca

S: Alien, Predator, The Thing, Interstellar, Arrival, Terminator, 2001, Matrix, The Fifth Element, E.T

56. Movie you completely nerd-out over every time it’s mentioned?

I: X-Men, Star Wars, LOTR

S: LOTR obviously

57. Movie that you’ve seen all the behind-the-scenes action for?

I: Inception

S: LOTR again, hours on end of it omf

58. Movie where your favorite actor was the only good part?

I: Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor in the Star Wars prequels

S: Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries

59. Movie from an actor you hate that was better than you expected?

I: Kristen Stewart (Adventureland), but I don’t hate her at all, I was just surprised at her performance.

S: Mo’Nique in Precious, never hated her, she’s brilliant, it was the first performance I’ve seen of hers and it made me despise her character so much. SO GOOD but so awful.

60. Most visually stunning movie you’ve seen?

I: The Revenant

S: Tree of Life, 2001, The Revenant, Apocalypse Now, The Master, Interstellar, LOTR, Jurassic Park

61. A movie your parents introduced you to?

I: The Wizard of Oz, Life is Beautiful, Grease

S: Hahahaha basically every movie no joke, but my dad showed me lots of Chaplin

62. Favorite genre?

I: Thriller/crime/mystery/suspense

S: Drama, gangster movies, thrillers/horror/psychological thriller/horror you get the jist

63. Least favorite genre?

I: Romantic comedies

S: Romcoms or superhero movies (not including tdk)

64. Comedy movie that you didn’t find funny?

I: Sausage Party

S: How to be single, Anchorman, Sausage Party

65. Horror movie that didn’t scare you?

I: The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity

S: Insidious just so bad, The Exorcist, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, Let The Right One In (Swedish version NOT American Let Me In). None are terrifying, just extremely unsettling and disturbing

66. Favorite remake of an old movie?

I: The Departed, True Grit

S: True Grit, The Thing, Scarface, The Departed

67. A movie that started a passion for you?

I: Her. The first “good” movie I watched that got me into film culture.

S: Well I was brought up with hundreds of great movies from my childhood which made me love film as a child, but standout ones from my childhood I can remember especially well are LOTR, Spirit, Fantasia, all very music based films too

68. A movie that sparked an interesting conversation?

I: Interstellar (about time, paradoxes, and space)

S: Donnie Darko, No Country For Old Men, Psycho, The Usual Suspects, 2001, Whiplash -- all have brilliant final scenes, Split: my bro and I spent an hour talking about what makes a good movie and why it was so bad

69. The main movie you remember from your childhood?

I: Grease… slightly inappropriate for a kid but most of the adult stuff went over my head anyway

S: Lord Of The Rings of course, first full length film I was shown and Neverending Story is another one I remember well.

70. The first movie you saw on it’s opening night?

I: Star Wars The Force Awakens

S: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows P1 and P2, La La Land

71. A move that made you ache for love.

I: Before Sunrise

S: Blue Valentine

72. Favourite foreign film/s?

I:

S: Let The Right One In, Life Is Beautiful, Cinema Paradiso, Ip Man, City of God, Pan’s Labyrinth, REC, Biutiful

73. Favourite horror film/s?

I: 

S: The Shining, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Psycho, REC.

#q #lumierebros #questions #sorry for long post

[viralhottopics]

6 Insane Ways Movies Are Trying To Be Authentic

A great artist knows that the most important details are the ones their audience might not necessarily notice — like the soft clouds in the background of the Mona Lisa, or the surprisingly detailed scribblings in John Doe’s notebook in Se7en, or the recipe for The Antidote that I’ve been hiding in my articles for the past few years. (“Antidote for what?” you might be asking. Don’t worry. All will become clear soon.) This is especially true of movies, that often hide the weirdest and most interesting work in the places nobody bothered to check. For example…

6

Everything In Zootopia Is Moving All The Time

What most people don’t realize about animated movies is that most of the frame isn’t actually animated. There’s usually a single static background with a few animated cells on top of them — this is clear in low-budget TV cartoons, where the moving frames tend to have a slightly different color from the immobile background, but it’s more cleverly hidden in big-budget Disney movies because of that aforementioned big budget. The reason they don’t animate the entire frame is, of course, because that would be insanely fucking time-consuming. It’s way easier to have one still picture while Batman or Scooby-Doo conduct their slapstick antics on an entirely different layer.

Unless you’re making Zootopia, in which case — for the first time in Disney history — absolutely everything is moving. And by “everything” I mean, in fact, “all the things.” Every shadow shimmers. Every car sputters. Every strand of hair twitches and wafts in the wind. All 30,000 leaves on that tree are moving, thanks to technology developed just for this movie.

Part of the reason this is so crazy is, as made clear in the first paragraph of this entry, it’s completely unneeded. As humans, we’re pretty dumb, and aren’t likely to notice that maybe that bush back there doesn’t have an ant crawling on it. But Disney had to push the boundaries, just like they always have, to create a living, breathing, utterly convincing world that is so magical and wondrous that it never even had to get around to explaining what the hell the predators eat in this universe. A fox can’t live on blueberries, guys.

5

John Carpenter Hinted Who The Thing Was With Eye Light

The Thing is a movie about a shape-shifting alien who infiltrates a team of rugged, hairy, stern men. The interstellar beast picks them off one by one, feasting on their sweet, succulent, deeply heterosexual juices, until only the manliest — Kurt Russell and Keith David — are left alive. One of the nerdiest film debates in modern pop culture is about the order in which this happens — The “thing” is indistinguishable from a human once it takes that human’s form, so a lot of the tension comes down to figuring out who can be saved and who needs to be consumed through cleansing fire. It’s sorta like being out to dinner with a bunch of your friends and one of them keeps farting.

Director John Carpenter specifically shot the movie so it’s unclear in what order who gets infected, and whether Russell or David are infected at the end. But it turns out there’s one detail that Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey kept secret until recently, and it has to do with eye light.

“Eye light” is a camera trick that puts a slight gleam in an actor’s eye, giving them slightly more life. You can see it here, with Keith David’s character Childs:

And here with Kurt Russell’s MacReady:

But not with David Clennon’s Palmer — who, in this scene, is revealed to be The Thing.

…Which, again, was intentional. That’s supposed to be the hint. Now, does this completely change the movie? Spoiler alert: Nope. I rewatched it, specifically watching for eye light stuff, and I didn’t notice any great foreshadowing or crazy hints. But it’s quite possible I’m just not smart enough to put the whole picture together. Since this is a whole new tool available for our collective movie-watching, feel free to post your wacky eye-light-based theories on my Facebook wall, after you’ve rewatched the movie of course.

4

Gangs Of New York Has Period-Appropriate Dialects

People love to offer their opinions on whether movie accents are “good” or “bad” because people love to pretend that they’re smarter than they are. A lot of folks ripped apart Charlie Hunnam’s accent in Pacific Rim because he talks like a mush-mouthed victim of a botched neural surgery, apparently not realizing that his real accent also sounds fake (also also that movie is perfect, and none shall dare criticize it before me). Everyone talks weird, and it all sounds insane, so can anyone really say what a “good” accent even sounds like?

Of course, and Tim Monich, the dialect coach for Gangs Of New York, managed to do the impossible by researching dead dialects — that is, ways of speaking that no living person had ever heard with their own ears — and teaching it to modern actors. “But how do you research a dead dialect?” Easily! Well, no, not easily at all — with incredible difficulty, in fact: Monich studied old poems and newspaper articles that were mocking the dialects to try and deduce the way people of the era spoke. Then he forced Liam Neeson and Leonardo DiCaprio to talk that way.

At one point, Neeson’s character called a bunch of his enemies “nancy boys,” only for Monich to clarify that the correct term for the era and location was “Miss Nancies.” Which was a huge relief for all the 19th-century New York hooligans in the audience, who totally would’ve noticed that sort of thing.

That set points to something else pretty cool about the film’s development. Those buildings you see in the background? They haven’t existed in over a hundred years, so Scorsese had most of 1860s New York rebuilt from scratch in Rome, because “had most of 1860s New York rebuilt from scratch in Rome” is the kind of predicate you can be the subject of when your name is Martin Scorsese. I’m allowed to make those kinds of stupid grammar jokes when my entry is about dialects, okay?

Anyway, here he is poking around the place, rambling like a crazy old man. The poor camera operator can’t keep track of what he’s even talking about. That is one of my favorite videos in the world. I honestly like it better than Gangs Of New York.

Oh, and speaking of dialects…

3

Arrival Makes Way More Sense Than It Needs To

Arrival is a sci-fi movie about figuring out an alien language and, spoiler alert, using it to see the future (it’s also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen oh my god go watch it so good). And since I brought it up, I know what you’re thinking: “Wow — did they actually invent a language that I can use to see the future?”

No. But they did do absolutely everything else. You know those weird circles that the aliens use to communicate? Yeah, that functions as a consistent language. You could learn to read and write in it just from watching the movie enough, if you’re that kind of person.

Then, they wrote an actual computer program that could interpret the language they made up. The stuff you see in the movie where a computer analyzes the symbol? That’s not just random, science-looking animations. That’s a program, written just for the movie, interpretting a language that was also written exactly for the movie, in real time. Science consultant Stephen Wolfram even came up with a scientific explanation for how the aliens travel. It involves quantum! All this despite the fact that 99 percent of audiences would’ve been fine with the explanation I just gave (which, if you’ve forgotten, is just the words “It involves quantum!”).

But you see, it really seems like this movie was made for that one percent of geniuses in the theater. There’s even a part later in the movie when Amy Adams is standing in front of a white board covered in physics jargon:

All those equations are relevant to the problems her and Jeremy Renner’s characters are facing in the movie right then, but — here’s the kicker — that wasn’t what was on the board when they shot it. Due to an oversight during shooting, the whiteboard was accidentally covered in high-school level physics, so they had Wolfram come up with a bunch of equations to use and then super-imposed them into that scene with computers (a process made especially difficult because of Amy Adams’ hair).

All so that every physicist who saw this movie could finally enjoy a sci-fi flick without ripping their own hair out in frustration.

2

The Witch: All The Materials And Music Are Authentic For the Time Period

If you haven’t seen The Witch, stop reading this article and go watch it right now. (Then come back and finish reading. I need your click-dollars to finance my underground squirrel-fighting ring.) If you’ve seen The Witch, then oh my god, how good was it? Sorry for fanboying out for this entire column. I promise I’ll get myself under control for next month.

Part of the reason people love The Witch is because it’s so beautiful. Well, there’s a reason for that: Like Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, it was shot almost entirely with natural light. Which, for indoor scenes, meant they had to use as many candles as possible.

I say “almost” entirely because of one scene involving a crow, which had to use a flickering lightbulb, since fire would’ve scared the crow. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’m not going to spoil the scene with the crow. If you have seen the movie, then there is not a sliver of a chance in hell that you’ve forgotten the scene with the crow.

On top of that, all the music was recorded with period-appropriate instruments, using period-appropriate techniques. Which is not something anybody would ever notice but certainly helps the movie feel unique. Even the story itself — and lots of the dialogue — is based on real accounts of witchcraft and possession from 17th-century Massachusetts. When Caleb is in the throes of a fever/possession, his delirious ranting is word-for-word the rantings of 17th-century children who were, allegedly, possessed by Satan. Making this officially the most metal movie anyone has ever seen. Also I’m going to move on because 400-year-old dead children aren’t very funny.

1

Meryl Streep Can Do Everything

Meryl Streep is so good that it’s become a punchline. People genuinely worry that she’s too burdened by how good she is, and that people expect perfection from her and take it for granted when she delivers. And after some research, I’ve figured out her secret: She’s not actually pretending. Like Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa, she’s doing all this shit for real.

The first, and most famous, example is her portrayal of Sophie in Sophie’s Choice. First, she learned German. Then she learned Polish. Then she learned to speak German in a Polish accent. Roger Ebert (whose opinions on film are unassailable) described it as “the only accent [he has] ever wanted to hug,” and I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds pretty positive?

But okay, accents are whatever — we’ve seen lots of accents in this article already. Fine! How about the freaking violin? That’s the hardest instrument to learn, according to people who argue about this sort of thing on the internet, and she learned to play in a matter of weeks.

Most recently, for the movie Ricki And The Flash, Streep learned to play guitar… from Neil Young, because that’s who teaches you guitar when you’re Meryl Streep. Jesus, between Streep and Scorsese, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that rich people just seem to have more opportunities to do cool stuff than people like me. Maybe I should become rich? Anyway, Streep then practiced with a band in a bar for months. By the time she actually got around to shooting the damn movie, she had ripped her fingers open on the strings.

Alright, enough gushing about cool stuff I like. Let’s end this article in the best way any article could ever end: with a video of Neil Young and Meryl Streep jamming out on a stratocaster that probably cost more than my fucking car.

Let’s be real. I drive a Civic.

JF Sargent is a senior editor for Cracked and the only writer you can trust. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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from 6 Insane Ways Movies Are Trying To Be Authentic

#6 Insane Ways Movies Are Trying To Be Authentic

[zachsmothership-blog]

A Shout Out to the Student Director

I think the most glaringly evident thing I’ve learned over these past two years at Columbia College Chicago is that most people think the cinema directing program is the biggest joke at the school. There are very few sets I’ve been on here where someone, anyone, wasn’t talking bad about the director. There are so many times I’ve seen the cinematographer’s or the AD’s having to take complete control of the student sets. There’s even a stigma amongst cinematography students that we’re all unprepared, inexperienced, and unimportant, and frankly who can blame them? Overall as directors our performance is weak. We suck and I think it’s time we admit it so we can move on and continue to do our best to improve. This is not to say that I’m some sort of all knowing directing messiah, because I’m not, I’m just as accountable as each and everyone of us. I merely think it’s important to have open and honest reflection, and with that in mind here are the 5 tips I’ve learned that have made me truly improve as a director.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BLOCK THE SCENE.

Block, light, shoot, repeat. This is something teachers here have been drilling into our skulls for years, but do any of us truly understand it? Blocking is probably the director’s most important job on set, and it wasn’t until I took the Directing Techniques for the Micro Feature class that I realized we’re all doing it completely wrong. In the past when I myself or other directors have actually taken the time to “block the scene” it’s looked a lot like this: “Okay everyone rehearsals up, actor A you’re going to start here and actor B you here, okay aaaand action on rehearsal!” Followed by a full rehearsal. Admit it, a lot of us can relate to that, and I cannot stress enough how truly terrible of a practice this actually is. Every time after something like this happens you see the exact same result: the rehearsal concludes, the director moves in and gives the actor’s notes on performance, and afterwards everyone is just as confused as when we started. The purpose of blocking is to rehearse the scene technically so actors can receive their marks and the technical team can be brought up to speed on what’s happening in the scene and do their jobs. Doing a full rehearsal in its place isn’t only confusing, it’s a giant waste of time! It takes longer and by the end of it we have fostered an air of confusion across the entire set that unless corrected, will plague the entire scene. I’ve learned that the most effective way to block a scene is to take the actors and simply physically move them through the scene where they’re supposed to be and show them what they’re physically suppose to do like: “Okay blocking’s up. Actor A you’re going to start here and actor B you’re going to start here, these are your ones. Then actor A walks over here up to actor B, this is your two, mark it. They talk, actor A says “blah blah” and actor B gives him this watch. Then actor A leaves, this is your three.” Done. Now the actors know where to stand and what to do, the lighting team can effectively light the scene, camera is starting to get an idea of what you may want for the first shot, sound knows roughly where to stand for the first shot, and no one is confused. After that, and maybe the most important part of this entire equation is “repeat”. This is something we have to repeat before every shot. There are so many times on set I see directors say “great moving on” and then just stand there and wait. What are we waiting for?! It’s our job to drive the set forward, it’s our job to tell everyone physically what to do, we’re the bosses and it’s time we started acting like it.

TOO MANY QUESTIONS, NOT ENOUGH ANSWERS.

The next lesson I’ve learned kind of piggybacks off the last one. As directors we’re the people that know what it takes to bring these films to life and it’s important that we share that knowledge clearly. The most frustrating thing I hear most of us directors say on set is “yeah whatever you think.” That’s not to diminish the creative process of collaboration, because I do believe that has it’s necessary place on set and we should be open to how other’s ideas can improve our product, but I think too often directors say this to alleviate the pressure of having to make one more decision. It feels like so many of us are uncomfortable taking the full weight of having creative say over everything, that so many of us are uncomfortable directing people, and it comes off to the crew as though we’re incompetent and unprepared. I know directing is a tough job, it takes a lot work to get a satisfactory product, but that’s a responsibility that as directors we’ve already accepted and we owe it to the crew to deliver. I see so many of us time and time again asking questions when we should be the people answering them, and if we want to be truly effective directors then we need to start answering questions before they’re even asked.

STANDARD COVERAGE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.

This is a statement I know isn’t going to sit well with most of the student directors here, and hell, a year ago it wouldn’t have sat well with me either. I get it, we all go to art school and we all have our own valid opinions, but one of the most important things I’ve learned is that at some point we all need to realize that right now we’re not going to be the next Stanley fucking Kubrick. Someday? Maybe, but as directors I think we need to understand that the filmmakers that we all idolize, whomever they may be, are masters of a visual language that we’re only beginning to understand how to speak. By imitating them and trying to come up with these convoluted shot compositions that we think fit our stories, we’re effectively trying to run before we can walk. Instead, we should take a step back for a moment, and take an objective look at our films. The hallmarks of just about every student film I’ve noticed are: Weak stories grounded in emotional exposition that’s suppose to carry thematic weight, hacky shot compositions that are suppose to support those themes, and ultimately, films that are confusing and boring as hell. From my personal experience I’m here to tell you that as a director the day I contented myself with standard coverage was the most liberating day of my entire life. By freeing myself of the pressure to express myself like a master and instead reinforcing the basics, I allowed myself to explore what I’ve learned is truly important in the art of cinema: the subtleties.

IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO IMPOSE OUR VISION ON THE ACTOR

There’s a lot of subtleties we as filmmakers manipulate on set. Set design, colors, lens size, camera movement, the list goes on. However, as directors one of the most important subtleties we have control over is the acting, and that’s a creative device that I’ve seen a lot of student directors surrender unknowingly in more specific ways than I’ve previously explained. Most student directors I’ve watched, and I know all of us are guilty of this at some point, lose out on the chance to work with their actors on crafting a truly subtle performance because they’re constantly bogging them down with useless information. How many times are we going to call cut on a take, go up to an actor, and painstakingly explain their character and their character’s motivation to them until we’re blue in the face and they’re dizzy from following us? I’ve come to think that talking at our actors like this and imposing our vision on them isn’t just confusing, it’s simply not our job. If we want to explain to an actor how their character should be then we should write a good story that the actor can interpret. The writers tell the actors how their characters should be, and I think it’s the director’s job to take what the actor has interpreted and make it the best it can possibly be. I’ve learned that we can and should do things like: Inspire the actor’s performance with specific action verbs, adjust their eyelines to make them more accessible to the audience, and help them find the light. All these terms are ones that actors are trained to work with, and if we want the best results then we need to start working with them as well.

THE ULTIMATE FINAL SUPER MEGA LESSON… OF DEATH!

Being a person is tough. We’re constantly trying to jam pack our lives with stimulating experiences we can remember fondly, while also balancing a professional life that has a lot of incredible demands both mentally and physically. While filmmaking may be one of the most demanding things I’ve ever done, I think the most important lesson I’ve learned over these past few months is to simply smile and enjoy myself, because it’s contagious. Weeks ago I showed up on set royally hungover from a celebratory night out with my cousin for his engagement. It’s safe to say I was in a god awful mood. The entire day I was napping in my own lap and counting the seconds until I could leave. It came down to the final stretch, two hours left, and head pounding, body sweating, I was in no mood to make films. However, right then something happened that I will never forget. The director came on and she just naturally emitted this cheeky excitement for her own work. She was smiling and having a good time, and it didn’t take long for my mood make a complete 180. As directors we have so much power on our sets. Every decision we make from how prepared we are, to how we interact with people on set, fashions a mood and morale for the set that isn’t just vital to our final product, it’s vital to us and our human experience. On the flip side of that, a few weeks after that I was on maybe the worst set I’ve ever been on. It was all exteriors, freezing cold, and the director was not only completely unprepared, they were incredibly unclear about what they wanted. Naturally this became one of those sets where “everything that could go wrong did go wrong”, and it left me with one final lesson to pair with the one I just mentioned. That is: The world does not need us. The world needs doctors, and scientists, and inventors, but they tolerate us because we’re entertaining and facilitate important discourse, and everyday that we get to wake up and make films is a true blessing and something we should cherish… Also if you want to be a director for the love of god grip on a few sets.

#filmmaking studentfilm studentfilmmaking ccc columbiachi film directing directingactors directingtechnique TIL todayIlearned

[kyukurator-blog]

CARE FOR A WHIP WITH THOSE CHOCOLATES?

  Two years on here at The Thread, we’re still intrigued and mildly puzzled by the mainstreaming of BDSM.

 At their core, the 50 Shades books are romance novels; and Christian’s tie is just another puffy shirt. 

 So maybe we should be doing a romance theme.  But like the Hollywood establishment, we have a life-long investment in mild kink, so that’s the direction we’re going to go this week. 

   FIFTY SHADES DARKER (2017)

Oh, my God – we can’t believe she actually! forgave!! him!!!

Yes, we’re just kidding.  Even though we only read the first book (or, actually, the “good” parts of the first book); and even though we heard somewhere that E.L. James prowled the set of the first movie like a brand-protective mother bear, we thought all along that this franchise might give Harry Potter a run for his money.

We have no beef with either of the lead actors (loved Dakota in Bigger Splash; and Dornan is aces as the domesticated serial killer in The Fall) or with director James Foley (who directed Glengarry Glen Ross and our favorite underrated Madonna movie, Who’s That Girl).

We do understand why the movie has to take itself absolutely seriously.  But still, we can help but suspect – sight unseen, granted – that Magic Mike XXL was a greater contribution to world cinema than this first 50 Shades sequel is going to be.

    SECRETARY (2002)

Mary Gaitskill, who wrote the short story adapted for Secretary, described this as “the Pretty Woman version, heavy on the charm (and a little too nice).”

While we respect Gaitskill’s exceptionally well-informed opinion, here at The Thread we give the movie a lot more credit.  Director Steven Shainberg pulls off a deft balancing act, creating an insightful fable that is kinky, character-driven and funny,

Maggie Gyllenhal is the repressed,  fresh-out-of-the-hospital young secretary and the one-and-only James Spader is her super-tightly-wound OCD dominant boss.  They enter into a dance that works for both of them and leaves them both better off but not unbelievably transformed.

    SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (1989)

The one thing the 50 Shades series does get right is the emphasis on tension above release.  It’s the part of sex that movies do best – a fact that wasn’t lost on 29-year-old writer/director Steven Soderbergh, who put sexual tension at the core of his breakthrough indie film.

An idea that in other hands would have been too heady, too precious, or both was fueled by perfect casting (who would have thought of Andy McDowell?), perfect execution, and just the right tincture of kink.

The perverted guy (James Spader) becomes the hero, the “normal” guy (Peter Gallagher) is the villain, and the kinky couple ride off into the sunset of sexual fulfilment, launching Soderbergh’s incredible career and the whole Sundance/indie/Miramax wave of the 90’s.

    EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)

But isn’t a movie about eroticism that has no release like a joke without a punch line?

And yet that pretty well describes Kubrick’s last film.  By definition the consummation of marriage is physical, and yet isn’t Eros the exact opposite of domestication?

The whole movie is one long tease – and maybe it’s actually a romantic comedy, based on the consummation suggested in the final exchange between Kidman and Cruise:

     “And you know, there is something very important we need to do as soon as possible.” “What’s that?”      “Fuck.”

That last little snippet is actually kind of funny:  

    THE DREAMERS (2003)

We have a boatload of questions about Christian Grey, and most of them have to do with time management: How does he have the time to get so rich and stay so chiseled, yet still have time left over to learn to fly a helicopter and shop for all those ties?

But the biggest question of all is how did somebody so young get so good at being kinky?  Admittedly we’re rank amateurs in this realm, but it just seems like it must take years of practice to figure this stuff out.

The kinkiness of the brother/sister team in Dreamers feels improvisatory – which makes it both more convincing and much more fun.

Set during the Paris student riots of 1968, an innocent young college student (American, of course), falls in with an incestuous brother/sister team and instantly finds himself in way over his head.  But unlike Mssr Grey, he’s young enough and horny enough to just go with the flow.

It also helps that the film’s eroticism is cradled in a bohemian nest of half baked revolutionary ideas and non-stop quotes from classic films.  For our tastes it’s a much sexier environment than the cold plate-glass capitalism of the 50 Shades movies.

But naked truth be told, the reason we liked Dreamers wasn’t that far from the reasons that fans will flock to see 50 Shades Darker.  Bertolucci’s movie is a confection — of sex, of beautiful young bodies, of nostalgic ideas and European movie quotes – whipped up for a very specific audience, which in this case just happens to be us.

It always surprises us when a movie like this is so hard to find — not even available at Critrion or Netflix DVD.  You have to buy a DVD at Amazon:

    HOW TO BE SINGLE (2016)

So, 5 years ago we could barely pronounce sriracha, let alone spell it.  But now it seems to be everywhere.

Maybe the BDSM in 50 Shades is just a sort of sexual hot sauce – you put it on something that was already pretty good (we’re equating sex with potato chips here) to spice it up a little more.

Our last pick is a completely other variety of sexual confection.  Last year for Valentine’s Day Warner whipped up an off-year Dakota Johnson vehicle which pairs her not with an exceptionally tasteful buff boy, but a horny Australian girl – Rebel Wilson.

When Johnson sets off for New York for a new job, she and her longtime boyfriend decide to take a break and experience single life in all its 21st century glory.  A couple weeks later, she is ready to re-engage, but he has already moved on.

Enter bawdy co-worker Rebel Wilson, who instructs Johnson in the perks and perils of being a modern girl on the loose in the big city.

The movie is far from perfect – but part of the attraction here is that it doesn’t have to be.  There are plenty of laughs plus male characters who are as sympathetic, confused and well-rounded as the women.  When it needs to switch tone, it does so very competently.  And even though Johnson’s character is very close to the one in 50 Shades, here she’s much more self aware and therefore more attractive.

Technically it’s not a rom-com: Johnson our heroine ends up alone – but it doesn’t really matter because we see very clearly that she’s better off for the journey she’s taken.  And meanwhile, we’ve had an amusing and totally harmless Saturday night.

This one’s currently up on HBO GO, as well as the usual:

  CARE FOR A WHIP WITH THOSE CHOCOLATES? was originally published on FollowTheThread