An almost-skinhead-kiss!

Anton Forss & girlfriend, Stockholm, about 2001.

I am fascinated by the fact that the thesis statement of this show seems to be: You do not know the dark that hides in the hearts and pasts of the people you love and trust.

I mean, seriously, I think this is a very defensible statement: Robert cheated on his wife, Cassie's mother carried on a very long affair, Frank's kids had no idea he was a fucking East End Hard Man, Beth hid her skinhead past from both her husband and quasi-adopted son, whatever is going on with Eric and Claire here.

I mean...it's a dark thesis! I don't know that I think it's wrong, but I think it's dark, any second now I assume Sunny is going to be like, "Oh anyway, i'm casually a human trafficker, but in a cool laid back way" or something.

Skinhead Love Affair

Giselle Bolotin: Deep melancholy

process gimmick aggression >> please consider the direction of weakening in relation is the skinhead is the eye; invade by contracts for own energy of quantum address obsessed with language from the physical brain dimension magical non-universe they are the way i can the yin yang industrial matrix to better messengers those who know say they are insane without life you take possessed soul love can see energy language of the thrown earth i run the extraction but the manager finds an act on the machine which turns out to be a proper act but maybe the spirit of the past has been installed? if it really isn't created to surround man even corpse language too much trapped energy periods in media lack of space secular reverse anal angelic universe telepathy no karma needed laughter interest rational soul social? can the soul give pills to the cellular eyes of the inner internet by a hybrid that the corpse should be the vagus nerve? aren't i and the universe side information? like the retrograde silence in observing the missing living at the base now it's like a retrograde to the spiritual in the application of the shade of the partner when the information diminishes the dimension of earnings is constantly mind-boggling but the mental issues to cognition looking for wormholes urine calls that come from pissing humans feel in the media is that reality? gravity petals practically end their destination so aren't they recovery planets? installed make shit live in gravitational cosmic growth reading what are your head wiped barrier sign difference 39 like petals think age online devices and formerly interplanetary intend to translate and capture the poetics respectively to the earth or the measured universe must be set on the planet in the stretch if it corrodes the dimensions will also be bare about the world you want the communication system to that criticism play life you make mistakes and just want time so you on this earth when you make mistakes you smoothly live the remaining dimensions of the body's quantum 39 high algorithms your difference just acceleration started in the body brain and cosmic suspicion social cosmos suggest about silence is the process to lemurian weakness it's more conversion and stuffed with domination fear debt they're drawing an apocalypse meanwhile i dream a mental prank it's also internet protocol mechanism like her body there installed calibrated sensory nano-problems altered by emotions when dogs mistaken interplanetary identities i'm anti-gravity and my anti-gravity that meaningless devil's rest memory universe you are app time what name is force and life is like that soul and psychology is what i talk about the day is spiritual noise is your action language universe in the body of the same fetus as you the cosmos that modulated the corpse community of the night began whose vagina is heaven and nature whose verbal of truth disintegrates whose final space is theirs put the reduction desire as? logic persists in no time soul vibrates trade names from the devil girl planet printer is deceived and so embodies 39 reality earth and your room emanating like a shadow by the presence of death desires created by fields that were roads economy is like a drug of time silence mistaken by a dose you have rightfully been cleansed my posthumous foul night for creatures and affairs stretched during your trades with souls to the planet of silence in itself telepathy is like a delay application of facts is based on denial and criticizes glitches more and more what the environment begins to process shadows biologically from the eye when you look the earth is still filled but you realize an anal resetting the murders as life on the march some of them seem to have introduced vibrations between the planets you are thinking about seeing on the conductor embody the soul sky pyramid world 39

Ok fine, here’s a horny ask for you since you’re feeling left out:

Time travel has been invented and you have the chance to hook up with one Beatle or Beatle-adjacent figure BUT you can only travel to the year 1973. Who would you choose and why?

Words cannot express my gratitude for you rallying to my side in my hour of need. Right, well, in this ask I'm not being distracted. I'm shagging a Beatle. But, lol, at this monkey paw of a conundrum you've set me. Let's see what we have:

John - there's a lot to choose from here. From skinhead John to flowing locks John. To off his tits in LA John. To considering gay love affairs John. But, possibly my favourite is trying to scare the President, John:

Paul - this... wasn't a good time looks wise. We have joked about this too many times as a fandom. But! Might be an interesting experiment in both how magnetic he truly is and my desire to have sex with him regardless of all evidence telling me it's a bad idea. Can I really do this:

George - usually much higher up the list but this is the one Geo period where it looks like I might be able to snap him in half. And, not like, in a fun way. That said, these funky little dungarees make me question my own health and safety concerns:

Ringo - in fine form. Reuniting The Beatles with sheer force of personality. Also he's looking most excellent, letting those curls fly free like the little minx we all know him to be:

But, lads, we know who it's going to be after all that, don't we? I'm going to let John have angry, maybe my wife isn't actually all that into me after all that fuss I made about it, sex with me. Will it be fun? Who cares! It'll have happened and then I will tell everyone I meet about it everyday for the rest of my life.

January 4th

2016 - Robert Stigwood

Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, Robert Stigwood died aged 81. He was best known for managing Cream and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar and film productions including the hugely successful Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

2011 - Gerry Rafferty

Scottish singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty died aged 63 after a long illness. Rafferty had been a member of Stealers Wheel, who had the 1973 US No.3 & UK No.8 single 'Stuck In The Middle With You' and had the solo 1978 UK No.3 and US No.2 single 'Baker Street.'

2009 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant was voted the Greatest Voice In Rock by listeners of radio station Planet Rock. Plant beat Queen's Freddie Mercury, Free's Paul Rodgers and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to the top spot in the UK poll.

2001 - Liam Gallagher

Madame Tussaud's waxworks in London revealed that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher had come third in 'The Most Hated Characters' list of exhibits, behind Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milosevic.

1986 - Phil Lynott

Irish singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure and pneumonia after being in a coma for eight days following a drug overdose. With Thin Lizzy he had the 1973 hit 'Whiskey in the Jar', (their version of the traditional Irish song) and hits with ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’, ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Waiting for an Alibi’. The groups 1978 album 'Live and Dangerous' spent 62 weeks on the UK chart. Lynott fronted several bands as a lead vocalist, including Skid Row alongside Gary Moore. A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin Ireland in 2005.

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1974 - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen played the first of a three night run at Joes' Place in Cambridge Massachusetts. Supported by Peter Johnson & The Manic Depressives. On the ticket it stated: Because of the energy crisis all our outside lights except for one will be shut off.

1970 - Keith Moon

Chauffeur Neil Boland was accidentally killed when The Who's drummer Keith Moon ran over him in his Bentley. Moon was trying to escape from a Gang of skinheads after a fight broke out at a pub in Hatfield, England. Boland got out to try to protect the car, but left it in gear. He fell under the car and it started moving with Moon at the wheel as he tried to escape the fight. The drummer had never passed his driving test.

1968 - The Rolling Stones

The University of California, Los Angeles announced that students taking music degrees would have to study the music of The Rolling Stones saying they had made such an important contribution to modern music.

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1967 - The Doors

The Doors released their self-titled debut album The Doors. The album features their breakthrough single 'Light My Fire' and the lengthy song 'The End' with its Oedipal spoken word section. The album was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California over six days and unique packaging of the album included each band members bio.

1967 - Jimi Hendrix

The Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of what would be over 240 gigs in this year when they appeared at the Bromel Club, Bromley. (Many of the concerts were two shows per night).

1962 - The Beatles

Liverpool's Mersey Beat published its first popularity poll, with The Beatles coming in first place and Gerry and the Pacemakers voted second.

1954 - Elvis Presley

Four days before his 20th birthday Elvis Presley made his second visit to the Memphis Recording service and cut two songs onto a 10 acetate, 'Casual Love Affair 'and 'I'll Never Stand In Your Way'. Studio boss Sam Phillips asked Presley to leave his phone number.

Skinhead Love Affair

Timothy Molloy & Thomaz (me) fooling around in Brighton back in the days.

Photo by John G Byrne.

SKINHEADS Linda & Joel, Göteborg, Sweden, around 2005.

I met her at a ballroom gig She said my braces were to big I said "I like your 2tone clothes" She said "I like your broken nose" I bought her alot of drinks that night She bought me nothing but a fight She said i wasn't mister right Its over its over its over It was a skinhead love affair You know a skinhead love affair

👯 smart and steady, stay rude stay proud

Movies I watched this week #68

The most unusual film I’ve never heard of, Lost in London, an audacious directorial debut. A Woody Harrelson production, written by him, directed by him, headlined by him and recreating "the worst night of his life from 2002". Also, it was shot in a single take with one camera, and was live-broadcasted to over 550 theaters at the same time as it was shot, on January 19, 2017. On top of all that, it was an heartfelt roller-coaster with a great confessional story, and was so funny that at 2AM my 92-year old mom woke up next door and burst into my bedroom, when - forgetting where I am - I loudly screamed (at the shocking vomit scene at the club toilet). A technical marvel!

(Also, I didn’t know that he was a serious Chess player). (Poster Above). 9/10!

🍿          

Summertime X 2:

🎦🎦🎦 Summertime. David Lean’s glorious Technicolor tourist brochure of 1955 Venice. Lonely teacher Katherine Hepburn’s ‘affair to remember’ with the suave Continental lover Rossano Brazzi. Enchanted summer romance in the most seductive and exotic locale. 8/10.

You are like a hungry child who is given ravioli to eat. 'No' you say, 'I want beefsteak!' My dear girl, you are hungry. Eat the ravioli...

🎦🎦🎦 La Belle Saison (’Summertime’ in English) is a 2015 lesbian coming-of-age romance story. A young provincial woman in 1971 France, the only daughter of small time farmers, falls in love with a feminist girl in Paris, and has to choose between her love and the need to support her parents at the farm. No need to compare it to ‘Blue Is The Warmest Color’. 6/10.

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How is it possible that you could recognize a piece by Ennio Morricone by hearing the first note, asks Hans Zimmer in Ennio: The Maestro. The last Giuseppe Tornatore film that I saw recently, ‘The Best Offer’, was disappointing, but this latest extraordinary tribute was my best film of the month.

Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, was so much more than a film composer. This documentary makes a strong assertion that he was actually one of the greatest film-makers that ever lived.

My ‘To Watch Movie List’ just grew by 528 titles! Damn, now I have to go back and visit so many more movies!

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2 with Ginger Rogers:

🎦🎦🎦 “...I’d better lock this joint before the acrobats and the midgets start flocking in...”

A Busby Berkeley musical, Gold Diggers of 1933, including Ginger Rogers singing "We're in the Money" in Pig Latin. A perfect Hollywood extravaganza served on the bread line of the depression.

🎦🎦🎦 RKO classic comedy Swing Time, with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire's magnificent dancing. Most of the dance scenes are shot in a single long-holding camera shot, with very few cuts! Including a "Bojangles of Harlem" number with unique special effect shadows AND a blackface number.

Now I have to go back and watch all of Fred Astaire dance films!

🍿      

Blind, the only film directed by Eskil Vogt, who co-wrote all of Joachim Trier‘s films. An odd drama about a married woman in Oslo who recently lost her sight, and who starts narrating to herself erotic fantasies about her husband and various neighbors. A slow and internal drama that turns at times completely explicit, as the woman explores various porn scenarios in her mind. If it was directed by a woman, it would feel better. Unfortunately, it suffers a bit from a ‘Male gaze’ problem. 3/10.

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2 with Bob Hoskins:

🎦🎦🎦 Alan Parker’s horrifying musical of Pink Floyd’s seminal album The Wall. With evocative visuals, anarchistic despair and descent into madness, it’s a masterpiece of anti-war, anti-establishment and anti-life pain. Fueled by abandonment and wrapped in the trappings of a skinhead nightmare. With the most explicit flower sex sequence imaginable and the foreboding "marching hammers" fascist symbolism by illustrator Gerald Scarfe. The all-around ‘Wall of Sound’ soundtrack must be played at maximum loudness. Stunning, provocative, surrealistic. Re-watch. 10/10.

🎦🎦🎦 First watch: Mona Lisa. A small-time gangster is released from prison after 7 years, and gets a job as a driver for a high-class hooker. Predictably, he falls in love with her, and helps her find her young, abused friend. Dark twist at the end: She’s in love with the girl, not with him. Stories about ‘Saving a prostitute’ always expose sexual blind spots about their writers, and (with few exceptions, f. ex. Paul Schrader’s ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Hardcore’) are filled with unconvincing clichés. 5/10.

“Is that Channel 4?”

🍿     Another film that starts with Nat King Cole, the delightful remake The Parent Trap, which I had seen a few times before together with Adora. Lindsay Lohan (who was cast in the double role over for Scarlett Johansson and Mara Wilson) crashed it. Nancy Meyers regular ‘wealth porn’ at full display. 8/10.

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Shaolin Soccer, my second Stephen Chow. A broad martial arts comedy. Silly slapstick about bringing Kung Fu to the people, Puma product placement, and the worst case of acne ever shown on the screen.

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2 with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II:

🎦🎦🎦 Ambulance, my first film by Michael Bay. Another over-the-top psychopath Jake Gyllenhaal leading an LA bank robbery gone wrong, and shooting his way out of it. A manipulative adrenaline-and-cliché filled action film, fast, loud and full of explosions. Based on ‘Ambulancen’, a 2005 Danish film (and using Danish Falck ambulances as a tribute). I don’t usually watch “action” movies, but I liked this one a lot - 7/10

🎦🎦🎦 "I fucked a polar bear and I still couldn't get you out of my mind"... In Black Mirror’s Striking Vipers episode (S5 E1) Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Anthony Mackieare are old gamer friends who develop a heated sexual obsession with each other when they start playing a Virtual Reality version of their old fighting game. Different from most other Black Mirror stories, it features two macho black male friends (in an all -black cast) whose discovery of Virtual Sex brings them to question their heterosexuality. Re-watch. 8/10.

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The Men Who Stare at Goats, an idiotic & misfired satire about a secret ‘new age’ unit at the US army which tries to employ psychic powers as a weapon during the last Iraq war. The bullshit ‘Jedi warriors’ farce brought back unfortunate memories of the despicable George W Bush, about whom I didn’t think for the last 5-6 years.... 2/10.

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In Meet The Parents, imposing father-in-law-to-be Robert De Nero intimidates male nurse Gaylord Focker. Sitcom-like comedy with some genuinely funny bits, and very weak ending. ...”You never told me about your cat milking days in Motown...” Re-watch.

🍿              

I used to love watching Bill Maher, when he played the politically incorrect unabashed liberal. Now that he is playing the unabashed old libertarian shouting at the 'woke’ kids to get off his lawn, he lost his edge and appeal for me. His latest HBO special #Adulting is unfunny and cringe-inducing. Pass.

(But then he does The war on democracy this Friday, and that 'Rules’ again)

- - - - -

Throw-back to the art project:

Adora in ‘The Wall‘.

The Parent Trap Adora.

Adora with Fred Astaire.

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(My complete movie list is here)

Countdown to Day Zero

by Jay S. Jacobs January 18, 2008

With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East there have been rumblings that eventually the United States may have to reinstate the military draft. The film Day Zero takes this one step further – imagining what will happen after this occurs. 

Day Zero focuses in on three New York-area friends who receive their draft notices. They have thirty days to get their lives in order before being shipped off to war. 

George Rifkin (Chris Klein of American Pie) is a well-off lawyer whose thriving career and terminally ill wife (Ginnifer Goodwin) have him desperate to pull any strings to get out of the obligation. 

James Dixon – played by Jon Bernthal, late of the sitcom The Class – is sort of the protector of the group. Though on a lower economic scale – he is working as a cabbie – he is the strongest and possibly most principled of the friends. Dixon actually believes that the cause is just; however he finds he does have something to lose when right before he is supposed to leave he falls for a pretty local schoolteacher (Elisabeth Moss of The West Wing.). 

Aaron Feller (Elijah Wood of Lord of the Rings) is the most sensitive of the group, a neurotic writer who had a popular first book but seems unable to follow it up. Once his draft notice comes in, Aaron snaps, diving into a world of sex-for-sale, alcohol, drugs, tattoos and skinheads. 

Bernthal has been making his way into the mainstream of show biz in the decade he has been working in TV and film. He has been in movies like World Trade Center and Tony ‘N’ Tina’s Wedding and has appeared in TV series such as CSI: Miami, Law and Order: SVU, How I Met Your Mother, Boston Legal and Without A Trace. In 2006-2007 he was a breakout character in the extremely hyped but ultimately short-lived sitcom The Class. 

A few days before Day Zero was released to theaters; Bernthal was nice enough to give us a call to discuss the film. 

Day Zero has a very controversial subject matter. What was it about the script that appealed to you?  The character. I read the script and this was something I felt that I had to do. As soon as I put the script down, I was on a mission. I was writing letters to the producer and to the writer begging for an audition. You know, the way the state of affairs is in Hollywood in this day and age – guys like me don’t really get to play lead roles in movies… when you’re starting out like I am. I just knew that I had to play this part. I really wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I pretty much did everything but kick down their doors and force my way into the thing. (chuckles) As soon as I put the script down I knew I had to do it. 

Between this film and World Trade Center you have been in two very dramatic films which revolve around Middle East terror and how it impacts us in the US. Now I know I’m stretching here a bit, but I saw in your bio that you were born and raised in Washington DC.  Yes, I was. 

Was your family in government? Did growing up in the environment of the city make this kind of political films more intriguing to you?  You know, I don’t know. Somebody else just asked me a question sort of like that. Whether I feel like I’m more connected with 9/11 because I made these movies… or something like that. I think that what happened on 9/11 was the defining moment for this generation. I feel like all Americans are extremely connected with that. It’s a visceral gut connection that we have. It’s in all of our blood. It’s changed all of our lives. The answer to your question is that neither of my parents is in politics. But I knew many people whose parents were. A lot of my friends have since gone on into politics. So, yeah, I have a political conscience and I care deeply about it. I don’t necessarily know that growing up in DC made that happen. 

Do you think the draft could ever really be reinstated? If it were, do you think you could go if called to duty?  You know, I would love to say that I would. It’s the type of question that you can’t really answer until you’re in the situation. There are countries in the world [where] all people have to do military service. I think there is something extremely positive about that. This country affords us unbelievable opportunities. I’ve gotten so much out of this country. People in other countries wouldn’t believe the comfort and the opportunities that we have. I think giving back is really important. Politically, if there was a draft – if the military responsibility and burden was one that was shared by all – I think that we would be a lot more careful and a lot less quick to jump into things. 

Dixon was sort of supposed to be the character who voiced the pro-war side of the debate. With the unpopularity of the war effort now was that a hard side to take?  You know, no, I don’t think so, because I never really saw Dixon as a pro-war guy. He’s a New Yorker. Like I said before – 9/11 had an enormous effect on him. But, I think he’s a pro-America guy. He’s a patriot. People often mistake being a patriot for being a hawk. I think they are completely different. He feels a duty to his country. Like I said before, this country has afforded him a great opportunity. He cares deeply about his responsibility to his country, as he cares deeply about his responsibility to his friendships. When asked, he feels like he has to go. Being drafted is not an invitation. It’s an order. That’s where it lies, because so many times in his life until then, he has been called on to do things and he’s answered that call. It affects him so deeply that his friends sort of want to back out of it. It’s just something that sort of existed in their friendship when they were young. 

Dixon was sort of the protector for the group. The three guys were probably never very similar and over the years they became more and more different. Why do you think that they stuck together?  Well, I think like a lot of good friends that have known each other from [when they were] kids, your friendships are really solidified when you’re young. I’d like to think in this group, Dixon, in a way, was the glue. Dixon and these guys became friends very early on. They all went to a magnet school. The whole idea of Stuyvesant [High School – in New York City] is that it brings people from all sorts of socioeconomic and class differences, just based on the fact that if you are talented enough and a good enough student, you can go study there. Their friendships were made at an early enough stage and it is Dixon’s fierce loyalty to these guys that got him into trouble. When he went and fought Rifkin’s fight for him, they sent him off to a juvenile detention center. Yes, they started to go their different directions, but I feel like because Dixon made the sacrifice that he did, these guys also have a fierce loyalty to him. They’ve obviously gone out in different directions and career paths, but this connection was solidified when they were young and it’s something that can’t be broken. I love the fact that this external circumstance of being drafted solidifies them once again – puts them all in the proverbial same boat. Now they have to deal with it. It’s been something that they’ve been dealing with since they were young. 

Although Aaron’s list obviously was a little disturbed [the Elijah Wood character makes a list of ten experiences he wants to have before going to war – i.e. see a peep show, get a tattoo, visit a prostitute], if you had thirty days of freedom left what things would you want to do?  Hmm… That’s a good question. I guess I’d like to be around my family. Play a lot of basketball. Hang out with my dog. Be in the ocean. Man, I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s a really good question. I would want to enjoy myself and say everything that I could possibly say – to as many people who I love as I could. 

I interviewed Elijah a couple of years ago and in real life he seems nice and basically harmless. Was it surprising to see the places he went with his character in the later scenes?  Oh man, I was so excited to see it. Elijah is… you’re right; he’s such an extremely nice person. He’s such a professional. It’s just a dream to have him on set. When we were in New York one day, we were filming and a guy comes up to him – Elijah wasn’t facing the guy – and the guy kind of slaps Elijah in the back and asks for cigarette. He didn’t realize who he was. I immediately went to defend him, just because he’s a small guy and that’s no way to walk up to somebody. I sort of got in the guy’s face. Once the guy realized it was Elijah he’s like, ‘”Oh, man, Elijah…” Elijah hugged him and all that. I was like, man, this guy is so freaking nice! He’s such a nice guy. But, people get it confused. He’s an extremely talented actor. He’s wonderful at what he does. He’s so nice and so professional and so gracious… [but] I think there is no limit to the places that he can go. I really believe in him as an actor. 

You just mentioned filming in New York. There was one scene you did with Chris Klein which appeared to be done during an actual anti-war rally.  Yeah, it sure was. 

What that like to be an actor in the midst of a real life event?  Oh, man, that was magic. It was completely unplanned. It just happened to be near the location that we were shooting in. We just went guerrilla-style and just started taking all the equipment into the subways, trying to get in front of the march, set up our shots. We tried to get as much footage as we could in that march. It was such an unbelievable thing to be able to play off of. That energy was just amazing. It was weird, because that scene with the three of us the day before we were supposed to go – it never really made sense in rehearsals. We never really knew what that scene was about. But then when it was about us watching this protest it made complete sense. It’s just one of those movie-making magic events that really had resonance for all of us. 

Despite the fact that your character was the one who believed that the cause was just and that it was his responsibility to go, even you were given a reason to question his service – meeting a woman. Why do you think it was important that he suddenly have something to lose at home?  I think he has been showing this undying loyalty to people his whole life. It’s what I was talking about earlier with his friends. He feels the same way with his country. That being said, I’m not sure he’s ever felt what it feels like to have that unwavering, undying loyalty back to him. He falls in love with this woman. Not only does he fall in love with her, she’s a good woman. She shows him the kind of loyalty he’s been showing his friends his whole life. Even though he’s kept [his draft status] a secret from her, she says to him, “I love you and I’ll wait for you.” That’s something that just touched him in a way that he hadn’t been touched before. That was important because it put him in a… you know, the one thing about Dixon is he has piece of mind, because he lives by a code. Everything makes sense to him. He knows exactly how he’s going to react to any situation. He runs it through the priorities and the code with which he lives by and then makes a decision. This just totally fucked everything up. This made everything go haywire. He had to really make a decision, because his heart was being pulled in two ways. He had to figure it out. It’s really an incredible circumstance for [screenwriter] Rob [Malkani] to have come up with. It’s wonderful. It’s one of the key obstacles, the key dilemmas of the movie. 

It was interesting to me that despite the fact that your character was the only one who was certain that he was right to be going to war; he never told his new girlfriend – or even to a lesser extent the little girl in the building who has a crush on him. Why do you feel he did that? Do you think this was a little cruel on his part?  Yeah, I think that the scene with Lizzie Moss, where he finally does tell her, it’s the first time Dixon’s ever found himself in a situation where he didn’t know what to do next. He’s just sort of wavering in the wind. I think he’s averse to all weakness. To waver to him is to be completely weak. He was at a place of complete vulnerability and weakness in front of her. He screwed up. He knew he had screwed up. Look, it happened because he had met this wonderful girl and – you know there’s a lot in the movie that didn’t make it into the final cut, obviously. There was a whole storyline with her brother. Her brother had just been drafted, as well. It comes up in one of their first dates. It sort of puts him up against the wall. He doesn’t know whether to tell her or not. You go through that journey with him, whether he’s going to say it or not. That doesn’t come out in the movie. That’s why I love that movie so much. He fucked up. He screwed up. He should have said something and he didn’t. 

I’m a big fan of Elisabeth Moss as well. I have to admit during all of your romantic scenes, I kept half-expecting the Secret Service to break in and take you somewhere so President Bartlett could give you a stern lecture. (Moss had played the President's daughter Zoey for several years on The West Wing.) (He laughs heartily.) 

Seriously, what was she like to work with?  A dream, man. A dream. I fell in love with her. Our first rehearsal I was in love. I was too big of a coward to send her flowers the next day, but I fell in love with her, man. I couldn’t wait to see her everyday on the set. She’s the best. 

Last year you were a cast member of The Class – which was one of the big buzz shows of the season. How did you get the role and what was that like to work on?  It was great. I loved everybody I worked with. The writers were great. I didn’t think I had a chance in hell of being in that show. It’s not the kind of acting that I normally do. The process of getting a network show, you go through a crazy long process of all sorts of auditions. So, I think one of the reasons I got it was because I thought there was no way I would get it. It took all the pressure off myself. (laughs) I totally didn’t feel like I fit in that world at all. 

Well, like you said, you haven’t done all that much comedy. Do you find comedy harder than drama?  No. I mean, look, I studied acting for stage. I studied in Russia for a few years. I have my MFA [Masters of Fine Arts] in acting here for stage. I feel like I’m pretty comfortable with whatever comes my way. The characters that that I’m super drawn to, the things that really excite me, are the heavy dramatic, really masculine roles.

© 2008 PopEntertainment.com

Ik it's been a sec, but that "we wanted to change the world" line is still so pointed for me. Not only does it outright clarity that they (and specifically she) knew who they were working with, who was who, and what was up, but it was also phrased in a way that makes me imagine the mcu twins going to Strucker weekend seminars on workplace conduct. It would've physically taken less time and syllables to say something like "we didn't know" "we were tricked" but noope, let's go with that instead

mmmm feels like it’s not so much they doubled down on the nazi shit to spite us (it do feel like they spiting me sometimes 😩), but that it didn’t matter to nearly enough people for them to reevaluate the hydra backstory on a deeper level. like, most people in the GA don’t see this as a problem, and most of the people who are uncomfortable by it just shrug it off.

i do think it’s disingenuous to make the argument that wanda is the ideological equivalent of a modern day fascist skinhead. it’s pretty clear that she has no love for hydra, and that she happily ditched them at the first opportunity. it’s also pretty clear that she seemed gaunt and almost malnourished under their “care,” that she looked at the state of affairs in sokovia and decided to herself along the lines of “something has to change, and i’ll either sell my soul to the devil or die to make it happen.”

but i’m still annoyed by it, because my bottom line is that i just don’t want any version of wanda to sign up for a fascist organization because she wanted to “change the world” no matter how much you fluff up the subtext.