Group Questions about Citizen Jane — Battle for the City

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Discussion Group Members: Angie Santiago, Matthew Christian, Sha’Aijah McLaughlin, Brianna Brown

In what ways could Jane Jacobs be considered a designer?

She constantly observed the layout of the city and the neighborhoods and saw what was needed for the city to flourish through her observations. She wrote about the architectural designs of spaces, of buildings, of even the sewer system. 

What were three (3) methods/tactics used by Jane Jacobs in her work to save Washington Square Park?

Acts of protest through community: 

She organized local residents at the Lion’s Head to speak at public meetings and wear sunglasses with an X painted on them.

Arranged for her daughter and another girl to conduct a ribbon-tying ceremony, which was the opposite of the ribbon-cutting ceremony that politicians love to celebrate with public works.

Civil Action: 

She filed a lawsuit against the city of New York, to try to block the urban renewal plan. 

Public advocacy: 

Wrote a letter to the mayor.

Attended public hearings, such as one that would approve the Expressway, to speak up against it. 

Based on watching the movie (and reading at least one of the texts), what is the role of the individual in a democracy?

Having a right to speak up about policies you don’t agree with?

 Being a voice for the people that are unable to have one

Being an advocate essentially 

Okay, so, things I know about Morbius:

-The movie begins with a scene where a chopper sets down in the middle of a mountain forest somewhere. At least one soldier and a guy who is Probably Morbius exit the chopper. (It is traditional to stop watching the movie upon seeing Probably Morbius.)

-At some point in the movie, Morbius says “It’s morbin’ time!” and morbs all over some guys. At some other point in the movie, he also uses a more serious catchphrase, “Alright, no more B.S.”

-At some point in the movie, presumably during a confrontation with Anti-Morb, Morbius summons his Morb-Orb, the deadliest red ball in the universe.

-Morbius is a doctor and a vampire. At some point in the comics he also becomes a zombie.

Based on this information, I have divined the exact plot of the movie:

The US Army brings Morbius to the site of some Ancient Artifact that has been sealed away. They want Morbius to unseal this artifact for them, which he can do because he is a doctor, which of course means that he knows Everything about All Science. Morbius successfully unseals the artifact, but realizes that it is too dangerous to be left in the Army’s hands. The Army attempts to take it by force; it at this point that Morbius says “It’s morbin’ time!” and morbs all over them.

Morbius leaves, taking the artifact with him for safekeeping. More Army guys arrive to investigate the scene; a General declares that they must recover the artifact from Morbius. This must be done in secret, because they cannot risk anybody else also trying to get their hands on the artifact, and also because as we all know from those shitty Army ads, the US Army “fights the battles nobody knows about”. In order to accomplish this, they decide to use traces from when Morbius morbed all over their guys to create their own secret weapon, an Anti-Morb.

While the Army sets to work engineering their Anti-Morb, Morbius returns to his hometown, a city in Pennsylvania called Borgo. Here he continues his work as a doctor by day and a vampire by night, defending the citizens of Borgo from various groups of Evil vampires. We also meet Morbius’ love interest, Jane Doe. The plot thickens when he starts hearing on the news about a series of attacks across the country that bear all the signature indicators of him morbin’ all over some guys except for the part where he wasn’t there and didn’t do it and also the victims may have been innocent people.

We cut back to the Army, who after a series of “tests” (read: setting him loose on innocent people) have decided that their Anti-Morb is complete. In a move that is incredibly surprising to the Army guys and incredibly unsurprising the everybody else, Anti-Morb promptly betrays them and morbs all over their guys (notably, he does not preface this by saying “It’s morbin’ time!”). Anti-Morb then sets out for Borgo, intent on destroying Morbius and claiming the power of the artifact for himself.

Anti-Morb attacks Morbius in Borgo, dominating the initial stages of the fight because it’s daytime and Morbius, as a vampire, cannot use his powers (a weakness Anti-Morb does not share, thanks to the Army’s engineering). Jane Doe intervenes in the fight, distracting Anti-Morb at a crucial moment but being severely injured in the process. In an incredibly heart-wrenching scene she professes her love for Morbius and begs him to feed on her to heal his own injuries; he is reluctant but eventually gives in when it becomes clear that Jane’s injuries would be fatal anyways.

Now enraged, Morbius breaks out his other catchphrase: “Alright, no more B.S.” He summons his Morb-Orb, which is revealed to have been the artifact from the start of the movie. With the power of the Morb-Orb, Morbius turns the tide against Anti-Morb and wins the day.

The post-credits scene has Venom come to Morbius’ clinic for help with the whole eating-people thing. The post-post-credits scene scene has Morbius discover a way to access alternate dimensions, including the various Spider-Man films, by manipulating the shape of the Morb-Orb. “What is this, some kind of a Morbius Strip?” he says.

12 GREAT ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM DOCUMENTARIES THAT YOU CAN WATCH FOR FREE

1. EAMES: THE ARCHITECT AND THE PAINTER (2011) A comprehensive documentary on Charles and Ray Eames, modernism’s most influential design couple.  

2. CHOLET: THE WORK OF FREDDY MAMANI (2018) A fascinating look at the disconcerting ‘psychedelic baroque’ creations of this maverick Bolivian bricklayer-turned-architect, with a score by Moby.

3. MY ARCHITECT (2003) Documentary in which we join the son of Louis Kahn on his quest to understand his acclaimed but enigmatic father. 

4. URBANIZED (2011) A great documentary about urban design, and cities in general. Urbanized was the third part of Gary Hustwit’s trilogy on design, which included HELVETICA (2007) and OBJECTIFIED (2009).

5. CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY (2016) This documents the landmark conflict between writer/activist Jane Jacobs and developer Robert Moses, over plans to replace much of Manhattan with highways and austere housing projects. It also looks in detail at Jacobs’ ideas, and legacy.  

6. PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES (2014) Documentary on the Eichler Homes company, the first American developer to work with modernist architects to deliver neighbourhoods of bespoke contemporary homes to a middle income buyer. Unlike the majority of their counterparts, who refused to sell to black or hispanic customers, Eichler were also known for their non-discrimination policies.

7. THE ARCHITECTURE OF VIOLENCE (2014) Part of Al Jazeera’s Rebel Architecture series, this examines the use of architecture as a weapon of intimidation and subjugation within the Palestine Israel conflict.

8. OSCAR NEIMEYER: LIFE IS A BREATH OF AIR (2005) Documentary on the life and work of the legendary architect, who died in 2012 at the age of 104.

9. THE PRUIT IGOE MYTH (2011) A worthwhile film about the infamous St Louis Housing project, which deteriorated rapidly from utopian design to militant slum, largely as a result of systemic racism,  suburban migration, and other social and political factors overlooked by its creators.

10. BUILDING AFRICA: ARCHITECTURE OF A CONTINENT / BBC (2006) In this BBC documentary, architect David Adjaye travels across Africa, exploring centuries of vernacular, colonial and post-independence architecture.

11. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: THE MAN WHO BUILT AMERICA (2017) In this full length biographical documentary, Welsh architect Jonathan Adams travels across America, guiding us through buildings which mark key stages in Wright’s career. 

12. LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF (2003) Consisting of a voiceover commentary and hundreds of movie clips, this documentary offers a comprehensive look at the onscreen portrayal of LA. Detailed attention is given to works of local architecture which have enjoyed (or suffered) recurring cinematic roles, particularly the many modernist structures which have been given a distinctly sinister characterisation. (Photo: Eames House via facebook).

first hp and now MCU *sigh*

sighs. anyway the reason the jane foster au thing is taking literally seven years is that I’m physically incapable of writing for the MCU without fixing everything I thought was dumb about it.  can’t just do a canon re-write because I Refuse To Condone XYZ.  The things I thought were dumb are many and myriad, but here’s one of them:

In Infinity War, they won’t destroy the mind stone while it’s still attached to Vision because they “don’t trade lives,” even though Steve made the same damn sacrifice, whatever.  But the thing is the avengers then immediately travel to Wakanda and start trading Wakandan lives for Vision’s.  They trade so many lives for Vision’s, and in the end it doesn’t even matter because they have to kill him themselves anyway.  SO all those Wakandans died for nothing.  They died for the aesthetic of the avengers having an army.  They died because no one thought through “yeah, T’Challa is totally down to sacrifice his people’s lives for one android he isn’t close with.”  They died because, let’s be honest, the lives of those random Wakandan soldiers meant less to not only the white main characters, but also the white movie creators. hmm. what could possibly be the impetus there.  mostly stupidity, but probably also some racism, lbr.

anyway.  all this to say what follows is a snippet where a) the battle to save vision isn’t taking place in Wakanda proper because the avengers don’t trade lives...other than their own.  In fact, it’s taking place in the arctic circle, where Wakanda has a shielded research station with no civilians that Shuri can appropriate to fix Vision without having her citizens die needlessly.  b) it’s just the avengers there, because they’re willing to put their own lives on the line for their friend and their principles. c) they’re using the mind stone as a lure to keep Thanos’ giant monster army focused on them, in this unpopulated place, rather than a city or a country.

you didn’t really need to know that, actually, because this fic snippet is about bruce banner.  explicit tw in the tags you may want to check for if you don’t mind a spoiler.  anyway, oh well, long walk for a short drink of water:

The walls shake with something other than the wind, and Bruce grits his teeth against whatever extrasensory response the other guy is having.  If he doesn’t want to come out to play, then he doesn’t get to raise the hairs on the back of Bruce’s neck.

The other guy.   After two years being trapped while he gets to play, maybe Bruce is the other guy now.  Maybe the Hulk—

“Doctor Banner,” Shuri says without looking away from her interface.  “If you’re going to help, then help.  Otherwise stop distracting me and get out.”

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four...”You’re right.  Sorry.”  He turns back to his equations and keeps calculating what kind of energy source they can create here to replace the mind stone.  Vision may be able to survive without it, but it’s ridiculous to ignore that it serves a purpose in keeping him not just alive, but functional.  There’s a difference between surviving and living and the Avengers aren’t risking their lives just so he can—

Boom.

Dammit.

Shuri’s guard, the one T’Challa left with them—Ayo? Was that her name?—steps further away from them and speaks into her bracelet—kimoyo beads.  Bruce strains to ignore it because he doesn’t need to know what he’s missing outside, doesn’t need to know how poorly the battle is going for his friends, his—his shield brothers, Brun would call it, without him.  There’s no doubt in his mind Shuri could save Vision without him and there’s no doubt in her mind, either; he’s here as a courtesy and because it’ll go faster, at least.  Because he’d be useless otherwise, sitting there with his thumb up his ass while his friends fight and die without him, without them, dammit Hulk—

“Princess,” Ayo calls. 

“Not yet.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know how long, I’ve never done a neural reprogramming for an android before.”  Shuri purses her lips.  “Longer than this, certainly, to revolutionize a field that doesn’t even exist yet.”  She reprograms another synapse.  It looks like maybe thirty percent of them are done.  Thirty percent, after four hours.

Bruce glances at Ayo from the corner of his eye because he’s a masochist and he can’t help himself.  Her face is troubled, and so is Okoye’s on the projection hovering over her wrist.

“Ayo, tell her she needs to hurry up!”  The projection twists like the general has taken her hand from her face.  There’s a flash of silver, a war cry, and a brief, incomprehensible glimpse of something black and twisted and horrible.  It cuts out in the middle of the creature’s answers screech.

Ayo slowly lowers her hand back to her side, and Bruce tries to focus back in on his work.  Tries to focus on the math, on the energy readings, on Vision’s life in here instead of all the death out there, because if he doesn’t—

“I really am going as fast as I can,” Shuri says in a small voice.  Twenty.  She’s just twenty years old, what was Bruce doing at twenty?

Don’t go there.  Don’t go there, Bruce.  Shouldn’t have come back to the Arctic, that was just asking for trouble.

Focus.

What would happen if he lost it, and the Hulk refused to come out?

Focus.  Focus on Vision, on saving his life.  Save lives.  Save his life.

“So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life?”

Another explosion rocks the room, rocks the station, rocks the damn arctic ice pack they’re standing on.  It’s the biggest one yet.    “Evacuate the southeast quadrant.  All personnel in the southeast quadrant, evacuate to the next defense point.”  The intercom doesn’t even crackle as it activates over their heads and Bruce is struck by how odd that is; it’s almost more unnerving that the idea of the situation escalating to the point of evacuation.  Ayo pulls up a map of the station on her kimoyo beads and manipulates it, pulling up what he assumes is the southeast quadrant.

“That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?”  

“How bad is it?” Bruce asks.

Ayo’s eyes dart to Shuri, who is nothing but relentless; he hasn’t seen her stop once this whole time.  “Bad.  They have breached the facility’s outer defenses.  Princess, perhaps we should—”

“No!”  Shuri all but shouts.  “I will not evacuate, I will not abandon this mission, we’re not finished yet.  Tell someone to come fill the gap.”

“Princess, if they have not already done so, then they may not have the manpower to do it.”

“Then call reinforcements!”

There are no reinforcements because this is a hail-Mary, vigilante mission and all the Avengers on-world are already here.  T’Challa isn’t bringing any more of his people into this, and Steve and Natasha and Tony would never ask him to.   When they fail, that’s it, it’s done.  And so is Vision, and this will all have been for nothing. 

“I guess we'll find out.”

Bruce pushes his glasses off his nose and pinches his brow.  He can’t even think about this; he’s thinking about it without thinking it, a glaring absence that lets you see the shape of it regardless.

“This wasn’t just a Wakandan station, right?  I mean, you guys opened it up to other countries for the science and information exchange?”

A pause.  “Yes.”

“Any military?”

A longer pause.  “...Yes.  Dr. Banner, what are you...”

She trails off as Bruce looks up.  There must be something in his face.

“Did they leave anything behind when they airlifted out earlier?  Weapons?” He adds, because there’s no use beating around the bush.  No time. 

“Probably, but you will find nothing there of any use.  Wakandan technology—”

“Is much more advanced, I know.  But you don’t really have any projectile weapons.

Ayo’s nose crinkles up in disgust, but is already turning back to her charge.  “Of course not.  So primitive.  Princess, we will need time to evacuate to the ship, please.”

Shuri cuts a glance at him, seemingly ignoring Ayo.  “What do you need a projectile weapon for, Dr. Banner?”

“Something desperate.”  He pulls his glasses off and sets them on the table.  “Stay here, Shuri, finish your work.  Save him.”

Bruce has never asked anyone else to risk their life when his own would do. He’s not fucking starting now, when the whole universe is at stake. 

Between him and Shuri, Ayo reluctantly lets the issue go, but he can tell if Thanos’ army gets a single step closer to her Princess, Ayo will throw her over her shoulder and sprint for the quinjet, mission be damned.  He marches out of the room and follows Ayo’s directions to the nearest storage area; the American one, as luck would have it.  Because of course the American team brought guns to the Arctic Circle on a science and information exchange program.  Of course.  A few M11s just lying around, lost in the hasty shuffle to abandon this place.  Bruce picks it up and just holds it.  Feels the weight in his hand.  Ayo was right, they are primitive; primitive and ugly and violent and only good for one thing. Another impact.  The station shakes again, and the lights flicker above his head. Now.  It has to be now. He doesn’t have a radio, but he knows where the southeast corner of the building is, so he keeps the gun in a tight grip and heads that way. Three corridors away and he starts to hear noises.  Yelling.  Screaming.  Gunfire.  Energy bursts.  The ring of Steve’s shield, the whine of Tony’s repulsors.  And above it all that same horrible screeching noise from those creatures invading their planet at the behest of a genocidal maniac trying to kill Bruce’s friends. Kill the Hulk’s friends. Louder, and louder, and louder, until he can’t even hear himself think which is good because he doesn’t want to think about this he never wanted to think about this again even though he did, a lot, like after Lagos and Sokovia and Sakaar. The team has driven them back from the breach in the facility, that’s good.  Wind and snow come howling in through the massive hole and Bruce shivers and tells himself its from the cold. Outside is...pandemonium.  His friends are like brief sparks of light in a sea of writhing, angry, violent darkness trying to tear them apart.  There are so many of them he can barely see the horizon and they show no sign of stopping. In the distance, he makes out Steve, locked in fierce battle with something that looks less like a bargain bin eldritch horror and more like one of those Black Order people. He’s losing.  Even Bruce can tell that. “Now would be a really good time for you to get angry” He’s always angry.  But the anger isn’t enough anymore. “Bruce, what are you doing out here?”  Tony screams at him, flying towards him with his hands still targeting energy blasts at the enemy.  “I thought you said the Hulk can’t come out, you can’t be here!  Go help Shuri!” Ten, nine, eight, seven—oh, fuck it. “Won’t, not can’t, Tony.” One breath.  Two breaths.  He squeezes the grip so hard it starts denting his palm. “Those are functionally the same, big guy, so get the hell out of here.  We got this!” “No you don’t, we’re losing!”  Bruce takes a short inhale through his nose.  “They’re not functionally the same when I can force his—our hand.” That finally makes Tony look at him, and Bruce doesn’t know if he catches it on his own or FRIDAY points it out to him, but he finally sees the gun.  He dissolves his faceplate and looks at Bruce with wide, exhausted eyes.  “No, no, Bruce, don’t you dare, Bruce!” He lunges, but he doesn’t make it before the gun goes off, the bullet tears through Bruce’s mouth and then—and then nothing. The Hulk roars.   Anger isn’t enough anymore.  Self-preservation will have to do.

HBO Max New Releases: April 2021

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Fresh off the long-awaited arrival of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (a.k.a. the fabled Snyder Cut), HBO Max has no need to appease fandom culture in April 2021. But the streaming service is gonna do it anyway!

The most notable new release for HBO Max this month is the HBO series The Nevers. This show, created by Joss Whedon, is set in a 19th century steampunk London and finds a sizable portion of the population (predominantly women) having been “Touched” by mysterious paranormal powers. There’s an interesting bit of irony at play here, as HBO Max is following up the Snyder Cut with a show created by his original Justice League replacement. Or at least there could have been an interesting bit of irony here, if Whedon had not bowed out from the show and been enthusiastically left out of the marketing material by HBO.

Read more

Movies

From Man of Steel to Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A Complete DCEU Timeline

By Aaron Sagers

TV

Fandoms Roil Online as Joss Whedon Suddenly Quits His New HBO Show The Nevers

By Kirsten Howard

Aside from the awkward showrunning situation at The Nevers, HBO Max has quite a few other irons in the fire for April. The well-earned Infinity Train season 4 premieres on April 15. That will be followed up by the Kate Winslet-starring HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown on April 18. Not to be ignored is the movie side of things, with Mortal Kombat continuing WarnerMedia’s policy of releasing all 2021 films to HBO Max.

Meanwhile, The New Mutants will take a turn in the HBO Max library on April 10…for some reason. And the streaming services continue their game of Dark Knight Rises hot potato when the film premieres on HBO Max on April 17. Now all three Christopher Nolan’s Batman films can be streamed in their entirety. It will just take both Netflix and HBO Max subscriptions.

HBO Max New Releases – April 2021

April 1 A Shock To The System, 1990 (HBO) Abandon, 2002 (HBO) Adam’s Rib, 1949 All Is Lost, 2013 (HBO) Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Barbarosa, 1982 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 Blindness, 2008 (HBO) The Bodyguard, 1992 Boogie Nights, 1997 Bringing Up Baby, 1938 The Butcher’s Wife, 1991 (HBO) Caddyshack, 1980 The Collection, 2012 (HBO) The Color Purple, 1985 Dante’s Peak, 1997 (HBO) Dark Shadows, 2012 (HBO) Dead Silence, 2007 (HBO) Dirty Harry, 1971 The Eagle Has Landed, 1977 (HBO) Early Man, 2018 (HBO) Easy Rider, 1969 Ella Enchanted, 2004 (HBO) The Evil That Men Do, 1984 (HBO) Eye For An Eye, 1996 (HBO) Fear, 1996 (HBO) genera+ion, Season 1 Part One Finale Ghost Rider, 2007 Goodfellas, 1990 The Great Pottery Throwdown, Max Original Season 4 Premiere Green Lantern, 2011 Hardball, 2001 (HBO) Happy Endings Haywire, 2012 (HBO) In & Out, 1997 (HBO) Kicking & Screaming, 2005 (HBO) King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, 2017 (HBO) Lassiter, 1984 (HBO) Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, 1990 (HBO) Let’s Go To Prison, 2006 (HBO) The Longest Yard, 1974 (HBO) Made for Love, Max Original Series Premiere Man Up, 2015 (HBO) The Mask of Zorro, 1998 The Man With The Iron Fists, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO) Missing In Action 2 – The Beginning, 1985 (HBO) Missing In Action, 1984 (HBO) My Super Ex-Girlfriend, 2006 (HBO) The Nanny The Natural, 1984 Now, Voyager, 1942 One Day, 2011 (HBO) Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, 1985 (HBO) Police Academy 3: Back In Training, 1986 (HBO) Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, 1987 (HBO) Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, 1988 (HBO) Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, 1989 (HBO) Police Academy: Mission To Moscow, 1994 (HBO) Primal Fear, 1996 (HBO) Reasonable Doubt, 2014 (HBO) Red Dawn, 1984 (HBO) The Return, 2006 (HBO) Risky Business, 1983 (HBO) Roger & Me, 1989 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 Sneakers, 1992 (HBO) Space Jam, 1996 Speed 2 Cruise Control, 1997 (HBO) Spellbound, 2003 (HBO) Stuart Little, 1999 The Shack, 2017 (HBO) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, 2011 Wanderlust, 2012 (HBO) The Warriors, 1979 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) The Watch, 2012 (HBO) White Noise, 2005 (HBO) The Wild Life, 2016 (HBO) Within, 2016 (HBO) Wolves At The Door, 2017 (HBO)

April 2 On the Spectrum

April 3 Ted, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO)

April 4 Q: Into The Storm, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)

April 5 Hard, Season 2 Finale (HBO)

April 6 Genndy Tartokovksy’s Primal, Season 1B

April 7 Exterminate All the Brutes, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO) South Side, Season 1

April 9 Intemperie (AKA Out in the Open), 2019 (HBO) The Other Two, Season 1 A Tiny Audience, Season 2 Finale (HBO)

April 10 The New Mutants, 2020 (HBO)

April 11 The Nevers, Series Premiere (HBO)

April 13 Our Towns, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

April 15 Infinity Train, Max Original Season 4 Premiere

April 16 Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021

April 17 The Dark Knight Rises, 2012 (HBO)

April 18 Mare of Easttown, Limited Series Premiere (HBO)

April 20 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

April 22 1,2,3, All Eyes On Me, 2020 (HBO) First Ladies, 2020 Princess Cut, 2020 (HBO) Rizo, 2020 (HBO)

April 23 A Black Lady Sketch Show, Season 2 Premiere (HBO) El Robo Del Siglo (AKA Heist of the Century) (HBO)

April 24 Dreamgirls, 2006 (HBO)

April 26 The Artist, 2011

April 29 Looney Tunes Cartoons, Season 1D

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Leaving HBO Max – April 2021

April 11 Reservoir Dogs, 1992

April 15 Lego DC Shazam: Magic And Monsters!, 2020

April 30 3 Godfathers, 1949 9½ Weeks, 1986 Above The Rim, 1994 (HBO) The Adventures Of Robin Hood, 1938 Adventures Of Tom Thumb And Thumbelina, 2002 (HBO) After Hours, 1985 An American Werewolf In London,1981 (HBO) Beasts Of The Southern Wild, 2012 (HBO) Being There, 1979 Bullitt, 1968 Bundle Of Joy, 1956 Can’t Buy Me Love, 1987 (HBO) The Candidate, 1972 Cast Away, 2000 (HBO) Catwoman, 2004 Chasing Liberty, 2004 Cheyenne Autumn, 1964 Cimarron, 1960 Critters 2, 1988 Critters 4, 1992 Dead Man Walking, 1995 (HBO) Diner, 1982 Dirt, 2017 The Exorcist, 1973 Femme Fatale, 2002 (HBO) Fool’s Gold, 2008 Get Carter, 1971 Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, 2019 (HBO) Godzilla Vs. Kong , 2021 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, 2011 The Green Mile, 1999 Grumpier Old Men, 1995 Grumpy Old Men, 1993 The Hangover Part II, 2011 (HBO) A Hidden Life, 2019 (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes II, 2007 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012 Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, The, 2014 Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, The, 2013 How The West Was Won, 1962 I Am Sam, 2002 The Invisible Man, 2020 (HBO) Jojo Rabbit, 2019 (HBO) Jonny Quest, 1964 Josie And The Pussycats In Outer Space, 1972 Josie And The Pussycats, 1970 Just Mercy, 2019 (HBO) The Looney Tunes Show, 2011 Looney Tunes: Back In Action, 2003 Lying And Stealing, 2019 (HBO) Ma, 2019 (HBO) The Man Who Would Be King, 1975 Marvin’s Room, 1996 (HBO) Mildred Pierce, 1945 Mister Roberts, 1955 My Blue Heaven, 1990 My Dog Skip, 2000 My Favorite Year, 1982 National Lampoon’s European Vacation, 1985 National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983 The Neverending Story, 1984 New Jack City, 1991 New Looney Tunes, 2015 New York Minute, 2004 Of Mice And Men, 1992 (HBO) Open Water 2: Adrift, 2006 (HBO) Open Water, 2004 (HBO) Paddington Bear, 1989 Patriots Day, 2016 Presumed Innocent, 1990 Pride And Prejudice, 1940 Private Benjamin, 1980 Red Tails, 2012 (HBO) Reversal Of Fortune, 1990 Rio Bravo, 1959 Rise Of The Guardians, 2012 (HBO) School Of Rock, 2003 (HBO) Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, 1981 The Scooby-Doo Show, 1976 Scooby-Doo Where Are You!, 1969 The Secret Garden, 1993 She’s All That, 1999 Snakes On A Plane, 2006 Son Of The Mask, 2005 Space Cowboys, 2000 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, 1995 Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 2005 Tom And Jerry (Classic), 1967 Tower Heist, 2011 (HBO) Under Siege, 1992 Viva Las Vegas, 1964 We Bought A Zoo, 2011 (HBO) What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, 1962 (HBO) Where The Wild Things Are, 2009 The Wild Bunch, 1969 The Wind And The Lion, 1975 The Yogi Bear Show, 1988

The post HBO Max New Releases: April 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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ORSON WELLES ALMANAC

May 3, 1944

“Orson Welles Almanac” aka “The Orson Welles Wonder Show” (1944) is a CBS Radio series directed and hosted by Orson Welles. Broadcast live in California and Arizona via CBS West Coast studios, the 30-minute program was heard Wednesdays at 9:30pm beginning January 26, 1944. Its last broadcast was July 19, 1944. Orson Welles Almanac presented readings from classic works, drama, music, sketch comedy, magic, mindreading, and personal commentary by Welles. Many of the shows originated from US Army camps where Welles entertained the troops. Welles had an ongoing battle with the program’s sponsor, Mobil Oil, which shortened the life of the series. Twenty six broadcasts were produced; all but four shows have survived.

This is the 15th episode of the series, aired on May 3, 1944. Previous guests were Groucho Marx, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Sothern, Robert Benchley, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Moore.  Lucille Ball previously guest-starred on the series on March 3, 1944. 

CAST

Lucille Ball (Guest Star) was then filming Ziegfeld Follies for release in 1945. Her films Best Foot Forward and Thousands Cheer (both released in 1943) were still in local cinemas. Ball was in her fourth year of a rocky marriage to Desi Arnaz, who she would divorce in September 1944, although the papers were never officially filed. Two days earlier, she had be heard in “A Night To Remember” for radio’s “Screen Guild Players.” 

Orson Welles (aka ‘Wonder Boy’) arrived in Hollywood in 1939 when Ball was a contract player at RKO Studios. To squelch rumors that he was a homosexual, the studio sent Lucy to escort him to a premiere to be photographed. He later recalled,

“We went to see the opening of some movie or other—I simply picked her up at her house and we went to the movie and got photographed and came home and I said ‘Good night,’ and that was the end of that. That was the end of that romance, but it was the beginning of a long friendship.”

A veteran of the theatre, in 1941 the actor / director completed his magnum opus film Citizen Kane. In the 1950s he was under contract to Desilu to film a pilot for an anthology series called “The Fountain of Youth,” which wasn’t aired until 1958 and did not result in a series. Despite that, it won a Peabody Award, the only pilot to ever do so.

On February 5, 1956 Lucy and Desi appeared with Welles on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town.” They were there to promote their film Forever Darling. Welles was there to promote his revival of his King Lear at New York’s City Center, which he initially performed in a wheelchair due to injuries to both ankles. By the time he performed it on “Toast of the Town” (aka “The Ed Sullivan Show”) Welles was using a crutch.

When the Oscar-winning actor and director was down on his luck he was invited to stay in the Arnaz guest cottage. Notorious for his drinking and rude behavior, Lucy had to find a way to politely get rid of her guest so she decided to have an episode of “I Love Lucy” written for him so she could pay him a salary. With that in mind, Desilu paid him the exorbitant sum of $15,000!  Ball’s memories of Welles were mixed. “I had a real love-hate relationship with Orson,” she said towards the end of her life. “His mind was awesome…but he was also a pain in the ass.”

At the time of this broadcast (March 8, 1944) Welles’ film Jane Eyre was playing in cinemas.

Aurora Miranda (Musical Guest) was a Brazilian singer and actress. She began her career at the age of 18 in 1933. Miranda appeared in several films, including The Three Caballeros, where she danced with Donald Duck and José Carioca, singing the song, "Os Quindins de Yayá". Her sisters were Carmen Miranda and Cecilia Miranda.

The All-Star Jazz Group: Mutt Carey (trumpet), Kid Ory (trombone), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Buster Wilson (piano), Bud Scott (guitar), Ed Garland (bass), and Zutty Singleton (drums).

John McIntire (Announcer)

EPISODE

This episode was broadcast from the Naval Air Station at Terminal Island, San Pedro, California, at the time, the fastest ship-building station in the world.  

ORSON: “All the way out I had to sit on Lucille Ball’s lap!”

The sailors in the audience respond very vocally to Lucille.  

Orson and Ball enact a scenario depicting Lucille Ball pulling over to pick up a prudish sailor who is hitchhiking. The sailor says he’s headed to the Museum of Natural History, and maybe the Aquarium. They drive off, the sailor uncharacteristically staving off Lucille’s advances. He admires her car - a 1941 Cadillac.

ORSON: “You get much pick-up?” LUCILLE: “You’re the third today!” 

She takes him on a ‘short-cut’ and they run out of gas. She wants to stay and cuddle...but he is afraid.  Afraid that the museum will be closed!  

Welles introduces Aurora Miranda to Lucille Ball. He has to ‘translate’ her heavy accent. She sings "No Tabuleiro da Baiana", with Welles joining her briefly in duet.

Lucille asks Orson if she can do a love scene with one of the sailors.  He recruits someone from the audience - George.  Although he claims no acting experience, he knows he can kiss!  Orson sets the scene: a boy comes home from college to meet his sweetheart for the first time in a long while. Orson acts as a director. 

ORSON: “Woah!  Slow down!  What’s the rush?” GEORGE: “I’m expecting a transfer any minute.”

Although the scene calls for hand-holding the sailor puts his arm around her. Lucy senses that Orson is deliberately intervening to prevent him from kissing her, but finally he does.  

ORSON: “Cut!  That’s it!  This isn’t commando tactics!  She’s an actress, not an obstacle course!” 

Orson introduces the All-Star Jazz Band playing “Savoy Blues.” The piece was first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1927 and was composed by Kid Ory, who plays trombone here.  

Orson Welles reads the honor speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V on the subject of honor.

In 1965, Welles made a film called Chimes at Midnight (aka Falstaff) which incorporated monologues from several of Shakespeare’s “Henry” plays, including Henry V. 

Ginia Bellafante digs into Jane Jacobs’ contributions on the eve of a new documentary, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City by Matt Tyrnauer:

Jacobs had a term, “monstrous hybrids,” for the unhealthy partnerships that can arise between governments and big businesses. From the earliest days of his career, Mr. Trump has operated on the precise model that so unnerved her, relying on contacts in state and city government, as the historian Kim Phillips-Fein recalls in her new book, “Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics.” In the 1970s, in a deal with the Urban Development Corporation, Mr. Trump acquired the Commodore Hotel, near Grand Central Terminal, in exchange for big tax breaks that would extend for decades. In the author’s view, this was the beginning of the end for New York — the beginning, as she puts it, of displacement for working-class New Yorkers as the city sought to save itself from further decline by ingratiating itself to the wealthy, here and abroad. Oligarchs didn’t just arrive on West 57th Street in 2013; they had, in fact, been systematically courted for a very long time.

Although Jacobs was wrong about many things — most significantly in her refusal to imagine race as something that can shake things up in urban life — she was prescient as well, even in her later years, in books that virtually no one reads today. In 2004, for instance, at age 88, she wrote a book called “Dark Age Ahead,” a title she might have borrowed from Stephen K. Bannon’s diary. It was not widely praised, and yet it precisely pinpointed a cavalcade of pernicious social trends — rising rates of inequality, the factionalization arising from globalization, erosion of nuclear family life, the forfeiture of real academic learning for credentialism — that she felt certain would lead us to a grim place. She did not live to see Mr. Trump ascend to the presidency, but as someone who shared his absolute self-certainty, she surely would have said, “I told you so.”

I’ve just ordered a copy of Dark Age Ahead, which I haven’t read in its entirety: I’ve only seen fragments.

Also, Bellafante’s comment about Jacobs ‘refusal to imagine race as something that  can shake things up in urban life’ may go too far. 

Peter Laurence at Becoming Jane Jacobs wrote about this theme, saying

A recently published biography has contributed to the myth that Jane Jacobs was inattentive to issues of race. A book reviewer in the Literature Review of Canada wrote, "Her inattention to racism, whether in the form of American housing markets or in official policies like redlining, is well known—at least within the academy, and it was noticed before Death and Life was published."

These confidently made assertions are wrong. Similarly, the source of the assertions, author Robert Kanigel's claim in Eyes on the Street that Jacobs believed that discrimination against "Negroes" was little different from those of other slum populations and "that was about it" is incorrect and misleading. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs wrote about segregation, discrimination, and racism, with special attention to African-Americans, on multiple occasions and in various ways. She called racism "our country's most serious social problem" (p. 71). She spoke of Americans' "tendencies toward master-race psychology" (p. 284). She wrote of housing discrimination, noting that "colored citizens are cruelly overcrowded in their shelter and cruelly overcharged for it" (p. 274). She wrote of credit "blacklisting" (aka redlining), the denial of mortgages and business loans (pp. 299–300). In fact, as early as 1945, in a short history of the United States written for foreign readers when she worked at the Office of War Information, she honestly observed, “The nation’s 13,000,000 Negro citizens do not yet have full economic equality and opportunity" (Becoming Jane Jacobs, p. 296). And in Death and Life itself, she explicitly rejected the "Physical Fallacy," when she wrote, "I do not mean to imply that a city’s planning and design, or its types of streets and street life, can automatically overcome segregation and discrimination. Too many other kinds of effort are also required to right these injustices" (pp. 71-72).

Lasabrjotr Chapter 54: Give A Reason

Chapters: 54/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Warnings: none Relationships: Loki x Reader (Getting There) Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor(Marvel) Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending (Canon-Divergent), How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count The Ways. One: That Bangin’ Ass, Two-

Loki explores his feelings.

Loki was over the moon.

“She cares about me, Thor. Me specifically.” He was practically wiggling in smug excitement. “She confessed it to me, herself.”

“So you have said, brother. Several times. In the past hour.” Thor said, leafing through a book about metalurgy. “I am glad for you. This is progress in several ways.”

“Yes. She is coming to see my obvious superiority as a potential consort.”

“Possibly. I meant more that you are becoming someone that a human from her country could care about. That you are progressing, as a person. Look at all of the things you have been doing lately. Caretaking mortals, participating in their justice system, housing them, defending them. You know. Like a benevolent god.”

“I...” Loki paused. “I suppose I've come full circle, haven't I?”

“You're starting to see them as they are. We ignored them for so long, encouraged everyone else to do so as well. We didn't see them as they are, and it's one of Asgards lasting flaws.” Thor said. “We don't see anyone as they are. Look at these humans. Look at everything they have accomplished in their short time. For better and for worse. It's amazing. You're seeing them now, like I do. As people. People worthy of respect, of admiration. Of protection. Of love.”

“I still do not understand them. Do you think there is anything more I can do?”

“Stick with one project at a time.” Thor suggested. “You like to think big, but Earth is bigger still, and it will overwhelm you. Your longhouse project is a hit; stick with it until it is done.”

“I am thinking of asking the general populace for volunteers to help with the building.” Loki said. “I know all of our dedicated builders are tied up with city projects right now, but anyone who has time to spare and an interest in doing so, should be able to do simple things, like hauling soil, or stacking stones. Most of all, I want mingling. I want human and Asgardian to become acclimated to one another. It's going to happen sometime, so it might as well be soon. We should be building our bridges as early as possible.”

“Hm. I'm inclined to agree, though I think there should be some regulations. Einherjar to watch over them-”

“Perhaps a joint human-einherjar force?” Loki suggested. “Humans may never be able to match Asgardians, but they could still benefit from training with us.”

“Hm. You're right. However, humans tend to favor weapons like guns.”

“Yet we have both worked with a man who specialized in the use of a bow, and was far superior to most gunmen.”

“I think worked 'with' is a bit of a stretch on your part, brother.” Thor pointed out.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Yes, well.” He huffed. “All I am saying is that we know humans can learn to be extremely proficient in weapons that aren't guns. I do not believe the Icelandic government would allow us to authorize the use of firearms for non-Asgardian citizens anyway. But they have not disallowed the axes and swords that Trolekaerhalla brought with them, so I am assuming those are still legal.”

“Outside city limits, anyway.”

“Outside Icelandic city limits.”

Thor closed his book. “Oh, damn. I just thought of something.”

“I do not believe you.”

“Ha ha. We are thinking of building a permanent human settlement. On land that has not yet been granted to us.”

“Oh damn!” Loki echoed. “I keep thinking of that area as already granted, rather than 'potentially granted in the future, if expansion warrants it'.” What was 'future' to humans, was 'tomorrow' to them.

“We will have to consult the embassy.”

Loki groaned. The 'embassy' consisted of a cluster of small buildings across the river and to the north, from which a farm was also seasonally run. It was staffed by a rotating roster of minor officials, whose job was to 'oversee' Asgardian building and regulate their impact on the local environment. They were not particularly troublesome, and, except for a near obsessive concern with the health of the fens and the river, they did not bother Asgard with all that many demands. But it was an absolutely galling reminder of their fallen status that the king of the Shining Realm had to ask permission for anything, and from such minor officials.

There was an element of helplessness and subordination involved, and Loki despised it. They were going to need to accrue power quickly, if they were going to create and maintain relevance in this realm.

“I'll get a messenger ready.” He said.

“No, I'll go myself.” Thor offered. “Bring some clout to the conversation. Unless you'd like to go? You could bring your little lady with you, get her some experience in things like this.”

“Perhaps. That reminds me; I should send her father a gift.”

“You are getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?” Thor teased. “You haven't even asked for her hand yet.”

“Not like that, you wag!” Loki exclaimed. “It's just that when we first brought _____ here, we did not know that it was going to be permanent. But it is. We have found no cure yet for our co-dependent weakness. In that light, I have essentially taken his daughter from him, and into our household, so I owe him. You know that. Isn't that why you sent all that junk to Dr. Selvig?”

“Erik is not Jane's father, and it wasn't junk!” Thor protested. “It was Asgardian objects that were no longer needed!”

Loki gave him a long look.

“I see your point though. Perhaps you should send a gift.”

“Hm. Her father is a peasant who spends most of his time in a confined space with a cat. What would be suitable for such a man?” Loki pondered.

“No weapons.” Thor said. “No armor. Not only could he not make use of them, but customs would confiscate them immediately.”

“Surely a knife...” Loki began, but Thor shook his head. “Very well. Cloth? A bolt of fine silk, or linen. Wool? Surely we can provide something better than wool.”

“It's not a troth gift, Loki. Send him some cotton, and call it a day. There is no need to overthink this.”

“A careless gift can become an insult.” Loki said. “It may not be a troth gift, but I still want to convey to the man that I place his daughter at a high value, and that I haven't just absconded with her as if she were otherwise worthless. Perhaps I shall go with the linen. Or a heavy cotton. _____ tells me that her Iowa becomes very hot in the summer, and very cold in the winter. He could make use of both.”

“I do not think that anyone who has laid eyes on you lately could believe that you do not value her.” Thor teased. “Though some of the more jealous among them might wonder why she compels you so.”

“That is their loss. If they cannot see her many virtues, it is not up to me to enlighten them, though I might choose to do so anyway.”

“You have a list?”

“She has many virtues.”

“That is something I have been meaning to ask you about.” Thor said. “The nature of your affection for her. Where it springs from.”

“Are you questioning my feelings again?” Loki asked defensively. It was something Thor had been doing a lot these past few years. Loki realized that it was good for him to explore his emotions; a thing he was admittedly terrible at doing for himself. But when someone prodded him about it...

Well, he wasn't happy about it, but with someone guiding him, he could analyze internal issues that he would never have allowed himself to touch on his own.

“It is good for me to love my seidkona.” He said. “I'll be able to open up to her like I need to. This way, you don't need to shoulder the whole burden of my odious emotional instability.”

“It's not that much a burden. And you are being evasive.” Thor said.

“Of course I am.” Loki shot back. “I...I guess I'm just pleased to find that I am still able to feel this way at all. I do not wish to examine it too closely and find that it is somehow false.”

“Oh, I do not doubt it is real, and neither should you. Your feelings are your feelings, no matter what. What I believe we should examine is from whence these feelings have sprung, then we might better know how to proceed. That is, if you want to proceed.”

“Yes, I want to proceed!” Loki said. “Of course I want to proceed! The desire consumes every moment that I do not distract myself with something else.”

“Well, talk to me about it.” Thor prodded. “Do you know why you love her so? Is is guilt?”

“What? No!” Loki scoffed. “Any guilt I feel is completely separate from all this.”

“So this has nothing to do with effectively destroying her life, and taking her from everything that she loves and taking her from everyone that loves her. And that's absolutely not why you shower her with attention and prestige, and want to send a gift to her father. No guilt over what you did there. That's not why you want to build homes for Trolekaerhalla, in leu of helping to rebuild New York. Guilt absolutely does not drive your actions there either. I see.”

“Any guilt I feel is...partially separate from this.” Loki amended, face burning. “But it's not the only reason. I feel like she deserves much more than the world has allotted her, myself included. I see a potential in her that I would never have guessed hid in the depths of humankind.”

“Humans have caused you much trouble in the past.” Thor pointed out. “The Hulk flung you about like a toy, the Captain held his own in battle with you.”

“The Hulk is a special case.” Loki said. “All of your little company are. Or, at least, I used to think so. But she had nothing, you understand? No advantage. She hadn't the hoard of wealth, nor the high education, nor the job with a powerful organization, nor the exposure to scientific innovations that all of your Avengers did. And yet, she is this. If this potential exists in her, the most common of humans, might it be in them all? Fascinating. Horrifying. And so, so intriguing.

But that's not the only reason either. Outside of my feelings regarding her species and magic, she has great virtues of her own. Her mind is hungry, so much so that I fear if I were not by her side, her curiosity would lead her to destruction. She doesn't lack ferocity or courage when they are needed, but she also balances that with such compassion. I find that impressive, with everything she's been through.”

“It doesn't have anything to do with her being the only woman to show you affection in some time?”

Loki's face went even redder. “No...There were a few on Sakkar...but I refused their advances.”

“Really? Why?” Thor remembered the people of Sakkar as being very odd, but not altogether repulsive.

“Lack of trust, and a distinct cultural difference. To them, the fact that they could be exiled or executed at literally any moment led them to a hedonistic, live-in-the-moment lifestyle. Nothing meant anything to them. They didn't truly care about anything, and couldn't be trusted for anything.

But _____ cares. She cares about so much. Things have meaning to her, as they have to me. Maybe none of our troubles would have come about if I just hadn't cared so damn much. But I do. And that care has gathered her up into it now, wrapped like a cloak about her shoulders. I can no longer see myself without her.”

“Yes, you were besotted mere days after meeting her.” Thor pointed out. “Perhaps you were just ready. You are getting to that age where a man wishes to settle down and think of family.”

“I am younger than you!”

“Barely. But...That is another thing to think about. You will need to tell her.”

Loki pressed his lips together tightly, making an irritated sound through his nose. He knew that. He wasn't going to do it, not until he couldn't put it off any longer.

“Have you been looking at yourself? Like Sjofn suggested?”

“Yes, but I still don't see the point. I find it no less repulsive for looking upon it more often.”

Thor shrugged. “Sjofn has always been wise when it comes to these kinds of things. You know.”

“I know. I just don't see it, that's all. I wish I did.”

“Maybe _____ will. Speaking of, do you have any plans?”

“Your party is very soon. I thought I might dance with her.”

“And?”

“And make nice with your Avengers. Or at least try to. I feel Stark shall never be friendly with me, but she might be impressed. I would like to kiss her, should she allow it. The last time was...not ideal. I can do better.”

“She makes you want to do better?”

Loki nodded, and Thor smiled.

“I think that is how it is supposed to work.”

                                                                          ******

You swept the fancy green dress Loki had given you in wide circles around the room. There was going to be a party tonight! People were already arriving: Tony Stark had landed an advanced aircraft right on top of the former site of the militant camp, and he had brought others with him. More had come across the river. They were all unmasked, and causing great excitement in the city. Saldis had been talking about it nonstop.

You were starting to get the impression that she had a special interest in humans.

She helped you dress and did your hair, blabbing about their fashion, and strangeness, and beauty. Perhaps Andsvarr was going to have some competition soon.

You had worn this dress before, but only for Loki. It was still scandalously low-cut, in your opinion, but easily the fanciest thing you'd ever owned. Of course, this was going to be a fancy party, so you had to be dressed your best.

What did one do at a fancy party? Waltz about in a great big ballroom? Eat little appetizers off silver trays? Or did the rich and powerful get completely faced just like everybody else?

You'd probably better warn everyone about the crystal mead.

“These are the most important people of your world. Do you think they would speak with a servant?” Saldis asked anxiously.

“What? Of course!” You said, putting on some of your personal jewelry. It was cheap and fake, but you didn't honestly see how anyone could tell the difference. Besides, your dad had gotten you most of this, for birthdays and Christmases over the years. That was the real treasure, wasn't it? “I mean, they talk to me every week, and I'm a nobody.”

“How is it that you still think that?”

“Habit, I guess.” You shrugged. “I've never felt like I really meant anything before, and it's hard to adjust my thinking. It sorta comes and goes; one moment I feel proud of everything I've done, and the next I feel like a complete impostor.”

“I understand that. They warn us not to fall for the nobles, because we wouldn't know how to live their lives, but I feel like that's a sham so the nobles can keep their sons and daughters as bargaining chips in political marriages. But that shouldn't be a problem anymore.” She added, noticing your disgusted expression. “Allfather Odin started phasing that out before I was born, and it seems like Allfather Thor is going to continue his work.”

“His Highness is in accord.” You said. “He told me so. It still grosses me out though. But if you want to go talk to some Avengers, I don't see why you shouldn't. Besides, aren't you kind of falling for a noble yourself?”

Saldis cleared her throat. “Well. If it works out, yes. But if it doesn't, neither of us are exactly hurting for potential suitors. It's just that we like each other best. Just like you and the prince.”

You sputtered. “What? No, we're not-”

“It's fine, everybody knows.” Saldis said. “I heard the Valkyries gossiping about it, and the general didn't tell them to stop. That's how you know that she knows it's true.”

“Everybody doesn't know anything.” You insisted. “Me and Loki aren't a thing.”

“Which is why he had that dress made for you, and why you moon at him every time you think no one is looking. Someone's always looking.”

“I don't moon...” You said. “Wait what was that about the dress?”

“It's very fine. A courtier's dress, to reflect your position as advisor, that you belong in the court with him. That's quite a statement. If you ask me, he's been making that statement for some time.”

“No way.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. The prince has always been hard to read, but the emotion that he does show seems quite genuine.”

“You really think so? Other people think so?” There was no way. But if it was true, if it was true...certain things were falling into place. But there was no way, was there? No way it could work. You couldn't dare to hope.

Could you?

State of the Planet: 2019 Edition

Alright everyone, it's time once again for Helios' annual wrap up of the orbit we've just taken around the ol' Sun. This is the State of the Planet as we close out 2019.

Now before I begin I want to state that, unlike seemingly everyone else, I'll only be looking back at things that happened this year as opposed to this decade. For those wondering why, it's because I want to save my decade wrap up for when the decade actually ends. And as anyone who was around for Y2K can tell you, because there was no Year 0, the next decade doesn't actually begin until 2021.

Which means my decade wrap-up will be a year from today (and thus quite lame) but at least I'll be consistent.

So, with that in mind, let's take a look back at what happened this year:

Same-sex marriage became legal in Austria, Taiwan, Ecuador and Northern Ireland.

Pope Francis became the first Pope to visit the Arabian peninsula.

Avengers: Endgame became the highest grossing movie of all time.

A 17 year old in Britain was the first person to receive a genetically modified phage therapy to treat a drug-resistant infection.

Jane Goodall won the Luxembourg Prize for Outstanding Environmental Peace.

Humpback whales recovered from near-extinction in the South Atlantic.

71 new species were discovered this year.

The Antarctic ozone hole was the smallest on record since its discovery.

One third of the world's electricity is now powered by renewable energy sources.

A record number of African American women (34) graduated from West Point.

The Indian Navy welcomed its first-ever woman pilot.

The European Commission elected its first female President.

Chicago elected its first African-American woman mayor.

Ali Stroker became the first wheelchair-bound actor to win a Tony award for her role in "Oklahoma!"

Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came to an end with strong finales (2/3 anyway).

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, making it 6 rings for Tom Brady.

The Washington Nationals won their first World Series.

The US Women's National Team won the 2019 World Cup, their fourth title.

A new form of messenger RNA Aerosol was developed, which could be helpful for treating diseases like Cystic Fibrosis.

Malaria was eliminated from Algeria and Argentina.

Two men may have been cured of HIV.

Child mortality rates are at an all time low.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley developed new 3D Printing methods.

Waymo has chosen Michigan to be the site of the world's first autonomous vehicle production factory.

All 16 gigabytes of Wikipedia were encoded into synthetic DNA.

The US Government authorized funds for Geoengineering.

Video was taken by NOAA researches of a Giant Squid in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX's Dragon 2 and Boeing's Starliner capsules made their first flights.

The first all-women Spacewalk was conducted on the International Space Station.

India, Israel and China launched probes to the Moon, with China making the first soft landing on the far side.

Water was detected on Mars and K2-18b, a Super-Earth 110 light years away.

The New Horizons space probe made a fly by of the KBO Arrokoth (then known as Ultima Thule)

For the first time ever, a Black Hole was imaged.

The above is a snapshot of where I'm at right now, the final hours of 2019. You, dear reader, are in the future. Let this list above serve as a reminder of what we've experienced in this past year.

Now the time has come for me to give a little speech to tie up everything that we've been through in 2019. Usually this is the part where I have trouble, but the truth is that I've known for a while what word I want to use to describe this past year.

The word of the year is "sacrifice."

This is a word that isn't supposed to be thrown around lightly, but I feel it's lost its meaning. When sons of certain politicians equate their lost business opportunities to what the soldiers buried in Arlington gave up...I get the feeling that the meaning has been cheapened.

As Captain America said to Tony Stark, it's about fighting for someone besides yourself. It's about laying down on the wire to let the others crawl over you.

It's about giving up your youth to bring attention to a coming environmental disaster, as we saw with Greta Thunburg.

It's about going into a disaster zone to save one life, as we saw with the first responders who ventured into areas ravaged by Hurricanes or Earthquakes, or battled raging wildfires in the United States and Australia.

It's about risking your own life in the name of standing up for your rights and liberties, as we saw with the protesters in Hong Kong.

It's about nearly destroying yourself to save an entire continent, if not a planet, as we saw re-enacted in HBO's Chernobyl.

As we here in America prepare to once again ask ourselves what course our nation should take, I feel that we've lost sight of the sacrifices the Founders made to get us to this point. We seem less concerned with the prosperity of our nation and more concerned with the prosperity of those that we happen to like, with the misfortune of those who disagree with us not only accepted, but desired. We've gone from E pluribus, unum to "my side needs to win no matter what, fuck the others."

This is not to say we are averse to the notion of sacrifice. We're perfectly willing to give up something for our friends and family as well as anyone who happens to share the same views. But I feel that we're not willing to go further than that. If we are to continue to proclaim ourselves, as we indeed are, the defenders of liberty and freedom wherever they may exist in the world, then we need to uphold ourselves to those values. We need to be willing to make sacrifices not just for ourselves and our "side", whatever that may be, but for all Americans.

And more importantly, all citizens of this Earth must be willing to make a sacrifice not just for their city or country or race or ideology, but for all of humanity. This is the only way for us to fulfill our destiny. The future of our species awaits us among the stars, and I know that the only way to get there is together.

So as we head into the true final year of this decade, consider what you are willing to give up and who you're willing to give it up for. And remember that the time will come when we all will have to decide whether or not to make a sacrifice in the name of something that's greater than all of us. What that sacrifice is and whether or not you choose to make it is for you to decide.

Just know that somewhere out there in a sea of 400 billion Suns is a world just like this one.

We owe it to ourselves and our children yet unborn to give our species the best possible chance to visit. Just in case it turns out to have Jedi or Ponies.

Have a great day, a great week, a great month and a great 2020.

See you next year.

"THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" (2012) Review

"THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" (2012) Review Five years after the release of 2007's "SPIDER-MAN 3", Sony Pictures and Marvel Films decided to release a new SPIDER-MAN movie. The latter proved not to be a third sequel to the 2002 movie, "SPIDER-MAN". Instead, it turned out to be a franchise re-boot featuring a new actor in the lead and the first of two films:

With Andrew Garfield in the role of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man and Marc Webb directing, "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" commenced upon an entirely new saga about the web-slinger.  In this film, Peter is a geeky high school student and science major who lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in a suburb of Queens, New York. At least a decade earlier, he had witnessed the mysterious disappearance of his father and mother, scientist Richard Parker and his wife, Mary. After discovering his father's old briefcase, Peter makes the acquaintance of the latter's former lab partner, Dr. Curt Connors, who is now working as a geneticist at Oscorp. Dr. Connors is working on cross-breeding experiments in order to discover a formula based on lizard DNA in order to regenerate missing limbs. During his first trip to Oscorp's Manhattan offices, he discovers that the fellow Midtown High School student that he loves, Gwen Stacy, is working there as the chief intern. Peter is also bitten by a genetically engineered spider. During the subway ride home, Peter becomes aware of his new abilities. He also continues his visits to Dr. Connors at Oscorp. His new powers and visits to Oscorp lead to his growing neglect of his household duties. Peter also manages to help Dr. Connors by giving the latter Richard Parker's "decay rate algorithm", the missing piece in the scientist's experiments. After a quarrel with Uncle Ben, Peter storms out of the house and the latter hit the streets looking for him. Unfortunately for Uncle Ben, he encounters a thief who had just robbed a convenience store and is shot dead. Determined to find his uncle's murderer, Peter decides to assume the identity of the costumed vigilante, Spider-Man. When Oscorp executive Dr. Rajit Ratha decides to fire Dr. Connors and use the latter's formula at a VA hospital under the guise of a flue shot, Connors tries the formula on himself and becomes the human/lizard hybrid, the Lizard. Many Marvel and Spider-Man fans had complained about the lack of need for a Spider-Man re-boot so soon after the last Sam Rami film. What many did not know was that Sony Pictures had signed a deal, guaranteeing major control over the Spider-Man franchise as long as the studio releases a movie every five years or less. Sony originally had plans for a fourth Spider-Man movie with both Rami and actor Tobey Maguire. But the plans fell through and the studio decided to re-boot the franchise with a new actor, a new director and a new trilogy. Some fans and critics claimed that "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" was a lot closer to the original comics tale than the Rami films. I found this claim ironic, considering that the movie proved to be no more faithful to the comics than the films made between 2002-2007.  Comic book fans know that Peter Parker's first love was Betty Brandt, whom he dated in high school and who eventually became J. Jonah Jamerson's secretary at The Daily Bugle. Peter met both Gwen Stacy (of this movie) and Mary Jane Watson (from the 2002-2007 films) in college, not high school. He was a lot younger when his parents died. But hey . . . I managed to enjoy both the Rami/Maguire trilogy and this film. That is correct. I enjoyed "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN". It had plenty of well choreographed action. The special effects team from the Pixomundo company did an excellent job with the action sequences featuring Spider-Man's battles with the Lizard. The company's efforts were ably supported by Marc Webb's direction and the three cinematographers - Alan Edward Bell, Michael McCusker and Pietro Scalia. One of my few complaints about "SPIDER-MAN" was that the film almost seemed like two separate stories. I could never accuse "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" of that flaw. Screenwriters James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves made sure that Peter's transformation into Spider-Man and Dr. Connors' transformation into the Lizard were connected plot-wise. After all, Peter's visit to Connor at the Oscorp labs led to his painful encounter with a genetically altered spider. And the visit, along with Peter's discovery of his father's notes, led to the creation of the formula that enabled Connors to become the Lizard. The movie also boasted some excellent performances by the cast. Andrew Garfield was outstanding as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. He did an excellent job of portraying a fatherless boy in search of a father figure, who is forced to grow up on his own. Emma Stone portrayed Gwen Stacy, the girl whom Peter dated during his early years in college. Stone's Gwen was a smart, witty and earthy young woman who found herself torn between Peter and her father's opinion of Spider-Man and vigilantism. Another excellent performance came from Rhys Ifan, who did an excellent job in revealing the complex man whose disappointments in life led him to utilize the formula that transformed him into the Lizard. He also managed to convey Connor's darker personality through the CGI figure of the Lizard. Other first-rate performances came from Denis Leary, who portrayed Gwen's father - NYPD Captain George Stacy. The latter role seemed a slight cry from Leary's usual roles. Although he managed to utilize his usual rapid fire wit, Leary also conveyed the image of a stern and responsible man, who harbored concerns not only for his daughter, but also the citizens of New York City. Martin Sheen and Sally Field created excellent chemistry as Ben and May Parker, the couple left to raise Peter after his parents' death. It is a crime that the pair never worked together before, because I thought they really crackled with chemistry. I could say that both had great chemistry with Garfield, as well. But I feel that Sheen had more interesting scenes with the young actor than Field. Irrfan Khan had to be convinced by his children to take the role of Oscorp executive, Dr. Rajit Ratha (a character created for the movie). I am glad they did, for he proved to be very effective as a shadowy representative for the corporation's reclusive CEO, Norman Oscorp. The movie also boasted solid performances from Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson; and from Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz as Richard and Mary Parker, Peter's parents. I will not deny that "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" was a very entertaining movie for me. But it had its flaws. One, there seemed to be a minor lack of originality in the script. A good deal of the story seemed to be borrowed from the previous SPIDER-MAN movies. As with Maguire's Peter, Garfield's Peter started out with an unrequited crush with the leading female character. And Dr. Connors' career faced extinction, just as Dr. Otto Octavius did in "SPIDER-MAN 2". However, the movie also borrowed a subplot from the 2000 movie, "X-MEN". Just as Erik Lensherr plotted to transform the world's population into mutants via a machine, the Lizard in this movie, plotted to transform New York City's population into reptilian/human hybrids. In fact, his scheme struck me as lame. The main problem for me laid in the fact that Connors did not transform into the Lizard, until the second half of the movie. Speaking of the Lizard, as much as I had admired Ifans' performance, I was not that impressed by the villain's role as Spider-Man's foe. I mean, honestly . . . the idea of Spider-Man facing a giant lizard rampaging all over Manhattan did not do anything for me. Frankly, I saw dealing with the problem of the Lizard as a job for the Men in Black, not Spider-Man. Everyone seemed to be filled with praise for Emma Stone's portrayal of Gwen Stacy . . . including me. However, I had a problem with the screenwriters' portrayal of Gwen in this movie. Frankly, she seemed too perfect . . . too ideal. She lacked any real personal demons that could have made her interesting to me. I could never say the same about the comic book Gwen - even if she had a tendency to be a crybaby. Could someone explain why Peter suddenly decided to end his search for the thief who had killed his Uncle Ben? It seemed as if the entire subplot had been dropped. And what happened to Dr. Ratha after Peter saved him on the Williamsburg Bridge? I have one last complaint . . . and it has to do with C. Thomas Howell's character, a construction worker named Ray. In the Williamsburg Bridge sequence, Spider-Man saved Ray's son from falling into the East River. Ray reciprocated Spider-Man's actions during the latter's final battle with the Lizard by using several cranes to help convey the web slinger (who had been shot in the leg by the NYPD) to Oscorp's tower, in order to stop the Lizard from using the formula on New Yorkers. I found that minor scene so incredibly cheesy that I practically cringed with embarrassment. It seemed as if the screenwriters were trying to re-create those moments from two of Sam Rami's films in which New Yorkers came to Spider-Man's aid. Only in this movie, I found Ray's actions embarrassing, not inspirational. "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" had much for me to admire. It had excellent performances from the cast led by Andrew Garfield. Marc Webb's direction in the action sequences and intimate scenes was first-rate. And the screenwriters managed to avoid the mistake from the Sam Rami 2002 film of creating a fragmented plot. Unfortunately, I believe that "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" had some flaws - including a lack of originality - that made it difficult for me to embrace the idea that it was the best SPIDER-MAN movie ever made.

Friday, March 05, 2021 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: WYNONNA EARP (CTV Scifi) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT DANGEROUS MEDICINE (TBD - Lifetime Canada)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME/CRAVE/NETFLIX CANADA/CBC GEM:

AMAZON PRIME COMING 2 AMERICA

CBC GEM AGAINST THE TIDES BLACKSTONE CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY GRAND DESIGNS (Season 17) LADHOOD LOVE, GILDA NÎPAHISTAMÂSOWIN: WE WILL STAND UP

CRAVE TV GANGSTER GOLD HOW FAR IS TATTOO FAR (Seasons 1-2) STEP UP: HIGH WATER (Season 1, Episode 1) SWEDISH DICKS (Season 1-2)

NETFLIX CANADA CITY OF GHOSTS DOGWASHERS NEVENKA: BREAKING THE SILENCE POKEMON JOURNEYS: THE SERIES SENTINELLE VICE YES, GOD, YES

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 7:00pm: Capital vs. Bruins (SN) 10:00pm: Knights vs. Sharks

FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS (Crave)  7:35pm:  People close to Britney Spears and lawyers tied to her conservatorship reassess her phenomenal career as she battles her father in court.

marketplace (CBC) 8:00pm

DESIGNED WITH LOVE (City) 8:00pm: Sparks fly between an ambitious fashion designer and a handsome entrepreneur as they work together to develop a mobile business.

DINO HUNTERS (Discovery Canada) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):   Dinosaur fossil season has begun, and Montana rancher Clayton Phipps finds what might be an extremely rare and valuable fossil on his family's property.

PUNKY BREWSTER (1984) (YTV) 8:00pm/8:30pm (SERIES PREMIERE): If you’d like to check out the original series about a kid with a dog (named after legendary actor Marlo Brandon) and the old guy from the Police Academy movies, today’s your lucky day.

ARCTIC VETS (CBC) 8:30pm: Former movie wolf Gambit isn't eating; on the tundra, Dr. Stephen gets between an aggressive male polar bear that threatens another momma bear and cubs; Jackie and Heather investigate a rescued polar bear's injured paw.

2021 TIM HORTONS BRIER (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 8:30pm: Pool Play

THE NATURE OF THINGS (CBC) 9:00pm: Kingdom of the Polar Bears - Pt. 2: Veteran polar bear guide Dennis Compayre watches as a mother bear teaches her young cubs to hunt and discovers how they are struggling to adapt to a rapidly warming Arctic.

THE HARDY BOYS (YTV) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):  After a devastating tragedy, Joe and Frank Hardy move to Bridgepoint to spend the summer with Aunt Trudy; the boys discover their father has taken on a secret investigation and take it upon themselves to start an investigation of their own.

FIRST COW (Crave) 9:00pm:  Two travelers, on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820s Northwest, dream of striking it rich -- but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a landowner's prized dairy cow.

Here's what's coming to CBC Gem in March 2021

Here’s what’s coming to CBC Gem in March 2021

CBC has revealed the movies and shows that are hitting its Gem video streaming service in March. See below for the full list: March 4th For Heaven’s Sake [exclusive Canadian premiere] March 5th Against the Tides [exclusive Canadian premiere] American Woman Blackstone (Season 1) Citizen Jane: Battle for the City Grand Designs (Season 17) [exclusive Canadian premiere] Indian Horse Ladhood Love,…

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Tune in every Thursday folks, for the next excerpt of Hi Jax & Hi Jinx! A costume drama DD Autobiography to be published by Feral House fall 2018 thanks @AdamParfrey @DameDarcy ___________________________ MOVIES Act 1 Just a little back story of my experiences contacting the directors I loved, (or on second thought, was this a gentle form of stalking them?) Costume dramas? Hell yes to a delicious brocade delight. Then next in order of love, surrealist and I guess horror then art movies. Like Eraserhead, The Forbidden Zone by Richard Elfman, Superstar by Todd Haynes, and Careful by Guy Madden were all huge influences on me while I was in Art school as a film major, and after. I had the good fortune to meet all of these directors. I love Matthew Barney’s movies, particulary the Cremaster Cycle, and met him Once Upon a Time at his art studio in the Meat Packing District He revealed to me he is also from Idaho and was a fashion model, and afterwards we partied. I like silent films. Pandora’s Box, Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, and Metropolis being good examples. Barry Lyndon by Kubrick and anything by Kubrick. Anything by Werner Herzog, anything by Wes Anderson, but particularly of course The Life Aquatic. I know I will meet Wes one day. Anything by Terry Gilliam, Brazil being the best. Michel Gondry does good contempory work, Spike Jonze has right on social commentary. The movies, Spider Baby, and Daisies are like my life with Lisa “Suckdog” Carver. And Skidoo is the best role Carol Channing ever played, and wins for best cast, having Groucho Marx as God, Donyale Luna, Mickey Roonie, Frankie Avalon, Slim Pickins , Jackie Gleason and many more. I love those really Da Da Betty Boop cartoons from the 20's that cab Callaway sings on, the 30's being the 20's dark and sad twin. The best time in the world was 1927. Marie Antoinette movie by Girly Copula looks great but is less filling on plotline. Isabelle Doll loves it though. She doesn't care about stuff like intellectual content, she's just a Rococo fetishist. Another movie Isabelle loves is Interview With A Vampire, which she thinks is a romantic comedy. Isabelle is also never going to die and sleeps in a little pink coffin too, so finally she saw something in her reality portrayed in a movie, plus pushing all the other dolls around. She thinks it’s funny that the little girl Dunst character uses a pile of dolls as a fridge in which to keep her dead nanny for a snack. Five Stars in doll land: Whatever happened to Baby Jane. And Night Of The Hunter, where Lillian Gish plays an old Christian lady battling a demented preacher with a shotgun while she sings a hymn in Harmony with him. I now realize this is an analogy to life in the South. Isabelle thinks the dolls are the stars of these movies, that’s why she loves them, and the sad little song the little girl, Pearl, sings in the boat. Isabelle also loves Death Becomes Her because the ladies in that movie become dolls. Also, because Isabelle Doll is a flapper from the 20’s she likes the Isabella Rossellini character playing the hottest 20's flapper that lives eternally and has hundreds of hot male sex slaves. Wow! Back to what I like: Beauty and The Beast, by Jean Cocteau. It has a scene where Beauty glides ethereally down the corridor, the wall sconces made of men’s arms holding candles move to light her way. So sexy, and Sooooo good! Brother Sun Sister Moon about St. Francis Assi, and speaking of churchy stuff... The Devils By Ken Russell 1971 An account of the apparent demoniacal possession of the 17th-century nuns of Louden, climaxing in the burning of their priest as a sorcerer. There is the cutest cabaret scene in it where a gorgeous boy plays the Venus Di Milo. More movie hits, picked because they are dreamlike twisted fairytale moving paintings: The Fall, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Come Along Do, Breathless, Holy Motors, The Holy Mountain, Citizen Kane, The Maltese Fountain, anything by the Coen Brothers, and anything by the Brothers Quay. Surreal plotlines of Being John Malkovitch, Last Year at Marionbad, Mulholand Drive, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, A Ghost Story, It Follows, Rubber, Funky Forrest, and Back To The Future. The crazy jewel tones and harsh lighting contrasts of Hammer Horror Movies, and The Cook The Theif His Wife and Her Lover. The stunning visuals and general atmosphere of A Pigeon Sat on A Branch Reflecting on Existence, Russian Ark, The City Of Lost Children, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Enter The Void. The social commentary of Where The Green Ants Dream, Bubble,The Bicycle Thief, There Will Be Blood, and The Dark Backward plus all animations by Steve Cutts, who I truly love with a passion (like I wanna marry him, sight unseen, or maybe my brain just wants to marry his brain). The campy and poignient portrayals of artists about art, in Pink Flamingos, Big Eyes, Loving Vincent, Blow Up, Black Swan, The Mirror, The Dving Bell and The Butterfly, Waking Life, The Five Obstructions, My Best Fiend and Minute Movies by The Residents. The Nautical themed and true examples of what it’s like to dream and astral project to another world of Master and Commander, Cloud Atlas and Time Bandits. And the way Sunset Boulevard, Gummo, and Slumdog Millionaire show a reality specific to the portrayer. And of course all the stuff I saw in Larry Jordan’s animation class and dollar Matanee at The Red Vic on Haight Street while in art school in San Francisco. Still classic favorites : A Colour Box, La Jetee, Un Chein Andalou, Meshes Of The Afternoon, Anemic Cinema, Ballet Mechanique, Man With The Movie Camera, Flicker, Blue, Back and Forth, The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra, Surface Tension, Chelsa Girl, and Dog Star Man about a man trying to climb a mountain with his dog in this scratch emulsion found footage mess madness that is one of the most deeply original movies of all time.

Hulu New Releases: July 2021

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It’s summer, everyone! And with its relatively sparse list of new releases for July 2021, Hulu seems to be subtlety imploring its subscribers to go outside.

Don’t get us wrong: Hulu’s library offerings get a big upgrade this month. July 1 sees the arrival of great films like Galaxy Quest, Fargo, and Caddyshack. Bill and Ted Face the Music premieres on July 2 and its followed by Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar on July 9. Not bad stuff! It’s just that, outside of the library titles, there isn’t much to go off of.

Hulu’s only major original release this month is the FX on Hulu production American Horror Stories on July 15. As its name implies, the show is a spinoff of American Horror Story and will feature self-contained horror episodes rather than a season-long arc. If you’ll allow this geriatric millennial to deploy one truly ancient meme: “Yo dawg, we heard you like anthologies so we put an anthology in your anthology so you can anthologize while you anthologize.”

The day after American Horror Stories premieres is the release date for McCartney 3,2,1 – a docuseries about Paul McCartney. Peter Jackson’s epic The Beatles: Get Out docuseries is coming to Disney+ in November so hopefully this will be a nice amuse-bouche.

Here is everything else coming to Hulu this month.

Hulu New Releases – July 2021

July 1 The Mighty Ones: Complete Season 2 (Hulu Original) RuPaul’s Drag Race: Complete Season 7 (MTV) 127 Hours (2010) 28 Days Later (2003) 28 Weeks Later (2007) 68 Kill (2017) 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene (2017) A Ciambra (2018) The Adventures of Hercules (1985) Almost Human (2014) Alpha & Omega: Legend Of The Saw Toothed (2014) American Gun (2005) An Acceptable Loss (2019) Australia (2008) Bad Teacher (2011) Band Aid (2017) Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest (2011) Beetlejuice (1988) The Best Man (1999) Better Living Through Chemistry (2014) Big Fish (2003) Bitter Harvest (2017) Blue Sky (1994) Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) Breakdown (1997) Bruno (2009) Caddyshack (1980) Caddyshack II (1988) Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999) Carnage Park (2016) Caveman (1981) Chaplin (1992) Chuck (2017) The Chumscrubber (2005) Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2017) Cliffhanger (1993) The Condemned (2007) Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009) The Conversation (1974) Coyote Ugly (2000) The Cured (2018) Dangerous Minds (1995) Dealin’ With Idiots (2013) Dealt (2017) Dear White People (2014) Donnybrook (2019) Dumb & Dumber (1994) Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003) Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2014) Eliminators (2016) Enemy at the Gates (2001) The Face of Love (2014) Factotum (2006) Fargo (1996) The Feels (2017) Fired Up! (2009) Foxfire (1996) Frank Serpico (2017) Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) Free To Run (2016) From Paris with Love (2010) Galaxy Quest (1999) The Gift (2000) Gimme the Loot (2013) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) Gorp (1980) Graduation (2017) Grandma (2015) Hellions (2015) Hideaway (1995) House of the Dead (2003) House of the Dead 2 (2006) The House That Jack Built (2018) Housesitter (1992) I Daniel Blake (2017) I Do…Until I Don’t (2017) I Remember You (2017) Ice Age (2002) In The Cut (2003) Indignation (2016) Intermission (2004) Intolerable Cruelty (2003) Johnny English (2003) Knowing (2009) The Ladies Man (2000) Last Days Here (2012) Let’s be Evil (2016) Manic (2013) The Mask (1994) Maximum Risk (1996) Mercury Rising (1998) Morning Glory (2010) Mystic Pizza (1988) The Natural (1984) Ode to Joy (2019) Open Range (2003) Open Water (2004) Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) Passage to Mars (2017) Personal Shopper (2017) The Polar Express (2004) Rabid Dogs (2016) Rebel in the Rye (2017) Reno 911!: Miami : The Movie (2007) Revolutionary Road (2008) Robocop (1987) Robocop 2 (1990) Robocop 3 (1993) Rookie of the Year (1993) Seabiscuit (2003) Shelley (2016) Sightseers (2013) Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) Sleepwalkers (1992) Soldier Boyz (1995) Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Somewhere (2010) Sorority Row (2009) Space Jam (1996) Stand by Me (1986) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Star Trek: First Contact (1996) Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990) The Stepfather (2009) Stonewall (2015) Stray (2020) Sunshine (2005) Super Troopers (2002) Sweet Virginia (2017) Taffin (1988) Take Every Wave (2017) Take Shelter (2011) Taken (2009) The Terminator (1984) They Came Together (2014) Thunderheart (1992) Timeline (2003) Tooth Fairy (2008) Twisted (2004) Underworld (2003) Underworld Awakening (2012) Underworld Evolution (2006) Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009) Universal Soldier (1992) The Unknown Girl (2017) Walking Tall (1973) Whip It (2009) White Nights (1985) William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) Wolves (2017)

July 2 Summer of Soul (2021) (Hulu Original) Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)

July 3 Flower of Evil: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) I’ll Go To You When The Weather Is Fine: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) More Than Friends: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) Dreamcatcher (2021)

July 4 Leave no Trace (2018)

July 8       My Wife and Kids: Complete Series (ABC) Murdoch Mysteries: Complete Season 13 (Acorn) Papillon (2017)

July 9       This Way Up: Complete Season 2 (Hulu Original) Grown-ish: Season 4 Premiere (Freeform) Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar (2021) In a World… (2013) Moffie (2021)

July 10       47 Meters Down (2017)

July 12       Love Island UK: Season 7 Premiere (iTV)

July 14       Cleopatra in Space: Complete Season 1 (Peacock) Cleopatra en el Espacio: Complete Season 1 (Peacock) My All-American (2015)

July 15       American Horror Stories: Two-Episode Limited Series Premiere (FX on Hulu) 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) A Field In England (2013) The Act of Killing (2012) Amira & Sam (2014) Borgman (2013) Bullhead (2011) Cheap Thrills (2013) The Complex: Lockdown (2020) The Congress (2013) The Connection (2014) Enforcement (2021) Exit Plan (2021) The Final Member (2014) The FP (2011) I Declare War (2012) The Keeping Room (2014) Men & Chicken (2015) Mood Indigo (2013) Pieta (2012) R100 (2013) Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015) Wrong (2012)

July 16       McCartney 3,2,1: Documentary Series Premiere (Hulu Original)

July 17       Horimiya: Complete Season 1 (Dubbed) (Funimation)

July 22 Olympic Dreams featuring Jonas Brothers: Special (NBC)

July 26 The Artist (2011)

July 29 The Resort (2021)

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Leaving Hulu – July 2021

July 4 Warrior (2011)

July 9 Desierto (2015)

July 20 The Last Full Measure (2019)

July 21 Bolt (2008)

July 24 All The Wild Horses (2017) B.B. King: On The Road (2018) The Beatles: Made on Merseyside (2018) Bees Make Honey (2017) Closing Gambit (2018) Gloves Off (2017) I, Dolours (2018) In Extremis (2017) Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death (2017) The Last Animals (2017) Lost in Vagueness (2017) Painkillers (2018)

July 27 For A Good Time, Call… (2012)

July 30 The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) Like Someone in Love (2012) Mad Detective (2007)

July 31 (500) Days of Summer (2009) 28 Days Later (2003) 28 Weeks Later (2007) A Perfect Gateway (2009) The Adventures of Hercules (1985) Alive (1993) Batman Begins (2005) Before We Go (2015) Blue Sky (1994) Breach (2007) Broken Flowers (2005) Captain Corelli’S Mandolin (2001) Caveman (1981) The Crazies (2010) Cyrus (2009) The Dark Knight (2008) Dinosaur 13 (2014) El Dorado (1967) Evening (2007) Fargo (1996) Footloose (1984) For Richer Or Poorer (1997) Friends With Benefits (2011) Gamer (2009) Goodnight Mommy (2015) Gorp (1980) Grace Of Monaco (2015) Hannibal Rising (2007) Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013) Hyde Park On Hudson (2012) I Feel Pretty (2018) I Saw The Devil (2010) In The Mix (2005) Internal Affairs (1990) The Iron Giant (1999) The Jackal (1997) Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) The Ladies Man (2000) L!Fe Happens (2012) Lucky Number Slevin (2006) Machete (2010) McLintock! (Producer’s Cut) (1963) Morning Glory (2010) Mystic Pizza (1988) The Nanny Diaries (2007) National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002) The Natural (1984) Ong-Bak (2003) Ong-Bak 2 (2008) Ong-Bak 3 (2010) The Pawnbroker (1964) Predator (1987) Predator 2 (1990) Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) Red Cliff (2008) The Relic (1997) Robocop (1987) Robocop 2 (1990) Robocop 3 (1993) Seabiscuit (2003) The Skeleton Key (2005) Sliver (1993) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Soldier Boyz (1995) Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Soul Food (1997) The Spy Next Door (2010) Stand by Me (1986) Star Kid (1998) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Star Trek: First Contact (1996) Star Trek: Generations (1994) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Step Up 2 The Streets (2008) Step Up 3D (2010) Step Up Revolution (2012) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Taffin (1988) The Terminator (1984) Triangle (2009) Turbulence (1997) Unstoppable (2010) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2009) What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993) Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)

The post Hulu New Releases: July 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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ORSON WELLES RADIO ALMANAC

March 9, 1944

“Orson Welles Almanac” (1944) is a CBS Radio series directed and hosted by Orson Welles. Broadcast live in California and Arizona via CBS West Coast studios, the 30-minute program was heard Wednesdays at 9:30pm beginning January 26, 1944. Its last broadcast was July 19, 1944. Orson Welles Almanac presented readings from classic works, drama, music, sketch comedy, magic, mindreading, and personal commentary by Welles. Many of the shows originated from US Army camps where Welles entertained the troops. Welles had an ongoing battle with the program's sponsor, Mobil Oil, which shortened the life of the series. Twenty six broadcasts were produced; all but four shows have survived.

This is the seventh episode of the series, aired on March 9, 1944. Previous guests were Groucho Marx, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Sothern, Robert Benchley, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Moore.  Lucille Ball would return to the series to guest star on May 3, 1944. Unfortunately, this is one of the four lost episodes.  

CAST

Lucille Ball (Guest Star) was then filming Ziegfeld Follies for release in 1945.  Her films Best Foot Forward and Thousands Cheer (both released in 1943) were then in local cinemas. Ball was in her fourth year of a rocky marriage to Desi Arnaz, who she would divorce in September 1944, although the papers were never officially filed. The week prior to this broadcast, Ball guest starred on Bing Crosby’s radio show “Music Hall”.  

Orson Welles arrived in Hollywood in 1939 when Ball was a contract player at RKO Studios. To squelch rumors that he was a homosexual, the studio sent Lucy to escort him to a premiere to be photographed. He later recalled,

“We went to see the opening of some movie or other—I simply picked her up at her house and we went to the movie and got photographed and came home and I said ‘Good night,’ and that was the end of that. That was the end of that romance, but it was the beginning of a long friendship.”

A veteran of the theatre, in 1941 the actor / director completed his magnum opus film Citizen Kane. In the 1950s he was under contract to Desilu to film a pilot for an anthology series called “The Fountain of Youth,” which wasn’t aired until 1958 and did not result in a series. Despite that, it won a Peabody Award, the only pilot to ever do so.

On February 5, 1956 Lucy and Desi appeared with Welles on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town.” They were there to promote their film Forever Darling. Welles was there to promote his revival of his King Lear at New York’s City Center, which he initially performed in a wheelchair due to injuries to both ankles. By the time he performed it on “Toast of the Town” (aka “The Ed Sullivan Show”) Welles was using a crutch.

When the Oscar-winning actor and director was down on his luck he was invited to stay in the Arnaz guest cottage. Notorious for his drinking and rude behavior, Lucy had to find a way to politely get rid of her guest so she decided to have an episode of “I Love Lucy” written for him so she could pay him a salary. With that in mind, Desilu paid him the exorbitant sum of $15,000!  Ball’s memories of Welles were mixed. “I had a real love-hate relationship with Orson,” she said towards the end of her life. “His mind was awesome…but he was also a pain in the ass.”

At the time of this broadcast (March 8, 1944) Welles’ film Jane Eyre was playing in cinemas. 

Ella Mae Morse (Musical Guest) was signed by Jimmy Dorsey at the age of 14 (she lied about her age and said she was 19) and was subsequently fired after discovering the truth about her age. Her recording of "Cow Cow Boogie" was the first million-selling single for Capitol Records in 1942. Her biggest hit was "The Blacksmith Blues" released in February 1952. The song she sings here, “Shoo-Shoo Baby” (written by Phil Moore), would be heard in the about-to-be-released film South of Dixie in which she played Barbara Ann Morgan.  

Agnes Moorehead (Prudence Pratt / Miss Grimace / Swoon Club Girl) was a member of Welles’ Mercury Theatre on stage and radio as well as starring in Welles’ films Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. She is best remembered as Endora, Samantha’s mother-in-law on TV’s “Bewitched”. 

Hans Conried (Colonel Peabristle / Hotel Operator / Frenchman / Dr. Snake Oil / Flat Top) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). After being a recurring guest on her radio show “My Favorite Husband” (1948-51), he appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973.

The All-Star Jazz Group: Mutt Carey (trumpet), Kid Ory (trombone), Jimmy Noone (clarinet), Buster Wilson (piano), Bud Scott (guitar), Ed Garland (bass), and Zutty Singleton (drums). 

John McIntire (Announcer) 

EPISODE

Orson Welles introduces the episode, opening with a Household Hint by Prudence Pratt and a Wonders of Science fact by Colonel Peabristle. After the opening music and Mobil Oil sponsorship message, Welles summons his secretary Miss Grimace to tell him who is on the show tonight. She reports that it is Miss Lucille Ball, although she hasn’t arrived yet.  Welles says she is filing her tax forms. 

WELLES: “Can you imagine. The Government wants Lucille Ball to fill in HER form!” 

Miss Grimace admits the three members of The Orson Welles Swoon Club.  Welles interrogates them as to their whereabouts during his public appearances. He wants new members, promising them nylons.   

Oops!  Welles mis-reads the script, saying “nylon baby socks” instead of “nylon bobby sox”. He corrects himself with a laugh and says “For me, it’s booby socks!”  Bobby soxer is a term for the wildly enthusiastic, teenage female fans of 1940s music, particularly Frank Sinatra.

Orson wants to know if they have gotten the new photographs he sent them. One of the Swoon Club compliments him on how he looks in his sarong - mistaking him for Dororthy Lamour in a Bob Hope / Bing Crosby picture. 

Dorothy Lamour was nicknamed ‘The Sarong Girl’. In 1936 she donned her soon-to-be-famous sarong for her debut at Paramount, The Jungle Princess (1936), and continued to play similar parts through the war years and beyond. The most famous of these was in the popular Bob Hope / Bing Crosby "Road" pictures - a combination of adventure, music, and slapstick.

The Swoon Club feel sorry for Orson that he hasn’t won an Oscar, so they knit him a tie - which started out as a pair of socks.He dismisses the club.  

When the 16th Academy Awards were distributed at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Thursday, March 2, 1944, neither of Welles’ 1943 motion pictures were among the nominees: Jane Eyre and Journey Into Fear, which he also co-directed and co-wrote. Welles shared a 1942 Oscar with Herman Mankiewicz for writing Citizen Kane, a bone of contention between them, since Mankiewicz later claimed he wrote the entire script. The backstory is explored in the modern film Mank (2020). 

Miss Grimace reports that the Hotel Carlton is suing him. After he did a magic show there, the two rabbits ran rampant and did damage! Orson calls the hotel operator (Hans Conried) and learns that the hotel is now called the Carlton Rabbit Farm and the manager’s eyes have turned pink!  Welles asks Miss Grimace to send Lucille Ball roses. Miss Grimace says they are too expensive and he should send her something simpler, like phoenicia vulgaris. Welles says no because it sounds too dirty.  

Here Welles ad libs, causing Agnes Moorehead to break character and laugh. He mentions Lewis Titterton, the NBC censor and says “If you had a name like Louis Titterton anything would sound dirty. Let’s get back to the script.”  They try, but it takes a moment for their laughter to subside. 

A Frenchman from a reducing salon (Hans Conried) approaches him for an estimate on a new body. He measures Welles’ body with a tape measure. He was once the girdle coordinator at Bullocks basement for 15 years. 

FRENCHMAN: “If a size 44 tries to get into a 38, I help push!”

Announcer John McIntire does a live commercial for Mobilgas with some driving tips.  

PART 2

Before a musical introduction, Dr. Snake Oil (Hans Conried) gives a tip about dislodging a fishbone caught in the throat. 

The All-Star Jazz Group plays "Bésame Mucho" ("Kiss me a lot"), a song written in 1940 by Consuelo Velázquez. It is now considered one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and of all times. It is also the most recorded and covered song in Spanish of all time. 

Welles welcomes Lucille Ball to the show to studio audience applause. Welles says he’s written a sketch full of romantic love scenes. Orson improvs a commercial for a sponsor Krunchies, a noisy breakfast cereal that gets soggy in milk. He introduces...

“THE CASE OF THE BLUE BLOOD STAIN”

Orson plays Mickey, a detective on his night off, reading the evening paper. Lucy plays his adoring wife, Dora. 

DORA: “Mickey, where were you last night?” MICKEY: “Don’t be silly, you know how I feel about you. You’re the eighth wonder of the world.” DORA: “Yeah, well, just don’t let me catch you with the other seven, bub!” 

Lounging in bed, Dora feels a cold hand which doesn’t belong to Mickey. She screams! There’s a dead man in their bed. 

MICKEY: “You know how difficult it is to find a room these days.”

Detective Mickey notes that the dead man has 18 knife wounds in him and no holes in his shirt.

DORA: “Must have been an inside job.”

They push the body off the bed and decide to turn out the lights and go to sleep.  In the darkness, they hear a squeaky door. 

WELLES (aside): “Fine thing, a squeaky door in an oil program!” 

The audience loudly applauds this ad-lib by Welles, and even Lucy chuckles.

Dora insists there’s someone in the closet. A body falls out of the closet and onto the floor with a loud thud. Someone throws a rock through their bedroom window with a note on it. 

Except the sound effect of broken glass does not happen. Welles laughs a bit but forges ahead. 

MICKEY (reading the note): “Keep your mouth shut and throw a thousand dollars out of the window or you’ll never get another sounds effect...no, excuse me... or they’ll be four bodies in your room.”

Another rock comes through the window - with a sound effect this time!

MICKEY (reading the note): "PS: I’ll settle for $950.” 

A knock at the front door. 

MICKEY: “That must be the murderer. Come in!  I’ll take that line again: That must be the murderer. Come in!”

The man, Flat Top (Hans Conried), pulls a gun on them and threatens to shoot.  

DORA: “Where’s your patriotism? You can’t shoot him. Don’t you know the government is trying to save waste fats?” 

During World War II, the US government urged Americans to save excess fat rendered from cooking and donate it to the army to produce explosives. Fats are used to make glycerin, and glycerin is used to make things blow up.

As gunfire rings out, Welles does a Krunchies commercial, extolling their virtues with strawberries and cream.

WELLES: “You can have strawberries and cream. What do you need Krunchies for?”

Mickey is bleeding. During the commercial, Mickey has hit Flat Top on the head and called the police!  

John McIntire does a commercial for Mobil Oil. He urges motorists to keep their car oil clean to avoid repairs. 

PART THREE  

Welles introduces Ella Mae Morse, who sings “Shoo-Shoo Baby” backed by the All-Star Jazz Group.

The song was also heard in the 1944 film Follow The Boys aka Three Cheers for the Boys sung by the Andrews Sisters. 

Welles then takes a serious tone, dedicating the show to the premise that ‘every man belongs to all men.’ He reads from “Meditation 17″ by John Donne (1572-1631). 

Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris. Now this bell, tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die. 

All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. And therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all;  Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? But who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world?

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Welles bids the audience goodnight. 

Six for all and all for six

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by Hawkeye_girl

There was an idea. To bring together a group of remarkable people. A group of people who could fight battles ordinary people could never dream of winning. This group was originally made of six persons: Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers and Thor Odinson. There was absolutely nothing ordinary about these persons who were in charge of protecting the world. They had saved Earth several times and had even saved the universe a couple of times, with the help of other superheroes. They represented hope and safety for the citizens of Earth. They were called the Avengers. This should be a day as any other day. However, robots attack New-York City and the Avengers are nowhere to be found.

Words: 4851, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Avengers (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Thor (Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America (Movies), Ant-Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Doctor Strange (2016)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Nick Fury, Sam Wilson (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Scott Lang, Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff, Stephen Strange, James Rhodes, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pietro Maximoff, Gamora (Marvel), Heimdall (Marvel), Loki (Marvel), Vision (Marvel), Laufey (Marvel), Brock Rumlow, Aldrich Killian, Kaecilius (Marvel)

Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster/Thor, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner & Clint Barton & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark & Thor, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers & Thor, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Natasha Romanov, Nick Fury & Peter Parker, Nick Fury & Steve Rogers, Nick Fury & Avengers Team, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Sam Wilson, Clint Barton & Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton & Pietro Maximoff, Clint Barton & Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker, Scott Lang & Peter Parker, Christine Palmer/Stephen Strange, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Laufey & Loki (Marvel), Brock Rumlow & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Brock Rumlow, Gamora/Peter Quill, Wanda Maximoff/Vision

Additional Tags: The Avengers Are Good Bros, The Avengers Need a Hug, Angst, Humor, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Hugs, Panic, Kidnapping, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Hurt Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Hurt Steve Rogers, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Hurt Thor (Marvel), Thor Needs a Hug (Marvel), Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Angst, Hurt Bruce Banner, Protective Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Deaf Clint Barton, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Hurt Clint Barton, Awesome Clint Barton, Protective Clint Barton, Clint Barton Feels, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Protective Nick Fury, Nick Fury Swears, Nick Fury Feels, Parent Nick Fury, Father Figures, Confused Scott Lang, Protective Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug, Hurt Wanda Maximoff, Awesome Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Protective Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Protective Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson is So Done, Frenemies Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Awesome James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Robots, Team as Family, Team Bonding, Team, Teamwork, Team Feels, Team Fluff, Teambuilding, Protective Team

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