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randomvarious · 1 year

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Today’s compilation:

Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary 1990 Alternative Rock / Hard Rock / Blues-Rock / Folk-Rock / College Rock / Pop / Singer-Songwriter / R&B / Adult Contemporary / Avant Garde

Kinda seems like no one really gave a shit about Elektra Records celebrating its 40th anniversary in 1990 🤷‍♂️. Or, at the very least, no one certainly gives a shit now. The label tried to commemorate themselves with this star-studded double-disc of cover songs, in which each Elektra-signed act at the time took on a song that the company had released prior, but this album appears to have just came and went without much fanfare and was then quickly consigned to the dustbin of history, bound to suffer from the ephemeral fate that comes for almost every release.

But this thing is particularly intriguing for two reasons: one, every song on here was an exclusive at the time; they were originally recorded solely for this release, and almost every song on here hasn't appeared on any other album since. And two, for 1990, the list of acts on this set is really nothing short of fucking seismic: The Cure, Tracy Chapman, Billy Bragg, Björk's band The Sugarcubes, Pixies, Phoebe Snow, Happy Mondays, Anita Baker, Howard Jones, Teddy Pendergrass, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, 10,000 Maniacs, Metallica, They Might Be Giants, and John Zorn. All with a new and exclusive take on an old tune. Fun for everyone!

Now, despite all that starpower, the results of this release are, overall, definitely middling, like most of these ill-conceived cover comps end up being. But this album should've been a bigger deal based on its names alone. As an ardent compilation collector myself who's particularly obsessed with the 90s, I feel like I should've been ambiently aware of its existence. And I wasn't, until very recently. And I don't think many people are, because even with this list of artists, this album has left barely any footprint on YouTube. You can find a good amount of the songs on there, but outside of its most famous offering—Gipsy Kings' "Hotel California," made famous not by this album, but by The Big Lebowski eight years later—most of the view counts on these videos seem to be in the low thousands, despite having been on the site for a significant chunk of time.

And two of my favorite songs of all on this album—Phoebe Snow's lightly funky folk-pop cover of Delaney & Bonnie's "Get Ourselves Together" and Bill Frisell, Robin Holcomb, and Wayne Horvitz' tender bluesy rock cover of Bob Dylan's "Going Going Gone"—aren't on the website as individual tracks at all. Luckily, my absolute favorite, Ernie Isley's unique, Art of Noise-inspired cover of The Cars' "Let's Go," *is*, though.

But, you see what I mean? All these very popular and successful acts with then-new material, on an album celebrating the history of an enormous, sprawling label like Elektra, and you can't find a video for every individual song with ease? Crazy, right?

So much of music's history—even apparently these star-studded, ostensibly big to-do releases from major labels—have just been pretty much plainly forgotten. And this is by no means a great album, but plenty of subpar major label material has been received with significant fanfare before, and it's strange that this double-disc doesn't seem to have ever gotten much of that treatment; there were a couple contemporaneous reviews from the outlets you'd expect, but nothing else. And there's some very good, interesting, and fun covers on here, but there's also some downright bad ones. But regardless of the quality of the music itself, it's still quite baffling as to why this ended up being as obscure as it appears to be.

P.S.: There’s actually a song on here that’s masquerading as a cover, but is really just sampling the original instead. Pieces of a Dream’s “Mt. Airy Groove” is an instrumental piece of jazz-funk, and Busta Rhymes’ old group, Leaders of the New School, rap over a beat that samples different pieces of it. It’s a dope old school rap tune, but it’s definitely not a cover.

Highlights:

CD1:

Billy Bragg - "Seven & Seven Is" Gipsy Kings - "Hotel California" The Sugarcubes - "Motorcycle Mama" Pixies - "Born in Chicago" Phoebe Snow - "Get Ourselves Together" Happy Mondays - "Tokoloshe Man" Ernie Isley - "Let's Go" Howard Jones - "Road to Cairo"

CD2:

Bill Frisell / Robin Holcomb / Wayne Horvitz - "Going Going Gone" Leaders of the New School - "Mt. Airy Groove"

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elmachetecriollo · 2 years

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Death is inevitable for all of us, but I sometimes struggle to find compassion for terrible people who die. I think the natural response is to celebrate that person's death, but the actual response should be compassion.

The Buddhist teachings about the lower realms are especially helpful for this, because these realms are not a place where anybody wants to go. If someone has been terrible during their lifetime, they will inevitably end up in the lower realms, and it's not because they're being punished. It's because they are so habitually deluded that they create their own hell, or they turn into a hungry ghost, or they are reborn as an animal.

In Buddhism, there are 8 cold hells and 8 hot hells, and these are for the worst kinds of people; think people like Hitler, John Wayne Gacy, and also people who commit the 5 heinous sins (patricide, matricide, slandering the dharma, drawing the blood of a bodhisattva, or intentionally dividing the sangha). Obviously the punishments are severe here but they are also of a person's own creation. So, for example, if Hitler gassed millions of Jews during the Holocaust, he probably has his very own gas chamber in hell where he is continually being revived and tortured. These hells also last a long, long time, so he won't be getting out of there for quite a while.

Hungry ghosts are the second lowest realm, but their existence is only marginally better than that of beings in the hell realms. Hungry ghosts have huge stomachs and are always thirsty or hungry for something. However, their mouths are the size of a pin prick, and when they finally do find food, they cannot eat enough of it to satisfy themselves. Similarly, when they manage to find food, it turns into something repulsive like shit or piss. This sounds a lot like a hell realm to me, but unfortunately, this realm is easier to fall into than the hell realms if we are excessively needy, gluttonous, or greedy. This realm is for beings that will simply never be satisfied with anything.

And finally, even though some people might think they want to be an animal, this realm is also not one that you want to fall into. The suffering in the animal world is extreme compared to the human realm, even though you're not in hell nor are you a hungry ghost. Animals are neglected and abused all the time, all over the world. You could be reborn as a dung beetle that eats bat shit. You could be reborn as a chicken in a factory farm where you sit in your own filth all day just to be brutally murdered. You could be reborn as an animal that gives up its life to a human, like an ox that only works all day with no rest and extremely heavy loads. These are not existences that you want to live, but unfortunately, the animal realm is also easy to fall into if you don't cherish your human existence. This realm is for the habitually deluded--Alcoholics, for example, are commonly considered to be reborn in the animal realm, since their minds are constantly inhibited and they have no ability to think clearly. It sounds harsh, but it is their karma, especially if they receive the kind of karma where they don't receive treatment and don't recover from their disease.

So to conclude, don't be happy when terrible people die, because that is just as deluded as what terrible people do to themselves. We all wish to be free from suffering, but terrible beings have an extremely impenetrable layer of habitual ignorance that will likely take them somewhere worse. You should instead hope that they burn off their negative karma quickly in their next life, or that they will be reborn as a human so that they can try again. You may yourself end up in one of the lower realms, so it is absolutely atrocious to wish that upon another person, however deluded they might be.

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365days365movies · 3 years

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Western August II: My Darling Clementine (1946) - Recap and Review

Insert outdated Huckleberry Hound reference here...

...and now I can start. I watched a lot of Boomerang as a kid, so sue me. Anyway, it’s another John Ford movie! And this one is based off of a historical event! Remember last time (right here, if you wanna read my long-ass review of Stagecoach, and a recap of John Ford’s history)? I mentioned that John Wayne’s college football coach was a friend of both director John Ford and Old West LEGEND Wyatt Earp? Well, it’s impossible for me to believe that that connection never resulted in Ford meeting Earp at some point, And that’s somewhat justified by the existence of this film.

And indeed, Ford DID meet Earp, but that coach had nothing to do with it! See, while Ford was an assistant on film sets, he would often work with people who lived in the Old West, including in the town of Tombstone, Arizona. And who came to visit some of his old friends on set? Wyatt. Fucking. Earp. Holy shit, can you imagine? You’re just setting up props, when suddenly a FUCKIN’ LEGEND JUST ROLLS UP because he and Fred played poker a few times. But why exactly was Earp a legend? Well...

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (yes, really) was born in Monmouth, Illinois on March 19, 1848. He was the fourth child of eight, and was born JUST a little too late to serve in the Union army, as his father and two oldest brothers did. Wyatt, meanwhile, worked on the farm, despite wanting to fight for the Union Army. And after the war ended, the entire family survived and moved out west to California for a bit, until eventually going back east to Missouri.

It was in Missouri that Earp’s father joined law enforcement, with Wyatt joining him as constable soon after. He got married when he was 21, but she died of typhoid fever while pregnant with their child, which SHATTERED Wyatt. With his personal life in shambles, his professional life also fell apart, culminating in an alleged horse theft in 1871. Earp was arrested, and then escaped from jail and RAN for Illinois.

He wouldn’t escape for too long, as he was found and arrested AGAIN the next year, along with Sally Heckell, a prostitute who claimed to be his wife. By this point, he’d actually found a way to purchase a brothel boat, WHICH WAS A THING, BY THE WAY. And so, when they got enough money to get out of jail, they took off for Kansas, where his brother ALSO ran a brothel. Like I said before, sex workers built the West! It’s true!

And Wyatt once again took the role of Wild West pimp, possibly. This is alongside his brother James, and his wife Bessie Ketchum. So, Bessie and James...Ketchum...wait...

...Huh. Completely unrelated, but...huh.

OK, so Sally takes off at some point, leaving Wyatt, his brother, and his brother’s wife to prepare for trouble. And trouble was constant in Wichita, Kansas. It was a booming cattle town, and cowboys from recent drives LOVED to celebrate with a BUNCH of booze. That meant drunken cowboys WITH GUNS, and an overwhelmed police force.

That’s where Wyatt stepped into a new profession: police officer. Starting in the mid 1870s, Earp became an officer, eventually moving up to the rank of deputy. But, after yet another altercation with a compatriot, he was fired by the department. His brother went to Dodge City to open a brothel, and Wyatt went with him. There, he was appointed assistant police chief, or assistant marshall, and worked in Dodge City and Deadwood. Yes, that Deadwood.

After a successful career in the police force, he left Dodge City and went to watch a robber nicknamed “Dirty Dave”. Yes, really. Apparently, dude was rumored to have hated water and bathing...allegedly. Anyway, on this journey, Earp met a gambler who knew Dave by the name of Doc Holliday. Yes, THAT Doc Holliday. He redirected Earp to Dodge City to find the robber, and was appointed Assistant Marshall once again. Doc Holliday also came to Dodge City with his wife, Big Nose Kate. Which is...certainly a nickname. Did she like that name? I don’t know if she liked that name?

Quite a lot of shit went down in Dodge City, including a showdown in the Long Branch Salloon, during which Holliday saved Earp’s life as he was being held at gunpoint. It’s actually a pretty badass story, real talk. Anyway, Earp got married again, killed a couple of dudes, and then moved to a little town in Arizona.

It’s 1879, and Wyatt arrives in Tombstone with TWO brothers, Virgil and James. Wyatt started gambling quickly, and earned a lot of money that way. The brothers bought a mine and water rights, and Wyatt eventually started escorting Wells Fargo strongboxes as a bodyguard. Soon, brothers Morgan and Warren joined them, as did Doc Holliday. Things were looking good for the Earps...until the Cochise County Cowboys rolled into town.

These outlaw cowboys posed a threat to Tombstone, leading the army to ask U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp to help track them down. He brought along Morgan and Wyatt, and they tracked them down. There’s some stuff involving stolen government mules, but I’ll summarize it by saying that the cowboys were assholes about the whole thing. The CCC and the Earps were now enemies after this, and their feud became deadly.

From here...I can’t get into all of Earp’s exploits, because I DO NOT HAVE THE GODDAMN TIME. Seriously, dude was a legend for a reason. Suffice to say that, by the time we get to October 26, 1881, a 33 (THIRTYFUCKINGTHREE) year-old Earp is a very well-known face in Tombstone, and in the Wild West. It’s at this point that the Earps and Holliday meet the CCC in a place on Fremont Street, known as the O.K. Corral.

I’d go into it, but I don’t want to spoil the movie! However, I will say this: the movie is probably inaccurate. And I say this because the estate of Earp SUED THE FUCK out of the author, claiming it as incorrect to his legend. But again...later. I’ll also save the history lesson about film star Henry Fonda for a later date. For now...HISTORY LIVES! KINDA!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

By the way, you can watch this film on Starz if you’ve got it, or Amazon Prime if you’re willing to rent it. Figure I’d tell you guys this stuff if you ever want to watch these films along with me!

Anyway, we start with the title song being played over the opening credits. By the way, this film is based on a biography about Wyatt Earp with the same name, so using this song in the beginning makes sense! As the credits fade, we happen upon Monument Valley in Arizona, where cowboys are managing a herd. And watching these cowboys are Newman Clanton (Walter Brennan) and his son Ike Clanton (Grant Withers).

Old Man Clanton gives the boys some advice, and we discover that these are brothers heading through to get to California. He tells them that they should take advantage of the nearby town of Tombstone, just over the ridge. The young man thanks them, and they part ways, with Ike and his father looking on ominously. That night, the cowboys set up camp, and we find out that these are the Earps. Specifically, it’s Virgil (Tim Holt), Morgan (Ward Bond), James (Don Garner), and of course, Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda).

After James looks at a gorgeous cross that he plans to give to his fiancee, the three other brothers head out to the bustling town of Tombstone. As they go to get a shave at a local barbershop/dentist (yes, that was a thing), the whole place is shot up by...Indian Charlie (Charles Stevens). Yeah, sorry, it’s the times. Anyway, the cops aren’t exactly willing to do much about Charlie’s mayhem, and a frustrated Wyatt steps up in their stead. He takes Charlie out, and is just a little racist in the process. Again, it’s unfortunately the times.

Anyway, seeing this whole display, Earp is IMMEDIATELY offered a job as sheriff, and I have to try really REALLY hard not to make a joke about how times don’t change. And yet, since I technically just did so, feel free to put together the pieces yourself. Earp refuses, and he and his brothers leave town to check on James and their cattle. And unfortunately, the cattle are gone...and James is dead.

Which, uh...didn’t happen. At all, actually. James, if you recall, was the once married to Bessie, and he DEFINITELY wasn’t murdered by cattle rustlers outside of Tombstone. He was one of the brothers to die of natural causes, in fact, in 1926! Yeah, dude was a bartender! So, there’s Inaccuracy Number 3. And Number 1, by the way, is the fact that none of the brothers’ wives are with them, while Number 2 is the fact that James was already married, and to Bessie! So, yeah, not a great start there.

Anyway, Wyatt IMMEDIATELY goes back and accepts the job, in order to get revenge for his brother’s murder. He asks who the local gambler in town is, to which he’s told Doc Holliday (Inaccuracy No. 4, Holliday didn’t get to Tombstone until well after the Earps did). He also asks who the local cattlemen are, and they are, of course, the Clantons. Wyatt recognizes Newman, and immediately confronts him and his four sons on their bullshit.

By the way, that’s Inaccuracy No. 5. The Clantons were DEFINITELY thieves, but they never stole from Earp directly, and they certainly didn’t kill James Earp. Oh, and speaking of, there’s Inaccuracy No. 6 as Wyatt makes a short speech on James’ grave. He tells his younger brother that kids like him shouldn’t have had this happen, yaddayaddayadda. But, uh...James was the second oldest, DEFINITELY not 18 at this point. Should...should I stop counting? This might be bad.

In a saloon, a woman sings above a poker game. This is...Chihuahua (Linda Darnell). Ow. OW. OH GOD OW. Anyway...Chihuahua is waiting for Doc Holliday to return from who knows where. She’s also helping another man in the poker game cheat, by spying on Wyatt’s hand. He escorts her outside, where she berates and slaps him, noting that this is Doc Holliday’s town. He shoves her into a water trough. It’s the 1940′s, that shit happened in every movie.

The game continues, and who should show up but Doc Holliday (Victor Mature)! I didn’t get into him much, but Holliday’s an interesting figure in and of himself. He shows up and kicks out the cheating man from the game. He then...leaves. Yo, no, Holliday was a famous gambler, NO WAY he would’ve passed up a chance to join the game! I’d count that as an inaccuracy, but it’s technically speculation.

Wyatt goes to speak with Holliday, and we get an actual Inaccuracy No. 7 when the two meet. As I said before, Holliday and Wyatt knew each other for YEARS. The two were friends at this point (although they would later have a falling out). But in any case, the two get to talking turkey, with Earp disagreeing with how Holliday handles business, and Holliday IMMEDIATELY threatening him. Holliday is a hothead, it seems. But they eventually get along, albeit begrudgingly.

Also, to the films credit, they hint at Holliday’s bout with tuberculosis as he coughs into a handkerchief. This would eventually claim his life at the early age of 36. As the group gets a drink, actor Granville Thorndyke walks in, preparing to perform Shakespeare at the theatre in town. Holliday and Wyatt watch on, joined by Chihuahua. However, Thorndyke is nowhere to be found, causing the audience to IMMEDIATELY destroy the theatre. Apparently, this is the fourth time this has happened. Earp volunteers to try and find him.

Thorndyke is completely blasted, and performing Hamlet in a saloon, held captive by the Clantons. He can’t quite finish the soliloquy, though, leading Doc Holliday to finish for him, only to be interrupted himself by a coughing fit. Wyatt begins to escort him out, only for the Clantons to try and stop him. And in response, when one of them assaults him...

Old Man Clanton walks in to make amends to Wyatt, who leaves with Thorndyke. Clanton then whips his sons in disappointment. Ah, fatherly love. And discipline! It builds character! The next day, Wyatt is there to see a stagecoach coming into town. In this stagecoach is a young woman, newly arrived to the settlement and dressed to the 1880s nines. She’s here to look for Doc Holliday, who’s just left that morning.

Wyatt offers the woman some coffee, and she introduces herself as Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs). Well. I wonder if she’s a love interest. Not like the movie’s named after him or anything. As the song plays in the background (as it’s been doing the ENTIRE MOVIE, by the way), she gets a room in the same place that Wyatt and Holliday are staying.

That night, Holliday returns, and is none-too-pleased for see her there. She’s been chasing him from Boston, where the two met. Which...yeah, Inaccuracy No. 8 and 9. Firstly, Holliday NEVER went to Boston, and most certainly wasn’t from there. And secondly, Clementine doesn’t exist. At this point, Holliday is married to Big Nose Kate Horony! And she’s the only woman that’s EVER been known to be in a relationship with Holliday. So, yeah, problems with this story.

Anyway, Holliday tells her to return home, as he’s no longer the upstanding East Cost doctor that he...well, never actually was, but you get my meaning. He tells her, between massive coughing fits, that he left not because of his failing health, but because he’s no longer the man he was. He tells her to leave in the morning, or he’ll be the one that leaves.

Bereft at the whole situation, Holliday confronts Earp on not telling him about Clementine, then gets a drink. Chihuahua tries to cheer him up, and he angrily rebukes her. Wyatt tries to get him away from the bar and back home, but the interaction instead prompts Doc to shoot his gun at a chandelier, and Wyatt knocks him out cold.

He goes to get Doc to bed, and the tense moment is completely ruined when the piano player sees this go down, and then feverishly starts playing. You know, the most stereotypical thing in any Western ever? It’s goddamn HILARIOUS, and completely breaks the mood. Just like, dude’s watching this happen, he waits for a lull, and he just goes...”NOW IS MY TIME TO SHINE!!!!” Holy shit, that was funny.

The next morning, Wyatt watches a group of people gathering to raise money for a yet-to-be-built church. Chihuahua comes over and berates Wyatt for hitting Doc, then goes to see Holliday in bed. On her way, she berates Clementine, and makes sure she’s leaving. Also, I don’t really like Chihuahua. She seems like a massive jerk, not gonna lie. Doc tells her that he’s going to Mexico, and agrees to take her with him. He even semi-proposes to her, which is scummy on its own. Jesus, poor Clementine.

Speaking of, she goes to check out, and encounters Wyatt as she waits. Wyatt tells her that she’s giving up too easy, and the two decide to go to the new church together as she waits to leave. They go to dance together, and Wyatt takes her to the church social dinner afterwards. When Holliday sees this...well, to be frank, he overreacts, threatens Wyatt with violence the net time they meet, and takes the fuck OFF without Chihuahua. When Chihuahua sees this, she has her own overreaction and goes to kick Clementine out herself.

In the hotel room, Wyatt walks in on the confrontation, and notices a distinctive necklace around her neck: the silver cross that James was to give to his fiancée. When she says that Doc gave it to her, Wyatt realizes that Holliday may have killed James instead of the Clantons. Speaking of, Wyatt finds the Clantons in the saloon, and they tell him that Doc is headed to Tucson. Wyatt heads out after him, enraged.

Eventually, he catches up to him, and the two engage in the gunfight they’ve been hinting at the whole time. And Wyatt...Wyatt IMMEDIATELY wins. Doc comes back with him, and they go TOGETHER to confront Chihuahua. But Chihuahua is...occupied.

I KNEW I didn’t like her!

So, Chihuahua’s been cheating on Doc with Billy Clanton (John Ireland). To be fair, Chihuahua might be a prostitute, but that’s never been stated in any way, so I’m assuming that this is an affair. With an asshole, too. Clanton escapes out the back door, and Chihuahua lets them in. They confront her, and tell her the significance of the medallion. Realizing that she’d be forcing Doc into jail with her lies, she confesses her affair with Billy Clanton.

But as soon as she does, Billy shoots her through a window, as he’d been watching the whole time. Hey, uh, Billy? Maybe shoot her BEFORE she says your goddamn name, ya fuckin’ moron! Not that I’m rooting for him, but COME ON, how stupid can you be? Wyatt sends his brother Virgil after Billy, then goes back to convince Doc Holliday to operate on the badly injured Chihuahua.

Chihuahua apologizes to Doc, and he forgives her. He also warns her that no anesthesia is coming for his operation, and he’ll have to do it despite that. She agrees, despite the pain. Meanwhile, Virgil chases Billy in the desert, and shoots him as he arrives home. Billy dies at this father’s doorstep, but it’s not over there. Virgil arrives to arrest Billy, not knowing of his death, and is let in.

Old Man Clanton mourns his son’s death, and shoots Virgil in the back as soon as he leaves. And from there, war is coming to Tombstone. And in case anyone was wondering...OF COURSE this didn’t happen. The Earps and the CCC had a hell of a feud, and Virgil stepped up to enforce a recent gun ordinance against them. Virgil, who was the ACTUAL Marshal, by the way (Inaccuracy No. 10) brought in deputies Morgan, Wyatt, and Doc Holliday to disarm the Clantons. And it’d be THAT confrontation that became the famous gunfight. Billy Clanton would die by Virgil’s hand, but not yet. And Virgil DEFINITELY didn’t die here, having died of pneumonia in 1905. Inaccuracy No. 11.

Well, regardless, the Clantons ride into town, and drop off Virgil’s body at Wyatt’s feet, telling him to meet them at the O.K. Corral. Readying herself for the conflict, Wyatt is met by Doc, who reveals that Chihuahua didn’t make it through the surgery after all. Damn. Didn’t like her, but it is sad to see her dead. She was actually quite and interesting character in the end.

Now having his own reasons for going after the Clantons, Doc joins Wyatt and Morgan to take revenge on the Clantons at the O.K. Corral, just as the sun rises. The conflict that results will be made legend...and will also probably represented inaccurately. So BEFORE it happens, let’s talk about the actual gunfight right quick. It DEFINITELY wasn’t planned, and happened quite by surprise. A lot more people here involved outside of the Clantons, and the confrontation had begun elsewhere. When the fight started, Virgil was at the head, not Wyatt at ALL. They came to take their guns, only to be fired at. Shots are traded, and people get killed. Morgan Earp is wounded, Holliday was bruised, Virgil was shot through the cap, and Wyatt was fine Meanwhile, Billy Clanton was the only Clanton to die, because the Clantons weren’t the only ones in this fight. In total, 3 people died, all of whom were part of the CCC. Got it? Cool.

Here’s what happens in the movie.

So, Holliday gets killed. Um. No. Nope. Inaccuracy No. 12. All of the Clantons are killed, save for Old Man Clanton. Who, to be fair, wasn’t even there at the Gunfight. Inaccuracy No. 13. In the aftermath, Morgan (who is COMPLETELY FINE, Inaccuracy No. 14) and Wyatt see Holliday dead. And having avenged Janes’ death, Wyatt and Morgan leave Tombstone once and for all.

Before they leave for California, Wyatt speaks with Clementine, who’s decided to stay there as a new schoolteacher. Wyatt says he’ll come back to visit, and gives her a kiss on the cheek. They bid goodbye, and he says:

Ma’am...I sure like that name. Clementine.

...OK, outside of the inaccuracies...I like it. A lot, actually.

Yes, really. Despite the fact that this ENTIRE MOVIE is wrong, it’s actually a VERY good movie! Yeah, I mean that! I’ll break it down.

Cast and Acting - 10/10: Yeah, uh...everybody is great in this. Henry Fonda and Victor Mature stand out, as does Linda Darnell, who plays a strong female character...for the time. But yes, they’re all great. Not a bad actor in the bunch!

Plot and Writing - 9/10: This movie seems a little cliché and romanticized, knowing the stereotypical quirks that Western films use. But, uh...this was the one that started those. Now, granted, something being original doesn’t necessarily make it good, but this movie certainly uses these tropes well. Fact of the matter is, it’s a good plot. It’s extremely inaccurate, obviously, but that’s not the fault of Samuel Engel, Winston Miller, or Sam Hellman. They did fantastic with what they had. The ACTUAL problem was Stuart Lake, because his book was well known to be inaccurate. So, yeah, we can blame him. Still, this movie was well-written.

Directing and Cinematography - 10/10: It’s John Ford. Dude knows how to frame the Old West. It’s fantastic looking, unsurprisingly. And cinematographer Joseph MacDonald also deserves a hell of a lot of credit for this one. It’s all very good, but that’s once again not very surprising.

Production and Set Design - 9/10: Yeah, it’s great. It’s great. Don’t have much to say, other than it might be...too stereotypically Western, if anything. Takes me out of the realism, but who cares? This story’s basically made up anyway!

Music and Editing - 9/10: If I hear “My Darling Clementine” ONE MORE TIME...dear God, it’s so overused in this movie...but it still works. Yeah, even if it’s overused, it still works. Cyril Mockridge isn’t the perfect composer, and his score isn’t perfectly iconic, but it’s still memorable. I’ll never hear that song the same way, anyway. And editor Dorothy Spencer...wait, what? Holy shit, it’s the rare female film editor of the 1940s! And actually...oh, shit, she also edited Stagecoach! How did I not catch that shit? Damn!

Yeah, I think I have! 94%!

I may have my issues with this movie, but it’s still a fantastic film. Never gonna deny that. But I’m actually curious...has this story been represented in a better way than this? Might as well fast-forward and give this another shot, right?

Next: Tombstone (1993); dir. George P. Cosmatos

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Bridging the Gap.

Filmmaker So Yun Um highlights ten underrated Asian American and Pacific Islander films set against the backdrop of America.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has many film lovers seeking to celebrate Asian American cinema. Beyond Minari, Always Be My Maybe and Crazy Rich Asians, there are dozens of films that depict the Asian American experience. In choosing to focus on ten of the lesser-seen, I contemplated the notion of what defines AAPI cinema.

For me, it goes deeper than films that have been directed by, or star, Asian American and Pacific artists. Having watched a wide selection of Asian American films, I can firmly say our cinema, no matter the genre, puts Asian Americans at the forefront on both sides of the camera. I believe the essence of Asian American cinema was born out of resourcefulness, mining themes and ideas that distinctly bridge the gap between Asian and American culture. These films tell stories that explore the vast differences between the two, and the ways in which they coexist, whether comfortably or uncomfortably.

In selecting these ten underrated AAPI films, I searched deep to find stories with uncompromising vision and character; stories about Asians that could only be told within, and against the backdrop of, America. These ten films highlight intimate, distinct and unfiltered experiences mostly unseen at our local multiplexes: family and cultural obligations, generational and cultural gaps, and raw, mostly obscured views of American life.

Chan is Missing (1982) Directed by Wayne Wang, written by Isaac Cronin and Wayne Wang

There would be no Asian American independent cinema without Wayne Wang’s Chan is Missing. Shot on black-and-white film, this striking noir follows Jo, a San Franciscan cab driver, and his nephew, Steve, as they track down the titular Chan after he disappears with their money. Wang’s unpredictable directing career spans neighborhood intrigues, rom-coms and family movies; alongside which, he has kept a strong focus on Asian American stories (he helmed the adaptation of Amy Tan’s generational bestseller, The Joy Luck Club).

In Chan is Missing, for the first time on screen, we get to finally see an “ABC” (American-Born Chinese) story from the source, with an all-access pass to the often misunderstood terrain and people of Chinatown. It’s the tightness of the plot and the authenticity of its characters that make this movie such a classic. Even after 40 years, Chan Is Missing doesn’t feel dated—its laugh-out-loud dialogue (they actually utter the word “FOB”!) and moody tone capture why Chinatown continues to be an enigma. Spoilers: Chinatown runs by its own rules.

Available on DVD via Indiepix Films.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Directed by Justin Lin, written by Ernesto Foronda, Justin Lin and Fabian Marquez

Justin Lin’s directorial debut film is a visionary portrait of Asian Americans that’s still relevant two decades on. Since its release in the early aughts, there has yet to be a film that explores the nuances and complexities of the average Southern-California Asian American teen like this film does. Better Luck Tomorrow focuses on a group of Asian American overachievers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime. It’s loosely based on four Sunny Hills High School students and the real-life murder of Stuart Tay, a teenager from the OC.

With its depiction of overachieving A+ students who are also foul-mouthed, drug-taking kids, this film was the launching pad for many iconic Asian American actors today—Sung Kang from the Fast and Furious franchise, John Cho (Star Trek) and my personal favorite, Jason Tobin, star of the Warrior TV series. (It’s entertaining to see the seeds of the Fast and Furious series planted in this film in the character of Han, played by Sung Kang, before the explosion of the franchise: one of the characters mutters, “Rumors about us came and went fast and furious”—and the rest is history.)

Better Luck Tomorrow still stands as the most iconic film to capture the suburban Asian American teen existence in all its good, bad and ugly light. “I was part of a movement,” Tobin recalled in this GQ oral history of the film, “and it was a culmination of all the battles I had fought before that to get Asian faces on the big screen.”

Available to stream and rent on multiple platforms.

The Grace Lee Project (2005) Directed by Grace Lee

If you’re an Asian American who grew up in California or New York, chances are, you know at least two Grace Lees in your life. But growing up in Missouri, Korean American filmmaker Grace Lee was the only one she knew with her name. She soon discovers that with the name comes a certain stereotype, that of the “good” Asian—quiet, well-behaved and a hard worker. Lee goes on a quest to interview a wide range of women who have the same name and soon discover if this wildly common stereotype is true.

Lee’s witty, autobiographical documentary is effortlessly funny and insightful. The Grace Lee Project dives deep into identity politics to reveal that sometimes, a name is simply a name. This was the start of Grace Lee’s journey as a filmmaker and she continues to be an important voice in not just the documentary space but in narrative stories as well.

Streaming on Kanopy.

Saving Face (2004) Written and directed by Alice Wu

Alice Wu’s Saving Face is a timeless queer love story. Produced by none other than Will Smith (yes, that Will Smith), Saving Face follows a Chinese American lesbian woman and her traditional mother (played by Michelle Krusiec and Joan Chen, respectively) as both battle with their reluctance to go against cultural expectations and reveal their secret loves. It’s part family drama, part rom-com, exploring expectations specific to Asian women across generations.

While most Asian American films focus on familial obligations through the point of view of the children of immigrants, Wu’s film considers the conflicts of both daughter and mother. For Asian Americans, it’s a tale as old as time but with a twist that shows that no matter how old you get, you still have to, unfortunately, fight to be who you are. I also highly recommend Wu’s spiritual sequel, The Half of It, on Netflix.

Streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi, and for rent on various VOD platforms.

In Between Days (‘방황의 날들’, 2007) Directed by So Yong Kim, written by Bradley Rust Gray and So Yong Kim

So Yong Kim’s debut feature, In Between Days, follows Jiseon Kim, a Korean teen immigrant, who falls in love with her best friend while navigating the challenges of living in a new country. Director Kim is a masterful storyteller and captures life as it should be seen: unfiltered and trivial at times, but using the mundane to find cinematic magic.

I like to categorize So Yong Kim’s work as a showcase of extreme intimacy. Her story features painfully delicate characters and moments so real, you’ll wonder how any of these scenes could be fiction. There’s a sense of vulnerability and loneliness that fills the air as Jiseon struggles to assimilate to a new country, replete with toxic relationships, self-sabotage and unrelenting jealousy. So Yong Kim’s work is so painfully real, it hurts to watch.

Available on Kanopy and Amazon.

Ping Pong Playa (2007) Directed by Jessica Yu, written by Jimmy Tsai and Jessica Yu

There are two things that embody countless Asian American men’s experience: their love for basketball, and their love of rap music. Ping Pong Playa covers both, and is exactly the kind of Asian American comedy I’ve been waiting for! Christopher “C-Dub” Wang (played by co-writer Jimmy Tsai) is a wannabe baller and a supreme slacker who has to step up to the plate when his family’s business and ping-pong-champion reputation is on the line. In addition to being centered around an Asian family, the core of the film rivals any other low-brow, underdog sport film.

Laugh-out-loud hilarious, this is Academy-Award-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu’s first narrative feature, following a groundbreaking career full of daring documentaries (her Oscar was for this portrait of writer Mark O’Brien, who spent much of his life in an iron lung). Seeing C-Dub as an NBA-loving slacker turned ping-pong playa felt validating; it showed that even if you’re a lazy and immature Asian, you can always find something to succeed at.

Streaming on Tubi, and for rent on Amazon and iTunes.

In Football We Trust (2015) Directed by Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn

While Salt Lake City, Utah, is seen as predominantly a white Mormon town, it in fact has the largest population of Pacific Islanders in the US mainland, due to the strength of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ proselytizing in the Pacific. The documentary In Football We Trust follows four Polynesian high-school students, as they chase their lifelong dream of attaining professional recruitment. Told in moments of adolescence, the film follows the greatest challenges for these four young men, as they chase their dreams while trying to grow up.

In no time, they’re faced with the harsh reality that just maybe, football isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. As much as their hefty attributes and builds serve as their greatest advantages, these boys’ cultural and familial obligations become both their greatest motivations and, possibly, their downfall. Filmed over the span of four years, first time filmmakers Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn chronicle the NFL hopefuls as they navigate the pressure to balance dreams and family to win a golden ticket out of gang violence and poverty.

Streaming on Kanopy, and for rent on various VOD platforms.

Spa Night (2016) Written and directed by Andrew Ahn

In his directorial debut, Andrew Ahn perfectly captures a specific corner of Los Angeles’ Koreatown. Spa Night’s focus is David, a closeted Korean American teenager who takes a job at a Korean spa to help his struggling family, and then discovers an underground world of gay sex. You may recognize Joe Seo as the goofy bully in the Netflix hit show Cobra Kai, but it’s Spa Night where you can see him truly shine—he won Sundance’s US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance.

Seo delivers a powerfully restrained performance, exploring the burden of hiding your true self from your family. Spa Night is more than a coming out story, it’s also about the broken American dream that so many immigrants experience. Ahn’s direction is finely tuned, honing in on the specificity of Koreatown. It is an acutely queer story of second-gen Asian Americans, where coming out is never really about just you, but also your family.

Streaming on Kanopy, and for rent on various VOD platforms.

Punching at the Sun (2006) Directed by Tanuj Chopra, written by Tanuj Chopra and Hart Eddy

Mameet is young, angry and has always lived in the shadow of his basketball-legend brother, Sanjay. When Sanjay is suddenly killed during a robbery at the family store, Mameet spirals and takes his anger out on anyone and everyone. Coping with loss at a young age is hard enough, but Punching at the Sun mixes in the specific anxieties of being a South-Asian man amidst the backdrop of post-9/11 America. In doing so, the film addresses the difficulty of juggling teenage angst and immigrant identity—Mameet is not afforded the option to express his anger and grief.

Cathartic and emotionally validating, this is a simple yet nuanced slice-of-life story that conveys the heaviness of growing up with the weight of the world on our shoulders. In Mameet’s case, thank goodness, he ultimately shares some of that burden with his comical friends and knit-tight family.

Available to rent on Vimeo.

Meet the Patels (2014) Directed by Ravi Patel and Geeta Patel, written by Ravi Patel, Matthew Hamachek, Billy McMillin, and Geeta Patel

In the romantic documentary Meet the Patels, Ravi Patel is a dutiful first-gen son whose parents are continually nagging him to marry a nice Indian girl. With Ravi's sister Geeta Patel co-directing and co-writing, and his parents in the frame, his film (and true-life story) are indeed a family affair. What starts as his journey to find a wife to make his family happy becomes an enlightening intro to Indian culture and modern love—think dating apps, weddings and a Patel Matrimonial Convention (gotta see it to believe).

Humorous as it is outrageously charming, Meet the Patels ultimately shows the struggles and cultural expectations most immigrant offspring face, on top of the million other obstacles of trying to find your one and only true love in this mad, mad world.

Streaming on various platforms.

Related content

Ten Underrated Asian American & Pacific Islander Films, a Letterboxd list

Best Asian American Films: So Yun Um’s list

Debbie Chang’s comprehensive Asian American film canon list (also features Asian-Canadian, Asian-British and other diaspora)

Bellamy’s list of feature-length films directed by Asian Americans

Follow So on Letterboxd

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bopinion · 3 years

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Album of the month / 2020 / 11 November / Movie Edition

I like listening to music - gladly, all the time, everywhere. That's why I would like to share which music (or which album, after all I'm still from the vinyl generation ;-) I enjoy, accompanies me, slides up my playlists again and again...

Whatever "Best of"-album

James Brown

Rhythm and Blues & Soul / 1956-2002 / Federal Records, Polydor, Universal and many more...

The legendary U.S. comedy show "Saturday Night Live" is not only a career springboard for pretty much every important comedian in the country, but also created a number of characters who started their own lives as spin-offs: Wayne's World, A Night at the Roxbury, MacGruber, The Coneheads and the Blues Brothers. The film about the latter - "Blues Brothers" by John Landis with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi from 1980 - became one of my teenage favorites.

Apart from its own sense of humor (from the Catholic Church to country musicians to Nazis, this movie makes fun of just about everybody and everything), unbelievable destruction orgies (from dozens of police cars to a complete shopping mall - and all this without computer animation) and a cool dress code (black suits, hats and Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses) I was especially impressed by the music, because in the end the movie is a weird musical. While my classmates at the monastery boarding school listened primarily to the current top ten, I discovered a completely different genre for myself. I got the Blues.

Therefore "Blues Brothers" provided a rich selection: Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, of course the Blues Brothers Band - which actually existed with Matt Murphy, Steve Cropper, Donald Dunn, Alan Rubin, Tom Malone, Lou Marini and the two title heroes - and the musical dervish James Brown. As Reverend Cleophus James from Little Rock he celebrated "The Old Landmark". And it just grabbed me by the soul. Fun fact: in contrast to the other performers who recorded their songs in the studio for quality reasons, Brown had to be recorded live, because he was simply incapable of interpreting a song twice in the same way - "Uh!' - Yeah!" - "Mmm!"

"Soul Brother Number One", "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", "Mr. Dynamite", "The Minister of New Heavy Super Funk" and of course "The Godfather of Soul" are some of the titles he became famous with during his almost 50 years of career - and most of them were self-made. And what a career or rather what a songbook Brown has built up: "It's a man's world", "Papa's got a brand new Bag", "Please please please", "Cold Sweat', "Give it up or turn it loose", "Try me", "Get on the good foot", "Super Bad", "I feel good", "Get up offa that thing', "I got the feeling", "(Get up, I feel like a being a) Sex Machine" and much more belong in every music collection. That's why it's hard to decide on an album, because Brown has released over 60 - and these are just the studio albums. This paid off, Rolling Stone lists Brown on rank seven of the 100 greatest artists of all times. And he was among the first ten musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His productivity was not only remarkable in the studio, but also and especially on stage. Up to 300 times a year he gave a show that was not only carried by brilliant music but also by his charismatic stage presence. Brown did not work through a fixed setlist, but was guided by the mood of the audience and his own, which song to play next. Just a small sign for his musicians was often all that was needed to know which song to play next. He communicated not only with the band but also with the audience with the typical "call and response" of gospel: "Do you feel it? - "Yeah!". This stylistic device, interpretations stretched out to minute-long grooves and his dancing talent made a concert with him an experience. None other than Michael Jackson said: "When I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown".

He left many traces until today. "Say it loud: I'm black and proud!": As one of the first African-American musicians who actively stood up for black people's rights in the USA, he is still considered a symbolic figure for black self-confidence. The city of Augusta where he grew up renamed the "Augusta Civic Center" into "James Brown Arena". Cincinnati's mayor declared December 22 as official James Brown Day. With most of the money from his inheritance, estimated at about $200 million, he established a foundation for children in need. From his most important legacy we all have something and it will last forever: his music.

Here is the scene from "Blues Brothers" in which James Brown performs and shows his soul:

https://youtu.be/xbq0OuJtErs

youtube

#music #album #album review #james brown #godfather of soul #Blues #funk #soul #rhythmandblues #blues brothers #saturday night live #rock and roll hall of fame #rolling stone #Youtube

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incorrectbatfam · 4 years

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Writer research as well as personal curiosity: What do you think would have happened to the batkids if they never became the batkids? (Also known as "I'm struggling to know if this fanfic plot is actually plausible and you're my personal wikipedia")

Assuming none of the parents died…

Dick would’ve continued living with John and Mary as they traveled around as the Flying Graysons. He would’ve honed his acrobatic skills, but less in a combat way and more gracefully, like the performer he is. And when he grew up, Dick wouldn’t be a crime fighter or police officer in Bludhaven. He’d branch out, but still stick close to his roots by making a name for himself in the entertainment industry. Perhaps as a stunt actor or daredevil or you name it.

Jason would’ve been stuck growing up in Crime Alley, joining the swathes of children who are failed by the system and labeled delinquent. He wouldn’t have died or been resurrected, but he’d still have done questionable things. Namely, getting involved in Gotham’s underground. Perhaps he would’ve fought his way to the top as a crime lord, or perhaps he’d be forever stuck as a henchman, helping to conspire against the Batman.

Tim would’ve grown up with his cushy childhood. He wouldn’t have investigated Batman or Robin (because the latter didn’t exist). Instead, he would’ve gotten perfect grades at the best schools and put on a mask for the show. He would’ve carried on the Drake family legacy doing exactly as he was supposed to because deviating from it was not an option.

Stephanie would’ve been stuck with her abusive father. She would’ve dealt with the demons at home by herself and acted like everything was okay when surrounded by friends at Gotham High. She would’ve spent her time like a normal teenage girl (that and dealing with her father) rather than chasing down criminals in a homemade costume. And when she became an adult, she’d make her escape. Get into a good college, far away from Gotham City, and start life anew.

Damian would’ve become the exact person that Talia and Ra’s wanted him to be, far away from the throes of modern society. A skilled tactician, genius, perfect weapon. He would’ve inherited the Demon’s title and continued the League’s agenda. From a young age, he’d have entire armies at his beck and call. And if he were to face against Batman, things would not be pretty.

I don’t know enough about Cassandra or Duke, sorry. Anyone who does can do it in the reblogs

Bruce, simply put, would be lonely after his parents’ murders. Despite being genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne by day and the Justice League’s Batman by night, there would always be something missing that not even Alfred could put a finger on. Wayne Manor would be too quiet, too empty without siblings quarreling or pets tracking mud onto the carpet. He’d be isolated in the strange way many A-list celebrities are. God knows how long he could last like that.

(send me a link to the fanfic when you write it)

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monkey-network · 4 years

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My Problems with Mr. Enter

This one’s gonna be a first for the channel. As much as I’m not the type to be talking about other people in detail, permit me if you will, to go on a rant about one of the most infamous youtubers in the cartoon analytical community.

To preface this, yes, I was a fan of Mr. Enter. Even after this post, I’ll say that I at least still have some respect for Enter regardless of his personal viewpoints. Honestly if it weren’t for him, probably wouldn’t have become an analyst myself. Then again, even as a fan, I can say that Enter wasn’t the greatest of youtuber both production wise and his critiques. Also, I understand that most of what I point out is that of his opinions, I’m just pointing out patterns from him that I’ve noticed from him and people’s ire towards him. Less to say, this has been a longtime coming, so let’s not beat around the bush

Negative to Nothing New

I think my biggest gripe with Enter’s philosophy of reviews is that he fell into this annoying well of believing that almost everything in a cartoon needs to be unique, having typical writing cliches and typical writing conventions down-trots the show’s quality for him. And I don’t have a problem with this in theory, I’m not a fan of conventional shows like family sitcoms and I’m only interested if they’re able to put a clever spin on the dynamic like with Bob’s Burgers. But the problem arises when he conveys what a majority can consider an average show as not great over simple tropes. His reviews nowadays feel more like Cinemasins and Lily Orchard where going to twitter and TV tropes is all you need to break down why a show or episode isn’t great.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with this on paper, but it gives off a “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all” mentality that many are no doubt not gonna vibe with because yeah, 100% originality isn’t gonna happen with every show you watch but even then, it always feels like any overused cliches/tropes are a bane to his experience, regardless of context, and has to accentuate that these shows aren’t great because they’re cliched. Like the Mighty B! is annoyingly bad because Bessie is the zany, clumsy goof like Spongebob and many like him or that it’s flash animated. Or the Rise of the TMNT ain’t great because Splinter’s the pathetic slob of a dad like FamGuy. Or 12 Oz. Mouse is bad because of it’s “lazy” style. Of course people aren’t gonna like that you bog ideas down to basics if they’ve seen that there’s more to them.

If there’s one thought I had since his Hey Arnold review, it’s that Enter basically wants every cartoon to be like Hey Arnold or shows he finds on par with it. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I say he shouldn’t be so hard on his tastes to expect every show to not be any derivative of others. I’ve had my doubts on the Owl House and Victor & Valentino, thinking they’re Gravity Falls wannabes, but I’ve come to see them individually and judge them as they are, and I’ve come to like them as they are after a few episodes because reviews should be about seeing where a show finds its own footing. Not everything can live up to the best shows and that’s fine.

Negative to Nothing Admirable

I say he needs to produce more Admirable Animations. Not because I’m sick of him shitting on shows, but I feel he needs to give people more of what he wants from the animation industry. People are slowly turning on him because his negativity outweighs the positivity. Not saying he needs to force it, but I think people have gotten tired of him being spiteful towards things they like while not giving a better perspective on what he likes. Dude only has around 60 videos sharing what he thinks are truly great in his eyes, the 58th and the 57th Admirable video he made are almost a whole year apart. It’s clear he can see the good in some things, his review on ‘The Shell’ from Gumball is one of my favorites from him, but he does it so rarely that people will often overlook it in favor of only seeing him as the pissy cartoon critic.

And yeah, this is coming from a critical nobody that’s mostly tries to review things positively but it’s because I want to see the good of what I’m seeing while acknowledging personal or objective setbacks. When I created ‘The Best’ series, I did it because while I mostly review stuff I enjoyed, I try to share with people what I consider to be universally valuable to me.

Enter needs to take a break from diving into the Atrocities and if it’s difficult exploring the truly good stuff, that is the point. Finding the greatest works imaginable can take plenty of time, especially if you’re not ankle-beez levels of impressionable, but if he’s genuinely serious about being a critic while making his own show as a creator, he needs to make time.

Negative to Nothing Special

I’m not a fan of the idea of a “cartoon community” because I’m alone and evil, but I can see where things have changed since the cartoon community has grown past dogpiling on Teen Titans GO! and thinking The Emoji Movie is worst than the Emu war. In this era, I’d say the community wants to celebrate the good things that are coming out while giving people some insight on obscure media. Enter does the latter, but at the same time you get the feeling unless it’s something he wants to do, he won’t be as into it as we’d believe. I’d say if there’s anything about his whole Nick-O-Ramen marathon it’s that you could see him getting burnt out with it in the latter half during the 2010s era, especially when some of his takes on certain cartoons were not up to code and people were calling him out on it.

Said this before at the time, but he shouldn’t just treat a show as bad because everything about it didn’t click with him, especially when it seems he was making these reviews up as he gone on. He’s entitled to his opinions, but when his takes don’t add up they can either rile up viewers that saw more than what he did or fool people into believing his word. I don’t think all of his reviews were terrible, I honestly found his reviews on Catdog, MvA, and Mr. Meaty to be alright even if the 7 people that like Catdog might disagree. But with his takes on El Tigre, Rise of the TMNT, Tuff Puppy, and Welcome to the Wayne, it mostly sums to trying to blame the show for not being to his liking. Either that or condescendingly trying to say the show was alright, but doesn’t hold up as well. It doesn’t help that he essentially deflected the criticisms down to pure apathy. So when all is said and done, what were we to take away from all those reviews? Basically gave us pencils with no point beyond their existence. Compare this to his critique on Extra Credits, where it honestly felt like he was passionate in those videos. Or again, his Admirable Animation videos where he actually puts effort into sharing why he liked that stuff in particular.

As many I’ve seen said, stuff like his Nick marathon was a little more than he could chew and exposed how much he himself will insincerely generalize for the viewer base, all in bad faith. As a result, it’s tiring. He’s kinda the textbook example of “your face will stick if you frown too long.” You see one angry review from Enter, you practically have seen them all soon enough. Back then, it was alright. Now it’s cliched.

Conclusion

To put this into perspective, I don’t think Mr. Enter is the worst of Youtube; I’ve seen Moviebob and The Unknown Otaku. I don’t agree with some of his views both with fiction and reality, but I’m a big boy that can tolerate other people who aren’t actively terrible. When I get down to it, I feel Mr. Enter is shrouded in negativity and bitterness. Not just from his detractors or the shows he watches, but from a perceived outlook. Maybe it’s because while I’m evil and tired, I’m more optimistic, but I feel Enter needs a change in his critique game. He should put his grounding more into what he enjoys and less of what he needs to dislike because the hate he tries to preach has gotten tired and old at this point. I looked at his vid on Thundercats Roar and I just clicked off after a few minutes. Not because it was terrible, but it honestly was just parroting what other people have said on twitter as it came out. John has put more than enough time into screaming about how bad cartoons and society can be, I just believe showcasing more positive things can not only balance things out, but show people that there’s more to him than his bitching.

I know he won’t see this, but I just wanted to get this off the chest after seeing a 2 hour video on why he sucked a few months ago. And I felt rather than just calling him an erectile atrocity, I’d share my thoughts on Enter as a whole because I feel like he can do better with his content. Again, it’s not that he’s the worst out here, but he needs to stop retreading his old ruts. Dude needs to get out of his shadows.

#mysterious mr enter #mr enter #cartoon community #sorry for the rant n bant #mnky filler

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jasonfry · 3 years

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More classic movies everyone’s seen but me!

They Live By Night (1948)

Bowie and Keechie are doomed young lovers in Nicholas Ray’s debut as a director. A lot of the tropes will be familiar to film noir fans -- you know Bowie and Keechie will never achieve the normal lives they want, and the movie’s ending feels as fixed and inevitable as Shakespearean tragedy, with avenues of escape closing off one by one. But a few elements set it apart. For one thing, there’s the Depression setting, which offers shabby cabins and dusty plains instead of L.A. clubs and streetscapes, and makes “economic anxiety” a real thing -- Bowie and Keechie’s wedding in particular is a tragicomic masterpiece, with the crooked justice of the peace subtracting elements based on the couple’s budget. The movies also draws power from the chemistry between Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell, which feels natural in a very stylized film, sometimes to the point of feeling intimate bordering on uncomfortable. (Howard Da Silva is terrific in a supporting role as the terrifying hood Chicamaw.)

Ray was given free rein as director, and They Live By Night has an experimental air that would prove highly influential, from the tricky opening helicopter shot to an inside-the-car sequence whose legacy you can see in Gun Crazy. Then there’s its rather odd unveiling: The movie was shelved for two years after it was shot, but circulated through private showings in Hollywood and became a favorite, with Granger tapped by Alfred Hitchcock for Rope and Humphrey Bogart offering Ray a lifeline as a director. They Live By Night isn’t a great entry point for film noir newbies, but will be interesting for fans of the genre.

Robert Altman remade this movie as Thieves Like Us, returning to the title of the novel that Ray adapted; that version is also on my list.

Under the Volcano (1984)

John Huston enjoyed tackling supposedly unfilmable projects late in life, following his adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood with this take on a 1947 novel by Malcolm Lowery. Albert Finney is wonderful as a drunken, self-destructive British diplomat, and there’s an undeniable pull to the movie -- I saw it a couple of weeks ago and can’t quite shake its suffocating mood of mild delirium. But it’s so, so bleak -- before you try it, make sure you’re up for two hours of unease and dread.

Silverado (1985)

I saw Silverado as a teenager, but came back to it recently because as a kid I’d barely seen any westerns and so had no idea what the movie was celebrating or looking to revisit. Seen through more experienced eyes, Silverado is most interesting because it isn’t revisionist at all -- with the exception of a couple of modern tweaks to racial attitudes, it could have been made in the same period as the movies writer/director Lawrence Kasdan is saluting.

Anyway, Kevin Kline and Linda Hunt are wonderful leads, as is Brian Dennehy as the sheriff who’s put his conscience aside, and virtually everybody you remember from mid-80s movies shows up at one point or another. It’s a lot of fun, at least until the movie runs out of steam in the second half and turns into a series of paint-by-numbers gunfights. The final running battle particularly annoyed me: Kasdan has had ample time to show us the layout of the town of Silverado, which would let us think alongside the heroes as they stalk and are stalked through its handful of streets, but his ending is random gags and shootouts, with no sense of place. Stuff just happens until we’re out of stuff.

Compare that with, say, Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. Peter Jackson takes his time establishing everything from the geography of the fortress to the plan to defend it, and as a result we always know where we are during the battle and what each new development means for the heroes. That kind of planning might have made Silverado a modern classic instead of just a fun diversion.

My Brilliant Career (1979)

Judy Davis stars (opposite an impossibly young Sam Neill) as Sybylla Melvyn, a young Australian woman determined to resist not just her family’s efforts to marry her off but also the inclinations of her own heart. Sybylla is a wonderful character, a luminous, frizzy-haired bull in a china shop of convention, and she’s riveting in every scene. (Neill’s job is to look alternately hapless and patient, which he does well enough -- a fate that’s perfectly fair given the generations upon generations of actresses who have been stuck with the same role.) Extra points for Gillian Armstrong’s direction, which consistently delivers establishing shots you want to linger on without being too showy about them, and for sticking with an ending that, Sybylla-style, bucks movie expectations.

(This is an adaptation of Miles Franklin’s 1901 autobiographical novel, which I now want to read. Franklin also wrote a book called All That Swagger, which is such a great title that I’m happy just thinking about it.)

Red River (1948)

A friend recommended this movie -- the first collaboration between Howard Hawks and John Wayne -- after reading my take on Rio Bravo. And I’m glad he did: Wayne is terrific as Tom Dunson, a hard-driving rancher whose cattle drive to Missouri becomes an obsession that leads him into madness, and he’s evenly matched with Montgomery Clift, who’s his son in all but name.

Dunson begins as the movie’s hero and gradually morphs into its villain, with Wayne letting us see his doubts and regrets and also his inability to acknowledge them and so steer himself back to reality. Clift, making his debut as Matt Garth, is solid in a more conventional role (he looks eerily like Tom Cruise), and Walter Brennan happily chews scenery as Wayne’s sidekick and nagging conscience.

And there’s a lot of scenery to chew -- it’s wonderful to watch the herd in motion, particularly in a shot from over Brennan’s shoulder as the cattle cross a river -- and Hawks brings a palpable sense of dread to the nighttime scenes as things start to go wrong.

I would have liked Red River more if I hadn’t already seen Rio Bravo, though. Brennan plays the exact same role in that movie as he does here, Clift’s character is very similar to Ricky Nelson’s, and Hawks even nicked a melody from Red River to reuse 11 years later. (Hawks was a serial recycler -- he essentially remade Rio Bravo twice.)

A more fundamental problem is that Red River falls apart when Hawks jams Tess Millay into the story. We’re introduced to Tess, played by Joanne Dru, when Clift intervenes to save a wagon train besieged by Apaches, and her nattering at Clift during a gunfight is so annoying that I was hoping an arrow would find its mark and silence her. (She is hit by an arrow, but it only makes her talk more.)

Tess then falls for Clift, who seems mostly befuddled by her interest but blandly acquiesces. This is funny for a number of reasons: Beyond some really dopey staging, Clift’s love interest is pretty clearly a cowboy played by John Ireland and given the unlikely name of Cherry Valance. Their relationship is a bit of gay subtext that wouldn’t need much of a nudge to become text. Tess goes on to annoy Wayne in an endless scene that exists to forklift in a klutzy parallel with the movie’s beginning, and then shows up at the end to derail the climax in an eye-rolling fashion that leaves everyone involved looking mildly embarrassed. (Dru does the best she can; none of this is her fault.)

I was left wondering what on earth had happened, so I read up and discovered that -- a la Suspicion -- the ending was changed, destroying a logical and satisfying outcome penned by Borden Chase. Tess is a hand-wave to bring about that different ending, a bad idea executed so poorly that it wrecks the movie. Give me a few weeks and I’ll happily remember all the things Red River does right, from those soaring vistas to Wayne’s seething march through Abilene. But I’ll also remember how the last reel took an ax to everything that had been built with such care.

#movies #storytelling

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amarilloinfo · 3 years

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Top Six Attractions In The Amarillo Area

Amarillo is located on the south coast of Texas, right beside San Antonio. It is a vibrant community with a very interesting history. Before the US Army Corps of Engineers even occupied the area, there was already a rich history in the area. Some of the famous people that came to enjoy the beautiful scenery and the warm hospitality are Spanish pioneers, Chinese immigrants, Indian pioneers, gold miners, and a variety of cowboys.

A quick trip to downtown Amarillo will reveal a whole spectrum of colorful visitors. You will see the Mexican flag proudly fluttering atop a grand old landmark, the Bank Of America Building, which was destroyed during the OK Corral burning. If you love the western movies, this is where John Wayne came from. If you love rodeo, you can find old western saloons like the Old Stagecoach, Old Town Square, and the Corral Bluegrass Club. The City of Sun City offers tourists a variety of entertainment venues, including the famous Amado's restaurant and the world-famous Amado Tractor Co.

If you are a cowgirl at heart, you will love to rub shoulders with the great rodeo celebrities of the Southwestern part of the state. Among the most notable are former First Lady Hillary Clinton and her rodeo enthusiast daughter, Chelsea. Riding along the famous Yellowstone Way is a must for any cowgirl. Not far from the town of Amarillo, you can go horseback riding on The Arizona Trail. The famous Weminuche Wilderness Center allows visitors to tour the old world mining areas of the past. Visitors may even get a chance to ride the legendary Halter Mountain Copper Roller.

For an old-fashioned taste of southern Californian culture, you should tour the Old Pueblo Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. In the center, you will find the only surviving camp of the Pueblo Indians, which still operates today. This historical museum allows visitors to learn about the daily life of the Pueblo Indians, including their culture, music and dance. The museum also features the only hotel in Pueblo history, The Pueblo Winery and Ranch, which tours and educates visitors about the Spanish-American West and the lifestyle of the Pueblo Indians.

Driving around the heart of the city, you will come across several other spectacular stops. One of the stops that you should not miss is the National Trust Museum. Built as a national park, the museum showcases American Indian artifacts, such as ladders, drums and pottery. Another interesting stop is the historic Hotelito de San Carlos, which serves as the headquarters of the International Ranch Association. In addition to the hotel and museum, the I-40 Trail runs through the heart of Amarillo. The trail covers six miles of the beautiful Pueblo National Forest and provides spectacular views of the majestic mesas and canyon walls.

A few miles east of the town of Amarillo, you will encounter two interesting sights. Hidden within the pine brush Mesa are the ruins of what was, for many years, the U.S. Military Academy. Although the academy no longer exists, you can still take advantage of its location. To the southwest are the ruins of the old Chiricahua Indian ranches, which contain hundreds of ancient pine trees.

If you are interested in learning more about the history of the Amarillo area, you should drive or bike to the Pine Street Inn & Spa, which are nestled in the heart of the pine brush Mesa. You will find a cozy, authentic atmosphere as well as a relaxing, nature-based treatment. The Inn offers a complimentary breakfast each morning and a delicious menu of warm & spicy breakfast, sandwiches, freshly made juice, and vegetarian cuisine. It's also a great place to visit with your family, as it offers many walking paths around the grounds.

Other attractions in the Amarillo area include the Bobcat Herd, which can only be reached by driving one way. This herd of cattle follows a natural path through the tall grasses of the Amarillo area, which includes ancient cedars and cypress trees. The Herd travels all around the town of Amarillo, which is also the location of the Bobcat Herd Home, which offers visitors the chance to learn more about the history of the cowboy culture that dominated the state of Texas. While in the Amarillo area, you can also check out the Museum of Contemporary Art, which features modern and traditional paintings, photographic images, and other art forms.

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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years

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MILTON BERLE

July 12, 1908

Milton Berle was born Milton (Mendel) Berlinger in New York City on July 12, 1908. He started performing at the age of five. He perfected his comedy in vaudeville, early silent films, and then on radio, before taking his act to the small screen, where he would be proclaimed “Mr. Television” and later “Uncle Miltie.” He hosted “Texaco Star Theater” on NBC from 1948 to 1956. The variety show was re-titled "The Milton Berle Show” in 1954 when Texaco dropped their sponsorship. The program was briefly revived in 1958, but lasted only one season. One of his classic bits was to dress in drag.

Berle won two Emmy Awards in 1950 for Most Kinescoped Personality and Best Kinescope show - a category that only existed in 1950. Here they are used as set dressing for his office on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1959. Desilu also reproduced his TV Guide cover from earlier in the year. The caricature is by Al Hirschfeld. Berle received an honorary Emmy in 1979 engraved “Mr. Television”.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared on “The Milton Berle Show” on February 22, 1949, although Berle was out sick, replaced by Walter O’Keefe, delaying a Berle and Ball collaboration until 1950, when Berle hosted “Show of The Year: Cerebral Palsy Telethon” on June 10 and Lucy and Desi were guests. In the decade that followed, Berle (on NBC) and Ball (on CBS) both became the biggest stars of television.

Like Lucille Ball, Uncle Miltie had his own comic book! This is the first issue dated December 1950.

Ball and Berle returned for a second season of their respective TV shows in 1952, sharing the cover of this regional TV Guide.

Lucille Ball was atop the TV totem pole on the cover of this April 1953 TV Guide while Milton Berle stands on the shoulders of Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar, flanked by the Texaco gas pump and holding a jester’s staff. This was only the third National issue and the second to feature Lucille Ball.

‘Mr. Television’ and ‘The Queen of Comedy’ finally came together in 1959 on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” episode “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (LDCH E11). Berle plays himself, promoting his new novel “Earthquake”. As the above photo shows, Berle does his drag act while hiding out to finish his next book. That same year, Lucy and Milton both participated in a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt on her Diamond Jubilee. It was broadcast on NBC.

Also in 1959, Lucy and Desi returned the favor by appearing on “Sunday Showcase: The Lucy-Desi Milton Berle Special” on NBC. The special was set in Las Vegas and the Arnaz’s played the Ricardos.

In December 1965, shortly after Lucy Carmichael moved to Los Angeles on “The Lucy Show,” “Lucy Saves Milton Berle” when she thinks he has taken to drink. Berle (playing himself) is doing research for a movie, and tells Lucy that the drunk she saw was actually his brother Arthur!

In payback, Lucille Ball appears on the first episode of Berle’s new variety show, “The Milton Berle Show” on September 9, 1966. The show only lasts one season.

A few weeks later, once again trading appearances, Milton Berle does a brief wordless cameo in “Lucy and John Wayne” on “The Lucy Show.”

Two seasons later, Lucy Carmichael will again meet Milton Berle for the first time in "Lucy Meets the Berles”. This time, however, she meets both Milton and his wife, Ruth Cosgrove Berle, who also plays herself.

On “Here’s Lucy,” Berle finally gets to play a character different than himself as used car dealer Cheerful Charlie in a November 1969 installment that also features his real-life brother Jack (right).

For the opening of season 24 of “The Ed Sullivan Show” Ed hosts the ‘Georgie Awards’ for Entertainer of the Year, from Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. Lucille Ball and Milton Berle are on hand to present awards.

“The 23rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” were broadcast on NBC on . May 9, 1971. Lucy attended the Awards with her husband Gary, her daughter Lucie, and her son-in-law Phil Vandervoort. Milton Berle was also in attendance.

“Zenith Presents: A Salute to Television’s 25th Anniversary” on September 10, 1972, brought together many of the most popular names of early broadcasting and included classic film clips, kine-scopes, video tape segments, and the personal memories of those who were a vital part of entertainment history. Naturally this included Ball, Berle, and Hope.

In late 1973, the Friars Club celebrated presented “A Show Business Salute To Milton Berle”. Sammy Davis Jr. hosted with guests Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Kirk Douglas, Red Foxx, and Carol O’Connor.

A few months later, Berle made his only appearance on “Here’s Lucy” (once again playing himself) in “Milton Berle is the Life of the Party”. Lucy Carter bids on Berle’s appearance on a telethon in order to enliven one of her dreary parties.

When “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast” feted Lucille Ball in 1975, Milton Berle was one of the many colleagues on hand to roast and toast the Queen of Comedy.

While America was celebrating its bicentennial in 1976, the National Broadcast Corporation was celebrating 50 years in show business with “NBC: The First 50 Years.” Naturally, “Mr. Television” (an NBC star) and Lucille Ball (then very associated with CBS) were there to mark the occasion. A few days later, CBS honored Lucille Ball for a quarter century of television with “CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years”. Berle hopped over to the Tiffany Network to help pay tribute.

Less than a month later, Lucy and Milton were back on “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast” to rib their mutual friend Danny Thomas, who spent time on both NBC and CBS during his career.

On March 26, 1978, Lucille Ball, Joey Bishop, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, Angie Dickinson, Kirk Douglas, Jim Henson, Bob Hope, Gabe Kaplan, Gene Kelly, Donny and Marie Osmond, Gregory Peck, and Carl Reiner were all on hand for “A Tribute to Mr. Television, Milton Berle”.

Lucy and Milton were back in Vegas for yet another “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast” to honor actor Jimmy Stewart in 1979.

In 1980, Lucy and Miltie were present for “Sinatra: The First 40 Years” at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas.

“Bob Hope’s 30th Anniversary Television Special” on January 18, 1981, was a retrospect of Bob Hope’s first 30 years on TV. Celebrating with Bob are guests Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Danny Thomas, George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., and many others.

Milton Berle (in drag) joined Lucille Ball for “Bob Hope’s Women I Love - Beautiful But Funny” on February 28, 1982. Other than Bob, Milton was the only other biological male in the show!

Appropriately, Milton Berle and Lucille Ball were among the first inductees into “The First Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Awards” on March 4, 1984. Steve Allen introduces Berle while Carol Burnett does the honors for Ball.

That same year “Bob Hope’s Unrehearsed Antics of the Stars”. Ball tells Hope about her disastrous audition for Gone With the Wind.

Berle and Ball (now an NBC employee) are there for the special “Bob Hope Buys NBC?” in 1985. Former President Gerald Ford also makes an appearance!

As President of the Friars Club, Milton Berle was present for most all of their events, including their tribute to Gene Kelly in late 1985. Lucille Ball and Gary Morton also attending the honoring.

Lucille Ball was a presenter at “The 38th Primetime Emmy Awards” on September 21, 1986. Milton Berle was also in attendance.

The final performance of Lucille Ball on television was in “Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years at NBC” on May 16, 1988. She sang “Comedy is No Joke”. Milton Berle was also in attendance.

For the “AFI Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Jack Lemmon” on March 10, 1988 The audience is full of celebrity friends, including including Lucille Ball and Milton Berle.

“The Princess Grace Foundation Special Gala Tribute to Cary Grant” on October 19, 1988. Lucille Ball attends with her husband, Gary Morton. Milton Berle is also there.

This would be the last time Ball and Berle shared the same television marquee. Lucille Ball died six months later. A week before her passing, Ruth Cosgrove Berle died. In 1991, he married again to Lorna Adams. They remained married until Milton Berle died of colon cancer in 2002 at age 93.

“I live to laugh, and I laugh to live.” ~ Milton Berle

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sagebodisattva · 4 years

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The Universe Doesn’t Give a Shit About You

You know, one thing that has become seriously irritating nowadays, is this whole “the universe is doing something for you” shtick, that’s apparently become the latest favorite new age meme, currently making it’s rounds on the internets. Take a look at this stuff.

(A variety of examples are shown.)

And that’s just a small sampling. And this isn’t just a case of a few isolated incidents. This type of sentiment is everywhere now; seemingly having become all the rage among many aspiring spiritual truth seekers.

“Depressed? Cheer up. The universe is horny for you!”

By first appearances, making references to the universe seems to reflect a more scientifically based position, although, I don’t think these seekers really mean it in a scientific way. Essentially, these new age universe worshippers are just former theists, who probably finally realized the complete absurdity of that position, and so now, have shifted their heels over to pantheism; that is, a doctrine which identifies god with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of god; which is basically a veneration of nature. And, as we all know, mother nature is pretty much a cold, predatory, discriminating bitch; so I’m not sure why anyone would associate nature with a benevolent god.

I know, god loves you so much, he allows evil to rack you to the core on purpose. It’s a test, right? It’s all part of his divine plan. God just wants to see if you will curse his name when he makes times get incredibly tough. It’s a Job type of deal. He’s forcing you into a position of struggle and suffering, all so he can wage a bet with the devil over whether or not you will be disobedient. Isn’t that just so cool of him? Now you get to show god just how loyal and subservient you are to him, despite all the abuses he hurls at you! That’s such an enviable position! The one true god loves you so much, he tortures you as a demonstration of just how much you worship and obey him. That’s what love is. And just think of how lucky you are! He picked *you* as a guinea pig in his twisted self aggrandizing experiment! He chose YOU! This would make such a great reality TV show!

Heaven and Hell productions, presents...

“The God Fucks Me Factor.”

Ah yes, it would be, so nice. Because god takes great pride in your blind obedience, you know. And he’s a very jealous god, if you can believe it. So what’s going on inside your head is of supreme importance him! You must think that you believe in him, then confess it with thy lips, and then go down, and perform some lip service on the godhead. You should show great pride in being a slave. It’s a feather in god’s cap. And now, can be more fully realized with the advent of pantheism. It’s theism, with a pan. It’s pantheism.

Famous 17th century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza was really captivated by the idea of pantheism, and his many philosophical contemplations on the subject is largely responsible for ushering the position into modern day prominence. Pantheists do not celebrate a distinct personal or anthropomorphic god, but rather, accept all gods into worship, because they view god as everything. An ideological stance that can become quite problematic, to say the least.

Throughout history, pantheism has been a belief system that, in one form or another, tended to be the most common default faith practice among the many various indigenous peoples from around the globe. It’s the same ideologic methodology that the pagans of Europe used to practice; that is, before Rome came along and forced Christianity deep down into every person’s every available orifice. And you should always keep this historical fact in the forefront of your mind. Your Abrahamic belief system is the result of a Roman soldier raping someone’s great great great great grandma and grandpa with a big middle eastern theological strap-on dildo. Don’t you ever forget that. Your whole modern day spiritual life was originally founded on a theological psych-rape. Your precious sacred religion was passed down to you through your family being raped. And it’s no coincidence that Rome, an arrogant empire dead-set on conquering the entire world, found Christianity to be quite compatible with their grandiose ambitions. And that should tell you something about the core fabric of the Abrahamic cult religions.

So, pantheists believe that god is everything. All inclusive, with no exceptions. No standards or filter necessary. This includes every kind of concept; even the stupid ideas and majestic fantasies, floating around inside our heads. And this also includes every kind of object or person to have ever existed, no matter who or what they are. This means they are ALL god, whether it be a virus, a parasite or an infectious bacteria, whether it be a machine gun, cocaine or a dildo, whether John Wayne Gacy, the unabomber or Adolf Hitler, they are all but different forms of an ambiguous enigmatic god! He’s so complex, you can’t even fathom him. He’s got value and purpose so profoundly beyond your puny logic, you can’t even question him.

And not only is every kind of object or person a manifestation of god, but guess what? With pantheism, ALL the different gods, are god as well. It’s not that some gods are valid, and some gods are not, or that maybe all gods are completely full of shit, no! In fact, it actually quite the opposite, I’m afraid. Now, all different gods are actually the one same god. Every so called “god” is graciously welcomed into pantheism with open arms. Whether Yahweh, Zeus, Horace, or the great honorable bull testicle god, all of them are just different manifestations of the one same god!

Yeah. You know, when it gets right down to it, I don’t have any issue with the whole “god is everything”, bullshit, but, uh, to say the least, I think these concepts might be just a little *too* inclusive for most of the population’s tastes. They’re simply not palatable to their delicate tongue’s tender sensibilities, and they therefor much more prefer to perform oral worship on a single god head. Who am I to stop them?

But the concept of a universe is just so much better then a god, isn’t it? Yeah. It’s a better false substitution. The idea of the universe as a higher power is more soothing then the idea of a god as a higher power. This particular surrogate for the truth is just so much more secure and comforting. But in the end, it’s the same exercise. The idea that something ELSE in the field of perception is the responsible agent. In fact, most of this pantheism business just seems to be a matter of replacing the word “god” with the word “universe”, and calling this a new ideological position. Are you confused? Well, worry not! I will gladly give you a little taste, and bestow upon you three prime examples.

Quote:

“Never trust anyone completely but God. Love people, but put your full trust only in God.”

Lawrence Welk.

Nice. Which now becomes:

“Never trust anyone completely but the universe. Love people, but put your full trust only in the universe.”

Quote:

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Sweet. But could also be stated:

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is the universe’s handwriting.”

Quote:

“Man has to start with something and then develop it - he cannot ever make anything from nothing, only God can do that, and call forth the creation.”

Margaret Weston.

Awesome. But let’s not overlook:

“Man has to start with something and then develop it - he cannot ever make anything from nothing, only the universe can do that, and call forth the creation.”

See how it works? Just about any dialogue about god could still hold water when replacing the word “god” with “the universe.” So it’s really not all that much of a novel position. It’s just a convenient one-size-fits-all philosophical cure-all. An ideological placebo. And I’m not one who is much impressed by Dues Ex philosophy, which is what any type of theology basically is, including pantheism.

For those of you not familiar with the term, “Dues Ex”, it is derived from the term “Dues Ex Machina”, a Greek phrase, which translated means, “a god from a machine”, and is usually employed as a literary device, wherein an explicitly complex seemingly intractable problem in a plot narrative is suddenly inexplicably solved by the addition of an unexpected character, object or situation. Think the eagles coming to save Frodo from uncertain doom in the fiery volcano of Mordor. Basically, it’s a cheap fast way to tie up the loose ends of a difficult quandary. It’s ideological laziness, and quite frankly, has no place in philosophy, in much the same way that theism has no place in philosophy.

And by the way, speaking of the “a god from the machine” thought experiment, it reminds me that, when it comes to gods and machines and ghosts and men, philosophers have gotten the whole thing all wrong all along. A god may emerge from a machine, but if it does, bear in mind that both the god and the machine are equally sourced from the pure mind. And this is the part people just can’t seem to understand. Though-out history, philosophers have always deeply contemplated the idea of “a ghost in the machine”, but that’s because most philosophers think they are a physical creature living in a physical environment. But it’s a huge lie. There is no ghost in the machine. What you actually have, is a machine in the ghost; as, there is no such thing as physicality, and a “deterministic mechanical universe”, is just an abstraction. What you call “physicality”, is a denser mental state; and to attribute this mind-space into an idea of objective locality is just plain falsehood. It’s just plain wrongheaded.

And it doesn’t matter if you include the “self”, as god, because this “self”, is still an attribution. The egoic character that you’ve associated an identity with, isn’t a self, so this is still in the same realm of falsehoods. Illusion is everything on the screen of perception; including the physical body, and all it’s supposed psycho-biological properties. Wherein is any universe?

So that’s pantheism; which, I’m not all that partial towards, due to it’s attributional psychology, which shares the same central backbone as orthodox religion. Why would it be any different with pantheism? The responsibility is still elsewhere, hence the power is elsewhere also; so it matters not that you’ve replaced an anthropological deity with celestial chemistry. Same excrement, different poop chute. And that’s the same reason why, that if a truth seeker were to take a purely scientific position considering the universe, it wouldn’t be all that much different then a theist or a pantheist viewpoint.

“How’s that?”

That’s right, Charlie. As previously stated, a purely cosmological scientific viewpoint; that is, the idea of the universe as some grand cosmic physical context of exterior space consisting of a mixture of different objects and chemistries, is just that: an idea. In other words, also completely full of shit. There is no “universe”, existing, anywhere. And that’s why, the universe doesn’t give it a shit about you. There’s no vibrating strings out there governing some law of attraction that brings forth metaphysical emergent properties when you energetically match a frequency. No. What you really have, is just an IDEA of a universe, which is not really located in a space-time continuum, but, only imagined as a location in a mind-space continuum.

If you can understand this basic fundamental, then you may have finally grasped one of the basic truths of reality.

#philosophy #Universe #signs #pantheism #pantheist #Baruch Spinoza #God

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missholson · 4 years

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SHIP HISTORY MEME

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’ fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Tagged by the sweet @unwillingadventurer, thank you girls! <3

Hoffmann & Tennstedt (Das Boot) The baby face & the stone face. :) The biggest reason for this series is my sister, who tried to lure me into the fandom already last summer by showing the first episode. Sadly it was a far too distressing experience. The story is about a WW2 German warfare, so it isn’t very light entertainment for Saturday night. The show seemed like a worth watching production, though, but I doubted if I could ever watch it completely. After visiting Berlin now in February 2020 there was no hesitation anymore. The story focuses on the Nazi German submarine, U-612, and the occupied city of La Rochelle in France. However, not everything is as black and white as one might expect. One of the biggest messages of the show is that war is always brutal, no matter which side you fight. The innocent are always suffering. It also shows how the ideal thoughts of warfare crumble, if it comes at the cost of greed, deception, health or life. There is disagreement among the leaders on boat, too. The new commander, kaleun Klaus Hoffmann, is young and inexperienced but kind-hearted and wise. Next on the scale, IWO Karl Tennstedt, is an experienced sailor and an glory-seeking soldier, who envies Hoffamann's position. He regards Hoffmann as incompetent and a disgrace to Germany. So, there is plenty of tension between these two!

Louis & Philippe (Versailles) I started watching the show sometime in 2015, but found it quite distasteful. It was more brutal than expected, and I was overwhelmed by people's greed and dirty behavior, so I stopped watching after a few episodes. Every now and then I saw pics/gifs on Tumblr, especially of Monsieur and Chevalier, that I finally wanted to give another chance in January 2020. This time the experience was the opposite, and I got a better grip on the story. I was surprised how little I liked the popular Monchevy pair and, instead, so much the quarreling brothers. I was very moved when they joked with each other and showed brotherly love. In the scenes of conflict, I missed their compassion. I haven't watched the rest of seasons 2-3 yet, so I don't know if they get better. I hope so because together they would be a powerful duo.

Matt & Cherry (Red River) I had recorded Red River (1948) on my set-top box, and the closing date was expiring in December 2018. It was Montgomery Clift’s breakthrough movie, so it was a must see. The movie was a refreshingly different western, where the hero is not a macho cowboy and John Wayne a bad guy for a change. But most of all, I was amazed how Cherry Valance's behavior towards Matt Garth was so heavily double entendre. At first they are presented as challengers and opponents of each other. Slowly Cherry starts to show admiration for Matt, and increasingly talks about his gun. In return, Matt needs Cherry's shooting skills to herd cattle. Eventually they become each other's trusted ones. I always find it fascinating, if tension begins to develop between the opposing characters. If the story has a couple that doesn't change, develope or lacks dynamics, it probably won't arouse interest.

Fritz & Dr. Frankenstein (Frankenstein) I had seen a Tumblr gif of Renfield crawling in Dracula (1931) in August 2018. It was Dwight Frye’s breakthrough role. The movie inspired me to watch other Universal monster movies, of which Frankenstein (1931) became my favorite. The work pair of the story, these two outcasts of society, melted my heart. For unexplained reason they have joined their forces and seem to be working well together. They have a mutual partnership, where they can act naturally without fear. Their work is unique, e.g. digging the graves or snatching hanged bodies, but they treat it like any other dayily job. Somehow, I like this way of approach. Actually I have written about Fritz already earlier, where I take a closer look at their relationship. The text can be read here.

Adrian & Antony (Sebastiane) Well, this couple is a specialty of its own. They are another ones found through Tumblr. I saw a picture of them in June 2018 which led me to watch the film. In terms of story or acting, it's not a very special movie but technically professional level. First of all, it was shot under the blazing Sicilian sun on 35 mm film. The light is a vital factor when using a film camera, so the pictures look very rich. The scenes, where these two are having fun together in slow motion, are breathtaking. I had never seen anything like it before and, in my opinion, stole all the attention of the story since they were just characters in supporting roles. It was like a gay paradise on earth. Here I realize the importance in the way how the characters are presented. The technical presentation can play a surprisingly huge role when we try to read and understand the characters. It can influence us either to share their thoughts or to move even further away from them. Bonus points I give for Latin, which the entire cast is speaking in the film. I would also like to clarify that this is not a p**n movie or a family movie either. It’s a gay erotic story with some full frontal nudity.

Reinhold & Conrad I’m not sure if this is a ship or fandom, but I feel extreme warmth and joy for this pair (the Berlin trip may have something to do with this). They are also the only people from real life instead of characters. I’d like to share my story about them, unfortunately it's very long (I've never been a fluent writer) but explains my interest in more detail. I got to know Conrad Veidt already in high school at the turn of the millennium, the time before DVDs. Near the school there was a buy-sell-exchange movie shop, where my sister and I visited regularly. Somehow we ended up with the idea that we wanted to see The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), so we went to the store again. There was no copy, as expected, but the seller said he would keep in mind if one came up. Months passed and after a long break we visited our regular place again. This time, the man had news for us: he had received a copy and kept it in safe for us. We couldn’t believe our eyes and ears. First of all, the kindness of the man made us speechless, and secondly, we never thought we would get our own copy of such popular rarity. At that time movies were not re-released as often as they are today. It was a VHS cassette, bw, not tinted like the original version, and its quality was far from the 4K richness and sharpness. My sister still has the tape and is one of the treasures she will never give away. For years the film was the only Conrad movie we saw, along with Casablanca - until the digital age and the social media arrived. Again I have to thank Tumblr, where I found the actor Anton Walbrook. One of his most famous films, Viktor und Viktoria (1933), is directed by Reinhold Schünzel, whom I knew from Conrad's film Different from the Others (1919). I began to study Reinhold's background more closely in December 2017, and it turned out that he is a forgotten multi-talent in the film industry: He was a versatile performer in comedies and dramas, a prolific director and an idea-rich screenwriter. He had an eye for creating stories that were told in the minds of people in addition to acting and lines. He questioned gender roles and built juicy plot twists around them. He loved theater and was a popular celebrity in 1920’s Germany. He was also a colleague and friend of Conrad. They began their film careers at the same time in Richard Oswald's films, shared the ups and downs, even their wardrobe, and reached fame. Eventually they both had to emigrate from the national socialist Germany, so their paths parted. The following reunions were always a joy, “like the meeting of comrades who fought in many wars together”. Reinhold was supposed to direct Conrad’s first film at MGM in Hollywood, but the plans were changed. They never got to work together since the German years, when Conrad died suddenly. “Part of my life is gone forever”, as Reinhold wrote in his tribute to Connie's death in 1943. He returned to Germany in the end of 1940s and died in Munich in 1954. This is why they are so precious to me and why I find it important to share the memory of these two lifelong friends. The picture is from Eerie Tales (1919), one of their earliest movies together with the director: Reinhold, Richard and Conrad. Reinhold’s full tribute can be read here.

I’m tagging: @wohlbruecks, @perfides-subjekt, @kennyboybarrett, @chapinfan69, @electricnormanbates, @ars-historia-est, @suchamiracle-does-exist and anyone who likes to do it. Would you like to share your stories behind your otps? :)

#tag post #ship history meme #ships & fandoms #personal #many thanks for posting this #unwillingadventurer #this was so much fun to do #it gave a much needed break to the situation we are living atm #i guess that’s why the text became so long sorry for that #i had to write it in finnish first #in order to get a proper structure #these are my current ships/fandoms #bbc sherlock & johnlock was the reason i ever started on here #own post

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