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catbreeds2 · 3 years

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Oriental Shorthair Cats

Orientals are extraordinarily keen on their folks and can let you know precisely what they suppose, in a loud, raspy voice.

The Oriental Shorthair cat is a bit of murals. Extremely lengthy and lean with a singular, chiseled head form and a vibrant, pleasant persona, this dramatic-looking breed was mainly the unique “Siamese” cat.

Up to now, blue-eyed, colorpointed cats had been owned by royalty and have been saved within the Royal Palace of Siam. The Siamese breed, nevertheless, is just one of a number of varieties native to the world. The Cat-Guide Poems, a manuscript written in Siam (now Thailand) a while between 1350 and 1767 A.D., describes and reveals quite a lot of cats native to the world, together with stable black, black and white bicolor, stable brown, blue/grey, and shaded silver, in addition to cats bearing the point-restricted coloration sample. The cats portrayed within the ebook had slim our bodies and legs, massive ears, and tapered muzzles, very like that of as we speak’s Siamese and the associated breeds.

The primary cats imported to England from Thailand had been usually stable or bicolored. It wasn’t till the 1920s when the Siamese Cat Membership issued an announcement excluding all different colours that the blue-eyed pointed cat grew to become the Siamese norm in Britain.

The idea of cats with the Siamese physique type however with a variety of colours and patterns had captured the curiosity and creativeness of cat fanciers. It was solely a matter of time earlier than these cats entered the cat fancy, with somewhat assist from breeders with a aptitude for exterior adorning.

The Oriental seen within the present halls in the present day just isn’t a direct import from Thailand, however somewhat a Siamese hybrid developed within the 1950s and 1960s. The breed’s creation was deliberate, breeders wished a cat that seemed and acted like a Siamese however that got here in a wider vary of colours. Within the 1950s British breeders crossed Siamese cats with home shorthairs and Russian Blues. Within the late 1960s American breeders, fascinated with the British Orientals, took up the torch and crossed Siamese, home shorthairs, and Abyssinians to create a brand new look. Physique fashion was not sacrificed for colour and sample, and backcrosses to the Siamese preserved sort and character traits.

The Oriental breeders met with preliminary resentment from Siamese breeders who had been resistant at finest to the concept of one other Siamese-type hybrid, however, because the means had already been paved by breeders of the Colorpoint Shorthair (which gained CFA acceptance in 1964), the opposition did not cease Orientals from gaining floor.

In 1972 the CFA accepted the Oriental Shorthair for registration, and granted full Championship standing in 1977. Since then, the Shorthair has quickly elevated in recognition. In recent times the Oriental Shorthair has been constantly rating excessive amongst quick haired breeds.

For the reason that Siamese has the lengthy haired Balinese, and the Colorpoint has the longhaired Javanese, it appears solely proper that the Oriental Shorthair ought to have his personal lengthy haired variant, a cat with an extended, lean, stylish chassis, silky fur, and a full palette of colours to select from. To that finish, the Oriental Longhair is the most recent addition to the lengthy line of Siamese-type cats. Though at present uncommon, the breed is slowly rising in recognition and appeals to the cat lover who desires the elegant physique kind and persona of the Siamese, the wash-and-wear hairdo of the Balinese, and the myriad of colours of the Oriental Shorthair.

The Oriental Longhair was developed within the late 1970s by breeders who crossed the Oriental Brief-hair with the Balinese. The breed achieved official recognition in 1985 when TICA accepted them for Championship standing, and so they had been accepted for registration by the CFA in February, 1988. In 1996 within the CFA, the Oriental Shorthair and Oriental Longhair breeds have been mixed into one breed division merely known as Oriental. On the time of this writing, the Oriental Longhair is acknowledged for Championship in ACA, CFA, TICA, UFO, ACFA, and AACE.

Measurement: Orientals are medium-size cats that usually weigh 5 to 10 kilos.

Life Span: 10 to 15 years

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR CAT PERSONALITY

The character of the Oriental Shorthair cat may be very pleasant and outgoing. Whereas they could be stunningly unique wanting on the skin, deep down inside they actually simply wish to be one of many gang.

Orientals are very demonstrative and affectionate, and infrequently fairly dog-friendly.

They’ve lots of the similar traits of the Siamese, together with a really dog-like persona, with a number of expressive vocalizing, and an inclination to be very demanding of consideration.

Oriental shorthair cats are likely to retain a really excessive degree of exercise, exploration and playfulness all through their maturity and want some psychological stimulation, affection and even a change in atmosphere to maintain them content material.

They’re nice firm and extremely entertaining, typically fetching and retrieving issues with none coaching, driving on shoulders, taking part in tag and simply being a pleasure to look at with their athletic antics.

This cat is usually an excellent traveler and generally is a nice selection for folk with trip properties and even cellular houses!

The Oriental Shorthair may be a wonderful selection for a household, and may turn into significantly hooked up to canines and youngsters. They’re finely constructed, nevertheless, and do not take pleasure in tough dealing with, being ignored, or being left alone.

Different cats in the home can typically be a supply of stress as effectively.

This breed is acknowledged by the Cat Fanciers Affiliation (CFA), the world’s largest cat group. It’s a comparatively unusual pure-bred or “pedigreed” home cat breed.

These cats are available in so many colours and patterns that they’re usually known as “decorative” shorthairs. Pointed cats do nonetheless seem, however some present rings don’t permit them, and different cat organizations insist the pointeds be proven as Siamese.

The coat is okay, brief and silky with little or no undercoat. There may be little or no shedding, and the breed has been discovered to be much less irritating to individuals with allergy symptoms as a consequence of much less of the protein allergen of their saliva and glands, and fewer hair to distribute that protein.

These are slender, lean and athletic cats which have few breed-related well being points.

As a result of it’s lively and completely calls for interplay, the Oriental Shorthair is a really good household cat that does very effectively with thoughtful kids and most different relations.

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR CAT HEALTH

Each pedigreed cats and mixed-breed cats have various incidences of well being issues which may be genetic in nature. The identical issues which will have an effect on the Siamese may also have an effect on the Oriental, together with the next: Amyloidosis, a illness that happens when a sort of protein known as amyloid is deposited in physique organs, primarily the liver in members of the Siamese household Bronchial asthma/bronchial illness Congenital coronary heart defects akin to aortic stenosis Crossed eyes Gastrointestinal situations akin to megaesophagus Hyperesthesia syndrome, a neurological drawback that may trigger cats to excessively groom themselves, resulting in hair loss, and to behave frantically, particularly when they’re touched or petted Lymphoma Nystagmus, a neurological dysfunction that causes involuntary fast eye motion Progressive retinal atrophy, for which a genetic check is obtainable

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR CAT CARE

The brief, tremendous coat of the Oriental Shorthair is well cared for. Comb it each couple of weeks with a stainless-steel comb or tender bristle brush to take away lifeless hair, then polish it with a mushy fabric to make it shine. Brush the tooth to forestall periodontal illness. Day by day dental hygiene is finest, however weekly brushing is best than nothing. Wipe the corners of the eyes with a tender, damp fabric to take away any discharge. Use a separate space of the material for every eye so that you don’t run the danger of spreading any an infection. Test the ears weekly. If they appear soiled, wipe them out with a cotton ball or smooth damp fabric moistened with a 50-50 combination of cider vinegar and heat water. Keep away from utilizing cotton swabs, which might harm the inside of the ear. Maintain the Oriental’s litter field spotlessly clear. Cats are very specific about lavatory hygiene. It’s a good suggestion to maintain an Oriental as an indoor-only cat to guard him from illnesses unfold by different cats, assaults by canines or coyotes, and the opposite risks that face cats who go outdoor, reminiscent of being hit by a automobile. Orientals who go open air additionally run the danger of being stolen by somebody who wish to have such a gorgeous cat with out paying for it.

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR CAT BREED TRAITS

The physique kind of the Oriental is just about the identical because the Siamese’s. What units the breed aside is the wide range of colours and patterns. Not like the Siamese that is available in solely 4 colours and one sample (though that varies relying upon the cat registry), the Oriental is obtainable in over 300 shade and sample combos. Some colours are extra widespread than others; stable ebony is the most typical. Pure white, chestnut, blue, and ebony tabby are additionally widespread. Nevertheless, Oriental breeders are working with nearly each doable colour and sample.

The Oriental is generally a wholesome breed however can endure from the identical defects because the Siamese, since they’re intently associated. Protrusion of the cranial sternum is a standard, although not critical, defect seen in some Siamese and associated breeds. Endocardial fibroelastosis is a extra severe anomaly that may be present in some Siamese strains.

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR CAT COAT AND GROOMİNG

Aside from colour, the Siamese and the Oriental are indistinguishable, having a svelte however muscular physique with lengthy strains and a wedge-shaped head that’s lengthy and tapering from the slim level of the nostril outward to the information of the ears, forming a triangle. The unusually massive ears are broad on the base and pointed on the tip, giving them the identical triangular form as the top. Medium-size eyes are almond-shaped. The physique is usually described as tubular and is supported by lengthy, slim legs, with the hind legs greater than the entrance legs. The Oriental walks on small, dainty, oval paws and swishes an extended, skinny tail that tapers to a wonderful level. Oriental Longhairs have a medium-length coat that’s tremendous and silky. It’s longest on the plumed tail. Typically nicknamed “Ornamentals” due to their in depth colour palette, Orientals come in additional colours and patterns than every other breed, together with strong, shaded, smoke, parti-color, bi-color and tabby. Relying on the coat coloration, the eyes could also be blue, inexperienced, or odd (one blue and one inexperienced).

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR KITTENS

Oriental shorthair kittens are typically extra energetic, rowdy and curious than another breeds. Even at a treasured age they’re brilliant, keen and really people-conscious.

Due to this, they are usually fast learners and simple to coach. They’re neat and fastidious about their potty habits, even when only some weeks previous, and even the youngest kittens will quickly fall right into a routine with the household schedule

Extraordinarily athlitic and wonderful jumpers, these little kittens will push the boundaries and have a tendency to discover continuously and will wander far so maintain an eye fixed out!

Kitten-proofing is unquestionably advisable for anybody contemplating adopting or buying any kitten.

Excessive furnishings must be off limits, warning must be taken when holding these wriggly little kids, significantly when carrying them throughout laborious wooden or tile flooring, and areas underneath counters and doorways needs to be blocked off as they’ve a really sturdy urge to discover.

In Look, the Oriental Shorthair kitten appears very very like a miniature grownup. They’ve an extravagant and particular look at just some weeks previous and develop increasingly elegant every single day.

This breed is gaining in reputation however continues to be comparatively unknown,and they aren’t all the time available. If you’re searching for a pure bred Oriental shorthair kitten to purchase you’ll have to go looking a bit to search out an Oriental shorthair cat breeder.

ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR BREED STANDARD

Head Form: The top is a protracted, tapered wedge form. An extended straight line is seen from the highest of the pinnacle to the tip of the nostril. No bulge over the eyes or dip within the nostril. Nostril is lengthy and straight in profile, a continuation of the brow with no cease or break. The chin and muzzle are wedge-shaped. The ears needs to be fairly giant and pointed, huge on the base. Place ought to proceed the traces of the wedge of the top. The eyes are almond formed, medium in measurement, and slanted towards the nostril. Inexperienced is the popular colour in all coat colours besides white. White cats ought to have blue eyes solely. In different colours, hazel or amber eyes allowed. Depth of colour most popular over tone.

Physique and Tail: Lengthy, slender, and lithe however with ample muscle. Exhausting and lean. The legs are lengthy and slender with hind legs longer than entrance, in good proportion to the physique. The toes are delicate and oval in form. 5 toes in entrance and 4 behind. The tail is lengthy and slender, tapering to a wonderful level.

Coat: The fur could be very quick, high-quality and easy.

Sample: The one colours not allowed are pointed, “Siamese” patterns.

General Look: This cat ought to have a really unique look, very slender and lengthy with a novel head form and an energetic, outgoing persona.

A FEW MORE ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR FACTS

Oriental Shorthair cats are one of many extra talkative breeds accessible, and so they come within the largest assortment of colours of any breed – there are even “longhaired” shorthairs!.

#catbreeds #shorthaircats #orientalshorthaircats

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sparklyjojos · 4 years

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CARNIVAL recaps [9/13]

Today’s recap: Nessie the killer, a Dot on the run, and a game of truth and lies.

SEVENTEEN

12 Oct 1996 — 18 Oct 1996

LOCH NESS

The Trans-Siberian Express crashes into Baikal, but the vast majority of the passengers survives thanks to quick rescue only possible due to Hanto Maimu’s prediction. Drexel Uryakov is declared dead.

A week later Maimu predicts that the next case will happen at Loch Ness. The lake is known for its alleged cryptid Nessie, one of the world’s most famous UMAs (Unidentified Mysterious Animals).

[Swap to first person narration.]

It’s a mystery what kills all the people who have gathered at Loch Ness that day, but the footage found by the police in a victim’s video camera shows an astounding scene. From the surface of Loch Ness rises a head resembling that of a giant turtle, nearly twenty meters in length. It takes a look at the gathered people and swipes at them like a deadly whip, crushing them against the walls of Urquhart Castle until no one is left.

After the attack, the three of us leave the Billion Killer skull at the scene and go back to the Morgue, the area of the Sanctuary where we Dots live. I go back to my dark empty room and use the automatic belt conveyor system that runs in the walls to get a drink. Then I watch as the experts on TV try to explain the Loch Ness case. It seems one of the victims survived for long enough to confirm that it really was Nessie who attacked them.

It’s strange that someone survived. Had His Excellency RS predicted that this would happen, or had they somehow missed it?

Dots don’t know anything about who the Billion Killer is, what tricks he uses for the cases, or what his connection with RS is. We are only supposed to leave the skulls at the right places, to help RISE purge the Beasts in preparation for the era of Gods, and not ask questions… but sometimes one can’t help but wonder. Humans live to solve mysteries.

The video footage was surely meant to be found. The sole survivor could have been a planted Dog, or maybe RISE messed with his head to convince him his testimony was true… but would Billion Killer do something as simple as just using a fake witness?

The Billion Killer case was probably designed to seem unsolvable. In this sense it resembled a magic show a lot; what looked like a miracle was just careful engineering and preparation behind the scenes, and all the marvels would lose their charm if everyone could guess the methods easily. Normal people should never be able to figure them out… so the truth can’t possibly be something as simple as a fake testimony.

If we assume there was actually no Nessie at the lake, then RISE had to plant their own Dogs as the victims and kill them in cold blood… which isn’t unbelievable, but I don’t want to think about RISE treating their underlings like disposable tools, even though I’m a Dot. It’s better to believe that the Billion Killer somehow manipulated Nessie, and the ones gathered around the lake were normal people.

Dogs at least have families and friends who would grieve them. Dots don’t have anyone—because we have already “died” once. The previous “us” don’t exist anymore, and we no longer need things like personal differences, gender or age. The same undistinguishable “I”, like characters in a novel. We thought that RISE would bring us into a new age, but in the end we are just tools.

[Back to third person narration.]

The three Dots who assisted with the Loch Ness case are called to the Dragon’s Center, where Black Rook tells them they did well and are to go to the Cosmic Room to talk with RS. Seeing one of the Dots worried, he reassures them that it’s the usual procedure.

After they leave, Black watches the displays for a while, paying most attention to the secret live feed of the detective Ryuuguu Jounosuke. Then he checks the progress of brainwashing of “that Beast captured at the Cape of Good Hope”: as always the man in question is lying down with a strange helmet covering his head, all data showing that the process should be entering its last stage.

Black goes to the Cosmic Room. RS, as always dressed like a minotaur, already knows what Black is going to ask—why were the Dots left alive this time?—and tells him to go to the Dark Room of the Sanctuary if he wants to know... and if he wants to learn why RS doesn’t worry about the “Pregnant Genius” either.

RS reminds him once again that they know everything and cannot be betrayed. Even if Black is trying to secretly plan something, he can’t hide it from RS. Not that it would matter either way; RS knows that Black has only sixty-three more days to live, and changing one’s destined lifetime is impossible.

“You, Black Rook, the Master of the Sanctuary,” RS addresses him seriously, but then as if correcting themselves says, “no… Ryuuou. Don’t forget you’re carrying the greatest responsibility. Die as the person you are. Don’t worry your head with Ryuuguu Jounosuke.”

It’s been a while since RS used Black’s real name.

As Black leaves the room, he answers so quietly he can’t be heard:

“Mein Fuhrer… lord Tsukumo Jaki.”

Black goes to the Dark Room—as the name implies, it’s kept in complete darkness—and discovers headless bodies of the Dots inside.

But only two bodies. The third Dot fled. No doubt RS had already known this would happen. The reason why the Dots weren’t killed on site was so that this one could escape later.

It’s pointless to try to avoid the all-knowing gaze and prophecies of RS. Black knows that. But maybe there is a way to turn those prophecies in one’s favor.

EIGHTEEN

02 Nov 1996 — 08 Nov 1996

BOROBUDUR

A man called Elfi Geppen [or however you romanize ゲッペン] works as a driver of a cycle rikshaw that tourists hire to get to the temple Borobudur in Central Java. One day, a mysterious Japanese tourist wearing a strange black coat and hat approaches him and addresses him as some “Suzukaze Unomaru”, apparently mistaking him for a friend. Elfi has a feeling like he had heard the name Suzukaze before, but can’t place it.

Elfi isn’t good at Japanese, but fortunately the strange man calling himself Ryuuguu Jounosuke can speak fluent Indonesian. He explains that ever since he was born he’s been travelling all over the world with his parents and naturally picked up many languages. He believes that his native Japanese is the hardest to learn, and in a way could be regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Ryuuguu works as some kind of a detective (and certainly he has a way of looking right through Elfi that makes him feel uneasy.) Ryuuguu says that the way Elfi speaks in broken Japanese is odd, almost like he’s only pretending not to know it.

[Second person narration.]

You offer Elfi a bet. If he wins, you’ll pay him additional money for driving you to Borobudur and showing you around the place. You say you don’t actually need a guide, but want to blend in with the tourists, so that nobody will notice you searching for someone—for a man without a name.

The rules are as follows: during the conversation, each party will answer the other’s questions with only lies, but may mix in some true statements here and there. If one person correctly guesses the other is telling the truth, he wins. If the guess is wrong, he loses. They have time until noon.

Elfi agrees to the terms and you start moving towards Borobudur. (Of course, your actual goal here is something else than money. You win no matter the bet’s outcome.)

“Are you Japanese?” Elfi starts.

“Hmm, however one looks at it, Ryuuguu isn’t a Japanese man. Ryuuguu is only a projection of a living person and doesn’t quite exist. Nothing more than a story character.”

“So you’re saying you live in a book? But then why is your body so real?”

“Oh, it’s borrowed. A temporary thing. Ryuuguu actually comes from an underwater palace they call Ryuuguujou. Has Geppen-shi heard about it?”

“Well, I’ve heard about the sea prince Ryuuguu Jounosuke that resides in it, which would be you.”

“Are you Javanese?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m the same kind of person as you.”

“So a story character? Could it be you come from Ryuuguujou too, Geppen-shi?”

“I’m not a person, but a character, a pawn created by an author. I do not come from Ryuuguujou, unfortunately, but I am not quite Javanese, just like you are only pretending to be a Japanese man.”

“Then where did you come from?”

“Ryuuguujou is a castle in the sea, but I came from the castle in the sky. Elfi Geppen is only a temporary name.”

“Ryuuguu has never heard about it. Wouldn’t a castle in the sky be quickly discovered?”

“That castle cannot be seen. I came from there three weeks ago.”

“And got into the rikshaw business so fast?”

“Well, just like you guessed, I’m actually pretty good at Japanese and can reliably get Japanese clients.”

“Is that really true? This question is outside the bet.”

“Is what true—that I can speak Japanese?”

“They don’t necessarily have to speak Japanese in that castle in the sky. Isn’t there some other common language?”

“Well, there’s the R language. That’s what I’m best at speaking. What language do they speak in Ryuuguujou, I wonder?”

“What a coincidence! The R language as well. ...Ryuuguu understands now where Geppen-shi is from. That castle in the sky is called the Sanctuary, isn’t it?”

“...yes, is it,” Elfi says and goes pale, but you pretend not to notice.

You arrive at Borobudur. The bet will have to continue during sightseeing. Geppen seems to be unraveling a little psychologically under all the questions.

(...you understand that. Sometimes, when playing “Ryuuguu Jounosuke”, you take a conscious look at “yourself” and see a big difference between the two, that you really work hard to bridge.)

[First person narration.]

I end up guiding Ryuuguu around. He seems to enjoy this bet and getting answers out of me… how much does he know?

“Are you really one of JDC?” I ask. “If you come from Ryuuguujou, why would you become a detective?”

“It was a lie. Ryuuguu is actually a member of RISE, the ones responsible for the Crime Olympics.”

“Was that about a nameless man also a lie?”

“It was true, but Ryuuguu isn’t searching for him out of detective duty, instead to get rid of him for the sake of RISE.”

Then Ryuuguu notices a blind man walking around the temple, so I explain that it’s Old Man Pongo. Nobody knows his true name, so in a way he is nameless. He has spent so many years living the same way every day—walking from his home village to the temple and back—that he can still do it even without sight.

Noon approaches, so it seems the bet won’t be won or lost by either of us. I say that as long as I get the normal payment it’s fine with me. Ryuuguu says that it seems awfully like I’m trying to get away from him, so I quickly add that I just have something urgent to do. Ryuuguu retorts that now it just sounds like I’m about to commit a crime. I answer that hey, it’s Ryuuguu who said he’s with RISE, and the hour’s getting close to 1 PM on a Saturday. Ryuuguu laughs, finally pays me and goes away.

But it still feels like I’m stuck in a story. That man without a name that Ryuuguu mentioned—that’s me. But how did he know that? The IDID he showed me looked real, but what if he really is with RISE? But if he was, there’s no way he would let a runaway Dot like me to just walk away.

Had it all been predicted by RS? Did the Sanctuary make a stop at Sumatra back then specifically so I could run away? Either way, I have no choice but to try realizing my plan to stop RISE.

The next Billion Killer case was so unusual it almost got overlooked: a person nicknamed Old Man Pongo fell down the stairs of Borobudur and died. A few tourists claimed that he tripped over a Billion Killer skull, which was then stolen away by a man.

Even though the tourists claim that, I know I stole that skull before the old man could even approach the stairs. The witnesses must have been planted by RISE. I thought that if there was no skull in place, the Billion Killer would lose his perfect streak, but it turned out to all have be planned. Instead of helping, I just became a suspect. If I disappear, nobody will ever know the truth.

I can’t help but wonder—why was this one case so... normal? And if there was no skull to trip on, why did the old man fall down the stairs that he climbed every day?

A month later mass media announce that the JDC detective Ryuuguu Jounosuke has died in a plane crash. For some strange reason, I feel like I lost an old friend. Maybe it’s because when they show a photo of his smiling face, I recognize that glimpse of loneliness in his eyes. Sadness behind a happy facade. Sadness of a man without a name. In a way, maybe the person Ryuuguu had been looking for the most was himself.

Then I remember where I heard that one name, “Suzukaze Unomaru”: it was the man brought inside the Sanctuary after the Cape of Good Hope case. The one who had ordered to save him was Black Rook—and with this thought, I realize that the eyes looking at me from behind the black mask were the same as Ryuuguu’s. Not just similar; the very same.

Black Rook and Ryuuguu were the same person.

Some time later, as I try to get through rioting crowds in Jakarta, the Billion Killer skull hidden in my backpack like always, I’m violently attacked and await my death on the street. Just another little death that nobody cares for in the grand scheme of things. As my consciousness fades, I recall the events in Borobudur and suddenly realize what truly happened.

What the Billion Killer actually did wasn’t pushing the old man to his death; it was extending the giant stairs by one step. The change wasn’t noticeable to most people, but a blind old man who relied on his memory would make a wrong step and fall to his death.

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads carnival #maijo and jdc stuff

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queernuck · 5 years

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Ignorant Americans: On Irony and the Aesthetics of the US Women’s National Team

Megan Rapinoe has displayed two threads throughout the Women’s World Cup: that of the Proud American, and that of the Neoliberal Individual, in a fashion that makes her recent discussion of American celebrations against teams such as the outmatched Thailand or the nearly-too-even French and English teams. The latter has, for some time, been outspoken about the brashness of the USWNT, known for showy celebrations to an even greater extent than usual during this past tournament.

When the United States scored against England, taking the lead back after an equalizer, a tea-sipping celebration spread around social media, a bit of mockery at Britishness, Englishness, the concept of properness as a part of sporting and football culture and how these all relate. However, that the mockery in question is by an American team is rather vital. This is the same American team that celebrated goals in a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand, to the consternation of Canadian (and English) commentators. A team that has not been unafraid to celebrate, one whose self-chosen spokeswoman even rejoices in a certain fashion in this role. Within the World Cup, the American team has taken on the role of the heel, the character to be rooted against, and the transition has been vital to realizing what exactly is so compelling about the USWNT, the role of America as the heel, and American imperialism as part of the character of American sporting culture.

Two of the best-known NTs in American history were the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, a team that captures the height of Cold War American Exceptionalism (and as a result, filtered through the medium of hockey, a certain white supremacist anticommunist libido) and the Dream Team, perhaps the best basketball team ever assembled and a fitting response to the way in which the post-socialist West looked toward Yugoslavia, the Balkans, and its own role in Balkanization as a process, as a kind of discursive space of potentiality as well as a political process. Given the status of several Balkan states as looking toward allegiance with NATO and the growing influence of NATO powers on the aesthetics and doctrines of military deployment (even within Russia itself) a look at what exactly the former Yugoslavia’s role in the sport of basketball (as well as in hockey) is vital to eventually turning toward the USWNT properly. Each of these teams has their own character, their own mythological place in American sports, and while there are marked differences the similarities in looking toward American anticommunist, imperialist fantasies must be noted.

The 1980 “Miracle on Ice” is one of the best known hockey stories around, and is in part possible due to settler-colonialism. This is, of course, true of all American institutions, but the emphasis on college hockey in the mythology of the 1980 team is vital. American colleges are built on settler land, institutions for settlers, institutions which codify the bourgeoisie and its ideology (as seen in the creation of the Chicago Boys, another famous team of American origin) along with representing it. American colleges widely generated their wealth through slavery, and the institutions themselves keep their wealth through investments in private prisons, companies that manufacture weapons systems for the American war machine, and the export of various intellectual products for the consumption of the petit-bourgeoisie in various other colonial assemblages. The importance of American colleges in retaining the cultural hegemony of a relatively united bourgeoisie ideology even across lines of national division is itself part of what makes the college system productive, part of what makes it possible. Institutions that are as apparently-hegemonic as Yale and ones that seem to go against it (Reed, Bard, and Oberlin being great examples) are just as much a part of different, neoliberal articulations of the same hegemonic ideals. Hegemony is simply a description of a state of affairs, the maintenance of a proletarian hegemony, dictatorship, whatever language one wishes to use to describe it, is simply a means of looking at which ideological turn dominates at a given time, in a given situation. Laclau and Mouffe describing hegemony do a phenomenal job of discussing how the turn toward post-socialist society, evoked by the 1980 Miracle, the idealization of it as a turning point in the Cold War, involves a turn from hegemony and counter-hegemony in the warring powers to a single neoliberal hegemony which involves the dissolution of the welfare state, the weakening and neoliberalization of Unions, and the dominance of American ideology means that states criticized for being too conservative were, in fact, now being defended for the few ways in which they had upheld even a vague sense of New Left reforms. That a bunch of “college kids” took on the Red Army hockey team, faced it down and won, before the actual act of winning the medal, in what was effectively the second-to-last in a series of semiotic victories before the eventual gold medal is symbolic of the exact kind of neoliberal victories that are most important to contemporary neoliberal order. It is a team that has been built up through mythology, rather than their own play. Their myth is bigger than them.

Meanwhile, nothing is bigger than the 1992 Dream Team, the first Olympic basketball team from the US to feature professionals. The Dream Team hangs as a kind of imaginary Real, a hyperreal assemblage that almost stands as a what-if specifically because neither before nor since has any squad assembled matched the vibrancy, the sheer talent of the team at hand. Some of the best players of all time, best at their own position, a squad uncompromised in effectively every way, the Dream Team represents a kind of new 90s Americanism that involved the extension of its cultural hegemony on a global scale due to new technologies of ideological dominance, the way in which a kind of hyperreal space is implied by the extension of the Dream Team into the “Real” of the Olympics, a space of national and international competition predicated on the sharing of a certain concept of national identity (noting, of course, that the Americans happily attended Nazi-held Olympics while boycotting over the Soviets) which, by the 1996 Olympics, had specifically been constructed and maintained through the interruption of Yugoslavia, the way in which America contrasted itself against the fall of the Soviet Union as well as the breakup of Yugoslavia and the resulting process of Balkanization. Yugoslavia was one of the few nations with basketball traditions that matched that of the US, and most European players in the NBA come from Balkan nations specifically because of this looming influence. The way in which Balkanization impacted basketball during the 90s is enormous specifically because of how liberalization lead both to the proliferation of East European Big Men throughout the NBA, and the beakup of the one power that could really contend with the US on the big stage. Meanwhile, to emphasize a difference within neoliberal shows of force, the sort that the USWNT are now making, the growth of basketball in Yugoslavia had still not reached that of the United States. The 1992 Olympics had been an enormous influence on basketball culture in Yugoslavia as well as other former Soviet states, as shown by the efforts of the Lithuanian basketball team, themselves a bit of a story of Western influence in relation to neoliberal processes of development. The way in which the Dream Team remains as a dominant power, averaging 40-point margins in victories on their way to a Gold medal, showed how America saw itself moving forward.

Now that there has been an establishment of the previous grounds for the ideology of American sport in international play, the politics and ideology of the USWNT can be discussed. Previously, the USWNT has been a kind of forgotten counterpart of sorts until Olympic or World Cup competition comes up: the USMNT is an underwhelming-at-best squad most years, and was kept out of the 2018 World Cup by Panama, who themselves went winless in the World Cup. The Women’s team, comparatively, are defending World Cup champs, have visited the finals multiple times, and boast multiple gold medals as well. The Women are a squad embroiled in American workplace politics, of course: the women are forced to deal with less promotion, lower pay, and fewer resources than the American Men, despite the Men’s team being a far less successful squad. The American Men are playing for the Gold Cup on the same day as the Women are playing for the World Cup, and that CONCAF is an order of magnitude below FIFA in prestige is not to be ignored, despite attempts at equal billing by networks like FS1 in order to raise the brand stock of the USMNT during the go-around before the next World Cup. While the USMNT has enjoyed great success in the past, its current status is one of depletion, of attempting to identify itself in relation to failures at a vital level, while even through challenge involved in being a genuinely viable National Team, a symbol of a soccer culture that exists in strange pockets and idiosyncratic expressions in America. Meanwhile, everyone loves a winner, and ironically enough for such a misogynist nation, the Women are the ones carrying the mantle at the moment.

There is a great deal of irony surrounding the USWNT, the way in which their status as not only best in the world, but best in their nation has lead to an emphasis on their secondary status comparatively, and how some victories in gaining equal recognition have lead to their current status tending toward one of being recognized for what they are, for who they are. And of course, the irony involved requires the completion of the Ironic Return, the rabattement to use the French (to defeat them by a kind of American, Anglicized theft of their term into the American philosophical jargon). Rapinoe has been a relatively outspoken prominent athlete, kneeling during the Anthem in solidarity with Kaepernick's protests against police brutality and antiblackness as well as drawing from her own experience as a lesbian. A sense of unity beyond lines of identity, of a greater identification, would be a catalyst for class consciousness. However, sublimated by the neoliberal individualism of our contemporary age, she instead becomes the Ignorant American, the one who accepts the way in which she lives as a settler in a nation that literally creates so much waste that it must pollute entirely different countries to stay livable, a country tied up with acts of identification through consumption like Nike's expert advertising with Colin Kaepernick involved. The deepest irony is when the psychopolitical transfiguration of the cop in your head has become your own vision of yourself, not the cop in your head but the brand. And the USWNT is a phenomenal brand, I must admit. I wear it proudly myself during this tournament!

So, is there a genuine irony to the homophobic, nationalist brand of the USWNT being lead by Rapinoe in-herself, as a kind of stand-in for certain becomings, identities, acts of identification and so on? Well, of course, there's a great deal of irony in it: that the team is lead by an incredibly visible lesbian, one who has been relatively politically active in the past and still discusses these matters, one who as I mentioned, I genuinely admire. It is a team of WOMEN representing the interests of American Empire here, and the foremost voice amongst them gay woman no less! The team that most categorically represents the true American libido post-9/11 is one like this, which allows for Americans to flaunt their own neoliberal sensibilities, while still holding hateful views, ideologies, so on. Americans will talk about homophobia and misogyny without reference to colonialism and colonial structures of violence, and that itself is part of the discourse around Rapinoe. My own joyful commentary on Rapinoe’s two goals against England on Deadspin, where I used the admittedly mauladin phrase "gay little heart", received numerous responses were about "straight little hearts" that I myself had no interest in hearing about much more than the site’s quick preview of the remark, but it certainly encapsulated part of what American ideology, American becomings mean in a hegemonic sense. Americans want the becoming-woman, becoming-gay, becoming-lesbian (three intertwined yet not identical becomings) without the full becoming, a kind of mirrored dominance over them.

Only in America, as Rapinoe might believe to some degree, can these becomings be fully realized, is there then that hegemonic freedom to be as one wishes, only in the imperial center can that be achieved. And, for many, this is specifically true due to the way in which colonial violence makes certain becomings first colonial ones, first ones that are dominated by colonial experience, that are supported by American acts of violence, American in character or influence, American by virtue of America as colonial power or American by virtue of previous colonial regimes becoming-American by the implementation of American advisors within neocolonial regimes. French, English, Portuguese, Spanish colonizers have all been replaced by American counterparts, either outright or in community with Americans. The way that the Israeli intelligence community specifically blackmails gay Palestinians comes to mind, but the way in which allies of America create asylum systems that reject gay refugees, that specifically operate by creating or rejecting specific bodies as insufficiently queer by Western standards, operating in a kind of space of strange, alienated affinity with those oppressed specifically for the ends of American colonialism, the creation of the USWNT is inextricably tied to the violence of American colonialism.

The irony of the Americans playing the Heel, doing so in such a strange way, with such new and divergent aesthetics of doing as much, is not to be lost specifically because it involves a kind of awareness of their role that Americans are supposed to be incapable of. The Ignorant American sees itself, becomes itself, exceeds itself. This is what is most compelling about the USWNT: they are awful, they are ignorant, they are reprehensible, and they represent exactly what American identity is at this postmodern moment.

#USWNT #fifa wwc

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fluorescentpipedream · 5 years

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Both pictures are for the same character. Read below @musesnotebook

Yorgi Thursten - Yorgi is immortal and has ties to Jack, Sara, Vance, and Rhaegar. Originally serving as what amounts to an oracle to his people he began having dreams involving a “strange young woman from a different time” who would play a very important part in Vance’s life, which ultimately prompted the latter to kidnap her from the marketplace where she was with Sinbad and his crew following her teleportation by Loki and Ares. (Why they sent Sara there is anyone’s guess, I think they were looking to get her out of the way or it could have been just a random selection, but considering how many things she’s taken part in since that first trip, I’m guessing it was anything but). Yorgi is viewed with respect by most of the ship though treated carefully as he’s a little crazy. (If you were having dreams about the distant future (our time) back in the realm of the Vikings, you’d be crazy too.) Seeing how Vance begins treating Sara, as though she’s his personal sex slave and still having dreams of what she will eventually become even if he can’t really make much sense out of it, Yorgi starts to be kinder to her and eventually agrees to help Jack and Rhaegar get her off the ship and back to Sinbad’s care. I think he may also have told Sara how to find the portal that eventually takes her to Xena/Hercules in Greece.

His deceit angers Vance though because what Yorgi is to their people he can’t outright kill the man. Instead, he finds ways of undermining Yorgi’s visions and turns the village against him, ultimately forcing him into exile on a small island near their main home. Not too long after he is first exiled, a young girl who was impregnated by the former leader of the tribe (ousted by another) is sent to the island as well. Yorgi begins to care for her and after the birth of her son, they get married. While it’s not recognized by their people because both of them are no longer, technically, a part of them, it’s enough for them. He also raises her son as his own, and they have two more children, another son, and a daughter. Over their years together Yorgi notices that he isn’t aging, unlike his wife and their children. Believing it to be some kind of curse, he tries communing with the gods in order to find out what is going on, all the while still having dreams about a very strange future. Yorgi ends up sending his children away and buries his wife when she passes on and ultimately feels as though he’s gone completely insane, attempting to barricade himself inside of his home lest he leads to anyone’s death aside from his own. The first son returns nearly 10 years later to find Yorgi still there, still trying to contact the gods and still completely unchanging. Seeing it as a gift from the gods rather than a curse, the young man has become the new leader of the tribe and suggests to his father that he leave rather than become stagnated there.

He and Vance cross paths a few times, the first following what should have been Charles’ first death only to wake up and see Yorgi sitting beside him, grinning down at him. Angered and believing at first that his immortality has something to do with the old seer, Vance attacks him and during the fight, both of them are mortally injured but neither die. Unable to rationalize it, they break from one another with Charles intent to track down the “little bitch”, now blaming his inability to die on Sara. Yorgi does tell him there may be something to that but leaves Vance with a rather ominous warning that he should always be careful of how he speaks. For his part, Yorgi carries on, simply looking for something to give meaning to his still being around. A lot of the time he actually spends resting, waking up every couple of centuries and traveling a bit, though he really has no rationale for why he continues to live.

Around the 12th century, he makes another appearance. This time he’s a little less crazy, having found ways of getting around in the world, though he does still see things in his dreams, he’s taken to writing most of it down in scrolls and books he carries with him. Most of it means nothing at the current stage of life though he seems to have some knowledge about cars, the first world war and something that makes even the nightmares of napalm seem like child’s play (Serenity.) When he “decides to exist” in this century it is really only to seek out Jack and give him instructions on how to make an iron coffin with bolts in order to trap Vance and hold him beneath the sea for an “undetermined amount of time” or basically until he’s needed. If allowed to continue as he was going, Vance would have become one of the most dangerous men of that time and potentially could have killed Sara when he has her. Rather than telling Jack this, however, he tells him to seek out the village of Nottingham, he’ll find something dear to him there. He also has come into possession of a fragment of the crystal Sara has been seeking which he gives to Jack and tells him not to open it. He’ll know what it’s for, in time. Yorgi had been keeping the fragment inside of a locket Sara had when they first captured her when he found the crystal he stashed it inside the locket and held onto it until he found a way of getting it to her. He’s not sure why but he knows she needs it.

Yorgi disappears throughout time, reappearing here and there when he wants to. He marries several times and starts several families before finally making his way to Nassau around 1650, during the years of piracy. He serves in Flint’s crew for a while before finally taking up residence in the city itself, though what exactly he’s doing there, I have no idea, though once again it involves Sara’s arrival. I think there’s something he’s supposed to tell her, but for the life of me, I don’t know what it is yet. Following the sacking of Nassau, Yorgi is taken prisoner by the British and taken to the Tower of London where he is locked in a cell, presumably to die there. He ends up being tortured there for years, the torture master seeming very interested in how he can be dismembered, disemboweled or potentially killed only to come back to life. Eventually, however, the man gets bored with him and leaves him handcuffed to a cell where he’s left to die. Yorgi is discovered there some 50 years later, emaciated but still alive and once again driven slightly mad by his visions. Once found and set free, he is cleaned up but as he is unaccustomed to his freedom and the harshness of the light he is placed in charge of the six ravens that live inside the tower. (He’s where the legend of the monarchy crumbling if the ravens should ever leave comes from, it doesn’t actually have any merit but was a joke he wanted to play on the people he was working for after being locked away in their dungeons and tortured for so many years.)

Around the 17th century, he disappears again, wanting little to do with years that are going to follow and instead decides to return to Norway and his little island to sleep. His people are now nothing but history, though there are some records of the successors of his original family bringing peace to their people until the war finally overtook them all. The island where he was exiled has been shrouded by fog and is nearly impossible to get to without knowing exactly where it is, though he likes that just fine. The small house he and his first wife lived in still stands though it’s in ruins now. He doesn’t bother to fix it but rather builds himself a small tomb beneath it where he proceeds to lie down to sleep. He wakes up again in 1996 and decides that the 20th/21st centuries are where he should like to live.

Throughout his many lives Yorgi, who chooses the name Jørgen Thursten, has saved fragments of his wealth, making quite a little treasure trove for himself in the process. He uses this to track down someone who can help set him up in the new years, providing him with a convincing back story, parents, a birth certificate and everything else he’ll need in order to make a life in the now. With this he takes the slow path, finding it somewhat amusing how wrong people have gotten history, and decides to get a degree in that as well as creative writing, though he opts to teach the first since he can’t very well publish the things he used to dream about. While his scrolls and journals still exist, he keeps them locked away so no one can see them, and for the most part, upon waking up in the 20th century he doesn’t seem to have visions of the future any longer. He still has the nightmares of Serenity though he doesn’t really count them as anything other than bad dreams these days.

While in university for his teaching degree he gets married and after graduating, he takes a job at UCLA as a professor. From what he says he didn’t choose that school for any other reason than he liked the weather in California, and it’s the city his wife got a job in and was actually very surprised to see Vance was a professor there as well.

#characters #gustaf skarsgard #new #immortal

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cinemasnob412 · 5 years

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Them There Songs Used In Movies Creating That There Perfect Moment

Music and film have had a symbiotic relationship for as long as celluloid carried sound. Often times lesser films are elevated simply by the use of the perfect song (Kenny Loggin’s “Meet Me Halfway” made the almost run of the mill OVER THE TOP memorable for more than Sylvester Stallone adjusting his hat backwards) or a somewhat forgotten tune is resurrected thanks to it’s inclusion in a hit film (think “Bohemian Rhapsody” in WAYNE’S WORLD). There are those songs that have been with us for what seems like forever, but the moment they appeared in a classic scene, their association with their moving picture counterpart shines a light on them in a completely different way then we’ve ever thought of them (”Stuck In The Middle With You” in RESERVOIR DOGS). This is the beauty of the pairing of cinema and sound.

There’s an old tale about when John Carpenter first screened his 1978 film HALLOWEEN for some executives. Without a score present one of the female audience members attending claimed it was the least scary film she ever witnessed. That same audience, complete with that same woman was shown the same exact film a short time later, this time with Carpenter’s now iconic score attached and that same woman was astounded by how frightening the film was. She was certain changes were made in the editing process, but the truth of the matter was it was only the music that was added. Proof that music can make or break a film.

Everyone now seems to know how important a film’s score can be. Try thinking of an INDIANA JONES film without whistling or humming John Williams’ “Raiders March” theme. Nearly impossible. The same holds true for pop music when used properly in a movie. Ever heard Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” on the radio and not immediately thought of John Cusack holding that boombox above his head? Bet you at least once thought of rockin’ the Ray Bans, white socks and a button down shirt and little else when you heard Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock N Roll”. Those of us familiar with those scenes seem to forever associate those tunes with those images.

Whether a film or scene needs a boost of adrenaline (Kenny Loggin’s “Danger Zone” in TOP GUN), a rousing anthem (Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” in ROCKY III), a somber dramatic gut punch (Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” from TITANIC) or a crowd pleasing showstopper (Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ “The Time Of My Life” in DIRTY DANCING), music, pop music specifically in film is as important a piece to a movie’s success as the actors the director or the script itself are.

What are the greatest uses of pop music in film? Here’s my definitive top 10 list of the greatest songs to appear in a film and the scene they’ll forever be linked to. Note: I’ve excluded songs that were written specifically for a particular film, so although memorable and great, tunes like Kenny Loggin’s “Footloose” or Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” are not addressed.

10 - Harry Belafonte - “Banana Boat Song (Day O)” - BEETLEJUICE (1988)

Director Tim Burton’s use of Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song (Day O)” covers two attributes I spoke of earlier. It’s a song that is almost completely juxtaposed against the occurrences on screen as well as a nearly forgotten song that found new life once it appeared in the film.

9 - Dire Straits - “Romeo And Juliet - CAN’T HARDLY WAIT (1998)

Right about the time gross out comedy was about to hit big with the likes of AMERICAN PIE (1999), a throwback to the teen angst filled rom-coms of the decade prior found itself a little audience. That film, CAN’T HARDLY WAIT had an onscreen couple you couldn’t help but root for in Ethan Embry and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Throughout the film, like many in a long line before it, our love struck protagonist Preston (Embry) tries to drum up the nerve and courage to ask his longtime highschool crush (Hewitt) out, in this case before their final graduation senior party comes to an end. One of the film’s more tender moments is when Preston, contemplating his next move before time runs out, does so while the Dire Straits ‘’Romeo And Juliet” sets the scene. It’s heartwarming and perfectly timed.

8 - George Thorogood And The Destroyers - “Bad To The Bone” - CHRISTINE (1983)

Used in films quite often, George Thorogood And The Destroyers’ “Bad To The Bone” is often played for laughs (TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (1991)), but for my money it’s appearance in the opening scene of John Carpenter’s CHRISTINE is it’s best use. If ever a demonic, possessed inanimate object could ever speak of it’s evils and the perils to come, this would be the song that voices those warnings of the threats ahead.

7 - Chuck Berry - “You Never Can Tell” - PULP FICTION (1994)

It’s a tricky endeavor to place an almost three minute dance scene in the middle of a hard nosed crime film. Do it wrong and you’ll almost certainly lose your audience. Do it right and you create one of the most iconic scenes in motion picture history. Quentin Tarantino’s gangster picture is full of memorable dialog and occurrences, but arguably none that encompass exactly the absurdity and attention to detail Tarantino has become known for like the Jack Rabbit Slims dance scene. For the film buffs you have John Travolta cutting a rug once again onscreen, long after his SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) days and better yet doing so to such an iconic Chuck Berry song. Classic.

6 - Whitney Houston - “I Will Always Love You” - THE BODYGUARD (1992)

It’s a common misconception that Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” was written specifically for THE BODYGUARD. The truth of the matter is it was written by Dolly Parton way back in 1972, and released in 1974 as the second single from her album “Jolene”. It’s not even the first time the song appeared on film as Parton’s version was featured in 1974′s ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, in 1982′s BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS and in 1996′s IT’S MY PARTY. It’s the inclusion of the song in the 1992 Houston, Kevin Costner film that launched the song into cinematic history. Houston’s powerful vocals carry the tune farther than Parton herself was ever able to. Placed perfectly within the film itself, “I Will Always Love You” sparked the right emotions the film was striving for and became one of the most popular singles of all time.

5 - Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody” - GHOST (1990)

Who would have thought that one of the men responsible for films such as AIRPLANE! (1980) and THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD! (1988) would also give the world one of the most romantic films of the 1990′s? Jerry Zucker’s GHOST captured the hearts of nearly everyone when it hit theater screens in the summer of 1990. It’s “potter scene” featuring the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” not only launched a litany of copycat humorous (some not so funny) spoofs, but it also catapulted the duo’s song to number 13 on the Billboard charts, almost three decades after it was first released and charted for the first time back in 1965.

4 - Sam Cooke - “Twistin’ The Night Away” - INNERSPACE (1987)

***SPOILER*** There’s something sweet when two movie characters share “their song” in a film. Often times it’s done in such a manner that it purposefully tugs at the heartstrings. Joe Dante’s INNERSPACE takes a different route. With his lead protagonist Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) trapped inside unassuming store clerk Jack Putter’s (Martin Short) body, Pendleton, with the use of the music he often shares with his lost love interest (Meg Ryan) simultaneously loosens up the hypochondriac, nervous wreck Putter and wins back his girl, all thanks to Sam Cooke and a few remade tunes by Rod Stewart. The songs still play and offer realization to the characters, but it’s Dante’s approach that sets this film apart. The “Twistin’ The Night Away” dance scene is the cherry on top. Martin doing his best, vintage Martin to a fabulous Cooke tune. You can’t help but feel good after such a scene.

3 - Eric Clapton - “Layla” - GOODFELLAS (1990)

***SPOILER*** Now the meat and potatoes of this list. These final three embody everything I love about film. Talk about juxtaposition. Martin Scorsese’s usage of the outro from Eric Clapton’s “Layla” is the perfect example of this exercise in film and music marriage. As the deadly finale to the Lufthansa Heist rears it’s ugly head, the opening piano notes play over the camera rising above the hood of a parked pink Cadillac. Inside the bodies of two of the “expendable” participants in the heist. The montage then goes on to show the discovery of the other principal cast members who met the same fate. It’s a chilling scene that reminds the viewer that all the glitz and glam of the gangster life that came before usually ends in this manner. Chilling and perfectly orchestrated filmmaking.

2 - Night Ranger - “Sister Christian” / Rick Springfield - “Jessie’s Girl” - BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)

***SPOILER*** 1997′s BOOGIE NIGHTS already boasts one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history, the opening three minute tracking shot that rivals the one found in 1990′s GOODFELLAS, but it also features one of the most tense scenes ever to grace film stock. With life unraveling at lightning speed, Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), coerced by his rag tag crew, agrees to try and sell baking soda in place of cocaine to local eccentric and unsuspecting dealer Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina). As the scene unfolds, the tension and anxiety build for not only the characters, but the audience as well as Jackson, high as a kite on his product, along side a firecracker throwing Asian boy toy, insists Diggler’s gang listens to his mix tape of assorted 80′s gems. Remember, this film takes place in the Regan era, so the character’s excitement over being able to experience and share his vision on a single audio cassette makes perfect sense. As Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” builds to a crescendo, Diggler’s discomfort with the entire ordeal becomes evident. As the song gives way to the more subtle “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, Dirk’s right hand man Todd (Thomas Jane) grows impatient and turns the once shady deal into a full on armed robbery. Needless to say things don’t end well for nearly all involved, with Diggler barely escaping with his life intact. It’s a masterful achievement in filmmaking and one of the greatest scenes in 1990′s cinema.

1 - Grateful Dead - “Ripple” - MASK (1985)

***SPOILER*** I’ve championed this film and it’s ending on multiple occasions. For me, it’s the most emotional scene in any film I’ve ever seen. As Rusty Dennis (Cher) starts her day, California sun in full effect, she becomes unnervingly aware that her physically handicapped son Rocky (Eric Stoltz) has not gotten up and made it off to school. She cautiously enters his bedroom, knowing exactly what she’ll face, but does so with a brashness and sense of denial that sort of makes the day seem as any other. Her son is dead. We know it. She knows it. As her denial gives way to sorrow, then to frustration we overhear The Grateful Dead’s “Ripple” softly playing on the radio. Rusty completely breaks down, smashing things with reckless abandon. The song still plays. As the scene concludes her anger and denial rests into a soft acceptance. The song still plays. She reapplies her son’s pins from his dream travel map that he removed the night before, knowing it was to be his last night on earth. The song still plays. It’s gut wrenching. If you’re human with even the slightest bit of compassion for your fellow man this scene will wreck you.

HONORABLE MENTION - Stealers Wheel - “Stuck In The Middle With You” - RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)

***SPOILER*** Quentin Tarantino films could populate a list like this all on their own. Being as I went and chose his usage of Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” from 1994′s PULP FICTION for the list, I decided it would only be fair to go to the Tarantino well once. Leaving off his “Mr. Blonde torture scene” would make a list like this invalid, therefore I’ve included it as the honorable mention. No need to dig into the gruesome details of the scene, if you haven’t ever seen it for yourself you should. If you have, you know what I’m talking about. An upbeat song played over torture and murder. It doesn’t get more diverse in content than that!

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hithunter56 · 3 years

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Jul 27, 2019 ISO image of the 1996 game Candy Land, if this violates copyright in anyway, then i'll take it down. Candy Land Adventure (Mac abandonware from 1996) To date, Macintosh Repository served 1193600 old Mac files, totaling more than 224138.8GB!

Home» Board Games » Candy Land: Dora the Explorer Edition

Help Dora in Her Delicious Adventure Through the Beloved Classic Candy Land

Reviewed by: Dylan

We're sorry but we are no longer able to offer this game.

What's Free - Play game for 100 minutes.

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DFG Exclusive Review Summary

Great learning device for younger players.

Spanish is incorporated in a learning manner.

All the text is explained in dialogue for non-readers.

2 modes of the game with multiple difficulties.

Cons

Way too easy for older players (third grade and older).

A lot of the dialogue is not needed and slows the game down.

› Read Full Candy Land Dora Review

Game Description

Join Dora on a Delicious Adventure!

Help Dora the Explorer and her fun friends, Diego, Backpack and Boots, travel through Candy Land to a fiesta! Experience the classic enjoyment of the Candy Land board game but Dora-style with Benny's delicious candy canes, Tico's tasty peanuts, Iso's lollipops and more. Firefox versions for mac.

This game is great for children ages three to six and also fun for older friends and family. Play single player against the computer or play with up to three other friends.

Meet Fun Characters and Play Their Educational Mini Games

Just like in the Candy Land board game, each turn consists of drawing a card with a colored square on it and moving to the nearest square of that color on the board. Once a player passes a figure, such as Abuela, an educational mini game pops up. Play a memory game to pass the Grumpy Old Troll, bake with Abuela and learn counting and colors with other adorable characters.

Watch out for Swiper because he'll steal away one of your turns! The game ends when a player reaches the final square and then everyone goes to the fiesta!

Great Fun for the Whole Family

This game makes learning fun because kids will adore the cute characters and their enjoyable, educational mini games. They can practice necessary skills like counting, learning colors, logical thinking, memory and even learn some Spanish. Play along with your kids and experience the laugh-out-loud fun of competing to finish first and shouting out answers together!

For a fun-filled, tasty trip into Candy Land, join Dora and her friends now!

Candy Land: Dora the Explorer Edition Review

- Review by Dylan

Help Dora, Bender, Backpack, and Diego make it to Dora's abuela's (grandma's) house for la fiesta (the party) in this Candy Land adventure. Candy Land: Dora the Explorer Edition is the classic Candy Land board game with added mini-games and an educational emphasis. This game's simple nature and teaching elements make this a perfect game for a family with young children, just learning to read.

Nice Blend of Classic Candy Land and Dora the Explorer

Candy Land, one of the all time great children's games, is a turn-based game that has you advancing along a playing board to reach the end goal. In this version of Candy Land your goal is to help Dora make it to her grandmother's house for a party. To move you pull a card from the deck and advance to the color it shows. Cards with two colors allow you to advance farther than you normally would and cards with symbols allow your character to advance to that symbol on the board. The symbols are scattered throughout the game tiles and pulling one can give you a huge advantage, especially the cards' symbols that are really close to the party.

2 Game Modes Plus Mini Games

Dora the Explorer edition offers two modes of play which include both the classic game as well as an enhanced version with educational mini-games. The enhanced version is essentially the same game as the original, however, in this version you must complete tasks or answer riddles to advance. The tasks are typically educational and might have you collecting candy canes in the shapes of letters or placing different colored lollipops in order to complete patterns. Each of the games have an educational element and pose a challenge for younger players. Older users will more likely than not find the mini-games too easy.

Nice Educational Element to the Game

The educational element in Dora the Explorer Candy Land is great. This game is designed for younger players just learning to read. You can see learning in nearly all aspects of the game. Dora counts in both English and Spanish, colors need to be identified, learning and comprehending is emphasized, even the instructions are read so new readers can read along and sound out words. This game is a great learning device and young children will get a kick out of how learning is incorporated into this fun board game.

Designed For Younger Players

If you are an older player, Candy Land: Dora the Explorer edition does not have much to offer. This game is designed for younger players so there is no real strategy or challenge. Even when you set the difficulty to the hardest setting, if you are an older speller you will find this game to be incredibly easy. Also, because this is a learning game for younger users, older players may get annoyed with the dialogue and the long length of turns. Though this is typically a major flaw of games, having drawn out dialogue after every turn is a great educational tool.

Conclusion - Nice Additions to Basic Candy Land and Great For Kids

Candy Land: Dora the Explorer edition is a great game for young children learning to spell. This might be the perfect addition to your family's game collection because it is educational and fun to play. Older players will not gain a lot from this game, however, it is not directed toward them. This fun game is a perfect learning device for developing children, and is worth the download.

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Candy Land

4.18 / 5 - 35 votes

Description of Candy Land Windows

If you haven't played Candy Land or want to try this adventure video game, download it now for free! Published in 1998 by Hasbro Interactive, Inc., Candy Land is still a popular board / party game title amongst retrogamers, with a whopping 4.2/5 rating.

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Comments and reviews

Jay2020-12-080 point

says it downloaded but wont openwith out an app, downloaded the apps it said it needed but still wont open idk what to do now

frisk2020-11-060 point

says its incompatible with a 64-bit system. no idea what to do to fix this

Harriet2020-09-100 point

I think i used to play this when i was about 4, I realized it was an early queer moment for me bc i loved Queen Frostine so much lmao had no idea

s2020-07-152 points

love the game . due to the lockdown i could not buy the actual board game for my daughter so for now i am letting her play this version of candyland she absolutely loves it i am very glad that i stumbled upon this add as my daughter was getting board and kept distubing me when i work

Willow Hibiki2020-06-292 points

I remember playing this specific game when I was a kid. Yet I never finished it.. Thanks to this I can

yikes2020-05-032 points

i cant get the game to work

Mystic Rain2020-02-020 point

Can this be played multiplayer?

Katherine Jo Fallstrom2020-01-263 points

I loved this game when I was little!

kay2019-11-153 points

i downloaded the game and it wont work and i dont understand why

candyland game 19982019-11-061 point

My favorite boardgame

dosery2019-08-190 point

its fun for kids

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Resident Evil: The Many Ways the PlayStation Game Was Changed

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1996’s Resident Evil is on any respectable shortlist of the most influential console games of all-time. While it didn’t invent the idea of horror gaming, it popularized that concept in such a way that makes it almost impossible to imagine how the horror genre would have ever thrived in gaming without it.

Despite being so influential for its combination of concepts that once defined a genre and an era in gaming, the original Resident Evil was hardly the product of a clear creative vision crafted by those who were confident that their work would change gaming forever. If anything, you start to realize that Resident Evil was, in many ways, a happy accident that’s success stunned even those who spent years working on it.

We’ll never know what would have happened if Resident Evil didn’t end up pretty much exactly the way it was, but if you’re curious about a time when Resident Evil was a game about cyborgs fighting ghosts, then you have to learn more about the many ways that Resident Evil was changed during development.

Resident Evil Was Originally a Spiritual Successor to Sweet Home Intended for the Super Nintendo

We’ve talked about this before in an article you really should read, but Resident Evil began life as a spiritual successor to the cult classic Famicom horror title, Sweet Home. Capcom essentially wanted to make a game that featured many of that title’s key elements without necessarily making a direct Sweet Home sequel.

What you may not know is that there was reportedly a very brief period of time when Capcom considered releasing what would become Resident Evil on the SNES. Ultimately, the project’s suspected production time and the promise of the PlayStation’s hardware persuaded them to convert the concept into a next-gen game. As we’ll soon see, that conversion led to a number of problems and fascinating opportunities.

Resident Evil Was Almost a First-Person Game

This is another fairly well-known fact, but we have to mention that one of the earliest versions of Resident Evil’s PlayStation build utilized a first-person perspective. A lone piece of concept art and statements from the game’s developers suggest that version of the game would have been somewhere between DOOM and the game we eventually got.

Sadly (depending on your…perspective), the limitations of the PlayStation hardware made it incredibly difficult for the team to complete their vision while preserving that first-person viewpoint. They instead decided to utilize the fixed camera system previously seen in Alone in the Dark. Future Resident Evil games, including Resident Evil 7 and the upcoming Resident Evil Village, would revisit and reimagine that first-person concept.

Resident Evil Was Supposed to Feature Extensive Motion Capture Technology

While it’s hardly a big deal these days, the plan was for the original Resident Evil to utilize what was, at the time, relatively new video game motion capture technology. Capcom was apparently quite adamant about exploring the potential of that technology and felt that Resident Evil offered the perfect chance to test its possibilities.

This idea pretty much went out the window with the game’s transition from first to third-person cameras. Rumor has it that there were attempts to retain motion capturing during the early days of that transition process, but pre-rendered backgrounds both matched the game’s theme better and put less strain on the PlayStation hardware.

Capcom Tried to Fill Resident Evil With A.I. Companions

You may have heard the rumor that Resident Evil was initially designed as a co-op game, but that’s only part of the story. Capcom actually tried for quite some time to develop a first-person Resident Evil game with motion capture technology that saw you and several A.I. teammates work to clear a haunted mansion. In fact, the idea of working with companions seemed to be a pretty big part of the earliest Resident Evil concepts.

Capcom struggled to retain the A.I. teammates concept across several early builds of the game before eventually deciding that the PlayStation just wouldn’t be able to properly handle what they wanted to do. The team even tried to make “naked” zombies at one point to reduce the technological strain, but none of their sacrifices were enough to eliminate the substantial technological hurdles.

The Original Version of Resident Evil Was More Influenced by Japanese Horror than Western Horror

While Resident Evil is best known for its collection of creatures typically created by a chemical concoction (it’s one of the elements of the franchise that has remained fairly consistent over the years), a very early version of the game featured supernatural enemies and other horror elements heavily inspired by Japanese psychological/supernatural films.

However, a change in the game’s creative staff resulted in Resident Evil taking more inspiration from Western horror and science-based creature concepts. It should be noted, though, that there was a time when the title’s supernatural and sci-fi elements converged in a very strange way…

Early Builds of Resident Evil Were Reportedly Too Similar to Mega Man

For a brief period of time, Resident Evil was a game about four genetically enhanced operatives battling an evil scientist and his army of supernatural figures throughout a haunted mansion. It sounded absolutely wild and, to be honest, something I’d probably still play to this day.

One of the big reasons that basic idea was scrapped was that Capcom felt the idea of having cybernetic characters battle an evil scientist was just a bit too close to the Mega Man series. While that’s may have been a bit of a stretch, nearly every element of that original concept was eventually removed from the game. Interestingly enough, though, one fascinating piece of evidence from that time has survived over the years…

Original Resident Evil Characters Included Dewey and a Cyborg Named Gelzer

A pretty famous piece of concept art from Resident Evil’s early days reveals that the original four main characters of the cast would have been Jill, Chris, Dewey, and Gelzer. Dewey was described as a comic relief character who some say was modeled after Eddie Murphy, while Gelzer was going to be a mechanically enhanced heavy weapon specialist.

Gelzer was eventually replaced by Barry Burton when the team decided to abandon the project’s early sci-fi elements. As for Dewey, it’s believed that he was essentially replaced by Rebecca Chamber despite the fact that they’re two very different characters. Interestingly, the name Dewey was reused as the last name of the S.T.A.R.S. helicopter pilot in the retail version of the game.

You Could Originally Change Your Weapons in Real-Time

The original Resident Evil utilized a menu-heavy system that significantly slowed down the pace of the game. According to footage and documents of an early build of the title, though, the original plan was for you to be able to swap your character’s weapons in real-time rather than through a menu. Simply pushing a button would allow you to swap between being unarmed or wielding the knife, the handgun, or the shotgun.

Why was that feature removed? It’s not entirely clear why the change was made, but it likely came down to a combination of stylistic preferences and changes forced by the various other alterations to the game during the course of development.

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Resident Evil Was Supposed to Feature an Extended Graveyard Sequence

Across the various early builds of Resident Evil that Capcom demoed at preview events over the years, the game’s developers typically showcased a graveyard sequence that would seemingly play a major role in the final game. As you know, though, there is no such sequence in the original PlayStation version of the title.

It turns out that the graveyard was just one of those things that got cut as Resident Evil’s development progressed and the team needed to start trimming the game down to get it out on time. Thankfully, the original graveyard concept is faithfully recreated in the brilliant Resident Evil remake.

Zombie Children Were Originally Supposed to be in the Game

Resident Evil features a decent variety of enemies, but early versions of the game featured additional creature designs and variations of existing monsters. Actually, there was at least one point in the early builds of the game where you would have been forced to battle child zombies in an apparent nod to famous scenes from Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

There’s no mystery why that concept never made it into the game. Shinji Mikami felt uncomfortable with the idea of shooting children (even zombie children) in a video game and decided to have the team remove those designs.

Spiders May Have Replaced Dogs in the Hallway

The moment that the dog jumps through the window in Resident Evil right as the fixed camera changes is rightfully remembered as one of the scariest moments in franchise history. However, an early demo of the game that shows spiders instead of dogs in the mansion’s hallways suggests that the same scene could have featured an even more intimidating monster.

It’s actually not clear if those spiders were just placeholders for the dog models at that point in development, but given some of the other changes that were floating around about that time in regards to the mansion’s layout, it’s certainly believable that Capcom played with the idea of putting spiders in the hallways rather than dogs.

Japanese Voiceovers Were Recorded but Not Used

As strange as it may sound, there were no Japanese voiceover options available for the original PlayStation version of Resident Evil despite the fact that Capcom briefly thought they may only be able to release the game in Japan. What’s even more interesting is that the RE team did actually take the time to record Japanese dialog but decided to not use it in the final game.

Why? Well, it’s been said that the team stylistically felt that it made more sense to use American (or Western) actors since the game was set in America, but it’s also been noted that many on the staff felt the Japanese voice recordings were pretty bad. The funny thing is that the American voiceovers probably weren’t much better as translation issues resulted in the original Resident Evil claiming a Guinness Book of World Records nod for having the worst dialog in video game history.

Enemies Utilized More Complicated Attacks and Could Be Trapped

The majority of Resident Evil’s enemies are fairly simple to handle with the biggest obstacle typically being the game’s controls and limited resources. However, early builds of the title reportedly featured much more advanced zombies who utilized multiple attacks that would require you to navigate a kind of limited combo system. Some enemies were so advanced that the developers even reportedly worked on a “trapping” mechanic that would have allowed you to permanently and temporarily restrain enemies.

Interestingly, members of the RE development team say that the technology was there to make these concepts work but they simply didn’t have the time to properly implement them as production deadlines started to creep up.

Enemies Followed You Between Rooms Forcing You To Barricade Doors

In case it’s not horrifying enough to imagine Resident Evil zombies that are more aggressive and need to be trapped, consider that early Resident Evil design concepts allowed zombies to use doors and travel between rooms to pursue the player. In fact, the plan was to implement a system that would have required players to barricade doors in order to prevent zombies from following them.

The idea of barricading doors to hold off zombies would have been another neat little callback to Night of the Living Dead, but it seems like this is just another one of those ideas that were scrapped along the way due to technological limitations.

Mysterious Unused Items Included a Pickaxe and Lamp Oil

There’s no shortage of items that were ultimately cut from Resident Evil along the way, but the two that have garnered the most attention over the years have to be the pickaxe and lamp oil. While remnants of the pickaxe’s code were datamined after RE’s release, it’s still not clear what its purpose was. Some say it’s leftover from an unused area, while others claim it was intended to be used as a weapon. Most signs point to the possibility that it simply would have been used as part of a removed or altered puzzle.

The lamp oil makes a little more sense as we saw similar items added to the Resident Evil remake. There, the player used oil and fluid to set zombies on fire and prevent them from coming back. It’s likely that Capcom planned to put a similar mechanic into the original game.

Mysterious Writing on the Walls Would Have Helped Enhance the Story

Here’s a strange one for you. Early Resident Evil builds prominently featured messages left on the walls that told miniature stories and warned the player of the terrors that befell their writers. However, those messages are not found in the final game (at least without hacking through walls) despite the fact that they were originally featured in rooms that did make it into the retail version of Resident Evil.

The developers likely just decided to abandon this concept somewhere along the way, but it would have been interesting to see this idea implemented in the final build considering that the act of telling stories through such environmental writing would become a big part of horror gaming in the years that followed.

The Biohazard Name Was Changed in The U.S.

While you’ve probably heard this one before, it should certainly be noted that one of the biggest changes to the PlayStation version of Resident Evil was the name “Resident Evil” itself. The story goes that Capcom realized they wouldn’t be able to use the game’s original name (Biohazard) in the U.S. due to several potential copyright issues.

That being the case, Capcom held a contest to determine the series’ U.S. name, and Resident Evil obviously won. Interestingly, there were many in the company who protested the name at that time as they felt it was kind of corny.

Items Used to Be Limited to the Boxes That You Left Them In

In case you don’t know, the U.S. version of Resident Evil is much harder than the original Biohazard game released in Japan. Apparently, Capcom’s U.S. team requested that the port be made more difficult in order to prevent U.S. players from renting the game and completing it too quickly. So, the development team reduced the number of ink ribbons available in the U.S. version and implemented a few other changes designed to make players more carefully consider their resources.

It was almost much worse, though. At one point, the plan was for the U.S. version of the game to remove the “universal” nature of item boxes. In other words, if you put an item into an item box, it would only be available in that specific item box. That feature did actually make it into some preview copies of the game, but it was scrapped from the retail release and later incorporated into the remake as part of an optional difficulty setting.

Resident Evil’s Intro Video Was Censored in the U.S.

This is another pretty famous story, but the saga of Resident Evil’s “censored” opening cutscene is undeniably fascinating.

See, the game’s opening live-action sequence was heavily censored for the title’s U.S. release. Not only was the whole thing converted to black and white from the original color footage, but certain scenes were cut entirely or otherwise edited carefully. For instance, Chris is shown smoking a cigarette in the uncensored version which is made all the more interesting thanks to the fact that Chris’ original character profile picture showed him with a cigarette in his mouth. That profile picture was changed during development, but it seems that Chris almost beat Solid Snake to the punch as an infamous PlayStation smoker.

While the uncensored version of that opening was supposed to make it into the game’s “Director’s Cut,” a mistake by the localization team meant that the censored version was re-released instead. Capcom posted the original uncensored footage to their website at that time, but it was years before that footage was properly restored.

The Original Japanese Version of Resident Evil Had a Rocking Theme Song Not Heard in the Other Games

Resident Evil’s moody atmosphere is complemented by a haunting soundtrack with minimalist, yet striking, tones that perfectly fit the game. The quality and nature of that soundtrack make it all the odder that the original Japanese release of BioHazard featured two rock/pop songs (complete with lyrics) performed by Fumitaka Fuchigami. Apparently, some Capcom producers felt that the game may be easier to market if they got the up-and-coming singer to write some music for the project.

The decision was met with nearly universal scorn from the rest of the game’s developers who felt that the songs clashed with the game’s tones and themes. You can kind of see what they meant (and certainly understand why the songs were cut for the game’s international releases), but this song is independently fun in its own right all these years later.

The DualShock Version’s Awful New Soundtrack Was the Result of a Decades-Long Scam From a Famous Composer

Before we stop talking about Resident Evil’s soundtrack, we have to spend a little time on this fascinating story you may have never heard before.

When Capcom decided to release an updated version of the Director’s Cut of Resident Evil that supported the PlayStation’s DualShock controls, they also decided to give that version of the game a new soundtrack. The idea was that the new soundtrack would offer those who already purchased the game a little more incentive to also buy the updated version of the title.

Even better, Capcom managed to convince Mamoru Samuragochi (a famous Japanese composer whose partial deafness led some to call him the digital age Beethoven) to compose a fully-orchestral soundtrack to replace the original’s synthesized sounds. It sounded like a recipe for success, but much of that new soundtrack turned out to be indescribably awful. The entire composition is best remembered for this basement theme that’s considered one of the worst video game songs of all time.

For comparison’s sake, here’s the original version of that same song.

What happened? Years later, it was discovered that Samuragochi had not only exaggerated his condition but had gotten a friend of his (Takashi Niigaki) to ghostwrite most of his work. Niigaki is believed to be the actual composer of the DualShock version’s infamous soundtrack.

The Sega Saturn Version of Resident Evil Made Some Weird and Notable Changes

Of the many versions of Resident Evil that have been released over the years, the Sega Saturn edition of the original title has to be one of the strangest. Not only did the Sega Saturn port feature notable visual design changes (the character models are strikingly different from their PlayStation counterparts) but it introduced a special mode that would eventually serve as the genesis of Resident Evil’s famous Mercenaries mode.

What’s even more bizarre is that the new mode featured a special Tyrant not seen in any of the other games as well as a zombified version of Albert Wesker. The Tyrant could be a callback to a time when Capcom reportedly intended to add a second Tyrant boss to the game, but the zombie version of Wesker is just a bizarre trip into an alternate timeline.

The Original Controls Were A Little Better and a Little Worse

We know Resident Evil’s camera changed quite a bit over the course of development, but it must be noted that the game’s infamous tank controls were the end result of several experiments. For instance, an early version of the game actually required you to double-tap the “Up” button in order to run.

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

Not all those early ideas were bad, though. One very early version of Resident Evil reportedly featured a 180-degree turn that wouldn’t be added to the franchise until Resident Evil 3 where it was hailed as one of Capcom’s most welcome additions/alterations.

The post Resident Evil: The Many Ways the PlayStation Game Was Changed appeared first on Den of Geek.

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dweemeister · 4 years

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War of the Worlds (2005)

Shortly after California told its residents to stay at home a few weeks ago because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the first films I watched as my home state grinded to a halt were Ousmane Sembène’s Emitaï (1971, Senegal) and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. Emitaï, in its patient beauty, lambasts colonialism in its depiction of a tribe resisting French forces from imposing a rice tax. War of the Worlds, the subject of this review, is one of the first post-9/11 disaster films that have a noticeable difference in tone and approach to those released before the attacks. I definitely know how to calm myself down with a nice relaxing movie (so thank goodness I watched and reviewed 2011′s Contagion years ago). The lightheartedness and star-spangled romps that are Independence Day (1996) and Armageddon (1998) this is not. War of the Worlds, loosely based on H.G. Wells’ classic science-fiction novel of the same name, is closer in spirit to 2006’s United 93 and World Trade Center than those late ‘90s films.

Spielberg’s film is a tale of two halves. A stellar opening hour capturing the initial desperation and unknown threat of the alien attack gives way to incomplete character arcs, inexplicable decisions, and an incoherent resolution that fails to achieve the catharsis it wants. The filmmakers may not be entirely intentional in their portrayal of a (mostly) faceless threat wreaking destruction. Along with The Day After Tomorrow (2004), War of the Worlds set the mood for disaster films long after becoming faded memories in retail bargain baskets, cluttered DVD shelves, and the non-curated hellscape of premium cable and streaming services. The bleakness of these post-9/11 films hew closer to Wells’ motivations when his book was first published in 1898 rather than the jolly arrogance of the 1990s disaster films. As such, War of the Worlds – an afterthought in Spielberg’s filmography and something I paid little attention to upon its release – may just yet outlast the entertaining, unquestioning disaster films it is so often compared to.

Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced longshoreman who commutes from Bayonne, New Jersey to the docks in Brooklyn. His house sits near a looming overpass; American flags are being flown on the front porches of the entire street. This would be a Norman Rockwell illustration if the neighborhood was less blue-collar. It is his weekend to look after teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and younger daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning). Robbie and Rachel favor Ray’s ex-wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and her current boyfriend Tim (David Alan Basche). Mary Ann and Tim drive to Boston to visit her parents, and Ray – again – fails to form a connection with Robbie, who insists on calling his biological father by his first name. Rachel, timid and claustrophobic, is not nearly as rebellious, but it is clear she would rather be elsewhere. Soon after, an anomalous electrical storm spawns activates “tripods” buried beneath the Earth’s surface. These alien tripods disintegrate items and people instantly with a blinding white energy beam, which Ray witnesses with a crowd after running off and telling his children to shelter in place. Returning home, Ray barks orders, without explanation, to his two frightened children to pack their belongings and food for a sudden trip to their mother’s place.

Others of note appearing in this adaptation of War of the Worlds are the traumatized Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins); Ray’s friends Vincent and Julio (Rick Gonzalez and Yul Vázquez); and the children’s grandparents (Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, who played the leads in the original 1953 film adaptation). Morgan Freeman narrates the opening and closing seconds of the film.

Spielberg and screenwriters Josh Friedman (1996’s Chain Reaction, 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate) and David Koepp (the first two Jurassic Park films, 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) are conflicted about whether their adaptation of War of the Worlds is about a father’s redemption or, like Wells’ novel and the 1953 film adaptation, a broad metaphor of nationalistic hubris. There is nothing preventing them from attempting both, but the film, not without considerable effort, falls short at both. Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is a character-driven piece where Wells’ novel (only one human protagonist is named, and he relates what he has witnessed to an unnamed narrator) are the 1953 film (two lead characters thinly developed beyond their professional duties) are not. Wells’ work and disaster film/invasion literature does not completely resist personalized narratives, but the grand scope of their stories makes personalization tougher because of the thematic juggling they require.

For those keeping score of father figures in Spielberg films, War of the Worlds positions Ray in a story that progresses towards paternal redemption. Ray is a terrible communicator to his children; he never comes to terms or improves on those skills. He is an inadequate provider for his children and has little knowledge of their inner lives, dismissing those failures and oversights as legacies from his divorce and his fatiguing job. The disrespect between Ray and Robbie across War of the Worlds generates turmoil throughout, but a decision that Ray must make about his oldest child – who is spiteful, reckless, and more childish than he would like to think – neuters the screenplay’s advances towards Ray’s paternal redemption. With Robbie’s aborted character development and decisions coming out of left field, this is where the film derails, never again reaching the heights of the technical and aesthetic mastery of its opening hour. Most of the Jurassic Park-esque final third with Tim Robbins’ Ogilvy forgets Ray’s character development, preferring to emphasize Ogilvy’s disturbed mentality. The handful of exchanges between Ray and Rachel as they stay with Ogilvy have the best examples of acting in the film. Though Ray’s efforts to tend to Rachel are flawed as he contends with Ogilvy’s deteriorating mindset, he succeeds. Rachel, in the grimy darkness of these scenes, now looks and trusts Ray to protect her. As vindicating as this is, the preposterous closing scene that discloses Robbie’s fate of War of the Worlds undermines the writers’ intentions.*

War of the Worlds is Spielberg’s attempt at allegorizing the terrorist attacks of four years prior and the United States’ response to them. Certain images of this film are references to the sights that announced that America was indeed pregnable. Ray’s detritus-covered silence after returning from the first attack in Bayonne harken to the scenes of survivors and first responders finding their way in the dust clouds after the Twin Towers’ collapse. A downed Boeing 747’s fuselage is ripped open, with belongings strewn to the side, evoking United Airlines Flight 93. A lengthy board of the pictures of missing loved ones – with messages of love and sorrow written on these notices – might be familiar to those in the greater New York City area. For Americans of a certain age – namely, those old enough to remember the attacks and their aftermath – these scenes are loaded, a reminder of a dreadful day.

Spielberg, Friedman, and Koepp’s appropriation of these images for War of the Worlds never teeters on the exploitative, but their evocations feel empty. The rubble covering the bodies of Ground Zero survivors and responders became symbolic of their mental trauma and the physical health effects that have delayed their deaths at the hands of terrorists. When we see Ray sitting in his kitchen, barely able to muster a word to his children about what he has witnessed, his reaction seems realistic but the imagery is off-putting. The wreck of a 747 is a hollow reference to United 93 and the desperate passenger rebellion that ensued onboard; the wreck’s presence in War of the Worlds, given that we hear but never see the crash, feels like a contrivance by Friedman and Koepp to bolster the drama – Ray and the kids were THAT close to being rammed by a commercial plane. Given the speed and lethality of the tripod invasion, who has time to assemble a wall of missing persons in short order?

This version of War of the Worlds, like any artwork, is a snapshot of a culture or cinematic trends at a point in time. By 2005, the United States’ War on Terror included wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These conflicts, presented as actions of moral clarity and relative ease for the American military, proved anything but. Spielberg’s War of the Worlds superficially touches upon themes H.G. Wells might find familiar: the overwhelming military force of the world’s superpower brought to a foreign nation, with little consultation from that nation’s residents to understand their interests. Here, the United States’ military might is associated with the alien tripods. But the opposite can also be true. At times, this War of the Worlds associates the United States’ enemies as the invaders, with the American military as the defending force (as they are literally portrayed). In this interpretation, gone is the allegory berating imperialism; in its place, a rather hollow inquisition about how the Pax Americana has failed to live up to its ideals. In two separate instances, Robbie and Rachel ask if the destructive force that their father is trying to save them from are, “terrorists.” Whether or not a viewer sees one of these interpretations as more valid than the other, Spielberg presents a United States with a scrambled understanding of its place in the world. Whether or not a viewer sees one of these interpretations as more valid than the other, Spielberg presents a United States with a scrambled understanding of its place in the world, the morality that it attempts – or, for the most cynical among us, claims – to uphold.

Compared to previous Spielberg movies with aliens at their center, War of the Worlds is devoid of the optimism in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). There are no friendly aliens to be found. The aliens’ motivational ambiguity has thematic parallels to the uncertainty found in most of Close Encounters. It should be no surprise, then, that John Williams’ score to War of the Worlds adopts much of the disorienting atonalism that defines Close Encounters’ first half. One always anticipates a recognizable, hummable motif with Williams, but it never appears. Often, like in “The Ferry Scene”, Williams provides an uncharacteristic atonalism – delivered by ascending rhythmic lines that refuse to resolve to the tonic, blaring brass, and distorted synthetic elements (a musician would probably say that it would be more personally rewarding to play Close Encounters than this). War of the Worlds is a film premised in confusion and wrath. Williams has composed a complex, harsh score appropriate for that premise, even if this means the cues for this film are difficult to listen to outside the film’s context.

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As much as I find the paternal redemption unsatisfying, Spielberg based Ray’s character arc on his own reconciliation with his father. Spielberg had incorrectly blamed his father for divorcing his mother, continuing to do so even after he learned the truth. After years of portraying absentee or workaholic fathers (Close Encounters, E.T., 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1991’s Hook, etc.), War of the Worlds marks an increasing forgiveness in how Spielberg handles fathers – culminating with Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012), which portrays the sixteenth President of the United States as a master politician (not exactly Honest Abe, as it includes a bold lie to Congress in order to keep peace negotiations secret) who tries to make time for his two surviving sons. This is a fascinating development in Spielberg’s maturation as a person and storyteller, however blemished this is.

The 2010s saw many action/superhero films defined by their nihilistic violence and gloom. War of the Worlds – with its propulsive action and intriguing style – is not uniquely responsible for those attitudes, but it began, in earnest, a procession of films examining the role and responsibilities of post-9/11 America through parable. Few of those films have been eloquent in their commentaries; War of the Worlds certainly attempts to do so, but it is inconsistent. Released near the beginning of that national reckoning, the film is all the more interesting because of that precocious timing, its status in Spielberg’s filmography still undetermined.

My rating: 6.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

*This should not be construed to be a criticism of how the alien invasion of Earth concludes. Spielberg, like Byron Haskin when he directed the 1953 version, keeps Wells’ original ending – often pilloried, but one that I find naturally poetic.

#War of the Worlds #Steven Spielberg #Tom Cruise #Dakota Fanning #Justin Chatwin #Miranda Otto #Tim Robbins #Rick Gonzalez #Yul Vazquez #Morgan Freeman #Josh Friedman #David Koepp #Janusz Kaminski #Michael Kahn #John Williams #H.G. Wells #My Movie Odyssey

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