#Columbia Comic Corporation

[thatcartoonnetworkblog]

Cartoon Network Friday Spotlight: "The Bear That Wasn't"

Frank Tashlin may not have been as innovative as a director as Tex Avery or Chuck Jones, or as consistently hilarious as Friz Freleng or Bob Clampett, but he had arguably the most impressive resume of the major Looney Tunes directors. Tashlin moved from studio to studio for more than 15 years, most notably holding a few stints at Warner, as well as brief runs of varying jobs with Ub Iwerks, Columbia's animation division, and even Disney, not to mention working on his own comic strip, as an early pioneer of stop-motion animation, and as a gag writer for a range of talents including the Marx Brothers. In the 50s, he started directing live-action films for comedic icons like Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, with or without Dean Martin, as well as bombshell Jayne Mansfield.

Hugely impressive, right? Tashlin also wrote a few children's storybooks during all of this time, one of which would be adapted into a short subject during Jones' tenure at MGM*, this, which ended up being the studio's last short subject.

In this, a confused bear wakes up from hibernation in the middle of a busy building, where he's confused for a big, hairy man in a fur coat who needs to go back to work. The thing is, he's just a bear and wants to go back to his lifestyle, but no one will believe him. He goes through the chain of commands to state his case, but to no avail.

The original book was a criticism of the increasing corporate industrialization and the pressures in society of embracing popular opinion despite how it might conflict with the truth. The cartoon keeps these themes to varying extents but due to its short nature, some of it is missing, which Tashlin noticed and considered disappointing, even as Jones made the short as a tribute to his friend and in hopes of winning him an Oscar. That didn't prove to be, but it's still an enjoyable cartoon, one of Jones' last true classic animated works. Luckily, this is available on the first Looney Tunes Platinum Collection.

*confession- I don't recall or have immediate evidence of "The Bear That Wasn't" airing on CN or Boomerang, but as it's a part of the Turner library, I think it's worth adding here anyway.

[usaigi]

Chapter 2 - Deal With The Devil

Read on Ao3 | ⇜previous chapter | next chapter⇝

Summary (T) Earth 65 AU where Elektra is Daredevil and was hell-bent on killing her ex Matt Murd(er)ock but she’s in therapy now and is channeling her energy into helping Spider-Women defeat him instead. Semi-comics/Marvel movies crossover. Elektra and Matt are mostly based on the Netflix version and Gwen is based on Into the Spiderverse.

“Can I ask why Murdock specifically? I know he’s related to Fisk but I thought you took care of Fisk. And surely there are other people high up in the crime syndicate pyramid scheme.”

“Cut off the head another takes its place. Murdock is just picking up where Fisk left off.”

“So ah. Ok this is going to sound like super ableist but Murdock is blind, right? I totally get how he can still be a leader of the mob with like accommodation and stuff but. Can’t we just,” Gwen punches the air a couple of times. 

Gwen never had the fortune of fighting Fisk herself but hearing from her dad, that man is built like an unmovable wall. Even if he hadn’t been legally untouchable for the last decade until Daredevil swopped in, he’s strength was borderline superhuman. And apparently, he has the temper of a child, with tantrums loud enough to flip cars. And they say girls are emotional. 

So what exactly is Elektra so concerned about? Murdock is just a dude. Kinda look like a Chad but in a rich kid I-went-to-Columbia-and-played-polo way. Probably owns a pair of pastel-colored shorts. 

“You’ve never fought him?” Elektra asks, eyes squinting slightly. 

“No? I don’t make it a habit in fighting people with disabilities,” Gwen says, causing Elektra to break out into a wry laugh, turning away to hide her face from Gwen. Guess she finds ableism funny. Canceled. 

“The chemicals that blinded him also enhanced his remaining sense, his earring, smell, touch, and taste. They all like work together to create a sort of radar. You know, like the blind girl from Avatar. Combine that with his years of martial arts training with the Hand, he’s a deadly opponent.” 

“The what?”

“The Hand. Yeah I know, stupid name. Cults always have dumb names,” heh true. What kind of dumb name is Scientology? What’s scientific about paying a buttload of money to reach enlightenment? Just smoke a blunt and look at the city lights like everyone else. “We’re called the Chaste so it’s not like it’s any better,”

“Who is we?” Gwen asks, tilting her head ever so slightly. Wait, is Elektra also in a cult? 

“You want a role call or what?” Elektra says dryly. 

“I mean, I’d like to know who’s on my team. Like what if someone joins us and I think they’re with Murdock and I accidentally punch them,” Gwen asks. 

“Then you apologize..?”

“Well yeah but–”

“You don’t have to worry about that now, tonight's thing is just us.” Tonight? Don’t worry about it? Gwen was under the impression that Elektra was going to train on something, not jump straight into a mission. And for someone who scolded her yesterday for being reckless, the ‘plan’ is as vague as a punk show poster. Band: Spider-Women and Daredevil. Time: sometime after ten and before we’re all corporate slaves to The Man …The Hand? BYOW (Bring Your Own Weapons). 

“Ok so. Murdock took Fisk's spot at the Kingpin?”

“Sorta. I think he’s still taking some orders from Fisk but Murdock has his own agenda. Fisk is just a capitalist, Murdock is connected with the Hand.”

“And what does the Hand want?”

“What does any secret ninja want? World control or immortality or something.”

“And what does your cult want?”

“You’ve seen Midsommar, right?” Blink blink, sorry what? “Kidding, duh. You’re so serious. The Chast isn’t a cult. It’s a thousand-year-old organization aiming to stop the Hand,” Elektra ‘clarifies,’ heavy on the air quotes. No one in a cult ever admits to being in a cult.   

“Quacks like a cult, walks like a cult,” Gwen says shrugging, throwing her hands up. “Hey, no judgment! I know you Hollywood people are into some weird crap.” Is anyone else in it? It would be kinda cool if Elliphant is in the cult. Maybe Gwen would be down to join the cult if there are cool people in it. 

“Bestie, if you wanna join, you’re in,” Elektra gives her a playful wink. “Ok, today’s mission should be easy enough, my sources say Murdock’s at a party on the Upper East side so we don’t have to worry about him. The Hand is expecting an important delivery, some sort of weapon. Murdock paid the tracksuit mafia to meet his guys at the docks. Plan is I’m going to fight the Hand and you’re going to swing in a couple of minutes later and help with the tracksuits. I want Murdock to think there’s a mole working with the tracksuits and to turn against them. Or at least think they’re incompetent. Since this is our first team-up, he’ll have no suspicion that we coordinated the attack–” 

“Wait, last question,” Gwen interrupts.

“Yeah?”

“How do you know so much about Murdock?” Elektra really seems to know Murdock, his location, his thought patterns. Not to accuse her of being a mole but… Elektra is a stranger who found her in a dumpster. 

“It’s ugh whatever,” Elektra stutters. Pull her scarf up to hide her face in a hurry.

Oh!

“No way,” Gwen gasps. “No. Fucking. Way.”

“I don’t like how much you curse.” Gwen can see Elektra's transparent attempt to change the subject. 

“You slept with Murdock!?” 

“No no, it’s worse. I dated him.”

“You what!? How long? Why? When? WHY!?”

“Long time. You do dumb stuff when you’re young and in love. Wait, how old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“Brutal.” Yeah, that's fair. “If the mission goes well we can have brunch and gossip tomorrow but, let’s go Spider-Women.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“Ok, plan. You’re going down there and you’re going to fight those dudes in black and my dudes are the ones in the tracksuits, right? But like when I swing in, you’re gonna start fighting all the dudes right? And that must be the container with the weapon, right DD?” Elektra’s gone? Gwen looks around, confused. “Daredevil?”

Oh. 

There is she. 

Slicing through one guy and kicking another guy in the face. Thanks for the heads up. They didn’t even get to say, “Go team!”  

The tracksuits are hiding out being some containers, shooting chaotically at Murdock’s guys– oh they really are ninjas, with masks and swords and everything. Not just some Naruto cosplayers, they seem legit. 

Although, if anyone care to consult Gwen, the Hand ninjas and the Russian Tracksuit guys should totally switch uniforms so the ninjas can look like the lady from Kill Bill. 

Gwen keeps a close eye on Elektra, observing her fight style. Like herself, Elektra increments a lot of acrobatics, varying from flips to jump kicks. But where Gwen has a background in dance, Elektra looks like she has a background in Taekwondo or Capoeira. Every move is deliberate, every move is dripped with confidence and power. Quick and efficient punches to major pressure points. Elektra fights like a tiger–hiding behind obstacles and blending into the shadows before prancing on her victim, and kneeing them right in the neck.  

Ouch. 

Surely it’s been enough time? Has it? Maybe Gwen would know if Elektra actually went over the plan but it’s fine . It’s fine!

Gwen, you came in too soon, MJ’s voice echoes. 

Never too early for a badass dumb solo. 

One-two-three, Spider-Women swings in. Kick one guy and push him into another, causing them to trip over a pile of trash as she lands gracefully on the top of a shipping container. Guitar lick, the crowd cheers, and, “hey guys.” It’s Spider-Women, woosh. “Love the tracksuits, so Y2K. Are they Juicy Coutier?”

Gwenhe thwaps one gun out of one tracksuit's hand and throws it at another dude's face, hitting him right in the noise. She webs one dude and webs this other guy and bop.

“Come on, guys! At least make the fight juicy!”   

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The fight doesn’t make long, despite being outmatched, the Hand and the tracksuits are severally outskilled. Gwen is careful not to get too close to Elektra, hoping that none of the goons think they’re coordinating this. Still, she does web one guy's sword out of the way, giving Elektra a perfect opening. 

“Thanks,” she just says. 

Soon enough, someone shouts something in Japanese and someone else says something in Russian and they all skirt away. Gwen tries to run after them before Elektra stops her.

“Help me open the container instead,” Elektra says, prying the door. Gwen helps before peeking her head in, anxiously anticipating a legendary sword or spear or bomb. 

Not this. Anything but this. 

“It’s just a kid…” Gwen says apprehensively, “Elektra, he’s just a kid.”

“...Fuck. I ah–I ahh I have a friend on the police force. I’ll call him and the paramedics. Can you stay with him?” She nods, putting her hands up before carefully approaching the boy. Poor kid couldn’t be more than ten years old, fear painting his face. 

“Hi,” Gwen says softly, “hi, don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you. Here–” she crouches down. “What’s your name?”

“Peter…” 

“Oh ah that’s so cool. That’s my best friends name…” her voice drops, fear creeping up her throat. “And he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. He taught me something important, do you want to learn what is it?” She waits until Peter gives a nervous nod. “Everyone is capable of being special. Just like you. You’re special and that’s why we rescued you.”  

“I want my parents…”

“I know, I know. We’re going to help you find them. We’re going to help you. Do you trust us?”

He nods shakily. 

“Good.”

Gwen holds the little boy close til the ambulance sirens creep in, helping the paramedic transfer him on the stretcher. She uses a bit of webbing to pull the shock blanket up, earning her the tiniest smile from Peter. Totally worth it. 

The assisting cops scatter around the crime scene, and Elektra stands off in the corner to talk to her friend? Oh crap, Castle. Ahh. Seriously Elektra, of all the people you could be friends with why him? Though maybe she shouldn’t be too surprised in her poor judgment, Elektra did date and probably make lots kisses and smoochies and yuck to Murdock. 

Peter’s safe now, surely Elektra will understand why she’s webbing away. She sends Elektra a quick text asking her to meet her on the same roof top.

Gwen climbs up the side of a building before launching her web, swinging off like the badass she is. 

—

“Wow! That was so cool! I can’t believe it! Sorry I dipped, Castle totally terrifies me, hold thing that we don’t need to get into but that was so cool! The way you used your pitchfork things–” Gwen blathers as soon as Elektra shows up. 

“My sais?”

“Is that what they’re called? Cool! But yeah! Thank you!”

“No problem.”

“Do you think we can visit the kid tomorrow in the hospital? I mean as civilians, totally weird if Daredevil and Spider-Women showed up for visitation–”

“I’m sure we can,” Elektra smiles. 

“I guess I should introduce myself then. Properly,” Gwen pulls her mask off, revealing her million-dollar smile, and extends her hand. “I’m Gwen Stacy.”

“I know. I googled your phone number. Remind me to get you a burner phone. But it’s nice to meet you, Gwen Stacy, I’m Elektra,” taking her hand with an equally sincere smile. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

So yay, they saved the day. Go Team Spider-Woman and Daredevil. A cooler-and-more-stylish Batman and Robin (Gwen being Batman of course). Girl Power! Yippee. 

Can two girls share the cover for Forbes thirty under thirty? Meh, she’ll email Mr. Forbes himself tomorrow morning. Will Elektra let her borrow a fancy dress for their press interview? Maybe something aqua. With sparkles. And biker shorts because ya never know. 

Changing into her old band shirt and pair of shorts, Gwen flops–not lays gracefully, not awkwardly climbs in– flops onto her bed. Ahh her back felt so crunchy she should really stretch before sleep but she’s so exhausted. She hugs one of her Squishmellows and opens up youtube, queues up a video of Watcher, and waits for her eyelids to feel too heavy. 

Brrrring. 

Huh? 

Elektra?

“Hello,” Gwen grumbles.  

“Oh thank God, are you ok? Where are you?” Elektra sounds like she’s out of breath like she’s in the middle of a fight. But no, the fight just ended. They won. 

“I’m home. Why, what’s going on?”

“Someone got the kid. Gwen, I’m so sorry…”

What…?

[skeletonmunroe]

Minor Super-Hero Round-Up 005

Columbia Comics Corporation edition

[meherchanganiasmediastudies]

catergory : research & development

The big six mind map

Certainly, the "Big Six" global production companies, also known as the "Big Six" Hollywood studios, are some of the most influential and powerful players in the entertainment industry. These studios dominate the world of film and television production and distribution, shaping the landscape of popular culture. Here's a more in-depth look at some of them:

1. Walt Disney Studios: The Walt Disney Company is perhaps the most iconic of the Big Six. Disney is known for its classic animated films, theme parks, and a wide range of subsidiaries, including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox. Disney's acquisition of these companies has solidified its position as a major player in the film industry. They produce a wide array of content, from animated family films to blockbuster franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars.

2. Warner Bros. Pictures: Warner Bros. is another major player in the entertainment industry. It's part of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of WarnerMedia. Warner Bros. is known for producing and distributing a wide range of films, from the Harry Potter series to DC Comics adaptations like "The Dark Knight." They also own subsidiary companies like New Line Cinema and DC Films.

3. Universal Pictures: Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of Comcast, has a strong presence in the film industry. They've been behind major franchises like "Fast & Furious" and "Jurassic Park." Universal also owns Illumination Entertainment, known for animated hits like "Despicable Me" and "The Secret Life of Pets."

4. Sony Pictures: Sony Pictures, a division of Sony Corporation, is known for its diverse portfolio of films. They produce and distribute everything from blockbusters like "Spider-Man" to award-winning dramas and animated features. They also own Columbia Pictures and various television production companies.

5. 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox): 20th Century Studios, now owned by Disney, has a storied history in the industry. They've been responsible for classics like "Star Wars," "Avatar," and "The X-Men" franchise. Disney's acquisition of Fox has had a significant impact on the industry.

6. Paramount Pictures: Paramount, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS, has a long history in Hollywood. They're known for franchises like "Transformers" and "Mission: Impossible." Paramount is also involved in television production.

These studios have a massive global reach and are involved in the entire production process, from development and production to distribution and marketing. They control vast libraries of intellectual property and continue to shape the direction of the entertainment industry through mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships. Their influence extends beyond just film production, as they often have a significant presence in television and streaming services as well. The competition and collaboration between these studios play a pivotal role in the evolution of the entertainment industry.

[mr-imagin8ion]

Mixed Breeds comics 1996

A great tip for making the comics more legible: it helps if you click on the eye (👁️) in the top right of the screen.

In the story "Dancing in the Mouse", Muffin's dance causes her to get taken by a civilization of dancing mice. In "Fitz the Snowman", Fitz replaces himself with a snowman counterpart; and in "The Cutie Curse", Bearl and Muffin aim to un-cute themselves to stop the flattery.

In the story "The Bearl Necessities", the family encounters a man in a bearskin coat. In "Nearer My Dog To Thee", Brunswick uses his guard dog power to make the town safer. In "The Cat or The Egg", Muffin tries to hatch an egg.

In "Room by Roof", Bearl and Muffin rebuild a pig's house. In "Columbia, I Need Ya", Muffin falls in love with Columbia. (Debut of Nancy.)

In "FeynmanBoot", Bearl and Muffin reboot Mr. Feynmanbot into a showman.

In "Down the Shore", the family goes on a beach vacation! In "The Day the World Stood Flat", Bearl and Muffin encounter a flat earth; in "Election Defection", the duet become campaign managers for candidates running against Mayor Baugo; and in "Hello, Dolphin", the duet meet some hyperintelligent dolphins.

In "Show Dog Show", Bearl and Muffin enter a dog show.

In "Paint It Spain", their friends have to convince the duo that they're taking a trip to Spain. In "The Money Pit", the duo land in a dump and encounter a very corporate rat.

In "Dress Distress", the town becomes stuck in their Halloween costumes. In "The Cat Club", Bearl discovers Muffin attempting to get into a cat club.

In the very special storyline "A Very Postnie Christmas", Bearl and Muffin invite Postnie into their house after he gets lost...

...but later on find his real home.

Original strips: January 1996, February 1996, March 1996, April 1996, May 1996, June 1996, July 1996, August 1996, September 1996, October 1996, November 1996, December 1996

[ptbf2002]

Full Title: I'd Rather Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Than Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie Anyday!

To Be Honest For Superhero Movies And Shows, I Prefer MARVEL And DC Comics More Better Than This Crap.

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/mastuhoscg8845iscool/art/I-d-rather-watch-826100781

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Belongs To Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham, Pascal Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, Arad Productions Inc. MARVEL Entertainment, LLC, Sony Pictures Animation Inc. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. Sony Pictures Releasing, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Sony Entertainment, Inc. Sony Corporation of America, And Sony Group Corporation

Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie Belongs To Jeremy Zag, Bettina Lopez, Mendoza, ZAG Inc. Method Animation, ON Animation Studios, ON Kids & Family, Mediawan Animation, Mediawan, The Awakening Production, Cross Creek Pictures, LLC, Société Nouvelle de Distribution, M6, W9, 6ter, Groupe M6, Metropole Télévision S.A. StudioCanal S.A.S. And Netflix, Inc.

Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir Belongs To Thomas Astruc, Jeremy ZAG, ZAG Heroez, ZAGtoon, Method Animation, ON Animation Studios, ON Kids & Family, Mediawan Animation, Toei Animation Co., Ltd. SAMG Entertainment Co., Ltd. AB International Distribution, PGS Entertainment, Mediawan, DeAgostini Editore S.P.A. DeAgostini S.P.A. DQ Entertainment, DQ Entertainment International Films Limited, Assemblage Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. SK Broadband, Inc. The Walt Disney Company France, TF1, ABC ME, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, EBS 1TV, Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), Disney Channel, Disney Branded Television, Disney General Entertainment Content, The Walt Disney Company, Family Channel (Canadian TV channel), WildBrain Ltd. Gloob, Canais Globo, Globosat, And Organizações Globo Participações S.A.

[motorcyclenahas]

Nas illmatic download reddit

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT PRO#

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT TV#

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT DOWNLOAD#

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT FREE#

Nuseir Yassin, popularly known as Nas, had said on March 20 that he and his company, Nas Daily Corporation, would be moving to Singapore to set up a new company, theīY ORDER OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Office of the Federal Register Washington, D.C.It was issued as the fifth and final radio single in promotion of his One Love is a song by American rapper Nas, released Octoon Columbia Records.Some M1 Macs are seeing absurd levels of write activity on their - costly - internal SSDs.The progress in the research work and real applications of sodium‐sulfur ( NAS) battery in large scale energy storage is introduced.subreddit is awful suprise epicly100 CLUB MERCH OUT NOW!.He has a NAS made by Synology, a company we've reviewed very highly.At some point, his NAS stopped working and would not power on. Men inte mycket har hänt, samtidigt som konkurrensen Som NAS blir den helt okej, med två interna hårddiskar (numera stöds NTFS-formaterade diskar) och alla usb-portar.In this narrative review, we develop an analytical framework to I'm so honored to join the Recording Academy's membership class of 2020, said Lil Nas X, who won two Grammys for his hit Old Town Road this year, in a statement Nas Academy Review (as a Grab for Good scholar) itsMae The science around the use of masks by the public to impede COVID-19 transmission is advancing rapidly. Netflix's superpowered comic adaptation of 'The Umbrella Academy' returns for a second season of cheeky action/comedy

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT TV#

'The Umbrella Academy' Season 2: TV Review.

offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies with several payment methods, including credit card and bank wire transfers.

I usually manage to pull off $10-$15 a month this is also the first month I've

With the 10k gamer score I've managed to get up $30 worth of amazon gift cards this month.

Microsoft väljer att gå den stora, dyra och dumma vägen, och HP hänger på

HP Media Smart Server - för stor, för dyr och för dum.

The National Academy of Sciences, or NAS, was founded in 1863, and is one of the three academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering.

The importance of reevaluating the perchlorate RfD is underscored by the issues we raise in this commentary, by the potential for widespread human exposure in utero and.

Find communities you're interested in, and become part of an online community It's A Digital Disease! - reddi En nas är kort och gott en så kallad filserver, alltså en typ av dator med en stor hårddisk (eller två, eller hur många som helst) i en låda som är ansluten till ditt Reddit is a network of communities based on people's interests. I'm part of the Grab for Good scholarship program that works hand in hand with Nas Aca. I am working on a Artificial Intelligence learning assistant that is Honest review, a true story and the experience I had with Nas Academy. I've posted here before, but not too often. The majority of our members use to search for acapellas & isolated vocalsfor remixing and sampling! *The BPM, Key & Genre may not be 100% accurate, by downloading this acapella you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.Hello, everyone. If you are looking to remix or make a bootleg of Nas – Stillmatic (Acapella), please make sure you check out our legal page which you can find in the footer of this page. Our acapellas come as mp3 & some in WAV, they are perfect for using in the studio, we work hard to collect as many studio quality acapellas & isolated vocals as we can! our samples are used by studio professionals all over the world including sound engineers, sound designers, students in music production and sound engineering schools and classes, bedroom producers, world famous DJ's and many more.

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT FREE#

designed and maintained by music producers, keeping free acapellas and isolated vocals all in one place!

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT PRO#

Although our service is free, we do offer a pro account which has some great features and helps us cover the running costs of the website. is the worlds fastest growing acapella website, our aim is to collect widely available acapellas and bring them all to one place.

#NAS ILLMATIC DOWNLOAD REDDIT DOWNLOAD#

Nas – Stillmatic (Acapella) is available for download to music producers & audio engineers, the acapella was added on November 22nd, 2015

[jasenlex]

ISOLATED COMIC BOOK PANEL #2841 title: BIG SHOT COMICS #4 - P7:6 artist: OGDEN WHITNEY year: 1940

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Langdon began working in medicine shows and stock companies while in his teens. In 1906, he entered vaudeville with his first wife, Rose Langdon. By 1915, he had developed a sketch named "Johnny's New Car," on which he performed variations in the years that followed. In 1923, he joined Principal Pictures Corporation, a company headed by producer Sol Lesser. He eventually went to The Mack Sennett Studios, where he became a major star. At the height of his film career, he was considered one of the four best comics of the silent film era. His screen character was that of a wide-eyed, childlike man with an innocent's understanding of the world and the people in it. He was a first-class pantomimist.

Most of Langdon's 1920s work was produced at the famous Mack Sennett studio. His screen character was unique and his antics so different from the broad Sennett slapstick that he soon had a following. Success led him into feature films, directed by Arthur Ripley and Frank Capra. With such directors guiding him, Langdon's work rivaled that of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Many consider his best films to be The Strong Man (1926), Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926), and Long Pants (1927). Langdon acted as producer on these features, which were made for his own company, The Harry Langdon Corporation, and released by First National. After his initial success, he fired Frank Capra and directed his own films, including Three's a Crowd, The Chaser, and Heart Trouble, but his appeal faded. These films were more personal and idiosyncratic, and audiences of the period were not interested. Capra later claimed that Langdon's decline stemmed from the fact that, unlike the other great silent comics, he never fully understood what made his own film character successful. However, Langdon's biographer Bill Schelly, among others, have expressed skepticism about this claim, arguing that Langdon had established his character in vaudeville long before he entered movies, added by the fact that he wrote most of his own material during his stage years. History shows that Langdon's greatest success was while being directed by Capra, and once he took hold of his own destiny, his original film comedy persona dropped sharply in popularity with audiences. This is likely not due to Langdon's material, which he had always written himself, but due to his inexperience with the many fine points of directing, at which Capra excelled, but at which Langdon was a novice. On the other hand, a look at Langdon's filmography shows that Capra directed only two of Langdon's 30 silent comedies. His last silent film, and the last one Langdon directed, Heart Trouble, is a "lost film", so it is difficult to assess whether he might have begun achieving a greater understanding of the directorial process with more experience. The coming of sound, and the drastic changes in cinema, also thwarted Langdon's chances of evolving as a director and perhaps defining a style that might have enjoyed greater box office success.

Langdon's babyish character did not adapt well to sound films; as producer Hal Roach remarked, "He was not so funny articulate" (he featured Langdon in several unsuccessful sound shorts in 1929–1930). But Langdon was a big enough name to command leads in short subjects for Educational Pictures and Columbia Pictures.[4] In 1938, he adopted a Caspar Milquetoast-type, henpecked-husband character that served him well. Langdon continued to work steadily in low-budget features and shorts into the 1940s, playing mild-mannered goofs. He also contributed to comedy scripts as a writer, notably for Laurel and Hardy, which led to him being paired with Oliver Hardy in a 1939 film titled Zenobia during a period when Stan Laurel was in a bitter contract dispute with Roach.

Langdon was considered to be the live-action role model for Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but Walt Disney rejected the idea. Eddie Collins played the role instead.

Harry Langdon kept busy in pictures and completed his final Columbia short Pistol Packin' Nitwits only weeks before his death of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 22, 1944. All funeral arrangements were handled by onscreen cohort and friend Vernon Dent. Langdon was cremated and his ashes interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

At the height of his career, Langdon was making $7,500 per week, a fortune for the times. Upon his death, The New York Times wrote, "His whole appeal was a consummate ability to look inexpressibly forlorn when confronted with manifold misfortunes—usually of the domestic type. He was what was known as 'dead-pan'...the feeble smile and owlish blink which had become his stock-in-trade caught on in a big way, and he skyrocketed to fame and fortune..."

In 1997, his hometown of Council Bluffs celebrated "Harry Langdon Day" and in 1999 named Harry Langdon Boulevard in his honor. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Harry Langdon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.

Langdon is briefly depicted in the biographical film Stan & Ollie, played by Richard Cant, where he is preparing for the shooting of Zenobia with Oliver Hardy.

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as a great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura (1944), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).

Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor's Edge (1946), Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ann Sutton in Whirlpool (1949), Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955).

I Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was named after a beloved uncle, who died young.[4][page needed] She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Their father was a successful insurance broker of Irish descent, their mother a former physical education instructor.[4][page needed]

Tierney was raised in Westport, Connecticut. She attended St. Margaret's School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Fairfield. She published her first poem, entitled "Night", in the school magazine and wrote poetry occasionally throughout her life. Tierney played Jo in a student production of Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.

Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the US in 1938 and attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. On a family trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios, where a cousin worked as a producer of historical short films. Director Anatole Litvak, taken by the 17-year-old's beauty, told Tierney that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the relatively low salary; they also wanted her to take her position in society.

Tierney's society debut occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old. page needed] Soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, "If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theatre." Tierney studied acting at a small Greenwich Village acting studio in New York with Yiddish and Broadway actor/director Benno Schneider. She became a protégée of Broadway producer-director George Abbott.

In Tierney's first role on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life! (1938). A Variety magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" She also worked as an understudy in The Primrose Path (1938).

The following year, she appeared in the role of Molly O'Day in the Broadway production Mrs. O'Brien Entertains (1939). The New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest." That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in Ring Two (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career – that is, if cinema does not kidnap her away."

Tierney's father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career. Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. From a well-to-do family herself, she was not impressed by his wealth. Hughes eventually became a lifelong friend.

After a cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, she wrote to Harper's Bazaar magazine for a diet, which she followed for the next 25 years. Tierney was initially offered the lead role in National Velvet, but production was delayed. page needed] When Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in The Male Animal (1940). In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given". She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday. The Male Animal was a hit, and Tierney was featured in Life magazine. She was also photographed by Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Collier's Weekly.

Two weeks after The Male Animal opened, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, was rumored to have been in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to note Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." It was Tierney. At first, Zanuck did not think she was the actress he had seen. Tierney was quoted (after the fact), saying: "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."

Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox[4][page needed] and her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Eleanor Stone in Fritz Lang's western The Return of Frank James (1940), opposite Henry Fonda.

A small role as Barbara Hall followed in Hudson's Bay (1941) with Paul Muni and she co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's comedy Tobacco Road (also 1941), and played the title role in Belle Starr alongside co-star Randolph Scott, Zia in Sundown, and Victoria Charteris (Poppy Smith) in The Shanghai Gesture. She played Eve in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942), as well as the dual role of Susan Miller (Linda Worthington) in Rouben Mamoulian's screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers, and roles as Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl (all 1942).

Receiving top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943), as Martha Strable Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career. Tierney recalled during the production of Heaven Can Wait:

Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it – but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously.

Tierney starred in what became her best-remembered role: the title role in Otto Preminger's film noir Laura (1944), opposite Dana Andrews. After playing Tina Tomasino in A Bell for Adano (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), adapted from a best selling novel by Ben Ames Williams. Appearing with Cornel Wilde, Tierney won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This was 20th Century-Fox' most successful film of the 1940s. It was cited by director Martin Scorsese as one of his favorite films of all time, and he assessed Tierney as one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era.

Tierney then starred as Miranda Wells in Dragonwyck (1946), along with Walter Huston and Vincent Price. It was Joseph L. Mankiewicz' debut film as a director, In the same period, she starred as Isabel Bradley, opposite Tyrone Power, in The Razor's Edge (also 1946), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name. Her performance was critically praised.

Tierney played Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), opposite Rex Harrison. The following year, she co-starred again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy That Wonderful Urge (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with Laura director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir Whirlpool (1949), co-starring Richard Conte and José Ferrer. She appeared in two other film noirs: Jules Dassin's Night and the City, shot in London, and Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (both 1950), reunited with both Preminger and leading man Dana Andrews, who she appeared with in five movies total.

Tierney was loaned to Paramount Pictures, giving a comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's ensemble farce, The Mating Season (1951), with John Lund, Thelma Ritter, and Miriam Hopkins. She gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the Warner Bros. film, Close to My Heart (1951), with Ray Milland. The film is about a couple trying to adopt a child. Later in her career, she was reunited with Milland in Daughter of the Mind (1969).

After Tierney appeared opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in Way of a Gaucho (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in Plymouth Adventure, opposite Spencer Tracy at MGM. She and Tracy had a brief affair during this time.[10] Tierney played Marya Lamarkina opposite Clark Gable in Never Let Me Go (1953), filmed in England.

In the course of the 1940s, she reached a pinnacle of fame as a beautiful leading lady, on a par with "fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner". She was "called the most beautiful woman in movie history" and many of her movies in the 1940s became classic films.

Tierney remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artists' Personal Affair (1953). While in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father Aga Khan III. Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in the film noir Black Widow (1954) as Iris Denver, with Ginger Rogers and Van Heflin.

Tierney had reportedly started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice, because she felt, "I sound like an angry Minnie Mouse." She subsequently became a heavy smoker.

With difficult events in her personal life, Tierney struggled for years with episodes of manic depression. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, Daria, who was deaf and mentally disabled, the result of a fan breaking a rubella quarantine and infecting the pregnant Tierney while she volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen. In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She dropped out of Mogambo and was replaced by Grace Kelly.[4][page needed] While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955), opposite Humphrey Bogart, Tierney became ill. Bogart's sister Frances (known as Pat) had suffered from mental illness, so he showed Tierney great sympathy, feeding her lines during the production and encouraging her to seek help.

Tierney consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.

In late December 1957, Tierney, from her mother's apartment in Manhattan, stepped onto a ledge 14 stories above ground and remained for about 20 minutes in what was considered a suicide attempt. Police were called, and afterwards Tierney's family arranged for her to be admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. The following year, after treatment for depression, she was discharged. Afterwards, she worked as a sales girl in a local dress shop with hopes of integrating back into society, but she was recognized by a customer, resulting in sensational newspaper headlines.

Later in 1958, 20th Century-Fox offered Tierney a lead role in Holiday for Lovers (1959), but the stress upon her proved too great, so only days into production, she dropped out of the film and returned to Menninger for a time.

Tierney made a screen comeback in Advise and Consent (1962), co-starring with Franchot Tone and reuniting with director Otto Preminger.[4][page needed] Soon afterwards, she played Albertine Prine in Toys in the Attic (1963), based on the play by Lillian Hellman. This was followed by the international production of Las cuatro noches de la luna llena, (Four Nights of the Full Moon - 1963), in which she starred with Dan Dailey. She received critical praise overall for her performances.

Tierney's career as a solid character actress seemed to be back on track as she played Jane Barton in The Pleasure Seekers (1964), but then she suddenly retired. She returned to star in the television movie Daughter of the Mind (1969) with Don Murray and Ray Milland. Her final performance was in the TV miniseries Scruples (1980).

Tierney married two men: the first was Oleg Cassini, a costume and fashion designer, on June 1, 1941, with whom she eloped. She was 20 years old. Her parents opposed the marriage, as he was from a Russian-Italian family and born in France. She had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (October 15, 1943 – September 11, 2010) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (November 19, 1948 – March 31, 2015).

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease. Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life. This entire incident was inspiration for a plot point in the 1962 Agatha Christie novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

It is claimed that she had an affair with Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran during the late 1940s.

Tierney's friend Howard Hughes paid for Daria's medical expenses, ensuring the girl received the best care. Tierney never forgot his acts of kindness. Daria Cassini died in 2010, at the age of 66.

Tierney and Cassini separated October 20, 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on November 10. Periodicals during this period record Tierney with Charles K. Feldman, including articles related to her "twosoming" with Feldman, her "current best beau". The divorce was to be finalized in March 1948, but they reconciled before then.

During their separation, Tierney met John F. Kennedy, a young World War II veteran, who was visiting the set of Dragonwyck in 1946. They began a romance that she ended the following year after Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his victory in the presidential election. During this time, newspapers documented Tierney's other romantic relationships, including Kirk Douglas.

While filming for Personal Affair in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan. They became engaged in 1952, while Khan was going through a divorce from Rita Hayworth. Their marriage plans, however, met with fierce opposition from his father, Aga Khan III.

Cassini later bequeathed $500,000 in trust to Daria and $1,000,000 to Christina. Cassini and Tierney remained friends until her death in November 1991.

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had been married to actress Hedy Lamarr since 1953. Lee and Lamarr divorced in 1960 after a long battle over alimony, then Lee and Tierney married in Aspen, Colorado, on July 11, 1960. They lived quietly in Houston, Texas, and Delray Beach, Florida until his death in 1981.

Despite her self-imposed exile in Texas, Tierney received work offers from Hollywood, prompting her to a comeback. She appeared in a November 1960 broadcast of General Electric Theater, during which time she discovered that she was pregnant. Shortly after, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in Return to Peyton Place, but she withdrew from the production after suffering a miscarriage.

Tierney's autobiography, Self-Portrait, in which she candidly discusses her life, career, and mental illness, was published in 1979.

Tierney's second husband, W. Howard Lee, died on February 17, 1981 after a long illness.[24]

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor Gregory Peck with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.

Tierney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard.

Tierney died of emphysema on November 6, 1991, in Houston, thirteen days before her 71st birthday. She is interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Certain documents of Tierney's film-related material, personal papers, letters, etc., are held in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, though her papers are closed to the public.

[susanelizabethjonesart]

Companion painting to the one previously posted and going to the same collector. I always wonder what new life my little paintings have in store and who will be their new family. I imagine a gourmet foods shop owner, a @pear 🍐 @orchard @farmer, a rustic @B&B proprietor, @corporate giant at @harryanddavid or simply a lover of beautiful and tasty @French @comice pears along the #royalriviera Art is an endless adventure. #paintingwithsusan #artforsalebyartist #colorfulandcharmingart #doingwhatilove #nostalgicimpressionism #artist #allaprima #oilpainting #orchards #happycreativelife #dailypainting #colorful2021 #creativespirits #carriagehousestudio #windyacrecottage #chasinglight #sejpaints #learntopaintin5steps #artandsoul #inspiration #creativity #ohtheplaceswewillgo #adventureawaits #artclass #artworkshop #paintingclass (at Columbia, Tennessee) https://www.instagram.com/p/COA8xEEhNdy/?igshid=1c5t7bdfgd96d

[ideolatry]

Thank-you, Dragon Age.

To Patrick Weekes, David Gaider, Mike Laidlaw, Lukas Kristjanson and the rest of the creative team behind Dragon Age: Inquisition,

I’m not sure if you’ll ever read this. Chances are this will just be another wave in an ocean of fan mail, but one can hope.

Thank-you for saving my life.

No, really.

Where do I start? Let’s see… it’s 1998, I’m a strange 15 year-old girl in a small mill town in northern British Columbia. I don’t fit in. I’m a parrot amongst ravens. A really awkward parrot. With a bad haircut. There’s lonely, and then there’s Lunchtime Lonely™. You know, where you tuck yourself away in the corner of the cafeteria, just you and your floppy cheese sandwich, desperately hoping to avoid attention, because any attention coming your way is not particularly positive at this juncture in your social career.

Something tells me you get it.

It was at this point I discovered Baldur’s Gate, and it was like... my fantasy gateway drug. Through fantasy, science fiction, comic books and video games and the community around those genres, I realized there was a place in the universe for weirdos like me. I learned that the things I came to understand I was: a nerdy, bisexual, poly, whimsical, book-addicted extroverted introvert were okay things to be. I found my own voice as an artist and writer and fully embraced my inner awkward parrot.

I remained a Ride Hard/Die Hard fan of anything Black Isle/Bioware sent out into the universe from that point forward, but it wasn’t until Dragon Age: Inquisition that I realized that a story, rather than just a vehicle for inspiration, enjoyment, or escapism, can also be a life vest when you need it most.

A couple years ago I went through one of those periods where it felt as though I spun the Wheel of Fortune and landed on Bankrupt. Those moments in time when it’s like the universe takes notice of you and decides it’s your turn on the rack.

I gave birth to a beautiful boy, and though I loved him with all my heart, I was hit with crippling postpartum depression and anxiety. I could barely function and ended up on some strong medication which I subsequently weaned off of because the side effects were decidedly worse than the condition. Shortly thereafter my son’s father lost his job and we had to give up our beautiful home and move a family of 5, including a newborn, into the teeniest of tiny apartments.

Then I received the horrible news that one of my closest friends, whom I affectionately referred to as my ‘baby sis’ had been killed, struck by a car while waiting for her bus. Six weeks after, still reeling from that news, my very best friend in the entire world, possibly the closest connection I’ve ever had, died unexpectedly of pneumonia. We all just thought she had a bad cold.

Several months after that my son’s father and I went through a painful separation, including horrible fights around custody, my mother was diagnosed with COPD and emphysema and my father’s kidneys failed and he was put on dialysis.

I’m not sharing this with you for pity points, I promise. I realize that there are many, many people with far greater problems than I. I was and am still, blessed in immeasurable ways. I’m sharing this only to give you context as to where I was emotionally by the end of that year. Emotionally is actually a strange word to use, because I largely didn’t feel anything. I’d surface occasionally for moments of despair or anger, but for the most part I became numb to everything and everyone around me.

I had forgotten how to laugh, how to love, how to see the world in anything but shades of grey. I functioned much as a robot does, in order to do the things I know my two sons needed me to do for them, but it was all on auto-pilot.

It was at this point I started playing Dragon Age: Inquisition. I had played through once before, while pregnant, and enjoyed myself… but it was different this time around. This time the game scooped me up and drew me in, and surrounded my mind and heart with its music, its art, and of course, its writing.

For the first time in months, I found myself authentically smiling. I discovered depths to characters I had only paid cursory attention to beforehand. I padded the game with the books, comics, fan art, fanfiction, and the wonderful anime. For a while, Dragon Age and its denizens became my entire world. Dorian reminded me what it was like to experience friendship. Solas reminded me what it was like to experience love. The laughter they shared was my laughter, their heartbreak was my heartbreak, and rather than providing simple escapism, Dragon Age gave me a safe place to try and *feel* things again.

It was like being woken up after a long sleep. My own uthenera. I started noticing the outside world once more. The scenery in the Hinterlands inspired me to start hiking. The music of Trevor Morris had me sinking into playlists derived from and inspired by the game. The Solavellan plot-line gave me the impetus to start writing again, something I honestly thought would never, ever happen.

I decided it was time to start taking better care of myself, for my own sake, and for my boys. I used the goal of cosplaying my Inquisitor as the proverbial carrot on a stick I needed to get in shape, and I started going to the gym. I learned how to lift weights, and I discovered that if you can get past the point where exercise is horrible, it can actually become one of the most wonderful things in the world. I lost 65lbs, gained so much strength and confidence, and wore my cosplay to my city’s annual Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention, where many of my acquaintances didn’t recognize me. Whether that was due to the weight loss, the elf ears, or the genuine smile on my face, I’ll leave up to you. I was also blessed enough to have the incredibly talented @nipuni paint a picture of my Inquisitor at the Winter Palace.

I’ve even gone on a few dates. Ha. Who knows what the future may hold?

I can honestly say that I’ve never felt more strong or hopeful in my entire adult life. Ironically, I’m crying as I write this. No words could ever be adequate for the gift you all gave me. You were there for me precisely when I needed you to be, and if it hadn’t been for Dragon Age:Inquisition I’m not sure where I’d be today, or who I’d be. Whom I’d be? Who I’d be? Look, I said I was a writer. I never said I was a *good* one.

Your creative efforts helped me deliver myself from the brink. Your work was instrumental in giving two young children their mother back, and I want you to remember that when you’re doubting yourself, when your creativity is bumping up against corporate complications, when you’re being derided or attacked by the very fandom you serve, when you’re wondering what the fucking point of it all is, anyway.

Please remember that you changed someone’s life. Immeasurably. Forever, and for the better. I realize you have obviously had that impact on many thousands of people, but that’s their story and this one is mine.

Once upon a time there was a girl. She went missing. You saved her. The End.

All my love and gratitude, always…

Christy-Lee

[sweetsmellosuccess]

True/False 2019: Day 3

Number of Films: 4 Best Movie of the Day: Midnight Traveler

Midnight Traveler: The immigration debate gets framed and reframed as one’s ideology dictates, but the purest argument is made directly in the trenches with the unfortunate families forced to abide by a nation’s policies, as they seek, if not a better life, at least a safer one. Hassan and Fatima Fazili, married Afghani filmmakers, shot their film using only their phones as the two of them and their two young daughters were forced to flee their native country after the Taliban put a death notice on Hassan‘s head. Starting from Tajikistan, the family eventually make their way through Iran and Turkey, arriving in Bulgaria, which lasts as long as the race riots spurred by virulent anti-immigrant sentiment threatens their camp, from there they have to flee to Serbia, through a harrowing forest, with the possibility of being caught and sent to a detention camp, or far worse, separated and lost from each other. Eventually, they make it to a Serbian camp, with its walls topped with coils of razor wire, resembling a prison stockyard, where they wait endlessly awaiting exportation to Hungary, and, they hope, the EU. Through the three years of this ordeal, Hassan and Fatima face their troubles with shockingly good humor -- Fatima, more prone to emotional ups and downs than her husband, still has a way of calling herself out when she gets too worked up -- as their daughters grow older, becoming depressingly well-indoctrinated in the ways of the eternal vagabond. What goes unsaid is still blatantly obvious to the rest of us, or certainly should be: Where we’re born and raised is a haphazard confluence of luck, money, and randomness, and should not be accepted as proof of any sort of superiority. If you can watch the ordeal this family goes through and not instantly reflect how but for the grace of God go we, you might want to start over and reenroll in your coursework as a human being on this planet.

Treasure Island: Nostalgia is a funny, if supremely powerful, thing: We associate it forever with things from our youth, presumably during the carefree summer idylls, when we were young and carefree and could enjoy our lack of burdens with staggering devotion. But for people whose youth was actually spent in difficult, damning circumstances, there’s nothing to reflect warmly upon. Guillaume Brac‘s film, roughly covering the summer season at a Parisian area water park (described by the film’s producer as a vacation spot for the French people who can’t afford to travel), is steeped in the kind of warm glow of youth and promise that speaks to so many prosperous masses, but the director doesn’t neglect to point out for many of the more recent French immigrants, enjoying their own local holiday, that’s not really an option. For these people, this is their nostalgia for the future.

American Factory: A film purportedly about cultural differences when Fuyao, a large Chinese automotive glass corporation, invests a bundle of money in opening a shuttered former GM plant in Dayton, OH, actually offers a more striking difference than two countries attempting to work together. In the minds of the Chinese workers who have been brought the U.S. for a two-year stint to help establish the working culture, Americans are “lazy” and “not dedicated” enough to their work to be truly productive. Desperate for the work, in an area long depressed since the GM plant closed, the Americans suffer what they consider substandard working conditions (and lower pay) just to be able to keep the work they do have. It is when a team of Americans travel to China, however, that we begin to learn what is considered the Chinese ways of production: Workers have one or two days off a month, and many of them only see their families a handful of times a year. What has been accepted practice in China, something the Chinese workers actually take pride in, is anathema to Americans, especially ones who had the opportunity to work through a union. Naturally, when talk of unionizing comes to the plant, the Chinese are virulently opposed to it, and fight back every way they can think of – up to and including a constant stream of anti-union propaganda, and, naturally, firing those employees most enthusiastic about the prospect. Steven Bognar and Julie Reichert claim that their film doesn’t paint a clear villain, and while that’s true, in terms of the two countries, the clear oppressor here is management, whose corporate ethos mandates that an employee’s entire life be sacrificed for the good of the company’s bottom line. The fact that the corporate culture has brainwashed its workers successfully in one country to think that anything less than total sacrifice is sheer laziness, should not translate here.

Untitled Amazing Jonathan Documentary: An interesting doc from Ben Berman, in which his subject, the famous comedian and magician from the ‘80s and ‘90s known as the Amazing Jonathan, ends up playing a mysteriously passive-aggressive game with him, disrupting the shoot and bringing chaos to the director, trying to make his first ever feature. Given a year to live by doctors back in 2012, as the film begins, in 2017, Jonathan, who was forced to retire shortly after his diagnoses, is contemplating a brief comeback tour in order to close out his career on his terms. Berman naturally takes this to be a viable subject for his film, and diligently goes about the business of amassing the necessary footage and candid interviews in order to make it work. But Jonathan, a known trickster and practical joke maker, has substantially different ideas of how he wants this to work, throwing obstacle after obstacle in the filmmaker’s way, and all but taunting him in the process. Facing this kind of antagonism from his subject, Berman is forced to make himself and his reactions more and more of the story. As the long-suffering deadpan straight man to Jonathan’s provocations, Berman has a crackerjack comic timing, which only adds to the film’s building comic punch lines. When, at last, Berman confronts his antagonist in the last act, the film takes a decidedly different turn, revealing much more about the director’s own motivations in shooting the film in the first place.

Tomorrow: A pair of films to close out this year’s extra-frigid edition, The Commons, to begin with; and to close out the festival with their closing film, Amazing Grace.  

Photo from Midnight Traveler

Leaving the warmer confines of Philadelphia for the frigid climbs of the midwest this March weekend, I am down in Columbia, MO, home of the 16-year-old True/False Film Festival, a collection of (mostly) documentary films, entertaining buskers, and outrageously dressed Queue queens.

[jasenlex]

ISOLATED COMIC BOOK PANEL #2856 title: BIG SHOT COMICS #3 - P9:2 artist: OGDEN WHITNEY year: 1940

[icedcoffeetrees]

Musings of Online Activism, Wrestlers, Artists and Alien Entities

As a kid my favourite film maker was John Carpenter. His edgy work had a great deal of commercial success up to the mid-eighties, but it is one of his low budget offerings I think mostly of today. The film was adapted from a short story titled “Eight O’Clock in the Morning and Carpenter’s version released as “They Live”.

It starred a former wrestler with a memorable one-liner, but was dismissed as B grade. Despite this, appreciation has grown decades later (Rothkopf 2014). The plot was simple, the central character discovers activists using broadcast signals to convince the world hidden messages from aliens are within advertising, telling us to “obey”. A special set of sunglasses made the hidden messages and aliens visible, as you’ll see below.

They Live contained a hidden protest about the politics of the Reagan era (Alamo Drafthouse 2011) and images from the film have been used as a form of protest since, becoming part of Shepard Fairey’s culture jamming art. Culture jamming protests control by corporations using consumer objects, commercials, logos, or other symbols (Wettergren 2009, p.2).

When I watched the film again with my son, he asked why they didn’t just use the internet and we had a conversation about a mythical place called the eighties where there was no internet.

Author Clay Shirky describes the trend of emerging technology being used as a launch pad for activism around the globe (2011, pp.28-29). Internet users increased from 738 million in the year 2000 (Davidson, 2015) to 4.17 billion in 2018 (Statistica 2018). That’s around 55% of the World’s population.

Jericho (2013, pp.255-257) demonstrated the impacts of activism as a form of digital citizenship, using examples of the Arab Uprising, as well as Oscar Morales and his fight to stop Colombian revolutionaries that engaged in executions, kidnappings and more during civil conflict in Columbia (Brett 2003, pp.88-101).

Image by Belaid 2011

Flew et al. (2012, pp.160-161) explains options for people engaging in public communication include citizen journalism or underground channels like Wikileaks.

Like wrestling, there is an argument that perhaps not all activism is genuine. Slactivism and clicktivism are terms for low-effort activism generating likes or clicks without engagement. An example was the copy and paste of letters or protests through social media (McCafferty 2011, pp.17-18). In an interview, Micah White (co-founder of the Occupy Wall Street movement) described activism as being turned into something similar to weekend entertainment (Funnell 2017).

Even culture jamming has been questioned, pondering what activism is when it starts to resemble the thing it was protesting against in the first place (Lewis 2013).

The mission for social movements has been made easier through social media, but appropriate use of the internet relating to activism is something we don’t hear of enough. Particularly, we need ensure signals aren’t blurred about whether online activism is aimed to achieve a social goal or something else entirely. Activism can be life or death for some in the world. Breaching law is a risk many activists take to bring attention to laws that were unfair in the first place as the internet opens channels to new cultures.

Have you ever protested something you felt passionate about? Did you use social media or the internet to do so?

References

Alamo Drafthouse 2011, ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE - THEY LIVE John Carpenter, 7 June, viewed 25 January 2019, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAOyt37Mi5I>

Brett, S 2003, You’ll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia. Human Rights Watch.

Davidson, J 2015, Here's How Many Internet Users There Are, Money, viewed 1 January 2019, < http://money.com/money/3896219/internet-users-worldwide/>.

Flew, T, Spurgeon, C, Daniel, A & Swift, A 2012 The Promise of Computational Journal, Journalism Practice, vol. 6, no.2, pp. 157-171.

Funnell, A 2017, From slacktivism to 'feel-good' protests, activism is broken: Here's how to fix it, ABC, viewed 19 December 2018, < https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-25/activism-is-broken-heres-how-we-fix-it/9077372>.

History 2018, Here's How the Arab Spring Started and How It Affected the World | History, 8 May, viewed 10 January 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgcd5ZcxDys>.

Jericho, G 2013, Rise of the Fifth Estate : Social Media and Blogging in Australian Politics, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd., Carlton North.

Lewis, W 2013, How did OBEY go from an anti-corporate anti-Man street un-brand to Made in China fratboy wear?, Elephant Journal, viewed 25 January 2019, <https://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/06/how-did-obey-go-from-an-anti-corporate-anti-man-street-un-brand-to-made-in-china-fratboy-wear/>.

McCafferty, D 2011, ‘Activism vs. slacktivism’, Communications of the ACM, vol. 54, no. 12, pp. 17–19.

obeygiantart 2011, Shepard Fairey talks about the film "They Live",  6 July, viewed 15 January 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=38&v=J24p8QhrWSE>.

Rothkopf, J 2014, Empire of the Sunglasses: How ‘They Live’ Took on Republicans and Won, Rolling Stone, viewed 29 December 2018, < https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/empire-of-the-sunglasses-how-they-live-took-on-republicans-and-won-173344/>.

Schultz, C 2017, Book vs. Comic vs. Film: "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" vs. "Nada" vs. "They Live", Lit Reactor, viewed 26 January 2019, < https://litreactor.com/columns/book-vs-comic-vs-film-eight-oclock-in-the-morning-vs-nada-vs-they-live>.

Shirky, C 2011, ‘The political power of social media: technology, the public sphere, and political change,’ Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, no.1, pp. 28-38. 

Statista 2018, Global digital population as of October 2018 (in millions), Statista, viewed 10 January 2019, < https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/>.

Belaid F 2011, Tunisians protest outside the gates to the French Embassy in Tunis [image] in ‘The Arab Spring: A Year Of Revolution’, National Public Radio, viewed 28 January 2019, < https://www.npr.org/2011/12/17/143897126/the-arab-spring-a-year-of-revolution>.

[dweemeister]

Shiver Me Timbers! (1934 short)

As animated short films emerged from the silent film era, the major Hollywood studios acquired or partnered with animation studios to quickly produce shorts that could be shown before or in between movies. One of the most important names in American animation in the 1930s was Fleischer Studios – co-founded by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer – partnering with Paramount. The Fleischer shorts, unlike their competitors across town, usually concentrated on human characters – their filmography more commercial than artistic for art’s sake. Due to messy rights issues and modern-day corporations not seeing the value in the older movies they have acquired, much of the Fleischer filmography is unknown to audiences. That includes the films of Betty Boop, whom younger generations have a superficial knowledge about (the upstart company Olive Films has recently remastered some of the non-public domain Betty Boop shorts for home media), and the seventeen Superman shorts released from 1941-1943.

Surviving this mélange of media acquisitions, mergers, and dismissive attitudes to older media is Popeye the Sailor. Popeye, introduced in a comic strip in 1929 and first appearing in cinemas in 1933, has outlasted in the public imagination anything else that Fleischer Studios ever released. The visibility of the muscular, spinach-loving, pipe-smoking sailor has been kept intact because of the character’s rights belonging to Turner Entertainment (whose properties include Cartoon Network – which used to air Popeye regularly – and Turner Classic Movies, TCM) by way of Warner Bros. With Halloween nearing, the subject of this write-up is the twelfth of 108 Popeye shorts released by Fleischer Studios from 1933-1942 (Fleischer’s successor, Famous Studios, increased that total to 230 through 1957), Shiver Me Timbers! The film is credited to Dave Fleischer as a director, but research has shown his duties were closer to being a producer and creative supervisor. Most of the directorial work probably fell to credited animators Willard Bowsky and William Sturm.

Released in midsummer 1934, this is an early Popeye piece: in black-and-white, well within the era of rubber hose animation, the sound mix imperfect. After presumably being out in the ocean, Popeye (voiced by William Costello), Olive Oyl (Mae Questel; if you are unfamiliar with the Popeye series, Olive is Popeye’s longtime love interest of varying ambiguous relationship statuses... Questel is also an underrated voice actress), and Wimpy (Lou Fleischer) stumble upon a ruined, beached ship – its sails tattered, its wooden planks falling apart. Popeye immediately recognizes this to be a ghost ship and decides to investigate – against Olive’s better judgements. This film would not be interesting if they decided against climbing onboard, so of course they climb up the ladder that magically unfurls itself onto the ship’s deck! The ship moves itself off the beach, out to sea, and the spooks haunting the ship start toying with the too-curious mortals.

What makes the Fleischer animated shorts so difficult to judge compared to their peers from Walt Disney Animation Studios (partnered with Columbia, United Artists, and RKO at separate times across the 1930s; Disney did not become a major studio until the 1990s) and Warner Bros. (their animation arm an in-house body of the studio) is that they are largely formulaic. Popeye might be the most formulaic of all the Fleischer series, especially the later years under the Famous Studios moniker. The narrative usually follows this order: Popeye finds himself chasing or with the love of his life in Olive Oyl; arch-nemesis Bluto enters the scene and proceeds to abduct or, with dishonorable intentions, flirt with Olive; Olive winds up in trouble; Bluto beats the living daylights out of Popeye in ways that would otherwise kill any normal person; near unconsciousness or death, Popeye eats his spinach and proceeds to give Bluto (and his minions, if applicable) a walloping outdoing anything Bluto did to him; Popeye gets what he wants; and he sings the following or a variation of it: “I’m strong to the finich/finish, ‘cause I eats my spinach, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man!”. Toot, toot!

Shiver Me Timbers! is a refreshing take because Bluto is not here to bluster his way through the plot. Instead, the film revolves around a bunch of ghosts having their way with Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy – playing with the characters’ personalities that Bluto might exploit for nakedly nefarious purposes. Separating this Popeye entry from many others in this decade is the time given to the supporting characters. Though it criss-crosses between Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy, the film always feels cohesive, with all of its jokes landing. For Olive, some of the early Fleischer Popeye shorts show her as very capable of physically holding her own against those who might want to harm her (one of my favorite gags including her is near the end of 1933′s Blow Me Down! – where she is closing her eyes, calling out for Popeye’s help, not realizing she has hammered Bluto senseless with a wooden club, saving herself). At one point in Shiver Me Timbers!, Olive is abducted by the ghosts, but their form of “torture” is the funniest moment in the film. The gluttonous J. Wellington Wimpy (better known as just “Wimpy”; his role in the comic strip downsized in cinematic adaptations of Popeye), in a rare development, actually has lines to deliver – completely fitting in with his cowardly character. The tricks played on Wimpy are tailored to his weakness for food. It is utterly ridiculous with flourishes of physical absurdity often found in 1930s animation and that would be less emphasized in later decades.

No, Shiver Me Timbers! will not scare anyone, but one still would not want to experience what Popeye and his friends go through on this boat ride from hell. Well, the funnier side of hell, even down to Sammy Timberg’s musical direction (Timberg worked for many of the Fleischer short films, but also contributed songs to their features: 1939′s Gulliver’s Travels and 1941′s Mr. Bug Goes to Town). From an animation standpoint, Bowsky and Sturm make use of glass plates and miniature sets to make their animation look less flat – this process was a relatively new feature in 1934, and gave their backgrounds dimension. This technological accomplishment would be perfected by the Fleischers’ primary rival, Walt Disney, in 1937 with the introduction of the multiplane camera.

The film is one of the best from Popeye’s early days at Fleischer because of its willingness to defy the typical Popeye narrative (if just for a few minutes). The ridiculous situation and the inventive animation – a moment with skeletons might have been inspired by The Skeleton Dance (1929) from Disney – results in several minutes of ghostly chaos and entertainment one wants from an animated short like this. Animated characters exploring haunted locations has long been a staple in animated films and television, with Shiver Me Timbers! one of the best early entrants to that venerable tradition.

My rating: 8.5/10

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