#Jonathan Atkin

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The murder of O’Shae Sibley

          O’Shae Sibley was a well-known dancer and choreographer in New York. Last week, he was vogueing in a parking lot in Brooklyn. O’Shae was approached by a group of young men. They hurled racial and anti-gay slurs at O’Shae before a high-school teenage member of the gang fatally stabbed O’Shae. The teenager has been charged with a hate crime. See NYTimes, Mourners Pay Tribute to O’Shae Sibley at the Scene of His Murder.

          While we should not jump to conclusions, it appears that O’Shae was murdered because he was a gay man dancing in public. If true, such a crime is the inevitable result of the drumbeat of anti-LGBTQ propaganda coming from MAGA extremists and politicians, most notably Ron DeSantis. Yet another reason that we must speak out against every anti-LGBTQ piece of legislation and propaganda issued by MAGA extremists.

          As the Times article above notes, mourners have begun to gather near the gas station where O’Shae was murdered. Reader (and friend) Jonathan Atkin is one of the nation’s leading aerial drone photographers. He took the photo below last Friday and granted me permission to publish it. (It is copyrighted, so please respect Jonathan’s intellectual property.)

          The photo is evocative for reasons I cannot fully explain. It is oblique but converges to a point. It communicates the power of the crowd from a distance. (As noted in the Postscript below, the distance is a sign of respect for the mourners.) But most importantly, it illustrates the outpouring of grief, support, and anger provoked by the killing of O’Shae Sibley—whose name deserves to be said and remembered.

          Thanks, Jonathan, for sharing your photo.

+

Jonathan Atkin took the photo of the O’Shae Sibley mourners using an aerial drone. Drone photography is highly regulated and should not be attempted by amateurs, especially near crowds. Jonathan describes his precautions as follows:

Drone flight completed with the following safety protocols:

a.) FAA "B4UFLY" checked and indicated airspace was "free to fly.” (A convenient sliver of airspace in busy NYC.)

b.) Google maps showing Coney Island Ave & P Street were consulted the night before, showing no aerial obstructions.

c.) Wind aloft: minimal. Flew Under 150 feet altitude.

d.) Notified NYPD Aviation as per my recognized practice with a "Situational Awareness Notice," similar to each notice I send for over 26 years producing aerial photographs of large ships, with crewed helicopters in the Port of NY/NJ).

e.) Flew at the site with a "V.O" (visual observer for safety)

f.) Utilized a powerful but small drone with a telephoto lens, providing an oblique angle to ensure I would be distant and not overhead of the gathered crowd.

g.) Chose my launch site behind a barricade in a protected spot. Drone prepped in advance with fully charged batteries on both drone and Remote Controller, to fly as minimally as possible to get the iconic image.

h.) Flew about 8 minutes; understanding drone usage might invoke negativity or provoke concern as drones often do particularly where emotions are high.

i.) Wore a highly visible red windbreaker to be transparent.

j.) The NYPD 66th Precinct was considerate and helpful.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[70zcowboy]

I’m still not over how STACKED castings of Scarecrow have been

he was also voiced by Dwight Schultz in Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo

[amatesura]

To Walk Invisible (2016) | dir. Sally Wainwright

[ulrichgebert]

Die Verfilmung von William Makepeace Thackerays Roman mit dem cleveren Titel Vanity Fair ist schwungvoller geraten als die seines Romans The Luck of Barry Lyndon, mäandert aber trotz prächtigster Roben, charmanter Besetzung und unerwarteter Bollywood-Einlagen ob all des gesellschaftlichen Auf- und Abs doch arg dahin.

[plummyplums]

Apparently Robin Atkin Downes has voiced all three members of the Dork Squad in different media?? So, I present to you the Dork Squad, RAD Edition: Bad Blood Mad Hatter, The Long Halloween Scarecrow, and Telltale Riddler!

[genevieveetguy]

- You ever kill anybody? - I hurt somebody's feelings once.

Ronin, John Frankenheimer (1998)

[motionpicturelover]

"Wit" (2001) - Mike Nichols

Films I've watched in 2024 (64/?)

[therealmrpositive]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

#TomAtkins #StaceyNelkin #DanOHerlihy #MichaelCurrie #RalphStrait #JadeenBarbor #BradSchacter #GarnStephens #NancyKyes #JonathanTerry #AlBerry #WendyWessberg #EssexSmith #MaidieNorman

Change is often good, and sometimes it can never be too late to change, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone to do so, no matter what anybody thinks. In 1982, offering audiences a little respite from the relentless attack of The Shape, got the third franchise instalment that was a lot different from the first two. In Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The film finds fresh ground…

[thecrownnet]

Oscar-winners, acting legends and a very famous Doctor have all portrayed characters in The Crown Season 1 - 6 ♚

Queen Elizabeth II - Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton 

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies and Jonathan Pryce 

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon - Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter and Lesley Manville 

Other key cast in The Crown:

Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary (season 1)

Victoria Hamilton (seasons 1–2), Marion Bailey (seasons 3–4), and Marcia Warren (seasons 5-6) as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother

Ben Miles (season 1, featured season 2) and Timothy Dalton (season 5) as Group Captain Peter Townsend 

Greg Wise (seasons 1–2) and Charles Dance (season 3, featured season 4) as Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma

Jared Harris as King George VI (season 1, featured season 2)

John Lithgow as Winston Churchill (season 1, featured seasons 2–3)

Alex Jennings (season 1, featured season 2) and Derek Jacobi (featured season 3) as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor

Anton Lesser as Harold Macmillan (season 2)

Matthew Goode (season 2) and Ben Daniels (season 3) as Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon

Jason Watkins as Harold Wilson (season 3)

Erin Doherty (seasons 3–4) Claudia Harrison (seasons 5-6) as Princess Anne

Josh O'Connor (seasons 3–4) and Dominic West (seasons 5-6) as Charles, Prince of Wales 

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher (season 4)

Emma Corrin (season 4) and Elizabeth Debicki (seasons 5-6) as Diana, Princess of Wales 

Emerald Fennell (season 4, featured season 3) and Olivia Williams (seasons 5-6) as Camilla Shand 

Stream The Crown Seasons 1-4 on Netflix.

The Crown Season 5 premieres Wednesday 9 November on Netflix.

- The Crown: Who’s played Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and key cast through the years?, BT .com Sept 27, 2022

[kwebtv]

The Sign of Four - ITV - November 29, 1987

Mystery

Running Time: 103 minutes

Stars:

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Edward Hardwicke as Dr. John H. Watson

Rosalie Williams as Mrs. Hudson

Robin Hunter as Major Sholto

Ronald Lacey as Thaddeus and Bartholomew Sholto

John Thaw as Jonathan Small

Kiran Shah as Tonga

Jenny Seagrove as Miss Mary Morstan

Terence Skelton as Captain Morstan

Emrys James as Inspector Athelney Jones

Dave Atkins as Mordecai Smith

William Ash as Jack Smith

Lila Kaye as Mrs. Smith

Courtney Roper-Knight as Wiggins

[stromuprisahat]

Ronnie Atkins in a loose-sleeved velvet shirt looks like Dracula before he started sucking Jonathan.

[cantsayidont]

Some movies, considered chronologically:

THE FLAMINGO KID (1984): Nostalgia-burdened period piece, set in 1963, about working-class kid Jeffrey (Matt Dillon), who gets a summer job parking cars at an exclusive beach club called El Flamingo, starts dating a rich girl (Carole R. Davis), and becomes fascinated by her father (Richard Crenna), a self-made sports car dealer and local card sharp who thinks college is sucker's game. This alienates Jeffrey's own father (Hector Elizondo), a stalwart plumber who doesn't want to see Jeffrey squander his chances of bettering himself. The story is thus a sort of YA prototype of Oliver Stone's later WALL STREET — a Reagan-era morality play about a young man caught between two father figures, one representing the Lure of Easy Money and the other a paragon of Honest Hard Work — badly undermined by its absurdly idealized longing for the alleged innocence of the Kennedy era (underlined by an obnoxious oldies soundtrack). It offers a meaty role for Crenna, but as a drama, it has less substance than FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. Davis's character is such a nonentity that you keep forgetting she's there, and the way she ends up functioning as a proxy for Jeffrey's obsession with her dad is awkward. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Nope. VERDICT: A simple-minded story blinded by its rose-colored glasses.

THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993): Sudsy but affecting episodic adaptation of Amy Tan's novel about four middle-aged Chinese women and their strained relationships with their Chinese-American daughters, starring Ming-Na Wen and nearly every other Chinese actress working in the U.S. at the time. The way the script segues between the characters' respective stories is clunky, and it often teeters on the brink of schmaltz, but there are moments of real dramatic power amongst the more superficial tearjerker moments, and you'd have to have a stonier heart than I to not sob at the bittersweet ending. Strong acting helps, with Tsai Chin particularly good as Auntie Lindo. CONTAINS LESBIANS? It seems like it should, but alas. VERDICT: Heavy-handed at times, but undeniably moving.

COLD COMFORT FARM (1996): Before she became an action star, Kate Beckinsale starred in this hilarious adaptation of Stella Gibbons' 1932 satiric novel about glib orphan Flora Poste, who makes it her project to fix all the problems of the titular farm and its eccentric denizens — distant cousins who feel obligated to Flora (whom they will only address as "Robert Poste's child") because of some unspecified wrong they once did her late father. Among the inmates of Cold Comfort are Cousin Judith (Eileen Atkins), a hysterically morose creature straight out of a gothic novel; Cousin Amos (Ian McKellen), a fire-and-brimstone preacher who warns his brethren, "There'll be no butter in Hell!"; Amos and Judith's oversexed son Seth (Rufus Sewell), a local stud who dreams of being in the talkies; and of course Aunt Ada Doom (Sheila Burrell), who rules the family with an iron fist and won't let anyone forget that she once saw something nasty in the woodshed. A delightfully silly spoof of a particular category of once-popular English literature, as the farm's assorted grim melodramas prove no match for the implacable (if somewhat snobbish) modern sensibilities of its plucky heroine. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Nope. VERDICT: Great fun throughout, although Stephen Fry irritates as a boorish "Laurentian person" who keeps hitting on Flora despite her obvious disinterest.

BREAKDOWN (1997): Competent but underwhelming Jonathan Mostow thriller starring Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan as Jeff and Amy Taylor, a couple of Yuppies whose fancy Jeep breaks down on the highway on a trip from Massachusetts to California. A passing trucker (J.T. Walsh) gives Amy a ride into the nearest town to find them a tow truck, but when Jeff gets their Jeep running again and follows her into town, he finds that Amy has disappeared, and no one, including the trucker, will admit to having seen her. It has a great premise, and Russell is credible enough in the lead, but it's pretty ordinary, and, once you know what's going on (which is revealed a little over a half-hour in), pretty superficial — there's no psychological depth, and I kept waiting for some other story twist that never came. CONTAINS LESBIANS? It barely contains women (Amy is absent for 80 percent of the running time). VERDICT: Not bad, but nothing special, and you'll forget it 10 minutes after it ends.

MY TWO HUSBANDS (2024): Okay Lifetime thriller about a young woman named Eliza (Isabelle Almoyan), still reeling from the recent murder of her mother (Joanie Geiger), who becomes deeply suspicious of her father's young new wife, a flight attendant named Brooke (Kabby Borders) who's no older than Eliza — and, as the title alludes, is secretly married to another man (Britton Webb, who looks like a lesser Baldwin brother) and up to no good. Despite the cheesy title (which is really also a spoiler) and awkward marketing (which misleadingly suggests a comedy-drama with Brooke rather than Eliza as the main character), it has a surprisingly decent, reasonably credible script, hamstrung by very weak performances. The story is still interesting enough to make it a not-bad little thriller, although it would have been better with a stronger cast and less somnabulistic direction. CONTAINS LESBIANS: It sometimes seems like Eliza's friend Star (Kristen Grace Gonzalez) might be her girlfriend, but the script is noncommittal on this point. VERDICT: A B+ script burdened with D+ acting and C- direction.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

This man, Jonathan Cahn, teaches from the Zohar and endorses the Talmud, which teaches that Jesus Christ is boiling in excrement. Johnathan Cahn is a fraud, a Kabbalist teaching Jewish Mysticism under the guise of Christianity.

The Zohar teaches that the Holy Spirit is a woman (Shekhinah). Jonathan Cahn teaches from the Zohar, and he teaches that Shekhinah is the glory of God. Jonathan Cahn defends the Zohar, and he defends the Talmud and falsely claims that the Talmud is not Kabbalah. Jonathan Cahn said he has never even "read" the Kabbalah. He is being deceptive because Kabbalah is oral tradition. There is no Kabbalah "book" to read. The Talmud is Kabbalah and he reads and defends it. Everything he teaches is from Zohar, the Talmud and mystic Rabbis... he simply repeats them while using the name of Christ. He is a false teacher and a FRAUD!

The Talmud talking about Jesus burning in excrement.

❝What is your punishment? They replied: with boiling hot excrement, since a Master has said: whoever mocks at the words of the Sages is punished with boiling hot excrement.❞

The above passage in the Talmud is telling us that Jesus is burning in boiling excrement (feces). And this is the same Talmud that Jonathan Cahn defends. In the Talmud, Jesus is called Balaam... another punishment they applied to Jesus is "cooking him in boiling semen". You're ok with a "christian" defending that? - Analese Atkins

[wildlyfamousmusic]

Hello Everyone, and, Really, Had #FinalSpace had a Continuation in Animation or At Least a Radio Dub Later On, I think the Casting Choices for the Assumbled Cast for the Newer Characters and Variety would Actually Consist of:

Zeno Robinson, Wendi Malick, Roger Craig Smith, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Walhgren, Dee Bradley Baker, Grey Delisle Griffin, Khary Pheyton, Erica Lindbeck, Sumanee Montaro, Sarah-Nicole Roble, Kevin Michael Richardson, Cissy Jones, Kelly Hu, Mae Whitman, Troy Baker, Eden Regal, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Cree Summers, Laura Bailey, Rick D Wasserman, Alex Hirsch, Brian Bloom, April Stewart, Nolan North, Travis Willingham, Robin Atkin Downes, Ryan Hurst, Rachel McFarlane, Keston John, Abby Trott, Avi Roque, Mela Lee, Steve Blum, Jimi Piri, Jenny Yokobori, Matthew Rhys, Nika Futterman, Rhys Darby, Hynden Walsh, Kimiko Glenn, Max Mittleman, Kirsten Schaal, Bumper Robinson, Alek Le, Ben Diskin, Anaris Quinones, Kurtwood Smith, Stephen O'Young, JB Blanc, Greg Chun, Imari Williams, Stephen Root, Alan Le, Keith Furgeson, Stephanie Sheh, Kimberly Brooks, Jason Marnocha, Tati Gabrielle, Adam Harrington, Maurie LaMarche, Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, James Matheis III, Barbara Goodson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sam Reigal, Clancy Brown, Scott Porter, Jonathan Adams, Josh Keaton, Gary Anthony Williams, Danny Trejo, James Arnold Taylor, NPH, Eric Bauza,William Saylers, Beck Bennett, Christian Lenz, Armin Taylor, Jason Mouzukas, Djimon Houndou, Jennifer Hale, Jeffrey Combs, David Kaye, Lauren Tom, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Armin Shimmerman, Andrew Kishino, Carlos Alazraqui, Kaji Taang, Kira Buckland, Faye Mata, Cristina Vee, Deidrech Deider, Henry Winkler, Ana Akana, Amanda Celine Miller, Keith Silverstein, Hoon Lee, Jessica Calvaro, Erik Kimermer, Matthew King, Erica Mendez, Jason Marsden, Sean Astin, Ben Shwartz, Rob Paulson, Patton Oswalt, Lena Haudrey, Trevor Duvall, James Urbaniak, etc.

[ashknife]

While I read Dracula (or anything, really), there is an ensemble of voices that narrate the story as my eyes read the words. Because of how Diablo III handles lore entries, and because Dracula is an epistolary novel written from many characters' perspectives, most of the characters in Dracula sound to me like many voices used in Diablo III, including the sound of the quill on parchment whenever a new entry begins. They also pretty much assigned themselves. So, this is my internal cast of voice actors for the main characters:

Jonathan Harker - Robin Atkin Downes (male Demon Hunter) Mina Murray/Harker - Jennifer Hale (Leah) Lucy Westenra - Sofia Pirri (Emperor Hakan, but less childish) Dr. John "Jack" Seward - Joe Thomas (King Leoric, pre-madness) Dr. Abraham Van Helsing - Michael Gough (Deckard Cain, but more energetic) Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming - Troy Baker (Lyndon, the Scoundrel) Quincey Morris - Earl Alexander (Luis, Left 4 Dead; the only one not from Diablo III) Vlad Tepes Dracul, Count Dracula - Jamieson Price (male Monk)

I wonder what other people cast for their internal voices.

[fictionz]

New Fiction 2024 - August

"2 Machabees" ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

We did it! We're out of the Old Testament! Two and a half years and 75% of the Catholic bible complete! Now moving on to: Jesus.

"Helicopter Story" by Isabel Fall (2020)

Brilliantly done, and I'm the kinda dense that wouldn't get it in the first take so that's impressive that I could pick up what the author was throwing down. It's a shame the community couldn't be chill about it.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (2018)

An absolute game changer. It's beyond a different lens of understanding. Everything clicks and Frankenstein isn't the same story afterward.

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi & trans. Jonathan Wright (2013)

Now an assemblage representing the spirit of a place, that's an idea.

Return to Ghost Camp by R.L. Stine (1999)

I, er, huh. No connection to the previous Ghost Camp title, besides a camp as the setting, and a disconnected series of events. These books can get loose with plot but they need to make it up with more outrageous happenings.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico (2023)

At first I wasn't feeling the childhood and teen years, but it's an autobiography, of course we need this. And now it's my favorite part. Understanding the man as we came to know him would require understanding who he was in the beginning.

Under the Magician's Spell by R.L. Stine (1996)

The magic of these books is in the bizarro places and monsters that make no narrative sense but make for interesting turns of events.

"For the Anniversary of My Death" by W.S. Merwin (1993)

Wave goodbye.

"Rootin', tootin', toil n' shootin'" by SERENDIPITEAart (2020)

Mashing up genres is the only logical course.

"Worry" by Kiana Khansmith (2024)

They grow up so fast.

"Harlot's Web" by Nicholas Gurewitch & Evan Keogh (2018)

Get the message.

Excuse Me Sir dev. Molly Moonn, Airdorf, Jesse Cox, Torple Dook, Trevor Henderson (2020) (missed this in June)

The mirror could have been the start of something great.

Ultimate Frankenstein vs Evil Necromancer dev. Polo Builder & Aedrine (2020)

The assembly process is as critical as the deed.

Poetry Frankenstein dev. DianeDesign (2023)

But does each new creation differ from its siblings?

Frankenstein Dating Simulator dev. GamerGirlNextDoor (2023)

The most obvious solution should always work.

Frankenstein Dating Simulator dev. lmurray045 (2024)

Always choose the beach.

Frankenstein dev. Unknown (1981)

Assembleman doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus dev. willsmartin (2020)

Find me in pieces.

The Frankenstein Place dev. Mandy J Watson (2020)

You don't need to be going up there anyway.

The Ultimate Frankenstein dev. Obre (2023)

About time Elizabeth gets her video game due.

Volume 2 Chapter 2 (Frankenstein Remediation) dev. adamaboelmatty (2023)

Alternate tellings make us feel like we tried our best.

Return to Castle Frankenstein dev. SolarCompost (2023)

Very good vibe.

POV: You Are Felix DeLacey - A Frankenstein Story dev. camkins (2023)

Do you really think he would have chosen differently?

Dr. Frankenstein Creates a Dragon dev. hannahscholtes (2023)

That dragon wouldn't hesitate to burn it all down.

Frankenstein's Assistant dev. samanthag168 (2023)

Love a cute little pixel guy.

Frankenstein's Monster dev. dino niko (2023)

Give him a shot.

Frankenstein's Monsters, Inc. dev. Sam Atkins (2022)

Great tension in this monster business simulator.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown dev. Eurocom (2006)

The more I ponder it the more I respect the decision to pick the funniest and smallest little guy and make him the star.

Trap dir. M. Night Shyamalan (2024)

Good instincts until it comes time to end the thing, then the explainer within takes over and drags it out.

Kneecap dir. Rich Peppiatt (2024)

It needs to get out of you in some way.

Eighth Grade dir. Bo Burnham (2018)

Part one of this month's teenage cringe. It's incredibly well done and ya gotta have the sense of humor about being 14.

A Place Called Silence dir. Sam Quah (2024)

A methodical approach to ruin.

Cuckoo dir. Tilman Singer (2024)

Ancient things are on the brain lately. Perhaps we need there to be ancient things beyond our control.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In dir. Pou-Soi Cheang (2024)

It takes the gritty martial arts drama of previous decades but throws in a high budget style we've gotten since the 00s.

Dark Feathers: Dance Of The Geisha dir. Crystal J. Huang & Nicholas Ryan (2024)

A bit disjointed but I dig its indie aspirations. It reminds me of a lot of smaller productions I'd see in the 80s and 90s.

Dìdi dir. Sean Wang (2024)

This movie's cringe goes hard and I respect it. Too real.

Frankenstein dir. Jed Mercurio (2007)

The bioengineering angle still feels like a stretch. An assemblage at the genetic level is just another genre altogether.

Depraved dir. Larry Fessenden (2019)

Better than anticipated, and a far more nuanced creature than most of the movies I watched recently.

My Penguin Friend dir. David Schurmann (2024)

I had a heck of a time trying to figure out who would be the main villain/obstacle.

Alien: Romulus dir. Fede Alvarez (2024)

Too many strings attached for it to breathe comfortably, but it has its moments.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs dir. Carlos Saldanha & Mike Thurmeier (2009)

I don't know that spinning off jokes from the first movie into their own movies was the right approach, but I applaud them for trying. And the cast sure starts to balloon.

Ice Age: Continental Drift dir. Steve Martino & Michael Thurmeier (2012)

The geography of the world is really all over the place.

Ice Age: Collision Course dir. Michael Thurmeier & Galen T. Chu (2016)

The formula is really stressing the limits by now.

Strange Darling dir. JT Mollner (2024)

It's designed to keep you guessing from the get-go, and it mostly pays that off. Just some motivation issues that tripped me up at the end.

Stream dir. Michael Leavy (2024)

Listen, Jeffrey Combs.

Whisper of the Heart dir. Yoshifumi Kondou (1995)

The drama Ghiblis are compelling. The pacing is ponderous and the hints of fantasy few, even though the setting is gorgeous in the Ghibli architecture sorta way. Spinning this off into another movie is even more compelling.

Blink Twice dir. Zoë Kravitz (2024)

Awful dudes being awful, but making it hard to watch was the idea. Should've been an Outer Limits episode #1.

The Wasp dir. Guillem Morales (2024)

You push and push and can't accept the fall.

Slingshot dir. Mikael Håfström (2024)

Spacemen sure do be succumbing to relationship angst. Should've been an Outer Limits episode #2.

Afraid dir. Chris Weitz (2024)

No hope at all, huh? Should've been an Outer Limits episode #3.

The Acolyte (2024)

Cowards. They deserved more than one season. The first season showed a potential that will seemingly now go unrealized.

Night Gallery - Season 3 (1972-1973)

Kind of fizzles out, and it sounds like things were crumbling by that point. But a few stories still had the gusto.