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justforbooks · 1 year

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Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Japanese musician whose remarkably eclectic career straddled pop, experimentalism and Oscar-winning film composition, has died aged 71.

As a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra alongside Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto created joyous and progressive electronic pop in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside solo releases. He acted alongside David Bowie in the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and composed its celebrated theme, the first in a series of film scores including Oscar-winning work in 1987 with David Byrne and Cong Su for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor.

Sakamoto had twice been diagnosed with cancer. In 2014, he took a year off from music as he recovered from throat cancer, describing the illness as “the most harsh, physically painful time in my life”.

In January 2021, he announced he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer, saying: “From now on, I will be living alongside cancer. But, I am hoping to make music for a little while longer.”

He was born in Tokyo in 1952, and began taking piano lessons aged six, later attending Tokyo University of the Arts to study music. He trained on early synthesizers, and enthused by everything from Debussy to Kraftwerk, began working on various musical projects, including with Hosono and Takahashi. After Sakamoto released his 1978 solo debut, Thousand Knives – playing melodies that harked back to traditional Japanese music on electronic equipment – the trio realised their vision for a Japanese disco-pop group, Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO).

The group became a huge success in Japan – in 1980, two of their albums stayed at No 1 and No 2 in the charts for seven weeks, and they had seven Top 5 albums during their career. “Accidentally the three of us became very popular,” he remembered in 2018. “Walking the street in Tokyo, people pointed at me. I hated it.”

Their English-language lyrics helped them cross over into the US, where they appeared on the TV show Soul Train, and their electronic production influenced early hip-hop and electro scenes. Michael Jackson covered their song Behind the Mask and intended to include it on Thriller, but a royalties disagreement prevented it.

Their track Computer Game was also a Top 20 hit in the UK. YMO went on hiatus in 1984, though occasionally reunited for releases and reunion concerts.

Alongside YMO, Sakamoto continued releasing solo albums including 1980’s B-2 Unit, another influence on the robotically funky sound of electro that also foreshadowed other dance music styles. After focusing purely on solo work, he forged further connections in the west, collaborating with musicians including Iggy Pop, Robert Wyatt, Laurie Anderson, David Sylvian and more. Sylvian contributed Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of one of Sakamoto’s most famous works, the theme to second world war drama Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Sakamoto also starred in the film as a prisoner of war camp commander.

Following The Last Emperor (in which he also had an acting role), he collaborated with Bernardo Bertolucci again for The Last Buddha, and with Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence director Nagisa Oshima for Gohatto. He also scored two films by Brian De Palma (Snake Eyes and Femme Fatale), plus Wild Palms for Oliver Stone, High Heels for Pedro Almodóvar, the 1990 film adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, and more. His 2015 score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film The Revenant was nominated for Golden Globe, Bafta and Grammy awards. In 2019, he composed the music for an episode of dystopian TV drama series Black Mirror. He took no further acting roles, aside from appearing as a film director in Rain, a music video for Madonna.

Sakamoto released a steady schedule of solo releases throughout the 1990s and onwards, and wrote a piece for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1999 he debuted the multimedia opera project Life, in collaboration with artist Shiro Takatani with contributions from Bertolucci, Pina Bausch and more. He and Takatani extended the concept into installation work from 2007 onwards.

Also in 2007, he began the ambitious Schola project, curating 17 compilations of global music ranging from composers such as Ravel and Beethoven to Japanese pop. It was released via his record label Commmons, set up in 2006, which has also released work by artists including Boredoms and OOIOO.

In 2002, he began a fruitful partnership with German musician Carsten Nicolai, who used his Alva Noto alias for four collaborative albums of minimalist electronica.

Sakamoto was also an environmental campaigner, opposing the use of nuclear power, and creating the forestry project More Trees to enable carbon offsetting.

In 1982, Sakamoto married Japanese pop musician Akiko Yano, a touring member of YMO and a successful solo artist in her own right. They split in 1992, and eventually filed for divorce in 2006. They had a daughter, pop singer Miu Sakamoto.

Since the early 1990s, Sakamoto has been in a relationship with Norika Sora. Their son Neo Sora contributed to a documentary, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, directed by Stephen Nomura Schible in 2018.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Ryuichi Sakamoto #in memoriam

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forthisone · 1 year

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Thoughts after finishing Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale last night.

This show hits different now I am a mother. Especially Episode 7, oof.

So these are fresh thoughts after watching the season over a couple of weeks. I haven’t really digested the season yet, haven’t read any commentary etc.

Firstly, I found this season so much easier to watch and less gratuitous, thank you S5 gods for that. Obviously there’s still so much trauma and pain going on but thank you for not subjecting me to multiple torture and rape scenes this season.

Serena

I didn’t hate the Serena stuff. I think probably because I’m fresh out of pregnancy/childbirth… still breastfeeding, etc. They showed how June as a mum (showing concern for Noah’s welfare) trumped the June that hates Serena to death and I liked that. Mothers are powerful. I also appreciated Serena with The Wheelers having a firsthand taste of a slight glimmer of what June had experienced with the Waterfords (obviously not as bad but the panic and fear and anger was there). I’m glad it seems to have finally humbled her and made her realise how fucked up it all was. Like we all thought she got there in 2.13 when she let Nichole go but now she FINALLY IS THERE. As a new mum, I have enjoyed Serena’s arc this season. I can’t think of anything worse than someone keeping me separate from my one month old telling me that they are letting them cry it out all day and night.

Idk I think I just forgot it was Serena honestly and enjoyed the portrayal of a new mum fighting for her baby.

Nick

Oooookay. Lots to unpack.

So when I saw the Rose reveal in episode 1 I was kind of relieved because it seemed like they were kind of friends and maybe Nick wasn’t as trapped as he felt with Eden. Which I think was true. But I would have been a lot more interested to understand their relationship a bit better. I have a lot of question marks still, ten episodes and they barely explored it. That line one of the Wives gives about something genetic inherited with the baby? That was weird. Is that alluding to the future? Or was that just a Wife being a dick, unsure.

Also, the Nick I know and love would never have wished for June to take up Lawrence’s offer of New Bethlehem. The scene in 5.09 was just weird for me. It was like the dodgy uncle of the magic we got in 4.09. Was it the same location too? Maybe?

Still waiting for the scene of Nick having a good cry and I feel they missed a trick with the hospital room scene. We are never going to get it, are we?

Basically my favourite Nick scene of the whole season was Tuello on the bridge with Nick

where he asked about running away with her (ps. I feel like they keep nodding to this “running away together” line and I am here for it, please God let this be a nod to the future? When Nick said “I’m nothing.” And Tuello replies “Not to her.” … god damn if that didn’t tap into my feels from the scene that made this ship an OTP for me. The hospital corridor kids scene in 2.07 where June says “What about you?” and Nick kisses her because just once he feels like somebody to someone.

Also how beautiful was it that he just wanted to see her and kiss her head at the hospital and then essentially that’s all he needs to sign his life away.

I don’t understand why Nick punched Lawrence really (I mean, I understand, but I feel like out of everything, he would have had time after seeing June to regain his composure and put the mask back up). But I can only hope it was in Nick’s plan. Maybe he wants to get transferred somewhere else? Closer to Hannah so he can pass Tuello info? He knows Lawrence owes him a pardon?

Then again I feel like maybe he just finally lost his shit which is understandable. I just didn’t expect it to happen that way. My man is smarter than punching a Commander in front of a room of other Commanders. He knows how to get revenge more subtly. No? Maybe not when it comes to June.

I loved that June thought about Nick before they left the train. Telling Tuello to let him know she and Nichole are safe.

Update: after sleeping on it and speaking to a couple of others, I’ve realised he’s just absolutely done and he doesn’t care about the mask slipping anymore. I don’t think it was impulsive per se as it took a long drive to get to Lawrence’s.

I am interested for where this will take Nick next season but I sincerely sincerrreeely hope he and Janine break out of Eye HQ and start fucking shit up.

Luke and Luke/June

I mean. I’m a Nick fan so. You know. I struggled with the Luke/June stuff this season. It felt a bit like a reversal of where we had got to with Season 4. I’m kind of over the love triangle to be honest but I get that Luke is in her life. He’s not going to disappear. She will always love him. I just felt confused as to where June’s head is at, whereas I didn’t by the end of Season 4. It feels like wasted time.

The scene in 5.9 where he grabbed her to stop her meltdown and she’s like “Please let me go.” I think was telling.

When Luke said in episode 6 “I wish I could have been the guy to come and get you out” HI NICK BLAINE. Oh how I wished he would have showed up and got them out.

I guess Luke kind of did do that in the finale. He got them out. Yeah I’m not the biggest Luke hater, I just see him as sort of Your Average Joe but not right for June anymore. Obviously. But he stepped up a bit in 5.10. At least he saved her from being killed.

Moira

Samira Wiley has been criminally under used this season, that is all. I feel like the writers forgot that Moira was a) a Jezebel and b) also killed a Commander to escape Gilead… so why is she having so much trouble relating to June?

Hannah

I wish they’d got Hannah out and Season 6 could be more about the healing and the aftermath. For all the characters really. I felt June’s pain at taking any opportunity to be near her daughter. I’d be tempted by New Bethlehem too, as mad as that sounds to me. I get it. That whole concept was weird though. And I fear it will reappear in Season 6 and I don’t want it.

Those are main thoughts now. 11pm and I’ve just finished the season.

It felt good to binge a season again, I haven’t done that since Season Two. I think watching the season in one go is better than enduring crumbs slowly week by week.

I’m wondering now if Season 6 can possibly do all I want it too but I’ll gather my wishes for the final season in another post.

What is Nick’s end of the bargain for Tuello letting him see June in hospital? Obviously inside knowledge but how will he get that knowledge now he has exposed himself in Gilead?

#nick x june #nick blaine #tht

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iwasbored777 · 2 years

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Nathalie is a little better than Gabriel. I will support her redemption if only because 1. She’s the only reason Adrien was allowed to go to school. 2. She is generally nicer to him than his father and has tried several times to appeal to Gabriel when she sees him upset. 3. She encouraged Gabriel to be honest with Adrien over what he was doing 4. We never got to see her in the aftermath of the reveals in Ephemeral or Chat Blanc. She gave Chat Noir up but it’s possible that she didn’t realize Gabriel would react the way he did.

It’s true she’s been supporting a crazy terrorist man and simping needlessly for him but I am just happy to see her (maybe) come to her senses and I’m more tolerant of her redemption than his. I don’t know how long this anti-Gabriel phase is going to last. He might lure her back in. In one of those screenshots it looks like she might get akumatized and be purple too? So she might say “he made us purple together and that means his love is true.” I’m hoping for the best anyway.

"HE MADE US PURPLE TOGETHER THAT MEANS HIS LOVE IS TRUE" 😭😭😭😭😭

I don't think Nathalie nor anyone is worse than Gabriel. Gabriel is the bottom of the bottom. I just find their relationship toxic and Nathalie's standards low af. Gabriel isn't even good looking and he doesn't have a nice personality.

At first I didn't even notice Nathalie. Then in Heroes Day part two I found her relationship with Gabriel already toxic and a huge red flag was how she risked her life for a man who just beat two children with a stick in front of her. He did THAT to Ladybug and Chat Noir in front of the whole Paris and Nathalie was like "I love him so much he deserves help he is a good man who loves his family". Then as the season 3 went on I disliked her and their whole relationship more and more, I already hated him of course. But the whole concept of what they have is unhealthy to me. Then in Chat Blanc she literally spent all credit with me. The "she didn't know what he was going to do to Adrien" could work if she didn't help Gabriel break Adrien's and Marinette's hearts earlier in the same ep. She already hurt Adrien, she broke his heart. Then when she snitched on him to his father OH MY GOD I WANTED TO MURDER THESE TWO ADULTS SO MUCH IN THAT EPISODE! Then Risk, don't forget it when she flew in to control Adrien with the ring cuz Gabriel couldn't. I don't see her as a momma bear nor anyone who looks at Adrien more than a tool to help his father. I literally don't care if she dies. I used to feel little sorry for her in Strikeback when she collapsed but now I legit don't care. I just want her to go to prison or whatever. Like people legit hate Marinette and then call Nathalie "power woman who has standards, successful queen" what's with the fandom praising every bad female character and hating the good ones lol?! I would rather give Chloé development at this point than Nathalie. Chloé has more potential and she's a kid, Nathalie is a grown woman destroying the world for a one inch long d*ck and now I'm supposed to forgive her?! The same woman who's creating and killing sentimonsters knowing full well what Adrien is. Also the same woman who is also teamed up with Lila and she helped Lila against Adrien in Ladybug. Also when she let Gabriel take credit for the gift Marinette made for Adrien... (also I don't need the "that's bc the writers hate Chloé and they will give everyone development before her" just admit the writers f*ck characters up quite often at this point that no wonder the fandom is so confused who's good and who's bad). I'm just so sick and tired of hers "oh no this is so sad Alexa play Despacito" moments. Also when someone compares Gabenath to Love Square 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 f*ck them.

Now I don't know if she'll come back to Gabriel but I always compared Nathalie to Serena from The Handmaid's Tale cuz they are basically the same character, but there was a part of the series when Serena was seriously considering leaving Fred (who is just as bad as Gabriel) and she was so close and then she came back to him even though she wasn't 100% happy with that choice she still forgave him everything. So everything is possible. I just know that it's impossible for me to like Nathalie like it's impossible for me to like Serena. When a character crossed it they crossed it. If Nathalie and Serena don't have standards I have them.

Also (this isn't about this ask tho) if Nathalie stans could just ignore my blog instead of harassing me and making fun of me for hating her that would be really appreciated 😘

#miraculous ladybug #nathalie sancoeur #Nathalie salt #Ml ask #ask and answer

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dystopiandramaqueen · 2 years

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S5 E1: Nick's Wife

These are my observations and feelings after watching Episode 1 of Season 5 of The Handmaid's Tale.

Please watch the episode before you read.

I want to take a moment to be thankful that Nick's wife:

ISN'T a child.

ISN'T cruel or vindictive.

Thank you, writers. Could have been SO MUCH WORSE.

------------------------------------------------------

I actually think this is the best possible scenario.

This is the wife I wrote for Nick in "Free Use."

Someone who waits up for Nick and makes him coffee.

A nice roommate vibe. Maternal energy. At the very least, a friend.

(As a married person, I need to note- many many marriages are not emotionally safe, or physically safe. Even in 2022. Being married to a kind roommate is an above average marriage.)

I am overjoyed to see that Nick is physically safe, with a kind roommate who will feed him when he gets lost in his brooding and heartache.

And even MORE than that- she's safe enough that he can talk about June! His feelings! His rebel shit!

This is EXACTLY what I wrote in Free Use.

A safe, adult, emotionally supportive roommate who can comfort Nick, feed him, who understands his heart is still with June- and who won't report him to the Eyes when he does Rebel shit.

Praise fuckin' be.

#meta #s1e1 #spoilers #nick blaine #osblaine #nick x june

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zalrb · 1 year

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Regarding the post you made a while back about the non-white characters in House of the Dragon. I’m pretty sure they’re written that way on purpose because the white feminist writers don’t want them to be liked. I think it’s a form of sabotage and to me comes off that they’re irritated they have to write for characters that aren’t white. It definitely comes off as jealousy as well because it’s heavily towards the mixed races girls playing Daemon and Laena’s daughters. The most overlooked point to me is that Daemon is never directly nice to Laena, even when they have to write him flirting with her it’s a backhanded compliment that she’s almost as pretty as her brother. Then with his daughters it’s blatantly obvious they want them in the background to be seen in a negative light. The brutality of adding two girls to be hit by a boy to me is just crazy, and it’s followed by none of the adults in the room even acknowledging they were hurt. It actually comes off as Y/N fanfiction written by a white feminist and the white female characters are her self inserts having knights coming to save them (and their children) and make them feel better while the characters played by non-white girls are treated the exact opposite. But to me the biggest point is no matter how they are portrayed on screen the fandom on both teams will always treat them worse.

Interesting perspective. The thing with how I view HOTD is that I think none of the characters, like none of the characters are fleshed out or nuanced or well-written and I don't think any of the characters are actually framed in a positive or negative light but maybe that's just because I don't see anyone in a positive and/or negative light because I don't think there's really anything there narratively and I think that 99% of the takes I read about these characters are coming from the books rather than what the show provides or are viewers' projections rather than actual things presented in the show because to reiterate, I find the narrative weak and the characters weaker and more than that I find everything lazy so when people were complaining about Laena dying and how we were just introduced to her and she had no screentime, I was like well even the characters who do have screentime have no depth, like anons had to come into my inbox after every single episode to explain why all of the characters were important, why a relationship with a dragon was significant, why this battle meant that, why that egg meant this, like there's just SO much nothing. Like you say that Daemon was never nice to Laena but I'm also like, kay every time I would watch an inside the episode clip about how Daemon loves Viserys more than anything I'm like but I haven't really seen anything to suggest that except for a comment to someone else about showing his brother respect so since I think they did such a bad job with the white characters, when it comes to the Black characters I see it more as tokenism and virtue signalling rather than an actual attempt at representation which creates narrative issues because there was no care given as opposed to something like The Handmaid's Tale where white characters are given all this space and depth and nuance and time given to their characters and full relationships with each other and then I can (and have) literally tracked the very deliberate ways in which Black and people of colour are used in the show

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martharaccoon · 2 years

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The Handmaid’s Tale S5E01

My views on the parts of the episode with June:

So I have not yet watch episode 2 didn’t have the time so what ever I say in this one just relates to the first episode.

Anyways, overall the episode was a bit wacky but ig that’s what happens when you kill someone and don’t know what’s to come after. The most freaked out June has ever made me feel.

I agreed with June on the going back into Gilead. I understand wanting the revenge since they went through a lot as well and killed Fred for June. But they don’t understand the difficulty of killing people in Gilead they won’t ever be able to get that close. Of course they can join groups to kill Gilead soldiers. But to get the other commanders and wives would be impossible. Even if we want to it wouldn’t be logical

I respect June for turning herself in. I died when they said they aren’t gonna charge her, I was like we confessed for no reason💀. Im sure she had this moment of waiting for the eyes to come and take her like back in season 1 so she knows what it’s like to have that constant weight of unknown.

I’m really sad about how Moria and June’s friendship is straining. Realistically it makes sense how much they changed when apart but damn it still hurts. And their talk was just 😭 their both scared and the awkward hurt I love you really ended me.

It’s a little weird how Luke kind of has this 360 degree turn. Last season he’s all move on, don’t kill him, crying when June returns home. Then this episode he’s all you did good and I understand and it’s okay. I can see the almost losing her again and saying all that yet it doesn’t make sense how all of those other feels can disappear. Made we’ll get a more clear idea of this but idk I’m confused.

That talk with Mark and June was so good! He warns her about what will happen. And the fact that he supports what she did and was the only who supported her this episode. I know Luke did but I felt it was a different support. With Mark he actually knows a lot about what Fred has done and doesn’t give two shits about what anyone has to say. I’m sure it also steams from getting Serena to himself but he’s gonna find out real quick how she truly is. And the cherry on top “don’t let the bastards grind you down” like hellooooo???

#the handmaid's tale #tht #june osborne #elisabeth moss #Moria #luke bankole #serena waterford #serena joy #mark tuello #the handmaid’s tale season 5 #tht s5 #tht spoilers #spolier alert

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kolbisneat · 2 years

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MONTHLY MEDIA: August 2022

Ugh summer is drawing to a close and it all went by too quickly. Like it does every year. But here’s how I spent my time when I wasn’t making the most of this fleeting weather.

……….FILM……….

Prey (2022) Really great! Though my stress levels max out whenever there’s a best bud dog friend so I’d like to watch it again now knowing how it all plays out. Really smart setups and payoffs and everything felt earned. Just a joy to watch.

High Fidelity (2000) At first I was worried that John Cusack’s character was going to be celebrated but then a customer pretty swiftly takes him and his buds down a peg and I realized: the movie knows these dudes are awful. Funny in a way I wasn’t expecting and still disappointing that Laura ends up back with him.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bachelorette (Episode 19.05 to 19.08) I wish there were more opportunities for the leads to hang out and discuss what’s going on, but I get that it’s already so crammed full of stuff. While only 31, Gabby is a perfect example of why casting some sliiiiiightly older leads would be great for the series.

The Handmaid’s Tale (Episode 1.01 to 1.10) This is an exercise is sitting with sadness. It just...constantly feels so bleak. Though I will give that the small moments of rebellion feel that much bigger in contrast to the suffocating bummer of the world. Everyone in Gilead loses but it just takes longer for some to realize it. Oof.

Stranger Things (Episode 4.01 to 4.09) I wasn’t planning on returning to this series but after enough suggestions to check it out, I gave it a go. Pretty good! I was also warned about the Russian subplot and while I didn’t find it to drag too much, it was a reminder of just how many characters and different threads are going on. Wild that they mostly pulled it off and I’m now interested in the final season.

……….READING……….

Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski (Page 112 of 315) Really insightful read into the psychology of sex and arousal and intimacy. It’s assuming the reader is a cis woman BUT I’m learning so much and the research applies to all bodies and orientations. I know I’m only a third of the way into it but I can’t recommend it enough.

Devil House by John Darnielle (Abandoned) Great title, great cover, and not at all representative of the contents inside. Not to say it’s not well-written or engaging. I tried to shift gears but I really wanted a good (maybe even a slightly pulpy) horror and the story is...not that. If you’re into following the creative process of a true-crime author, this is for you.

Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu Collector’s Edition (Complete) I haven’t read much of Ito’s horror work but you can see it every once in a while in this collection. It also makes me realize how much comedy plays a role in horror as this book is also very funny in a way that doesn’t make it feel like a comedy. Like the humour just stems from life and not from jokes and gags, if that makes sense?

Chew Volume 1: Taster’s Choice by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Complete) So gross. I mean it’s a really creative setting and premise, but each issue had something that made me go “ew”. Maybe that’s the point? Very 90s gross-out and too-cool vibes.

……….AUDIO……….

Renaissance by Beyoncé (2022) Hey whaddya know, it’s really good.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) This month the group dug into the library system, tried to find books relating to cults, and discovered the mayor of Munchkin is involved! Political intrigue followed and you can read all about it over here.

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 group took a detour, found a very large crocodile, and decided to pull a Magic School Bus and explore the inner workings of this reptile. So far they’ve found the ear canal, lungs, and a stomach acid lake full of magic items and half-digested pirates! We have fun.

And that’s it. As always, I welcome recommendations and happy Wednesday!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

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bradyoil · 11 months

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Writer, Director, Producer Tamika Miller Scores Big With Her Feature Film "Honor Student".

Filmmaker Tamika Miller is an episodic, award-winning commercial and film director/writer. She's directed the NBC television drama QUANTUM LEAP, THE EQUALIZER for CBS and STATION 19 for ABC/Shondaland. We chat about her indie feature HONOR STUDENT, a thriller starring Emmy-Nominated actress Kelly Jenrette (All American: Homecoming, The Handmaid's Tale) and actor Hudson Yang (Fresh Off the Boat).

My wife and I loved "Honor Student" at the Pan African Film Festival and Tamika has been tearing up the festvial ciurcuit ever since. This chat is a masterclass on making your indie film by serving the storytelling with creativity and craft. Watch the trailer here.

45 minutes in, we chat about diversity, all the initiatives and their worth. It's eye opening and love Tamika's candor and perspective.

She is currently in pre-production for her much-anticipated feature film UNDERCARD, starring actress/comedienne Wanda Sykes in her first dramatic role. On the commercial front, SHOOT Magazine chose Tamika as a 'Director to Watch,' and presented her work at the Directors Guild of America in New York.

EVENTS & COURSES

YIKES!! ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT!! So excited for our Second Annual Filmmaker Retreat in Joshua Tree. Join us Sept. 28th to Oct. 1st in the desert for a transformational experience. "Define Your Voice is our theme and you'll emerge knowing what you want and how better to achieve it.

Check out my Masterclass or Commercial Directing Shadow online courses. (Note this link to the Shadow course is the one I mention in the show.) All my courses come with a free 1:1 mentorship call with yours truly. Taking the Shadow course is the only way to win a chance to shadow me on a real shoot! DM for details.

How To Pitch Ad Agencies and Director’s Treatments Unmasked are now bundled together with a free filmmaker consultation call, just like my other courses. Serious about making spots? The Commercial Director Mega Bundle for serious one-on-one mentoring and career growth.

Jeannette Godoy’s hilarious romcom “Diamond In The Rough” streams on the Amazon Prime! Please support my wife filmmaker Jeannette Godoy’s romcom debut. It’s “Mean Girls” meets “Happy Gilmore” and crowds love it. Here’s the trailer.

Thanks,

Jordan

This episode is 54 minutes.

My cult classic mockumentary, “Dill Scallion” is online so I’m giving 100% of the money to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. I’ve decided to donate the LIFETIME earnings every December, so the the donation will grow and grow. Thank you.

Respect The Process podcast is brought to you by True Gentleman Industries, Inc. in partnership with Brady Oil Entertainment, Inc.

Check out this episode!

#filmmaking #Jordan Brady #director #advertising #respect the process #indie

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animeraider · 1 year

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Radio Free California - 2022 on Random Play and a few final thoughts for this FRUSTRATING year.

I thought about making a "best of" list, but I realized that I'd come up with something different every time I tried. So here is a highlight reel, cultivated from all of the 2022 RFC's. Feel free to put together your own list. I recommend putting this on random play for the best possible experience - I just went through all 51 episodes for 2022 and picked the ones that tickled my fancy at that moment. If I tried again tomorrow I would probably pick 246 different songs than are on this list.

You should subscribe to my weekly playlists to get the full experience.

So what was your 2022 like? I usually do a recap of the previous year as my last blog post but I'm really not feeling it this time around. Face it folks, 2022 SUCKED. I had a decent career year with a couple of hit singles and videos plus my improvised piano album, and I got to see both Roger Waters and Bjork live (not on the same night), but overall...?

I mean, social media imploded and fragmented, led by the Chief Twit. The Previous Motherfucker is STILL hanging on all our necks instead of in prison where he fucking belongs. Far too many Americans embrace Fascism, Racism, and a large portion of the country is now a Hee-Haw version of The Handmaid's Tale.

I can't even imagine how weird it must be to be young in this country. My children grew up in one country and as of this year it no longer exists. They're not like those of us who are old enough to remember how it used to be.

And just what the ever-lovin' FUCK is it with wanting to destroy power stations? This is supposed to start a race war? How fucking STUPID is that? It's like saying 1+2=Licorice. The sum is less than the parts.

Strangely enough, the Pandemic has put me in a position to leave, and I just might. I'm incredibly fortunate to live in one of the remaining pockets of sanity in this country and I don't want to leave, but I don't want to live in an isolated exception to the rule either. I'd rather the whole country be sane than just my little corner of it with with fascist fucks encroaching from all sides.

I have family in Canada, New Zealand and Spain - so I have options (although I don't speak Spanish). I also have possibly misplaced hope, so I have to admit that the decision isn't an easy one. I haven't made it yet, and there are other's I'd need to convince to come with.

The craziest part about all of this is that on a whole lot of specifics America had a great year. It's just that the terrible parts are so bad that they overwhelm the good parts.

I don't think there is a "best of" 2022 to be had. I think that this has been example after example of wasted talent, potential, and ability. I think of 2022 as a squandered year. There ain't no best to be had.

Now, there's two ways to look at that: To be depressed about it or to be determined to do better. I am choosing the second option.

Taking a step back from Social Media has given me something I hadn't even noticed I had lost: TIME. I reclaim my fucking time.

I have a new single coming out the first week of January and I'm going to focus on it for a bit, but then I'm going to hunker down and fucking FINISH this album that's been percolating for the past decade. Those of you who follow my music career have heard snippets of it, but only small snippets of it. I expect that promoting and performing that album is going to take up a lot of my time in 2023. I have tickets to see Arcade Fire on my birthday, so I'll take that day off.

And then I'm going to gear up for 2024, which I want to be my busiest and most productive year musically ever. There's a couple of reasons for that - a big birthday is coming up in 2024; one my own father didn't reach. Now I don't have his issues and expect to go on for decades yet, but I'm going to fucking CELEBRATE. I hope that the country will still be here for it. Another reason is that I have set a challenge for myself and it's a difficult one, but I damned well want to TRY.

I am absolutely awful at predicting the future, but I still want to try.

So let's shake off this past year, bury it, and roll up them sleeves and get to it. I fucking HATE Hee-Haw.

See you next year.

And because I love you, I leave you with my new single.

youtube

#spotify playlist #2022 #best of 2022 #music #Spotify #Youtube

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nickjunesource · 3 years

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Full article below.

Max Minghella is sitting in his backyard in the LA sunshine, his t-shirt an homage to the French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, his adopted shepherd mix, Rhye, excited by the approach of a package courier.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks — the dog, not me — tenderly.

Minghella, who at 35 has dozens of screen credits to his name, is best known as The Handmaid’s Tale’s cunning chauffeur Nick Blaine, a character who it’s difficult to imagine saying sweetheart. In airless Gilead, of course, a cautious hand graze with Elisabeth Moss’ June can pass for a big romantic gesture. In a Season 1 episode featuring child separation and hospital infant abduction, Nick’s major contribution is to trade stolen glances with a sex slave while “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” pumps discordantly along. I ask Minghella about playing the series’ closest approximation to a dreamy male lead against the show’s dark narrative of female subjugation.

“I know this is not the answer you want to hear,” Minghella says with none of Nick’s hesitation. “But I like that stuff, right? In the pilot, I think Nick only had a handful of lines. It wasn't clear that this is what the character would turn into. And it's quite fortunate for me personally, because I'm not a massively sort of intellectual person in my real life. I love Fifty Shades of Grey. That's like my Star Wars. It suits me to play a character like him.”

Minghella surmises that this enduring romanticism is an outcome of nurture. His father, the late British director Anthony Minghella, made grand romantic dramas like Cold Mountain and The English Patient. And there was the young, cinema-mad Max sitting on the living room sofa, absorbing everything. “It’s taken me a long time to understand this,” he says of his prolonged childhood exposure to love stories. “My dad made The English Patient when I was 10. So it was two years of watching the dailies to that movie and then watching 50 cuts of it. And then [The Talented Mr.] Ripley he made when I was 13, and it was the same thing.” These were an adolescent Max Minghella’s alternative to reruns. “I think they did shape my perspective on the world in a lot of ways, specifically The English Patient. That was a complicated love story, and I wonder sometimes how much it's affected my psychology.”

Some sons rebel; others resemble. Minghella’s co-star O-T Fagbenle, who plays June’s other lover from before the time of Gilead, got his first job acting in Anthony Minghella’s romantic crime film Breaking and Entering. “Anthony is one the kindest, most beautiful men that I've ever had the privilege of working with before,” Fagbenle says. “And Max has his gorgeous, sensitive, open-minded soul.”

Though Minghella spent his childhood on the set of The Talented Mr. Ripley, playing an uncredited Confederate soldier role in Cold Mountain, and tooling around with a Super-8 camera Matt Damon gave him, he insists his upbringing was normal. He grew up in South Hill Park overlooking Hampstead Heath in London with his father and mother, the choreographer Carolyn Choa. (Minghella also has a half-sister, Hannah Minghella, who is now a film executive.) Yes, technically, it was London, but that’s not how it seemed. “I feel like I grew up in a very small town. Every school I went to was in Hampstead. I was born in Hampstead,” Minghella says of the small map dot of his life before university. “When I went to New York, I felt I was going to the big city.”

Despite his illustrious surname, movie-watching was far from restricted to the classics. “Beverly Hills Cop is definitely the movie I remember having an unhealthy obsession with. I think I saw it when I was 5 for the first time, and I'd watch it just two or three times a day for years. I'm just obsessed with it.”

Plenty of actors can trace their love of movies back to a love of stories, but for Minghella the relationship seems to flow in reverse. When he left for Columbia University, Minghella opted to study history for its connection, through storytelling, to film. It was during the summers between his years of college that he started taking acting more seriously. Before his graduation, he’d already appeared in Syriana, starring Damon and George Clooney. Soon, he’d make a splash as Divya Narendra in The Social Network in 2010 and be cast in Clooney’s Ides of March. As all young actors eventually must, Minghella moved to Los Angeles.

It’s been over a decade since he last lived on the Heath, but, perhaps unusually for a person who’s chosen his profession, Minghella is adamantly not a “shapeshifter,” in his words. Home for Christmas this year, he started sifting through old journals stored at his mother’s house, “just like scraps of writing from when I was extremely young up through my teenage years,” before coming to America. “It was hilarious to me,” Minghella says of staring at his childhood reflection. “My review of a movie at 7 years old is pretty much what my review of a movie at 35 will be. My taste hasn't changed much. And when I sort of love something, I do tend to continue to love it.”

Which brings us back to his enduring love of romance, born of his bloodline, which is all over Minghella’s own 2018 directorial debut. Teen Spirit is a hazily lit film about a teenage girl from the Isle of Wight — the remote British island where Max’s father Anthony was born — who enters a local X-Factor-style singing competition. (It stars Minghella’s rumored girlfriend of several years, Elle Fanning.) The story is small, but its crescendos are epic.

Minghella calls the movie — an ode to the power of the pop anthem — “embarrassingly Max.” Max loves a good music-driven movie trailer — he’s watched the one for Top Gun: Maverick “many” times. And Max loves the rhythmic beats of sports movies like Friday Night Lights. Max loves movies with excesses of female energy, like Spring Breakers. He likens Teen Spirit to an experiment, his answer to the question, “Can I take all these things that I love and find a structure that can hold them?” The result is a touching “hodgepodge” of Minghella’s fascinations, inspired by the songs from another thing he loves: Robyn’s 2010 album Body Talk (itself a dance-pop meditation on love).

Minghella hasn’t directed any films since, but he sees now how making movies fits his personality — organized, impatient — more organically than starring in them does. Directing also helped him to appreciate that acting is “much harder than I was giving it credit for,” which, in turn, has made him like it more. Besides The Handmaid’s Tale currently airing on Hulu, Minghella appears in Spiral, the ninth installment in the Saw horror franchise and, from where I’m sitting, at least, a departure.

“I do like horror movies, but the thing that was really kind of magical is that I was feeling so nostalgic, right? We talked about Beverly Hills Cop earlier. I was just missing a certain kind of movie,” Minghella explains of his new role as Chris Rock’s detective partner. He was yearning for simple story-telling, like in the buddy cop movies of his youth, especially 48 Hours. It almost goes without saying that a buddy cop movie is another kind of love story. “And then I read the script and it was very much in that vein.” He clarifies: “I mean, it's also extremely Saw. It's very much a horror movie.”

His renewed excitement for acting translated onto The Handmaid’s Tale set, too. Veteran Hollywood producer Warren Littlefield describes casting Minghella in the role of Nick as an effortless choice: “Sometimes you agonize over things. [Casting Minghella] was instantly clear to me, and everyone agreed.” Now in its fourth season, the tone of the Hulu hit is graver than ever. Gilead is more desperate to maintain its rule, and so more audacious in its violence. Perhaps it’s fitting that the show’s romantic gestures finally match that scale.

In one particularly soaring moment, Elisabeth Moss’ June and Minghella’s Nick meet at the center of a bridge and crush into a long kiss. It’s been two seasons since they held their newborn daughter together, and it’s hard to see how this isn’t their last goodbye. Littlefield, like Minghella, is here for the romance among the rubble. “It's spectacular when they come together. In the middle of all of the trauma is this epic love story,” he says. “Max is just magnificent in the role.”

For Minghella, the satisfaction is more personal. He works with good people, he likes his scenes, and he thinks Nick is a complex character. Minghella read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time in college in 2005. Like all the things Minghella has ever liked, he still likes it. He’s as proud of this most recent season as he is the show’s first. And he watched Nick and June race recklessly back to each other across the expanse of the screen exactly how you might expect. “I watched it like a fan girl.”

#max minghella #the handmaids tale #the handmaid's tale #nick blaine #nick x june #june x nick #osblaine #*

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mikusagi · 3 years

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Rules: tag 9 people you want to know better, I got tagged by @bakomglaset and I am very honoured!!!

Favourite colours: pink, a light pastel pink.

Currently reading: I have had problems with my eyes for a while and it makes reading difficult, I’m going to see a doctor again this Monday and if I’m able to read again soon I’ll read the magazine Expo that’s reporting about what the far-right are up to, and “Sverigevänner”, a book about being an immigrant in Sweden. My co-worker lent it to me, she’s an immigrant in Sweden and wants me to understand. And then Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

Last song: last song I sang was probably Satan i Gatan by Veronica Maggio, but the last song that made my say “I really love this song” was Kizunguzungu by SaRaHa.

Last series: I think the last I finished was Handmaid’s Tale, now I’ve started watching Downtown Abbey (season 1, episode 4).

Last movie: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Sweet, savoury or spicy: Depends.

Currently working on: a house :o and also taking up photography again I guess? And I’m trying to write a diary.

I tag: @kelleppe (whenever you come back to Tumblr), @chiligoat, @officialjeffgoldblum, @lilstinky, @uminotenshi

#about me

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shinythinx · 3 years

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Post compiling my conspiracy theories about Prodigal Son's cancellation and chances of being picked up 🔪

Do I have to tell you they're literally nothing more than my very own conspiracy theories? I won't be giving solid sources, I am too lazy. And I'm drinking gin.

First, we have to not kid ourselves - it's all about money. It's a business, duh. The joke is they spend all the budget on Sheen and there's nothing left for lighting. The truth - British actors are simply cheaper (e.g. Netflix could afford Henry Cavill for Witcher). So when show has big British names (like here Sheen or CZT) it's a win-win for them. They can use their prestige without having to pay them as much as they would have to pay some Hollywoodish equivalent.

Another two of my favourite shows experience a slight change around season 3... The leading actor became a producer. I'm having in mind Orphan Black and Handmaid's Tale. Well, I wouldn't just assume it's just like this... But during promotion of season 1 Tom mentioned he'd like to try other things. Do this job for few years and take a break from acting. Producing a show is a work and he's already the lead and we all heard him being sad he practically has no time off. But he also loves the show, his character and I see how he would decide to do so. He was oddly calm and okey with the news, I want to believe he's mingled somewhere in picking up schemes....

A TV show is a job, regular job. Which doesn't happen often when you're an actor. And we're still in pandemic. My point being - the cast and crew would probably prefer to come back to the known project. It's not nice to loose your job. And we already saw support from cast members (I mainly saw LDP and Bellamy).

And writers room also acknowledged and supported #SaveProdigalSon on twitter.

The third season was pitched (as Bellamy let us know on twitter). They have it layed out! The creators have something they can take and show, to shop around with.

Timing of the announcement seems sus AS FUCK. We knew the final storyline of this season is 3 episodes long, and they dropped the news day before second to last episode - literally in the middle. It's almost as if they wanted fants to engage more, as if to give creators a chance to show us off... And they're gonna end of cliffhanger because that's what Sam and Chris do, which should get us even more worked up about the whole ordeal. We're doing free labour and I don't mind in this case!

The executives were pleased with the show (via LDP twitter) and live ratings don't matter that much in a steaming era (via Tom's twitter, but also is the American market that different from European? Like. We been knew, local media cover the streaming era as if it's their kink, seriously). So it's sus Warner would just shot off a show like this, with names, with an idea and with audience...

Coming back to streaming - it's smarter when it comes to distribution. Show noted some success in France, UK, Russia... WB is a parent to HBOMax so they have both the platform to put their show on and the show itself. It is a little tricky as in Europe it's HBOGo and it's a little different thing. But it's still easier to redistribute from your own source where people could just watch the show. For example, currently PSon is airing as a filler, in the middle of the night, on local Fox channel. Who will watch that? People who come home late. No one cares. On a streaming platform? You can choose to watch the show, anytime. Put LPD or CTZ in the icon and even my grandma would watch it.

#prodigal son #i love conspiracy theories #i have false and empty hope #but here i am giving you exactly that

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indianascones · 3 years

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Handmaids Tale

Spoilers

As someone that has read the book, I watch the show objectively. It’s good enough on its own and has made great strides in making its own story.

The newest season is still airing, currently I just finished Season 4 Episode 5 “Chicago”, the latest episode. New episodes are available on Hulu every Wednesday. 5 episodes in and I’ll admit, the episodes are fantastic.

We as the viewer are still mostly with June, occasionally cutting back to Canada where her husband Luke and friend Moira are. We meet new characters to sympathetically hate, and briefly get to see a reunion with June and Nick. (My feelings on Nick are mixed that’s for another post) While the 5 episodes that have been released are heart wrenching, climactic, and entertaining, you can’t help but to be left with the sense of chaos.

The handmaids with June have been with us since season 1. While not all of them have played prominent roles, because of the knowledge we have about what they go through, we can’t help but to want better for them. The season premier was a 3 episode special where a lot of changes take place.

June is nursed back to health and awakes in a strange location with a child house mistress. Things get complicated, and eventually all of the handmaids are captured. They are able to escape but Alma and Brianna die in the process. Our group of survivors that have defied inexplicable odds in Gilead are taken out by bullets and a train.

In the most recent episode we’re left with more chaotic confusion. Janine, to the viewers surprise, decided to leave with June to search for a new resistance group when they’re hit by bombs. The episode ends with no conclusion on Janine but with a disoriented June being found by Moira, who joined the search and rescue for the 24 hr ceasefire.

While watching, you’re on the edge of your seat. There’s no question about the quality of the episodes. They are without a doubt well written. But it does leave the viewer with the sense of “they’re making this up as they go”. We know obviously that they are, these seasons were not written before the show aired. But it’s painfully obvious.

The killing of so many notable characters so close together, barely an episode a part, screams “after thought”. If the direction was June needing to be found alone, they should have started thinning the herd sooner. This way is so abrupt, and you can’t help but to feel it wasn’t worth it.

There’s a heavy “protagonist shield” going on. June always escapes the worst of it, the people she knew before Gilead are safe, but everyone she befriends in Gilead is practically sacrificial for her. It’s getting tedious watching her survive everything and seeing good characters killed off.

But, that’s just my 2 cents. I’ll be back to edit this periodically. This is a fast rough post on my phone.

#the handmaid's tale #june osborne #handmaidsonhulu #show review #show analysis #my take #the handmaids tale spoilers #writers on tumblr #original post #original writing #freewrite #janine #hulu originals #ilovetowrite #inprogress #first draft

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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years

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For his entire tenure as an Avenger, Anthony Mackie had never been the first name on the call sheet.

In a galaxy of stars populated by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, the actor was aware of his place in the on-set pecking order, but would never miss an opportunity to make his presence felt.

“Number six on the call sheet has arrived!” Mackie would routinely shout on films like “Captain America: Civil War” and the box office-busting “Infinity Saga” sequels, according to Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige.

It exemplifies the sort of winning tone that the 42-year-old actor has brought to his superhero character the Falcon, aka Sam Wilson, for six movies from the top-earning studio — wry and collegial humor, with the potential to turn explosive at any moment. Both Mackie and his character are set to burn brighter than ever when the Disney Plus series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” lands on March 18.

On that call sheet, “Anthony is No. 1,” Feige is happy to report, “but it still says ‘No. 6.’ He kept it because he didn’t want it to go to his head.” The series is essentially a two-hander with his friend and longtime co-star Sebastian Stan, the titular soldier. All six episodes were produced and directed by Emmy winner Kari Skogland (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Loudest Voice”). The series, for which combined Super Bowl TV spot and trailer viewership earned a record-breaking 125 million views this year, is reported to have cost $150 million in total.

For Mackie, though, the show comes at a critical time for both his career and for representation in the MCU. Sam Wilson is graduating from handy wingman (Falcon literally gets his job done with the use of mechanical wings), having been handed the Captain America shield by Evans in the last “Avengers” film. While it’s unclear if he will formally don the superhero’s star-spangled uniform moving forward (as the character did in a 2015 comic series), global fandoms and the overall industry are still reeling from the loss of Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed Marvel’s Black Panther to culture-defining effect. With this new story, Mackie will become the most visible African American hero in the franchise. And when asked whether he’ll be taking the mantle of one of its most iconic characters, he doesn’t exactly say no.

“I was really surprised and affected by the idea of possibly getting the shield and becoming Captain America. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I did it the way they said you’re supposed to do it. I didn’t go to L.A. and say, ‘Make me famous.’ I went to theater school, did Off Broadway, did indie movies and worked my way through the ranks. It took a long time for this shit to manifest itself the way it has, and I’m extremely happy about that,” Mackie says.

Feige says that, especially with the advent of Disney Plus and the freedom afforded long-form storytelling, the moment was right to give the Falcon his due.

“Suddenly, what had been a classic passing of the torch from one hero to another at the end of ‘Endgame’ became an opening up of our potential to tell an entire story about that. What does it really mean for somebody to step into those shoes, and not just somebody but a Black man in the present day?” says Feige.

Like many comic book heroes, Mackie has an origin story marked by tragedy at a young age — specifically around the loss of a parental figure. The New Orleans native is the youngest of six children from a tight-knit middle-class family, whose trajectory was spun into chaos when his mother was stricken with a terminal illness.

“It was unexpected and very untimely. I was 15 when she was diagnosed with cancer, and a few months later, she was gone. She passed the day before my ninth-grade graduation,” Mackie recalls. “If my mom wouldn’t have passed away when I was so young, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Mackie had already gravitated toward the performing arts before the loss of his mother, having enrolled at the pre-professional school New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Like many young people grappling with trauma, Mackie says he began to act out. A core group of teachers helped get him out of trouble. Ray Vrazel, still an instructor at the school, personally drove the student to a Houston-based audition for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was accepted for his senior year of high school.

“Everything I did, I did for my mama. The idea of leaving home at 17 to go away to school would have never been an option if she was still around. She was my best friend. Losing her gave me a kind of strength, and a desire to succeed,” Mackie says.

Succeed he did. Spending that formative year as a minor on a college campus helped Mackie find his “tribe,” a misfit crew of artists and performers, which propelled him to acceptance at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School in 1997. There he was part of the breakthrough class of students of color to be chosen for the notoriously selective drama program, which Mackie says was liberating given the institution’s track record.

“Our year was a huge transition. There were hardly any Asian people in the drama program, maybe one or two Black people and hardly any Black women. In our class, we had three black women, two black men, one Native American, one Asian female, out of 20 people. Ever since then, the classes have been wildly diverse,” says Mackie, whose fellow students included stage and film star Tracie Thoms and actor Lee Pace.

Following his training, Mackie launched a staggeringly versatile career. He has played Tupac Shakur and Martin Luther King Jr. to similar acclaim, a juicehead bodybuilder in “Pain & Gain” and a homeless gay teen in the Sundance player “Brother to Brother.” He has exhibited remarkable staying power in an industry that often pigeonholes actors and has a pockmarked soul when it comes to inclusion.

“I was drawn to Anthony because of his electrifying ability to combine intensity with sensitivity, courage with compassion, and all of it comes across as inevitable, as if it could be no other way,” says Kathryn Bigelow, who directed him in the 2009 best picture Oscar winner “The Hurt Locker.”

Samuel L. Jackson, whom Mackie calls a mentor and has played alongside in several films, says he has “an innate quality that first and foremost makes everyone want to cast him.” On a recent idle Netflix search, Jackson came across Mackie’s latest sci-fi film, “Outside the Wire,” and it triggered a memory of sitting in the audience for his performance in the 2010 Broadway production of Martin McDonagh’s play “A Behanding in Spokane.”

“Watching him onstage, I thought, he’s a very adroit actor capable of putting on many hats. He’s fearless and will try to be anybody. Then, on my TV, he’s playing a nanobyte soldier or some shit,” Jackson says.

Though always humble about getting the next job, pre-Marvel Mackie was rarely offered pole position.

“There were certain pegs. My first was ‘8 Mile.’ It was a monumental step at the beginning of my career,” Mackie says of the 2002 Curtis Hanson film that elevated rapper Eminem to multi-hyphenate stardom.

“After that it was ‘Half Nelson.’ It blew up Ryan Gosling, so I was there to ride the wave. Then ‘The Hurt Locker,’ and it blew up Jeremy Renner. It was the joke for a long time — if you’re a white dude and you want to get nominated for an Oscar, play opposite me. I bring the business for white dudes,” says Mackie.

He remembers the sensation “Hurt Locker” caused during its awards season. It was a moment he thought would change everything as he stood on the stage of the Dolby Theatre with the cast and filmmakers, having just sipped from George Clooney’s flask while Halle Berry radiated a few rows away.

“I thought I would be able to move forward in my career and not have to jostle and position myself for work. To get into rooms with certain people. I thought my work would speak for itself. I didn’t feel a huge shift,” he says, “but I 100% think that ‘The Hurt Locker’ is the reason I got ‘Captain America.’”

He’s referring to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” the 2014 Marvel film that was the first to be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (the current title holders for the highest-grossing film of all time with “Avenges: Endgame”). Mackie says that blockbuster not only gave him his largest platform to date but changed expectations of superhero movies forever.

“It was the first of the espionage, Jason Bourne-esque action movies at Marvel. After that, the movies shifted and had different themes and were more in touch with the world we live in, more grounded,” he says.

Bolstered by the words of another mentor, Morgan Freeman, Mackie feels no bitterness about his path.

“We did ‘Million Dollar Baby’ together, and when we were shooting this movie, I got offered a play. When you do Off Broadway, it’s $425 a week. In New York, that’s really $75 per week. I got a movie offer at the same time, and it was buckets of money. Three Home Depot buckets of money were going to be dropped off at my door,” Mackie says. “The script was awful; the whole thing was slimy. I went to Morgan’s trailer and asked him what he would do. He took a second and said, ‘Do the play. When Hollywood wants you, they’ll come get you. And when they come get you, they’ll pay for it.’ That blew my mind, and I left him that day with such a massive amount of confidence. He’s been a huge influence on me.”

He used the currency of that first Russo Brothers film and five subsequent ones to do what many creators and performers in Hollywood have done in recent years to help balance the scales of profit and representation in content: make things on his own.

Last year, Mackie produced and starred in “The Banker” — what would be Apple Studios’ first foray into original streaming film distribution and the awards landscape — through his banner Make It With Gravy. The film follows the true story of America’s first Black bankers and the white frontman they deployed to acquire the institution, all while supporting Black-owned businesses and communities in the process. A late-breaking scandal over sexual misconduct accusations involving the real-life family members of the film’s subjects delayed the release, overshooting awards-season deadlines and entangling the fledgling producer.

“It was a good lesson, and gave me a new perspective on the world around us. It’s very important to me that the women by my side are treated equally. It was a valuable lesson learned. I was very humbled by my sisters, for once not being mean to me,” he says.

Mackie is in development on the film “Signal Hill,” about the early days of lawyer Johnnie Cochran and the theater he brought to courtrooms long before the O.J. Simpson trial, and is hoping to secure the life story of civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin as a vehicle for his directorial debut. Raising four sons of his own now, Mackie wants his off-screen work to make them well-rounded men.

“Look at Robin Williams,” he says. “He used to be crass and funny, and then he had kids, and he started doing all these family-friendly movies. Same thing with Eddie Murphy. I’m trying to curate my children’s experience with the things that I’ll be producing, rather than starring in. That’s what is most important. They know my job is my job; they know who I am. I’ve given up the idea of them ever thinking that I’m cool,” he says.

Jokes about the call sheet are among many of Mackie’s filming quirks. Jackson says that sets are often littered with hidden cigar stubs, to be fired up between takes or after long days. Bigelow says his rapport with crew has led to nights where the “clock was ticking but it was impossible to regain composure enough to shoot.” But according to Evans, no Mackie-ism is more famous than the phrase he bellows whenever his directors cut a scene: “Cut the check!”

Evans says this “will be forever associated with Mackie. I find myself saying it on sets all the time. I love it. But I’ll never be able to say it as well as him.”

As the man handing Mackie his armor, Evan says the Falcon’s “role within the Marvel universe has answered the call to action time and time again. He’s proven his courage, loyalty and reliability over multiple films. Sam has given so much, and he’s also lost a lot too. He believes in something bigger than himself, and that type of humility is necessary to carry the shield.”

The question of Sam Wilson’s humanity will be explored at length in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” what Mackie calls a deeper showcase for both himself and Stan and their characters. It was a prospect that at first confused and frightened him.

“I didn’t think we could do on the television what we’d been doing on the big screen. I didn’t want to be the face of the first Marvel franchise to fail. Like, ‘See? We cast the Black dude, and now this shit is awful.’ That was a huge fear of mine, and also a huge responsibility with playing a Marvel character,” Mackie says.

He was quickly assuaged by the level of depth in the scripts from head writer Malcolm Spellman (“Empire,” “Truth Be Told”), especially when it came to the nuances of Wilson — a Black American man with no powers beyond his badass wings.

“Sam Wilson as played by Mackie is different than a Thor or a Black Panther, because he’s not from another planet or a king from another country,” Feige says. “He’s an African American man. He’s got experience in the military and doing grief counseling with soldiers who have PTSD. But where did he grow up? Who is his family? Mackie was excited to dig into it as this man, this Black man in particular, in the Marvel version of the world outside our window.”

Mackie celebrates Sam’s relatability in a universe full of mythological gods and lab-made enforcers. “I’m basically the eyes and ears of the audience, if you were put in that position where you could go out and fight alongside superheroes. It adds a really nice quality to him, that he’s a regular guy who can go out there and do special things,” Mackie says.

While bound by standard Marvel-grade secrecy, the actor confirms there have been no discussions of a second season for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” As the majority of domestic movie theaters remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, he is equally unaware of the theatrical prospects for his Falcon character — or the Captain he may become by the end of this Disney Plus run. For now, he’s content to take up the mantle left by Boseman, a quietly understood pact of responsibility to Marvel-loving kids the world over.

“For Chad and I, [representation] was never a conversation that needed to be had because of our backgrounds. There was a hinted-at understanding between the two of us, because we’re both from humble beginnings in the South; we have very similar backgrounds. We knew what the game was. We knew going into it,” he says.

Outside comic book movies, Mackie is not done searching as a performer. There is a particular genre he would very much like to cut him a check.

“My team gets mad at me for saying this, but I would love to do a cheesy old-school ‘When Harry Met Sally’-type of project,” he says. “One of those movies where I’m working outside and have to take my shirt off because it’s too hot. I want a romantic comedy. I want to do every movie written for Matthew McConaughey that he passed on.”

#Anthony Mackie #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Disney+#interview

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