#New Chinese Theater on Jackson Street | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thereturnofthedirtyblog · 5 years

Text

STATES VISITED BY GHOST ADVENTURES

Alabama :

1.05 – Sloss Furnaces: Birmingham, Alabama, US 4.07 – Vulture Mine: Wickenburg, Arizona, US

Alaska :

Arizona :

2.05 –Birdcage Theater: Tombstone, Arizona, US 4.20 – Jerome Grand Hotel: Jerome, Arizona, US 6.03 – The Copper Queen Hotel & The Oliver House: Bisbee, Arizona, US 10.08 – Apache Junction: Apache Junction, Arizona, US 10.09 – Return to Tombstone: Tombstone, Arizona, US 11.7 – Grand Canyon Caverns: Peach Springs, Arizona, US 12.8 – Hell Hole Prison: Yuma, Arizona, US 12.9 – The Domes: Casa Grande, Arizona, US 12.12 – Stardust Ranch: Buckeye, Arizona, US 13.3 – Palace Saloon: Prescott, Arizona, US 15.10 – Phelps Dodge Hospital: Ajo, Arizona, US

15.11 – The Slaughter House: Tucson, Arizona, US 16.4 – Old Gila County Jail and Courthouse: Globe, Arizona, US

Arkansas :

4.10 – Fort Chaffee: Fort Smith, Arkansas, US

California :

2.01 – Preston Castle: Ione, California, US 2.03 – La Purisima Mission: Lompoc, California, US 3.07 – Linda Vista Hospital: Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, US 3.10 – Clovis Wolfe Manor: Clovis, California, US 4.08 – USS Hornet: Alameda, California, USNovember 5, 2010 4.11 – Amargosa Opera House: Death Valley Junction, California, US 4.15 – Pico House Hotel: Los Angeles, California, US 4.23 – Sacramento Tunnels: Sacramento, California, US 5.03 – Old Town San Diego: San Diego, California, US 5.04 – Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California, US 6.04 – The National Hotel: Nevada City, California, US 6.05 – Return to Linda Vista Hospital: Los Angeles, California, US 7.03 – Point Sur Lighthouse: Big Sur, California, US 7.08 – Brookdale Lodge: Brookdale, California, US

7.09 – Tor House: Carmel, California, US 7.15 – Market Street Cinema: San Francisco, California, US 7.17 – Glen Tavern Inn: Santa Paula, California, US 8.03 – Tuolumne General Hospital: Sonora, California, US 8.05 – Yost Theater & Ritz Hotel: Santa Ana, California, US 8.08 – Alcatraz: San Francisco, California, US 9.1 – Sharon Tate Ghost/The Oman House: Los Angeles, California, US 9.6 – Heritage Junction: Santa Clarita, California, US 9.7 – Fort MacArthur Museum/Battle of Los Angeles: Los Angeles, California, US

9.11 – Whaley House: San Diego, California, US 10.1 – Queen Mary: Long Beach, California, US 11.6 – Los Coches Adobe: Soledad, California, US, Salinas, California, US 11.8 – Haunted Hollywood: Los Angeles, California, US 12.1 – Black Dahlia House: Los Angeles, California, US 12.2 – Secret Scientology Lab: Los Angeles, California, US 12.3 – Bracken Fern Manor/Tudor House: Lake Arrowhead, California, US 12.5 – Chinese Town of Locke: Walnut Grove, California, US 12.6 – Star of India: San Diego, California, US 12.11 – Return to Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California, US 13.4 – Reseda House of Evil: Los Angeles, California, US 13.5 – Dorothea Puente Murder House: Sacramento, California, US 13.10 – Zalud House: Porterville, California, US 14.2 – Freak Show Murder House: Los Angeles, California, US 14.5 – Silent Movie Theater: Los Angeles, California, US 14.10 – The Viper Room: West Hollywood, California, US 16.1 – Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Hollywood, California, US 16.2 – The Alley of Darkness: North Hollywood, California, US 16.3 – Kennedy Mine: Jackson, California, US 16.5 – Hotel Léger: Mokelumne Hill, California, US 17.2 – Westerfeld House: San Francisco, California, US 17.3 – Crisis in Oakdale: Oakdale, California, US 17.5 – Terror in Fontana: Fontana, California, US 17.6 – Riverside Plane Graveyard: Riverside, California, US

Colorado :

4.05 – Stanley Hotel: Estes Park, Colorado, US 6.02 – Peabody-Whitehead Mansion: Denver, Colorado, US 7.07 – Cripple Creek"Cripple Creek, Colorado, US

Florissant, Colorado, US 13.1 – Colorado Gold Mine: Idaho Springs, Colorado, US 14.6 – Exorcism in Erie: Erie, Colorado, US 15.4 – Museum of the Mountain West: Montrose, Colorado, US

Connecticut :

3.05 – Remington Arms Factory: Bridgeport, Connecticut, US 6.06 – The Galka Family: Granby, Connecticut, US

Delaware :

Florida :

1.04 – The Riddle House: Royal Palm Beach, Florida, US 2.02 – Castillo De San Marcos: St. Augustine, Florida, US

Georgia :

2.07 – Moon River Brewing Company: Savannah, Georgia, US 9.10 – Haunted Savannah: Savannah, Georgia, US

Hawaii :

Idaho :

1.08 – Idaho State Penitentiary: Boise, Idaho, US 11.11 – Lava Hot Springs Inn: Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, US 15.3 – Albion Normal School: Albion, Idaho, US 17.1 – Idaho State Reform School: St. Anthony, Idaho, US

Illinois :

5.01 – Ashmore Estates: Ashmore, Illinois, US 7.02 – Excalibur Nightclub: Chicago, Illinois, US

Indiana :

7.05 – Black Moon Manor: Greenfield, Indiana, US 8.10 – Thornhaven Manor: New Castle, Indiana, US 9.9 – Fox Hollow Farm: Carmel, Indiana, US

Iowa :

4.13 – Villisca Axe Murder House: Villisca, Iowa, US 11.1 – Edinburgh Manor: Scotch Grove, Iowa, US

Kansas :

10.6 – Sallie House: Atchison, Kansas, US

Kentucky :

1.01 – Bobby Mackey’s Music World : Wilder, Kentucky, US 4.03 – Return to Bobby Mackey’s: Wilder, Kentucky, US 4.04 – Waverly Hills Sanatorium: Louisville, Kentucky, US 4.25 – Kentucky Slave House: Maysville, Kentucky, US 5.08 – Rocky Point Manor: Harrodsburg, Kentucky, US

Perryville, Kentucky, US 8.11 – Battle of Perryville: Field Hospitals"Perryville, Kentucky, US

Louisiana :

2.04 – Magnolia Plantation: Natchitoches, Louisiana, US

7.14 – New Orleans: New Orleans, Louisiana, US 9.2 – The Myrtles Plantation: St. Francisville, Louisiana, US

Maine :

Maryland :

Massachusetts :

1.02 – Houghton Mansion : North Adams, Massachusetts, US 4.18 – Valentine’s Day Special(Longfellow’s Wayside Inn): Sudbury, Massachusetts, US 4.19 – Salem Witch House/Lyceum Restaurant: Salem, Massachusetts, US 5.05 – Lizzie Borden House: Fall River, Massachusetts, US 8.06 – Haunted Victorian Mansion: Gardner, Massachusetts, US 13.9 – Dumas Brothel: Butte, Montana, US

Michigan :

Minnesota :

7.04 – The Palmer House: Sauk Centre, Minnesota, US 10.7 – Nopeming Sanatorium: Duluth, Minnesota, US

Mississippi :

7.18 – Kings Tavern: Natchez, Mississippi, US

Missouri :

7.10 – Union Station: Kansas City, Missouri, US 8.04 – Missouri State Penitentiary: Jefferson City, Missouri, US 8.07 – The Exorcist House: Bel-Nor, Missouri, US 10.2 – Lemp Mansion: St. Louis, Missouri, US 11.9 – Odd Fellows Asylum: Liberty, Missouri, US 15.5 – Pythian Castle: Springfield, Missouri, US 15.6 – The Titanic Museum: Branson, Missouri, US

Montana :

9.4 – Bannack Ghost Town: Dillon, Montana, US 11.2 – Old Montana State Prison: Deer Lodge, Montana, US 13.6 – Hotel Metlen: Dillon, Montana, US 13.8 – Twin Bridges Orphanage: Twin Bridges, Montana, US 13.9 – Dumas Brothel: Butte, Montana, US

Nebraska :

Nevada :

3.06 – Old Washoe Club and Chollar Mine: Virginia City, Nevada, US 4.09 – La Palazza Mansion: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 4.16 – Goldfield: Goldfield, Nevada, US 4.17 – Bonnie Spring Ranch: Blue Diamond, Nevada, US 4.22 – Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 5.02 – Mizpah Hotel: Tonopah, Nevada, US 5.07 – Return to Virginia City: Virginia City, Nevada, US

6.07 – The Riviera Hotel: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 7.16 – Goldfield Hotel: Redemption: Goldfield, Nevada, US 8.01 – Pioneer Saloon: Goodsprings, Nevada, US

Sandy Valley, Nevada, US 8.09 – Mustang Ranch: Clark, Nevada, US 9.12 – Overland Hotel and Saloon: Pioche, Nevada, US 11.10 – Clown Motel and Goldfield High School: Tonopah, Nevada, US

Goldfield, Nevada, US 12.4 – Return to the Riviera: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 12.10 – Nevada State Prison: Carson City, Nevada, US 12.13 – The Haunted Museum: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 13.2 – Mackay Mansion: Virginia City, Nevada, US 15.8 – Eureka Mining Town: Eureka, Nevada, US 15.9 – Sin City Exorcism: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 16.7 – The Washoe Club: Final Chapter: Virginia City, Nevada, US 17.7 – Gates of Hell House: Las Vegas, Nevada, US

New Hampshire :

New Jersey :

1.06 – Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital: Cedar Grove, New Jersey, US

New Mexico :

9.8 – St. James Hotel: Cimarron, New Mexico, US 11.5 – Haunted Harvey House: Las Vegas, New Mexico, US 14.4 – Double Eagle Restaurant: Mesilla, New Mexico, US

Las Cruces, New Mexico, US 14.7 – Skinwalker Canyon: Ojo Amarillo, New Mexico, US 14.8 – Upper Fruitland Curse: Upper Fruitland, New Mexico, US 16.8 – Lewis Flats School: Deming, New Mexico, US

New York :

3.08 – Execution Rocks Lighthouse: Port Washington, New York, US 4.02 – Rolling Hills Asylum: Bethany, New York, US 5.06 – Letchworth Village: Haverstraw, New York, US 7.13 – Sailor’s Snug Harbor: Staten Island, New York, US 9.3 – George Washington Ghost/Morris Jumel Mansion: Manhattan, New York, US,Smithtown, New York, US

North Carolina :

North Dakota :

13.11 – Dakota’s Sanatorium of Death: San Haven, North Dakota, US

Ohio :

3.04 – Ohio State Reformatory: Mansfield, Ohio, US 3.09 – Prospect Place: Trinway, Ohio, US 9.13 – Old Licking County Jail: Newark, Ohio, US

Oklahoma :

10.3 – Zozo Demon: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 14.1 – Stone Lion Inn: Guthrie, Oklahoma, US 14.3 – Samaritan Cult House: Guthrie, Oklahoma, US

Oregon :

6.01 – Shanghai Tunnels: Portland, Oregon, US 15.1 – Golden Ghost Town: Golden, Oregon, US 15.7 – Wolf Creek Inn: Wolf Creek, Oregon, US 16.6 – Enchanted Forest: Turner, Oregon, US

Pennsylvania :

2.06 – Eastern State Penitentiary: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US 3.02 – Pennhurst State School: Spring City, Pennsylvania, US 4.01 – Gettysburg: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, US 4.06 – Hill View Manor: New Castle, Pennsylvania, US

Rhode Island :

South Carolina :

5.10 – Old Charleston Jail: Charleston, South Carolina, US

South Dakota :

Tennessee :

4.24 – Hales Bar Marina and Dam: Haletown, Tennessee, US 4.27 – Loretta Lynn’s Plantation House: Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, US 10.5 – Bell Witch Cave: Adams, Tennessee, US 11.4 – Old Lincoln County Hospital: Fayetteville, Tennessee, US

Texas :

4.21 – Yorktown Hospital: Yorktown, Texas, US 7.01 – Central Unit Prison: Sugar Land, Texas, US

Huntsville, Texas, US 7.11 – Crazy Town: Mineral Wells, Texas, US 8.02 – Black Swan Inn: San Antonio, Texas, US 10.11 – Texas Horror Hotel: Seguin, Texas, US,San Antonio, Texas, US 13.12 – De Soto Hotel and Concordia Cemetery: El Paso, Texas, US 13.13 – Goatman’s Bridge: Denton, Texas, US

Utah :

4.26 – Tooele Hospital: Tooele, Utah, US 9.5 – Fear Factory: Salt Lake City, Utah, US 12.7 – Leslie’s Family Tree: Santaquin, Utah, US 13.7 – St. Ann’s Retreat: Logan Canyon, Utah, US 14.9 – Witches in Magna: Magna, Utah, US 14.11 – Asylum 49: Tooele, Utah, US 15.2 – Ogden Possession: Ogden, Utah, US 16.9 – Kay’s Hollow: Kaysville, Utah, US 17.4 – Tintic Mining District: Eureka, Utah, US

Vermont :

Virginia :

Washington :

4.14 – Kell’s Irish Pub Restaurant: Seattle, Washington, US 10.10 – Demons in Seattle: Bothell, Washington 11.3 – Manresa Castle: Port Townsend, Washington, US

West Virginia :

1.03 – Moundsville Penitentiary : Moundsville, West Virginia, US 3.01 – Ghost Adventures Live – The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum: Weston, West Virginia, US

Wisconsin :

Wyoming :

7.12 – Wyoming Frontier Prison: Rawlins, Wyoming, US

OTHER PLACES VISITED :

1.07 – Edinburgh Vaults: City of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK] 2.08 – Ancient Ram Inn: Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, UK 3.03 – Poveglia Island: Venice, Veneto, Italy 4.12 – Olde Fort Erie: Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada 5.09 – Rose Hall: Montego Bay, St. James Parish, Jamaica

10.4 – Island of Dolls: Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico

#submission #zakbagans #zak bagans #ghost adventures #ghostadventures #dirtyblog #dirty blog #thedirtyblog #the dirty blog

11 notes · View notes

beardyallen · 5 years

Text

8 Crazy Nights (Part 1) - Captain Marvel, Work, and Food

Not sure if you all saw, but I tried to write this on Saturday...It did not go well. And now it's two days later, more stuff has happened, and documenting everything seems just a million times more daunting.

Nevertheless, he persisted.

However, I'm learning from my past mistakes and posting this in several pieces. Hopefully this isn't being read out of order.

If memory serves, and my memory is sufficiently muddled after the celebrating yesterday, I left off on Thursday, March 7th. The next day, I spent a goodly portion of my day in my office, cracking away at my random pedigree generator algorithm. Super (duper) exciting stuff, I know.

But R showed up that night to go see Captain Marvel at the nearby mall! And, as is apparently tradition when you visit someone's apartment, she brought me a gift. And what sort of gift do you bring a guy like me, you ask? Authentic German beer, obviously! Oh, and mangos, as I had divulged that I've only ever had dried mangos and mango-flavored things. Sadly, the mangos are still sitting in my fridge because I'm not entirely sure how one is supposed to eat them. *shrug*

The mall itself is quite strange (from my limited perspective), and I don't think I've described it yet. In a standard American mall, the jewelry shops are always on corners; here, the jewelry shop (as well as several other shops) are posted up with no walls in the middle of an open space. And approximately 25% of the shops are bakeries or coffee shops. This place really knows how to entice your sweet tooth! R picked up some mini cheesecakes for the trip the next day!! Super (duper) yummy!!

One of the other interesting aspects of the first floor is the manner in which one would buy shoes (there are like...10 "shops" that sell shoes). Once again, the shops have no walls, so you just kind of wander over to a display, the attendants hover around you to see if they can help (presumably?), and after you've picked your shoe, they give you carbon paper with an order, you walk to a desk 5 shops over to pay, then carry the receipt back and attendant who was helping you wipes off the shoes again and exchanges them for the receipt. I suppose it keeps clutter down and eases the shopping experience if you're trying on shoes from different displays? When I bought shoes a few weeks ago, it was quite an ordeal given that I had no idea what the expectations were and we couldn't really communicate with anything other than hand signals, nods, and shrugs.

The second (of five) floors has the supermarket and a plethora of men's clothing shops, half of which are athletic-themed shops like New Balance, Adidas, or knock-off-Air-Jordan, and the other half are more "high-end" clothing shops. Nothing in between. Oh! And more than 80% of the models in the pictures and spreads on the walls are white. Not sure how effective that is when 95% of your clientele doesn't look like that. *shrug* There _does_ seem to be a strong desire here to appear Western, but still...

The third floor is mostly women's clothing, and the fourth floor is partially empty. But the fifth floor has the cinema and food court. One comment about the phrase "Chinese food"...It's immensely inadequate. I don't know how many different cultural regions there are in China, but there's for sure at least 6 unique cuisines, all tied to a particular region. And when I say 6 _unique_ cuisines, even my uneducated, narrow American perspective (and palette) can distinguish between them. That, to me, is probably the biggest problem with describing a restaurant in the States as serving "Chinese food." But hey, I'm just an ill-informed American, so my opinion probably doesn't carry much weight.

The cinema itself was quite impressive as well. You know how when you walk into a cinema in the States, and you get hit with that theater-popcorn smell? It's buttery and savory and only sometimes kind of stale? Well, that didn't happen here. And not because they don't have popcorn, or that they don't serve as much popcorn...I think it's mostly because, as seems to be the case with everything here, the popcorn isn't of the buttery, salty variety. No, this popcorn is green or pink or caramel covered. Drizzled with chocolate syrup or some other sort of confectionary (is confectionary a real word?).

Oh, and it's not just the popcorn that got a make-over. The nachos here are...borderline unrecognizable. And that's not the say that you wouldn't recognize what was placed in front of you, because I think you would, but you just wouldn't recognize it as "nachos." Instead of warm tortilla chips with a cup of hot, sometimes-mildly-spicy cheese sauce and jalapenos and other nacho toppings, here you get a bowl of...warmed up Doritos. That's it. Just Doritos. That have been sitting under a heat lamp. R ordered them and offered me some. I said thanks-but-no-thanks. It was a strange experience, watching someone happily munch on heated up Doritos.

Captain Marvel was exceptional, though! The classic Marvel opening was modified a bit for this film, and if you've seen the movie, you know what I mean. For sure shed some positive number of happy-sad tears. The actors were all exceptional, and I was thoroughly impressed to see how seamlessly the special effects made it look like Samuel L. Jackson was 25 years younger and had both eyes! Crazy!!! Also seeing Phil Coulson return to the big screen was dope, and I loved the post-credit scenes! The music was perfect, too! I just wish the theater had the volume high enough to trigger the strong emotional reactions I'm used to feeling in Marvel movies.

After the movie, I stopped by the beer shop across the street where I met The One to buy a couple bottles of Founders beer. I swear, I had ever intent of enjoying them on St. Patrick's Day...but one of the two was consumed a couple days later, and the other wasn't opened until I got back from the celebration yesterday...and I don't think I would have really been able to appreciate the KBS in that particular state. So I have that to look forward to when I finish teaching tonight!

The next day was spent traveling with my coworkers to the Great Wall, and this seems like a decent place to pause the narrative.

Actually, we'll skip the Great Wall for a minute, and I'll describe the past week. It wasn't terribly eventful, but there are a few mildly-interesting pics. My work week consisted mostly of prepping my students' first exam, along with a practice exam (which I don't like doing, especially at this level). In fact, on Friday, after I finished writing and testing my random pedigree generator, I spent a good portion of time trying to get the numbers of a particular probability problem to work out.

I totally don't look like a crazy math fanatic at all..

When I wasn't working, I spent much of my time reading or playing video games. There's a Communications grad student here who also plays Super Smash Bros. We intend to maintain the friendship State-side as he has a few gamer friends in Denver who play SSB as well. And who have guessed that Petey Piranha would actually be an entertaining fighter?! Like..he's a glorified potted plant, but his attacks are interesting, effective, and rather distinct (see: he's a potted plant). *shrug*

Several of those nights involved take-out from KFC...which just released a new item. Or at least new to me. You'll note some orange fibrous material on the top, some sort of white cream in the middle, and the base is a waffle. Cuz nothing says "Kentucky Fried" quite like whatever the hell that is...(Not that KFC can even call themselves Kentucky Fried, nor is their chicken even real chicken! Sorry guys, someone's gotta say it!! lol)

The waffle itself is quite sweet, as is the white cream. Not sure the intended flavor of the cream, but my best comparison is the sugary drizzle stuff you put on toaster streudels. Struedels? Strueueudels? Not sure how to spell that, and Googling it would require a smoothly operating VPN which I just don't have the patience to deal with right now. And the orange stuff on top? It's dried crab. Which I knew in advance as I'd had it on the hike to the underground river and caves. All-in-all, it surpassed my expectations, but I don't think I'll get it again...

Oh, and dinner on Friday night consisted of lamb spine. Yup. The spine. Of a lamb. Technically, it was lamb spine hot pot, but let's be real: the stand-out contributor isn't the heat or the pot or the brine. It's the spine.

You can see a bunch of vertebrae just boiling away in there. You still use chopsticks, but one of your hands has a plastic glove. Oh! And you can push your chopstick through the hollow center of the vertebra to get at some of the marrow and what we could only assume was part of the spinal cord. I ate mine, but the only other person who was lucky(?) enough to find one didn't partake.

Other than some rather standard beer, CB ordered us a bottle (half a fifth) of some sort of herbal liquor. E, another instructor, mentioned a commercial for the product which seemed to suggest that this was the perfect gift from a marrying-age girl's new fiance to her father upon their first meeting. "Made for the man!" It was somewhere between a whiskey and an amaretto, but the sweet taste was distinctly floral or herbal or something. It was pretty good! Definitely something you sip to enjoy.

I have one more food experience to share, but it fits better in a different part of the story, so I'll stop here and pick up with The Great Wall in my next post.

Sláinte,

BeardyAllen

2 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

10 Best Sonny Chiba Movies You Need to Watch Right Now

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

On August 19, 2021, legendary Japanese actor Sonny Chiba succumbed to complications from Covid-19. He was 82. If you don’t know Chiba, he was a pioneering martial arts movie stars and a genuine master of the martial arts. Long before Bruce Lee, there was Sonny Chiba.

Chiba was his stage name. He was born as Sadaho Maeda and adopted “Chiba” after Japan’s Chiba prefecture where he grew up. His Japanese stage name was Shinichi Chiba, but he was known internationally as Sonny.

Chiba was a natural athlete and a contender for Japan’s Olympic gymnastics team until he was sidelined by an injury. He pivoted to study Karate under the venerated master Mas Oyama, a hardened full-contact fighter who was famous for killing bulls with his bare hands. Chiba went on to earn black belts in several schools of Karate, as well as Judo, Kendo, and Ninjitsu.

In the 60s, Chiba began his acting career in television, specifically in the costumed superhero genre known as tokusatsu (think Ultraman or Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). From there, he jumped to crime thriller movies and quickly established himself as an action star. In 1970, he formed the Japan Action Club, one of the first groups dedicated to stunt people and martial arts actors. His first explicitly martial arts film part was in 1973 in a film called Karate Kiba.

Chiba is credited with over 200 roles, predominantly in Japanese martial arts films, however he’s appeared in a few Hollywood projects. While he’s known in the west for his martial arts performances, he’s delivered a wide range of characters, mostly leaning towards grindhouse cinema. Since 1959, Chiba has delivered several projects almost every year. The bulk of his work over the last two decades were direct-to-video projects. His final film Bond of Justice: Kizuna, a Yakuza revenge tale, is in post-production and is slated to be released later this year.

In honor of Sonny Chiba’s illustrious career, Den of Geek has cherry-picked several of his best and most interesting films.

Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)

Since Chiba got his start in tokusatsu, we had to include at least one title from this uniquely Japanese genre, and this one is truly vintage, shot in black and white. Chiba plays an astronomer with a secret superhero identity. He transforms into Space Chief, a caped crusader clad in a metal helmet and sunglasses who is a friend to little children. Meanwhile, the titular Neptune Men are dressed in classic 1950s-style alien costumes, all silvery with ridiculous bucket-like helmets. Yes, this is one of those films that’s so incredibly bad that it’s good, so much so that it caught the attention of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is the best way to watch it.

The Street Fighter (1974)

The Street Fighter was a game changer, one of the very first modern Japanese martial arts films to get international distribution. Riding on the wake of one of the first globally distributed Chinese martial arts films, Five Fingers of Death (1972), The Street Fighter established Chiba as a martial arts star in the eyes of the world. If you’re only going to watch one Sonny Chiba movie ever, this is the one. It was the defining role of his career.

Chiba plays the antihero Teri Tsurugi, whose nickname is “Real mean bastard.” It’s a gratuitously violent film for the time, unapologetically so with Tsurugi ripping out throats, breaking necks with wild abandon, and selling women as sex slaves, often while shirtless to show off his macho barrel chest. When The Street Fighter was released in the U.S., it was the first film to get an X rating for violence.

Chiba reprised the role twice in 1974 with Return of the Street Fighter and The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge. The franchise also spawned a spin off trilogy, Sister Street Fighter, starring another genuine martial artist and actress, Etsuko Shihomi. Shihomi frequently starred alongside Chiba. She appeared in Karate Kiba and its sequel, as well as in the original Street Fighter films. Chiba appears in Sister Street Fighter, but as a completely different character than Tsurugi.

Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)

This is not a Mystery Science Theater film, but it should be. Wolf Guy is a hard-to-find cult film where Chiba plays Akira Inugami, the last survivor of a clan of werewolves who uses his lupine powers to solve crimes. However, when the moon triggers him (or a comet or the birth of a two-headed calf – Inugami is easily triggered), Inugami doesn’t transform into a hairy beast. He just gets super wolf powers. It’s a strange film, not for everyone except for those who love psychotropic Japanese cinema.

Note that the Japanese title of this film is Urufugai and that’s a phonetic translation of “wolf guy.” “Urufu” is “wolf’ and “gai” is “guy.” This is an example of wasei-eigo, literally “Japanese-made English.” “Anime” is another wasei-eigo term, derived from the English word “animation.” The Japanese title of Karate Kiba is Bodigaado Kiba – Bodigaado is “Bodyguard.”

Karate Bullfighter aka Champion of Death (1975)

Chiba played his illustrious sensei Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama in a film trilogy based on a biographical manga titled Karate Baka Ichidai (Karate fanatic) by Ikki Kajiwara that began in 1971 and ran until 1977. Karate Bullfighter was the first. Karate Bearfighter came out the same year and Karate for Life was two years later. There’s also an anime version of the manga that came out in 1973. The manga and anime are credited with stimulating a Karate trend in Japan.

Oyama Sensei had cameos in the first two films. Oyama was Korean, born in Korea while it was under Japanese rule. His birth name was Choi Yeong-eui, but he changed his name after immigrating to Japan in 1938. He died of lung cancer in 1994.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977)

Based on the popular manga series, launched in 1968 and still running to today, Golgo 13 is Japan’s answer to James Bond. He’s an international assassin, a crack shot sniper with Karate chops. Chiba plays Golgo 13 on a mission to sanction a Hong Kong crime boss. This is a classic ’70s grindhouse film, and Chiba captures Golgo 13’s cold-blooded ruthlessness with his signature vicious aplomb.

Message from Space (1978)

In the wake of Star Wars, Message from Space was a blatant rip-off with a tokusatsu bent. It had Japan’s biggest budget at the time, but you wouldn’t know it now. It’s horribly dated with cheesy special effects, another “so bad it’s good” movie — Mystery Science Theater could have a field day with Chiba’s filmography. Chiba and his street fighting counterpart Etsuko Shihomi shared top billing alongside Vic Morrow.

Hunter in the Dark (1979)

We had to include one of Chiba’s period films, and Hunter in the Dark is a fine example of the samurai genre. Led by one of the greatest samurai film actors of all, Tatsuya Nakadai, and directed by the influential Hideo Gosha, Chiba is in a supporting role as Shimoguni Samon. When the grindhouse films get too much, this is a welcomed change — an unsung masterpiece by some of the leaders of the samurai genre.

The Storm Riders (1998)

The Storm Riders was another gamechanger, an epic Chinese fantasy martial arts film based on the manhua by Ma Wing-shing (manhua is Chinese comics like manga is Japanese comics). Starring Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok, this special effects-driven film won many accolades at Asian film festivals and ushered in a new era for the period martial arts fantasy film genre known as wuxia. Chiba played the villain, Lord Conqueror.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2 (2003 & 2004)

Quentin Tarantino cast Chiba as Hattori Hanzo, the retired swordmaker and sushi chef who created the Bride’s (Uma Thurman) katana. It was an homage role. Tarantino was paying respects to Chiba as a longtime fan. He also inserted easter eggs honoring Chiba’s work in Pulp Fiction. When Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) claims to quote Ezekiel 25:17 – “The path of the righteous man…” – it’s a reference to the opening of Karate Kiba, which paraphrases the same passage in the American version.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Chiba played Kamata, a yakuza boss and the father of the films main rival. Like with Kill Bill, Chiba’s Hollywood roles are the most cited in his obituaries, but both were minor in comparison to his vast and diverse body of work.

A prolific actor who did most of his own stunts long before Jackie Chan claimed to do so, Chiba was a cinematic maverick who attacked moviemaking with an unprecedented and unapologetic sense of ultraviolence. While many of his films seem dated and low brow now, his impact on action film is undeniable and his passing marks an incalculable loss to the genre.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post 10 Best Sonny Chiba Movies You Need to Watch Right Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3ke3huG

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

1 note · View note

orbemnews · 3 years

Link

Fred Segal, Designer Who Commodified California Cool, Dies at 87 Fred Segal, whose clothing boutiques became an emblem of Los Angeles cool by selling form-fitting jeans and chambray shirts to the likes of Bob Dylan, Farah Fawcett and the Beatles, died in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday. He was 87. The cause was complications of a stroke, according to a spokeswoman for the family. Mr. Segal became one of the West Coast’s best-known designers and retailers in the 1960s and helped shape the image of Southern California fashion as breezy, sexy and relaxed. His namesake ivy-covered store became a hangout for fashionistas, Hollywood actors and big-name artists and musicians. For tourists, it often figured into sightseeing itineraries right alongside Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Hollywood sign. Mr. Segal’s style was embraced by Hollywood celebrities who were eager to embody California cool.Credit…Family photo Mr. Segal opened his first store in 1960, a 700-square-foot space on Santa Monica Boulevard that sold denim jeans, chambray shirts and pants, velvets and flannels, according to the company’s website. In 1961, he and Ron Herman, his nephew, opened a shop half as large on Melrose Avenue that carried only jeans, which they sold for $19.95 a pair — a price that was practically unheard-of at the time, when men still wore suits and denim pants typically sold for $3 a pair. “My concept was that people wanted to be comfortable, casual and sexy, so I thought it would work and obviously it did work,” Mr. Segal said in an interview with Haute Living magazine in 2012. People flocked to the store to buy the jeans, driven in no small part by celebrities like Jay Sebring, the hairdresser who was the inspiration for Warren Beatty’s character in “Shampoo” and who wore tight, flare-bottomed jeans and a fitted shirt that he had purchased at Mr. Segal’s store. Mr. Segal’s customers soon included the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Diana Ross as well as members of the Jackson Five and Jefferson Airplane. “When I first came to L.A. in the late ’70s, there were two things everyone talked about: Gucci bags and Fred Segal,” the writer Pleasant Gehman told The New York Times in 2001. His designs were notable for fits that were unusual for the time. Pants were cut for men so they would fall low on the hips, for instance, and the stores also sold tightfitting French T-shirts and Danskin leotards. In addition to his designs, Mr. Segal was among a small group of retailers at the time — among them Tommy Perse, Linda Dresner and Joan Weinstein — who pioneered the concept of working closely with designers and selling their clothes in their stores, said Ikram Goldman, the owner of the Chicago boutique Ikram. “They had an exquisite eye,” she said. “Those are the people that discovered talent and brought it to light in a way that — before Instagram, before social media, before the news hit you — introduced collections that you hadn’t seen before.” In 2006, a New York Times reporter described Mr. Segal as “the outfitter of those Hollywood fantasies, selling uniforms of expensive shirts and impossibly overthought bluejeans and kitten heels to the city’s well-to-do inhabitants and celebrities.” Frederick Mandel Segal was born on Aug. 16, 1933, in Chicago. His parents, David and Helen Segal, worked multiple jobs, and Mr. Segal grew up poor, according to the family’s spokeswoman. Mr. Segal never went to school for fashion. He worked as a traveling shoe salesman and shined shoes in Venice Beach — two jobs that let him observe people and helped him cultivate a sense for what buyers wanted. Tired of traveling, he decided to open up his first store in 1960. Mr. Segal credited his early success to his ability to be honest with customers. “I learned at a very young age that the area of no competition is in integrity,” Mr. Segal told Haute Living. “When I was selling in my store to my customers and they came in wanting to buy this or that, if they put an outfit on and they asked me for my advice part of the time I’d say, ‘Take that off don’t even buy that, that would be ridiculous, you don’t even look good in that.’ That’s really deep honesty. You don’t find that in business you know?” Fred Segal stores opened in Taiwan and in Bern, the Swiss capital. In 2015, the brand opened a store in Tokyo that also included an on-site food truck that sold Mexican street corn, shrimp on a roll and hot dogs paired with Coca-Cola and Corona. The name Fred Segal became so well known that it was casually referenced in movies like “Clueless” and “Legally Blonde.” Mr. Segal is survived by his wife, Tina; five children, Michael, Judy, Sharon, Nina and Annie; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Mike Ives contributed reporting, and Jack Begg contributed research. Source link Orbem News #California #Commodified #cool #designer #Dies #Fred #Segal

1 note · View note

chsamuseum · 3 years

Text

Feather Duster Memories: A Boomer’s Look-Back at Chinatown

San Francisco’s Chinatown, CHSA Collection

Are you working from home today? Due to COVID-19 a lot of people are. My parents worked from home during the 1950s. Ok, that’s a bit of a stretch. Back then, home and work were not typically one and the same. My parents worked 10-12 hours a day, sometimes on Sundays. The work they did was not like being in a tech start-up. There were no snacks or free meals. They owned a hand laundry in San Francisco and running it was exhausting work; skin burns were often the reward. It was hard physical labor. They started their business in 1954 in what is now known as Cole Valley, a San Francisco neighborhood about three miles west of Chinatown. Our living situation was very humble. The entire place was about 600 square feet. We had less living space than a two-car garage. I slept with my parents in a double bed, while my sister slept in a baby’s crib. We took baths on Saturdays in a blue-trimmed enamel pan-the same pan mom used to dye our customers’ clothes. Every evening, after closing, we dropped down sheets to cover the storefront windows and pulled down roller shades to cover the doors. How’s that for privacy? We lived with the sounds of a streetcar passing by our laundry every day.

Mom insisted on only eating Chinese food and our small refrigerator could only store a couple of days’ worth of groceries; going to Chinatown twice a week was a necessity. My dad went by himself on Wednesdays and on Sundays, we went as a family. The trip was a drive across town that took about 30 minutes. My dad drove a two-tone Pontiac Sedan from Carl to Clayton to Frederick to Masonic to Bush to Kearny to Pacific to Grant. We took those streets so often that they are coded in my memory, like a routine in a computer software program.

Grant Ave was our main shopping street for groceries. We did most of that shopping between Pacific and Broadway. At the North end of Grant Ave was the sausage shop. I loved the dried meats and the fat in the sausage, not to mention the BBQ pork. Mid-block there were two fresh chicken shops where you could select the chicken from a cage; a man would pull out the chicken, slit its throat, throw it into a garbage can, and then tell you to come back in a half-hour to pick it up. It was also the best place to buy fresh chicken wings and gizzards! Next door was a dried goods store that sold everything from canned goods to dried squid and 50 pound bags of rice. It was also where they sold my favorite jelly candy that came wrapped in rice paper and in two flavors, orange and banana. Banana was my favorite. On the corner of Grant and Pacific was a fresh fish store. It was always cold inside from all that ice to keep the fish on display fresh. I loved it because the window height of the fish tank was mounted perfectly for a little kid like me to watch them swim. Tommy’s Jewelry store was on the opposite corner where my mom took her watch for repairs and where she admired the gold and jade jewelry. Nearby was an electronics shop, Mee Shing, where they sold TV’s and Radios. Mom shopped for her Chinese opera records there. She listened to these operas during her long work hours of ironing laundry while my sister and I painfully endured the clanging sounds of the cymbals. Next to the electronics shop was Kaye’s Shoe store that carried Florsheim brand shoes in smaller shoe sizes to suit the Chinese foot. Does anyone remember the golden goose eggs in the windows? But what I wanted most, was to weigh myself on the weight machine sitting out in front by the entrance, where for a penny, I could get my weight printed on a ticket with a fortune on the back. Every Sunday, I begged my parents to let me weigh myself wondering when I would weigh 50 pounds. Across the street on Grant was a kitchen hardware store, Ginn Wall, that sold woks, wooden and plastic chopsticks, bowls, and more. It was also where they also sold the dreaded feather dusters with the bamboo stick handle - the ‘weapon’ of choice for Chinese families to mete out corporal punishment. I can attest to their painfulness.

Map of Chinatown Streets with local shops, created by Will Lee

The Mandarin Theater, later Sun Sing, was further south on the same block, and next to it was an alley. The alleys always lead to a building with single resident occupancy units, better known as SROs. Most of the alleys wafted of urine, but some had the smell of cooked foods-rice, chicken, vegetables-from the adjoining restaurants. Add in the sounds of children playing, laundry hanging on a line ruffling in the wind, the sounds of shuffling mahjong tiles, elderly men spitting, and you get a more complete picture of the alleys.

On the next block was a herb shop where my mom bought ingredients to make a ‘special’ soup. It was special all right, and as I remember it, the bitterness was so awful that I had to choke it down while my mom would say Ay-geet, which loosely translated means “to be well, be healthy.” Then at the corners of Washington and Grant were wooden trinket stands where my sister and I would eye the toys we couldn’t afford. We did buy the wax candies with liquid juice inside. Does anyone remember those? Further on Grant was the Eastern Bakery, which is known for their moon cakes, but I loved their cow ear snack, Gnow Gknee, which was shaped like a potato chip that had alternating bands, colored in tan and brown. My mom always bought a Sunday newspaper from the newsstand guy in a wooden shack on Jackson. Even though we subscribed to the Chinese Times, it only came six days a week.

The Buddhist church on Washington was under construction in the late 1950s. I recall going through the building during a Chinese New Year celebration and the street fairs that were held across the street in Portsmouth Square. I won a goldfish by tossing a ping pong ball into a bowl and the fish became our first pet. Other games at the bazaar were the metal horse races where you shot water guns to move the horses, throwing pointed metal darts at hanging balloons, and pitching coins onto a large board to try and land them on a small dot. But as fun as all of that was, who could forget the pink cotton candy!

Back in the 50s, Stockton street only had a few shops. On the corner of Pacific was the El Dorado Meat Market. It was the place to buy fresh meat. Who came up with the name El Dorado for a meat market in Chinatown? It had racks of meat hanging in the back and a display case full of fresh-cut meats in the front. I can still hear the band saw cutting the bone and the opening and closing of the walk-in freezer door. They sold ground pork to make Gee Knook Beng, a steamed pork patty cooked with salted fish on top, a peasant comfort food my parents brought over from their village. Everyone went to buy their oranges at Orangeland on the corner of Washington. My dad would drive up to the man, hand him a buck, and a brown paper bag of oranges was passed in through the window. Yup, that was how it was done.

Will with his younger sister, Courtesy of Will Lee

Going to Chinatown was like going to a foreign land. My mom would have liked for my sister and me to have grown up in Chinatown. She wanted us to identify as Chinese, for us to retain our culture and heritage. However, I am glad we missed that boat of growing up in Chinatown. Our laundry was small and had similar conditions to any place in Chinatown. If we had grown up there, I believe my experiences would have been far less diverse. I might have missed being fully immersed in American culture. So what-if? I’ll never know, there is only what is. I do know I speak Chinglish. My hillbilly Toishanese is badass. As challenging as it was to only speak Toishanese to my parents, not growing up in Chinatown forced me to figure it out. I am enriched to be at ease with both American and Chinese cultures, and I am so thankful to be able to embrace both. And a shout out to the N-Judah streetcar - no noise is too loud for me to sleep through.

Will Lee is a CHSA supporter. He was born in Oak Town (Oakland, CA), but grew up in San Francisco. He writes to share his American stories of growing up in a Chinese household with customs and traditions he didn’t understand, of living in a diverse neighborhood, and of finding his way between cultures.

#chsacomcon #chineseamerican #sfchinatown #aapi #memories #history

1 note · View note

robertacraigaz · 4 years

Text

The Baton Rouge Folklife Survey

The very first step in starting a folklife study is to supply traditions and also collect existing research. Making use of a casual process, I asked people– both citizens as well as non-residents– what Baton Rouge is known for. The majority of stated tailgating as well as football and quit there. Others took place to state that family and also church are very important. When asked what practices are significant, some claimed Spanish Community Mardi Gras and blues songs. Some even stated that Baton Rouge really did not have any type of customs. Go here for more info.

While scholars around the globe research Louisiana’s folk cultures, especially those of south Louisiana, Baton Rouge has, prior to this task, got reasonably little interest. Baton Rouge was consisted of in the Louisiana Folklife Program’s Florida Parishes Folklife Survey, the very first local survey carried out in the very early 1980s. LSU folklorist Joyce Jackson– that had actually worked with several African American churches in north Baton Rouge– as well as I gave fieldwork for the chapter on Baton Rouge and also Livingston Church, which offers an introduction to the successive waves of the location’s cultural groups. Nicholas Spitzer recorded Baton Rouge bluesmen while functioning as the state folklorist as well as contributed his findings to the 1985 Louisiana Public Broadcasting documentary, Rainin’ in My Heart. Almost twenty years later, Jocelyn Donlon covered the Spanish Community Mardi Gras ceremony for the Louisiana Voices Folklife in Education And Learning Project, and 2 essays were first released in the Louisiana Mythology Miscellany. However, the area was reasonably neglected until 2005 when the New Populations Job started documenting the practices of numerous Baton Rouge immigrant communities: Chinese, Indian, Latinos, Muslim, and Vietnamese.

Custom holders documented in Folkilfe in the Florida Parishes Scholars commonly focus on what is distinct to a location, however with the Baton Rouge Folklife Survey, we cast a wider net and with that said technique we found lots. So, rather than “Baton Rouge Folklife,” it is “Folklife in Baton Rouge.” The results exist in the online book, Baton Rouge Traditions.

From 2013 until 2017, twelve scientists recorded tradition bearers as well as created twenty-one essays based on their fieldwork. Some researchers did more than one job or created numerous essays. The fieldworkers brought differing perspectives. Some originated from other states as well as had actually not previously operated in the South. Others were from Louisiana, and a few hailed from Baton Rouge. Some folklorists were senior fieldworkers with years of experience, while others were current college graduates.

Most of the folklorists documented conventional artists with tape-recorded interviews, however a couple of drew upon previous research study and provided essays. Sometimes, I augmented their work by photographing events that the gotten folklorists could not participate in, as well as I assisted in establishing calls. Similar to all Louisiana Folklife Program projects, new contacts are included in the program data source and also, if people have actually given permission, their contact info is provided to celebration organizers, filmmakers, tourist authorities, gallery team, and others.

In addition to documenting relevant customs reflective of Baton Rouge’s character, each project was, partially, based on the strengths as well as interests of each researcher. I achieved success in obtaining some points recorded on my shopping list, yet not others. The fieldworkers added suggestions, as well. As an example, the fieldworkers not from Louisiana kept in mind the multitude of churches, hair salons, beauty parlor, and nail beauty parlors. All of these comments helped to notify the fieldwork subjects. I worked with the fieldworkers to document practices that mirror these, however was also available to the serendipity of fieldwork, for instance, some fieldworkers identified practices that I had actually not considered.

The job likewise looked for to consist of a selection of cultural groups and also represent varied folklife categories: crafts, personalizeds, dancing, people theater/street performance, foodways, songs, dental practices, work-related practices, entertainment customs, ritual traditions, as well as typical landscapes. The documented people mirror the myriad groups that comprise Baton Rouge– from those who have been here for generations to the most current of transplants as a result of Cyclone Katrina and immigration. The majority of the major ethnic groups are represented. Customs based at Louisiana State University as well as Southern University are additionally consisted of. While many tradition bearers lie in East Baton Rouge Church, some remain in the surrounding towns of Denham Springs, Gonzales, as well as Port Allen.

source https://platinumtreeservicepros.com/the-baton-rouge-folklife-survey/ from Platinum Tree Service Pros https://platinumtreeservicepros.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-baton-rouge-folklife-survey.html

0 notes

platinumtreeservicepros · 4 years

Text

The Baton Rouge Folklife Survey

from Platinum Tree Service Pros https://platinumtreeservicepros.com/the-baton-rouge-folklife-survey/

0 notes

demospectator · 2 years

Photo

“No. 145. Chinese Restaurant, San Francisco. Cal.” c. 1875. Stereograph by J.J. Reilly (from the collection of the Oakland Museum of California).

A Long-forgotten Jackson Street Restaurant

The albumen stereograph card by pioneer photographer John James Reilly held by the Oakland Museum of California (“OMCA”) depicts the exterior of a three-story building in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Taken from an elevated position across the street and at a diagonal to the building, Reilly captured two façades visible from the street. The exterior balcony of the third floor shows at least ten statues of venerated deities placed just outside the balcony’s railing across the entire width of the building’s frontage on Jackson Street. Numerous potted plants wrap around the front and half of the balcony’s length along the side of the building facing out onto Washington Place (also known as “Fish Alley” to non-Chinese). Two different pairs of lanterns are suspended from under the portion of roof overhanging the balcony. Elaborately carved wooden floral pieces frame the center pair of doors opening to the balcony. A common form of pennant can be seen hanging from an iron cross-mast mounting to one of the narrow columns supporting the cantilevered portion of the roof, probably advertising a tearoom at the topmost floor.

At the second floor’s balcony, English language signage appears above a circular, center window which the OMCA curator has erroneously discerned as “Chin Ying Low” over the word “Restaurant." The barely discernible Chinese characters on the glass lanterns of the second floor balcony further attest to the restaurant’s name as 聚英楼 or, Cantonese pronunciation, “Jeuih Ying Lauh”).

The Bishop directory of 1875 confirms, however, that the name of the restaurant’s name was “Choy Yan Low,” and its address listing read as follows: “restaurant SE cor [sic] Washington alley and Jackson.” According to the maps of that era, the southeast corner of the intersection corresponded to 633 Jackson St.

The OMCA’s estimate about the year during which Reilly took his fascinating stereograph of the Chinese restaurant proved remarkably accurate – to the precise year. As the 1876 Langley directory discloses, the restaurant had moved and reestablished itself one block away as the “Choy Yan Lou, 2 Washington Alley.”

The Wells Fargo Chinese business directory of 1878 confirmed its ongoing operation with a listing in Chinese as follows: 聚英樓號酒晏茶居德和街享, literally “Choy Ying Low, wine, quiet tea house – Tuck Wo Street [i.e., Washington Place]” (canto: “Jeuih Ying Lauh houh jau nan cha geui Duck Wo gaai heung;” pinyin: “Jùyīng lóu hào jiǔ yàn chá jū dé hé jiē xiǎng”).

A portion of “No. 145. Chinese Restaurant, San Francisco. Cal.” c. 1875. Stereograph by J.J. Reilly (from the collection of the Oakland Museum of California).

Another restaurant was located next door to the Choy Yan Low on the 600-block of Jackson Street. In the far left of the Reilly photo, the frontage of the “Yen Nem & Co Restaurant” (燕南樓; canto: “Yeen Nahm Lauh”) can be seen on the easterly adjacent side of the building in which Choy Yan Low was located. For a half dozen years, the Yen Nem restaurant would continue to appear in listings variously and at alternate addresses as the “Yennem Low (Chinese) restaurant,” at 629 Jackson or “Yen Nam Low & Co.” and the “Yen Nem Low restaurant” at 627 Jackson. The vertical signage along the left border of the photo is barely visible. However, other photos of this block (notably by Carleton Watkins), show that the sign advertised arrangements for literally “Manchurian meat and vegetarian banquets” or follows: “燕南樓包辦滿漢葷素歌筳酒席”(pinyin: Yàn nán lóu bāobàn mǎn hàn hūn sù gē tíng jiǔxí; canto: “Yeen Nahm Lauh bau baan wuhn hon fun soe gaw ting jauh jik”). With the presence of two major restaurants, ground floor retail stores, and the New Chinese Theater at 623 Jackson Street, this block of old Chinatown must have constituted a vibrant, commercial entertainment strip.

A detail from the 1885 map prepared for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the Cooper Chow collection (at the Chinese Historical Society of America).

Reilly’s inclusion in his photograph of the western frontage of the Choy Ying Low building on Washington Place (now known as Wentworth), provides an intriguing hint about the three men seen to the right of the photo. Two individuals are standing outside the doorways to the ground floor spaces on Washington Place; a third man stands closer to the curb. All three men appear to be doing nothing except observing the street. Based on the detail of the 1885 map for this corner, their positioning coincides with the presence of gambling establishments and a pawnshop -- around the corner from the restaurant’s entrance and a couple of doors south on Washington Place, as would be shown a decade later on the city’s 1885 vice map. Thus, it would not be unreasonable to infer that Reilly’s photo captured two to three “look-see” men standing guard for the alleyway’s gambling operators .

With the presence of two major restaurants at 633 and 631 Jackson, ground floor retail stores, and the Cantonese opera offered by the New Chinese Theater at 623 Jackson Street, this block of old Chinatown must have constituted a vibrant, commercial entertainment strip during the late 1870′s.

“Chinese restaurant, Jackson St., S.F. 3753″ c. 1875. Stereograph by Carleton Watkins (from the public domain collection of the Getty Museum). Judging from the angle of the sunlight along the length of Washington Place at the right of the frames, the photo was taken around mid-day.

Choy Ying Low, c. 1875. Photograph by Carleton Watkins (from the collection of the California State Library). This print captures a wider angle view of the restaurant than the ones used for the stereograph.

Sometime in 1880, the Choy Ying Low apparently ceased operations. By the following year, the Sing Sing poultry store occupied the 2 Washington Alley address, and another legendary Chinese restaurant had passed into history.

[updated: 2022-9-23]

#Choy Ying Low #San Francisco Chinatown #Jackson St.#Washington Place #OMCA #Yen Nem Low #New Chinese Theater #J.J. Reilly #Carleton Watkins

0 notes

trmcfarlin · 5 years

Text

South Korea Sept 28-Oct 4, 2019

South Korea has been a country that I have been curious about for a while. I could have chosen to work there but chose China instead. I also wanted to get out of of China for the 70th anniversary. There are so many restrictions and closers for the 70th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. They use WON in South Korea. 13,000 won equals 1 dollar. We flew into Incheon airport and it is one of the nicest airports I have seen. Because we flew in after midnight, we stayed in a hotel next to the airport. However, getting the currency converted and finding the hotel wasn’t very easy.

DAY 1 Connor and I woke up and wandered around the airport for a while. We noticed all of the Korean men had the same haircut. Connor caught lots of Pokemon. When the girls woke up, we went to breakfast and had waffles, which we hadn’t eaten in a very long time. We then went to Seoul. It was a pretty long drive and our taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong location. We had to walk almost 2 miles to our hotel. We called the hotel and they said, “Are you Chinese?” It is very confusing for people when I come from China but am American. We arrived at our hotel at about 3:30pm. We found a really good Pho restaurant to eat at for dinner. We also had to buy new outlet converters. The outlets were not like China or the USA. We then went to the Gangnam festival near our hotel. It was a big outdoor concert with lots of people and different food. We saw the Gangnam statue and walked around the mall for the night.

DAY 2 The next day, we went to the Starfield library, which is a huge library with more than 50,000 books. We enjoyed some huge cakes. We also visited Bongeunsa Temple, which is an ancient buddhist temple constructed in 794. It became the main temple of Korean zen from 1551-1936. We learned the that Christianity is the main religion in South Korea today. We ate a huge fried chicken dinner, which had a sweet and spicy coating called yangnyam. They also had a good beer called Terra. We then saw the moonlight rainbow fountain show on the Han river. The double decker bridge was completed in 1982. Carly and I walked in the Han river a bit. Connor had fun punching a dummy at the arcade. We heard funny inappropriate music. We also saw the Olympic stadium. It was built for the 1986 Asian games. Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, and Lady Gaga all played there.

DAY 3 We ate at a place called Butterfinger pancakes for breakfast. It was very good but was very expensive. They had fancy cheese on their meals. We also saw the Seoul City wall near Dongdaemun, which was built in 1396. It stretches 18.6km and originally had 8 gates. This area had a huge market and shopping mall. After this we went to a food street called Myeong-dong. They had spiral cut potatoes, egg toast, Korean dumplings, and roasted sweet potatoes. We saw a store called BT21, which is a BTS world store. That place was a zoo! After this day, the kids asked for a chill day.

DAY 4 So, the next day we went to Dragon Hill Spa. They had a pool, PC room, theater, food court, and many hot baths. Before going there I ran 10 miles to Banpo park. A man totally pulled his pants down in front of me. I did not expect that to happen in South Korea. The spa was rat at the subway stop and easy to get to. They had a traditional Korean food dinner. It rained all day that day. The kids loved all of the activity and I got a good Thai massage. We hung out in many spas and bathing baths. Carly actually got yelled at by an old Korean lady because she was acting wild on the subway. The lady actually scared Carly, which helped me out a bit. The spa place charged me twice and it was an interesting experience trying to explain to them that I was double charged when my alert was all in Chinese. We went out to chicken again and they people actually remembered us. We loved that chicken!

DAY 5 On our last day, we ate pho for breakfast, bought some English books at a bookstore, and saw, “The Joker” at the theater. We also had some excellent Japanese food.

DAY 6 I would say that my favorite part of Korea is the uneven old looking streets. Everything is stacked high and very old fashioned looking. There are more coffee shops than I have ever seen. The Koreans meet for coffee and talk for hours. Everyone seems very educated and well mannered. There are designated smoking areas and people can’t just smoke anywhere. They are quiet unless you get them into a bar atmosphere. We completed some fun art projects at the Incheon Airport, which we all loved, before heading home.

0 notes

focalwriterworks · 5 years

Text

THE FAREWELL

My affection for this film, which I saw at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival, and for what I feel is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in years, stems from the fact the audience, and the main character’s family in The Farewell, are in on the news that grandma, or NaiNai in Chinese, has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. And instead of telling her the sad news the family decide collectively to not tell her. And gather around her, instead, for what could be last visitations, under the guise of cousin HaoHao’s wedding.

The Story: Billi, played by rap artist Awkwafina, hears the bad news from her parents. They are going to China to visit with the family’s matriarch, NaiNai, played with the sweetest humility, and with strong will, by Shuzhen Zhou. Billi is determined to go even though her parents think it’s better if she stays. Billi is saddened by the news, just as all of the family members are, and when they all arrive in China it’s under the pretense of cousin HaoHao’s (Han Chen) marriage to a Japanese girl (Aoi Mizuhara) who doesn’t speak Chinese. To make things a bit more heart-rending, yet also moving in a humorous way, is that NaiNai is determined to coordinate the wedding invitations and banquet for her grandson HaoHao, as she is always beaming with pride, and love, that her grandson is getting married.

The Goods: It’s this pathos and emotional stirring every time NaiNai is on screen demanding the best for HaoHao—the son of NaiNai’s second son—like insisting it is to be lobster on the menu, not crab, at the reception site for the banquet following HaoHao’s wedding ceremony, that makes the film so touching. To see NaiNai so excited, and happy, and thrilled that her family has gathered for the event, that her other son Haiyan (Tzi Ma, who has been in a ton of films and TV since the ‘80’s) has come, with Billi, from America, while knowing she’s dying, and that NaiNai is clueless (or maybe she’s not, it’s understood she is unaware) is such a powerful experience for the viewer that this “user event” in itself, in the theater, makes the film one of the best of the year, regardless of how it all culminates or how it resolves itself.

NaiNai’s joy and grandmotherly instincts with children and grandchildren is so universal. Like well composed songs that find fans everywhere in the world, she oozes a sense of goodness and care, historical perspective and set of rules that all grandmothers seem to have—she will discipline her family members like a mother/grandmother would—with a personal regiment of health tips and what might sound like “old wives’ tales” remedies that come across astoundingly accurate, realistic and true. She even gets Billi up in the mornings to practice her own self-created ‘NaiNai health regime’ that involves stepping around and yelling. Billi handles NaiNai’s routine with a dose of embarrassment, hesitant, but pushed by NaiNai she eventually embraces it if at times losing her composure, in the middle of street outside NaiNai’s high-rise building community, to laugh a bit.

Awkwafina, real name Nora Lum, who told me on the Atlanta Film Festival’s red carpet that though she is of Korean and Chinese decent, grew up in New York, in Queens, speaking only English. She had to brush up on Chinese which family members spoke but she did not. She said she was supported by the crew and cast who all helped her with her lines while filming on location in China. You would never know it. Awkwafina, in a more subdued role compared to her loudish, eccentric character Peik Lin Goh in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), or her cool, collected jewel thief Constance in Ocean’s 8 (2018), or preppy sorority girl Christine in Neighbors 2 (2016), seems like a natural here. Partly too to what Lulu Wang is doing with direction. The film is written and directed by Wang who adapted her own very true story from a short radio episode of This American Life called What You Don’t Know (Episode 585, https://shortcut.thisamericanlife.org/#/clipping/585/110?_k=dc1yj4).

There’s so much of what one senses is realism, like Wang’s radio piece, that the film is like a documentary, at least more so than Lulu Wang’s previous feature film Posthumous (2014). The two feature films are worlds apart and show with striking comparison the tremendous growth and innate talent Ms. Wang has for telling stories with such visual impact while sort of letting characters just be. None of the acting feels forced or rehearsed. And Awkwafina, whose character wants to say something about the deceit, confront the truth, discuss it with her grandmother, but chooses to play along, is a huge part of that. As is Ms. Lang’s real great aunt, Lu Hong, who plays Little NaiNai, the sister of Billi’s grandmother. Wang said that after some takes on set she would ask her great aunt if the scene felt authentic, in which Ms. Hong, knowing the facts of the real NaiNai’s condition, would provide her approval or criticisms thereof.

Ms. Wang’s instinct for camera placement and letting scenes play out while we observe is a comforting feeling. It presents itself as an easy film to involve yourself with. Certainly made in such a way that we too have a place at the table with the family, or in the rooms where scenes take place. Most of the shots are wide, and are master shots. The coverage for editing is simple—it’s not an action film—so capturing the truth in scenes, on location, is easier than forcing it in the editing room. We get to be voyeurs and not feel bad for staring or eavesdropping, but that we also, because we have grandmothers too, feel a part of this family. And since we know that she, the character in the film, and our own grandmothers, are only here for a limited time we should just enjoy our time with them while we can.

The Flaws: Curiously, there is a little bird that appears in Billi’s apartment, after she hears the news of her grandmother, when she returns to her apartment in New York after coming home from being out. Billi asks, “where did you come from, how did you get in here,” then she opens a window and lets the bird out. I get a strong sense the bird is exemplary or symbolic of NaiNai, or of Billi, or simply of life in general, action oriented flapping winged bird landing and wondering what its own situation is, compared to Billi’s, to ours. It’s nice. It’s sort of poetic. But it happens again when Billi gets to China, and it’s the same bird. Identical. As if maybe the bird followed Billi. And Billi doesn’t comment on it. The coincidence doesn’t become an issue with her but I think it is with the audience, because it’s not addressed. I’m distracted by it mostly because there is no explanation or character exposition enlightening us to something potentially special, and maybe supernatural, that has occurred here. And without a sense of a motif being established—like the magpies in the third season of the British TV show The Detectorists (what a random comparison), or any film or creative work where birds are a metaphor for the characters, or experience, in the story—we are sort of left wondering why the bird makes another appearance. Sure we can contemplate it all we want but it doesn’t do anything to help Billi or NaiNai’s situation. Or ours for that matter. Taking that second to process it distracts from this realism Ms. Wang has lovingly presented.

And there are traits of a music video, as a sort of denouement to the film, after HaoHao’s wedding and after the family members sort of part ways back to their corners of the Earth, leaving NaiNai with her sister, and live-in male friend, Mr. Li (who is comic relief in the film). Briefly, the family come back again in what seems like a “flashback” moment; as a collective they all walk down the street with strong steps, sort of like The Monkees, or The Beatles, something from a Richard Lester film, playfully, with vaudevillian moves and serious looks on their faces as they stare out of the screen at the audience, reminiscent of choreographed music videos from the likes of Britany Spears, or Michael Jackson, and virtually every music video in their wake, as if to say, here are the players in this play, these were the performers in this play—in this conspiracy—of family members living with the fact they lied and hid the truth from the family’s matriarch.

It’s a wonderful piece to the film but doesn’t exactly fit. And if there were other moments in the film similar to this then sure it would be more fitting. Or maybe even if it were over credits at the end of the film. Could be there are behind-the-scenes details that maybe production wise something didn’t go as planned, like if Awkwafina who is known for her rap music, if maybe she had a song for the film which Ms. Wang chose to not include. But the sequence itself, the music video moment, it’s a flaw in the sense it removes us from the realism of the film. It’s formalism and it’s noticeable at that. Coming at the end of the film however is the sequence’s saving grace.

Additionally, I did feel a sense NaiNai at times, in Billi’s conscious, is like Father Karras’ mother in The Exorcist (1973). There is a scene where Billi envisions her NaiNai in the subway, in New York, after Billi first hears the news of her grandmother’s diagnosis. I saw the similarity, and later in a Q & A after the film’s screening, Ms. Wang confirmed that she did incorporate traits from the horror genre. Smart, because those closed camera compositions and some of the centered character placements in rooms, combined with subconscious audible room tones, add a complexity to the emotional impact of some of the more serious or dramatic scenes where death is a true, hidden, ghostly antagonist. That NaiNai appears in Billi’s subway is almost too on the nose to William Friedkin’s mother Karras in The Exorcist. If you’ve seen that movie previously you’ll know it, and you’ll feel it, not as homage, not as a rip-off either, but as an accidental, subconscious placement by Ms. Wang that might slightly undermine her own original characters and story.

The Call: Spend the ten. The Farewell is a beautiful film regardless of very minor flaws. The sheer enjoyment of connecting with a family that is certainly yours as well as mine as well as Billi’s is a powerful achievement for Lulu Wang. The concept—a family who chooses not to tell their grandmother she’s going to die of cancer—is strong, script and production wise, even if some of what appears to be scripted may have been authentic cinema verite of Ms. Wang’s real family collaborating with actors. And as a wedding proceeds, what is usually a quirky, fun, family event in films—from the wedding film genre—it does so under false pretenses that are every bit bitter, corrupt and, conversely, the sweetest moments you’ll ever see. A perfect set-up for a lovely character to charm us out of our daily grind and give us back a sense of heart and soul if only for a few hours. And if NaiNai’s in on the news, knowing she might die, well that just shows how much courage she really has. Just like a grandmother, putting her family first before herself.

The Farewell is not yet rated. Running time is 98 minutes. A24 is distributing. In theaters July 12, 2019. Nationwide August 2nd, 2019.

#awkwafina #lulu wang #the farewell #atlanta film festival #atlff #nai nai #gold open #tzi ma #best of 2019 #movies #film #art

0 notes

atlff19 · 5 years

Text

THE FAREWELL

The Farewell is not yet rated. Running time is 98 minutes. A24 is distributing. In theaters July 12, 2019.

#awkwafina #Lulu Wang #The Farewell #atlff #atlanta film festival #nainai #tzi ma

0 notes

weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

Text

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND February 8, 2018 - THE LEGO MOVIE 2, WHAT MEN WANT, COLD PURSUIT, THE PRODIGY

Well, folks, this week I’m travelling down to Oxford, Mississippi for the 16th Annual Oxford Film Festival (and my third time there as a juror), so that’s really what I’m most excited about this week, although there are a whopping four movies released Friday then another three wide releases next week, so I’ll be looking forward to when things slow down again.

You’ll also notice a pretty major change in this week’s column, and that’s because I’m happy to report that I’ll now be previewing and reporting box office for my good friend Heidi McDonald over at The Beat (Comicsbeat.com), so you’ll be able to read my box office stuff there but still get some insight into the new movies coming out here, especially if you’re interested in the lower-profile limited releases, streaming and repertory stuff. But I’ll still write about the wide releases, and this is most likely where I’ll be reviewing many of them still, since I haven’t been asked to write reviews for The Beat just yet.

Either way, as long as I still have time to write a modified version of this column focusing on the limited releases, I will do so, including a link to my column over at the Beat every week, so you won’t miss out on what I know some people read the column for, which is my box office analysis. If for some reason, you don’t care about anything besides the studio releases, please let me know, since it’s a lot of writing if nobody is writing. THIS WEEK’S BOX OFFICE ANALYSIS AT THE BEAT

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (Warner Bros.)

Directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls) Written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (with story by Matt Fogel) Voice Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell MPAA Rating: PG

This is one of the easier movies this weekend to talk about, since it’s the year’s second sequel after M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass, and it’s not exactly reinventing the LEGO wheel, as it follows shortly after the events of 2014’s The LEGO Movie, which became another hit for Phil Lord and Chris Miller after having hits at Sony with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (plus its sequel) and 21 Jump Street.

In the five years since that hit, the Warner Animation Group released The LEGO Batman Movie, which also did fairly well, but Lord and Miller are coming off their recent animated hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which seems to be heading towards an Oscar in the Animated Feature category at the end of the month.

Reviews for the movie have been great, just like the original movie, but as seems to be the case with me a lot lately, I’m the outlier as I really didn’t care for the sequel at all for reasons you can read in my review linked below.

MY LEGO MOVIE 2 REVIEW

WHAT MEN WANT (Paramount)

Directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray, Bringing Down the House, Rock of Ages, The Pacifier) Written by Tina Gordon, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Erykah Badu, Max Greenfield, Peter Davidson, Kellan Lutz, Shaquille O’Neal MPAA Rating: R

Offering the first bit of counter-programming is the latest movie from mega-producer Will Packer, who has had hits with Girls Trip, Think Like a Man, Ride Along and many more (including sequels to two of those). This one is a reenvisioning of the 2000 Nancy Meyers comedy What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, which scored an astounding $182.8 million over the holidays that year.

This remake switches genders as well as races as Taraji P. Henson plays a woman who can suddenly hear what men think… and I feel very badly for her to be subjected to that, although it’s bound to lead to a lot of funny moments, some of which you can see in the trailer. Helming the movie is Adam Shankman, who has had great success in the comedy realm with movies like Bringing Down the House, which paired Steve Martin with Queen Latifah, and mixed results with musicals. (I actually didn’t like Hairspray very much, compared to the John Waters film, and was also kind of disappointed with Rock of Ages, having seen the musical on Broadway.)

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see What Men Want in time to review – and most reviews probably won’t show up until Thursday either -- but I do hope to see it down the road sometime, as I’m definitely a fan of most of the cast and the cast.

COLD PURSUIT (Lionsgate/Summit)

Directed by Hans Peter Molland (In Order of Disappearance) Written by Frank Baldwin, Kim Fupz Aakeson Cast: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Emmy Rossum MPAA Rating: R

Also hoping to appeal to older guys who might not be interested in the above two movies, this is the second remake of the weekend and fourth for the year as Norwegian filmmaker Hans Peter Molland transports his 2016 film In Order of Disappearance to Colorado with Liam Neeson as a father getting revenge for the murder of his son. The original movie was quite innovative but didn’t get much attention when it was released by Magnolia a few years back, but one presumes Neeson’s fanbase, who have supported him in similar high concept action-thrillers, will give this one a look as well. I’m not even sure I want or need to mention the trouble Neeson faced recently with a few controversial statements, but I have a feeling those who might be interested in a straight-up revenge movie like this won’t be upset by Neeson’s confession.

Shockingly, reviews for this have also been great, right up there with The LEGO Movie 2, and of course, I hated it! Incidentally, I interviewed Molland for In Order of Disappearance along with original star Stellan Skarsgard, which you can read here.

Mini-Review: Normally, I am not one to trash a remake merely for being a remake, although so far this year, none of the English remakes I’ve seen have stood up to the original foreign language films on which they were based.

I was kind of wondering why Norwegian filmmaker Hans Peter Molland would make the same movie over again with different actors, but maybe he had some ideas of how to reimagine it to rural snow-covered Colorado with Liam Neeson as snowplow driver Nels Coxman. Nels has just learned that his son has died of an overdose, so he goes after the men he thinks is responsible.

There’s quite a few changes from the original movie but few of them are any good, especially the number of unnecessary characters added like a couple local police officers, one played by Emmy Rossum, who just make this seem more like a straight-up Fargo rip-off than the original movie did.

There are plent of other problems with Molland’s attempt to reenvision the original story, including how erratic it is in its storytelling. For one thing, Nels immediately goes after his son’s killers, brutally killing three men after getting information from them, then dumping their bodies in a roaring river. Obviously, Liam Neeson seems more than capable of handling his revenge, so one wonders why he would bother to waste money hiring a hitman to go after Tom Bateman’s Viking, the head druglord in the region who may have ordered his son murdered.

It’s sad that Americans might watch this movie and think anything positive about Tom Bateman’s awful performance, but it’s even sadder when you realize how extraordinary Pal Hagen was in the original role of “The Count” – Bateman just doesn’t have a handle on the character at all.

Worst of all is how the film is fairly misogynistic with Laura Dern (barely in the movie as Nels’ wife) and Rossum being two of the only women in the film not depicted as hateful shrews but really not given very interesting roles to play.

Cold Pursuit never seems as clever or innovative as the original movie, and many of the jokes just fall flat compared to the original where the Scandinavian quirkiness added so much to the film’s dark humor. Cold Pursuit just doesn’t offer anything particularly interesting beyond the typical Hollywood revenge flick with the film’s better action setpieces being taken almost verbatim from the original movie. Rating: 4.5/10

THE PRODIGY (Orion)

Directed by Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact) Written by Jeff Buhler Cast: Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott, Colm Feore, Brittany Allen MPAA Rating: R

But wait, there’s more! And it’s this high concept horror film that exists within my favorite sub-genre of horror: evil kids! This one stars Orange is the New Black star Taylor Schilling, whose son (played by Jackson Robert Scott) is the prodigy of the title, but he also might be an evil killer. I also won’t have a chance to see this movie before heading down to Mississippi on Wednesday, so not sure I have much more to add, although I did like the trailer when I finally had a chance to see it.

Furthermore, STX and Alibaba released the Chinese animated PEPPA CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR, based on the British sensation seen on Nick Jr., into 65 theaters across the country Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and I hear that many showings sold out!

FESTIVALS

Sadly, not many of my readers will be able to join me down in Oxford, Mississippi where I will be one of the jurors for the 16thOxford Film Festival, but I might try to write something about my experiences, as I have in previous years, because it’s often one of my favorite annual experiences involving movies.

Besides the Oxford Film Festival, the annual Berlinale runs from Feb. 7 through Feb. 17 AND Lincoln Center’s Film Comment Selects runs from Feb. 6 through 10… but like I said, I’ll be at Oxford, so that’s what I’ll be covering. Got it?

LIMITED RELEASES

This weekend begins the annual OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS (separated into four programs with the short docs split into Part A and B), playing at the IFC Center in New York and at the Landmark Nuart in L.A. If you want to do well in your office Oscar pool at the end of this month, you’ll make an effort to see all fifteen of the nominated short films, as that often is the make or break for most predictions. I know that I will try to watch and write something about them (although most of my shorts-focus right now is on the ones I’m judging for Oxford, to be honest).

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi returns with the Spanish language film EVERYBODY KNOWS (Focus Features), starring Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Argentine actor Ricardo Darin (from The Secret in Their Eyes), which involves Cruz playing a woman named Laura, who returns to her childhood home for her sister’s wedding only for her teen daughter to get kidnapped by people who think her husband (Darin) has lots of money. To find her daughter, Laura calls on her former lover (played by Bardem) and secrets start being exposed about their relationship. I liked this film quite a bit, as it employs much of what has made Farhadi’s Iranian films so special – he’s a fantastic writer who really pulls many emotions out of his actors while slowly building a story into a third act full of interesting developments. Everybody Knows opens in select cities Friday, and likely will expand over the next couple weeks.

The Audience Award winner from last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Shawn Snyder’s TO DUST (Good Deeds Entertainment), stars Geza Röhrig (Son of Saul) as Hasidic cantor Shmuel, who recently lost his wife and tries to find solace by looking into how her body would decay. In order to learn this, he partners with Albert, a community college bio professor played by Matthew Broderick, to perform experiments about body decomposition.

Just a couple weeks after Netflix streamed his movie Polar, Jonas Akerlund’s previous film LORDS OF CHAOS (Gunpowder and Sky/Vice Films), which premiered at Sundance last year, will open in select cities and On Demand. It follows Norwegian black metal band Mayhem whose new singer (played by Jack Kilmer) goes by the name “Dead” … and then he actually kills himself. Fun! The very dark comedy stars Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen (Brooklyn), Sky Ferreira, and it’s pretty entertaining in the vein of the doc Anvil: The Story of Anvil. I’ve seen a lot of hilarious movies about the music biz with This is Spinal Tap and Tapeheads being two of my favorites, and I have a feeling this has the potential to become another cult classic that will be found on almost every band’s tour bus for years to come. In other words, significantly better than Polar.

The next film in the series of anthology films based on major cities around the world is BERLIN, I LOVE YOU (Saban Films), a series of ten fairly humorous and romantic shorts set in Berlin starring Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Luke Wilson, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, Jim Sturgess and many more. The directors involved in this one are a mixed bag including German filmmakers like Til Schweiger and Mexico’s Fernando Eibecke (Duck Season) and even Glee star Dianna Agron making her directorial debut. It opens in theaters as well as on VOD and digital HD, similar to most Saban Films movies.

From Berlin, we move to Paris as Veep star Matt Walsh stars in Archie Borders’ Under the Eiffel Tower (The Orchard), playing Stuart, a man dealing with a mid-life crisis after losing his job, so he tags along with his friends’ family on a vacation to Paris. After embarrassing himself, he heads off to the French countryside with “ladies’ man” Liam (Reid Scott, also from Veep) and cross paths with a vineyard owner, played by Judith Godrèche from The Overnight.

Following its world premiere at last year’s Fantasia Film Festival, Robert D. Krzykowski’s directorial debut The Man Who Killed Hitler and then the Big Foot (RLJE Films/Epic), starring Sam Elliot, will open in select theaters and on VOD/Digital HD Friday. In the comedy, Elliot plays Calvin Barr, a man who… well, read the title. It’s fairly descriptive. Calvin did indeed kill Adolf Hitler and now the government has called on him to kill Bigfoot before the legendary creature spreads a deadly plague to the populace. In other words, Elliot can expect another Oscar nomination this year. (it also stars Ron Livingston, Aidan Turner and Caitlin Fitzgerald.)

A long-running horror franchise returns with The Amityville Murders (Skyline Entertainment), written and directed by Daniel Farrands, who previous directed a History Channel documentary about the 1974 murders when Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his entire family as they slept, saying that “voices” commanded him to commit murder. This dramatization stars John Robinson, Chelsea Ricketts, Diane Franklin (who appeared in Amityville II: The Possession!) and Paul Ben-Victor from various Netflix shows.

Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher’s doc The Gospel of Eureka (Kino Lorber), narrated by Mx Justin Vivian Bond, looks at the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas in the Ozarks where pious Christians mingle with the queer community in a local gay bar, breaking down the divide we’re currently seeing in the country.

“NFL player turned actor” Thomas Q. Jones (Luke Cage) stars in Matthew Berkowitz’s A Violent Man (GVN Releasing), playing an unknown MMA fighter who beats the undefeated champ (played by actual MMA champ Chuck Lidell) at a local gym and gets a shot at a fight for the title until a female reporter covering the story is found dead with him as the main suspect.

Lastly, Emma Forrest wrote and made her directorial debut on Untogether (Freestyle) stars Jamie Dornan as a writer who has an affair with his teen prodigy (Jemima Kirke from Girls), while her real-life sister Lola Kirke (Mistress America) plays her younger sister, who has an affair with an older man (Ben Mendelsohn).

STREAMING

One week after Dan Gilroy made his Netflix debut, Steven Soderbergh continues his run of low-budget indie films with HIGH FLYING BIRD, starring André Holland from Moonlight as sports agent Roy Burke, who is caught in a dispute between the pro basketball league with the players. It’s also written by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, who wrote Moonlight.

Also, the Netflix series One Day at a Time returns for its third season, while Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj also returns this Sunday.

REPERTORY

Before we get to the repertory regulars, I just want to share that BBQ Films, a fantastic group of film fanatics who create unique cinema events around films like Beetlejuice and Blade are kicking off their new program GREEN SCREEN this Sunday, Feb. 10, with a screening of David Chappelle’s 1998 movie Half Baked at the Chelsea Music Hall on West 15th, which will include pre-show entertainment, stand-up comedy and more. I won’t go into details about the all-encompassing theme of Green Screen, but you can probably figure it out by clicking on the link. Next show is March 3 with Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which actually celebrates its 30thanniversary on February 17.

METROGRAPH (NYC):

I haven’t been to my favorite local theater in a while but hopefully that will change soon.

This weekend’s Late Nites at Metrograph offering is Luis Bunuel’s 1972 film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise, while Playtime: Family Matinees screens Tom Moore’s 2014 Oscar-nominated animated film Song of the Sea.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Tarantino’s theater will show the Spencer Tracy-Katherine Hepburn film Woman of the Year (1942) on Wednesday, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II (1974)will screen from Weds. through Sat. with The Black Godfather (also 1974) screening at midnight on the same nights. The weekend matinee is the 1968 Carol Reed musical Oliver! Sunday and Monday, the theater screens double features of Paul Wendko’s Battle of the Coral Sea (1959) with Angel Baby (1961), as well as screening Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle Monday afternoon. Tuesday’s “Grindhouse” double feature is Shark! (1969) and Shamus (1973), both starring the late great Burt Reynolds!Oh, and Tarantino’s own Oscar-nominated film Pulp Fiction (1994) will screen on Friday at midnight.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Far Out in the 70s: A New Wave of Comedy, 1969 - 1979 celebrates one more full weekend with Albert Brooks’ Real Life (1979) on Thursday, as well as a double feature of Smile (1979) and Stay Hungry (1976), starring Jeff Bridges, Sallly Field and one Arnold Schwarzenegger. Friday is a double feature of The Late Show (1977) and Harry and Tonto (1974), then Saturday sees a single screening of Peter Yates’ 1972 film The Hot Rock, plus a double feature of Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H with Brewster McCloud, both from 1970. Sunday’s amazing line-up is Burt Reynolds’ Smokey and the Bandit, Bread and Chocolate (1974), Hal Ashby’sThe Landlord (1970) and Shampoo (1975)… sadly the latter two aren’t a double feature. Monday is a double feature of Mike Nichols’ The Fortune (1975) and Jack Nicholson’s Going South (1978), and then the rest of the week is mainly repeats.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Luchino Visconti: Cinematic Nobility kicks off on Thursday with Burt Lancaster in The Leopard (1963) and Ludwig (1973) on Sunday. (There’s a Happy Death Day double feature with Happy Death Day 2 U on Saturday night but that’s not quite “repertory” even if it sounds cool.)

AERO (LA):

The one and only Norman Jewison will be appearing in person for A Tribute to Norman Jewison with a number of double features through the weekend. On Friday night, there’s a double feature of Moonstruck (1987) and …And Justice for All (1979), followed by The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! (1966) with Jewison joined by Carl Reiner and Eva Marie Saint, plus a separate screening of 1971’s Fiddler on the Roof and then on Sunday, there’s a double feature of The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and The Cincinatti Kid (1965).

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Actor Jeff Goldblum is getting the retrospective treatment with The Goldblum Variations featuring a wide variety of the actor’s work running through Feb. 23. Some of the highlights this weekend include The Big Chill (1983), David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

Beginning Wednesday, the Brooklyn Arts Museum (or at least that’s what I think BAM stands for) begins a series called Race, Sex & Cinema: The World of Marlon Riggs looking at the work of the filmmaker who brought a voice to gay black men, which includes a 30thanniversary screening of Tongues United, as well as his documentaries Ethnic Notions (1986) and Color Adustment (1992) as well as more, including a screening of Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning Moonlight, which was inspired by Riggs’ work.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Early Godard takes the weekend off, but Waverly Midnights: The Feds shows one of my favorite Ridley Scott films, Hannibal, starring Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore. Late Night Favorites screens Tom Hanks’ popular favorite Big (1988), directed by the late Penny Marshall.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986).

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

Most of the Film Society’s repertory screenings this weekend are part of Film Comment Selects, including a rare screening of Jerry Schatzberg’s Honeysuckle Rose (1980) with Schatzberg in person for a QnA.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Sir Sidney Poitier screens 1962’s Pressure Point on Weds, the 1966 Western Duel at Diablo on Thursday and Paris Blues (1961) on Friday. Cinema of Trauma: The Films of Lee Chang-dong also continues through Saturday with 1999’s Peppermint Candy on Friday afternoon and Lee’s latest Burningon Saturday night.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

MOMI begins its latest retrospective series Poets of Pandaemonium: The Cinema of Derek Jarman and Humphrey Jennings with Jarman’s 1993 film Blue (paired with the short Listen to Britain) on Friday, 1985’s Angelic Conversation andThe Last of England (1987) on Saturday and In the Shadow of the Sun (1981) with The Birth of the Robot on Sunday. It runs this weekend and next. Also, See It Big! Costumes by Edith Head (which started last week) continues this weekend with Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) on Saturday and To Each His Own (1946), The Heiress (1949) and Roman Holiday (1953) on Sunday.

That’s it for this week, but time-permitting, I’ll write something about the new movies coming out next week, which includes the sequel Happy Death Day 2 U, the Manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angeland the rom-com Isn’t It Romantic?

#WhatToWatchThisWeekend THeLEGOMovie2 ColdPursuit WhatMenWant #TheProdigy Movies Reviews Repertory Streaming

0 notes

cielrouge · 7 years

Photo

2017 YA Reads by Authors of Color

*As per usual, this list will be updated as more covers are revealed

After the Fall by Kate Hart - In a story told from two viewpoints, 17-year-old Raychel relies on the support of her overachieving best friend Matt while secretly sleeping with his brother Andrew, and Matt tries to play hero and hide how much he loves her.

Akata Warrior (Akata Witch #2) by Nnedi Okorafor - A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born girl Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned that she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade, Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor Sugar Cream and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book. Eventually, Sunny knows she must confront her destiny, and fight a climactic battle to save humanity.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han - Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for.But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson - 15-year-old Mary B. Addison, once accused of murdering a baby when she was nine, finds herself pregnant after release to a group home - and the only way to keep the baby is to tell the truth about what really happened six years ago.

American Street by Ibi Zobi - On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian - Daria Esfandyar is Iranian-American and proud of her heritage. Daria and her friends call themselves the Authentics, because they pride themselves on always keeping it real. But in the course of researching a school project, Daria learns something shocking about her past, which launches her on a journey of self-discovery. With infighting among the Authentics, her mother planning an over-the-top sweet sixteen party, and a romance that should be totally off limits, Daria doesn’t have time for this identity crisis. As everything in her life is spinning out of control—can she figure out how to stay true to herself?

Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez - 17-year-old Dani struggles with how to process the ambiguous grief she feels in the aftermath of her mother's death after moving to New Mexico with an aunt she never met.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco - Tea's gift for death magic means that she is a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community, but when an older bone witch trains her to become an asha - one who can wield elemental magic - Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice in the face of danger as dark forces approach.

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani - Told in fifty-four short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, this story follows Taja Brown on her journey from middle school to high school.

A Crown of Wishes (Star-Touched Queen #2) by Roshani Chokshi - Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor. Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength.

The Closet I’ve Come by Fred Aceves - When Marcos is placed in a new after-school program for troubled teens with potential, he meets Zach, a theater geek whose life seems great on the surface, and Amy, a punk girl who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. These new friendships inspire Marcos to open up to his Maesta crew, too, and Marcos starts to think more about his future and what he has to fight for. Marcos ultimately learns that bravery isn’t about acting tough and being macho; it’s about being true to yourself.

Dark Goddess (Alpha Goddess #2) by Amalie Howard - After an epic struggle that unseated the Asura Lord of Death and placed Serjana Caelum’s best friend, Kyle, on his throne, the Mortal Realm is peaceful and the balance between good and evil—which Sera is sworn to protect—has been restored. But signs of a new threat to the world of men quickly begin to appear: A scourge of demons descends on the Mortal Realm, and Sera is beside herself trying to locate their source. She sends word to the gods for help, and their answer comes in the form of Kira, the living incarnation of Kali, goddess of destruction. Soon Sera and Kyle find themselves fighting not just the demon plague, but Kira and her twin. But when an even more sinister threat arises—putting not just the human world but all planes of existence in jeopardy—they must all learn to work together or lose everything.

Dead Little Mean Girl by Eva Darrows - Unapologetic geek girl Emma’s life is made a living hell by her new stepsister Quinn - until Quinn’s untimely death forces Emma to reexamine everything she thought she knew about her.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone - Justyce McAllister is top of his class, captain of the debate team, and set for the Ivy League next year—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs during the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up. Way up. Much to the fury of the white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. And Justyce and Manny get caught in the crosshairs. In that media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack. The truth of what happened that night—some would kill to know. Justyce is dying to forget.

Dove Alight (Dove Chronicles #3) by Karen Bao - Shy, introverted Phaet Theta has gone from being a top student to an interplanetary fugitive to the reluctant but fierce leader of a revolution. But as the death tolls rise, the cost of the war weighs heavily on Phaet. Phaet started this war because she lost someone she loved. Will she have to lose another to end it?

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera - After “borrowing” her father's credit card to finance a more stylish wardrobe, Margot Sanchez is forced to pay off her debts by working in her family's South Bronx grocery store. But she must make the right choices about her friends, her family, and Moises, the good looking but outspoken boy from the neighborhood.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza - Two sisters—sole survivors of a murdered royal lineage - must reunite from opposite ends of the galaxy to salvage what's left of their family dynasty and save the universe from a greater threat.

The End of Oz (Dorothy Must Die #4) by Danielle Page - Amy Gumm must do everything in her power to save Kansas and make Oz a free land once more. At the end of Yellow Brick War, Amy had finally defeated Dorothy. Just when she and the rest of the surviving members of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked thought it was safe to start rebuilding the damaged land of Oz, they realized they’ve been betrayed—by one of their own. And Dorothy might not have been so easily defeated after all.

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo - F.C. Yee - Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets American Born Chinese, wherein 15-year-old Genie Lo wonders if she's qualified enough to gain admission to an Ivy League school, then becomes powerful enough to break through the gates of Heaven with her fists.

Exo by Fonda Lee - For a century now, Earth has been a peaceful colony of an alien race, and Donovan Reyes is a loyal member of the security forces, while his father is the Prime Liaison--but when a routine search and seizure goes bad Donovan finds himself a captive of the human revolutionary group, Sapience, terrorists who seem to prefer war to alien rule, and killing Donovan just might be the incident they are looking for.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Adhieh - The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by the Black Clan. Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the ranks of this gang. But she's quickly captured and taken to the Black Clan’s secret hideout, where she meets their leader, the rebel ronin Takeda Ranmaru. As Mariko gets closer to the Black Clan, she uncovers a dark history of secrets, of betrayal and murder, which will force her to question everything she's ever known.

Flying Lessons and Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh - Whether it is basketball dreams, family fiascos, first crushes, or new neighborhoods, this bold anthology—written by the best children’s authors—celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us. In a partnership with We Need Diverse Books, industry giants Kwame Alexander, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson join newcomer Kelly J. Baptist in a story collection that is as humorous as it is heartfelt.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao - A dark and edgy reimagining of the evil queen from Snow White based on Asian folklore and mythology in which Xifeng must unleash a jealous god on the world and set free the viciousness of her own soul in order to become Empress of Feng Lu.

Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu - Five teens get to know one another and work to overcome the various disorders that have affected their lives, they find themselves forming bonds they never thought they would, discovering new truths about themselves and actually looking forward to the future.

Girl on the Verge by Pintip Dunn - A provocative story about a high school senior, Kanchana, straddling two worlds, unsure how she fits in either—and the journey of self-discovery that leads her to surprising truths.

Good Girls Don’t Lie by Alexandra Diaz - A Mexican-American Juno, a realistic coming-of-age story starring good girl Josie Figueroa.

A Good Idea by Cristina Moracho - Finley returns to her small Maine hometown seeking revenge for the death of her childhood best friend Betty, and explores whether the right kind of boy can get away with killing the wrong kind of girl.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - 16-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga - Despite sending him letters ever since she was thirteen, Taliah Abdallat never thought she'd ever really meet her rock star father, Julian Oliver. With her best friend Harlow by her side, Taliah embarks on a three-day journey to find out everything about her 'father' and her family. But Julian isn't the father Taliah always hoped for, and revelations about her mother's past are seriously shaking her foundation. Through all these new experiences, Taliah will have to find new ways to be true to herself, honoring her past and her future.

Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World edited by Kelly Jensen - A scrapbook-style teen guide to understanding what it really means to be a feminist packed with contributions from a diverse range of voices, including celebrities and public figures, and featuring more than forty-four pieces, including an eight-page insert of full-color illustrations.

History Is All You Left Of Me by Adam Silvera - Secrets are revealed as OCD-afflicted Griffin grieves for his first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, who died in a drowning accident. If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana - This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets Jane the Virgin in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny contemporary YA about losing a sister and finding yourself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican-American home.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo - Desi Lee is a disaster in romance. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years. Armed with her “K Drama Rules for True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Heart by Benjamin Alire Saenz - Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

It’s Not Like It’s A Secret by Misa Sugiura - A not-yet-out lesbian, Japanese-American teenager, Sana Kiyohara, deals with being the new kid at school, has a family with stifling traditional Japanese values (which help protect their secrets), dates a girl who hangs out with a totally different crowd, and makes plenty of mistakes along the way.

Kokoro (Kojiki #2) by Keith Yatsuhashi - Masterfully combining fantasy, science fiction and Japanese mythology, the sequel to Kojiki takes us into the heart of a war that spreads across the worlds.

Legion (Talon #4) by Julie Kagawa - The legions are about to be unleashed, and no human, rogue dragon or former dragon slayer can stand against the coming horde in book 4 out of the Talon series.

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana - Amrita must unravel the mysteries of her past to save her kingdom, but in doing so, she herself might come unraveled.

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo - Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences. When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert - A Los Angeles native, black and Jewish Suzette, deals with the aftermath of her stepbrother's mental health crisis and navigating unexpected love.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds - A novel in verse about the consequences of street violence, and a second novel tentatively about a crew of young musicians who find their audience in the most unlikely of places.

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar - Based on the author's childhood in the 1960s, a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl adjusts to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed.

The Merciless III: Origins of Evil by Danielle Vega - When Brooklyn answers a call on her teen helpline, she finds herself plunged into the cultish community of Christ First Church’s youth group. She's especially drawn to Gavin, the angelic yet tortured pastor's son.Torn between an unstoppable attraction to Gavin and her obsession with the truth, Brooklyn is forced to make a devastating choice to rid Christ Church of evil once and for all...But the devil has plans for Brooklyn's soul.

The Mind Virus (Wired #3) by Donna Freitas - Skylar Cruz’s heart is shattered. But even though everyone has betrayed her, Skylar was able to negotiate a way to open the door between the Real World and the App World. Now Skylar must help the people who left the virtual world behind as they become refugees in the Real World. And for everyone who remained plugged in, a new danger has become evident. Their bodies are mysteriously dying, and it’s because of events Skylar’s sister, Jude, set in motion. A virus has been unleashed that could mean total extinction of the App World—and everyone in it.Skylar and Jude must set aside their differences and work together if they are to defeat the mind virus before the App World fades away into oblivion.

North of Happy by Adi Alsaid - In the wake of his brother's untimely death, teen chef Carlos Portillo runs away from home to find his true path in life.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate - 17 -year-old theater student and Alto 2 at a Performing Arts boarding school, Jordan Sun, disguises herself as a boy in order to audition for the school's exclusive all-male a cappella group--and discovers a world packed with tradition, rivalry, and debauchery.

One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) by Kendare Blake - The battle for the crown has begun, but which sister will prevail? With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.

Overturned by Lamar Giles - Nikki Tate is infamous, even by Las Vegas standards. Her dad is sitting on death row, convicted of killing his best friend. And for five years, he’s maintained his innocence. But Nikki wants no part of that. Then her dad’s murder conviction is overturned. As her dad digs into the seedy underbelly of Vegas, the past threatens everything and Nikki is drawn into his deadly hunt for the truth. But in the city of sin, some sinners will do anything to keep their secrets, and Nikki soon finds herself playing for the biggest gamble ever—her life.

The Place Between Breaths by An Na - 16-year-old Grace is in a race against time—and in a race for her life. She is smart, responsible, and contending with more than what most teens ever have to. Her mother struggled with schizophrenia until, one day, she simply disappeared. Ever since, Grace’s father has worked as a recruiter at one of the leading labs dedicated to studying the disease, hoping against hope to find a cure in time to help his wife if she is ever found. Grace does her part, interning at the lab and one day make a breakthrough, when she stumbles upon a string of code that could be the key. But something inside of Grace has unraveled. Could her discovery just be a cruel side effect of the schizophrenia finally taking hold? Can she even tell the difference between what is real and what isn’t?

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson - Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman - Half-Japanese teen Kiko Himura fails to get into art school away from home, leaving her to navigate through social anxiety and microaggressions in a small town, as she reconnects with her childhood crush and learns to stand up to her self-centered mother - all while growing to love the part of her heritage she was never taught to appreciate.

The Savage Dawn (Girl at Midnight #3) by Melissa Grey - Echo awakened the Firebird. Now she is the only one with the power to face the darkness she unwittingly unleashed...right into the waiting hands of Tanith, the new Dragon Prince. Echo might hold the power to face the darkness within the Dragon Prince, but she has far to go to master its overwhelming force. The war has begun, and there is no looking back. There are only two outcomes possible: triumph or death.

The Ship Beyond Time (Girl From Everywhere #2) by Heidi Heilig - In this breathtaking sequel, Nix has escaped her past, but when the person she loves most is at risk, even the daughter of a time traveler may not be able to outrun her fate—no matter where she goes.

They Both Die in the End by Adam Silvera - Set in a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, about two teens who meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day.

Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley - Maia and the other Effigies can’t escape the eyes of the press—especially not after failing to capture Saul, whose power to control the monstrous Phantoms has left the world in a state of panic. When Saul suddenly surfaces in the middle of the Sahara desert, the Sect sends Maia and her friends out after him. But instead of Saul, they discover a dying soldier engineered with Effigy-like abilities. And although these soldiers seem to answer to Saul, Maia can’t help but wonder if he has outside help.Yet the looming danger of Saul and this mysterious new army doesn’t overshadow Maia’s fear of the Sect, who ordered the death of the previous Fire Effigy, Natalya. With enemies on all sides and the world turning against them, the Effigies have to put their trust in each other—easier said than done when secrets threaten to tear them apart.

Soulmarked by Shaila Patel - 18-year-old Liam Whelan, an Irish royal empath, has been searching for his elusive soulmate. Laxshmi Kapadia, an Indian-American high school student from a traditional family, faces her mother's ultimatum: Graduate early and go to medical school, or commit to an arranged marriage. When Liam moves next door to Laxshmi, he’s immediately and inexplicably drawn to her. In Liam, Laxshmi envisions a future with the freedom to follow her heart. Liam's father isn't convinced Laxshmi is "The One" and Laxshmi's mother won't even let her talk to their handsome new neighbor. Will Liam and Laxshmi defy expectations and embrace a shared destiny? Or is the risk of choosing one's own fate too great a price for the soulmated?

That Thing We Call A Heart by Sheba Karim - Pakistani American teen, Shabnam Qureshi, living in New Jersey, tells a lie that has unexpected consequences. When her feisty best friend, Farah, starts wearing the headscarf without even consulting her, it unravels their friendship. As Shabnam rebuilds her friendship with Farah and grows closer to her parents, she learns powerful lessons about the importance of love, in all of its forms.

The Victoria In My Head by Janelle Milanes - Cuban-American straight-As student and dutiful daughter Victoria Cruz, defys expectations when she breaks out of her shell to successfully auditions for a local rock band and winds up falling in love with the bad boy frontman.

Vindicated (Emancipated #3) by M.G. Reyes - Murder will out in the shocking conclusion to the Emancipated trilogy, where no one is who they seem and the truth has a nasty habit of showing up uninvited. The six Venice Beach housemates have made some life-alteringly bad decisions since they were each legally emancipated from their parents, including confronting a killer. And the consequences have been deadly. Now, they’re hiding out, trying to find a way out of the mess they’ve made without getting themselves killed when one of the housemates disappears, two fall in love, and another betrays them all. And when the secrets they’ve been keeping are finally laid bare, they’ll wish they’d never started looking for answers in the first place.

Want by Cindy Pon - Set in a teeming, pollution choked Taipei which follows a group of teens living on the seedy fringes of a highly divided society that works only for the elite as they decide to risk everything to take down the powerful company which controls the city,

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon - Told in alternating perspectives, When Dimple Met Rishi focuses on two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.

When I Am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn - Ben Gibson is many things, but he’s not sorry and he’s not a liar. He will tell you exactly about what happened on what started as a simple school camping trip in the mountains. About who lived and who died. About who killed and who had the best of intentions. But he’s going to tell you in his own time. Because after what happened on that mountain, time is the one thing he has plenty of.

Wild Beauty by Anne Marie McLemore - A novel of magical realism, the Nomeolvides women have tended the lust estate grounds of La Pradera which they've grown for generations, until the reemergence of a family curse starts to makes the men they love disappear, again.

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - 19-year-old Liesl must venture to the Underground when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow - 17-year-old Audrey receives an unexpected letter from her birth mother as she and her boyfriend struggle to decide what to do about an accidental pregnancy, while facing a growing distance with her best friend, keeping secrets of her own.

#authors of color #book recommendations #yalit

2K notes · View notes

marlaluster · 6 years

Text

emptying clipboard w items numbered

1. The boys were clearly having a proper catch up following the hubbub of the Golden Globes last Sunday, which they both attended. Elsa, 40, documented their journey to the event with a video en-route, as they drove through the streets of Los Angeles with what appeared to be a police motorcycle riding in front. The day after, Matt joined Ben Affleck as he celebrated his upcoming Prohibition-era thriller Live By Night held at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. 2. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=LvYMm0wh&id=DEA76F3ECD19822BA35BCB5DAFE76D746F20DEC7&thid=OIP.LvYMm0whXO1rfxOD-lLXHwHaKh&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608025036245435069&selectedindex=272&ajaxhist=0&first=1 3. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=iczm6dkK&id=F58D6BF93DE030FFBF38FE8A833AF9C4C489982B&thid=OIP.iczm6dkKobzksbx-1mGVMgHaHt&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608022674015979616&selectedindex=278&ajaxhist=0&first=1 4. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=dvYasMuv&id=660C2391A07450721E3C6369EDCBB34C421A87AA&thid=OIP.dvYasMuvB_oVxcEKrzmviwHaKL&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=607987970691043176&selectedindex=279&ajaxhist=0&first=1 5. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=hZ4Y53vR&id=5CDA6A6B7C41F51E72FD43A5B6FE9BDA15F63FBC&thid=OIP.hZ4Y53vRCgdpU3Muybc-6QHaLH&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608018327464839540&selectedindex=281&ajaxhist=0&first=1 6. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=cxOpmZY0&id=A0BBF160EA8617ED70BEEAC47EE29EB567D52175&thid=OIP.cxOpmZY0ghwukbqxC69COwHaL1&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608051755237049739&selectedindex=284&ajaxhist=0&first=1 7. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=f2vFBcWj&id=02F92D60B59CA274F15AEE2D66C1CB0AF36EFA36&thid=OIP.f2vFBcWjSn2iUmQM-GQb8wHaHa&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608006752557795948&selectedindex=286&ajaxhist=0&first=1 8. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=z75TLAKl&id=6288A39B3892327F18107EF041BF0BACD5F6F5E5&thid=OIP.z75TLAKlivCyalLZt6hhGwHaFj&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608020182885993011&selectedindex=285&ajaxhist=0&first=1 9. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=yt25ymZ0&id=13454B94BBD0BF89BC7D541D2053094F16C68D1C&thid=OIP.yt25ymZ0JY0IZGJrhk0oNgHaLY&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608007401099497129&selectedindex=288&ajaxhist=0&first=1 10. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=LvwBkdkB&id=2A928712B01C4662C53EE601CC0EF4881CD8F285&thid=OIP.LvwBkdkBUSwp4W-X0ozcEAHaKX&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608020466357436905&selectedindex=289&ajaxhist=0&first=1 11. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=%2BjD7IE2o&id=ED0F1246BD96C0F8BF72BFEA6AE44EF7EB2B168E&thid=OIP.-jD7IE2ojF7OJuXPEBmJLAHaHZ&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=607992669349480829&selectedindex=292&ajaxhist=0&first=1 12. https://m.eonline.com/news/557153/kate-middleton-joins-celebs-at-wimbledon-2014-roger-federer-novak-djokovic-final-wears-basket-weave-dress-see-the-photos 13. Kate Middleton Joins Celebs at Wimbledon 2014 Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic Final, Wears Basket Weave Dress—See the Photos! 14. Kate Middleton Joins Celebs at Wimbledon 2014 Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic Final, Wears Basket Weave Dress—See the Photos! Kate Middleton Joins Celebs at Wimbledon 2014 Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic Final, Wears Basket Weave Dress—See the Photos! By: Corinne Heller Sun., Jul. 6, 2014 10:09 AM Kate Middleton, aka Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, husband Prince William and Samuel L. Jackson were among the celebrities spotted at Wimbledon 2014 day 13, which saw seven-time champion Roger Federer of Switzerland face off against Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final. On Sunday, July ,6 the duchess ditched her trademark dress coat look and instead, wowed in an equally-as-lovely short-sleeve, robin egg blue, forest green and white, retro-style, basket weave Jonathan Saunders "Evelyn" wrap dress that fell just above her knees. She had worn the same outfit, which retails for almost $1,500, during a tour of southeast Asia in 2012. PHOTOS: Our favorite Kate Middleton looks Karwai Tang/WireImage Kate and William had also attended a Wimbledon matchAndy Murray, who ended up losing to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov. Karwai Tang/WireImage Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Fellow Briton Victoria Beckham also turned heads at Sunday's game. She rocked a chic, colorful ensemble—a navy, white, tangerine and plum color block, V-neck halter dress. The fashion designer and Spice Girl attended the tennis match with husband, soccer star and H&M underwear modelDavid Beckham, who looked sharp in a matching navy suit. NEWS: Victoria Beckham shares amazing throwback wedding photos on her and David... Karwai Tang/WireImage Jackson sat next to the couple. He attended the event with Sofia Davis, founder of the The One For The Boys charity, in which he serves as chairman. Getty Images On their other side, sat Thor and wife Elsa Pataky, who snuggled up to each other inside the Royal Box. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Hugh Jackman, who is nowadays sporting a shaved head, curled mustache and beardPeter Pan movie, also attended the event. The actor, who looked dapper in a stone-colored suit, watched the match with wife Deborra-Lee Furness and posted a selfie of the two on Instagram. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Djokovic ended up beating Federer, becoming the Wimbedon champion for the second time with scores of 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7 and 6-4. Al Bello/Getty Images PHOTOS: Check out even more celebrities spotted at Wimbledon 2014 Sponsored links by Latest News Published 05/26/2018 0:54 10 hours ago 10 hours ago 10 hours ago 13 hours ago 15 hours ago 15 hours ago 17 hours ago 18 hours ago 18 hours ago 22 hours ago 22 hours ago U.S. CA U.K. AU DE FR E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our US edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Canadian edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our UK edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Australian edition? E! ist überall Dieser Inhalt ist für internationale Besucher verfügbar. Möchtest du ihn in der deutschen Version anschauen? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our German edition? E! est partout Une version adaptée de ce contenu est disponible pour notre public international. Souhaitez-vous voir ça dans notre édition française ? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our French edition? Yes! No, Thanks. Yes! No, Thanks. Yes! No, Thanks. Yes! No, Thanks. Ja ! Nein, danke. Yes! No, Thanks. Oui! Non, merci. Yes! No, Thanks. Sim Não Yes! No, Thanks. ¡Si! No, gracias. Yes! No, Thanks. Si No Yes! No, Thanks. Si No Yes! No, Thanks. Si No Yes! No, Thanks. Si No Yes! No, Thanks. We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. By using the site, you consent to these cookies. For more information on cookies including how to manage your consent visit ourCookie Policy. 15. Celebrities has to be out as aristoti is what is behind this event soon after I ended the world in 2014, very strange n corny looking staged photos for it I saw in Reader that worked on my phone instead of me "installing cookies" from the online site. .... 16. Celebrities has [had] to be out as aristoti is what is behind this event soon after I ended the world in 2014, very strange n corny looking staged photos for it I saw in Reader that worked on my phone instead of me "installing cookies" from the online site. .... 17. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=D9tsbaZR&id=D69C86BD7D313239684BEBCA82EFD405B92357A1&thid=OIP.D9tsbaZRo0ixZcd78lOI1gHaFf&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608002573553501368&selectedindex=293&ajaxhist=0&first=1 18. http://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/201466/rs_1024x759-140706082855-1024.Chris-Hemsworth-Elsa-pataky.jl.070614.jpg 19. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=%2F88A5wYG&id=B1AA72D1F945A5CDA4F61D671205994CFA501971&thid=OIP._88A5wYGyc22yHkdKRiVMgHaEK&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=607995293597304902&selectedindex=294&ajaxhist=0&first=1 20. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=arscrXIc&id=CDD35BA2F849D5C5B04D0814E32C4395D9FFF827&thid=OIP.arscrXIcpIkATG6Z64MpiAHaLM&q=chris+hemsworth+elsa+pataky&simid=608035588983030683&selectedindex=298&ajaxhist=0&first=1

0 notes