#Steven Rodriguez' voice is so beautiful

[thunderjackal]

no art for a little bit as I'm still working on christmas stuff for my friends also going feral about the new epic the musical saga takes priority

[bambiilooloo]

okay so ii thought this would be fun soooo

what epic saga is ur fav nd least fav, what is ur fav song in each saga, ur least fav in each saga, your overall fav and least fav

feel free to ramble and/or go off on a tangent about hidden meanings i fw that shit very hard

oh boy. these were really hard to narrow down. thanks for this ask btw, it was fun!!

my fav saga :

the underworld!! ik it's the shortest but each song is such a banger and it's the only one for where each song gets better from the last. all three of the songs are in my top 10 easy.

the polites cameo broke ppl's hearts ik but it was amazing to hear steven in the role again. i love his voice. anticlea was amazing too.

no longer you was actual fire. i LOVE epic's version of tirisias a lot and his voice is perfect. the orchestration in that song is actually beautiful and both actors absolutely kill it.

and monster? oh i'll take about monster later

least fav saga :

cyclops saga. i like it but i don't have strong feelings about the songs except for my goodbye. plot wise, it's important ofc but i dont find myself listening to it as often cuz it's just sad. i do like all the songs tho

i will say polyamorous the cyclops sounds REALLY GOOD in the remastered version. woah what a voice improvement holy moly

i really love my goodbye tho. that song is in my top 10. the 'YOU'RE ALONE!' is actually insane. i need like a 100 animatics for it. it's too good.

fav song in each saga :

just a man

i LOVE jay's performance here. this song made me cry when i first listened to it. i mean it's just everything.

i think most ppl thought 'oh musical about odyssey call epic probably silly boyish fun' and for the most part horse and the infant leads u on with that. then THIS SONG happens and ur crying on the floor.

i love watching animatics for it too. unlike most songs in epic, there is no action in this song, it's pure agony of a man grappling with one of the hardest things anyone can do and it's fucking amazing.

and i said it before just now but the VOCALS. stunning. perfect. jaw dropping.

in my ideal epic animated movie, what i want is for horse and the infant and just a man BEFORE the title card drop. and when ody sings the last line of just a man, it fades to the title screen. then it would be daytime and full speed ahead can happen.

idk if that makes sense but i think it would slay so hard.

my goodbye

OH MY GOD. THIS SONG. IT IS HEARTBREAKING

the callbacks to warrior of the mind takes me by surprise everytime like holy shit she really just said that?? then ody's 'YOU'RE ALONE!'

it's perfect. the pure rage from both of them is just so good.

it's my favourite saga ender. it's so cold and just wow. like athena was in one song before but the EMOTION from both of them is enough to make u wanna cry.

ruthlessness

see one part of my brain is like 'oh that's interesting the villain and hero have conflicting moralities and the hero may become like the villain and he is establishing the hero's thinking as flawed for his purpose.' then the other half of my brain is dead from how much steven rodriguez SLAYS the performance.

the lyrics are great as with all the song. the callback to remember them? chef's kiss. poseidon really sat down with his son and took notes for his villain number lol

but my fav things about it the performance. the poseidon voice is so so so so good. and i'm not saying it in a 'haha i find it hot' way. i mean i do but also, it's just perfect for poseidon. he sounds like if salt could talk and that's a compliment btw. his sass and personality is great too.

'but noooo' i just. i love poseidon's voice so much.

and i am shaking in my boots for get in the water.

there are other ways

i love the route jay went with the plot. this portrayal of circe is so important to me, i love her sm. i read the circe book just before the circe saga - and i liked it overall - but the ending left a horrible taste in my mouth so this was a very welcome change.

it's so well done. our boy ody '🥺my wife🥺'-ing his way out of the situation? perfect. ik it's more complicated but the end of the circe saga is such a good character moment for him.

and CIRCE. CIRCE MY QUEEN ILY.

her sympathising with ody and helping him is great. i love that she gets fleshed into, why she does what she does and when she sees the good in ody. she really is a loving queen and i love her sm.

her vocals - especially at the end - are stunning. i love tayla sindal's voice for circe. like with poseidon, that is the perfect voice for the character.

i really love gigi's animatic of this song and that's just how i imagine it happening. it's actually perfect. my fav song was a tie between this and done for but the animatic made me fall in love with this one.

monster

odysseus gives into the pam pam 🦖🦖

it's my favourite song in epic. i have a LOT of thoughts on it but i actually cannot put them into words.

mutiny

this one is fresh so my thoughts will not be cohesive. the amount of callbacks in this song actually kills me.

i cried at the livestream. exactly at the lyric 'ody we're never gonna get to make it home' i mean.

ODY. ODY not CAPTAIN. I CAN'T END THIS. poor choice of words nm

but i will say i've seen some takes on eurylochus that i definately do not agree with and he's one of my fav characters. i'm sad he's gone, his acting and presence was amazing and underrated in all the other sagas and he's just a great character.

least fav in each saga:

i like all of these songs btw. i don't dislike any song. i don't wanna got into detail cuz for all the answer is just i like the others more.

full speed ahead

polyphemous

storm

wouldn't you like

the underworld

different beast

winner : monster

second place : there are other ways

third place : ruthlessness

my overall least favourite song : polyphemous/different beast. again i like these songs, i just prefer others

[twomanyfandomshelp]

What is your fav EPIC the musical song? I'm asking cuz it's one of my favourite fandoms ever.

OH MY GOSH I LOVE EPIC!!!

This is such a hard question though because I love them all 😭

I have to go with Mutiny (this will change when the Wisdom Saga is released, I guarantee you). The emotion, the callbacks, the plot twists, and of course everyone’s voices are amazing.

Now I’m going to tell you my favorite song from each saga because you asked and now you know now jump in the water

Please do not ask me to choose a favorite song once the wisdom saga comes out, because then it will be literally impossible for me to choose. Every single song in this musical is so freaking good and all of these had very close seconds that were almost put instead.

Troy Saga:

Open Arms. I just love Polites so much, and this song is just so fun and bubbly, plus all the callbacks to it later on are just mwah *chef’s kiss*

Cyclops Saga:

My Goodbye. I freaking love Athena and here is where we really start to see Odysseus start to have some bad luck and it’s a great end to a very dramatic saga.

Ocean Saga:

Ruthlessness. It’s just aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. I cannot express how much I love this song, and Steven Rodriguez has such an amazing voice and does such a phenomenal job as Poseidon, I cannot wait to hear the full version of Get In the Water!

Circe Saga:

Done For. It gets stuck in my head all the time, and this might have swayed it a little but I absolutely love the fight scene between Odysseus and Circe. There Are Other Ways and Wouldn’t You Like are both really close, but Done For wins.

Underworld Saga:

I FREAKING LOVE THIS SAGA OH MY GODS

Sorry, this saga is just so amazing

It’s so hard for me to choose, I love all of these songs so much, but it’s probably Monster. I’ve loved Monster since the first small clip I heard of it. I fell in love with this song because I just love seeing Odysseus slowly falling into his darker side and I think it’s the perfect ending to Act 1.

Thunder Saga:

FHSUDVWKFUWBGEIEBDKDFYEB IT’S MY FAVORITE SAGA AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Seriously, picking a song from this saga is so hard, but I just have to go with Mutiny just because it’s so so so so so good and it delivers 120% at all times and I just can’t. Thunder Bring is such a close second though, Luke Holt has such an amazingly beautiful voice and I cannot wait to hear more from him!

Sorry for the super long answer, you have unleashed the epic hyperfixation and I now have to try to fit it back in its box so I can do the homework that I am currently procrastinating on.

[kunselxsoldier]

tag nine people you'd like to know better

I. favourite colours: red, always been my favourite.

II. favourite flavours: Loving asian dishes at the moment; teriyaki stir-fry, ramen, gyoza, chili-oil noodles.

III. favourite genres: Action and fantasy mostly. I'm such a wimp, I'm useless when it comes to horror.

IV. favourite music: At the moment, I'm OBSESSED with Epic: The Ocean Saga. It's a concept musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans based on the Odyssey and tells Odysseus' journey from Troy and his attempts to get back home. The previous albums are the Troy Saga and the Cyclops Saga and they are amazing!!!! If you have a moment, definitely give them a listen.

V. favourite movies: I adore the original Beauty and the Beast, my all-time favourite movie. But I also really love Pretty Woman, as cliché as that sounds.

VI. favourite series: Oh, it changes depending on what's new at the moment and what I can binge. Yellowstone, Supernatural, The Boys, the new Percy Jackson at the moment is really hitting a vibe. Also adore The Sandman and House of the Dragon. The Last of Us goes without saying too.

VII. last song: Ruthlessness from Epic: The Ocean Saga. Seriously obsessed with this track and Steven Rodriguez who voices Poseidon.

VIII. last series: Percy Jackson and The Olympians on Disney+. (definitely helps that Toby Stephens is cast as Poseidon.)

IX. last movie: The last film I watched was Forrest Gump on New Year's Even, because I quite like the movie and my mam and sis had never actually seen it.

X. currently reading: The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. An interesting and deep look into the signs our body gives us when we're in danger and how to recognise them and learn to trust them.

XI. currently watching: At the moment, I'm not watching anything, just binging Frontiers of Pandora on my PS5.

XII. currently working on: I'm still very slowly working on a fanfiction I've been writing since I was 17 in the YuGiOh fandom called Paper Roses. I didn't update for 4 years, but then finally got my arse into gear and back into writing. It's been rewritten over the years, but I'm doing a final overall rewrite of old chapters and slowly working on a new one for all the lovely readers who have stuck by me for so many years.

tagged by: @holyguardian tagging: @loqis @ceaselxss @denzelxstrife @fairfallcn @littlexsisterxulric @lightrookie @wingsandsteel

[imatheatergeek]

Last Day of my #HerculesLoveFest posts... Today is all about the bada$$ery of Meg & the ladies who gave/give her life

I saved the best of my #HerculesLoveFest posts for today, the day of the @todaytix​ lottery drawing, and it will be GUSHING over everything Megara.

(Photo credit: Disney Wiki)

Megara, aka Meg, is hands down the coolest female character in the Disney catalogue (IMO, of course). She is the rare full fledged adult protagonist and unlike the leading ladies of prior Disney films, she has experienced the real world, the good and the bad of it. Hercules isn’t the first pretty boy that she has come across and she knows that just because she’s attracted to him, that doesn’t mean falling in love with him is a good idea. And in the end, Hercules is the one that changes his dream of returning to Mt. Olympus so that he can live with her. Grade = Modern Woman & Total Bada$$

Now lets talk about the woman who first gave Meg her sass...Susan Egan. 

(Photo credit: Broadway Princess Party Shop)

Susan Egan became a staple of the Disney family when she originated the role of Belle on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t get to see her on stage but I grew up listening to her voice as the cast album was on the regular rotation in my family’s car. I always loved seeing behind the scenes info for Disney’s animated films and I was beyond thrilled to make the connection between Broadway’s Belle this new fabulous character.

She is currently the voice of Rose Quartz in Steven Universe. I don’t know that show very well, but the character looks like a tough chick from the image below.

(Photo credit: Steven Universe Wiki - link might contain spoilers)

Egan is now one of the three main ladies that make up the Broadway Princess Party, along with Laura Osnes and Courtney Reed. I splurged this past winter for the VIP tickets which included a meet and greet.

Lastly, let’s talk about Krysta Rodriguez who will be playing Meg at the Delacorte next week.

(Photo credit: Feinstein’s/ 54 Below)

Most people first became aware of Rodriguez when she appeared on Smash- I had actually seen her go on as Vanessa in In The Heights and then again starring as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family. 

My favorite thing that I’ve seen Rodriguez perform in was a show called First Date on Broadway where she was opposite Zachary Levi. If I remember correctly, the character she played was actually much like Meg. 

(Photo credit: Pop Entertainment)

I love this character and I can’t wait to see Krysta Rodriguez bring life to her on stage!

#WISHMELUCK

[itsniquol]

Pose Returned & I’m Excited!

And the category is...1990s Fabulousness 

Last year on June 3rd the FX Network premiered their Pose, an eight episode long story about members of the queer community and ball culture in New York during the late 1980s. Specifically transwomen and gay men. The show’s protagonist is the beautiful and compassionate Blanca, played by MJ Rodriguez, who builds her own house, while raising a young gay teen and coming to grips with her HIV+ status. This show was renewed for a second season that premiered on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, and as a cisgender woman I was so excited watch it.    

Pose is definitely the type of show that is both needed and long overdue. It was by chance that I found it last year, and was lucky enough to marathon the first four episodes. As the first season progressed I remember being so puzzled as to why this show wasn’t talked more. I had to hunt for YouTube reviews and could not recall promos, trailers or commercials for Pose. Something I now believe FX has learned from because I’m seeing more promotion, which the show deserves.

As a viewer the things that really draw me in to Pose was how it centers black and brown members of the LGBT+ world instead of treating them as tokens and accessories. The show also has LGBT+ writers, like Janet Mock, which really does add a certain level of authenticity that can really be appreciated. Show creators Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals and Brad Falchuk did a phenomenal job last season and are still coming out strong in the new one.

Season two opens up with the episode, “Acting Up,” where Blanca and Pray Tell (Billy Porter) travel in the crisp and bitter cold of New York to an island to pay respects to another one of Pray Tell’s deceased lovers. It’s an inverse to the joy and uplifting moment of last episode where Blanca’s newly formed house won the ball contest, and she was crowned House Mother of the Year. Seeing how coldly and indifferent the people who died of HIV/AIDS were treated can really tear at your heart. However, as sad as it was this scene was a necessary stepping point to not only remind the audience of the queer community’s plight but also establishing Pray Tell’s resolve to channel his grief and fear into activism.

After attending a meeting with Nurse Judy (Sandra Bernhard) Pray Tell is inspired to finally step up for his community and the future well being of future queer members. Blanca, now faced with a shift in her own health, is inspired to stand up too by pushing her children to want and do more while embracing Vogue culture’s shift into the mainstream 90s. Blanca’s response to Madonna is a reflection of how many in ball culture felt, because she gave them positivity and made their world look cool instead of shameful.  

However, Pray Tell and Candy (Angelica Ross) are quick to remind Blanca that just because something in their culture is hot now doesn’t mean it will last, or trickle down to their lasting benefit. On a certain level Blanca can understand that and convinces Angel (Indya Moore) to audition to be a model. A sensible and natural choice. Angel has a lovely face and a type of photographic charisma that can take her to diva status in the modeling world. The scene where she walks into the line is shown perfectly. Props to the actress, director and camera person for making it feel like Angel was Cinderella getting a peek inside the ball.

After everything she went through with Stan (Evan Peters) fans will want nothing but the best for her, which is why it hurt so much when her photographer took advantage of her past. A straight predator that needed to know you can’t  blackmail people into humiliation for your pleasure. Glad Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel) took Angel and Blanca to get him back though. Not saying that it was 100% right, but —my Chris Rock voice— “I understand.”

The opening episode was great. The costumes, as always, were on point, the acting was award winning, the ball scene choreography is amazing and the music was perfect. As a 90s baby myself I am at the edge of my seat to see what Pose will do entering the new decade. Although, the trailer for the next episode alludes to troubled times for Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) and Elektra (Dominique Jackson). Fingers crossed for our characters.

[croissantconnoisseurdinosaur]

South Park High, Winter Musical Cast List:  Dear Evan Hansen

Evan Hansen  —  Tweek Tweak 

Heidi Hansen  —  Wendy Testaburger

Zoe Murphy  —  Karen McCormick 

Cynthia Murphy  —  Tricia Tucker 

Larry Murphy  —   Token Black 

Connor Murphy  —  Thomas 

Alana Beck —  Heidi Turner 

Jared Kleinman  —  Jimmy Vahlmer

Ensemble  —  Nichole Daniels, Firkle Smith, Tammy Warner, Ike Broflovski, Bebe Stevens, David Rodriguez, Timmy Burch

(Those with heavy leads in JCS didn’t participate in DEH, but supported vibrantly from the audience)

......

Review:  Tweek was amazing, he tapped into something real and raw and everybody cried.  Jimmy was as charming as ever, and Karen was so sad and hurt it was heart-wrenching.  Token’s beautiful voice soared over his boring ass song, and Thomas was angsty and moody as antagonist of the show.  Standing ovation, not a dry eye in the house.     

[aion-rsa]

The Best Movies of 2020

https://ift.tt/34YpJ4d

Thank goodness that’s over, right?

To say 2020 was a challenging year is like announcing the Hindenburg had a rough landing. In a period that’s transformed how billions live their lives, there isn’t one person, family, business, or industry that wasn’t impacted significantly by upheaval. And that includes going to the movies.

Just 12 months ago, moviegoers were turning out by the millions to see their favorite space adventures in theaters. Now they’re watching them, and everything else, on streaming. It’s an astonishing journey we’ve detailed further here, but even if our relationship to how we experience films is changing, the fact remains cinema is as vital a form of escape and inspiration as ever. And even in 2020, as Hollywood studios largely abandoned multiplexes to fend for themselves, there also remained excellent motion pictures. Some were released on Netflix, some experimented with premium video on demand, and a rarified few still entered theaters.

Here’s 25 of them.

25. Host

This Zoom horror movie, completed from start to finish in 12 weeks during the middle of a pandemic, might be the movie that sums up 2020 better than any other. But it should also be noted that it’s genuinely very good. The feature debut of Rob Savage runs at just 57 minutes (how very 2020, as in any other year its halfway house runtime might have hurt the movie’s chances), and in that time it sees a group of friends attempt to carry out a séance over Zoom. However, something goes wrong (or is that right?) and a malign entity enters the call.

Performed by a group of women, and one man, who already know each other really well, it’s the easy shorthand of their friendship that elevates this and helps the audience to instantly care. Meanwhile it’s the ambition and inventiveness of Savage and writers Jed Shepherd and Gemma Hurley which increases the scale of this beyond a lockdown found footage movie and into territory where complicated stunt work was involved. First and foremost though, it’s scary. Like really scary. How very 2020. – Rosie Fletcher 

24. Minari

There is currently a bit of controversy over the Golden Globes categorizing Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari as a “foreign language film.” If that stands, it will be a genuine shame, and a greater slight, for this is an all-American story. A semi-autobiographical reverie for its writer-director, Minari depicts a family of Korean-Americans who immigrated to the United States in the 1970s and are now trying to make it as farmers in rural Arkansas in the 1980s.

A beautiful ode to childhood, and both the hardships and joys of the immigrant experience, what’s most rewarding about Chung’s film is its quiet intelligence at working from first the perception of a child named David (Alan S. Kim), and then also from the vantage of his parents and their increasingly frayed marriage (a mutually raw Steven Yeun and Yeri Han). It even has a deep reservoir of understanding for the more complex sorrows of grandmother Soonja (Youn Yuh-jung). Minari is a sophisticated multigenerational snapshot of a distinct group of American lives, and it’s among the best films of the year, however you categorize it. – David Crow

23. Kajillionaire

Miranda July’s ethereal scammer dramedy carries the con-artist torch from Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 masterpiece, Parasite, and once again allows audiences to live vicariously through a scrappy family surviving on society’s margins. But unlike Bong’s Kims, Kajillionaire’s Dynes (Robert Jenkins and Debra Winger) are far from sympathetic; they’re poisoned by their warped take on the American Dream.

Evan Rachel Wood turns in one of 2020’s most stunning performances as their strange daughter, Old Dolio: fierce yet naïve, raised to regard all relationships as transactional and so utterly at a loss as to how to navigate her attraction to their new co-conspirator Melanie (Gina Rodriguez). Old Dolio’s roughness contrasts beautifully with the surreal wonder of July’s dreamy motifs—here, soap bubbles representing the fragility of a life that could change with one puncture.

No one could have predicted that this year would implode worse than a scam gone wrong, nor that even the most well-adjusted families would have to grapple with setting uncomfortable but life-saving boundaries with loved ones. Yet here we are, and somehow July’s hopeful story came to us at exactly the right time: We can delight in Old Dolio breaking toxic patterns, and the elder Dynes learning that letting go of something valuable can be more beneficial than squeezing the life out of it. – Natalie Zutter

22. The Assistant

One of the year’s most unassuming but devastating films is writer-director Kitty Green’s seamless foray from documentary (Casting JonBenet, Ukraine is Not a Brothel) into a classic “inspired by true events” feature. Those true events are the Harvey Weinstein scandal, as the film follows a day in the life of a low-level assistant (Julia Garner) in a prominent Hollywood executive’s New York City office. The Weinstein-like character is never directly seen, and Jane is one of many peons who sketch out the space around his considerable form, as they arrange his midday hotel reservations and restock his private stash of erectile dysfunction medication. 

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Yet out of the whole office, Jane is both the most valuable and the least valued: first one in, last one out, she has devoted all of her waking hours to streamlining this powerful man’s day—which includes covering over his gravest sins with regard to the pretty, impressionable young women she ushers into his office.

Every phone conversation or behind-closed-doors meeting is intentionally muffled so that Jane herself can hardly hear it, let alone the audience. These murmuring pockets invite the viewer to fill in the blanks, imagining the worst possible scenario. The film never gets explicit, but Jane’s dawning realization and horror at her complicity is unsettling enough. Even more so when her attempts to flag this unimaginably inappropriate behavior get undermined by the self-protecting hierarchy of the company. The Assistant is more character portrait than anything else, and it treats its archetypal figure with more sympathy than her real-life counterparts might have earned, but its depiction of seemingly harmless eccentricities snowballing into an unconscionable abuse of power is a must-watch. – NZ

21. His House

This Netflix original horror movie took people by surprise when it landed on the service. The feature debut from Remi Weekes, His House is a clever, nuanced political movie that leans hard into horror tropes, working both as a commentary on the treatment of refugees in Britain and as a seriously frightening ghost story. Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country) and Sope Dirisu (Gangs of London) play a Sudanese couple who escape the violence of their own country only to find themselves hemmed in by the bureaucracy and judgement of the UK. Placed in a decrepit home that they can’t leave, they are haunted by spirits they brought with them while facing the nightmare of a country that pretends to care but barely sees them as people.

Read more

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By Rosie Fletcher

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The performances across the board, including a supporting role from Matt Smith, soar, and the production design is unique, haunting, and at times very beautiful. This is a powerful first film from an exciting new voice, a must-watch for genre lovers, and a showcase for a strong, if not often told, social message that talks about culture, society, and gender. It’s about the demons we see and the ones we do not. – RF

20. Emma.

Jane Austen’s fourth novel, and the last published in her lifetime, has been filmed many times. But director Autumn de Wilde’s version is the best one, perhaps because she is the first woman to helm a straightforward adaptation. Leaning into Austen’s own designs for the book, where the author mused she would “take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like,” Emma. embraces the mischievous and sardonic side of Austen’s wit, and her heroine who was gifted with being “handsome, clever, and rich” from the word go.

Filmed with supreme confidence and a sumptuous color palette of bright pastels in brighter natural lighting, Emma. is vibrant and often veers cheerfully near screwball comedy. This approach is only buoyed by Anya Taylor-Joy, who began a strong year of work with this multifaceted and exceedingly rich portrait of Ms. Woodhouse, in the most magnanimous sense. She and her director searched for “questionable intent” in the material while still crafting a warm film that bubbles with life. It also enjoys a wonderful soundtrack thanks to a collection of actual 18th and 17th century English folk songs, and a puckish score by David Schweitzer and Isobel Waller-Bridge. – DC

19. The Father

Director and screenwriter Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his own stage play stars Anthony Hopkins as Anthony, an elderly English man suffering from the onset of dementia. Olivia Colman is his daughter Anne, who is planning a move to Paris to live with her partner, and is desperately trying to find a new caregiver for her father. People drift in and out of the narrative under different names, Anthony’s spacious apartment seems to change around him and time itself seems to bend before we realize we are seeing almost all the events from Anthony’s point of view—which means that none of what we see can truly be trusted.

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This makes what could have been a conventional drama about illness and memory into something brilliant and terribly heartbreaking, with Hopkins and Colman giving performances that are nothing short of titanic and Zeller’s cool, controlled direction making the emotional cost even more profound. The final scenes of this nearly perfect film will leave you devastated, even if this awful disease has never impacted your life personally. – Don Kaye

18. Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal gives us an up-close, immersive look at what it feels like to suddenly go deaf, and to realize that massive life changes don’t have to portend the end of what it means to live. Riz Ahmed is excellent as Ruben, a recovering drug addict who drums in a heavy metal duo alongside his girlfriend, singer/guitarist Lou (Olivia Cooke). The two tour the indie rock circuit in a beat-up but cozy RV that also serves as their home, but their gypsy lifestyle is upended when Ruben abruptly loses his hearing.

Director Darius Marder (who co-wrote the script with Abraham Marder) does not give into sentimentality even as Ruben moves through grief, loss, denial, anger, and self-pity, all the while clinging to the possibility that he may find a surgical way to restore his hearing. His journey also takes him to a home for deaf people in recovery (headed up by the marvelous Paul Raci, whose own real-life story involving deafness is remarkable), and eventually opens his heart and mind. The excellent sound design is the final touch on a captivating and highly original story. – DK

17. The Personal History of David Copperfield

After exposing the sheer absurdity of modern politics in films and series like In The Loop, The Death of Stalin, and Veep, Armando Iannucci found solace this year in creating this earnest, light, charming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, David Copperfield. The film still tackles Dickens’ persistent themes of class, privilege, poverty, and human rights, although in far less scathing fashion than Iannucci is known for. Casting his project in colorblind fashion has also allowed the director to subtly modernize the piece while grounding it firmly in 1850s England.

Some of us may get a bit lost in the onrush of characters and events in this fast-paced film, as Iannucci breezes through a lot of the book’s events. But the story itself, and the multitude of vivid, colorful, oddball characters who are led by an enthusiastic Dev Patel as David, are so timeless and relevant to the human condition that only diehard loyalists to the original text may find something to grumble about. The rest of us can enjoy a delightful adaptation that we might not even know we needed. – DK

16. Bad Education

For his whole career, Hugh Jackman has been celebrated for his consummate showmanship. Whether it is as ambassador for a major superhero franchise or the song and dance man who can win Tonys at the same ceremony he’s hosting, his charm is irresistible. So imagine his delight when director Cory Finely presented him with Bad Education: the movie where his ability to ingratiate turns into something sinister and perfectly apt for the year it was released in.

Based on a 2004 New York Magazine article about the largest school embezzlement scandal in history, Bad Education plays like a dark comedy about American greed, as well as prologue for the 21st century hucksterism that was to come. Filmed with the same clinical nihilism found in Finley’s Thoroughbreds, this film is so much larger in its landscape of apathy of self-delusion. And at the center of it is Jackman’s affable Long Island school superintendent, a man who hides dark secrets and a bottomless pit of narcissism, both of which allow him to tell any lie that keeps him on top. Hence why watching his house of cards fall is pretty satisfying, especially these days. – DC

15. Small Axe

Steve McQueen’s latest effort, an anthology of short films set around Black communities in 1970s and ’80s Britain has been the source of some debate. Should these be looked at as individual films or can the work only be considered as a whole? We don’t have a satisfactory answer either, but Small Axe is as thoroughly compelling as the rest of McQueen’s work, and two films in particular, Mangrove and Lovers Rock are standouts.

Mangrove is the longest, most traditionally “feature length” entry in Small Axe. Gifted with urgent, authentic performances to tell the story of the Mangrove Nine, it’s also (like the rest of the films in the anthology) an effortlessly immersive recreation of its era, even as its subject matter resonates uncomfortably with today’s headlines. But while the other movies that comprise Small Axe are shorter than many features, they’re no less powerful. The immensely beautiful Lovers Rock, with its haunting reggae soundtrack and beautifully filmed party scenes, serves as a reminder of so much of what we’ve lost and taken for granted in this pandemic year, and the intimacy that can be found in crowds. It’s essential viewing, and both a snapshot of a moment in time and a reminder of something else we’ve lost to this pandemic year. – Mike Cecchini

14. Tenet (READERS’ CHOICE)

In a tumultuous year, no blockbuster has had quite as much controversy surrounding it as Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. The director was notoriously adamant that his film should be the one to lead moviegoers back to cinemas worldwide, a quixotic (some might say selfish) endeavor that might’ve undercut the ambition of a movie that blends the action and spectacle of the wildest James Bond movies with elements of time travel, quantum physics, and Nolan’s famed attention to detail.

But lost in all that controversy—and perhaps in its nigh-incomprehensible plot—is the fact that maybe, were the world not in the midst of a deadly pandemic, Nolan was right.

Perhaps more than any other blockbuster of the last year or more, Tenet was clearly designed with the cinematic experience in mind. Action set pieces, filmed in gorgeous locations that would be spectacular on their own, take on the quality of magic tricks as events and performances are “inverted” by the film’s central, mysterious technology.

Read more

Movies

Tenet Ending Explained

By Chris Farnell

Movies

Tenet’s ‘Inversion’ Logic Explained

By Chris Farnell

Even Nolan’s notorious penchant for emotionally distant main characters is undercut by performances from John David Washington and Robert Pattinson that bring this about as close to a buddy action movie two-hander as you’re ever likely to see from the director. Whether you ultimately view Tenet as a smarter-than-your-average thrill ride or a puzzle that can only be unlocked via repeated viewings, it still deserves, even demands, your full attention. – MC

13. One Night in Miami

Regina King has been in the business of making movies for nearly three decades. Who knew she could also be such an astonishing director? Yet with her first theatrical feature, she announces undiscovered talent in this sweltering, jubilant film that interrogates what life is like at the intersection of Black art and Black commerce in America.

With screenwriter Kemp Powers adapting his own stage play, One Night in Miami imagines a fictional account of an evening where Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and the man who would soon be Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree) walk into a 1964 motel room. Their conversations about the challenges of Black celebrity in a world that pulls them both toward the desperate need of social equity and the more comfortable appeal of white-friendly affability, is one that is still going on to this day. But it’s told here with bombastic performances and a visual flair that is so kinetic it overcomes the admittedly stagebound limitations of the film’s conceit. – DC 

12. Soul

What does it mean to have soul? How do you feed it? Joe Gardner, the Jamie Foxx-voiced protagonist of Soul, thinks he has the answer in the keys of his music, but the beauty of this latest Pixar film is it lives within the ambiguous places that aren’t be so easily defined. As yet another sophisticated offering from co-director Pete Docter, who previously co-helmed Inside Out, Soul pushes Pixar back toward its ambitious best, finding a way to convey complex ideas in an adventure with universal appeal.

With dazzling animation that leans into abstract concepts about life, death, and a weird transient state between the two, the film asks big questions in a way a child can appreciate, if not fully understand. To be sure, it’s the rare kids’ movie that gingerly suggests there is happiness in the seeming pointlessness of existence. It also benefits from ascendant music by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste on the piano. In fact, realizing Nine Inch Nails penned one of the great Disney scores might be 2020’s most pleasant surprise. – DC

11. Saint Maud

The directorial debut of Rose Glass did the festival circuit in 2019 and was due to land in cinemas in the spring. Instead it was pushed back to October in the UK, mid-pandemic. So perhaps it didn’t get the fanfare it would have garnered in a normal year. Set in a rundown seaside town, the movie sees young palliative care nurse Maud (Morfydd Clark) become obsessed with her patient Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), who is dying of cancer. After a highly traumatic incident, Maud has found God—a God she believes talks directly to her and has made it Maud’s mission to save Amanda’s soul.

Read more

Movies

A24 Horror Movies Ranked From Worst to Best

By David Crow and 3 others

Movies

Saint Maud and the True Horror of Broken Minds and Bodies

By Rosie Fletcher

A nightmarish horror of shifting perception, where bodies and minds are in conflict, this is a movie packed with indelible imagery, not least the devastating final scene. Ehle is excellent as the former dancer whose body is letting her down, but Clark is a revelation as the tiny, fierce Maud, all self-flagellation and buttoned up piety until she’s not. – RF

10. Nomadland

Utilizing both actors and real people, director Chloé Zhao (The Rider and Marvel’s upcoming Eternals) chronicles the lives of America’s “forgotten people” as they travel the West, searching for work, companionship, and community in the years following the Great Recession. A brilliant Frances McDormand stars as Fern, a woman in her mid-60s who lost her husband, her house, and her entire previous existence when the town she lived in—Empire, Nevada—vanished off the map following the closure of its sole factory.

Zhao’s film quietly flows from despair to optimism and back to despair again, all while the hardscrabble lives of its itinerant cast (many of them actual nomads) is foregrounded against stunning, if lonely, vistas from the American countryside. Nomadland shows us both the best and worst of America at once: the cruelty of a nation that refuses more and more to take care of its own, juxtaposed with the decency and compassion one can find on an individual basis. Whether the latter is enough to overcome the former is one of Nomadland’s haunting, unanswered questions.  – DK

9. Wonder Woman 1984

A movie about flying and lying (even to one’s self), Wonder Woman 1984 came onto the pop culture scene at the very end of a very bad year. For many, the film’s muddled superhero logic and lackluster third act action scenes were enough to ruin the experience. For others, including many of us, the big budget earnestness of Diana Prince won the day. The film’s delights include charismatic performances from Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig as complex antagonists Maxwell Lord and Cheetah; a breathtaking Themyscira sequence; and Chris Pine pretending to ride an escalator for the first time.

Ultimately, however, Wonder Woman 1984 warrants a spot on this list due to its unexpected thematic priority. While many storytellers use a 1980s setting as an excuse to blast Blondie (fair enough), give the costume department free rein on shoulder pads (yes, please), or to harken back to an imagined simpler time (sure, whatever), director and co-writer Patty Jenkins uses it as a way to rewrite American history.

Read more

Movies

Wonder Woman 1984: DC Comics Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

By Delia Harrington

Comics

The Best Comics of 2020

By Jim Dandy and 2 others

If the 1980s was an era that saw economic policies shifting the power from government to Wall Street, then here is a superhero flick that goes back in time to imagine a different path forward, one in which America is able to avoid the path that prioritizes the few over the many. It’s a fantasy, sure—and one that is understandably too porous for some to enjoy—but it’s a particularly cathartic one for 2020. – Kayti Burt

8. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Adapted from August Wilson’s play by director George C. Wolfe (and not quite able to escape its stage origins), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set during a heated recording session by the title artist–one of the pioneering blues singers of the 1920s–and her touring band. As tensions rise between Ma (Viola Davis) and certain band members, plus Ma and the white men, who of course own the record label, the band members find themselves at odds over the music they’re making and much more.

Read more

Culture

Ma Rainey’s Life and Reign as the Mother of the Blues

By Tony Sokol

Movies

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Ending Explained

By Tony Sokol

While Ma and the events of the story may be fictionalized, the issues that come up—race, religion, money, and art—are not just universal but as relevant as ever in terms of the Black experience in America. Davis is a supernova as Ma, and the rest of the supporting cast is just as terrific. Yet the spotlight undeniably belongs to the late Chadwick Boseman in his final screen appearance. As Levee, the trumpeter who wants to go solo, Boseman radiates rage, pain, and frustration in a performance as incendiary as it is tragic. – DK 

7. Birds of Prey

Harley Quinn’s fabulous emancipation was just that—fabulous. As a fierce, funny, feminist ensemble piece with a quality cast that flipped on its head Harley’s dubious treatment at the hands of Mr. J in Suicide Squad, Harley herself, Margot Robbie, pitched the movie back in 2015. Birds of Prey shows a different side to Gotham City where a grubby underworld of people are trying to scratch together a living, and the only thing objectified in this female team-up is a bacon and egg sandwich (and what a sandwich it is). 

Read more

Movies

How Birds of Prey Subverts the Male Gaze

By Kayti Burt

Movies

Birds of Prey’s Marilyn Monroe Musical Scene Explained

By David Crow

Working from a script by Christina Hodson, director Cathy Yan’s film has a totally different flavor from anything that had come before from the DCEU. R-Rated, rude, and colorful, the movie sees the whole of Gotham out to get Harley now that she’s no longer under the Joker’s protection. But a young pickpocket, a stolen diamond, and Ewan McGregor’s gangster bring together a mismatched bunch in a joyful slice of anarchy that hits exactly the right notes. Superhero movies don’t get much more fun than this. – RF

6. Mank

The authorship of Citizen Kane has divided critics and film scholars for generations. So you can almost sense the glee boiling up in David Fincher as Mank wades right into the middle of it with a stylized and exquisitely crafted love letter to Herman J. Mankiewicz—and proverbial middle finger toward Orson Welles. One sympathizes, as Mankiewicz (or “Mank”) has been an unsung figure in film history: a member of New York’s 1920s generation of literary writers and journalists who bought into the allure of easy money in Hollywood but never got the credit he deserved for selling his soul.

Well, Mank attempts to return it with interest. A film that basks in demolishing Old Hollywood nostalgia, even with its black and white photography and heightened melodramatic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank recalls the ugly side of yesteryear, and the greed that slaughtered talent, be it for money as embodied by Louis B. Mayer, or ego as personified by the film’s vision of Welles.

Yet its elegy for Mankiewicz—portrayed with delicious self-loathing by Gary Oldman—and his generation of forgotten writers is what makes the film unexpectedly warm for a Fincher joint. As does Mank’s relationship with Marion Davies, an also overlooked movie star given spirited reconsideration by Amanda Seyfried in one of the year’s best performances. – DC 

5. Palm Springs

There must be something hypnotic about the banality of time loops, because to date the concept hasn’t produced a bad movie. Harold Ramis and Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day remains the paterfamilias, and prime original day, for the form. Yet that film’s many imitators have still pushed other filmmakers toward genuine inspiration. And that may have never been truer than for Palm Springs, a millennial reimagining of Groundhog’s exploration of a romance stuck on repeat—but with an ingenious added wrinkle.

Instead of one half a potential couple being oblivious to her role in a cyclical love story, both Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) are keenly aware of their shared Sisyphean hell. Worse still, they’re also trapped at a lame wedding. The small addition has massive creative repercussions, with director Max Barbakow and company lightly critiquing the implicit ickiness in Ramis’ film, as well as providing an opportunity for a true two-hander film between Samberg and Milioti. It’s Samberg’s best work to date, but Milioti is the real revelation as the woman who is our eyes and ears into a circular existence that is both horrifying and pleasant, romantic and exhausting. Like the film as a whole, this is a delightful nightmare. – DC

4. Da 5 Bloods

Hollywood’s great reckoning with America’s involvement in the Vietnam War may never truly end. But few films have gotten to the human cost of the war that lingers long after soldiers came home quite as emotionally as Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods.

Alternately a heartfelt tale of friendship and identity amidst shared hardship and a raucous action movie, effortlessly connecting the dots between the racial politics of the Civil Rights era during the Vietnam War and the Black Lives Matter movement of today, Da 5 Bloods may be the most clear-sighted movie about the conflict ever made. The film’s emotional power is bolstered even further by a rousing Terence Blanchard score, as well as a significant chunk of Marvin Gaye’s era-defining masterpiece album, What’s Going On.   

Even at 156 minutes, Da 5 Bloods never overstays its welcome. Despite an action heavy third act that may seem incongruous with some of the film’s weightier themes, its characters are so powerful, and the performances so unforgettable, that nothing is ever lost. And while each of the film’s five leads (not to mention Chadwick Boseman’s almost ethereal “Stormin’” Norman Holloway, seen only in flashback) are terrific, none are more haunting than Delroy Lindo’s manic, tortured turn as Paul, a soldier still bearing the scars of war, both foreign and domestic. – MC

3. Promising Young Woman

Carey Mulligan plays against type in this candy colored fable of an avenging angel who goes to nightclubs and pretends to be wasted in order to shame the men who try to take her home and take advantage. It’s an ultra modern take on the rape-revenge subgenre with a very female gaze. Mulligan’s Cassie is a delicate clothes horse with multicolored nails who works in a coffee shop and lives with her parents—her brand of revenge is specific, personal, and highly female.

Despite the dark subject matter, this is an unashamedly fun film (um, until it’s not) with a killer soundtrack. It’s the directorial debut of actor Emerald Fennell (most recently seen playing Camilla in The Crown), who also wrote the picture, and she reveals an extremely distinctive style. A starry supporting cast also deliver uniformly excellent performances, including Bo Burnham, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Adam Brodie, and Alfred Molina, which makes this feel big budget glossy.

Read more

Movies

Da 5 Bloods Opening History Montage Explained

By David Crow

Movies

What the Mank Ending Leaves Out About Orson Welles and Citizen Kane

By David Crow

But it’s Mulligan’s movie. It’s impossible to take your eyes off her, and she owns the screen as a powerful warrior, a vulnerable soul, and a heroine for our times. – RF

2. The Invisible Man

A Blumhouse redo of a Universal classic from the bloke who wrote Saw, on paper this wouldn’t be an obvious contender for a year-end best list. But then The Invisible Man isn’t an obvious movie. As the last film many saw at the cinema before lockdown landed, The Invisible Man is an incredibly smart take on the H.G. Wells story, which focuses not on the scientist who creates the suit that makes him invisible, but the woman he uses it to terrorize.  

He may be “the guy who wrote Saw,” but writer-director Leigh Whannell has proved himself incredibly adept at a certain kind of action/horror with this and Upgrade—both include thrilling sequences of people who aren’t in control of their own bodies. Here it’s Elisabeth Moss who is being stalked by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Whannell uses the conceit to great effect: It’s a movie about gaslighting, which has the audience scanning the peripheries of the scene at all times, keeping us on edge, just like Cece, and wrong footing us all the same.

Top notch performances and serious subject matter handled with panache make this a scary standout for any year. We can’t wait to see what Whannell does with The Wolfman… – RF

1. The Trial of the Chicago 7

“The whole world is watching.” That is the chant shouted throughout Aaron Sorkin’s second directorial effort, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and it echoes in our 2020 ears like the Ghost of Christmas Past. A little more than 50 years ago, the United States government put eight men on trial for protesting the Democratic National Convention—and the Vietnam War its presumptive nominee supported. This legal circus occurred even though the riot that broke out during the protests was started by the police. It would be understatement to note it all plays as eerily prescient today.

Beyond the loaded political subtexts though, the movie’s placement on this list reflects what happens when Sorkin’s screenplays achieve their greatest alchemy: With words being deployed in a courtroom as ruthlessly as batons were on a summer night in Chicago, each dialogue exchange in Chicago 7 is kinetic. The film defies the seemingly stagey quality of its legal setting, and not by just inserting flashbacks to a recreation of the 1968 riots (though they’re here too), but by turning verbose monologues into thrilling set pieces. Defense attorneys duel prosecutors; defendants defy a shockingly biased and corrupt judge; and believers in the system, like Sorkin himself, stare into the abyss of what happens when it fails.

All of these elements amplify the film’s vision of protestors from “the far left” running into the hard wall of mainstream resistance to change. It’s a showcase for Sorkin, his editor Alan Baumgarten, and the whole ensemble, particularly in one grueling sequence between Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Bobby Seale and Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman. The Trial of the Chicago 7 can be horrifying in places, and yet always engrossing. And most miraculously of all, it’s never cynical. That might be why it electrifies most at this moment. – DC

Other movies receiving balloted votes (in descending order): Relic, The News of the World, Uncle Frank, Never Always Sometimes, Class Action Park, Freaky, The Way Back, The Old Guard, Synchronic, The Devil All the Time, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Enola Holmes, Shirley, Unpregnant, Wolfwalkers, Rebecca, On the Rocks, MLK/FBI, Scare Me, The Lodge, Happiest Season, I’m Your Woman, Bill & Ted 3, The Platform, Monsoon, Possessor, Ordinary Love, Miss Juneteenth, Athlete A, How to Build a Girl, The Vast of Night, What the Constitution Means to Me, Muscle, Calm the Horses, Color Out of Space, Eurovision, Another Round, Misbehaviour, The Boys in the Band, Borat 2, Extraction, Midnight Sky, Zappa, The Half of It, Greenland, 7500, Onward, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, The Nest, Bad Hair, Capone, Project Power, New Order, The Gentlemen, Lost Girls, The 40 Year-Old-Version.

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[taylorscorner]

Where I Stand

This is where I stand on the 45th President, his power hungry cronies taking positions of authority in his Cabinet and administration, and the majority of Republicans in Congress are a real and active threat to me, my way of life, and all the people I love. Some people are saying that we should give Trump a chance, that we should "work together" with him because he won the election and he is "everyone's president." This is my response: •I will not forget how badly he and so many others treated former President Barack Obama for 8 years... • I will not forget how he disrespected a gold star family based on their religion. • I will not forget how he discriminated against a federal judge based on his ethnic background. •I will not "work together" to privatize Medicare, cut Social Security and Medicaid. •I will not "work together" to build a wall. •I will not "work together" to persecute Muslims. •I will not "work together" to shut out refugees from other countries. •I will not "work together" to lower taxes on the 1% and increase taxes on the middle class and poor. •I will not "work together" to help Trump use the Presidency to line his pockets and those of his family and cronies. •I will not "work together" to weaken and demolish environmental protection. •I will not "work together" to sell American lands, especially National Parks, to companies which then despoil those lands. •I will not "work together" to enable the killing of whole species of animals just because they are predators, or inconvenient for a few, or because some people want to get their thrills killing them. •I will not "work together" to remove civil rights from anyone. •I will not "work together" to alienate countries that have been our allies for as long as I have been alive. •I will not "work together" to slash funding for education. •I will not "work together" to take basic assistance from people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. •I will not "work together" to get rid of common sense regulations on guns. •I will not "work together" to eliminate the minimum wage. •I will not "work together" to support so-called "Right To Work" laws, or undermine, weaken or destroy Unions in any way. •I will not "work together" to suppress scientific research, be it on climate change, fracking, or any other issue where a majority of scientists agree that Trump and his supporters are wrong on the facts. •I will not "work together" to criminalize abortion or restrict health care for women. •I will not "work together" to increase the number of nations that have nuclear weapons. •I will not "work together" to put even more "big money" into politics. •I will not "work together" to violate the Geneva Convention. •I will not "work together" to give the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party and white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred. •I will not "work together" to deny health care to people who need it. •I will not "work together" to deny medical coverage to people on the basis of a "pre-existing condition." •I will not "work together" to increase voter suppression. •I will not "work together" to normalize tyranny.I will not “work together” to eliminate or reduce ethical over-site at any level of government. •I will not "work together" with anyone who is, or admires, tyrants and dictators. •I will not "work together" to help private corporations build pipelines to transport their oil, at the expense of our safety and environment.This is my line, and I am drawing it. •I WILL stand for honesty, love, respect for all living beings, and for the beating heart that is the center of Life itself. •I WILL use my voice and my hands, to reach out to the uninformed, and to anyone who will LISTEN: That "winning", "being great again", "rich" or even "beautiful" is nothing... When others are sacrificed to glorify its existence.

Signed:

Kathrine Iacofano

Susan Goldberg

Debbie Slavkin Linda Rosefsky Rebecca Tortorice Anna Konya Karen Redding Wendy Lemlin Patricia Rollins Trosclair Andrea Dora Zysk George Georgakis John Christopher John Bowles Patrick St.Louis Carla Patrick Darnell Bender Vickie Davis JMichael Carter Janice Frazier-Scott Rev. ELaura James Reid Jeanette Bouknight Rev. Dollie Howell Pankey Gerald Butler Carolyn McDougle Vaughn Chatman Adrienne Brown Gary Trousdale Steven E Gordon Isis Nocturne Debi Murray Maureen O. Betita Mona Enderli Fernie James Tamblin Myrna Dodgion Alan Locklear Tom Wilmore Jackie Evans Donna Endres Lora Fountain Roberta Gregory Heather A Mayhew Stevo Wehr Nathan Stivers Jen RaLee Joan Holden Leigh Lutz Deborah Kirkpatrick Linda Levy Tom Rue Nancy Hoffmann-Allison Beejay McCabe Michael James Myers Edward T. Spire Rupert Chapman Dawn R. Dunbar Robin Wilson Monique Boutot Laura Brown 💪🏼 Susan Aptaker Steve Katz Bonnie Wolk Risa Guttman-Kornwitz Angela Gora Butch Norman Sharon Tolman Sue Zislis Maurice Hirsch Satch Dobrey Jim Krapf Don Starwalt Deb Johansen Daniel Anderson Diane Kenney Rebecca Koop Nancy Shuert Bill Pryor Patrick Lamb Bob Travaglione Margaret Ragan Martha Peters Steve Wilson Lauren Sullivan Scott Bevan Roger Saunden Susanne Lavelle Benita Yimsuan Kathryn Scarano Kathleen E Neff Evey G Quines Debbie Dey John Dennehy, Jr. Marsha Vaughn Adam Sklena Larry David McGregor Blumenthal Gustavo Rodriguez ARJ Alva Freeman Yvette Ellard Rory Thayer Wilson Wayne Booth Streven King Phyllis Vlach Adrian Sandy Miller Castellano Nick Strippoli Ben Papapietro RenaePerry Ann Elliott Maria DelloStritto Kimberly Bauso Rebecca Smith Theresa Taylor Terri Feldman Cheryl Pitman Molly Spalding Janice Wiles Michael Bello Vicki Carlson Gloria Salazar Angie Sincell Dana Shimrock Cheryl Josh Henderson Danielle Luscombe Clint Bickford Jason C. Frank Aviad C. Sasi Michel L. Poli Quintin Kreutzer Malcolm McHugh Sharon Hamer Bob Melvin Mike Feinstein Allison Parker Barbara Darrow Amy Levitt Michael Chechanover Bruce Kanin Rhonda Friedman Tina Bug Dave St.Hill Arty Williams Al Ward Charline Forrest Donna Fargas Alice Bowdwin Terri Holman Ronald Jones Dollise Howard-Whitehurst Miriam Lucas Simmon Anita Jackson David E. Early,Sr. Alexander Thomas, Jr. Delano Tucker Donnie Fitzgerald Michael j Washington Vern Owens Jr. ALFONSE P. JOHNSON SR.😡 Tom Outland Millard whatley Jr. Joseph Kane III Bill Dix Ruth Price Scott Taper Bernard Coley Susie Richardson Marde Ross Carol Landa-McVicker Lindy Cater Ben Cater Cameron Smith Becky Oos Lori Freshman Ellen Moody Brian Cummings Tom Hall Jeff Cohen Wayne Humphrey Kenneth Felz Tom Schneiter Patrick Ley Lynn Ray Allen Jill Williams Sheila Woods Deandra Clark Allan Dunlap Roger Morales Veronica Rios Angela Quiles. Michelle Villanueva Alexis Castro

Bobby Lewis

Your turn. Copy, paste, add your name, post...

[henrique2022]

This is where I stand. Our 45th President, his power hungry cronies taking positions of authority in his Cabinet and administration, and the majority of Republicans in Congress are a real and active threat to me, my way of life, and all the people I love. Some people are saying that we should give Trump a chance, that we should "work together" with him because he won the election and he is "everyone's president." This is my response: •I will not "work together" to privatize Medicare, cut Social Security and Medicaid. •I will not "work together" to build a wall. •I will not "work together" to persecute Muslims. •I will not "work together" to shut out refugees from other countries. •I will not "work together" to lower taxes on the 1% and increase taxes on the middle class and poor. •I will not "work together" to help Trump use the Presidency to line his pockets and those of his family and cronies. •I will not "work together" to weaken and demolish environmental protection. •I will not "work together" to sell American lands, especially National Parks, to companies which then despoil those lands. •I will not "work together" to enable the killing of whole species of animals just because they are predators, or inconvenient for a few, or because some people want to get their thrills killing them. •I will not "work together" to remove civil rights from anyone. •I will not "work together" to alienate countries that have been our allies for as long as I have been alive. •I will not "work together" to slash funding for education. •I will not "work together" to take basic assistance from people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. •I will not "work together" to eliminate the minimum wage. •I will not "work together" to support so-called "Right To Work" laws, or undermine, weaken or destroy Unions in any way. •I will not "work together" to suppress scientific research, be it on climate change, fracking, or any other issue where a majority of scientists agree that Trump and his supporters are wrong on the facts. •I will not "work together" to criminalize abortion or restrict health care for women. •I will not "work together" to increase the number of nations that have nuclear weapons. •I will not "work together" to put even more "big money" into politics. •I will not "work together" to violate the Geneva Convention. •I will not "work together" to give the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party and white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred. •I will not "work together" to deny health care to people who need it. •I will not "work together" to deny medical coverage to people on the basis of a "pre-existing condition." •I will not "work together" to increase voter suppression. •I will not "work together" to normalize tyranny. I will not “work together” to eliminate or reduce ethical oversite at any level of government. •I will not "work together" with anyone who is, or admires, tyrants and dictators. •I will not support anyone that thinks its OK to put a pipeline to transport oil on Sacred Ground for Native Americans. This is my line, and I am drawing it. •I WILL stand for honesty, love, respect for all living beings, and for the beating heart that is the center of Life itself. •I WILL use my voice and my hands, to reach out to the uninformed, and to anyone who will LISTEN: That "winning", "being great again", "rich" or even "beautiful" is nothing... When others are sacrificed to glorify its existence. Signed: Kathrine Iacofano Susan Goldberg Debbie Slavkin Linda Rosefsky Rebecca Tortorice Anna Konya Karen Redding Wendy Lemlin Patricia Rollins Trosclair Andrea Dora Zysk George Georgakis John Christopher John Bowles Patrick St.Louis Carla Patrick Darnell Bender Vickie Davis JMichael Carter Janice Frazier-Scott Rev. ELaura James Reid Jeanette Bouknight Rev. Dollie Howell Pankey Gerald Butler Carolyn McDougle Vaughn Chatman Adrienne Brown Gary Trousdale Steven E Gordon Isis Nocturne Debi Murray Maureen O. Betita Mona Enderli Fernie James Tamblin Myrna Dodgion Alan Locklear Tom Wilmore Jackie Evans Donna Endres Lora Fountain Roberta Gregory Heather A Mayhew Stevo Wehr Nathan Stivers Jen RaLee Joan Holden Leigh Lutz Deborah Kirkpatrick Linda Levy Tom Rue Nancy Hoffmann-Allison Beejay McCabe Michael James Myers Edward T. Spire Rupert Chapman Dawn R. Dunbar Robin Wilson Monique Boutot Laura Brown Susan Aptaker Steve Katz Bonnie Wolk Risa Guttman-Kornwitz Angela Gora Butch Norman Sharon Tolman Sue Zislis Maurice Hirsch Satch Dobrey Jim Krapf Don Starwalt Deb Johansen Daniel Anderson Diane Kenney Rebecca Koop Nancy Shuert Bill Pryor Patrick Lamb Bob Travaglione Margaret Ragan Martha Peters Steve Wilson Lauren Sullivan Scott Bevan Roger Saunden Susanne Lavelle Benita Yimsuan Kathryn Scarano Kathleen E Neff Evey G Quines Debbie Dey John Dennehy, Jr. Marsha Vaughn Adam Sklena Larry David McGregor Blumenthal Gustavo Rodriguez ARJ Alva Freeman Yvette Ellard Rory Thayer Wilson Wayne Booth Streven King Phyllis Vlach Adrian Sandy Miller Castellano Nick Strippoli Ben Papapietro Jerry Briesach Steve LaRosa Judy LaRosa Nini Diaz Inez Sandejas Irene Salazar Maria de Quinto Theresa Carr Ogle Mina Junio Lori Franzoni James Demestihas Robert Rauff, Jr. Lenore Barnard ThomasSkabry Bob Feger Christine Lauber Nikki Lynette LouiseBlackburn Joelle Efthimiou Steven Goldleaf Debra Tanklow Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène Lauren Aryah Vern Katz Mary Walston Susan Wa Marsha Marin Scott Hale Denis Hulett MARK B ROPERS Susan Bacon Hulett Jen Marsh Brenda Fox Pam Vink Fassett Gillian Estes Diana Dodson Warren Petoskey Renée L. 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The 32 Most Anticipated Movies of 2018

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The 32 Most Anticipated Movies of 2018

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2018 looks set to be another huge year for films, with the biggest chapter of Marvel’s decade-long project with the Avengers, new instalments in the world of X-Men and Jurassic World, alongside the return of The Incredibles, Tomb Raider, Deadpool, and even Mary Poppins. And also, another Star Wars story. Here are the 32 most anticipated movies in the new year:

January

1. Mary and the Witch’s Flower Release date: January 18, 2018

After Studio Ghibli shut down following the then-retirement of Hayao Miyazaki, several former employees – led by Oscar-nominated Yoshiaki Nishimura – founded Studio Ponoc, to carry on their love for film-making. This fantasy anime, following a young girl who picks a flower that grants magical powers, is its debut effort.

2. Maze Runner: The Death Cure Release date: January 26, 2018

The YA dystopian trilogy comes to a close with this third and final chapter, where Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) leads the group of escaped Gladers on their most dangerous mission yet: break into the Last City, the deadliest labyrinth of all, which contains answers to the questions they’ve had since the beginning. Wes Ball, who directed both previous instalments in the trilogy, is back as director.

February

3. God Particle Release date: February 2, 2018

The third anthology entry in the Cloverfield universe is centred on a team of astronauts aboard the ISS who end up alone after a scientific experiment involving a particle accelerator makes the Earth disappear. Produced by J.J. Abrams and starring Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and David Oyelowo, the film follows the astronauts as they fight for their survival.

4. Black Panther Release date: February 16, 2018

The king of Wakanda T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who first appeared in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, gets his own standalone film – directed by Creed’s Ryan Coogler – where his sovereignty is challenged by two enemies. He must team up with CIA and Wakanda’s special forces to prevent a world war. Black Panther also stars Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

Black Panther and Captain Marvel Have Me Excited About Marvel Films Again

5. Annihilation Release date: February 23, 2018

Alex Garland (Ex Machina) adapts the first book in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, where a soldier’s biologist wife (Natalie Portman) volunteers to enter an environmental disaster zone to figure out what happened to her injured husband and his fellow soldiers, who never made it back. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, and Oscar Isaac are also part of the cast.

March

6. A Wrinkle in Time Release date: March 9, 2018

Ava DuVernay becomes the first black woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of over $100 million with this adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s famous book, where a woman works with her younger brother and a classmate to rescue her father (Chris Pine) from a universe-wide evil with help from three astral beings, played by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling.

A Wrinkle in Time Trailer: Disney’s Cosmic Kids Adventure Looks Beautiful

7. Tomb Raider Release date: March 16, 2018

Alicia Vikander stars as Lara Croft in this reboot of Tomb Raider, based on the 2013 reboot version of the popular game. As she sets out to finish her father’s research on the island he disappeared, she uncovers ancient secrets that will help clear her name. Roar Uthaug (The Wave) directs.

8. Pacific Rim Uprising Release date: March 23, 2018

Set ten years on since the first film, ex-Jaeger pilot Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) – son of Idris Elba’s character from the original – gets a chance to be a hero like his father when the Kaiju return, working with his adopted sister Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) and their fellow pilots to save humanity from extinction. Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight took over from Guillermo del Toro in writing and directing duties.

9. Isle of Dogs Release date: March 23, 2018

Wes Anderson returns after a gap of four years with his next feature, a stop-motion animation set in a dystopian future Japan, where dogs have been quarantined on the remote eponymous island due to a “canine flu”. The film follows five local dogs, voiced by Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, and Bob Balaban, who help a boy looking for his dog and protect him from Japanese authorities.

Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono, Greta Gerwig, F. Murray Abraham, Ken Watanabe, Frances McDormand, and Liev Schreiber also have voice roles.

10. Ready Player One Release date: March 30, 2018

Steven Spielberg is at the helm of this long-awaited adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel, which is filled with 80s pop culture references, including to Spielberg’s own works. The director felt he would be vain to include them, and has opted to avoid them. As for the story, Ready Player One is set in near-future dystopian Earth where mostly everyone spends their time in VR in a game called OASIS.

When the founder dies and says ownership will transfer to the first person to find an Easter egg, a race begins that pits the protagonist, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), and his friends against a large corporation that wants control to monetise the system. Spielberg has called it “his most difficult movie” since Saving Private Ryan.

Ready Player One Trailer: Steven Spielberg’s VR Game-Movie Takes Shape

April

11. The New Mutants Release date: April 13, 2018

The X-Men franchise branches into horror with The New Mutants from director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), where five young mutants fight to escape their past sins and save themselves from a facility where they’re being held against their will. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy (Magik), Maisie Williams (Wolfsbane), Charlie Heaton (Cannonball), Henry Zaga (Sunspot), Blu Hunt (Mirage), and Alice Braga (Cecilia Reyes).

12. Avengers: Infinity War Release date: April 27 (India); May 4, 2018 (US)

Easily the most-awaited film of 2018, the third Avengers chapter is a lot more than that. It brings together everyone from past Avengers films, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Thor: Ragnarok – an ensemble cast that takes four paragraphs to list – to join forces and confront Thanos, who’s on a mission to collect the Infinity Stones. Infinity War, set four years after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, has been described as a “heist film” by director the Russo brothers.

May

13. Solo: A Star Wars Story Release date: May 25, 2018

The next Star Wars film arrives just five months after The Last Jedi, though this one is a standalone adventure set before A New Hope. It follows the adventures of a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and his Wookie partner Chewbacca, including meeting Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). The cast also includes Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

Solo had a troubled road during production, with original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller being fired four months into filming, before replacement Ron Howard extended reshoots to fit the demands of Disney and Lucasfilm.

June

14. Deadpool 2 Release date: June 1, 2018

Ryan Reynolds is back as everyone’s favourite bad-mouthed superhero in this sequel, which expands the vigilante roster with Domino (Zazie Beetz) and Cable (Josh Brolin) in addition to the existing ones Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus. Morena Baccarin and T.J. Miller are also back, though David Leitch (John Wick) is in the director’s chair, after Tim Miller left due to creative differences with Reynolds.

15. Ocean’s 8 Release date: June 8, 2018

An all-female soft reboot of Ocean’s 11 focuses on Danny Ocean’s (George Clooney) estranged sister, Debbie (Sandra Bullock), who’s got a mind to pull off the heist of the century at the annual Met Gala, the target being jewellery worn by Anne Hathaway. Her crew consists of Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, and Awkwafina. That’s only seven, so make up your guesses as to who the eighth will be.

Matt Damon will have a cameo role, as will half a dozen celebrities as themselves: Kim Kardashian, Maria Sharapova, Zayn Malik, Katie Holmes, Adriana Lima, and Serena Williams to name a few.

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16. Incredibles 2 Release date: June 15, 2018

Fourteen years on from the original, Brad Bird returns to the film that put him on the map, giving us another dose of the adventures of the Parr family: Elastigirl, Mr. Incredible, Violet, Dash, and of course Jack-Jack. Most of the original voice cast return, including Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone. The new villain will be The Underminer, voiced by John Ratzenberger.

17. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Release date: June 22, 2018

The fourth highest-grossing film of all time gets an inevitable sequel, set four years after the events of the original, with the lives of the remaining dinosaurs roaming freely on the theme park’s island threatened by a volcanic eruption. The former head of the park Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) convinces dinosaur trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) to help mount a rescue mission.

Given it’s a Jurassic movie, of course everything goes horribly wrong. Meanwhile, the two also stumble on a conspiracy that endangers everyone. The film, directed by J.A. Bayona, also has a cameo role for Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, who was in two movies of the original trilogy.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Trailer – Everybody Runs, Including Dinosaurs

July

18. Ant-Man and the Wasp Release date: July 6, 2018

Releasing after Infinity War, this sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man is actually set before the events of that film, which is bound to confuse everyone. Here, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly’s titular heroes team up to embark on a new mission from Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Peyton Reed is back as director, and the film also stars Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Judy Greer, and Laurence Fishburne.

19. Alita: Battle Angel Release date: July 20, 2018

James Cameron is the producer and co-writer for this live-action adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga, with Sin City director Robert Rodriguez at the helm, who also co-wrote. Made with a reported budget of $200 million, it stars Rosa Salazar in the lead, who plays the amnesiac cyborg heroine Alita by way of motion capture. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, and Ed Skrein are also in the film.

20. Mission: Impossible 6 Release date: July 27, 2018

Tom Cruise returns in his most well-known role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, with Christopher McQuarrie also continuing his writing, co-producing and directing duties. Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris all return from previous M:I movies, alongside newcomers Henry Cavill, Vanessa Kirby, Sian Brooke and Angela Bassett. We don’t know anything about the plot, but expect outrageous stunts – most undertaken by Cruise himself.

August

21. The Predator Release date: August 3, 2018

Shane Black (Iron Man 3) had a supporting role in the 1987 original, and he’s now directing proceedings in this fourth entry that takes place between 1990’s Predator 2 and 2010’s Predators. The ensemble cast includes Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown, Jacob Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski, Alfie Allen, and Thomas Jane.

October

22. Venom Release date: October 5, 2018

Sony kickstarts its own Marvel Universe with Tom Hardy playing the titular anti-hero, who confessed that he’s a huge fan of the character. Though the film will share the world of Spider-Man: Homecoming, which prominently featured Iron Man, Venom won’t have any connection to other Marvel movies. Have fun figuring that out. Sony has brought together an interesting cast though, with Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Woody Harrelson, and Riz Ahmed all attached. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) directs.

23. First Man Release date: October 12, 2018

Damien Chazelle’s work with La La Land and Whiplash has made him a name to watch, and his next film is his most ambitious yet: a biography of Neil Armstrong and NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on the years 1961-69. Ryan Gosling stars as Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy as his first wife, Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin, Kyle Chandler as NASA’s first Chief of Astronaut Office Deke Slayton, and Jason Clarke as Ed White, the first American to walk in space.

24. Mowgli Release date: October 19, 2018

Just over two years on from Disney and Jon Favreau’s take on Rudyard Kipling’s book The Jungle Book, the mo-cap expert Andy Serkis directs his own version of the story, with an ensemble cast to match: Christian Bale as Bagheera, Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Cate Blanchett as Kaa, Matthew Rhys as Kipling’s father, and Serkis himself as Baloo. It’ll be interesting to see how the film can separate itself, and not feel like a derivation so soon after Disney’s take.

November

25. X-Men: Dark Phoenix Release date: November 2, 2018

Following on from the disappointing Apocalypse in 2016, long-time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg takes over directing duties for this next adventure for Professor X (James McAvoy) and his fellow heroes, which is set a decade later, in the 1990s. Comic fans will remember the Dark Phoenix saga storyline, where Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) loses control of herself. Here, an alien shapeshifter – played by Jessica Chastain – is seeking to use her.

Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Evan Peters are all back too. Here’s hoping X-Men can get back on track.

26. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Release date: November 16, 2018

J.K. Rowling’s expanded Potterverse moves to Paris with the second chapter in the expected five films, which is centred on the rivalry between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who revealed himself to be hiding in disguise in the first film. Depp’s casting, and Rowling’s defence of his presence has attracted criticism in the wake of the social movement following Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault allegations, but it remains to be seen if that will affect the film’s profits.

Directed by Harry Potter veteran David Yates, The Crimes of Grindelwald will feature the return of Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Ezra Miller. Dumbledore enlists his former student Newt Scamander (Redmayne) to help stop Grindelwald’s plans.

27. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 Release date: November 21, 2018

The sequel to 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph takes place as many years after the events as the gap between the two releases, with Ralph plugged into the Internet after a Wi-Fi router is installed in the arcade. That means online gaming (sort of), with tons of Disney Princesses – Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Snow White, Aurora, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Anna, Elsa, and Moana – all appearing in the animated adventure.

Sarah Silverman will return to voice Ralph’s best friend Vanellope von Schweetz, while Taraji P. Henson voices a trendy algorithm named Yesss. Mario might make an appearance as well.

December

28. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Release date: December 14, 2018

The Lego Movie co-director Phil Lord has written the screenplay for this animated Spider-Man outing that focuses on Miles Morales, who takes over the Spidey mantle after the death of Peter Parker. He’s still in high school, and must juggle homework while fending off crime in the city, including vampiric chief villain Morlun (Liev Schreiber), and his evil uncle Aaron Davis aka Prowler (Mahershala Ali).

29. Aquaman Release date: December 21, 2018

Jason Momoa gets his own standalone adventure as the reluctant king of Atlantis, which is set after the events of Justice League. James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) directs the only DC film in 2018, where Aquaman must keep balance between the surface dwellers polluting the globe, and his people who want to invade their world. Along the way, he also learns more about his past.

The film also has the pressure of bringing order to the DC film universe, which has had just one success amidst the cacophony of disasters around it. Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, and Nicole Kidman also star.

30. Bumblebee: The Movie Release date: December 21, 2018

The Transformers universe expands with a prequel spin-off tale for Bumblebee, who lived in refuge in a junkyard as a yellow Volkswagen Beetle in the late 80s. Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen) plays a teenager who discovers it’s no ordinary car, with John Cena, Pamela Adlon, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., and Rachel Crow starring alongside. This will be Travis Knight’s (Kubo and the Two Strings) live-action directorial debut.

31. Mary Poppins Returns Release date: December 25, 2018

Fifty-four years since the release of the original, Emily Blunt steps into the shoes of Julie Andrews and takes her carpet bag to the Banks family home again, to bring joy back into the lives of three kids after the death of their mother. The sequel takes place 25 years on in 1935, during the era of the Great Depression in the UK. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Joel Dawson, Nathanael Saleh, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep and Angela Lansbury are also involved.

32. Bohemian Rhapsody Release date: December 25, 2018

Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) plays the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in this biopic that focuses on a 15-year period in the band’s famed history, from their formation in 1970 to their Live Aid performance in 1985, six years before Mercury’s death. Bryan Singer served as director from fours months in 2017, before being fired for absence and clashing with cast. Actor turned director Dexter Fletcher is currently busy finishing up filming.

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[chevd-blog]

My Top 100 Favorite Albums of All Time (Part 7: 5 - 1)

Here they are, finally: my five absolute favorite albums ever!

5. De-Loused in the Comatorium – The Mars Volta (2003)

              I received De-Loused in the Comatorium as a present for my 20th birthday, shortly after getting my copy of Frances the Mute. From the day I received it, I listened to it on nearly a daily basis for the next two years. Understand, I never do that with one specific album. It was just so uncommonly good that I couldn’t stop myself from going back for more. And even though I no longer listen to it as frequently, it is still just as good as I remember it. This is the album that I most heavily associate with my time at Ringling College, and with working on projects for my computer animation classes. And believe me, I spent a lot of time on those projects—somewhere in the vicinity of 10 to 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. So to say I quickly became intimately familiar with this album is a bit of an understatement.

              De-Loused is a conceptual ode to the band's fallen friend, artist Julio Venegas, who is rendered in the album's narrative as the protagonist, Cerpin Taxt. In short: Cerpin ingests rat poison and falls into a coma, during which he goes on an epic journey of self-discovery in his own mind, with the denizens of his mental landscape being all his own artistic creations. In the end, Cerpin wakes up in his hospital bed in the real world, but his desire to return to his own mental kingdom ultimately drives him to jump from a freeway overpass. Of course, all of this is tricky to discern from the actual lyrics: the Mars Volta's lyrics are notorious for being oblique and abstract, which listeners could easily mistake for being nonsensical if they aren't paying attention and reading between the lines. (Fortunately, sometime after receiving the album, I was able to procure a .pdf of the album's concept in short story format, released by Gold Standard Laboratories; while the writing style was similar, it went a long way toward making the album's lyrics more coherent. And explaining who or what "Moatilliatta" was.)

              But of course, while the enigmatic lyrics did hold their own sort of fascination with me, the thing that really hooked me was the musicality. The Mars Volta offered up an eclectic blend of punk, progressive and Latin rock, and De-Loused was the album that got the formula juuuust right—a smoothie of influences ranging from Santana to the Smiths to Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. The intro, "Son et Lumiere", serves as a metaphorical ambulance siren as Cerpin's story begins in situ, then segues into "Inertiatic ESP", with its frenetic waltzing pace, its vintage 70s electric piano riff, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala's repeated wails of "Now I'm lost". As the story progresses to "Drunkship of Lanterns", guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez layers cavernous surf rock licks atop a chugging Latin rhythm, resulting in a track that simultaneously feels haunted and vivified. One of my personal favorites, "Eriatarka", is damn near tantamount to sonic nitrous oxide, with a lilting dreamy melody that never fails to put me into a state of bliss. The album's longest song, "Cicatriz ESP", comes next, starting with a steady rhythm that falls into a serene subterranean pool before exploding into a full-on Latin jazz jam; it was this song that first showed me the true magic behind a well-executed jam session. "This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed" is where the band's post-hardcore roots show through the clearest—a chaotic, fast-paced song that could just as easily have been one of At the Drive-In's more hard-edged offerings, save for its narrative connections to this album. (Also, quick aside: something about the way Cedric's voice sounds while singing "Anonymous, avenge my name" always gives me goosebumps.) And I could go on and on. Ultimately, despite me having some memories and associations tied to it, the main reason De-Loused ended up in my top 5 is simply because of its sheer musicality, which is really impressive. Subsequent Mars Volta albums always made me feel excited, but none of them ever topped this one.

Prime cuts: "Inertiatic ESP", "Drunkship of Lanterns", "Eriatarka", "Cicatriz ESP"

4. Fear of a Blank Planet – Porcupine Tree (2007)

              I have cited several albums on this list as being here chiefly because of associations between them and my move to Canada. If that has gotten redundant or boring, well—I apologize, but it was unavoidable. People have big, important, special moments in their lives, and for me, that was one of the biggest, most important, and special-est in mine. It should probably be pretty predictable, then, that my top five contains a few of these, and that they would be the most prominent examples for me. Fear of a Blank Planet falls into this category. This was the second Porcupine Tree album I obtained, after In Absentia. At the time, it was their most recent album, having come out less than nine months earlier. During my first semester at ECUAD, when I had not yet moved my car up from Florida, I have distinct memories of listening to this album in the mornings while walking by the waterfront along False Creek to my classes on Granville Island, with the beautiful downtown Vancouver skyline on the other side of the water. "Anesthetize", being around 17 minutes long, used to go quite a way toward getting me to my destination.

              Later, as I came into my own as a fine artist, Fear of a Blank Planet became (along with Riverside's Anno Domini High Definition, as mentioned earlier) a major point of inspiration for my work. One of the most polished works to come out of my time at Emily Carr, and the one that may have been most predictive of my later trajectory as an artist, was a large two-panel painting which I called "Blank Planet", as an homage. The album was a perfect summation of my thematic focus on the prevalence of technology in the 21st Century. If the title seems familiar, it's because it was itself a bit of an appropriation from Public Enemy's 1990 recording Fear of a Black Planet; as Steven Wilson has explained, the album's main drive is addressing the major current issues of technology and alienation, in the same way that Public Enemy had addressed the issue of race relations. In Porcupine Tree's case, the songs specifically describe the experience of younger Millennials, who have come of age never knowing a world without the internet, Ritalin, and constant media bombardment.

              The truly astounding thing here is just how palpable the apathy is throughout the entire album, while at the same time being very emotionally affecting. It all begins with the fantastic 9-minute title track, told through the eyes of a detached bipolar adolescent whose claims include "XBox is a god to me", and "my mother is a bitch, my father gave up ever trying to talk to me". The next track, "My Ashes", is a slower, softer song that draws lyrically on the Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park. But of course, it's the aforementioned "Anesthetize", which contains a stellar guest solo from none other than Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, which truly dominates the album, and demonstrates Porcupine Tree's continued foray into heavy metal. The guest appearances continue with "Way Out of Here", as King Crimson's Robert Fripp contributes ambient soundscapes while the album's tone grows noticeably darker. Finally, the album ends with the electronic droning of "Sleep Together", which I can only describe as resembling what it might sound like if Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails collaborated on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". All in all, while In Absentia receives the lion's share of the recognition from Porcupine Tree's discography, it is Fear of a Blank Planet which is my pick for my absolute favorite of their albums.

Prime cuts: "Fear of a Blank Planet", "Anesthetize", "Way Out of Here", "Sleep Together"

3. Silent Alarm – Bloc Party (2005)

              So what memory of mine can top moving to Canada? Well, the answer is simple: those first few trips to British Columbia, where I got to meet my friend Laurie in person after over two years of communicating exclusively online. She was one of the biggest reasons I was able to survive my time at Ringling without breaking under the pressure. Through all of the project deadlines and disappointments and the otherwise lacking social life, I always had her, encouraging me to keep going. While the two of us ultimately settled into a very happy and very close platonic relationship, at the time, I have to admit, I was quite infatuated with her. Why wouldn't I be? There was an incident once, during a moment of weakness, where I was considering suicide, and she stopped me by calling my house in Florida at 4 AM. Nobody, save for my parents, had ever cared about me in such a way. And so, in December of 2006, when I finally got the opportunity to visit her and spend time with her, of course I was excited. We chatted in my hotel room, and she showed me her neighborhood, and drove me around Vancouver in her old Pontiac Sunfire. And I remember vividly what was playing on her stereo: her copy of Silent Alarm Remixed. That was my first exposure to Bloc Party.

              When I returned to Florida after that first trip, I bought the original version of the album, and it ended up in heavy rotation in my own car stereo for that final semester at Ringling. Admittedly, as I've already mentioned, my first trip to BC did not go quite as smoothly as I had hoped—partially because of the culture shock, and partially because she didn't quite feel the same about me as I did about her. But we remained close friends, and I was willing to try again. When I returned for two weeks the following summer, after my time at Ringling had come to an end, the experience was incredible. No, beyond incredible—they were two of the most important and special weeks in my entire life. That was the trip that finally convinced me to actually commit to moving there. And I suppose Silent Alarm came to symbolize the whole thing for me; it was a new experience for me, one that had been completely unknown, and which represented a new sensibility that didn't really seem to fit my old life in Florida. I was 21, and as "Banquet" put it, I was "becoming adult".

              What makes Silent Alarm all the more impressive, beyond just its great significance to me as the background music of the most seismic shift in my life, is its sheer vitality. For a debut album, it really was as tight as it could possibly be. The chemistry of Kele Okereke's thickly-accented Londoner vocals, Russell Lissack's guitar, Gordon Moakes's bass, and Matt Tong's frenetic drumming resulted in an album that felt unusually charged with electricity. Songs like "Banquet", "Helicopter", and "Like Eating Glass" took a page from the punk playbook without getting mired in the usual trappings of punk. I still can recall that Laurie's favorite was the final track, "Compliments", a sparse, gently humming song that ended the album on a very laidback vibe. When I made the remark about diminishing returns with Bloc Party (waaay back when I was talking about #90 on my list, the band's album Four), this is the point from which they were always subsequently diminishing. This is the high-water mark. And in all fairness to the band—it's kind of difficult not to fall into that pattern when your starting point is already so exceptional and vibrant.

Prime cuts: "Banquet", "Helicopter", "Like Eating Glass", "The Price of Gas"

2. Lateralus – Tool (2001)

              Lateralus was not my first Tool album. That distinction belongs to their first full-length album, Undertow. But Lateralus was the first one to really speak to me from an elevated plane, even before Ænima. Undertow brought the heaviness— I think of it almost as a lead weight in sonic form— but it honestly didn't sound a whole lot like the progressive mainstay that Tool eventually became, and which I came to love dearly. Early on, as I've already said, no band was quite as fundamental in my musical tastes becoming what they are as Tool was. And this is the album where they really came into their own. If Undertow was a lead weight, Lateralus was a clarifying light.

              On the strength of the single "Schism" and its delightfully perplexing music video featuring contortionists in blue-grey body paint, I bought Lateralus the day it was released: May 15, 2001. I was 15 years old. For some time, I nicknamed it the "rain album", because (I kid you not) for the first several months, whenever I would listen to it, by some strange coincidence, it always seemed to bring a storm shortly afterward. I loved everything about it. From the amazing Alex Grey anatomical transparencies in the liner notes, to the strange time signatures and the mystifying lyrics— it grabbed hold of my soul in a way that no other recording has, before or since. From the opening of "The Grudge" to the very last notes of "Triad", and even the bizarre Art Bell radio-show-prank-phone-call-from-Area-51 which constitutes "Faaip De Oiad", Lateralus is an intensely spiritual experience for me. This is my Bible, my Bhagavad Gita. And it has served me well over the years, through the creation of artwork, and studying for exams, and unpleasant dental procedures. (No, seriously, I highly recommend trying this album while pumped full of nitrous oxide. There's nothing like it.)

              "Schism" might be what brings you to the show here, but the two-track suite "Parabol/Parabola" is what keeps you listening, with its poignant message about living in the present and not taking the precious gift of life for granted. The album's closing trilogy of "Disposition/Reflection/Triad" offer another high point, with the second song being the main focus. "Reflection" is not only the longest track on the album, but one of its most divinely beautiful as well, with its Hindustani-influenced drumming and sarangi accented by an electronic drone. But of course, the main centerpiece of the album is the title track, "Lateralus", often cited as one of the greatest metal songs of the 21st Century so far. At nearly nine and a half minutes long, the song's true brilliance lies in its vocal delivery and time signature both being structured around the Fibonacci sequence; the lyrics about "spiraling out" are somehow all the more meaningful when woven into a tapestry whose very fabric is literally the arithmetic behind spirals. For someone like me, who absolutely cannot exist without thoughtful, cerebral music, this is the album that I hold as the gold standard for everything else.

Prime cuts: "Schism", "Parabol/Parabola", "Lateralus", "Reflection"

1. Grace for Drowning – Steven Wilson (2011)

              And then there was one. Of course the list ends right back where it began back at #100, with a Steven Wilson solo album. His second solo effort is probably not the most popular choice out of his body of work, but I don't care. In my view, it's criminally underrated. It's absolutely, hands down, my favorite album of all time. No additional thought required.

              So what's so damn special about Grace for Drowning, that I rank it above even Lateralus? Well, the simple quantity of music is a good place to start. Grace for Drowning is a two-disk set; the first disk contains the majority of the album's tracks, while the second disk is dominated by the monstrous 23-minute behemoth titled "Raider II", as well as a few smaller compositions like "Index" and "Track One". Around the time of the release of Grace for Drowning, Wilson had caused a bit of a stir by mentioning his boredom with continuing to pursue Porcupine Tree's previous heavy metal style, and his unabashed admission that he was listening to much more freeform jazz than hard rock. For some listeners of Porcupine Tree, this was discouraging, particularly because it seemed to telegraph that Steven Wilson really might be serious about being done with his old band. However, in listening to Grace for Drowning, I simply cannot mourn for Porcupine Tree, because Wilson's solo music is every bit as masterfully composed, with quite a bit more freedom to really experiment with new styles without the pressure of preconceived expectations. The end result was not something that pandered to fans, but instead a tremendously courageous and seductive blend of jazz jams and prog rock, with flute and sax sections provided by longtime PT collaborator Theo Travis. It was a true piece of artwork, made all the more miraculous by its emergence amidst a 2010s pop music landscape that is incredibly hostile to such heady endeavors. (*cough* Dubstep. *cough*)

              But then, beneath the veneer of long jam sessions and rock guitars, at his heart, Wilson is a master craftsman of pop as well. "Deform to Form a Star" demonstrates this well, as do "No Part of Me" and "Postcard", a sentimental melody that reeks so much of self-deprecating despondency that it might as well be my personal anthem. Meanwhile, Wilson's penchant for creating eerie and subtly unsettling music shines through on "Remainder the Black Dog" and the instrumental "Sectarian", where dramatic choral arrangements and Travis's diabolical saxophone produce some of the album's most stunning moments of tension. "Index" keeps the tension intact on the second disk, with its lyrical content detailing a fastidious collector whose obsession with adding to his collection ventures dangerously close to creepy and stalker-ish.

              And then, "Raider II" comes on, and all of the unspoken menace that has been slowly building and bubbling under the surface erupts into full effect. How could it not, in an epic song inspired by Dennis Rader, the notorious Kansan serial killer more commonly known as the BTK Strangler? The intro begins with a simple piano passage on the low end, with a clarinet joining in to add some treble; in between, there are long pauses for several seconds at a time, where it could be said that Wilson is playing the anxious silence itself like an instrument. The vocals begin quietly at around a minute and a half into the song, with the intro going quiet one last time before exploding with full fury just before the three-minute mark. The next four minutes cycle through the verses, a few unexpected death growls, and a beautiful flute solo from Travis. Then there's another short lyrical passage, before the unhinged guitar solo, which segues into a smooth saxophone solo. At eleven minutes in, the guitars return with a vengeance, and then recede again into the reverb, leaving a disquieting stillness in their wake. Out of the silence the song catches its second wind and emerges again with a jangly guitar melody, over which Wilson evokes disturbing metaphors for the serial killer's mentality: "A cat among the crows, I'm raider / The butcher and his prose". Finally, the song winds down with a chaotic ensemble, its ever-increasing tempo finally culminating in a single sustained blast of disorder, with two minutes of slow bass and guitar to pad the ending. And after such a harrowing rollercoaster ride, the album ends gently on the palate cleanser, "Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye".

              In summary, Grace for Drowning is my favorite album, probably because of the wide emotional range it exemplifies. There are parts of the album that are peaceful and delicate, parts that are achingly sad and wistful, parts that are laidback and mellow, and of course, parts that are incredibly dark and sinister. There is ample expressive complexity and splendor here, for those who can appreciate it. And there is heaviness here, too, in a way that doesn't rely on the metal clichés of Wilson's past. Overall, a phenomenal album, and one that likely won't soon see a challenger for its title as my favorite of all time.

Prime cuts: "No Part of Me", "Postcard", "Remainder the Black Dog", "Raider II"… fuck it, the entire album.

[thestrangersecret]

MTV MOVIE & TV AWARDS 2017

yesterday was the MTV MOVIE & TV  AWARDS so now we’re going to talk about the winners of last night 

WINNERS

MOVIE OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Beauty and the Beast

Get Out Logan Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The Edge of Seventeen

BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out WINNER: Emma Watson – Beauty and the Beast Hailee Steinfeld – The Edge of Seventeen Hugh Jackman – Logan James McAvoy – Split Taraji P. Henson – Hidden Figures

SHOW OF THE YEAR      

Atlanta Game of Thrones Insecure Pretty Little Liars WINNER: Stranger Things     This Is Us

BEST ACTOR IN A SHOW  

Donald Glover – Atlanta   Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones   Gina Rodriguez – Jane the Virgin     Jeffrey Dean Morgan – The Walking Dead   Mandy Moore – This Is Us WINNER: Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things

BEST KISS    

WINNER: Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome – Moonlight     Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling – La La Land Emma Watson and Dan Stevens – Beauty and the Beast Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard – Empire     Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick – Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

BEST VILLAIN  

Allison Williams – Get Out Demogorgon – Stranger Things Jared Leto – Suicide Squad WINNER: Jeffrey Dean Morgan – The Walking Dead   Wes Bentley – American Horror Story

BEST HOST    

Ellen DeGeneres – The Ellen DeGeneres Show       John Oliver – Last Week Tonight With John Oliver RuPaul – RuPaul's Drag Race Samantha Bee – Full Frontal With Samantha Bee     WINNER: Trevor Noah – The Daily Show

BEST DOCUMENTARY      

WINNER: 13TH I Am Not Your Negro O.J.: Made in America     This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous TIME: The Kalief Browder Story

BEST REALITY COMPETITION      

America's Got Talent     MasterChef Junior WINNER: RuPaul's Drag Race The Bachelor The Voice

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE      

Adam Devine – Workaholics     Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson – Broad City     WINNER: Lil Rel Howery – Get Out   Seth MacFarlane – Family Guy     Seth Rogen – Sausage Party Will Arnett – The LEGO Batman Movie  

BEST HERO      

Felicity Jones – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Grant Gustin – The Flash Mike Colter – Luke Cage Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things Stephen Amell – Arrow WINNER: Taraji P. Henson – Hidden Figures

TEARJERKER

Game of Thrones – Hodor's (Kristian Nairn) Death Grey's Anatomy – Meredith tells her children about Derek's death (Ellen Pompeo)       Me Before You – Will (Sam Claflin) tells Louisa (Emilia Clarke) he can't stay with her Moonlight – Paula (Naomie Harris) tells Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) that she loves him     WINNER: This Is Us – Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Randall (Lonnie Chavis) at karate    

NEXT GENERATION

Chrissy Metz   WINNER: Daniel Kaluuya Issa Rae       Riz Ahmed       Yara Shahidi  

BEST DUO      

Adam Levine and Blake Shelton – The Voice   Daniel Kaluuya and Lil Rel Howery – Get Out Brian Tyree Henry and Lakeith Stanfield – Atlanta   WINNER: Hugh Jackman and Dafne Keen – Logan Josh Gad and Luke Evans – Beauty and the Beast     Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg – Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party    

BEST AMERICAN STORY    

WINNER: Black-ish Fresh Off the Boat       Jane the Virgin       Moonlight Transparent  

BEST FIGHT AGAINST THE SYSTEM  

Get Out   WINNER: Hidden Figures     Loving Luke Cage   Mr. Robot

TRENDING 

"Sean Spicer Press Conference" feat. Melissa McCarthy - Saturday Night Live (NBC) "Lady Gaga Carpool Karaoke" - The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS) "Cash Me Outside How Bout Dat" - Dr. Phil (CBS) WINNER: "Run The World (Girls)" Channing Tatum and Beyonce -Lip Sync Battle (SPIKE) "Wheel of Musical Impressions with Demi Lovato" - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Winona Ryder's Winning SAG Awards Reaction - 23rd Annual SAG Awards (TNT)

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT 

"Beauty and the Beast" - Ariana Grande and John Legend - (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) "Can't Stop the Feeling" – Justin Timberlake - Trolls (20th Century Fox) "How Far I'll Go" - Auli'i Cravalho – Moana (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) "City of Stars" - Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone - La La Land (Summit Entertainment) "You Can't Stop" The Beat – Ensemble - Hairspray Live! (NBC) "Be That As It May" - Herizen Guardiola - The Get Down (Netflix) WINNER: "You're the One That I Want" – Ensemble - Grease: Live (FOX)

[artsvark]

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE launches ROCKWOOD THEATRE in Pretoria

A Beautiful Noise

Tom and Ann Muller, owners of the Pretoria Barnyard for the past 15 years, are excited to announce that the venue will be changing its name to the Rockwood Theatre as of the 1st June and they will, in future be staging their own productions, the first being A Beautiful Noise which will be on stage from 1st June until 30th July.

Rockwood Theatre’s shows as from June 2017 will be produced and directed by the seasoned performer Andrew Webster. Andrew brings a wealth of experience spanning a reputable career thus far of 25 years; from musical theatre to TV to film. He has also been part of a number of Barnyard Theatre productions over the past 15 years.

Says Tom Muller, owner of Rockwood Theatre; “Ann and I are extremely excited about Andrew joining our team and are convinced that with the Rockwood Theatre’s independence, new focus, show schedule, the new look and feel (even a VIP section!), we can offer our loyal patrons the shows and service we know they will enjoy.”

SHOW INFORMATION: A Beautiful Noise runs at Rockwood Theatre in Pretoria (situated in Parkview Shopping Centre – previously Pretoria Barnyard) from 1st June until 30th July,

Previews from 1 – 10 June with the official opening being on 11 June and thereafter running until 30 July

A Beautiful Noise is produced by Rockwood Theatre; Associate Producer/Director is Andrew Webster.

The first show staged by this dynamic team is A Beautiful Noise – a long awaited tribute to country, folk and acoustic rock singers who have been making waves and influencing the music industry over many decades.

For nearly a century, this genre of music has been topping charts not only in America, but globally making artists such as John Denver, Neil Diamond, The Eagles, Crosby Stills Nash, Cat Stevens, Rodriguez, Dolly Parton, CCR, Lumineers, Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkel, Mumford & Sons and Shania Twain household names. This brand new show is also proud to recognise the part country has played in influencing many Afrikaans artists like Juanita du Plessis and Die Champbells.

A Beautiful Noise

The cast includes the ideal talents of vocalists like the ever popular Vernon Barnard of The Voice SA fame alongside Kieran Renny, Nadine Sisam, Stephan Nel and Candice Kennedy. They will get the audience singing and clapping along to all their favourites such as Man, I Feel like a Woman; You’re Still The One; I Will Always Love You; I Wonder; Have you Ever Seen The Rain, The Sounds of Silence, I Will Wait For You; Hallelujah; Islands in the Stream; Country Roads and even Rooi Rok Bokkie and many other chart-topping hits.

Also ‘stringly’ featured will be the instantly recognisable Neil Diamond’s Beautiful Noise and Sweet Caroline as well as Kid Rock’s All Summer Long and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama.

The show is all about the music, so with the vibrant 6-piece live band featuring guitars, banjo, pedal steel guitar, violin, keyboard, bass, drums adding their own flair along with the five powerful vocalists; A Beautiful Noise will take you on a journey of nearly 10 decades of pure joy, excitement and nostalgia and ideal for all ages; old and young; there will be something for everyone to bop along to!

Rockwood Theatre still has it delicious pizzas, platters and light meals available for purchase for patrons to enjoy while the performance is on, otherwise patrons can bring their own picnic baskets. The venue encourages patrons to pre-order meals when making their bookings – platters need to be ordered at least 48 hours in advance.

ALL Drinks need to be purchased at the venue.

With the recent refubishment, Rockwood Theatre now has an exciting VIP area where groups can book the area for their heightened show enjoyment. The area is raised, separate and private from other patrons, with the seating being comfortable couches, chairs and cushions and includes private waiter service. The couched area is for groups of 6 as well as single row seating with a counter.

Another exciting addition at Rockwood Theatre is that on Friday and Saturday evenings, the foyer area will transform into a dance area with couches and cocktail tables to sit at. A DJ will commence straight after the show until late, so there’s no need to rush off – make an evening of it!

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE launches ROCKWOOD THEATRE in Pretoria was originally published on Artsvark

[sharonr-universe]

I will not work together...

This is where I stand. ........his power hungry cronies taking positions of authority in his Cabinet and administration, and the majority of Republicans in Congress are a real and active threat to me, my way of life, and all the people I love. Some people are saying that we should give Trump a chance, that we should "work together" with him because he won the election and he is "everyone's president." This is my response: •I will not forget how badly he and so many others treated former President Barack Obama for 8 years... •I will not "work together" to privatize Medicare, cut Social Security and Medicaid. •I will not "work together" to build a wall. •I will not "work together" to persecute Muslims. •I will not "work together" to shut out refugees from other countries. •I will not "work together" to lower taxes on the 1% and increase taxes on the middle class and poor. •I will not "work together" to help Trump use the Presidency to line his pockets and those of his family and cronies. •I will not "work together" to weaken and demolish environmental protection. •I will not "work together" to sell American lands, especially National Parks, to companies which then despoil those lands. •I will not "work together" to enable the killing of whole species of animals just because they are predators, or inconvenient for a few, or because some people want to get their thrills killing them. •I will not "work together" to remove civil rights from anyone. •I will not "work together" to alienate countries that have been our allies for as long as I have been alive. •I will not "work together" to slash funding for education, the arts, humanities, and public broadcasting. •I will not "work together" to take basic assistance from people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. •I will not "work together" to get rid of common sense regulations on guns. •I will not "work together" to eliminate the minimum wage. •I will not "work together" to support so-called "Right To Work" laws, or undermine, weaken or destroy Unions in any way. •I will not "work together" to suppress scientific research, be it on climate change, fracking, or any other issue where a majority of scientists agree that Trump and his supporters are wrong on the facts. •I will not "work together" to criminalize abortion or restrict health care for women. •I will not "work together" to increase the number of nations that have nuclear weapons. •I will not "work together" to put even more "big money" into politics. •I will not "work together" to violate the Geneva Convention. •I will not "work together" to give the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party and white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred. •I will not "work together" to deny health care to people who need it. •I will not "work together" to deny medical coverage to people on the basis of a "pre-existing condition." •I will not "work together" to increase voter suppression. •I will not "work together" to normalize tyranny. I will not “work together” to eliminate or reduce ethical oversite at any level of government. •I will not "work together" with anyone who is, or admires, tyrants and dictators. •I will not support anyone that thinks its OK to put a pipeline to transport oil on Sacred Ground for Native Americans. And, it would run under the Missouri River, which provides drinking water for millions of people. An accident waiting to happen. This is my line, and I am drawing it. •I WILL stand for honesty, love, respect for all living beings, and for the beating heart that is the center of Life itself. •I WILL use my voice and my hands, to reach out to the uninformed, and to anyone who will LISTEN: That "winning", "being great again", "rich" or even "beautiful" is nothing... When others are sacrificed to glorify its existence. Signed: Kathrine Iacofano Susan Goldberg Debbie Slavkin Linda Rosefsky Rebecca Tortorice Anna Konya Karen Redding Wendy Lemlin Patricia Rollins Trosclair Andrea Dora Zysk George Georgakis John Christopher John Bowles Patrick St.Louis Carla Patrick Darnell Bender Vickie Davis JMichael Carter Janice Frazier-Scott Rev. ELaura James Reid Jeanette Bouknight Rev. Dollie Howell Pankey Gerald Butler Carolyn McDougle Vaughn Chatman Adrienne Brown Gary Trousdale Steven E Gordon Isis Nocturne Debi Murray Maureen O. Betita Mona Enderli Fernie James Tamblin Myrna Dodgion Alan Locklear Tom Wilmore Jackie Evans Donna Endres Lora Fountain Roberta Gregory Heather A Mayhew Stevo Wehr Nathan Stivers Jen RaLee Joan Holden Leigh Lutz Deborah Kirkpatrick Linda Levy Tom Rue Nancy Hoffmann-Allison Beejay McCabe Michael James Myers Edward T. Spire Rupert Chapman Dawn R. Dunbar Robin Wilson Monique Boutot Laura Brown 💪🏼 Susan Aptaker Steve Katz Bonnie Wolk Risa Guttman-Kornwitz Angela Gora Butch Norman Sharon Tolman Sue Zislis Maurice Hirsch Satch Dobrey Jim Krapf Don Starwalt Deb Johansen Daniel Anderson Diane Kenney Rebecca Koop Nancy Shuert Bill Pryor Patrick Lamb Bob Travaglione Margaret Ragan Martha Peters Steve Wilson Lauren Sullivan Scott Bevan Roger Saunden Susanne Lavelle Benita Yimsuan Kathryn Scarano Kathleen E Neff Evey G Quines Debbie Dey John Dennehy, Jr. Marsha Vaughn Adam Sklena Larry David McGregor Blumenthal Gustavo Rodriguez ARJ Alva Freeman Yvette Ellard Rory Thayer Wilson Wayne Booth Streven King Phyllis Vlach Adrian Sandy Miller Castellano Nick Strippoli Ben Papapietro Renae Perry Isaac Gabaeff Katherine Anne O'Shea Brian R. Quattrini Tammy Long Jeffrey Murray Robin Schempp Laura Schimoler Reed Kenn Marash Betsy Joyce Peg Rees Smith Skip Bushby. Nancy Winne Georgia Cosgrove Jeff Turley Lindy White Anderson Don Erickson Maxine Jacobson Pamela M. Joyce Jody Cohen Amy Wynn Gale Courey Toensing Mary M. Palmer Kathy Wismar CB Wismar Jim Dryden Harriet Bart Vargas Diane Katsiaficas Jane Weis Will Hommeyer✌🏼 Ray Wiedmeyer Ellen B Green Sharon Ramirez Your turn. Copy, paste, add your name, post