Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 1 “The Signal” – Recap and Review [Series Premiere] https://tinyurl.com/ysrmfukd

Scavengers Reign

Scavengers Reign (Mini-Serie 2023) #SunitaMani #WunmiMosaku #BobStephenson #AliaShawkat #PollyannaMcIntosh #TedTravelstead Mehr auf:

Mini-Serie Jahr: 2023 Genre: Anime / Abenteuer / Drama Hauptrollen: Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Bob Stephenson, Alia Shawkat, Pollyanna McIntosh, Ted Travelstead, Dash Williams, Sepideh Moafi, Freddy Rodríguez, Masha King, James Kyson, Skyler Gisondo, Chris Diamantopoulos, Okieriete Onaodowan … Serienbeschreibung: Die verbliebene Besatzung eines beschädigten interstellaren Frachters strandet…

View On WordPress

🎬 The Chair [TRAILER] Coming to Netflix August 20, 2021 FULL POST: 🔗 https://netflixcenter.com/the-chair-netflix-trailer/?feed_id=1027 Original Netflix Drama Series... The Chair   The Chair follows Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh) as she navigates her new role as the Chair of the English department at prestigious Pembroke University. Ji-Yoon is faced with a unique set of challenges as the first woman to chair the department, and as one of the few staff members of color a...

Film Review: ULTRASOUND: A Sci-Fi Puzzle That’s Also a Confounding Thrill Ride [Tribeca 2021] https://tinyurl.com/ygs3jq2u

Lying and Stealing

Movie Information: Hoping to leave his criminal lifestyle behind him, a successful art thief teams up with a sexy con woman to pull off the ultimate heist and set himself free. Read the full article

Favorites : Fight Club (1999)

If one had to pick a film that serves as a bridge for what life was like pre-9/11 versus what it would eventually become, they’d be hard pressed to find a more perfect film to epitomize the changing times than Fight Club.  Be it by purposeful design or sheer dumb brilliance, the combination of Chuck Pahlaniuk’s instantly classic novel and David Fincher’s adaptational direction became a moment in cinema that solidified the careers of many, inspired countless individuals, and made a statement for the future at a time that many of us were not woke enough to see or understand.

Our Narrator (Edward Norton), an automobile recall agent suffering from an intense bout of insomnia, finds himself looking to shed the nihilistic feeling by searching for connections based in suffering.  He finds temporary escape via support groups for survivors of a vast array of cancers, but this escape is shattered by the emergence of Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), a ‘tourist’ who visits the support groups for the same reasons as our Narrator, but makes no effort to hide the fact that she does not belong.  In frustration, the two set a tenuous agreement to split the support groups, and phone number are exchanged.  On a business trip following this decision, the Narrator meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), an eccentric soap salesman with a magnetic personality, whom he makes a connection with.  Upon returning home, the Narrator finds that his apartment has ‘exploded’, and in an act of desperation, he calls Tyler, who offers him a place to stay.  As the duo start to spend more time with one another, a bond forms, and their conversations on manhood and society quickly morph into Fight Club, a place where men going through a similar phase as Tyler and the Narrator can get their frustrations out, repercussion-free.  Things, as in life, are not what they seem, however, and as Fight Club morphs into Project Mayhem, all involved are forced to face the organization and themselves, warts and all.

Something about the combination of Chuck Palahniuk’s writing, and the subsequent pinpoint precision that David Fincher brings to those ideas via his adaptation, was so on the nose and ahead of the curve that time has provided clarity and context to the film.  Ideas of toxic masculinity, capitalism and consumerism as personal identities and domestic terrorism with a familiar face all took center stage, and without a mention of the internet or mass media within the world of the film (two elements that have made the world of Fight Club and the real world indiscernible in modern times).  These ideas that did not have labels at the time, in conjunction with the caveman therapy of fighting to prove self-worth, and the secret society aspect that creates an inclusionary vacuum with an ‘us versus them’ mentality, makes Fight Club a sort of modern day parable.  

The things that Fight Club has to say in regards to therapy, self-examination and self-medication are equally compelling.  When all of the theatrics are stripped away, and things are looked at via a very base level of examination, the film seems to harp on a few key points that connect to those elements : therapy, regardless of form, is a healthy need; self-examination is a must for understanding of the individual and their place in the world; and, probably most importantly, self-medication is dangerous, even with the supposed knowledge and wisdom that those other two elements bring to the table.  The dual nature of the Tyler Durden character in itself becomes a reflection on troubled individuals and how, with a bit of convincing, these individuals can not only be accepted by general society, but in odd instances, admired and followed, as everyone is seemingly waiting for someone to take that bold first step. 

As for production elements, Fight Club could be considered a modern art masterpiece.  The editing tonally matches the disjointed nature of events and our main characters perfectly.  Many of the digital effects employed ratchet up the tension quite well, be it taking details of harrowing situations down to terrifying detail or skewing frames to further blur the lines between the film’s perceived and actual realities.  The writing is whip-smart, both comedically and in terms of being poignant, with many of the monologues coming off as manifestos that one could probably blindly pick out of the head of the average American male.  The Dust Brothers sonically match the intensity of the film with their score, which also fits in with the sound design perfectly parallel.  References to pop culture are littered throughout the film as well, making it quite the meta-journey : Forrest Gump, 12 Monkeys, the Bobbitt situation and much more find themselves sprinkled into the narrative.  

Some actors embody their characters to a degree that they become inseparable, and Brad Pitt manages to do this as Tyler Durden through a mix of perfect line reads, attitude and physicality.  Edward Norton manages to become the human embodiment of malaise and depression, so much so that his yang manifests as a symmetrically perfect counterpoint to Pitt’s yin.  Helena Bonham Carter provided a breakout performance, turning her damage into surprisingly charming qualities, her inability to show the slightest hint of emotion as a strong suit, and oddly, being the exact romantic interest that Pitt/Norton’s dual existence needed to be believable.  Meat Loaf turns what could have been a throwaway joke of a character into a sympathetic yardstick the audience can use for a true understanding of how manipulative Norton’s character initially is, with his zest and eventual martyrdom serving as significant character development points for Norton.  Jared Leto provides a brief but memorable appearance as Angel Face, with his presence symbolizing innocence, and his corruption showing how it becomes victim to all of the previous ‘ism’s’ mentioned.

The true experience of Fight Club cannot be done justice in a handful of paragraphs on a blog.  For my money’s worth, not since Natural Born Killers has a film been so visually stimulating and thought-provoking, while also seeming to gain relevance as the years go by.

Time to Fly. An early-2000s set coming-of-age story following “Lady Bird” during her senior year of high school in Sacramento. Ohh lawwd the humor and the heart — #GretaGerwig — FANTASTIC job! An amazing cast and sets (especially Lady Bird’s house and bedroom —> wish I’d had a room like that growing up, sigh. jealous), the teachers, councelors, the play audition/rehearsal scenes, the party, the dance, the family revelations/relationships (Miguel and Shelly grew on me and were among my favorite characters by the end) Lady Bird’s campaign posters - looved them!😆👌🏼Her friendship with Julie, that older theater teacher guy and his scene with Mrs. McPhearson - omg - heartwrenching - hope you got the help you needed! But his replacement, the football coach, and his scenes both in rehearsal and during the performance - awww HaHaHaaaa. Lady Bird’s relationship with boys, aww honey, I mean I see the appeal of both boys and have definitely felt that disappointment/heartbreak when things don’t work out (glad the first boy felt comfortable coming to her with that bit of info), and it definitely hit close to home with/felt similar to the relationship I have with my parents. Lady Bird going to school, her in the hospital/getting out, that call with her mother...whoo boy...glad someone called an ambulence/got her to the hospital at least, that could’ve ended much differently. In a theater of mostly women sooo many feels; I and the two women to either side of me were definitely definitely sniffling. I most definitely (ohmylawd I gotta cool it with that word🤦🏼‍♀️) will buy this one, and the soundtrack, and watch more of Greta Gerwig’s work. “Is that your given name?”/“Yes, I gave it to myself.” (Spoiler Alert: her actual given name is Christine) #SaoirseRonan #LaurieMetcalfe #TraceyLetts #LucasHedges #TimothéeChalamet #BeanieFeldstein #LoisSmith #JordanRodrigues #StephenHenderson (as #StephensonMcKinleyHenderson) #OdeyaRush #MarielleScott #JohnKarna #JakeMcDorman #CarlaValentine #BobStephenson #MyraTurley #comedy #drama #comingofage #mothersanddaughters #femaleweepie #ssmovieof2017 written and directed by #GretaGerwig movie of 2017 number 32) #LadyBird

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 10 “The Decision” – Episode Recap/ Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/yq8w7ku6

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 9 “The Mountain” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/ymctrgcb

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 8 “The Nest” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/ypnen6v7

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 7 “The Cure” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/ys9wr8qv

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 5 “The Demeter” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/yvtpjmob

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 4 “The Dream” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/yq8u7ewc

Scavengers Reign: Season 1/ Episode 3 “The Wall” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/yvh8af3d

Sovereigns Reign: Season 1/ Episode 2 “The Storm” – Recap and Review (with Spoilers) https://tinyurl.com/yvd45e8m