#OTD in 1944 – Birth of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann.

As a young man, McCann attended University College Dublin as a student of medicine, but became interested in folk music during a summer holiday in Birmingham in 1964. He began to perform in folk clubs in the area, and, upon his return to Dublin, he joined a group called the Ludlow Trio in 1965. In the following year, the Ludlow Trio had a hit with their recording of Dominic Behan’s “The Sea…

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Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Main plot: Murdock, Friede Minor part: Rockruff, Mollie, Orla, Ludlow Mentioned: Katy, Liko, Dot, Roy, Blanca

Ships: FriedexMurdock also called Capncrunchshipping or Airfryshipping

Summary:

The story plays right after the fight against BlackRayquaza and before the Trio offically start their training at the Orange academy.

Murdock seems to work in Katys bakery and logically should stay in this town during that time. So I wanted to explore his feelings about being away from everyone, especially Friede and how they spend their last night together before being apart for a while. Lots of emotions, kisses and a little suggestive part at the end <3

Three days have passed since the big fight against BlackRayquaza, were the Brave Asagi got heavely damaged. It is heartbreaking to see their home being in this terrible state, but luckily nobody was injured during this incident and that's the most important thing. The ship can be fixed after all...even if it might take a while until they can go back to what they are used to...until the ship is filled with chaos and laughter again instead of silence and working noises. For the time being Liko went back to her parents house and Dot and Roy were able to stay at Blancas place until they can officially start with their Terastal training at the Orange academy. Only the adults stayed at the ship for now, but as soon as Orla officially begins with the repair they gonna have to stay at a hotel to not be in her way.

Murdock was sitting in his room heaving out a big sigh. He was glad that at least the kids could stay at a more positive environment right now. Seeing the damaged ship everyday just would make them relive this scary experience over and over again. Or that what he is believing anyways, knowing that he himslef is still struggeling with getting that disaster out of his head. He kept a brave face in front of the children, but in reality the cook was as scared as them, not knowing what happens next. Can the ship really be fixed completely? What are they gonna do if it's not possible? Will this the be end end of the RVTs? The cook couldn't help himself but worrying about these questions. Friede seems more faithful then him or at least knows how to overplay such thoughts. "PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" Murdock scolded himself while he slapped his own hands against his cheeks, squeezing them with a slight agression. "You are not a child anymore, so don't act like one!" Murdock remaind in this position for a while before he loosened his grip, letting out another deep sigh.

The chef inhaled and exhaled sharly several times to calm his nerves. There is no time to feel scared. He knows exactly what he has to do. In fact everyone knew repairing the ship wont be an easy task and will keep Orla busy. But for the mechanic to even being able to start with this endeavor, she needs materials and that in turn means they need money. Lots of money. So Murdock already decided what he personally can do to help. After all working hard is something he can do best.

A small smile formed on his lips while he looked at his phone. Only yesterday he mailed an application adressed to Katy's bakery in Cortondo, hopeing she gonna accept him and allow the pastry chef to work there until the ship is as good as new. To Murdocks surprise she personally called him back this moring to tell him he's hired. Needless to say that the chef almost dropped his phone, because he was so nervouse and honestly didn't expect such a fast answer, let alone a positive one. And on top of that he was told he can already start working in five days. Though the cook needs to leave a day earlier to get the keys for the small room he rented near the bakery, right after this hopeful phonecall earlier.

His smile fastly shifted to a more sad one. Working there means he need to leave for a while and live in that town...thinking about that fact alone made him feel wistful. Murdock don't even wanna think about getting seperated from everyone for an extended period of time that he cannot yet grasp. Especially being apart from Friede fills his thoughts with horror. Having him around all the time feels so natural and became part of his daily life. Being able to go to the other man whenever he wants, just to hang out or when he feels overwhelmed or just needs a safe place. Simply just having him by his side, to feel his touch, his warmth. Before Murdock completly got comsumed by his fear he felt something cautiously licking his hand. The cook was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't noticed his puppy climbed on his lap. Rockruff knew somethings was wrong and visible was worried about it's dad. "Sorry I didn't wanted to worry you." Murdock automatically wore a soft smile and gently patted his puppies head before he lifted it up to pepper it with kisses. Cuddeling with his little angel certainly helped to ground him and let him tackle this decision rationally. The chef knew that he had to tell Friede at some point, but he also didn't want his boyfriend to start brooding about this and having to go through all those feelings for days now as a result just like him...one suffering is enough. Murdock settled to only tell Mollie, Orla and Ludlow about his plans for now.

As expected the two woman appreciated his plans but side-eyed him when he pleaded them to not say a word to Friede about that. Nointhenless they gladly did respect his wish who he was very thankfull for. From this point on Murdock tried to tell Friede as well several times. When they were shopping together, when Friede was keeping him company while cooking, when they went for a walk...he tried to tell him...he really tried but everytime he chickened out the last second and brushed it off, finding a silly excuse for his strange behaviour. There was no way that the professor didn't started to get sceptical.

And before Murdock knew it the day before his departure had arrived. It already was dinner time to be exact. The chef was spending most of the day in the kitchen to make everyones fave meals. He just had too, because he doesn't know when he will be able to cook for them again. Murdock could feel tears filling up his eyes, but hastely blinked them away, before he served it all up. "Hope you all are hungry, because I made plenty!" the chef voiced with a bright smile while watching everyone slowly gathering around the table.

"That smells great!" Friede took in the scent a bit more before sitting down and filling up his plate. Orla and Mollie digged into the food as well. Ludlow on the other hand just silently watched the scene for now, sipping his tea, observing, already knowing something gonna happen. And he didn't have to wait long. "So delicious! I gonna miss Murdocks food!" Orla spouted out, mouth full. "ORLA!" Mollie promptly scolded her, but the brown-haired woman didn't realized what she just said. Murdock on the other hand froze in place, wanting to run away. "Please don't let Friede have heard that!" the cook was pleading in his mind. But the white-haired man DID hear and now looked at Orla with a very confused look on his face, swallowing down his food before asking "Hmm? What do you mean you gonna miss his food?" Realisation hit Orlas brain like a thunder bolt. She didn't meant to say that and tried to hastly come up with an excuse. "Ah that...well I mean when we start staying at the hotel he won't be able to cook there right?" Orla cleared up while slightly laughing awkwardly. "Right Murdock?" she then added hoping he gonna help covering her white lie but to everyones surprise his seat was empty. The tall man must have taken the oppertunity to leave while all eyes were on the mechanic. Friede felt like a fool and was visably confused. The professor hated when he didn't know what was happening and didn't realized how his face got very serious. "What is this all about?" he now asked with a slighty annoyed sound in his voice. The damage was already done so there was no reason to keep up this farce. "We promised Murdock to not tell you, I don't know why he asked for that though, so it might be better to ask him yourself." Mollie finally explained. The conference room was now overshadowed by a negative vibe.

"Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks. Listen to your heart, it knows." Ludlow spoke with a calm and encouraging voice, breaking the uncomforteable silence that had settle over the group. Friede stared at his gramps for a moment before his eyes wandered back to his plate of food. His face slowly shifted into a sad but also concerened and betrayed expression. What did Murdock felt comforteable enough to tell literally everyone but him? He needed to know but...if he haven't told him yet why should he tell him now? Friede suddenly started to heavily shake his head, trying to get rid of those unwanted thoughts. With his eyes now filled with determination, the professor promptly finished his fill and then headed to the kitchen, were he was sure to find his 'target'. Ludlow was smiling as he saw the young man leaving the room ready to clear things up. When Friede entered the kitchen Murdock was busy washing the dishes not daring to look at the smaller man. The professor didn't knew how to start the conversation, he wants to know what the chef is hiding from him, but he also doesn't want to pressure him either. The white-haired man is certain that the cook must have a reason why he haven't told him yet, so he tries to approach the subject slowly. "That was delicious as always. I'm full!" Friede praised, putting on a smile. It wasn't a fake smile though, he meant what he said. Murdocks food is always the tastiest, still he felt more like crying right now. The taller man was taken abakt by that, because he was sure Friede straight up gonna confront him and ask him questions. "I'm glad to hear that. It means a lot to me. Thank you." the cook looked at Friede for a short moment to return the smile, before focusing at the dishes again. An awkward silence filled the whole kitchen. The only sound left was the suttle cliring of the table ware Murdock kept cleaning.

With every minute passing the chef started to get more nervouse. "That's your last proper chance to tell him you idiot!" Murdock started to scold himself in his thoughts. "COME ONE JUST TELL HIM YOU COWARD!" his thoughts went further and the cook got so angry at himself, that he abruptly stopped in his tracks, starteling Friede a little. Murdock was snapped back to reality by a gently touch on his shoulder. It was Friede who now was giving him a worried but warm glance. The cook took a deep breath and slowly let out the air again.

"I'm gonna leave tomorrow to work at Katy's bakery in Cortondo and wont be back for a while. We need that money or Orla can't fix the ship so it's unavoideable." Murdock started to explain, pausing for a moment to inhale deeply before continuing. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but the more I tried the more I couldn't bring myself too..." his voice now started to tremble "If..." he had to clear his throat before being able to continue. "If I had told you four days ago, you surley couldn't have helped but brood about me leaving all these days...and I didn't want you to go through the same thoughts that kept haunting me over and over again...I gonna miss you ya know?" the cook couldn't hold his tears back anymore and started to sob bitterly. "I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you until now I'm..." before he could speak any further he was pulled into a tight hug, while a hand gently caressed his back. "You idiot..." the small man said with a shaky voice himself. "You choose to keep all this feelings to yourself because you didn't wanted to make me suffer but..." Friede now had teary eyes as well "But imagine how you must have felt all those days, being all alone with those thoughts...that's what breaks my heart!"

"I'm so sorry...i didn't mean to hurt your feelings...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Murdock's voice softened as he continued to apologize, hugging Friede even tighter, but gentle enough so the smaller man could still breath properly. "Shhh it's okay I'm not mad at you." The smaller man kept stroking Murdocks back in gentle and firm circles to calm him down. This went on for quite a while until Friede felt that the other mans sobbing eased. He then proceed to sat down Murdock on the small wooden stool, who was busy wiping away his tears and was still softly sobbing.

"I want to apologize myself...No I need to apologize to you!" the white-haird man stated while he rubbed the back of his head. Murdock just looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for Friede to continue. "The words gramps said to me before had me thinking. I mean you did act a bit strange all of a sudden, but I refused to question it any further believing you surley gonna tell me if somethings the matter and..." "So you did notice..." Murdocks eyes wandered to the side in embarressment. Friede had to giggle at that sight. "Are you kidding me? When we went for a walk yesterday you literally kept staring at me with such an intense look , that you ended up running into a street lamp!" Friede now started to chuckle. "You should have seen your face!" and with that he bursted out into laughter. "STOP LAUGHING THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Murdock tried to complain, but the moment he saw Friedes genuin smile while laughing like crazy he couldn't help himslef but join, laughing away all their worries. A few minutes passed and they now were sitting on the floor, right next to each other, tummies still hurting from their laughing fit. "Guess we are both idiots!" the cook stated while beaming a smile at Friede who returned the favour agreeing with a cheerfull "Yeah!"

And without a warning Friede was leaning in for a passionate kiss, making the tall man shudder in surprise. As soon as their lips touched Murdock literally melted into this sensation. The cook gently layed his hands around the other mans arms to pull him even closer. Both of them let themselve fully taken in by this moment, there hearts are pounding in synch, hoping this pleasent feeling would never fade. They tried to delay the unavoideable, but unfortunatly they had to break the kiss at some point to breath again. Now staring into each others eyes with such warmth.

"Soooo we can either have some fun now or just cuddle all night." Friede now looked at Murdock with playful eyes and a cheeky smile. The cook just looked at him with wide eyes, cheeks still rosy. He tightened his grip a little, his eyes nervousely flickering back and forth from looking into Friedes eyes to staring into the void. Friede just amusingly watched his future husband getting all flustered, while waiting for an answer. "Wh-Why not both?" the cook finally managed to declare, taking the professor by surprise, not that he is complaining though. He kinda was hoping for that outcome, because he wants both of them to enjoy this night to the fullest. "Never thought you can get greedy." the smaller man sassily returned, while purposly coming closer to Murdock's face who then started to pout a little "So what if I'm a little greedy?" the chef playfully growled back. "Nothing wrong with that." Friede assured while trying to kiss Murdock again. The emphasis is on 'trying' because his attempt got stopped by a big hand gently pressing against his lips. "W-Wait! N-not here!! Besides I need to clean the kitchen first and..." the cook got cut off mid-sentence by Friedes lips sealing his once again. It was only a short lived kiss this time meant to stop Murdock from blabbering nonsens. Friede now was looking into Murdocks eyes dead serious. "As if I would let you do the chores right now, the dishes won't run away, I gonna deal with them tomorrow." the yellow-eyed man explained. "But...!" Murdock tried to argue, but this time it was Friede pressing his hand against the cooks lips. "No buts! I already let the others know so don't worry!" the professor replied with a snippish grin while holding up his phone to show Murdock that he in fact send a message.

»Just put your dishes in the kitchen later. I'll deal with them tomorrow. I have to take care of Murdock tonight <3«

"T-Taking ca-care of me?" Murdocks cheeks turned into an even more intense pink admitting his defeat "G-Guess I have no choice then!" he stutterd softly. Pleased to hear that, Friede then purposely placed his hand on Murdocks crotch, making the cook jump at the sudden touch. His whole head turned into a bright red now and before the professor could make his next move he got lifted up by Murdock, bridal style. The cook now was dashing into his room, while gently carrying the smaller man in his arms, locking the door behind him before he allowed himself to be all over Friede.

At the same time in the kitchen:

"Guess we better sleep with our ear plugs in tonight." Mollie said after she read Friede's message while looking at Orla, who visibly was relieved about this outcome. With their minds at peace the two woman continued eating. Ludlow did join them as well now and was seemingly happy.

The next morning:

Friede and Murdock layed in bed cuddeling together. The smaller man was resting his head againsts the cooks chest, while the taller man wrapped his arms around him. Both were snoozing softly, enjoying this harmonic atmospehere until Murdocks alarm rang. The chef turned it off as fast as he could so Friede not gonna get waken up from it. He had to blink his eyes open several times before his vision was clear and he could see Friedes peaceful face, thankfully still sleeping. The cook decided it won't hurt to stay in bed for five more minutes, before he cautiously climbed out to not wake up the other man. He didn't want too, but he needed to leave soon so he had to dress up and get ready. When he came back from the bathroom he found Friede right were he left him and couldn't hold back a smile. He looked cute when he was peacefully sleeping. Murdock than hastly pulled out his phone to snap a shot he can look at whenever he misses Friede. Not that he already has a full album full of that. Happy with the result he now was thinking about waking the professor up to properly say goodbye for now. But wouldn't that be selfish? To tear him from his sleep just to catch another kiss? As Murdock was mostly silently debating with himself to either wake up the other man or not he suddenly got hugged from behind. The smaller man tightly wrapped his arms around him. "Good morning!" Friede muttered while letting out a big yawn. "G-Good Morning Friede. Did I wake you up?" the cook replied. "Nah I was already awake before you climed out of bed, but I wanted to let you get ready in peace." The white-haired man explained while he released the hug trying to catch a glimpse of Murdock's cell phone "Sooo did you get a nice shot?" Friede asked with a cheeky voice resulting in a high pitched scream leaving the cooks mouth, while the latter tried to hide his phone. But that just made Friede even more curious, now wearing a big grin on his face "I know you made a photo of me while I was supposetly asleep." Murdock was now trying to hide his blushing face behind his phone. "M-Ma-Maybe!" he managed to stutter out. "Good thing I also got a cute shot from you." the smaller man joyfully chirped. A small chuckle left the professors mouth when he saw the chef getting all flustered. Friede then took his chance to pull his boyfriend into a kiss, which immediately made the bigger man calmer. Both closed their eyes and enjoyed this delicate moment. Taking in every second, burning this feeling into their brains. They whined a little when they had to part, but they knew it was now time for Murdock to go. " Don't overwork yourself okay?" Friede wanted to make sure and with a "Don't be too reckless okay?" and a warm smile Murdock then left for his new temporary job.

I am MELTING ON THE FLOOR over how much i love the entire Horizons cast a;dslfjk like losing ash is still. very bittersweet. but every single character in the new series is like engineered to appeal to me and it's Very Rude

(gonna go off about everyone below the cut bc i need to scream into the void for a bit)

so first off Liko?? little anxious baby, freezes up from overthinking, a DRASTIC change from past characters and a very bold choice for the like main protagonist but one that feels necessary to really differentiate this new series from the old,, then her (over)willingness to sacrifice herself (please, sweetheart, please get over that i am begging you nobody wants to see you get captured)??? and then her dynamics with all of the other characters are PERFECT, especially Nyaoha and Roy (even though they've. just met) and i can't wait to see how they develop!!

then ROY. Baby. Baby boy. Pure sunshine. I think he may be the single purest character in the entire franchise. Him and Hogator are SO CUTE (if you haven't seen the new episode yet PLEASE watch it i cried from the cuteness) and i can't wait to see how he officially joins the gang (i have. theories. but we shall see) and again, the dynamic with Liko is. absolutely beautiful a;sdflj

then FRIEDE. man. man is cocky, a bit of a himbo ("What? didn't I mention that?" SIR excuse me that was important,,,) but also intelligent enough to be a professor, i am FROTHING AT THE MOUTH for more backstory. (...plus he's pretty ok). Also i don't feel right giving him his own section in this but shout out to Cap. The power. The STANCE in that chair. The cockiness that he shares with Friede (who is? his trainer? I guess? despite deferring to him in most matters involving the ship) and that is tbh very well deserved. also i love that they gave him a distinctly different battling style to Ash's pikachu!! well done making him feel like his own unique character

the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers (who can share a section just bc they. have not had much screentime yet) are also just. fantastic. Murdock with his cute little puppy being the biggest softest man around (and completely failing his section in the ED a;dfsjk i'm so glad they made him Incapable of Being Cool), and then Orla being just. so tired half the time (mood) and also HELLA cool, just based on vibes, and MOLLIE (and oh, I do love the theories about her being a Joy. i beg of you, GIVE ME THE BACKSTORY, POKEMON) with her smirks and glares and her angry chansey jacket just generally being a boss and the opposite of what you'd expect from a healer,,, and Ludlow who... I don't have much to say about other than that I'm side-eyeing his beard. I don't believe it's real. where is his FACE. but i'm interested to learn more about what the hell he's doing with this group a;sdfkj

and then there's THE EXPLORERS!! who are apparently notorious, for reasons that will hopefully be elaborated on. i usually love villain characters so no surprises here but I LOVE THEM,,, they're already significantly more ruthless than most past villains so that is. very very fun. Conia is very very funny with her feelings on nyaoha as;kdflj and then Zir is a little bit less developed thus far but so far he seems to be kind of the more serious of the two and i'm really excited to see how he goes from here on out!! and then AMETHIO. i may have missed something in my initial watch but i honestly assumed he was a rather short adult from his speaking style and how the others deferred to him,, but I'm now thinking meant to be like older teens? definitely older than Liko but now i'm SO CURIOUS as to how he ended up in his position here. and he is also!! so pretty!! top tier design a;sldkfj i'm just in love with the trio's dynamics and i NEED to know their goals and what they plan to do with Liko and the pendant (and. if i'm right about how the next episode is gonna go. very soon Roy and his ball will be added to that list) i am DYING of anticipation

(also that's all for the main main charas but shout out to Anne, best gremlin, Liko deserves such a chaotic friend it'll be good for her and i'm so glad they're staying in touch!!)

idk i'm just like. i'm still sad over ash and idk if that'll go away anytime soon but this new series is really, really good so far, and i'm SO glad, because if it hadn't started off strong then i am absolutely certain that people would've completely trashed it, but it's vibrant and exciting in a totally different but just as engaging way as Ash's story was and i'm just. idk i'm really happy ;w; and will probably spend too much money on merch but that's just how it goes a;lsdkfj

31 Days of Horror - Day 15 - Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

15/10/23

Today I found myself buried in nights of missed sleep and a day filled with activities; the day panned out very nicely, and I can’t speak highly enough of how much fun I had, but by the time I arrived home, spent some time with my boyfriend, made dinner, I was more than ready to sleep. However, at this point, I still hadn’t watched Marrowbone, the film I had spun on my wheel for the day! After looking at its near two hour runtime, I decided to kill that idea, and raise a new one. That is how I came to watch Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, a prequel to the 2019 remake of Pet Sematary. 

After enjoying watching the 1989 version with my boyfriend so much, I was very much looking forward to this one - for starters, the poster was pretty fun, and also, I was just excited to see something new done with the series! I know the sequel to the original movie is crazy, so I was hoping for something similar, but instead I found myself disappointed by this pretty bland time. 

While watching this one, I made a few notes, mostly because I was so tired that I was worried I wouldn’t remember what I was thinking, which I can’t blame entirely on the film, but it definitely doesn’t speak my praises to it! But before I go through those, mostly positive, notes, I will say I thought this film was very okay! Nothing spectacular nor awful, and not something I am keen to revisit, but it had some fun and interesting things in it for sure! I want to focus on those rather than what I didn’t like, although I’ll make sure to weave those in too. 

One thing I really loved about this film, that built off the 2019 version, was that it continued with the cool looking masks, having Isabella LaBlanc’s character Donna make them based on dreams she’s been having. I found their designs to be very interesting, and I felt like her character as a whole was really fun - definitely one of my favourites! That element is very fun to me, and is definitely the part of the movie I have thought about the most since finishing watching it. 

As well as Donna, I also really enjoyed Manny, played by Forrest Goodluck, who is very interesting and does a great job at portraying his character! Every scene with him and Donna was very fun, and I enjoyed their conflict about leaving Ludlow! They also provide some much needed Native American representation into the series. 

Unlike those characters, I found myself mostly uninterested in Jud’s storyline. Although I didn’t love his lack of a Maine accent, I don’t hate Jackson White’s performance, and I think a lot of the problems I have with him lay within the characterisation of him! Jud’s backstory is told in a very fun and interesting way in the original movie, and unlike the remake, this film makes no changes to the source material that surprise the audience, which makes the whole film a bit sluggish and incredibly predictable! I just couldn’t connect with this Jud, and I think the same was true for my watching of the 2019 remake, so maybe this continuities Jud just isn’t a character I love, and that’s okay!

While discussing the issues with predictability, I guess it is a good time to mention how, for me, that made a lot of the film pretty boring. Knowing how inconsequential it all was is always a problem prequels face, but here there was some room to make us shocked, and I feel like it rarely does! Everyone I expected to die does die, and the story never felt like it was holding its own to me. I hardly cared about a bunch of these characters, so not only was I uninterested in what was happening, I also knew what was going to happen. I guess I just wish that the trio of friends felt more like that, but instead we hardly get a glimpse into what they were like before Timmy was buried in the titular cemetery.

Finally, I want to mention how great the gore was! It definitely elevated the movie for me, and heightened it to one I enjoyed enough! The small things I loved about this movie, like a handful of characters, the gore and some sequences such as some of the hospital sequence and the first encounter with Timmy, make this one a fun enough watch, even if I doubt I’ll watch it again any time soon. 

On an even more final note, this film uses its most famous quote, “Sometimes dead is better”, an egregious amount of times! Yet not once did it convince me that it meant anything, the phrase was uttered so much, that a once fun and powerful quote has turned to mush, and I guess the film sometimes coasts into feeling like that too - although more interesting than the first, the lack of weight it holds makes the originals cast a shadow over it, as the emotion is drained and the kills and scares become the most important part of the film. Of course, this isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it is definitely a zombified version of its original form, for better or for worse. 

4/10

Putney: Trio who beat victim and stole puppy jailed after violent burglary

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Putney: Trio who beat victim and stole puppy jailed after violent burglary

A trio of men who posed as police officers during a violent burglary in Putney have been jailed for a total of 35 years. Michael Cloherty, 58, of Chipperfield Road, Orpington, Simon Ludlow, 50, of London Road, Mitcham, and Michael Cook, 54, of Northborough Road, London, were all found guilty of aggravated burglary on November […]

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Thugs posing as police beat mum in front of her children then stole their puppy

Thugs posing as police beat mum in front of her children then stole their puppy

The thieves made off with the family’s dog who still hasn’t been found a year on (Picture: Metropolitan Police/UNPIXS) A ‘violent’ gang who posed as police officers, punched a mother and made off with her family’s pup and Christmas presents have been jailed. Michael Cloherty, 58, Simon Ludlow, 50, and Michael Cook, 54, robbed a family in Putney, London, on November 21 last year. The trio knocked…

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'Extremely violent' burglary gang who posed as police to snatch puppy and children's Christmas gifts jailed | UK News

‘Extremely violent’ burglary gang who posed as police to snatch puppy and children’s Christmas gifts jailed | UK News

A trio who posed as police officers, punched a mother to the floor and tied her up during an “extremely violent” house burglary have been jailed for 35 years. Michael Cloherty, 58, Simon Ludlow, 50, and Michael Cook, 54, were wearing caps with the word “police” on the front and carrying friction-lock batons when they arrived at the home in Putney, southwest London, claiming they needed to conduct…

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Thugs posing as police beat mum in front of her children then stole their puppy

Thugs posing as police beat mum in front of her children then stole their puppy

The thieves made off with the family’s dog who still hasn’t been found a year on (Picture: Metropolitan Police/UNPIXS) A ‘violent’ gang who posed as police officers, punched a mother and made off with her family’s pup and Christmas presents have been jailed. Michael Cloherty, 58, Simon Ludlow, 50, and Michael Cook, 54, robbed a family in Putney, London, on November 21 last year. The trio knocked…

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Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 2 | SPOILER Breakdown & Review

Be advised – this article contains heavy spoilers for the second season of Camp Cretaceous. Make sure to check out our non-spoiler review before you read this piece. If you’ve seen the entirety of Season Two, please feel free to read this review.

If you read my non-spoiler review of the second season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, then you may have noted my choice to refer directly to coming back to the spoiler section for several bits of key information. That is primarily because the events of this second season take place at a previously un-documented timeframe – meaning everything which occurs is ‘new’ – even if it may have nods to earlier and latter parts of the timeline. 

With that said, we’re going to use this article to talk about some of the juicier parts of the second season of the show. Let’s dive in.

The key part to the second series of the show is the idea of the emergency beacon on Main Street being used by the kids to summon some help to the island – making their rescue a possibility. I enjoyed how the beacon was uncovered by the kids within the Jurassic World Inside Guide – a nice nod to some of the real documents like the Jurassic World Staff Book we have in the real-world. I also enjoyed how this sequence was used as an opportunity to explain how lots of technology may be hidden around the park as ‘nature’ – helping to retroactively explain how the park may have functioned without us even realising in Jurassic World. We also get to see the Jurassic World Discovery Walk (a new attraction!) during this segment, building out the park a little more, and also spend more time in T-Rex Kingdom, which was a welcome addition. This sequence also features a gut wrenching flashback – with Darius having a moment where Ben’s fall from the train in Season One is replaced with his dad falling. This was a heart wrenching moment – and really sets up the guilt arc which is a key driver for Darius throughout the second season. Of note is the fact that the beacon message does change from ‘Sent’ to ‘Received’ – something which is not touched upon again in the second season. This sets up a couple of interesting options for a third season – something which we will discuss in another article here on the website soon.

The next interesting element I wanted to talk about is the implementation of the veterinary area of the park in Episode Two. This was a fun opportunity to peak underneath the hood of the functioning Jurassic World a little bit more – seeing where sick animals may have been quarantined and treated. I particularly appreciated how the animals in cages here included a Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus – a fun nod to the same animals being caged by Ludlow’s team in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. I loved the way Grim, Chaos and Limbo were introduced during this sequence – and also loved seeing them squaring off with the Stegosaurs, showing that sometimes predators would rather leave groups of Herbivores than pick a fight where they would be outnumbered. This is a nice nod to the real palaeontological understanding that herbivores moved in larger herds to protect them from predators. Kenji and Yaz also got some interesting development in Episode Two, too – and I feel like the first two episodes were some of the strongest in terms of the areas of the park they explored, and also the animal behaviours which they showed throughout the moments we spend with dinosaurs in these episodes. This is continued in Episode Three, however – which introduces us to the watering hole, and some fun accompanying lore to flesh out the behaviour of the dinosaurs in the series a little bit more. 

Episode Three introduces us to the watering hole – and is arguably my favourite episode because of the time it takes to really bring back the ‘natural beauty’ element of the dinosaurs and the environments in the Jurassic franchise. During these sequences we get some interesting bits of information – including Darius sharing that Doctor Grant stated that predators and prey may be able to co-exist at a watering hole if the right conditions were met. It is nice to hear Grant name dropped to remind us of the universe we are in, and this is a nice way of explaining the Ceratosaurus also at the watering hole. During this sequence the Ceratosaurus also encounters the kids but chooses to ignore them and walk off – a nice call-back to the more docile behaviour we see exhibited from this animal in Jurassic Park III.  Of note during this episode is the idea that the Stegosaurus has shed its plate as it has grown and rubbed itself against a tree – something which Sammy compares to modern-day animals, and we also see a Parasaurolophus inhabiting a river – calling back to where they were located in the park. Although we don’t get much of it in the latter parts of the season, the steps taken to really add to the dinosaurs behaviours in the earlier episodes feels rewarding and helps to flesh them out as natural animals in their own right. 

Another interesting note in this episode is the fact that Brooklynn, Sammy and Yaz revisit the genetics lab where Doctor Wu and Eddie were in Season One, to find it now stripped back and empty. This suggests that, much like we see in the film, Hoskins may have ordered his people to extract assets from across the island – which does then call into question some moments which occur later in the season. During this sequence the trio find a key card in an envelope – alongside a couple of pieces of paper which appear to contain information, potentially to do with E750’s genetics given the fact that this name is on the envelope. E750 is, if you remember, the ‘confidential’ folder we saw on Wu’s Computer in Season One – implying that this is something big. At the end of this episode we are also introduced to a campfire on the island – indicating that someone else is on the island. In Episode Four we learn that these people mercenary-type character of Hap, and two Ecotourists – Mitch and Tiff. Mitch’s character design is an overt Alan Grant reference – designed to make us feel as though we can trust him, whilst Hap feels more akin to someone like Dieter Stark. Over the course of this episode we learn a few interesting details – including the fact that the group’s boat is away refueling at Papagayo. Interestingly, this is a peninsula on the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica – in keeping with the geography of the series. The episode ends with Hap chasing the kids after they tried to break into his yurt – only for them to be rescued at the last moment by Ben and an adult Bumpy.

Episode Five takes the time for us to explore how Ben survived – showing how he attempted to escape the jungle but inadvertently wondered into Toro’s nesting ground. This sequence is cool as it shows Toro has been hunting animals since the end of Season One – suggesting he has been taking his aggression out on Nublar’s other residents. At a couple of different moments here we see Compys surrounding Ben as he cowers – helping to create the similar sense of vulnerableness that we see in Cathy Bowman. Eventually, after snapping at Bumpy and finding himself on his own, Ben stands up to the Compys and decides to go and fight Toro. This leads to a cool sequence where Bumpy eventually saves Ben and fights Toro – although I do feel like here the kids show side of the series takes over a little bit more, as I can imagine a kid with a spear not being much of a problem for a fully grown Carnotaurus. With that said, seeing a fully grown Bumpy showdown with Toro was a nice call-back to the cut Sinoceratops vs Carnotaurus fight from Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, and I was quite excited to see Toro back for an episode as I wasn’t sure we would see this animal again in the series. 

The next episode reveals why Tiff and Mitch are truly on the island – because they are Big Game Hunters. In the yurt which was off limits Darius finds a lot of hunting tools, including a bear trap, and brutally – the head of a Sinoceratops. I was genuinely shocked at how morbid this sequence was – and think this reinforces the idea that this isn’t purely a kids show. Whilst this was mainly implied as the whole head is not shown under the cover it has over it, it was enough to shock me. I really enjoyed this reveal as I didn’t expect it – I thought it would be easy for this to be Mantah Corp, but obviously, as The Lost World shows us, there will be people out there who want to hunt these animals for a challenge. Interestingly, Mitch justifies hunting them as preserving their memory, saying that the UN will soon forget and abandon the island. I appreciated this attempt from the writers to show how the character would justify his actions as it helps to make him slightly more compelling – even if I would argue that the writing for both characters is weak here. In this episode we also see the death of Hap – who stays behind to distract the pack of three Baryonyx so that Brooklynn and Kenji can escape on a motorbike following Ben’s rescue. This was an interesting moment as it is clear Hap was written to fit the ‘villain’ stereotype and then flip it. Interestingly enough we don’t see Hap die – so whilst surviving an attack from three Baryonyx is improbable, it is possible he could return. I would argue that he was the best of the three new characters introduced in the second season of the show. We end with Yaz, Darius and Sammy at the mercy of the pair of hunters – who now want Darius to show them the watering hole so they can kill more dinosaurs. This makes sense – but may have benefitted from being slightly more fleshed out in my opinion.

This idea carries over into Episode Seven – where Darius falsely leads the pair to main street in a desperate bid to escape. There is a really cool sequence on main street here where Darius and Sammy are avoiding the couple in a way which almost mimics the Velociraptor kitchen sequence from Jurassic Park  - with them moving from cover to cover in a slow fashion. Whilst this unfolds, Brooklynn, Kenji, Yaz and Ben find an emergency bunker when Brooklynn follows a hum she has heard throughout the series – pointing to something still being operational underground. The Bunker facility appears identical to the one which we see in Jurassic World Aftermath – which poses some interesting questions for where that latter entry slots into the story given what else unfolds here. We learn that this room connects to a room where a sample is cryogenically frozen – and Kenji inadvertently begins the process of awakening it. I enjoyed everything we saw on the computer screens on this sequence – including the location of the watering hole, which appears to be near Gyrosphere Valley. This then leads into the second sequence we get with the Tyrannosaurus Rex in this series – which is, unfortunately, a sequence which suffers from the necessity for plot armour to carry the antagonists through to the final episode. Rexy tries repeatedly to bite Tiff and Mitch and misses – allowing them to escape and eventually being distracted from Darius and Sammy by lights and sounds the rest of the crew activate in the command centre. Seeing Rexy unable to kill either Tiff or Mitch when they were out in the open is one of the moments which breaks the realism of the series, in my opinion – making it a little bit harder to accept at face value.

The finale starts with Tiff and Mitch heading to the watering hole whilst the rest of the kids attempt to stop them. During this sequence we get a brutal moment where Tiff kills Grim with a single shot – reminding us that this animals are not nearly as resilient as the Indominus Rex. This stood out to me as it reminded me how easy the dinosaurs which are rampaging during Jurassic World Dominion would be to deal with – implying that something more serious may happen to prevent authorities around the world from dealing with the animals so quickly. This moment really was brutal – as although Grim was technically an antagonist, the death had a similar effect to that of Zara, with it not feeling earned. Eventually the kids manage to stop Tiff and Mitch from killing any of the other animals – and both die in ways which homage different parts of the franchise. Mitch steps on his own snare and is eaten by the Tyrannosaurus Rex whilst hanging from a tree – a fun nod to the death of Cooper in JPIII who has a similar fate at the hands of the Velociraptors. Tiff, on the other hand, makes it onto her boat (which has been moored at the dock the whole time) – and makes it on in time to escape before the kids can get onboard. As she begins to sail away it is revealed that Limbo and Chaos have made it onboard – sealing her fate, and providing a moment of Karma for the brutal execution of Grim earlier in the episode. This also serves as a fun nod to the novel – where Velociraptors were able to board the Isla Nublar supply ships. This then ends with the kids practically in the same position as the end of Season One – which does, in some ways, negate the events of the second season as it feels as though no real progress occurs. 

Overall, there are some fun sequences in Season Two of Camp Cretaceous – but it feels as though there are less memorable moments than the first season, and many of them are over-exaggerated and therefore leave you questioning their realism within the canon. Whilst the show should be granted additional freedom due to its target demographic, this undoubtedly is a canonical piece – and I feel like the second season pushed the boundaries of being a canonical entry in the series a little bit too far at times. Whilst some sequences, like a stampede sequence in Episode Seven and the Baryonyx attack in Episode Two feel well executed, other sequences, like the chase in Episode Six, feel a little bit too extreme. With that said, I think kids are definitely going to love these set pieces, so I can look past them for the impact they may have on younger fans. 

I also didn’t enjoy the lack of any presence for Mantah Corp in Season Two. Whilst I appreciated Mitch and Tiff not being agents of the organisation, as that would’ve been easy to do, I do think that having some kind of reference – whether it be another drone, or mention of another boat off shore – would have been a nice way of tying in the fact that Mantah Corp are still an active threat in this universe. Whilst I have no doubt that they will return in the future, the complete lack to acknowledge them beyond Brooklynn and Sammy name-dropping them a couple of times did seem like a shame considering the focus that was placed on season one. The issue which irked me most, however, is probably that of E750 – which is being thawed out. We will have a separate video speculating what this could be, but my biggest issue is how this sits within the canon. As per JWFK and Jurassic World Aftermath, we know that teams were sent back to recover assets and extract them off of the island – so if E750 was such a big project for Wu, then why did he leave it on the island? This makes little sense to me right now and is, in my opinion, one of the bigger issues with retrospectively building this mystery specimen into the Jurassic timeline.

With these issues highlighted, I think Season Two of Camp Cretaceous was good, but it fails to follow-up on some of the more interesting parts of the first season, and strays a little close to the boundaries of the pre-established canon present in the universe. Whilst I appreciate it is a kids show, and I can allow more due to this, I do feel like the E750 storyline has the potential to raise more questions about the rest of the lore, depending on the direction it takes – and this is a problem which can occur when retroactively building a multi-media timeline. I am interested to see how this unfolds in a third season – and I do wonder how much more we can explore on Nublar before it begins to feel stagnant. There is certainly more of the island I would like to see and explore – so I hope we get to do this in future instalments. 

I think it is fair to say I enjoyed the second season of the show – but, perhaps not as much as I did the first season, which I felt gave a little more to adult fans and those of us more familiar with the lore. With that said, I would love to hear from you! Let me know what you thought of Season Two in the comments below, and stay tuned for more Camp Cretaceous content on The Jurassic Park Podcast in the near future.

Written by: Tom Fishenden

2019 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 1)

30.  GLASS – back in 2000, I went from liking the work of The Sixth Sense’s writer-director M. Night Shyamalan to becoming a genuine FAN thanks to his sneakily revisionist deconstruction of superhero tropes, Unbreakable.  It’s STILL my favourite film of his to date, and one of my Top Ten superhero movies EVER, not just a fascinating examination of the mechanics of the genre but also a very satisfying screen origin story – needless to say I’m one of MANY fans who’ve spent nearly two decades holding out hope for a sequel.  Flash forward to 2016 and Shyamalan’s long-overdue return-to-form sleeper hit, Split, which not only finally put his career back on course but also dropped a particularly killer end twist by actually being that very sequel.  Needless to say 2019 was the year we FINALLY got our PROPER reward for all our patience – Glass is the TRUE continuation of the Unbreakable universe and the closer of a long-intended trilogy.  Turns out, though, that it’s also his most CONTROVERSIAL film for YEARS, dividing audiences and critics alike with its unapologetically polarizing plot and execution – I guess that, after a decade of MCU and a powerhouse trilogy of Batman movies from Chris Nolan, we were expecting an epic, explosive action-fest to close things out, but that means we forgot exactly what it is about Shyamalan we got to love so much, namely his unerring ability to subvert and deconstruct whatever genre he’s playing around in.  And he really doesn’t DO spectacle, does he?  That said, this film is still a surprisingly BIG, sprawling piece of work, even if it the action is, for the most part, MUCH more internalised than most superhero movies.  Not wanting to drop any major spoilers on the few who still haven’t seen it, I won’t give away any major plot points, suffice to say that ALL the major players from both Unbreakable and Split have returned – former security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) has spent the past nineteen years exploring his super-strength and near-invulnerability while keeping Philadelphia marginally safer as hooded vigilante the Overseer, and the latest target of his crime-fighting crusade is Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the vessel of 24 split personalities collectively known as the Horde, who’s continuing his cannibalistic serial-murder spree through the streets.  Both are being hunted by the police, as well as Dr. Ellie Staple (series newcomer Sarah Paulson), a clinical psychiatrist specialising in treating individuals who suffer the delusional belief that they’re superheroes, her project also encompassing David’s former mentor-turned-nemesis Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), the eponymous Mr. Glass, whose life-long suffering from a crippling bone disease that makes his body dangerously fragile has done nothing to blunt the  genius-level intellect that’s made him a ruthlessly accomplished criminal mastermind. How these remarkable individuals are brought together makes for fascinating viewing, and while it may be a good deal slower and talkier than some might have preferred, this is still VERY MUCH the Shyamalan we first came to admire – fiendishly inventive, slow-burn suspenseful and absolutely DRIPPING with cool earworm dialogue, his characteristically mischievous sense of humour still present and correct, and he’s retained that unswerving ability to wrong-foot us at every turn, right up to one of his most surprising twist endings to date.  The cast are, as ever, on fire, the returning hands all superb while those new to the universe easily measure up to the quality of talent on display – Willis and Jackson are, as you’d expect, PERFECT throughout, brilliantly building on the incredibly solid groundwork laid in Unbreakable, while it’s a huge pleasure to see Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark (a fine actor we don’t see NEARLY enough of, in my opinion) and Charlayne Woodard get MUCH bigger, more prominent roles this time out, while Paulson delivers an understated but frequently mesmerising turn as the ultimate unshakable sceptic.  As with Split, however, the film is comprehensively stolen by McAvoy, whose truly chameleonic performance actually manages to eclipse its predecessor in its levels of sheer genius.  Altogether this is another sure-footed step in the right direction for a director who’s finally regained his singular auteur prowess – say what you will about that ending, but it certainly is a game-changer, as boldly revisionist as anything that’s preceded it and therefore, in my opinion, exactly how it SHOULD have gone.  If nothing else, this is a film that should be applauded for its BALLS …

29.  THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON – quite possibly the year’s most adorable indie, this dramatic feature debut from documentarian writer-directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz largely snuck in under the radar on release, but has gone on to garner some well-deserved critical appreciation and sleeper hit success.  The lion’s share of the film’s success must surely go to the inspired casting, particularly in the central trio who drive the action – Nilson and Schwartz devised the film with Zack Gotsagen, an exceptionally talented young actor with Down’s Syndrome, specifically in mind for the role of Zak, a wrestling obsessive languishing in a North Carolina retirement home who dreams of escaping his stifling confines and going to the training camp of his hero, the Saltwater Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), where he can learn to become a pro wrestler; after slipping free, Zak enlists the initially wary help of down-at-heel criminal fisherman Tyler (Shia LaBaouf) in reaching his intended destination, while the pair are pursued by Zak’s primary caregiver, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson).  Needless to say the unlikely pair bond on the road, and when Eleanor is reluctantly forced to tag along with them, a surrogate family is formed … yeah, the plot is so predictable you can see every twist signposted from miles back, but that familiarity is never a problem because these characters are so lovingly written and beautifully played that you’ve fallen for them within five minutes of meeting them, so you’re effortlessly swept along for the ride. The three leads are pure gold – this is the most laid back and cuddly Shia’s been for years, but his lackadaisical charm is pleasingly tempered with affecting pathos driven by a tragic loss in Tyler’s recent past, while Johnson is sensible, sweet and likeably grounded, even when Eleanor’s at her most exasperated, but Gotsagen is the real surprise, delivering an endearingly unpredictable, livewire performance that blazes with true, honest purity and total defiance in the face of any potential difficulties society may try to throw at Zak – while there’s excellent support from Church in a charmingly awkward late-film turn that goes a long way to reminding us just what an acting treasure he is, as well as John Hawkes and rapper Yelawolf as a pair of lowlife crab-fishermen hunting for Tyler, intending to wreak (not entirely undeserved) revenge on him for an ill-judged professional slight.  Enjoying a gentle sense of humour and absolutely CRAMMED with heartfelt emotional heft, this really was one of the most downright LOVEABLE films of 2019.

28.  PET SEMATARY – first off, let me say that I never saw the 1989 feature adaptation of Stephen King’s story, so I have no comparative frame of reference there – I WILL say, however, that the original novel is, in my opinion, one of the strongest offerings from America’s undisputed master of literary horror, so any attempt made to bring it to the big screen had better be a good one.  Thankfully, this version more than delivers in that capacity, proving to be one of the more impressive of his cinematic outings in recent years (not quite up to the standard of The Mist or It Chapter 1, perhaps, but certainly on a par with the criminally overlooked 1408), as well as one of the year’s top horror offerings.  This may be the feature debut of directing double-act Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, but they both display a wealth of natural talent here, wrangling bone-chilling scares and a pervading atmosphere of oppressive dread to deliver a top-notch screen fright-fest that works its way under your skin and stays put for days after.  Jason Clarke is a classic King everyman hero as Boston doctor Louis Creed, displaced to the small Maine town of Ludlow as he trades the ER for a quiet clinic practice so he can spent more time with his family – Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color, Stranger Things), excellent throughout as his haunted, emotionally fragile wife Rachel, toddler son Gage (twins Hugo and Lucas Lavole), and daughter Ellie (newcomer Jeté Laurence, BY FAR the film’s biggest revelation, delivering to the highest degree even when her role becomes particularly intense).  Their new home seems idyllic, the only blots being the main road at the end of their drive which experiences heavy traffic from speeding trucks, and the children’s pet cemetery in the woods at the back of their garden, which has become something of a local landmark.  But there’s something far darker in the deeper places beyond, an ancient place of terrible power Louis is introduced to by their well-meaning but ultimately fallible elderly neighbour Jud (one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from screen legend John Lithgow) when his daughter’s beloved cat Church is run over. The cat genuinely comes back, but he’s irrevocably changed, the once gentle and lovable furball now transformed into a menacingly mangy little psychopath, and his resurrection sets off a chain of horrific events destined to devour the entire family … this is supernatural horror at its most inherently unnerving, mercilessly twisting the screws throughout its slow-burn build to the inevitable third act bloodbath and reaching a bleak, soul-crushing climax that comes close to rivalling the still unparalleled sucker-punch of The Mist – the adaptation skews significantly from King’s original at the mid-point, but even purists will be hard-pressed to deny that this is still VERY MUCH in keeping with the spirit of the book right up to its harrowing closing shot.  The King of Horror has been well served once again – fans can rest assured that his dark imagination continues to inspire some truly great cinematic scares …

27.  THE REPORT – the CIA’s notorious use of torture to acquire information from detainees in Guantanamo Bay and various other sites around the world in the wake of September 11, 2001, has been a particularly spiky political subject for years now, one which has gained particular traction with cinema-goers over the years thanks to films like Rendition and, of course, controversial Oscar-troubler Zero Dark Thirty.  It’s also a particular bugbear of screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, Contagion, Side Effects) – his parents are both psychologists, and he found it particularly offensive that a profession he knows was created to help people could have been turned into such a damaging weapon against the human psyche, inexorably leading him to taking up this passion project, championed by its producer, and Burns’ long-time friend and collaborator, Steven Soderbergh.  It tells the true story of Senate staffer Daniel Jones’ five-year battle to bring his damning 6,300-page study of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program, commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee, into the light of day in the face of increasingly intense and frequently underhanded resistance from the Agency and various high-ranking officials within the US Government whose careers could be harmed should their own collusion be revealed. In lesser hands this could have been a clunky, unappetisingly dense excuse for a slow-burn political thriller that drowned in its own exposition, but Burns handles the admittedly heavyweight material with deft skill and makes each increasingly alarming revelation breathlessly compelling while he ratchets up the tension by showing just what a seemingly impossible task Jones and his small but driven team faced.  The film would have been nought, however, without a strong cast, and this one has a killer – taking a break from maintaining his muscle-mass for Star Wars, Adam Driver provides a suitably robust narrative focus as Jones, an initially understated workman who slowly transforms into an incensed moral crusader as he grows increasingly filled with righteous indignation by the vile subject matter he’s repeatedly faced with, and he’s provided with sterling support from the likes of Annette Bening, delivering her best performance in years as Senator Dianne Feinstein, Jones’ staunchest supporter, the ever-wonderful Ted Levine as oily CIA director John O. Brennan, Tim Blake Nelson as a physician contracted by the CIA to assist with interrogations who became genuinely disgusted by the horrors he witnessed, and Matthew Rhys as an unnamed New York Times reporter Jones considers leaking the report to when it looks like it might never be released.  This is powerful stuff, and while it may only mark Burns’ second directorial feature (after his obscure debut Pu-239), he handles the gig like a seasoned pro, milking the material for every drop of dramatic tension while keeping the narrative as honest, forthright and straightforward as possible, and the end result makes for sobering, distressing and thoroughly engrossing viewing.  Definitely one of the most important films not only of 2019, but of the decade itself, and one that NEEDS to be seen.

26.  DARK PHOENIX – wow, this really has been a year for mistreated sequels, hasn’t it?  There’s a seriously stinky cloud of controversy surrounding what is now, in light of recent developments between Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, the last true Singer-era X-Men movie, a film which saw two mooted release dates (first November 2018 then the following February, before finally limping onto screens with very little fanfare in June 2019, almost as if Fox wanted to bury it. Certainly rumours of its compromise were rife, particularly regarding supposed rushed reshoots because of clashing similarities with Marvel’s major tent-pole release Captain Marvel (and given the all-conquering nature of the MCU there was no way they were having that, was there?), so like many I was expecting a clunky mess, maybe even a true stinker to rival X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  In truth, while it’s not perfect, the end result is nothing like the turd we all feared – the final film is, in fact, largely a success, worthy of favourable comparison with its stronger predecessors.  It certainly makes much needed amends for the disappointing mismanagement of the source comics’ legendary Dark Phoenix saga in 2006’s decidedly compromised original X-Men trilogy capper The Last Stand, this time treating the story with the due reverence and respect it deserves as well as serving as a suitably powerful send-off for more than one beloved key character.  Following the “rebooted” path of the post-Days of Future Past timeline, it’s now 1992, and after the world-changing events of Apocalypse the X-Men have become a respected superhero team with legions of fans and their own personal line to the White House, while mutants at large have mostly become accepted by the regular humans around them.  Then a hastily planned mission into space takes a turn for the worst and Jean Grey (Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner) winds up absorbing an immensely powerful, thoroughly inexplicable cosmic force that makes her powers go haywire while also knocking loose repressed childhood traumas Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) would rather had stayed buried, sending her on a dangerous spiral out of control which leads to a destructive confrontation and the inadvertent death of a teammate.  Needless to say, the situation soon becomes desperate as Jean goes on the run and the world starts to turn against them all once again … all in all, then, it’s business as usual for the cast and crew of one of Fox’s flagship franchises, and it SHOULD have gone off without a hitch.  When Bryan Singer opted not to return this time around (instead setting his sights on Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody), key series writer Simon Kinberg stepped into the breach for his directorial debut, and it turns out he’s got a real talent for it, giving us just the kind of robust, pacy, thrilling action-packed epic his compatriot would have delivered, filled with the same thumping great set-pieces (the final act’s stirring, protracted train battle is the unequivocal highlight here), well-observed character beats and emotional resonance we’ve come to expect from the series as a whole (then again, he does know these movies back to frond having at least co-written his fair share).  The cast, similarly, are all on top form – McAvoy and Michael Fassbender (as fan favourite Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto) know their roles so well now they can do this stuff in their sleep, but we still get to see them explore interesting new facets of their characters (particularly McAvoy, who gets to reveal an intriguing dark side to the Professor we’ve only ever seen hinted at before now), while Turner finally gets to really breathe in a role which felt a little stiff and underexplored in her series debut in Apocalypse (she EASILY forges the requisite connective tissue to Famke Janssen’s more mature and assured take in the earlier films); conversely Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) get somewhat short shrift but nonetheless do A LOT with what little they have, and at least Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult still get to do plenty of dramatic heavy lifting as the last of Xavier’s original class, Raven (Mystique) and Hank McCoy (Beast); the only real weak link in the cast is the villain, Vuk, a shape-shifting alien whose quest to seize the power Jean’s appropriated is murkily defined at best, but at least Jessica Chastain manages to invest her with enough icy menace to keep things from getting boring.  All in all, then, this is very much a case of business as usual, Kinberg and co keeping the action thundering along at a suitably cracking pace throughout (powered by a typically epic score from Hans Zimmer), and the film only really comes off the rails in its final moments, when that aforementioned train finally comes off its tracks and the reported reshoots must surely kick in – as a result this is, to me, most reminiscent of previous X-flick The Wolverine, which was a rousing success for the majority of its runtime, only coming apart in its finale thanks to that bloody ridiculous robot samurai.  The climax is, therefore, a disappointment, too clunky and sudden and overly neat in its denouement (we really could have done with a proper examination of the larger social impact of these events), but it’s little enough that it doesn’t spoil what came before … which just makes the film’s mismanagement and resulting failure, as well as its subsequent treatment from critics and fans alike, all the more frustrating.  This film deserved much better, but ultimately looks set to be disowned and glossed over by most of the fanbase as the property as a whole goes through the inevitable overhaul now that Disney/Marvel owns Fox and plans to bring the X-Men and their fellow mutants into the MCU fold.  I feel genuinely sorry for the one remaining X-film, The New Mutants, which is surely destined for spectacular failure after its similarly shoddy round of reschedules finally comes to an end this summer …

25.  IT CHAPTER 2 – back in 2017, Mama director Andy Muschietti delivered the first half of his ambitious two-film adaptation of one of Stephen King’s most popular and personal novels, which had long been considered un-filmable (the 90s miniseries had a stab, but while it deserves its cult favourite status it certainly fell short in several places) until Muschietti and screenwriters Cary Joji Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman seemingly did the impossible, and the end result was the top horror hit of the year.  Ultimately, then, it was gonna be a tough act to follow, and there was MAJOR conjecture whether they could repeat that success with this second half.  Would lightning strike twice?  Well, the simple answer is … mostly.  2017’s Chapter 1 was a stone-cold masterpiece, and one of the strongest elements in its favour was the extremely game young cast of newcomers and relative unknown child actors who brought the already much beloved Loser’s Club to perfectly-cast life, a seven-strong gang of gawky pre-teen underdogs you couldn’t help loving, which made it oh-so-easy to root for them as they faced off against that nightmarish shape-shifting child-eating monster, Pennywise the Dancing Clown.  It was primal, it was terrifying, and it was BURSTING with childhood nostalgia that thoroughly resonated with an audience hungry for more 80s-set coming-of-age genre fare after the runaway success of Stranger Things.  Bringing the story into the present day with the Losers now returning to their childhood home of Derry, Maine as forty-something adults, Chapter 2 was NEVER going to achieve the same pulse-quickening electric charge the first film pulled off, was it?  Thankfully, with the same director and (mostly) the same writing crew on hand (Fukunaga jumped ship but Dauberman was there to finish up with the help of Jason Fuchs and an uncredited Jeffrey Jurgensen) there’s still plenty of that old magic left over, so while it’s not quite the same second time round, this still feels very much like the same adventure, just older, wiser and a bit more cynical.  Here’s a more relevant reality check, mind – those who didn’t approve of the first film’s major changes from the book are going to be even more incensed by this, but the differences here are at least organic and in keeping with the groundwork laid in Chapter 1, and indeed this film in particular is a VERY different beast from the source material, but these differences are actually kind of a strength here, Muschietti and co. delivering something that works MUCH better cinematically than a more faithful take would have. Anyway, the Loser’s Club are back, all grown up and (for the most part) wildly successful living FAR AWAY from Derry with dream careers and seemingly perfect lives.  Only Mike Hanlon has remained behind to hold vigil over the town and its monstrous secret, and when a new spree of disappearances and grisly murders begins he calls his old friends back home to fulfil the pact they all swore to uphold years ago – stop Pennywise once and for all.  The new cast are just as excellent as their youthful counterparts – Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy are, of course, the big leads here as grown up Beverley Marsh and Bill Denbrough, bringing every watt of star power they can muster, but the others hold more interest, with Bill Hader perfectly cast (both director and child actor’s personal first choice) as smart-mouth Richie Tozier, Isaiah Mustafah (best known as the Old Spice guy from those hilarious commercials) playing VERY MUCH against type as Mike, Jay Ryan (successful on the small screen in Top of the Lake and Beauty & the Beast, but very much getting his cinematic big break here) as a slimmed-down and seriously buffed-out Ben Hanscom, James Ransone (Sinister) as neurotic hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak, and Andy Bean (Power, the recent Swamp Thing series) as ever-rational Stan Uris – but we still get to hang out with the original kids too in new flashbacks that (understandably) make for some of the film’s best scenes, while Bill Skarsgard is as terrifying as ever as he brings new ferocity, insidious creepiness and even a touch of curious back-story to Pennywise.  I am happy to report this new one IS just as scary as its predecessor, a skin-crawling, spine-tingling, pants-wetting cold sweat of a horror-fest that works its way in throughout its substantial running time and, as before, sticks with you LONG after the credits have rolled, but it’s also got the same amount of heart, emotional heft and pathos, nostalgic charm (albeit more grown-up and sullied) and playful, sometimes decidedly mischievous geeky humour, so that as soon as you’re settled in it really does feel like you’ve come home. It’s also fiendishly inventive, the final act in particular skewing in some VERY surprising new directions that there’s NO WAY you’ll see coming, and the climax also, interestingly, redresses one particularly frustrating imbalance that always bugged me about the book, making for an especially moving, heartbreaking denouement.  Interestingly, there’s a running joke in the film that pokes fun at a perceived view from some quarters that Stephen King’s endings often disappoint – there’s no such fault with THIS particular adaptation.  For me, this was altogether JUST the concluding half I was hoping for, so while it’s not as good as the first, it should leave you satisfied all the same.

24.  MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN – it’s taken Edward Norton twenty years to get his passion project adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s novel to the big screen, but the final film was certainly worth the wait, a cool-as-ice noir thriller in which its writer-director also, of course, stars as one of the most unusual ‘tecs around.  Lionel Essrog suffers from Tourette syndrome, prone to uncontrollable ticks and vocal outbursts as well as obsessive-compulsive spirals that can really ruin his day, but he’s also got a genius-level intellect and a photographic memory, which means he’s the perfect fit for the detective agency of accomplished, highly successful New York gumshoe Frank Minna (Bruce Willis).  But when their latest case goes horribly wrong and Frank dies in a back-alley gunfight, the remaining members of the agency are left to pick up the pieces and try to find out what went wrong, Lionel battling his own personal, mental and physical demons as he tries to unravel an increasingly labyrinthine tangle of lies, deceit, corporate corruption and criminal enterprise that reaches to the highest levels of the city’s government.  Those familiar with the original novel will know that it’s set in roughly the present day, but Norton felt many aspects of the story lent themselves much better to the early 1950s, and it really was a good choice – Lionel is a man very much out his time, a very odd fit in an age of stuffy morals and repression, while the themes of racial upheaval, rampant urban renewal and massive, unchecked corporate greed feel very much of the period. Besides, there’s few things as seductive than a good noir thriller, and Norton has crafted a real GEM right here. The pace can be a little glacial at times, but this simply gives the unfolding plot and extremely rich collection of characters plenty of room to grow, while the jazzy score (from up-and-comer Daniel Pemberton, composer on Steve Jobs, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) provides a surprising complimentary accompaniment to the rather free-form narrative style and Lionel’s own scattershot, bebop style.  Norton is exceptional in the lead, landing his best role in years with an exquisitely un-self-conscious ease that makes for thoroughly compelling viewing (surely more than one nod will be due come awards-season), but he doesn’t hog ALL the limelight, letting his uniformly stellar supporting cast shine bright as well – Willis doesn’t get a huge amount of screen time, but delivers a typically strong, nuanced performance that makes his absence throughout the rest of the film keenly felt, Gugu Mbatha-Raw continues to build an impressive run of work as Laura, the seemingly unimportant woman Lionel befriends, who could actually be the key to the whole case, Alec Baldwin is coolly menacing as power-hungry property magnate and heavyweight city official Moses Randolph, the film’s nominal big-bad, Willem Dafoe is absolutely electrifying as his down-at-heel, insignificant genius brother Lou, and Boardwalk Empire’s Michael K. Williams is quietly outstanding as mysterious jazz musician Trumpet Man, while Bobby Canavale, Ethan Suplee and Dallas Roberts are all excellent as the other hands in Minna’s detective agency.  It’s a chilled-out affair, happy to hang back and let its slow-burn plot simmer while Lionel tries to navigate his job and life in general while battling his many personal difficulties, but due to the incredible calibre of the talent on offer, the incredibly rich dialogue and obligatory hardboiled gumshoe voiceover, compelling story and frequently achingly beautiful visuals, this is about as compulsively rewarding as cinema gets. Norton’s crafted a film noir worthy of comparison with the likes of L.A. Confidential and Chinatown, proving that he’s a triple-threat cinematic talent to be reckoned with.

23.  PROSPECT – I love a good cinematic underdog, there’s always some dynamite indies and sleepers that just about slip through the cracks that I end up championing every year, and one of 2019’s favourites was a minor sensation at 2018’s South By Southwest film festival, a singularly original ultra-low-budget sci-fi adventure that made a genuine virtue of its miniscule budget.  Riffing on classic eco-minded space flicks like Silent Running, it introduces a father-and-daughter prospecting team who land a potentially DEEPLY lucrative contract mining for an incredibly rare element on a toxic jungle moon – widower Damon (Transparent’s Jay Duplass), who’s downtrodden and world-weary but still a dreamer, and teenager Cee (relative newcomer Sophie Thatcher), an introverted bookworm with hidden reserves of ingenuity and fortitude.  The job starts well, Damon setting his sights on a rumoured “queen’s layer” that could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams, but when they meet smooth-talking scavenger Ezra (Narcos’ Pedro Pascal), things take a turn for the worse – Damon is killed and Cee is forced to team up with Ezra to have any hope for survival on this hostile, unforgiving moon.  Thatcher is an understated joy throughout, her seemingly detached manner belying hidden depths of intense feeling, while Pascal, far from playing a straight villain, turns Ezra into something of a tragic, charismatic antihero we eventually start to sympathise with, and the complex relationship that develops between them is a powerful, mercurial thing, the constantly shifting dynamic providing a powerful driving force for the film.  Debuting writer-directors Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell have crafted a wonderfully introspective, multi-layered tone poem of aching beauty, using subtle visual effects and a steamy, glow-heavy colour palette to make the lush forest environs into something nonetheless eerie and inhospitable, while the various weird and colourful denizens of this deadly little world prove that Ezra may be the LEAST of the dangers Cee faces in her quest for escape.  Inventive, intriguing and a veritable feast for the eyes and intellect, this is top-notch indie sci-fi and a sign of great things to come from its creators, thoroughly deserving of major cult recognition in the future.

22.  DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE – S. Craig Zahler is a writer-director who’s become a major fixture on my ones-to-watch list in recent years, instantly winning me over with his dynamite debut feature Bone Tomahawk before cementing that status with awesome follow-up Brawl On Cell Block 99.  His latest is another undeniable hit that starts deceptively simply before snowballing into a sprawling urban crime epic as it follows its main protagonists – disgraced Bulwark City cops Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Tony Lurasetti (BOCB99’s Vince Vaughn), on unpaid suspension after their latest bust leads to a PR nightmare – on a descent into a hellish criminal underworld as they set out to “seek compensation” for their situation by ripping off the score from a bank robbery spearheaded by ruthlessly efficient professional thief Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann).  In lesser hands, this two-hour-forty-minute feature might have felt like a painfully padded effort that would have passed far better chopped down to a breezy 90-minutes, but Zahler is such a compellingly rich and resourceful writer that every scene is essential viewing, overflowing with exquisitely drawn characters spouting endlessly quotable, gold-plated dialogue, and the constantly shifting narrative focus brings such consistent freshness that the increasingly complex plot remains rewarding right to the end.  The two leads are both typically excellent – Vaughn gets to let loose with a far more showy, garrulous turn here than his more reserved character in his first collaboration with Zahler, while this is EASILY the best performance I’ve seen Gibson deliver in YEARS, the grizzled veteran clearly having a fine old time getting his teeth into a particularly meaty role that very much plays to his strengths – and they’re brilliantly bolstered by an excellent supporting cast – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’s Tory Kittles easily matches them in his equally weighty scenes as Henry Johns, a newly-released ex-con also out to improve his family’s situation with a major score, while Kretschmann is at his most chilling as the brutal killer who executes his plans with cold-blooded precision, and there are wonderful scene-stealing offerings from Jennifer Carpenter, Udo Kier, Don Johnson (three more Zahler regulars, each featured with Vaughn on BOCB99), Michael Jai White, Laurie Holden and newcomer Miles Truitt.  This is a proper meaty film, dark, intense, gritty and unflinching in its portrayal of honest, unglamorous violence and its messy aftermath, but fans of grown-up filmmaking will find PLENTY to enjoy here, Zahler crafting a crime epic comparable to the heady best of Scorsese and Tarantino.  Another sure-fire winner from one of the best new filmmakers around.

21.  FAST COLOR – intriguingly, the most INTERESTING superhero movie of the year was NOT a major franchise property, or even a comic book adapted to the screen at all, but a wholly original indie which snuck in very much under the radar on its release but is surely destined for cult greatness in the future, not least due to some much-deserved critical acclaim.  Set in an unspecified future where it hasn’t rained for years, a homeless vagabond named Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is making her aimless way across a desolate American Midwest, tormented by violent seizures which cause strange localised earthquakes, and hunted by Bill (Argo’s Christopher Denham), a rogue scientist who wants to capture her so he can study her abilities.  Ultimately she’s left with no other recourse than to run home, sheltering with her mother Bo (Middle of Nowhere and Orange is the New Black’s Lorraine Toussaint), and her young daughter Lila (The Passage’s Saniyya Sidney), both of whom also have weird and wondrous powers of their own.  As the estranged family reconnect, Ruth finally learns to control her powers as she’s forced to confront her own troubled past, but as Bill closes in it looks like their idyll might be short-lived … this might only be the second feature of writer-director Julie Hart (who cut her teeth penning well-regarded indie western The Keeping Room before making her own debut helming South By Southwest Film Festival hit Miss Stevens), but it’s a blinding statement of intent for the future, a deceptively understated thing of beauty that eschews classic superhero cinema conventions of big spectacle and rousing action in favour of a quiet, introspective character-driven story where the unveiling and exploration of Ruth and her kin’s abilities are secondary to the examination of how their familial dynamics work (or often DON’T), while Hart and cinematographer Michael Fimognari (probably best known for his frequent work for Mike Flanagan) bring a ruined but bleakly beautiful future to life through inventively understated production design and sweeping, dramatic vistas largely devoid of visual effects.  Subtlety is the watchword, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t fireworks here, it’s just that they’re generally performance-based – awards-darling Mbatha-Raw (Belle) gives a raw, heartfelt performance, painting Ruth in vivid shades of grey, while Toussaint is restrained but powerfully memorable and Sidney builds on her already memorable work to deliver what might be her best turn to date, and there are strong supporting turns from Denham (who makes his nominal villain surprisingly sympathetic) and Hollywood great David Strathairn as gentle small town sheriff Ellis. Leisurely paced and understated it may be, but this is still an incendiary piece of work, sure to become a breakout sleeper hit for a filmmaking talent from whom I expect GREAT THINGS in the future, and since the story’s been picked up for expansion into a TV series with Hart in charge that looks like a no-brainer.  And it most assuredly IS a bona fide superhero movie, despite appearances to the contrary …

Thompson & Company - Leiza Thompson

The consequences of falling - Susannah Ludlow

The golden trio - Elizabeth M. Álvarez

#OTD in 1944 – Death of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann.

#OTD in 1944 – Death of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann. As a young man, McCann attended University College Dublin as a student of medicine, but became interested in folk music during a summer holiday in Birmingham in 1964. He began to perform in folk clubs in the area, and, upon his return to Dublin, he joined a group called the Ludlow Trio in 1965. In the following year, the Ludlow…

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Thompson & Company - Leiza Thompson

The consequences of falling - Susannah Ludlow

The golden trio - Elizabeth M. Álvarez

Thompson & Company - Leiza Thompson

The consequences of falling - Susannah Ludlow

The golden trio - Elizabeth M. Álvarez

Cincinnati’s Forest Primeval And The House In The Middle Of Water Street

Francis Kennedy, his wife Rebecca, and their seven children arrived at Cincinnati early in February 1789, just months after the very first settlers. At the time, the little town consisted of only three cabins. Mrs. Kennedy became the fourth woman in town. Just one other family, some Germans named Pesthal, had young children.

While waiting to clear their plot of land, the Kennedys opted to live on their flatboat, pulled up to the riverbank at what is now the Public Landing. One of the Kennedy daughters, whose name was Rebecca and who later married a man named Reuben Reeder, told the story in an 1858 letter to the Cincinnati Pioneer Association:

“We lived in our boat until the ice began to run, and then we were forced to contrive some other way to live. What few men there were here got together and knocked our boats up and built us a camp. We lived in our camp six weeks. Then my father built us a large cabin, which was the first one large enough for a family to live in. We took the boards of our camp and made floors in our house.”

It seems that the boundary lines were none too clearly marked at the time, because Mr. Kennedy miscalculated his metes and bounds when he laid out his cabin in the woods.

“Father intended to have built our house on the corner of Walnut and Water Streets, but not knowing exactly where the streets were, he built our house right in the middle of Water Street. The streets were laid out, but the woods were so very thick, and the streets were not opened, so it was impossible to tell where the streets would be.”

Water Street (approximately today’s Mehring Way) was located right on the water – the Ohio River. The woods there were “so very thick” that survey marks were hard to locate. That is a very different view of Old Cincinnati than most folks have.

The best-known early pictures of early Cincinnati suggest there were few trees here. These antique images usually show a couple dozen buildings on a nicely cleared riverfront. The nearest trees remaining from the primeval forest lie some distance beyond Fort Washington, maybe north of Fifth Street.

If you travel along the Ohio River, however, you will see many locations where trees grow right down to the riverbank. Although (amazingly!) Cincinnati’s first settlers did not bring a photographer along to document their arrival, the surviving descriptions, like Rebecca Reeder’s, make it clear that large trees towered over the very edge of the river. Thousands upon thousands of these trees were harvested for construction or fuel before the earliest drawings of Cincinnati were committed to paper around 1800.

A.E. Jones, in his “Extracts from the History of Cincinnati,” describes this sylvan abundance along Cincinnati’s future riverfront:

“The first level or plain was covered with a dense forest of beech, walnut and sycamore trees, with a thick undergrowth of spice wood [i.e. redbud]. The second or upper plain was also thickly wooded with large trees of sugar [i.e. maple], oak, walnut, hickory and in some places poplar trees, but was comparatively clear of underbrush.”

A good survey was necessary to sell land. While workmen labored to clear forests within the city limits, reports emphasize how overgrown the surrounding countryside was. James McBride, in his 1869 book, “Pioneer Biography,” describes the difficulties faced by two men walking from Columbia (now Columbia-Tusculum) downriver to Losantiville:

“The bank was narrow, and there was no road or traces; the woods were thick, and the way much obstructed by underbrush and vines, so that the traveling was very tedious.”

Our first settlers were divided among three occupations: woodcutter, hunter and surveyor. There was some overlap as some men performed two or three of these functions, but the essential work involved surveying the land that would become the town.

Cincinnati began as a commercial venture. Cincinnati’s original 760 acres were owned by Mathias Denman, Robert Patterson and Israel Ludlow, and this trio aimed to make a profit selling lots to immigrant pioneers. To sell a lot, it needed to be surveyed and cleared, so woodcutters and surveyors were quite busy.

Tree-felling continued at a rapid pace and Jones reports that a substantial portion of Cincinnati was cleared by the summer following the first settlement:

“When spring opened more cabins were built, principally between Walnut Street and Broadway, and the population had increased by the first of May to eleven families, besides twenty-four unmarried men, all dwelling in twenty log cabins, and nearly all of the large trees had been cut down between Walnut Street and Broadway, south of Second Street, although the logs, or many of them, remained on the ground for several years afterward, as is well remembered by some of the older citizens still living.”

Rebecca Reeder does not relate how or whether the family had to move their cabin. Her father and uncle operated the first ferry across the Ohio River, shuttling supplies to and from Kentucky. Hauling a shipment of cattle one day, Francis Kennedy drowned in the Ohio when his ferry capsized. His widow relocated her family to the Silverton/Pleasant Ridge area. There, her daughter Rebecca listened to her stories. Both Rebeccas are now buried in the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Cemetery.

The house in the middle of Water Street would have been located right about where the PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground sits next to the Roebling Bridge.

Putney: Trio who beat victim and stole puppy jailed after violent burglary

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Putney: Trio who beat victim and stole puppy jailed after violent burglary

A trio of men who posed as police officers during a violent burglary in Putney have been jailed for a total of 35 years. Michael Cloherty, 58, of Chipperfield Road, Orpington, Simon Ludlow, 50, of London Road, Mitcham, and Michael Cook, 54, of Northborough Road, London, were all found guilty of aggravated burglary on November […]

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