#john w.s. hows | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wanderingsorcerer · 9 months

Text

Scrying, A History And Guide To One Of The World's Oldest Practices ~ by W.S

Scrying is a subcategory in the Art of Divination, in its simplest form, scrying is gazing into the surface of an object and allowing the mind to wander, opening oneself up to the other side allowing images and words into your brain from an external non-physical source. Basically Hallucinating Without the use of Drugs.

Scrying Throughout The Ages

Babylonia

Scrying has been practiced for thousands of years. Our modern history holds Babylonia as the earliest written record of the practice, they put water in bowls alongside droplets of oil. This process was known as lecanomancy a subcategory of hydromancy, and the scryers would read the shapes the oil made within the water to divine possible futures or speak with the dead. The practice spread and later it became more common to simply use water as it was a naturally reflective surface.

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible Briefly Goes over an object which is supposedly used for scrying in Chapter 44 of The Book Of Genesis. A silver chalice is placed inside Benjamin's Sack to frame him for theft. In his trial, it is stated that the chalice is used for divination, but in the Book Of Genesis, it is never expressly stated he actually did any Divination.

Ancient Persia

The Ancient Persian Epic The Shahnameh, from the 10th Century, details a mystical object known as The Cup Of Jamshid, which was said to be used by ancient Persian kings to Observe the "Seven Layers Of The Universe". The Cup Of Jamshid is said to have been first used in Persepolis, which existed from 518-330 BCE.

John Dee and Sir Edward Kelley

In 1582, John Dee sought the guidance of one of the most famous scryers of the time Sir. Edward Kelley. It was through his teachings that John Dee was able to crack the code of proper visualization and begin to transcribe what he believed to be the voices of angels. They guided him to create Angelical or as it's known today, Enochian.

Scrying and its modern-day PreConceptions

Scrying has garnered much popularity in Hollywood's portrayal of witches, in the TV Show Charmed, witches use scrying to find lost objects or the location of Demons. In Supernatural it allows for a witch to see things from a great distance away. And while yes it is true that one can hone these skills to a degree of supernatural clarity, I would be lying if I said it was as Visually stunning in real life.

The Reality is in the Modern Era, Scrying allows one to commune with the spirits of their ancestors and commune with the other side just as it has always been. And with those trained in the art of divination, one can read the past and future of a person or kingdom. The theatrics of modern television paint scrying as a showcase of our abilities, but to the uninitiated when they see someone scrying, they are often unprepared for how dull it is. When a person is scrying and is in a trance, their eyes go dead as they allow their mind to wander. These trance states are what allow one to see past the veil and into the supernatural realm. But to external viewers, it is rather boring, to say the least. This is why you won't often see a practitioner scrying in front of people who haven't the foggiest idea of its nuances.

Simple Scrying Ritual For Communing With Ancestral Spirits By W.S

To begin scrying safely one must understand the dangers, you are preparing to go into the world of the supernatural, the things you see can see you as well and you must be aware that they can leave a permanent scar on your psyche if abused in any manner. Go into it with wards up and confidence in your abilities.

This scrying ritual is used to commune with the spirits of one's own ancestors and when done properly can allow you to have conversations and get advice from them.

Opus Est

Patience

Candle

Dark Room

Mirror

Sacred Water

Oil

Salt

Before anything, one must prep the mirror for communing with the Ancestral Spirits, To do this mix together one part water, salt, and oil into a slurry. Dipping the left ring finger into the mixture begin drawing the pentacle in each corner of the mirror, connecting each pentacle with a line following the edge of the mirror as shown below

As you are drawing on the pentacles, feel free to use the below chant, but you may change it to your liking so long as the main goals are the same.

" Lock This Mirror, Lock It Tight, Lock it now with sacred light. Let only those whom I call, Answer Me to give me guidance. May no evil enter through this portal, and may no unnamed spirit answer my calls. As I have said it so it has always been."

The mirror is now prepped for the ritual, the next step is to create a salt circle where you are going to be seated. As well as a secondary salt circle surrounding the candle and mirror. These salt circles are an extra step of protection between yourself and the spiritual realm.

The next step is to darken the room, as dark as possible, pitch black is best. From there, place the candle in front of the mirror and ignite it, then begin the process of staring into the mirror. Watch as the candle shifts shadows around and brings new shapes to the surface.

After about 10-30 minutes your body will begin to go into a trance state of mind, from there you can call upon the name of one of your ancestors to help guide you. It may not be immediate as scrying takes years to master but after a few tries you should begin to see their faces and hear their voice.

Scrying sessions can be anywhere from a few minutes, to several hours or even days from some accounts. Don't be frustrated if nothing happens your first time. And most importantly, always remember to thank the spirits for their time and energy, and always remember to say goodbye when you blow out the candle.

After each use feel free to cleanse the mirror with sacred water and store the mirror in a sacred space.

Post Script

Scrying isn't for everyone and that's okay. It takes patience and an open mind, but if you decide to give it a try it can do wonders for your spiritual practice.I hope I was able to teach you something new, Until next time my Friends :)

Thank you for sitting down and having Tea with me on the Other side of the Great Divide

☕ Like My Blog? Then consider buying me a Ko-Fi ☕

208 notes · View notes

april-is · 5 days

Text

April 24, 2024: How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This, Hanif Abdurraqib

How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This Hanif Abdurraqib

dear reader, with our heels digging into the good mud at a swamp’s edge, you might tell me something about the dandelion & how it is not a flower itself but a plant made up of several small flowers at its crown & lord knows I have been called by what I look like more than I have been called by what I actually am & I wish to return the favor for the purpose of this exercise. which, too, is an attempt at fashioning something pretty out of seeds refusing to make anything worthwhile of their burial. size me up & skip whatever semantics arrive to the tongue first. say: that boy he look like a hollowed-out grandfather clock. he look like a million-dollar god with a two-cent heaven. like all it takes is one kiss & before morning, you could scatter his whole mind across a field.

From the poet:

“I was at a reading shortly after the [2016] election, and the poet (who was black) was reading gorgeous poems, which had some consistent and exciting flower imagery. A woman (who was white) behind me—who thought she was whispering to her neighbor—said ‘How can black people write about flowers at a time like this?’ I thought it was so absurd in a way that didn’t make me angry but made me curious. What is the black poet to be writing about ‘at a time like this’ if not to dissect the attractiveness of a flower—that which can arrive beautiful and then slowly die right before our eyes? I thought flowers were the exact thing to write about at a time like this, so I began this series of poems, all with the same title. I thought it was much better to grasp a handful of different flowers, put them in a glass box, and see how many angles I could find in our shared eventual demise.” —Hanif Abdurraqib

Today in:

2023: Lit, Andrea Cohen 2022: Meditations in an Emergency, Cameron Awkward-Rich 2021: How the Trees on Summer Nights Turn into a Dark River, Barbara Crooker 2020: Ash, Tracy K. Smith 2019: Under Stars, Dorianne Laux 2018: Afterlife, Natalie Eilbert 2017: There Are Birds Here, Jamaal May 2016: Poetry, Richard Kenney 2015: Dreaming at the Ballet, Jack Gilbert 2014: Vocation, Sandra Beasley 2013: Near the Race Track, Brigit Pegeen Kelly 2012: from Ask Him, Raymond Carver 2011: Sweet Star Chisel, Dearest Flaming Crumbs in Your Beard Lord, John Rybicki 2010: Rain Travel, W.S. Merwin 2009: Goodnight, Li-Young Lee 2008: Bearhug, Michael Ondaatje 2007: Meditation at Lagunitas, Robert Hass 2006: Autumn, Rainer Maria Rilke 2005: On Turning Ten, Billy Collins

#nature #poetry #poem #race #bipoc poet #hanif abdurraqib

44 notes · View notes

girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 1 month

Text

tuesday again 3/19/2024

boy hope i never run out of zelda games to play or my mental health is going to Tank. there are very vague endgame stuff spoilers (not where zelda is, but some of the time fuckery) but i am going to spoil a bit of the rito sage quest. nothing is rot-13'ed. i feel like that's a fair compromise since this game has been out for about a year? please let me know YOUR opinions on recent game spoilers

listening

Thanks A Lot But No Thanks from the 1955 musical It's Always Fair Weather, sung by Dolores Grey. this was Dolores Grey propaganda in the @hotvintagepoll. i love a sugar baby song and this is sort of an. anti-sugar-baby song? a satitrical sugar baby song? she thanks suitors for increasingly improbable gifts (the state of Maine, et al) before killing them??

the PIPES on this woman!!! the comedic timing!!! she pulls out a gun and shoots suitors dead while thanking them for an autographed picture of john wayne!!! she pulls a big lever and they all fall under the stage!!! ive been having kind of a Time in the depths of unemployment and this made me genuinely laugh (not one short sharp bark of laughter, full on cackling).

youtube

thanks for the darling uranium mine indeed

reading

the moonstone by wilkie collins (and philip). this has been my falling asleep reading book. this is decidedly not a cozy mystery but the stakes are not like. so high i have to keep reading through the night to find out what happens. i'm having a good time with it, currently about halfway and still very irritated with rachel, the main character right now. i have not revised my "spoiled brat" opinion and i look forward to seeing if i ever revise it.

watching

The Three Musketeers (2011, dir. Paul W.S. Anderson). thank you mackintosh (this is a discard from my hometown library and no one needs to know where that is thanks). it's pretty widely available on free platforms rn which is how you know it's good. it's not Good is the thing but it is extremely fun. it is straight up the three musketeers but with an airship. milla jovovich jumps off an airship into the channel. milla jovovich does some assassins creed shit. luke evans does some assassins creed shit. there is an airship fight and an airship chase. it is So cheesy and unfortunately never got another sequel. it also inexplicably has some of the finest cinematic swordfighting since the golden age of hollywood.

this was a really successful impromptu movie night pick for a more widely varied gang than usual, including some teens. my bestie also enjoyed it, which i am So pleased by bc she has extremely exacting movie taste. this cast is so stacked for no good reason: orlando bloom, luke evans, christoph waltz, mads mikkelsen, matthew macfayden...

playing

i have a post in my head about breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom and their dialogue with each other about loss and grief, but i think that's going to have to wait until i have a little bit more brainpower. perhaps i can talk a little bit about how they make me feel about loss and grief, and how i was upset for zelda and her hundred-year siege in the last one but i am so so so desperately sad for zelda in tears of the kingdom.

i played through breath of the wild with a constant background sense of loss and grief. this is only partially due to the real-life severe depression and joblessness. i think this is a personal brain thing and not a game thing, but i did feel guilty when fucking around in breath of the wild and not actively doing main quests to save zelda. like i would look at the castle off in the distance and feel kind of bad. the champions (and zelda!) telling link as soon as physically possible that it wasn't his fault made me cry in real life every time. i get it's like a month max of in-universe time between games, but it still feels like he has once again missed SO much. i think this is sort of a larger symptom of depression in that i look at [REDACTED] in tears of the kingdom and get a bit hopeless about [REDACTED] and it's like. well i might as well go pick golden apples and not do main quests. time is meaningless.

i am really glad they kept the shrine of resurrection on the plateau in tears of the kingdom. if that hadn't been there i the player would have felt very unmoored. i cannot begin to think how unreal and depersonalized it would have made link feel.

enough of that! the hero's path function is so funny. there are such huge swathes of the map i looked at and said No Thanks! Not Yet!

my depths map is even funnier. eight lightroots so far. no thank you! too scary still! i thought until VERY RECENTLY that all the caves and wells led to the depths and was avoiding them. mistake! cool shit in caves and wells! some horrible boys as well but they are vastly outnumbered by the cool shit.

the rito sage quest fucked SO severely. i had so much fucking fun with that boss fight even though it took me a real life two hours to get up to the arena with the puzzles to unlock the boss fight. i also surprised myself and did not have to look up how to beat any of the puzzles or the boss! just entered a state of flow and looked up and it was three hours later! i know a lot of people are very grumpy about how this was not a totally new game with a totally new map, but i have nothing but praise for the mechanics in this completely new section. knocked my socks off. made me think but wasn't too frustrating. made me use all my powers and all my weapon types. it was simply a great deal of almost frictionless fun! some over the top sick as shit stuff that is the whole point of video games as a medium imo

unlocked all the geoglyphs and i am Upset. i am UPSET.

and now for some horse talk (TM): i kept the very first horse i caught out of nostalgia even though these stats are not very good. i think the naming scheme for this game will be H (the last game was C). the breath of the wild giant ganon horse is so funny. you can't do shit with this horse. you can't change the mane. you can't change the tack. you can't increase his stats. he's just There. Large.

tangential horse talk: why is this lynel in the wetlands. his feathering and fetlocks are going to rot off. he is going to founder

some places ASCEND works where i didn't expect it to: tree. water you can stand in.

i stumbled across the last power completely accidentally while trying to deliver some eyes to a mysterious god and this was so fucking funny. i DID throw this guy down a big pit in the last game and he never came back. i forgot about that.

also people were fucking gaga for rauru but why didn't i see people talking about either of these two last summer on this, the -girl affix site and the scruffy shredded boy site

some other bits and bobs:

i was so annoyed patricia was part of the compendium in the last game i fucking got her this time ok

very hashtag relatable languages moment

unrelated to either of those things, i have done the gerudo sage quest except for the boss battle and i missed two huge swathes of hashtag tunnel gameplay (going to find riju through the tunnels. simply went overland) and getting to the central temple chamber (simply used ascend). whoops

there's a little tower concept art piece in purah's room in the ancient lab! that's a fun little touch i really love, it really helps differentiate the games and show changes in the overworld between games in a very cheap and east way for the devs

bc i play these games like dressup simulators, i also want to note that misko's tents are also really fun, they really feel like they're from a much earlier era and i'm stumbling across an untouched archaeological site

making

garden update: growing along okay, it has been so so so wet lately and i should have bitten the bullet and bought the big expensive bag of perlite, the drainage is not terrific. i should elevate all the planters and that would help a bit too. tomatoes are bit leggy, i moved them out of the partial shade on the end of the balcony and in front of the window. i am a bit concerned about them getting scorched, but again it's been so wet lately they need all the help they can get. i feel like they're established enough to be pruned a bit to make them bushier but i am Afraid. there are worse things in life than leggy tomatoes

the pic on the left below: these bush beans are looking a bit strange as well. the four shorter ones came up, promptly withered their cotyledons, and i thought they died until they popped out their first true leaves. the larger ones i think may have some kind of mosaic virus but it's a little early to tell. these are bins that haven't been used outside (they stored clothes in for the move) and new dirt from home depot. either the dirt or the seed stock itself may have been infected? very strange. the cucumbers in the bin in the back (hidden by the beans) are also taking forever to get going. at least the sweet peas are doing fine. the spinach i planted in that back bin withered where the stems met the soil and died. i think it was simply to early and too damp for them.

anyway on the right pic above: these normie peas and normie climbing beans seem to be doing fine. that's dill in the gray pot and basil in the bucket, they also seem to be doing fine. just sort of a perplexing corner on the other side of the balcony.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

31 notes · View notes

thesludgeofbabylon · 1 year

Text

Top 100 Films

Just wanted to put this somewhere for the sake of documentation, might do this once a year to see how much the overall list changes.

Not ranked, but the list is done by release date, earliest to most recent. Includes short and feature length films (plus one TV series, and two serials, if you want to be specific):

• The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), dir. D.W. Griffith

• Fantômas (1913), dir. Louis Feuillade

• Les Vampires (1915), dir. Louis Feuillade

• The Doll (1919), dir. Ernst Lubitsch

• Foolish Wives (1922), dir. Erich von Stroheim

• Sherlock, Jr. (1924), dir. Buster Keaton

• Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge (1924), dir. Fritz Lang

• Greed (1924), dir. Erich von Stroheim

• The Last Laugh (1924), dir. F. W. Murnau

• The Gold Rush (1925), dir. Charlie Chaplin

• The General (1926), dir. Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), dir. F. W. Murnau

• The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

• The Docks of New York (1928), dir. Josef von Sternberg

• The Wedding March (1928), dir. Erich von Stroheim

• Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Dziga Vertov

• M (1931), dir. Fritz Lang

• Vampyr (1932), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), dir. Mervyn LeRoy

• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), dir. Mervyn LeRoy, Bubsy Berkeley

• L’Atalante (1934), dir. Jean Vigo

• The Scarlet Empress (1934), dir. Josef von Sternberg

• The Thin Man (1934), dir. W.S. Van Dyke

• The Only Son (1936), dir. Yasujirō Ozu

• Citizen Kane (1941), dir. Orson Welles

• Now, Voyager (1942), dir. Irving Rapper

• Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), dir. Maya Deren

• Day of Wrath (1943), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

• At Land (1944), dir. Maya Deren

• Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944), dir. Sergei Eisenstein

• Notorious (1946), dir. Alfred Hitchcock

• Sunset Boulevard (1950), dir. Billy Wilder

• Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953), dir. Jacques Tati

• The Wages of Fear (1953), dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot

• The Big Heat (1953), dir. Fritz Lang

• The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), dir. Kenneth Anger

• Rear Window (1954), dir. Alfred Hitchcock

• Ordet (1955), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

• A Man Escaped (1956), dir. Robert Bresson

• Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars’ Plot (1958), dir. Sergei Eisenstein

• La Dolce Vita (1960), dir. Federico Fellini

• L’Avventura (1960), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

• La Notte (1961), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

• L’Eclisse (1962), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

• The Exterminating Angel (1962), dir. Luis Buñuel

• Mothlight (1963), dir. Stan Brakhage

• Red Desert (1964), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

• Gertrud (1964), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

• The War Game (1966), dir. Peter Watkins

• Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), dir. Robert Bresson

• Daisies (1966), dir. Věra Chytilová

• Lemon (1969), dir. Hollis Frampton

• The Conformist (1970), dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), dir. Luis Buñuel

• F for Fake (1973), dir. Orson Welles

• Lancelot of the Lake (1974), dir. Robert Bresson

• A Woman Under the Influence (1974), dir. John Cassavetes

• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). dir. Tobe Hooper

• House (1977), dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi

• Stalker (1979), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

• Nostalgia (1983), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

• L’Argent (1983), dir. Robert Bresson

• Blue Velvet (1986), dir. David Lynch

• Heathers (1989), dir. Michael Lehmann

• Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), dir. Hayao Miyazaki

• Baraka (1992), dir. Ron Fricke

• Satantango (1994), dir. Béla Tarr

• A Confucian Confusion (1994), dir. Edward Yang

• Chungking Express (1994), dir. Wong Kar-Wai

• Ed Wood (1994), dir. Tim Burton

• Whisper of the Heart (1995), dir. Yoshifumi Kondo

• Showgirls (1995), dir. Paul Verhoeven

• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997), dir. Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki

• Gummo (1997), dir. Harmony Korine

• The Big Lebowski (1998), dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

• Outer Space (1999), dir. Peter Tscherkassky

• Beau Travail (1999), dir. Claire Denis

• Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), dir. Harmony Korine

• Yi Yi (2000), dir. Edward Yang

• Dancer in the Dark (2000), dir. Lars von Trier

• The Piano Teacher (2001), dir. Michael Haneke

• Mulholland Drive (2001), dir. David Lynch

• What Time Is It There? (2001), dir. Tsai Ming-liang

• Memories of Murder (2003), dir. Bong Joon-ho

• The Matrix Reloaded (2003), dir. Lily Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

• The Village (2004), dir. M. Night Shyamalan

• Caché (2005), dir. Michael Haneke

• Southland Tales (2006), dir. Richard Kelly

• Inland Empire (2006), dir. David Lynch

• Zodiac (2007), dir. David Fincher

• The White Ribbon (2009), dir. Michael Haneke

• The Turin Horse (2011), dir. Béla Tarr

• Five Broken Cameras (2012), dir. Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi

• The Master (2012), dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

• Spring Breakers (2012), dir. Harmony Korine

• Song to Song (2017), dir. Terrence Malick

• Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), dir. David Lynch

• The Favourite (2018), dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), dir. Céline Sciamma

• We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021), dir. Jane Schoenbrun

(10/4/23)

#favourite films #top 100 #ranking #films #world cinema #classic hollywood #arthouse #list

17 notes · View notes

crowdvscritic · 2 months

Text

round up // FEBRUARY 24

In some ways, February is a manifestation of Crowd vs. Critic.

Each year Vulture updates an article called "Which January at the Movies Was the Most January?" When I stumbled upon it this month, I couldn’t believe how closely it captured a phenomenon I was already thinking about: “January at the movies is a tale of two seasons. It’s the month where Oscar contenders traditionally open nationwide, allowing moviegoers across the country to experience the best that Hollywood has to offer. But for that reason, it’s also the month where the rest of the industry tries to stay out of the way, offering a mixture of counterprogramming and low-risk fare — we’re talking horror films, inexplicable sequels, and lots of movies about grim middle-aged men firing guns.”

From there, Vulture attempts to rank every January in recent memory by their bad movie slates, but my follow up question is, why stop at January? “Dumpuary” does not end January 31st—I’m not even sure it ends on February 29th. Pardon my French, but I’ve watched a lot of doggerel this month so mediocre it’s not worth recommending here. However, February is also Oscar prep season. I’ve spent the month reading more deeply about the nominated films and planning my annual Oscar watch party. And because I’m caught up on nominated films and there are so few new releases worth checking out, I’m creating a watchlist of classics I’ve missed. This year I’ve decided to dig into films recommended in TCM’s The Essential Directors by Sloan De Forest, which I recommended during Dumpuary 2022. I just finished the book’s top picks from Steven Spielberg's filmography, and before the year’s end, my goal is to complete their recommendations from Mel Brooks, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Michael Curtiz, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, Ida Lupino, Oscar Micheaux, Sidney Lumet, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Elaine May, Leo McCarey, Vincente Minnelli, Martin Scorsese, Douglas Sirk, Preston Sturges, W.S. Van Dyke, Billy Wilder, and Robert Wise. (Full disclosure: for most of them, I only have one or two titles to go.)

So please enjoy a Round Up of recommendations featuring several of those directors and Britney Spears, as well as a book of interviews with Oscar winners and a Bennifer marathon. Plus, a Leap Day bonus with a Finnish flair!

February Crowd-Pleasers

1. Scary Movie 3 (2003)

Because sometimes you don’t want to laugh with something sophisticated—sometimes you want to laugh at something stupid. After years of my brother recommending something I wouldn’t peg as my taste, I finally checked out this spoof of 8 Mile, American Idol, The Ring, Signs, and more things that were extremely popular in 2003. I doubt future generations will find much to appreciate here, but this Millennial got a kick from the nostalgia and the stupid humor courtesy of Anna Faris Regina Hall, Leslie Nielsen, Simon Rex, and Charlie Sheen. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6/10

2. Catwoman (2004)

This movie is not good, but is it objectively way better and way more fun than The Flash? I’d rather have this silly, superficially-girl-power trash than that self-serious Flash trash any day. The Razzies did not deserve this movie! Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5.5/10

3. Bennifer Marathon!

It's a real If You Give a Mouse a Cookie situation. After you go to a screening of This Is Me…Now: A Love Story (2024), you're going to need to watch the behind-the-scenes documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told and listen to Jennifer Lopez’s new album This Is Me…Now on repeat. You're also going to decide you need to watch Jersey Girl (2004) and Halftime (2022) because you can never have too much of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez! (I also watched Gigli and What to Expect When You’re Expecting, but these Round Ups only focus on pop culture I recommend.) What can I say? I’m rooting for love!

I reviewed J. Lo’s new music film for ZekeFilm, which explores her public history in a personal, musical romantic comedy. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10

4. Crossroads (2002)

Zoe Saldana camping in curlers: To me, that is cinema! Like Catwoman, this Lifetime-movie-meets-Britney-Spears-star-vehicle is not good, but it is a perfect sleepover movie. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10

5. The Beekeeper (2024)

I look forward to 30 years from now when I am a Turner Classic Movies host and introduce this movie 12 times in a single calendar year:

January: Star of the Month Jason Statham

February: Star of the Month Josh Hutcherson

March: 31 Days of Oscar - Movies that would be Oscar-nominated if the Academy had a Best Stunts category

April: Special Theme - Vigilante Justice (Lee Marvin makes an appearance, too)

May: Mother's Day marathon (between The Manchurian Candidate and Psycho)

June: Birthday Tribute - Phylicia Rashad (leading into a Creed marathon)

July: Guest Programmer Pick - Bona fide action star is promoting his new artistic action blockbuster and calls Statham one of his inspirations

August: Summer Under the Stars - Day 23 devoted to Minnie Driver (airing before Good Will Hunting)

September: Birthday Tribute - Jeremy Irons (airing after The Mission)

October: Spotlight - Secret organizations (showing right before The Parallax View)

November: Diane Warren Tribute - she finally won her Oscar for her theme for The Beekeeper 2

December: Primetime Theme - Bees (in marathon with Akeelah and the Bee, The Bee Movie, The Secret Life of Bees, The Wicker Man, and for some reason Beetlejuice)

Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

More February Crowd-Pleasers: Cold Pursuit (2019) is the platonic ideal of a Liam Neeson’s formulaic thrillers // I would’ve been obsessed with the martial arts mayhem of Bulletproof Monk (2003) if I had seen it when I was 12 // Not everything in the corporate satire Head Office (1985) works, but what does is savage // When Book of the Month announced The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak (2023) as a selection just a few weeks after my first trip to Finland, I immediately knew my November pick. This Jason Bourne/Jack Ryan-esque spy thriller didn’t disappoint. (More on my trip to Finland below!) // Though the politics of The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) have aged poorly, it’s the most thrilling movie about killing lions I’ve seen since The Lion King

February Critic Picks

1. The Teachers’ Lounge (2023)

If you’ve ever survived an anxiety-fueled environment driven by politics, prejudice, or, frankly, middle schoolers, Germany’s nominee for Best International Feature at the Oscars will ring true. Read my full review for ZekeFilm. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

2. 50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars & Filmmakers on Their Career-Defining Wins by Dave Karger (2024)

Let me repeat what I said last month: The Turner Classic Movies Library has yet to miss! In TCM host Dave Karger’s new book, he interviews 50 different winners from Oscar ceremonies as far back as 1962 about what the award means to them and how it has impacted their careers. This breezy read digs into the inspirations, outfits, and relationships of Nicole Kidman, John Legend, Rita Moreno, Meryl Streep, Sofia Coppola, and more, and you can find all of the films featured on my Letterboxd list.

3. Double Feature - Legal Dramas: The Verdict (1982) + Class Action (1991)

In The Verdict (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10), Paul Newman is a jaded ambulance chaser who happens on a medical malpractice suit that might be his best case in years. In Class Action (8.5/10 // 8/10), Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are a father and daughter facing off in a courtroom centered on a car manufacturer’s potential negligence. Both are excellent legal genre examples and excellent opportunities to let their actors cook.

4. Good Reads

Lately, I’ve been reading about…

…2023 in Review:

“Biggest Hollywood Winners and Losers 2023: From Margot Robbie to Marvel,” HollywoodReport.com (2023)

“Taylor Swift Is TIME's 2023 Person of the Year,” time.com (2023)

“Goodbye DC Extended Universe: We Hardly Knew You (Yet We Knew You Too Well),” HollywoodReporter.com (2023)

…our current Awards Season:

“Critic’s Notebook: A Flailing, Fun-Free 2024 Golden Globes Telecast,” HollywoodReporter.com (2024)

“The Golden Globes Should Just Forget About Hosts,” VanityFair.com (2024)

“Barbie Is Adapted? Maestro Original? Let’s Fix the Screenplay Categories,” NYTimes.com (2024)

“Anatomy of a Fail: Inside France’s Dysfunctional Oscar Committee,” variety.com (2024)

…big cultural shifts:

“A Shift in American Family Values Is Fueling Estrangement,” TheAtlantic.com (2021)

“The Great Freight-Train Heists of the 21st Century,” NYTimes.com (2024)

"A ‘Failure to Launch’: Why Young People are Having Less Sex,” LATimes.com (2023)

“From Swiping to Sexting: The Enduring Gender Divide in American Dating and Relationships,” AmericanSurveyCenter.org (2023)

…and a hodge podge of other things:

“An Oral History of ‘Washington’s Dream,’ the Best SNL Sketch in Years,” IndieWire.com (2023)

“Panera’s 'Lemonade That Kills You' Is Really a Story About Our Broken Country," slate.com (2023)

“Annie Meyers-Shyer’s Holiday-Decorating Handbook,” NYMag.com (2023)

“Madeleine Albright Has Sent Some Very Spicy Messages Through Her Accessories,” InStyle.com (2021)

“The Crown and What the U.K. Royal Family Would Like Us to Forget,” NYTimes.com (2023)

“What Did Dakota Johnson Actually Say?” HollywoodReporter.com (2024)

“Why Deleting and Destroying Finished Movies Like Coyote vs Acme Should Be a Crime,” RogerEbert.com (2024)

More February Critic Picks: Even if Love Affair (1939) hadn’t inspired An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle, it would still be an all-time romance // In Lured (1947), Lucille Ball gets dramatic as she looks for love and her best friend’s killer // No Way Out (1950) is a stellar character drama and thriller thanks to Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark // You can’t be sore at the heightened emotion in Manhattan Melodrama (1934)—it’s right in the name! // The Trouble With Angels (1966) is The Holdovers but for the girlies // Gosford Park (2001) isn’t an Agatha Christie adaptation but it’s a worthy imitator // The Bigamist (1953) proves thrillers can be short and sweet // I love a juicy behind-the-scenes melodrama like The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) // Are you surprised that The Color Purple (1985) moved me to tears? // Though it took me a few scenes to acclimate to the rhythms of the Company National Tour, are you surprised the music of Stephen Sondheim won me over?

Leap Day Bonus

In 2020, my Leap Day Bonus was a Jonas Brothers music video I’d forgotten to mention in my January Round Up. This year, I’m using it make up for forgetting to mention…my entire trip to Finland? (I'm blaming it on the fog of the holidays and Awards Season kicking into high gear when I was writing my October Round Up.) These are the top cultural spots my sister and I found in Helsinki and Rovaniemi…

Temppeliaukion Kirkko - In their Ultimate Travel book, Lonely Planet calls this one of the top 500 places to see in the world. I’m not sure I’d rank it that high (even if I’ve yet to see a lot of the world), but it was worth a stop. Built in 1969 into a rock that split during the Ice Age, it is an architectural feat with amazing acoustics.

Anteneum Art Museum - This national gallery houses Finnish art classics

Finnkino Movie Theater - The real highlight of checking out Finland’s cinema was not watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with Finnish and Swedish subtitles but it’s insane candy bar!

Santa Claus Village - If you can embrace a tourist trap, this one is worth the trip to the Arctic Circle. Meet Santa, feed his reindeer, and get lost in the kitschy gift shops in this acres-wide complex

Dog sledding - We hopped on a buggy pulled by eight of the goodest dogs courtesy of Bearhill Husky—a dream come true!

Arktikum - This science museum in Rovaniemi dives into the history and culture of Lapland (northern Finland)

Marimekko - This Finnish designer is chock full of mod florals, and we budget travelers found great deals at the outlet in Helsinki

Porvoo - This little town just a bus ride from Helsinki is filled with picturesque wooden houses, cutesy shops, and historical home museums

We visited Finland in the autumn, which is tourist off-season, but we’re not sure why—it’s beautiful! Whenever you choose to go, be sure to indulge in a korvapuusti ja kahvi (cinnamon roll and coffee) in one of their many kahvilat (coffee shops)!

Also in February…

On KMOV, I did my best to sum up why Casablanca is a perfect Valentine’s movie, and then I squeezed in a short review of Argylle, which is not so much a perfect Valentine’s movie.

I also reviewed Argylle in more depth for ZekeFilm, and the piece turned into a lament for for its failure to follow through on a great premise.

I added two more entries to my Best Picture Project this month! I continued on with 1944's Going My Way, which is a feel-good story about the power of music starring Bing Crosby, and last year’s winner Everything Everywhere All at Once, which is a weird story about the power of googly eyes.

Photo credits: 50 Oscar Nights, Good Reads. Finland my own. All others IMDb.com.

1 note · View note

zenblonde · 3 months

Text

Award Season is among us. Our reviewer Actor, Producer and Journalist Alex von Roon can't wait to check out the contenders starting off with HBO' s "Succession". How do you like Alexander as "Ken" in the Hit Movie "Barbie"? Von Roon did work with the director before and enjoyed her performance in "Greenberg"

For "Bild am Sonntag" Alex also met SAG Award nominee Tony Shalhoub on set in his trailer. Some comments were very interesting. We wonder how Mr. Monk would deal with a pandemic such as Corona.

Below please find the complete list of nominations courtesy of SAGAFTRA. Which are your favorites? Comment below.

SAG AWARDS NOMINATIONS 2024

The Motion Picture Nominees are:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role BRADLEY COOPER / Leonard Bernstein - "MAESTRO" COLMAN DOMINGO / Bayard Rustin - "RUSTIN" PAUL GIAMATTI / Paul Hunham - "THE HOLDOVERS" CILLIAN MURPHY / J. Robert Oppenheimer - "OPPENHEIMER" JEFFREY WRIGHT / Thelonious "Monk" Ellison - "AMERICAN FICTION"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role ANNETTE BENING / Diana Nyad - "NYAD" LILY GLADSTONE / Mollie Burkhart - "KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON" CAREY MULLIGAN / Felicia Montealegre - "MAESTRO" MARGOT ROBBIE / Barbie - "BARBIE" EMMA STONE / Bella Baxter - "POOR THINGS"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role STERLING K. BROWN / Clifford Ellison - "AMERICAN FICTION" WILLEM DAFOE / Godwin Baxter - "POOR THINGS" ROBERT DE NIRO / William Hale - "KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON" ROBERT DOWNEY JR. / Lewis Strauss - "OPPENHEIMER" RYAN GOSLING / Ken - "BARBIE"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role EMILY BLUNT / Kitty Oppenheimer - "OPPENHEIMER" DANIELLE BROOKS / Sofia - "THE COLOR PURPLE" PENÉLOPE CRUZ / Laura Ferrari - "FERRARI" JODIE FOSTER / Bonnie Stoll - "NYAD" DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH / Mary Lamb - "THE HOLDOVERS"

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture AMERICAN FICTION ERIKA ALEXANDER / Coraline ADAM BRODY / Wiley Valdespino STERLING K. BROWN / Clifford Ellison KEITH DAVID / Willy the Wonker JOHN ORTIZ / Arthur ISSA RAE / Sintara Golden TRACEE ELLIS ROSS / Lisa Ellison LESLIE UGGAMS / Agnes Ellison JEFFREY WRIGHT / Thelonious "Monk" Ellison

BARBIE MICHAEL CERA / Allan WILL FERRELL / Mattel CEO AMERICA FERRERA / Gloria RYAN GOSLING / Ken ARIANA GREENBLATT / Sasha KATE MCKINNON / Barbie HELEN MIRREN / Narrator RHEA PERLMAN / Ruth ISSA RAE / Barbie MARGOT ROBBIE / Barbie

THE COLOR PURPLE HALLE BAILEY / Young Nettie FANTASIA BARRINO / Celie JON BATISTE / Grady DANIELLE BROOKS / Sofia CIARA / Nettie COLMAN DOMINGO / Mister AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR / Mama LOUIS GOSSETT, JR. / Ol' Mister COREY HAWKINS / Harpo TARAJI P. HENSON / Shug Avery PHYLICIA PEARL MPASI / Young Celie GABRIELLA WILSON "H.E.R." / Squeak

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON TANTOO CARDINAL / Lizzie Q ROBERT DE NIRO / William Hale LEONARDO DICAPRIO / Ernest Burkhart BRENDAN FRASER / W.S. Hamilton LILY GLADSTONE / Mollie Burkhart JOHN LITHGOW / Prosecutor Peter Leaward JESSE PLEMONS / Tom White

OPPENHEIMER CASEY AFFLECK / Boris Pash EMILY BLUNT / Kitty Oppenheimer KENNETH BRANAGH / Niels Bohr MATT DAMON / Leslie Groves ROBERT DOWNEY JR. / Lewis Strauss JOSH HARTNETT / Ernest Lawrence RAMI MALEK / David Hill CILLIAN MURPHY / J. Robert Oppenheimer FLORENCE PUGH / Jean Tatlock

The Television Program Nominees are:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series MATT BOMER / Hawkins "Hawk" Fuller - "FELLOW TRAVELERS" JON HAMM / Roy Tillman - "FARGO" DAVID OYELOWO / Bass Reeves - "LAWMEN: BASS REEVES" TONY SHALHOUB / Adrian Monk - "MR. MONK'S LAST CASE: A MONK MOVIE" STEVEN YEUN / Danny Cho - "BEEF"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series UZO ADUBA / Edie Flowers - "PAINKILLER" KATHRYN HAHN / Clare Pierce - "TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS" BRIE LARSON / Elizabeth Zott - "LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY" BEL POWLEY / Miep Gies - "A SMALL LIGHT" ALI WONG / Amy Lau - "BEEF"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series BRIAN COX / Logan Roy - "SUCCESSION" BILLY CRUDUP / Cory Ellison - "THE MORNING SHOW" KIERAN CULKIN / Roman Roy - "SUCCESSION" MATTHEW MACFADYEN / Tom Wambsgans - "SUCCESSION" PEDRO PASCAL / Joel - "THE LAST OF US"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series JENNIFER ANISTON / Alex Levy - "THE MORNING SHOW" ELIZABETH DEBICKI / Princess Diana - "THE CROWN" BELLA RAMSEY / Ellie - "THE LAST OF US" KERI RUSSELL / Kate Wyler - "THE DIPLOMAT" SARAH SNOOK / Shiv Roy - "SUCCESSION"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series BRETT GOLDSTEIN / Roy Kent - "TED LASSO" BILL HADER / Barry - "BARRY" EBON MOSS-BACHRACH / Richard "Richie" Jerimovich - "THE BEAR" JASON SUDEIKIS / Ted Lasso - "TED LASSO" JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto - "THE BEAR"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series ALEX BORSTEIN / Susie Myerson - "THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL" RACHEL BROSNAHAN / Miriam "Midge" Maisel - "THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL" QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues - "ABBOTT ELEMENTARY" AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu - "THE BEAR" HANNAH WADDINGHAM / Rebecca Welton - "TED LASSO"

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

THE CROWN KHALID ABDALLA / Dodi Fayed SEBASTIAN BLUNT / Prince Edward BERTIE CARVEL / Tony Blair SALIM DAW / Mohamed Al Fayed ELIZABETH DEBICKI / Princess Diana LUTHER FORD / Prince Harry CLAUDIA HARRISON / Princess Anne LESLEY MANVILLE / Princess Margaret ED MCVEY / Prince William JAMES MURRAY / Prince Andrew JONATHAN PRYCE / Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh IMELDA STAUNTON / Queen Elizabeth II MARCIA WARREN / Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother DOMINIC WEST / Prince Charles OLIVIA WILLIAMS / Camilla Parker Bowles

THE GILDED AGE BEN AHLERS / Jack ASHLIE ATKINSON / Mamie Fish CHRISTINE BARANSKI / Agnes van Rhijn DENÉE BENTON / Peggy Scott NICOLE BRYDON BLOOM / Maud Beaton MICHAEL CERVERIS / Watson CARRIE COON / Bertha Russell KELLEY CURRAN / Mrs. Winterton TAISSA FARMIGA / Gladys Russell DAVID FURR / Dashiell Montgomery JACK GILPIN / Church WARD HORTON / Charles Fane LOUISA JACOBSON / Marian Brook SIMON JONES / Bannister SULLIVAN JONES / T. Thomas Fortune CELIA KEENAN-BOLGER / Mrs. Bruce NATHAN LANE / Ward McAllister MATILDA LAWLER / Frances Montgomery ROBERT SEAN LEONARD / Luke Forte AUDRA MCDONALD / Dorothy Scott DEBRA MONK / Armstrong DONNA MURPHY / Mrs. Astor KRISTINE NIELSEN / Mrs. Bauer CYNTHIA NIXON / Ada Brook KELLI O'HARA / Aurora Fane PATRICK PAGE / Richard Clay HARRY RICHARDSON / Larry Russell TAYLOR RICHARDSON / Bridget BLAKE RITSON / Oscar van Rhijn JEREMY SHAMOS / Mr. Gilbert DOUGLAS SILLS / Borden MORGAN SPECTOR / George Russell JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON / Arthur Scott ERIN WILHELMI / Adelheid

THE LAST OF US PEDRO PASCAL / Joel BELLA RAMSEY / Ellie

THE MORNING SHOW JENNIFER ANISTON / Alex Levy NICOLE BEHARIE / Christina Hunter SHARI BELAFONTE / Julia NESTOR CARBONELL / Yanko Flores BILLY CRUDUP / Cory Ellison MARK DUPLASS / Chip Black JON HAMM / Paul Marks THEO IYER / Kyle HANNAH LEDER / Isabella GRETA LEE / Stella Bak JULIANNA MARGULIES / Laura Peterson TIG NOTARO / Amanda Robinson KAREN PITTMAN / Mia Jordan REESE WITHERSPOON / Bradley Jackson

SUCCESSION NICHOLAS BRAUN / Greg Hirsch JULIANA CANFIELD / Jess Jordan BRIAN COX / Logan Roy KIERAN CULKIN / Roman Roy DAGMARA DOMINCZYK / Karolina Novotney PETER FRIEDMAN / Frank Vernon JUSTINE LUPE / Willa MATTHEW MACFADYEN / Tom Wambsgans ARIAN MOAYED / Stewy Hosseini SCOTT NICHOLSON / Colin Stiles DAVID RASCHE / Karl Muller ALAN RUCK / Connor Roy ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD / Lukas Matsson J. SMITH-CAMERON / Gerri Kellman SARAH SNOOK / Shiv Roy FISHER STEVENS / Hugo Baker JEREMY STRONG / Kendall Roy ZOË WINTERS / Kerry Castellabate

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series ABBOTT ELEMENTARY QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues WILLIAM STANFORD DAVIS / Mr. Johnson JANELLE JAMES / Ava Coleman CHRIS PERFETTI / Jacob Hill SHERYL LEE RALPH / Barbara Howard LISA ANN WALTER / Melissa Schemmenti TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS / Gregory Eddie

BARRY ANTHONY CARRIGAN / NoHo Hank SARAH GOLDBERG / Sally Reed ZACHARY GOLINGER / John BILL HADER / Barry ANDRE HYLAND / Jason ANDREW LEEDS / Leo Cousineau FRED MELAMED / Tom Posorro CHARLES PARNELL / DA Buckner STEPHEN ROOT / Monroe Fuches TOBIE WINDHAM / Damian HENRY WINKLER / Gene Cousineau ROBERT WISDOM / Jim Moss

THE BEAR LIONEL BOYCE / Marcus JOSE CERVANTES JR. / Angel LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS / Tina AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu ABBY ELLIOTT / Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto RICHARD ESTERAS / Manny EDWIN LEE GIBSON / Ebraheim MOLLY GORDON / Claire COREY HENDRIX / Sweeps MATTY MATHESON / Neil Fak EBON MOSS-BACHRACH / Richard "Richie" Jerimovich OLIVER PLATT / Jimmy "Cicero" Kalinowski JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING GERALD CAESAR / Ty MICHAEL CYRIL CREIGHTON / Howard Morris LINDA EMOND / Donna SELENA GOMEZ / Mabel Mora ALLISON GUINN / K.T. STEVE MARTIN / Charles-Haden Savage ASHLEY PARK / Kimber DON DARRYL RIVERA / Bobo PAUL RUDD / Ben Glenroy JEREMY SHAMOS / Dickie Glenroy MARTIN SHORT / Oliver Putnam MERYL STREEP / Loretta Durkin WESLEY TAYLOR / Cliff JASON VEASEY / Jonathan JESSE WILLIAMS / Tobert

TED LASSO ANNETTE BADLAND / Mae Green KOLA BOKINNI / Isaac McAdoo EDYTA BUDNIK / Jade ADAM COLBORNE / Baz Primrose PHIL DUNSTER / Jamie Tartt CRISTO FERNÁNDEZ / Dani Rojas KEVIN "KG" GARRY / Paul La Fleur BRETT GOLDSTEIN / Roy Kent BILLY HARRIS / Colin Hughes ANTHONY HEAD / Rupert Mannion BRENDAN HUNT / Coach Beard TOHEEB JIMOH / Sam Obisanya JAMES LANCE / Trent Crimm NICK MOHAMMED / Nathan Shelley JASON SUDEIKIS / Ted Lasso JEREMY SWIFT / Leslie Higgins JUNO TEMPLE / Keeley Jones HANNAH WADDINGHAM / Rebecca Welton BRONSON WEBB / Jeremy Blumenthal KATY WIX / Barbara

The Stunt Ensemble Honors Nominees are: Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture BARBIE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series AHSOKA BARRY BEEF THE LAST OF US THE MANDALORIAN

#acting #sagawards #alexvonroon #sagaftra #barbie #oppenheimer #succession #hbo #hbo max #award shows #producing #make up #television #film #streaming #stunt ensemble #monk #Tony Shalhoub

0 notes

watching-pictures-move · 5 months

Text

Movie Review | Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (Roberts, 2021)

I think the comparisons to John Carpenter are a tad generous, and like 90% of modern movies, the lighting is garbage, but I have to hand it to the movie for being as stylistically confident as it is. The widescreen frame is put to consistently good use. There are moments like the oner from inside Donal Logue's car and the shootout lit by muzzle flares that find ways to meld stylistic flourishes to actual tension. (I should note that the latter was technically done earlier by Uwe Boll in Alone in the Dark to less acclaim, and I'd like to correct the record by pointing out it was a good stylistic touch there as well. Literally the only good stylistic touch there. But good nonetheless.) It's pretty obvious this was a COVID production, but I think the smallness and sense of depopulation work in the movie's favour.

All that being said, this has the unfortunate stench of a YouTube fan film stretched out to feature length. As nice as this sometimes looks, there's a ponderousness to the look that suggests it's trying really hard to elevate the trite source material. Aside from a few minutes of the fourth one which I picked up during a Steam sale, I haven't played any of the games, so the significance of a lot of this probably went over my head. But much of the dialogue here is a mix of callbacks and exposition that the mostly bland cast can't do anything to sell, beyond saying it slowly and awkwardly enough so you don't miss it. Probably the worst example is when Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine introduce themselves to each other, followed by Claire Redfield loudly saying "We have to find my brother, Chris Redfield." And there are of references to relics of the '90s like chatrooms and Blockbuster as if characters are reminding each other what decade they're in. The only actors who emerge unscathed are Donal Logue, who gets some semblance of personality by being a gruff asshole, and Neal McDonough, who gets to chew some scenery in the climax.

And while I'm not a fan of the Paul W.S. Anderson movies, those at least move along at a decent pace, while this jerks from one set piece to the next, presumably building them around callbacks without much sense of how to stitch them together. That being said, the things this does well make me think I'd like it more if it came out fifteen years ago or so, at which point it likely would have been shot on film, better lit and had at least some practical effects. This actually feels like the 2021 equivalent of a movie I would have caught on the Scream channel during my high school days and logged on to the Rotten Tomatoes forums to post "Cool flick, especially the car scene and the shootout, 7/10" and posted a fresh tomato emoji or "This" underneath a bunch of other posts saying how much better it was than the Anderson movies. Now, I'm older and wiser, and have warmed up to the bozo nu metal style that was de rigueur in those days, and realize that both this and the Anderson movies are kinda lame, and that the best zombie video game adaptation is actually House of the Dead, where characters stand around and shoot at oncoming zombies light-gun-style, or Resident Evil: Apocalypse, where a character is introduced ass-first and fires wildly into a crowded police station and headshots all the zombies. Yeah, I'm all about quality cinema these days, although if somebody else had posted this back in the day, I'd probably have replied with a rotten tomato emoji.

#film #movie review #resident evil: welcome to raccoon city #johannes roberts

0 notes

journalingwithjesus · 8 months

Text

The other day I was thinking about the love of God, and how unflawed it is. As I pondered, the reflections led me to the realization- that my human mind would never be able to fully understand what kind of love that is. And then it hit me.

“For God so loved the world; that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. For God so loved the world, that He gave Jesus. Jesus, an embodiment of God’s love. Of His passion, His selflessness, and generosity. Of His sacrifice and openness.

The reality is that the world does not believe that to reject Jesus is to reject love. Yet, there’s a famous quote by W.S Gilbert that states “love makes the world go round”

Believing in Christ leads one to the blessing of being aware that knowing Jesus is knowing love and that believing in Jesus is believing in the power of love through Him.

As believers, we know the reality that we are not here to be babied by the world, but we are encouraged to know about what the love of the Lord warrants us in the world. We are guaranteed the right to become His children, 1 John 3:1 tells us of this truth.

As children of God, we have the access to eternal life through Jesus. John 17:1–3 explains the power of Christ to give eternal life to those who believe in Him. Jesus defined eternal life in vs 3 as “that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” The word know here means to develop a relationship through meeting, spending time with, and being familiar with someone or something.

To be familiar with the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent is to know how God loves. Eternal life does not begin after death, but as soon as one receives Christ. He is Eternal Life. This gift of eternal life cannot be taken from a believer. Paul gives assurance in the word that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:38–39 is a reminder of the everlasting love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To experience an everlasting love that is accessible to all who choose to receive. A love that touches different people in different ways. What kind of love is this? it’s unexplainable, but that’s everlasting love. The Lord’s love is security to one person, to the other, it’s patience, to another faithfulness. To one man it’s comfort, to another woman grace and mercy.

It’s no surprise that one of the prayers Paul said for the Ephesians was that they would grasp how wide and long and deep the love of Christ is in Ephesians 3:16–19.

All in all, we know because of His great love, the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance 2 Pet 3:9 makes us aware of this truth.

May we as the body of Christ be strengthened to share the love the Lord has blessed us with so that the world may know that Jesus is truly a gift of love. He makes the world go round.

#love #god #godislove #life #jesus #NewAgetoJesus

1 note · View note

wscranmore · 1 year

Photo

“A Dole, A Flight, Or A Piteousness” (2022). Acrylic and charcoal 30 x 40 x 2 in (76.2 x 101.6 x 5.08 cm) “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and when it comes to abstract painting, so is everything else. W.S. Cranmore’s A Dole, A Flight, Or A Piteousness is a testament to the intensely subjective malleability of abstraction. How one interprets the present work is entirely a function of circumstance and personal experience. To my concrete-jungle-born-eyes, A Dole, A Flight, Or A Piteousness is an urban landscape. The flatness of the composition initially recalls an aerial view, but upon further inspection, it feels closer to folk art. With this interpretation in mind, the title takes on new meaning (I have no idea if this is what the artist intended, but the variation between the viewer’s understanding and that of the artist often spurs the most exciting conversations): a dole is usually an altruistic (often they fall woefully short) act of support by the government. So, I look at the work and think of the public housing I grew up in, full of life, excitement, and working spirit but also awash in pitiful conditions. I really love this work.” -John Crowther, art critic. 🔷 #portlandgallery #artgallery #modernartgallery #gallerist #artcollecting #artsale #fineartpainting #statementpiece #portlandart #abstractartists #modernabstract #Fineartpainting #geometricabstraction #artcritique #artcritic #artblog #originalartworks #firstfridaypdx #artpdx #wscranmore (at Milwaukie, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpsvKuevwT4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#portlandgallery #artgallery #modernartgallery #gallerist #artcollecting #artsale #fineartpainting #statementpiece #portlandart #abstractartists #modernabstract #geometricabstraction #artcritique #artcritic #artblog #originalartworks #firstfridaypdx #artpdx #wscranmore

1 note · View note

johnesimpson · 1 year

Text

How Is It We Are Here, Not There -- and for How Long?

Ruth Stone, W.S. Merwin, et al.: 'How Is It We Are Here, Not There — and for How Long?'

[Image: “Work in Progress,” by John E. Simpson.] Now that it is — as they say — That Time of Year, I am looking for, and (even better) easily finding, reasons to smile even as I look out of this second-floor window to a forest of orange- and rusty-red-colored treetops, with the bare-barked finger bones of winter practically trembling, eager for a chance to shake off the hues of autumn. I’m very…

View On WordPress

#W.S. Merwin #satisfaction #Jamie Tworkowski #Ruth Stone #Kieran Setiya #finding satisfaction in satisfaction #Amor Towles

0 notes

byneddiedingo · 2 years

Photo

Clark Gable and William Powell in Manhattan Meldodrama (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934) Cast: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Leo Carrillo, Nat Pendleton, George Sidney, Isabel Jewell, Muriel Evans, Thomas E. Jackson, Isabelle Keith, Frank Conroy, Noel Madison, Jimmy Butler, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Ross. Screenplay: Oliver H.P. Garrett, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Arthur Caesar. Cinematography: James Wong Howe. Art direction: Cedric Gibbons. Film editing: Ben Lewis. Music: William Axt. This is the movie that John Dillinger saw before he was shot down outside the theater. It's the one in which Mickey Rooney grows up to be Clark Gable. It's the first film to team William Powell and Myrna Loy, months before they became Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man (with the same director, W.S. Van Dyke). It's the one in which Shirley Ross sings Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon" with Hart's original lyrics, "The Bad in Every Man." It was made before the Production Code took effect, so there's no dodging the implication that Eleanor (Loy) is Blackie Gallagher's (Gable) mistress before she marries Jim Wade (Powell), leading to a crucial plot point. Manhattan Melodrama is, to say the least, of historical interest even if it's not really a very good movie. It can pass for one, however, because of Gable and Powell and Loy, James Wong Howe's cinematography, and some clever lines. It won an Oscar for Arthur Caesar's story, though what it really deserved was some kind of award for truth in labeling: In melodrama, characters do things in service of the plot, and not in the way real human beings behave. We are asked to believe that two very different boys, one a hedonistic rascal, the other studious and virtuous, would become close friends and remain so even after the former grows up to be a gangster and the latter a district attorney with high political ambitions. And that they would remain close friends after the gangster's mistress leaves him and marries the D.A. And that the gangster would sacrifice himself, going blithely to the electric chair after his old friend has convicted him of murder. Life may not be like that, but Manhattan Melodrama certainly is.

#Manhattan Melodrama #W.S. Van Dyke #Clark Gable #William Powell

0 notes

nedlittle · 3 years

Text

something something

gallathea (1588) 🤝 maurice 🤝 sir gawain & the green knight queerness as the boundary between wilderness and civilisation

#one of these days when i have free time and remember how to write an essay i'll write something about this but for now just trust me bro #read gallathea!!!!!!! what if we accidentally fell in love while crossdressing and had sex in a grove and got gay married by venus herself #(and we were both girls)#venus is like oh hoo hoo one of you will be a man on your wedding day but i won't say who so the image the audience is left is two women #preparing for their wedding and openly and desperately in love as women #me getting overinvested in obscure elizabethan drama: ok but i'm NOT lesbian though this is just a transformative experience for me #gallathea #john lyly #maurice #Sir gawain and the Green knight #i'm reading w.s. merwin's translation for the holiday season and like it far less than simon armitage's

29 notes · View notes

april-is · 2 days

Text

April 27, 2024: Witness, Crystal Wilkinson

Witness Crystal Wilkinson

I’m convinced that if you could have seen my grandmother standing in the doorway waiting for him to come home from the fields, if you’d smelled that spectacular evening thick with sweat & felt the pulsing of the stars, if you’d borne witness to the animals’ moans echoing in the holler that night, if you just could have seen the hair rise up on granddaddy’s arm like that, like offerings to god, when his elbow touched hers, if you could have seen her longing dissipate just a little as he came through the door smelling like a day’s work, you should have seen them close enough to breathe the same air while not even touching. (He smiled at her without smiling.) If you could have seen them watching me watch them, then you’d know how much i love you. If you could have heard her say, You want some supper? We got pie.

Also: + After Work, Richard Jones + I Come Home Wanting To Touch Everyone, Stephen Dunn

Here's a quick survey on the future of these posts, if you have a moment. (Mega thanks to those who've replied!)

Today in:

2023: from Burial, Ross Gay 2022: Ode to Tortillas, José Olivarez 2021: Say Thank You Say I’m Sorry, Jericho Brown 2020: The Restoration, Gary Jackson 2019: The Termite, Ogden Nash 2018: Elegy, W.S. Merwin 2017: Young Wife’s Lament, Brigit Pegeen Kelly 2016: For the Confederate Dead, Kevin Young 2015: Awaking in New York, Maya Angelou 2014: when you have forgotten Sunday: the love story, Gwendolyn Brooks 2013: Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey, Hayden Carruth 2012: My Place, Franz Wright 2011: from The Wild Geese, Wendell Berry 2010: Love After Love, Derek Walcott 2009: To This May, W.S. Merwin 2008: Father, Ted Kooser 2007: from Little Sleep’s-Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight, Galway Kinnell 2006: Crusoe in England, Elizabeth Bishop 2005: Dream Song 1, John Berryman

#love #age #poetry #poem #national poetry month #crystal wilkinson

20 notes · View notes

adrasteiax · 3 years

Note

hello, i just wanted to tell u that i adore your page... i’m trying to get back into reading and i was wondering if you had any recommendations for me to start with :)

Hi anon!

I’m glad to hear that you enjoy my blog. ❤︎

As for recommendations…well, I‘ve a lot! You unfortunately didn’t tell me which genre(s) you I like best, so I decided to write down some of my all-time favourite books!

Poetry

“A Crown Of Violets" by Renee Vivien "The Peace Of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry "Train To Agra" by Vandana Khanna "Caribou" by Charles Wright "The Wild Iris" by Louise Glück "The Black Unicorn" by Audre Lorde "Shatter The Bell In My Ear" by Christine Lavant "Extracting The Stone Of Madness" by Alejandra Pizarnik "Magic City" by Yusef Komunyakaa "Blue Horses" by Mary Oliver "Rivers To The Sea" by Sara Teasdale "On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho" by Matsuo Basho "Haiku Garden : Four Seasons In Poems And Prints" by Stephen Addiss with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto "Crush" and "War Of The Foxes" by Richard Siken "Raptus" and "Excerpts From A Secret Prophecy" by Joanna Klink "The Good Thief" and "What The Living Do" by Marie Howe "The Shadow Of Sirius" and "Garden Time" by W.S. Merwin

Prose

“The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova “The Silent Companions” by Laura Purcell “The Wonder” by Emma Donoghue “Sweet Bean Paste” by Sukegawa Durian “The Book Of Lost Things” by John Connolly “The Forgotten Garden” by Kate Morton “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” by Betty Smith “The Last Unicorn” by Peter S. Beagle “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf “Sharp Objects” by Gillian Flynn “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt “Witches Abroad” by Terry Pratchett “Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982″ by Cho Namjoo ”Letters of Emily Dickinson” by Emily Dickinson “We Have Always Lived In The Castle” and “The Haunting Of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson “Peter And Alice” by John Logan “Angels In America” by Tony Kushner

(The last two are plays and I love them very, very much!)

I hope you’ll enjoy some of these! Happy reading!

#replies #anon #rec #my rec #poetry #prose

160 notes · View notes

geekgemsspooksandtoons · 2 years

Text

Resident Evil Welcome To Raccoon City

Let me warn you all that this is still my first reaction. And before I get into certain details. There will be no spoilers. I also just checked to make sure...I’ll mention it when I talk about the movie. But the first I’m gonna do, and I am gonna sound childish(As in I’m gonna hold shift when typing done my reaction). Again, my first reaction. I’m worried my viewpoint may change. But opinions can change. Yet after worrying and being excited for this movie. I’m gonna say what I first said in my last post, and to my mom(That time was without the swear).

I FUCKING LOVED IT!

WHY DIDN’T WE GET THIS IN 2002!? OH MY GOD! THIS IS EASILY IN MY TOP FIVE VIDEO GAME MOVIE ADAPTATIONS! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED! AND WHATEVER ELSE I WANTED TO SAY! FORGET THE CRITICS! IT WAS WORTH SEEING THIS! I NEEDED TO GET IT SEEING THIS OUT OF MY SYSTEM! I WANT A SEQUEL! GIVE ME NEMESIS AND EVEN CODE VERONICA! I WANT MY BOY NEMESIS! JOHANNES ROBERTS YOU DID IT! I LOVED THIS MOVIE!

I’m trying to think what else I wanted to blurt out. But in all seriousness, despite what else I will talk about in this film. I trust Johannes Roberts. Because there was some people in the theater with me. Not a whole lot though.

I was worried it was gonna be a TMNT 2014(A film I feel could’ve been much better) and Venom(A film I’m fine with. But want it to be better too) situation. Yet, I love this movie. Yet I need to talk about it a little more in depth.

But I wanna say this. As a fan of this franchise. The classic games, the remakes, and a lot of other things. I loved this movie. And Johannes Roberts has gained my trust.

I just written the whole thing. I’m gonna add a keep reading option so no one is annoyed.

I understand from what people have said. That maybe it’s best for this series to go in a more Evil Dead kind of route. Maybe with later movies. But oh my lord, this is so much better than the Paul W.S. Anderson films. I actually felt a little tense or something. This was actually a horror film. The director/writer knows his shit. This was shot well, and it felt scary. Like how the games are meant to be.

Again, I get the ‘B movie’ approach and all that. I feel like and not to sound weird. This is such a better representation of the games than any of the other live action movies.

Everyone did fantastic in their roles. Especially ones such as Kaya Schelario as Claire and Robbie Amell as Chris. To be honest, this is their movie to be exact. This is a Chris and Clarie movie. Even Hannah John-Kamen as Jill was cool too. And I strangely like Avan Jogia’s portrayal as Leon. I do get the direction they were taking that he’s the rookie. And it’s silly, in a good way. This isn’t a RE4 Leon basically. XD

Yet I do wanna say considering characterizations. Which I feel like die hard RE fans may have a problem with how some characters are written. But honestly, the two or THE ONE I think most are gonna have a problem with is Albert Wesker himself.

Tom Hopper did fine as him. But...some of the direction they take him in...if you love Wesker as a character. You might be bothered by it. Yet I can understand of Roberts I think trying to take this in a, “Realistic” direction. Which some OG fans have rightfully criticized for understandable reasons. But with the mid credits scene. And before writing this, I had to make sure there was no other post credits scene. There’s just one. I decided not to stay for the full credits because I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. XD

But yeah...I hope if we get a sequel...he may end up like the Wesker I really like. Let’s just say he’s maybe a...less dramatic version of the game version. Yet he does do something I strangely predicted but in a way just...damn...

And the other one is Irons. I can get the direction they were going for him. He is still antagonistic. But not as much as...his game self. I should just admit that William Birkin is the main villain. And...I question how the fans would feel about the villain portrayals.

But honestly, here’s the issue I noticed. Sorry to say this, don’t expect much more depth. And I did think this would happen and I don’t want to say it. This is mainly a movie for the fans in a sense. If you’re a fan of the franchise, particularly the games. You’re gonna love this possibly if you let loose and accept some changes with this version.

This film was made by people and a director/writer who appreciated the games. But I think some changes are gonna turn off some people. If you’re a casual viewer, and you haven’t seen any RE movie or played any games. Then you’re likely gonna be confused by some things.

Especially I may seem to agree with the direction to combine both Resident Evil 1 & 2 into one movie is insane. Yet the way they do it is nicely done. Yet...I feel like this should’ve been longer possibly. Mainly for some characters to develop more.

If you’re a fan of the franchise. You’re gonna understand things easily. But if you’re not...likely not. But I’m maybe thinking too much about that. I did wonder if Roberts is trying to reintroduce this series. Which is why some things are not fully explained. Which I can understand.

Also, I want to say this. I can totally see his John Carpenter influence in the movie. That shit did not disappoint. That was damn good inspiration for this movie honestly.

Fuck, I want this to have a sequel. Wikipedia says the budget is 25 million, and it hasn’t made that yet. If that is the budget. Because I want a sequel where they could improve upon things and I want to see more of this version of Resident Evil. I want it to be directed by Johannes Roberts. And again, I wanna see my boy Nemesis. Yet I feel the most logical step forward is Code Veronica. We’ll have to wait and see.

And I just found out that Roberts said if there were to be a sequel. That he would like to adapt Code Veronica or RE4. And Robbie Amell wants to return and to include his boulder punching scene. XD My God, I want a sequel if these guys want this! And hopefully we can change Resident Evil 8 too while we’re at it! XD

I hope this does well at the box office.

Overall, I really liked the movie. While some character development may be lacking. The effects were good, I liked the acting. And it felt like a genuine Resident Evil film. The 2002 film is well...the second best. I’m just so fucking grateful we have a RE film that isn’t one of those! This is a legit RE film...my lord. I feel like I enjoyed this more than MK 2021. And I thought that film was fine. This is definitely in my top 5 video game movie adaptations.

#GeekGem Rambles #resident evil #resident evil welcome to raccoon city

11 notes · View notes