#director: richard cottrell

[ppeuppeuppeu]

Ryan Corr in Arcadia (Sydney Theater Company 2016), a play by Tom Stoppard, directed by Richard Cottrell

[scotianostra]

Happy birthday Scottish actor Jimmy Yuill, born March 6th 1956 in Golspie, Sutherland.

Yuill is another of those Scottish actors that has been in an abundance of shows, and will be known, but not as a household name.Fans of the Crime drama series Wycliffe will know him best as DI Doug Kersey, in almost every episode, I will come back to that later.

Known mainly as an actor on the stage Jimmy began in 1976 in The Jesuit at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. After, as he put it “some joyous years” working on new plays and classics countrywide he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1983, as Snug in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ended his time there, in 1987, as Young Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway.

In 1988 he joined Kenneth Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company for Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Hamlet directed by Judi Dench, Geraldine McEwan and Derek Jacobi, respectively. Also for RTC, Sicinius (Coriolanus); Telygin (Uncle Vanya) and Kent in Richard Brier’s ‘King Lear’.

Other roles include Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and as Henry IV parts1&2 at the Bristol Old Vic; In 2013 Jimmy played Banquo in ‘Macbeth’ at the Manchester International Festival and the following year at the Park Avenue Armory, New York. Most recently Jimmy played the Old Shepherd in The Winters Tale at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End – both productions directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh.

Jimmy Yuill, while always being busy treading the boards, has also found plenty time to appear in many TV shows, they include, in the 70’s The Mackinnons, The Omega Factor and the TV film A Sense of Freedom. in the 1980’s Eurocops and Boon and the 90’s mainly in Hamish Macbeth as Lachlan McCrae and the aforementioned Wycliffe. Into the new millennium he is a s busy as ever in the mini-series Monsignor Renard, A Touch of Frost and a recurring role in 14 episodes of Eastenders as Victor Brown an old frien of Ian Beales. Jimmy also appeared in several episodes of The Bill as D.S. Cottrell.

Yuill has had a longstanding friendship with Kenneth Branagh and has appeared in some of the Irish actor/directors films, including, Much Ado About Nothing, Frankenstien and As You Like It.

I said I would return to Wycliffe, where Jimmy starred in all but two episodes. The series was cancelled after that because Jack Shepherd, who played Wycliffe, refused to continue in the title role when the producers had sacked Yuill “for insurance reasons” after he contracted life-threatening meningitis during filming, and then would not reinstate him even though he made a full recovery. He says he owes his life to Shepherd with whom he was sharing a house while on location, and who rushed him to hospital in the middle of the night. Shepherd and the rest of the cast and crew felt so betrayed that they decided not to make any more episodes once filming of the current series had finished.

Along with Richard Briers he is one of only two actors other than Branagh himself, to appear in all five Shakespearean films that Branagh has directed: Yuill has worked as a performance consultant on a number of productions, and also as a producer.

More recently Jimmy has been in the movies Artemis Fowl , Kindred and my pick The Road Dance, which is set in The Outer Hebrides just before World War One. He also popped up in the Scottish dark comedy series Guilt, There are no pdates on his work in the past three years

[burlveneer-music]

Beats & Pieces Big Band - Good Days

Think of big bands and you’re most likely to think of the halcyon days of mid-twentieth-century jazz and the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. This would infer that big band music is an obsolete format, a relic from decades of yore. Founded in 2008 and directed by conductor, composer, arranger, and producer Ben Cottrell, Beats & Pieces give the lie to that notion. With Good Days, their long-awaited third studio album, they show once again that big band music is a living, expressive thing, more than capable of continuing development in our own times. Put simply, there are things a big band say and do that cannot otherwise be said and done, and Beats & Pieces say and do plenty here, with exhilarating immaculacy and imagination. This ensemble swings, twenty-first century style. Good Days ranges emotionally from the funereal to the exuberant, the ecclesiastical to the profane, the pacific to the chaotic. Fleetingly, you think of Charles Mingus, Keith Tippett, Gil Evans, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra... But there’s also a post-rock undertow to many of these tracks which shows a consciousness of such contemporaries as Björk, Radiohead, or Everything Everything. Ben Cottrell : director Anthony Brown, Emily Burkhardt, Oliver Dover : saxophones Simon Lodge, Rich Mcveigh, Phil O’Malley : trombone Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters : trumpet Anton Hunter : guitar Richard Jones : piano/Rhodes Stewart Wilson : bass Finlay Panter : drums forest field-recording from Dählhölzliwald, Bern, 4 April 2020 train station field recording from Berlin Hauptbahnhof, 16 March 2016 bells field recording from Münsterplatz, Bern 26 July 2020 all field recordings by Ben Cottrell

[brooklynbutterflyarts]

Snow White Movie Poster Many Framing Options Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film) Poster Molding:Professional 1" Flat Top Black (solid-wood) 1.5 inch mat. . Includes glass and metal wire for hanging on your wall. Print: Bonded & Dry-mounted Print on Foam Core. Perfectly flat and smooth finish High Resolution and Quality Full Color Poster Print The double mat adds depth giving the display a unique "looking through a window'' appearance. The calendar print is bonded to foam core on a hot vacuum press. This bonding gives the print a perfect flat and smooth texture. This process also insures the print will never fold or fade with age or moisture. This wonderful display makes a thoughtful and original gift containing a classic vintage touch yet modern design, allowing it to fit alongside both modern and classic decor. BUY WITH CONFIDENCE. ALL OF MY DELICATE ITEMS ARE SHIPPED WITH A SPECIAL 3 LAYER PROTECTION SYSTEM. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length traditionally animated feature film and the first Disney animated feature film. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand was the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's individual sequences. Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California on December 21, 1937. Despite initial doubts from the film industry, it was a critical and commercial success and, with international earnings of more than $8 million during its initial release (compared to its $1.5 million budget), it briefly held the record of highest-grossing sound film at the time. The popularity of the film has led to its being re-released theatrically many times, until its home video release in the 1990s. Adjusted for inflation, it is one of the top-ten performers at the North American box office and the highest-grossing animated film. Worldwide, its inflation-adjusted earnings top the animation list.[3] Snow White was nominated for Best Musical Score at the Academy Awards in 1938, and the next year, producer Walt Disney was awarded an honorary Oscar for the film. This award was unique, consisting of one normal-sized, plus seven miniature Oscar statuettes. They were presented to Disney by Shirley Temple.[4]

[filmandtvhistory]

February 4, 1938 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released in the US.

The animated film is based the fairy tale Snow White, first published in 1812, by The Brothers Grimm. The supervising director was David Hand. The other directors who directed individual sequences were William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen. Storyboard artists Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank and Webb Smith were responsible for the story adaptation.

Disney’s first full-length feature film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1989 as they deemed it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

[jerimystoltzcreations]

March 28, 2022 Creative Multiverse presents: #MagicalMarch Day 28 (Ugly) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length traditionally animated feature film and the first Disney animated feature film. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand was the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's individual sequences. #CreativeMultiverse #disney #art #artwork #artistofinstagram #artist #artistforhire #Custom #create #drawing #drawingaday #draweveryday #illustration #pencil #sketch #ink #colordrawing #Sketchcard #fabercastell #copic #twitchstreamer #cartoon #Animated https://www.instagram.com/p/CeK4ce7MrRN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[paralleljulieverse]

Last time in our ongoing series honouring the 50th Anniversary of Star!, we profiled Jenny Agutter, the young actress who played Julie’s screen daughter, Pamela, in the celebrated 1968 film musical. Agutter’s performance in Star! was warmly praised but the actress describes how she encountered one very vocal critic in the pint-sized form of Julie’s real-life daughter, Emma Kate:

“I was coming up for 15 when I played Julie Andrews’ daughter in the film Star! I remember being incredibly impressed by her because she was such a star herself. Her little daughter was on set and got quite upset with me. She said, ‘Will you tell that girl to stop calling you Mummy!’” (McGibbon, 10).

Aged 4 at the time, Julie’s daughter, Emma, was a not infrequent visitor to the set of Star! and, as this selection of magazine images attests, her visits garnered considerable media attention. Typically accompanied by her Swedish nanny, Inga, Emma was by all accounts a well-behaved visitor, playing happily in Julie’s dressing room or watching proceedings patiently from the sidelines, often perched on director Robert Wise’s knee (Cottrell, 203; Wilson, 13). 

However, Wise recounts another humorous instance where Emma was a little less placid than usual. In the scene where financial lawyer, David Holzmann (Richard Kaplan) comes to Gertie’s Long Island estate while she is in the midst of hosting a charity party for disadvantaged children, Wise relates:

“The children playing in the background in the garden were all cast in New York and brought up. It so happened that Julie’s daughter, Emma came visiting one day while we were shooting this [scene]. She was a little younger than these children but she couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to be out there and play with them in the scene. So just to pacify her a bit or please her I put her in in one take and let her play in the background there. Then when we’d finished and got things printed up, I gave her that take to have” (Wise, 1993).

Not sure if she still has that take –– we certainly hope so –– but here’s to Emma Kate, another of the unsung “little stars of Star!”.

Sources:

Cottrell, John. Julie Andrews: The Story of a Star. London: Arthur Barker, 1968.

McGibbon, Rob. “From Railway Child to star of ‘Call The Midwife’: Jenny Agutter's colourful life in photos.” Daily Mail. 15 December 2013: 10.

Wilson, Jane, “Thoroughly Wholesome Julie.” West: Los Angeles Times Magazine. 15 October 1967: 11-17.

Wise, Robert. “Audio Commentary.” Star! Special Edition LaserDisc. Beverley Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1993.

Copyright © Brett Farmer 2018

[marsjapansambennett]

Snow white:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length cel animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand was the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's individual sequences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)

[kentonramsey]

Everything You Need To Know About The Fashion Awards 2019

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A post shared by British Fashion Council (@britishfashioncouncil) on Aug 8, 2019 at 8:28am PDT

The nominations are in: 2,500 key members of the fashion industry have spoken and drawn up a shortlist of the brands and individuals worthy of celebration at 2019’s Fashion Awards, and this year’s ceremony is set to be as glittering as ever. 

The annual awards, which act as a fundraiser for the British Fashion Council’s talent initiatives, seek to “recognise creativity and innovation in fashion, celebrating exceptional individuals whose imagination and creativity has broken new ground in fashion globally over the past 12 months, as well as brands and businesses that have transformed the possibilities of fashion today.”

It comes as no surprise that industry wunderkind, Daniel Lee, who took the helm at influencer and editor favourite Bottega Veneta in 2018, is nominated for Accessories Designer of the Year: his naked sandals and pouch bag have dominated our Instagram feeds all season. Others nominated for the award include Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson, Dior Men’s Kim Jones, and Jacquemus’ Simon Porte Jacquemus. 

Lee’s transformation of the Italian house (some have hailed it the new Céline post-Phoebe Philo) has also earned him a nod for Brand of the Year, Designer of the Year Womenswear (won last year by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller, designer of Meghan Markle’s wedding dress), and the prestigious Designer of the Year. Jones, Michele and Anderson also feature again among the nominees for Designer of the Year, joined by Miuccia Prada. 

Nominees in the Urban Luxe category – won last year by Virgil Abloh with his label Off-White – include Alyx, Fenty by Rihanna, Marine Serre (whose moon print hosiery you’ll have spotted all over the streets of fashion month), Martine Rose and Moncler Genius. British Emerging Talent nominees for womenswear include London Fashion Week highlights Kiko Kostadinov, Matty Bovan, Phoebe English, Rejina Pyo and jewellery designer Alighieri. 

Model of the Year 2018 was won by Kaia Gerber, who is nominated once again alongside Adesuwa Aighewi, Adwoa Aboah (who took the crown in 2017), Adut Akech and Winnie Harlow. Earlier this year, it was announced that Giorgio Armani would be receiving the Outstanding Achievement Award – Prada won last year – while Naomi Campbell would be the recipient of the Fashion Icon Award.

One of the most thrilling features of The Fashion Awards is the NEW WAVE: Creatives list, which recognises 100 of the industry’s movers and shakers, from hairstylists and makeup artists to set designers, creative directors and digital influencers. Trailblazers include photographer Campbell Addy, commentator Diet Prada, and filmmaker Fenn O’Meally. 

Ahead of the ceremony, which takes place on 2nd December at the Royal Albert Hall, BFC Chair Stephanie Phair said in a statement: “I would like to congratulate all the nominees of The Fashion Awards 2019. Each and every one of them is being recognised for their creative excellence and innovation. I look forward to celebrating them alongside the rest of the industry from across the globe.”

See the full list of nominees below.

Accessories Designer of the Year

Alessandro Michele for Gucci Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta Jonathan Anderson for Loewe Kim Jones for Dior Men Simon Porte Jacquemus for Jacquemus

Brand of the Year

Bottega Veneta Gucci Jacquemus Loewe Prada

British Designer of the Year Menswear

Craig Green for Craig Green Grace Wales Bonner for Wales Bonner Kim Jones for Dior Men Martine Rose for Martine Rose Riccardo Tisci for Burberry

British Designer of the Year Womenswear

Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta John Galliano for Maison Margiela Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson & Loewe Richard Quinn for Richard Quinn Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha

British Emerging Talent Menswear

Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty for Cottweiler Bethany Williams for Bethany Williams Kiko Kostadinov for Kiko Kostadinov Phoebe English for Phoebe English Sofia Prantera for Aries

British Emerging Talent Womenswear

Laura and Deanna Fanning for Kiko Kostadinov Matty Bovan for Matty Bovan Phoebe English for Phoebe English Rejina Pyo for Rejina Pyo Rosh Mahtani for Alighieri

Business Leader

Alexandre Arnault for Rimowa José Neves for Farfetch Marco Bizzarri for Gucci Marco Gobbetti for Burberry Remo Ruffini for Moncler

Designer of the Year

Alessandro Michele for Gucci Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson & Loewe Kim Jones for Dior Men Miuccia Prada for Prada

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A post shared by British Fashion Council (@britishfashioncouncil) on Oct 22, 2019 at 9:35am PDT

Model of the Year

Adesuwa Aighewi Adut Akech Adwoa Aboah Kaia Gerber Winnie Harlow

Urban Luxe

Alyx Fenty Marine Serre Martine Rose Moncler Genius

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

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Everything You Need To Know About The Fashion Awards 2019 published first on https://mariakistler.tumblr.com/

[scotianostra]

Happy birthday Scottish actor Jimmy Yuill, born March 6th 1956 in Golspie, Sutherland.

Yuill is another of those Scottish actors that has been in an abundance of shows, and will be known, but not as a household name.Fans of the Crime drama series Wycliffe will know him best as DI Doug Kersey, in almost every episode, I will come back to that later.

Known mainly as an actor on the stage Jimmy began in 1976 in The Jesuit at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. After, as he put it “some joyous years” working on new plays and classics countrywide he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1983, as Snug in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ended his time there, in 1987, as Young Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway.

In 1988 he joined Kenneth Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company for Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Hamlet directed by Judi Dench, Geraldine McEwan and Derek Jacobi, respectively. Also for RTC, Sicinius (Coriolanus); Telygin (Uncle Vanya) and Kent in Richard Brier’s ‘King Lear’.

Other roles include Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and as Henry IV parts1&2 at the Bristol Old Vic; In 2013 Jimmy played Banquo in ‘Macbeth’ at the Manchester International Festival and the following year at the Park Avenue Armory, New York. Most recently Jimmy played the Old Shepherd in The Winters Tale at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End – both productions directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh.

Jimmy Yuill, while always being busy treading the boards, has also found plenty time to appear in many TV shows, they include, in the 70’s The Mackinnons, The Omega Factor and the TV film A Sense of Freedom. in the 1980’s Eurocops and Boon and the 90’s mainly in Hamish Macbeth as Lachlan McCrae and the aforementioned Wycliffe. Into the new millennium he is a s busy as ever in the mini-series Monsignor Renard, A Touch of Frost and a recurring role in 14 episodes of Eastenders as Victor Brown an old frien of Ian Beales. Jimmy also appeared in several episodes of The Bill as D.S. Cottrell.

Yuill has had a longstanding friendship with Kenneth Branagh and has appeared in some of the Irish actor/directors films, including, Much Ado About Nothing, Frankenstien and As You Like It.

I said I would return to Wycliffe, where Jimmy starred in all but two episodes. The series was cancelled after that because Jack Shepherd, who played Wycliffe, refused to continue in the title role when the producers had sacked Yuill “for insurance reasons” after he contracted life-threatening meningitis during filming, and then would not reinstate him even though he made a full recovery. He says he owes his life to Shepherd with whom he was sharing a house while on location, and who rushed him to hospital in the middle of the night. Shepherd and the rest of the cast and crew felt so betrayed that they decided not to make any more episodes once filming of the current series had finished.

Along with Richard Briers he is one of only two actors other than Branagh himself, to appear in all five Shakespearean films that Branagh has directed:

More recently Jimmy has been in the movies Artemis Fowl , Kindred and my pick  The Road Dance, which is set in The Outer Hebrides just before World War One. He also popped up in the Scottish dark comedy series Guilt. 

[science-criticaltheory]

Investors Join Calls for a Food Revolution to Fight Climate Change by Georgina Gustin

New reports describe how food choices and farming practices can exacerbate climate change, and they argue for changes and even an international treaty. Investors are also calling for greenhouse gas reductions from the fast-food industry. Credit: Cate Gillon/Getty Images

A series of new reports shows how climate change is intertwined with the world’s worsening health, and suggests changes in the global food production system.

An influential group of investors has added its voice to a growing chorus of health professionals and scientists who are calling for radical changes to agriculture and food consumption in an effort to fight climate change, malnutrition and obesity.

A handful of new reports emphasize that climate change and the world's worsening health are urgent, intertwined crises.  One of them calls for an international treaty to address the problem.

A scientific study published Monday also shows how "food production shocks" linked to climate change have been rising globally, putting food security at risk. The researchers identified nearly 230 food production shocks, in 134 countries, from 1961 to 2013, and said the frequency of crop production shocks driven by extreme weather had been increasing steadily. Food shocks threaten to destabilize the global food supply and drive up global hunger rates, which have started to tick up in recent years.

"Land-based crop and livestock production are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events such as drought, which are expected to become more frequent and intense with climate change," said Richard Cottrell of the University of Tasmania, the report's lead author.

The drumbeat for change in food and nutrition gained volume this month with the release of a detailed plan by an international commission organized by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. The plan urges a major overhaul in food production and diets, or what one of the report's authors called "nothing less than a new global agricultural revolution."

A second Lancet-convened commission, this one focused on obesity, issued a report on Sunday arguing for an international treaty to address global diets and climate change, similar to a landmark 2005 global treaty that aimed to cut tobacco use.

Then on Tuesday, 80 investor groups representing more than $6.5 trillion in assets called on six of the largest fast food companies, including McDonald's and the corporate owners of KFC and Pizza Hut, to set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from their meat and dairy supply chains.

Food production, globally, is responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions, largely from meat and dairy production. Nearly 85 million Americans—or nearly a third of the population—eat at a fast food restaurants on any given day. But, as the Lancet report on obesity notes, demand for convenience and protein are rising in the developing world, too.

"This is the largest-emitting sector that doesn't have a low-carbon plan," said Brooke Barton, a senior director with Ceres, the sustainability group that co-organized the investor campaign.  "While some companies in some high-emitting industries, like the electric power industry, are starting to set goals and transform their business models in line with the Paris climate agreement, the meat and dairy industry is digging in its hooves."

'The Global Syndemic'

The Lancet Commision on Obesity, made up of more than 40 experts from 14 countries, says that, while its original mandate was to address obesity, it reframed its mission to address the pandemics of obesity, malnutrition and climate change—or what it called "the triple-burden challenges of The Global Syndemic."

"We decided we have to look at this with a systems approach. It's not people's fault," said Vivica Kraak, a professor of food and nutrition policy at Virginia Tech who contributed to the report. "The environments they live in foster overconsumption and unsustainable choices."

The authors say that malnutrition, obesity and other diet-related conditions are the leading cause of poor health globally and that climate change will amplify them.

"It's about poor diet quality whether you're in a high-income country or a low-income country.  And with climate change, you have greenhouse gas emissions with animal agriculture, but we also have a lot of food waste," Kraak said. "We really need to radically change the food system and the way we eat. It's all connected."

The report says that obesity is increasing in every region of the world largely because "the systemic and institutional drivers of obesity remain largely unabated" and are being driven by "powerful commercial interests."

As with climate change, the commission says, "the enormous health and economic burdens caused by obesity are not seen as urgent enough to generate the public demand or political will to implement the recommendations of expert bodies for effective action." But, it says, the dangers are as critical.

Industry Pressure and Dietary Guidelines

In the Lancet's other recent report on climate change and diet, the EAT-Lancet Commission called for a "comprehensive shift" in global diets, including cutting meat consumption roughly in half, and for governments to factor sustainability into their dietary guidance.

This week's report underscores the urgency of that guidance and points out how industry pressure has undermined the process.

"For example, when the USA and Australia tried to include sustainability in their national dietary guidelines, vested interests from food industries leaned heavily on their governments to eliminate sustainability from the terms of reference," the report says.

"Reducing the consumption of red meat is a cornerstone for healthy, sustainable diets," the report adds, "but achieving this will be formidable given the current supply and demand dynamics. Western-style fast foods might also be part of aspirational diets for some populations in low-income countries."

[scienceblogtumbler]

Researchers show how fishmeal and oil alternatives can support aquaculture growth

As the world increasingly turns to aqua farming to feed its growing population, there’s no better time than now to design an aquaculture system that is sustainable and efficient.

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, the University of Tasmania and the International Atomic Agency examined the current practice of catching wild fish for forage (to feed farmed fish) and concluded that using novel, non-fishmeal feeds could help boost production while treading lightly on marine ecosystems and reserving more of these small, nutritious fish for human consumption.

“The annual catch of wild fish has been static for almost 40 years, but over the same period the production from aquaculture has grown enormously,” said Richard Cottrell, lead author of a paper that appears in the journal Nature Food.

Approximately 16 million of the 29 million tonnes of forage fish — such as herrings, sardines and anchovies — caught globally each year are currently used for aquaculture feed. To meet the growing demand for fish in a sustainable manner, other types of fish feed must be used, the researchers said.

“We looked at a range of scenarios to predict future aquaculture production and, depending on consumer preferences, we found growth between 37-98% is likely,” said Cottrell, a postdoctoral scholar at UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS), who conducted this work at the University of Tasmania.

Fortunately, nutritional sources exist that could ease the growing demand for forage fish. Based on microalgae, insect protein and oils, these novel feeds could, in many cases, at least partially substitute fishmeal and oil in the feeds of many species without negative impacts on feed efficiency or omega-3 profiles.

“Previous work has identified that species such as carps and tilapias respond well, although others such as salmon are still more dependent on fish-based feeds to maintain growth and support metabolism,” said Cottrell, who with his colleagues analyzed results from 264 scientific studies of farmed fish feeding experiments. As the nutrition and the manufacturing technologies improve for these novel feeds, they could allow for substantial reductions in the demand for wild-caught fishmeal in the future, he added.

“Even limited adoption of novel fish feeds could help to ensure that this growth (in aquaculture production) is achieved sustainably,” Cottrell said, “which will be increasingly important for food security as the global population continues to rise.”

As we lean more on ocean-based food, the practices in place for producing it must come under scrutiny, and be improved where possible, according to UCSB marine ecologist and co-author Ben Halpern, director of NCEAS.

“Sorting out these questions about feed limitations and opportunities is nothing short of essential for the sector, and ultimately the planet,” he said. “ Without sustainable feed alternatives, we will not be able to sustainably feed humanity in the future.”

This study is one of several examinations of the potential for novel feed ingredients to replace wild caught forage fish in aquaculture.

“Our future research will continue to look at the wider consequences and trade-offs of shifting toward novel feed ingredients, including assessing the impacts on both marine and terrestrial environments, as well as balancing these with social and economic outcomes,” said University of Tasmania associate professor and study co-author Julia Blanchard.

Research in this study was conducted also by Halley E. Froehlich at UCSB and Marc Metian at the International Atomic Agency in Monaco.

source https://scienceblog.com/516498/researchers-show-how-fishmeal-and-oil-alternatives-can-support-aquaculture-growth/

[tuseriesdetv]

Noticias de series de la semana: Ya tenemos asegurada la precuela de GoT

Renovaciones

Netflix ha renovado Another Life por una segunda temporada

Shudder ha renovado Creepshow por una segunda temporada

Epix ha renovado Pennyworth por una segunda temporada

Sky ha renovado Temple por una segunda temporada

Netflix ha renovado Alta mar por una tercera y cuarta temporada

Cancelaciones

La segunda temporada de El embarcadero (Movistar+) será la última

AMC ha cancelado Lodge 49 tras su segunda temporada

NBC ha cancelado The InBetween tras su primera temporada

USA Network ha cancelado Pearson tras su primera temporada

Noticias cortas

ABC encarga nueve episodios adicionales para Mixed-ish, haciendo un total de veintidós. También encarga más episodios para Stumptown y la segunda temporada de The Rookie, sin especificar cuántos. Podrían ser entre cinco y siete.

Tras rechazar el piloto y sus posteriores modificaciones, HBO ha cancelado la precuela de Game of Thrones protagonizada por Naomi Watts.

Raised by Wolves pasa de TNT a HBO Max.

Netflix ha estrenado un nuevo episodio de La casa de las flores titulado El funeral.

Paul Abbott planea revivir State of Play en BBC One.

Incorporaciones y fichajes

Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings) se une como regular a la segunda temporada de Snowpiercer. No se conocen detalles del personaje.

Julia Garner (Ozark, The Americans) y Anna Chlumsky (Veep, My Girl) protagonizarán Inventing Anna, la serie de Shonda Rhimes sobre Anna Delvey para Netflix. Interpretarán a Delvey y a una periodista decidida a contar su historia. También se unen Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black, Doubt), Katie Lowes (Scandal, Super 8) y Alexis Floyd (The Bold Type).

Leslie Mann (The 40 Yeard Old Virgin, Welcome to Marwen) protagonizará el thriller internacional The Power, en el que todas las adolescentes del mundo desarrollan la habilidad de electrocutar a la gente a voluntad, para Amazon. Será Margot Cleary-Lopez, alcaldesa de Seattle.

Malcolm Barrett (Timeless, Preacher), Patrice Covington, Rebecca Naomi Jones (Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll), Kimberly Hébert Gregory (Vice Principals, Devious Maids) y Sanai Victoria (No Good Nick, Diary of a Female President) serán Ted White, el primer marido de Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo); Erma y Carolyn, hermanas de Aretha; Ruth Bowen, directora de una exitosa agencia; y la versión joven de Aretha en la tercera temporada de Genius.

David Wilmot (The Alienist, Ripper Street) se une como regular a Station Eleven. Será Clark, un consultor corporativo que abandonó sus ambiciones artísticas.

Miles Gaston Villanueva (The Resident, Law & Order: True Crime - The Menendez Murders) será recurrente en Nancy Drew como Owen, un joven magnate inmobiliario.

Elaine Hendrix (Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, The Parent Trap) será la nueva Alexis Carrington en la tercera temporada de Dynasty.

Noma Dumezweni (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Black Earth Rising) será Fiffany, bióloga marina, en Made for Love.

Queen Copeland (Waitress), Lauren Donzis (No Good Nick, Liv and Maddie), Oliver De Los Santos y Noah Cottrell (Skyscraper) se unen como regulares al revival de Punky Brewster. Serán Izzy, la chica que recuerda a Punky (Soleil Moon Frye); Hannah, la hija adolescente de Punky; y Daniel y Diego, los hijos adoptivos de Punky.

Lynn Chen (The Affair) y Idara Victor (Love Is___, Rizzoli & Isles) se unen como recurrentes a la décima temporada de Shameless. Serán Mimi, una nueva amiga de V (Shanola Hampton); y Sarah, líder de un grupo de padres alcohólicos anónimos.

Nick Sagar (Shadowhunters, Queen of the South) será recurrente en la quinta temporada de Supergirl como el villano Rip Roar.

Savannah Steyn (Crawl), Parminder Nagra (13 Reasons Why, ER), Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark, The White Queen), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Years and Years, Sex Education), Natasha O'Keeffe (Peaky Blinders, Misfits), Thomas Turgoose (This Is England, Kingsman: The Golden Circle) y Craig Parkinson (Misfits, Line of Duty) protagonizarán Intergalactic. Steyn será Ash, una policía novata y piloto galáctica encarcelada injustamente a quien tratará de liberar una banda de prisioneras secuestrando la nave que la transportaba y adentrándose en la galaxia. Parkinson será Dr. Benedict Lee, el director de Commonworld, autoridad global que gobierna a toda la población terrestre.

Pósters

           Nuevas series

HBO ha encargado diez episodios de House of the Dragon, una precuela de Game of Thrones que seguirá los días gloriosos de la casa Targaryen, trescientos años antes de lo sucedido en la original. Creado por George R.R. Martin y Ryan J. Condal (Colony, Rampage), dirigido por Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones, House M.D.) y basado en el libro 'Fire & Blood' (2018), es otra visión del proyecto de Bryan Cogman rechazado el pasado abril.

The CW desarrolla Superman & Lois, que seguirá al superhéroe y a la periodista como padres trabajadores en la sociedad actual. Protagonizada por Tyler Hoechlin y Elizabeth Tullock. Escrita y producida por Todd Helbing (The Flash, Spartacus: Blood and Sand).

HBO Max ha encargado Super Hero High, comedia centrada en un grupo de superhéroes adolescentes en un colegio especial. Escrita por Scott Weinger (Plan Coeur, Galavant) y producida por Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, Shrill).

HBO Max ha encargado College Girls, comedia sobre tres chicas sexualmente activas, un manojo de contradicciones y hormonas y encantadoras y exasperantes a partes iguales, compañeras de habitación en una universidad de Vermont. Escrita por Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project, The Office).

HBO Max ha encargado Rap Sh*t, comedia sobre las idas y venidas de un grupo femenino de rap de las afueras de Miami que quiere entrar en la industria musical. Creada y producida por Issa Rae (Insecure).

HBO Max ha encargado la antología Strange Adventures, con cuentos independientes con moraleja sobre mortales y superhumanos del universo DC. Producida por Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash).

HBO Max ha encargado Green Lantern, protagonizada por el superhéroe de DC. Producida por Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash).

Luz verde directa en Disney+ a diez episodios de Big Shot, dramedia sobre un temperamental entrenador de baloncesto universitario que es despedido y empieza a trabajar en un instituto privado femenino. Protagonizada por John Stamos (Full House, You), Shiri Appleby (UnREAL, Roswell), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community, The Odd Couple), Richard Robichaux (Boyhood, Ocean's 8), Sophia Mitri Schloss, Nell Verlaque, Tiana Le (No Good Nick, Insecure), Monique Green (Black-ish), Tisha Custodio y Cricket Wampler (About a Boy). Basada en una idea original de Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond, Single Parents) y escrita y producida por David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) y Dean Lorey (Arrested Development, The Crazy Ones).

Fechas

La segunda temporada de The Young Offenders se estrena en BBC One el 11 de noviembre

Gold Digger se estrena en BBC One el 12 de noviembre

Soundtrack, antes conocida como Mixtape, llega a Netflix el 1 de diciembre

V-Wars llega a Netflix el 5 de diciembre

La segunda y última temporada de El embarcadero se estrena en Movistar+ el 17 de enero

Tráilers y promos

Dracula

The Witcher

The Mandalorian

Foodie Love

The End of the F***ing World - Temporada 2

Hunters

Gold Digger

Vienna Blood

Work in Progress

[americafuneral10-blog]

Salt Lake Success

NFDA Convention offers incomparable education and networking and the biggest funeral expo in a stunning setting

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) 2018 International Convention & Expo, held October 14-17 in Salt Lake City, Utah, drew 4,029 total attendees (2,464 attendees and 1,565 exhibitor representatives). A total of 315 international attendees, representing 29 countries and territories, participated in the 2018 NFDA Convention. The Expo Hall featured 329 exhibiting companies which filled 82,800 square feet of space (828 10’ x 10’ booth spaces).

The NFDA convention proved to be an exceptional experience for all who were able to attend. The convention featured an outstanding slate of workshops, many of which were at or near capacity, that challenged attendees to think about funeral service in new ways while offering practical strategies to help them understand the evolving needs and desires of the bereaved families. Topics included embalming and restorative art, the opioid crisis, helping families who are grieving a death due to tragic circumstances, marketing, compliance and more.

The Expo Hall was a highlight for many attendees because, in addition to connecting with their valued supplier partners, they also discovered new products and services they can offer to families in their communities.

From the rousing red-carpet themed Welcome Party to the heights of the Wasatch Mountains for an Oktoberfest-themed closing party, attendees had many opportunities to network and have fun while experiencing everything that makes Salt Lake City one of the country’s hidden gems.

NFDA Highlights Consumer Outreach Initiatives

During the Monday General Session, NFDA CEO Christine Pepper highlighted the significant strides NFDA has made during the past year to educate consumers about the value of funerals and the important role that funeral directors play in helping families heal after the death of a loved one.

“The association committed to finding more and better ways to tell your story,” Pepper said. “Our most significant initiatives focused on helping consumers understand the value of funerals and funeral directors. From a new consumer website to expanded public relations, we are putting funeral service in front of consumers like we have never done before.”

RememberingALife.com is a new NFDA initiative that educates and empowers consumers to make informed decisions about funerals and memorialization. RememberingALife.com also highlights the unique expertise of funeral directors in planning a meaningful service. It is a multi-faceted approach that includes, not only the RememberingALife.com website, but also printed materials, social media and a comprehensive public relations strategy.

“In March, we launched RememberingALife.com, a website packed with useful resources for consumers,” Pepper explained. “It’s a place where they can find valuable information, whether they just experienced the death of a loved one or are preplanning a funeral. For many years, you’ve asked us to help educate the public about what you do and the value of a meaningful funeral. This website does that and more. The site provides information that encourages people to remember and honor their loved ones in ways that will help them reflect, mourn and begin to grieve. And when a consumer searches for a funeral home, the site’s directory connects them directly with an NFDA-member.”

The association also debuted the first in a series of public service announcements to help families that have experienced a tragic death.

When a loved one dies in a tragic way such as by drug overdose or violence, family members may think a funeral is not appropriate. They may not understand how important it is to have the support of friends and family or how a funeral can help them during this difficult time.

NFDA hopes to help families that have experienced a tragic death to understand that a funeral is appropriate and how it can benefit them.

The new public service announcements, along with a consumer brochure, convey that regardless of how someone died, they should be remembered by having a funeral. More information about these resources will be available soon.

NFDA also introduced the winners of the RememberingALife.com Film Contest. The winning films, along with several honorable mentions, made their debut during the NFDA Convention and were available for viewing in the RemberingALife.com Area in the Convention Center.

Earlier this year, NFDA invited amateur and professional filmmakers from around the world to create films that help convey the importance and power of memorializing lives. Three winning films were selected for their ability to inspire others to remember the lives of their loved ones.

“As funeral directors, you see the wide variety of ways people share the story of a person’s life through their funeral,” said Pepper. “It’s important to remember. It’s important to pay tribute. These short films give you a glimpse into three lives.”

The first-place winning film, A Brief & Concise History of Things and Other Things, was inspired by Sidney Butler’s family and illustrates how she sees us all connected to society in a bigger way. The second-place film, Tio Lino, was created by Adrian Burrell. It follows the life of an elderly gentleman who chose to devote his time and talents to serving his community and the disadvantaged youth in his neighborhood. The third-place film, Art Can Save You – The Story of Shari Kadar and 1,000 Colored Eggs was made by Austin Meyer. It tells the story of a World War II refugee from Hungary who came to America and discovered her passion for art.

NFDA has arranged for its members to use the films selected as winners or honorable mentions to promote the value of funerals and memorialization, such as by posting films on their firm’s website or social media sites or using them in community presentations. More information about how members can use the films is available online, www.nfda.org/rememberingalife (member login required).

Giving Hearts

On Saturday, October 13, 19 volunteers shared their time and talents with Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity.

This year, volunteers worked a side-by-side duplex. One of the future residents of this home is Kinsella, a single mother of three children, ages 23, 15, and 8, who has always wanted to own her own home. She has already completed her 250 hours of sweat equity but continues to work on the duplex because she wants to keep an eye on its progress and enjoys learning about home building concepts and maintenance.

Thanks, in part, to the generosity of NFDA volunteers, the Kinsella and her family will realize their American dream of home ownership in her beloved community of Salt Lake City.

The Power of Music

A highlight of the 2018 NFDA Convention was the Service of Remembrance. The power of music is undeniable. It can invoke the deepest feelings or instantly whisk you away to the fondest moments of the past preserved in sweet memories of the people and places that mean the most. The service explored the importance and healing power of music at funerals.

During the service, attendees enjoyed performances by NFDA member Austin O’Neal of Cochran Funeral Home in Blue Ridge, Ga., who played the piano, and local musical groups the Saltaires and One Clear Voice, both of which included members of the world-renowned Tabernacle Choir.

As is NFDA’s custom, the Service of Remembrance was also a time for attendees to remember and honor the memory of colleagues and family members who died during the last year.

NFDA Honors Funeral Service All Stars

During the All-Star Recognition Ceremony, NFDA recognized funeral professionals who, within the last year, earned their NFDA Cremation Certification (Certified Crematory Operator or Certified Cremation Services Provider designation); NFDA Certified Preplanning Consultant designation; or their Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP) designation from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice.

NFDA also honored recipients of a Foundation ’45 scholarship or award from the Funeral Service Foundation, and the NFDA International Professional Achievement Certificate.

Additionally, NFDA paid tribute to the funeral homes that are Green Funeral Practice Certificate holders and 2018 Pursuit of Excellence Award recipients – including the Best of the Best Award winners, Hall of Excellence inductees and the inaugural recipient of the Richard Myers Pinnacle Award – during the All-Star Recognition Ceremony.

Big Winners

During the Monday General Session, NFDA presented the 2018 NFDA Members’ Choice Award to ASD – Answering Service for Directors. The company was recognized for its Web Form Watchdog. Established in 2009, the NFDA Members’ Choice Award (formerly the Innovation Award) recognizes and promotes creativity, innovation and excellence among funeral service suppliers and vendors.

During the Wednesday General Session, NFDA recognized Envision Strategic Partners as the winner of the Most Memorable Booth Contest, a competition for first-time exhibitors. Attendees voted for the booth that left a lasting impression on them with friendly, knowledgeable staff and a stellar booth design.

NFDA also gave out fabulous prizes to attendees in the Great Big Giveaway, held during the Wednesday General Session. During Expo Hall hours on Wednesday morning, NFDA’s valued sponsors handed out tickets for a chance to win fabulous prizes. The winners were:

$25 American Express Gift Card: Alex Anderson, Anderson & Sons Mortuary, American Fork, Utah; Mindy Botbol, Shalom Memorial Funeral Home, Arlington Heights Ill.; Tyler Harris, Wing Mortuary, Lehi, Utah; Charles Hastings, Bishop-Hastings Funeral Home, Shelbyville Del.; Michael Smith, Snyder Funeral Homes, Marion, Ohio; Patricia Cottrell, Legacy Tree Funeral Planning, Kaysville Utah

$50 American Express Gift Card: Dolly Gunter, Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home, Saint Petersburg, Fla.; Marsha Thomason, Thomason Funeral Home, San Marcos, Texas; John Goobeck, Greenwood Funeral Home, Fort Worth, Texas; Rhonda Riley, Tandy-Eckler-Riley Funeral Home, Carrollton, Ky.

$100 American Express Gift Card: Charlotte Hastings, Bishop-Hasting Funeral Home, Shelbyville, Del.

Amazon Echo Show: Jenny Tysinger, Stamey-Tysinger Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Fallston, N.C.

Apple Watch: Joey Tysinger, Stamey-Tysinger Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Fallston, N.C.; Dolly Gunter, Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home, Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Grand Prize – 2019 NFDA International Convention & Expo Experience (convention registration, travel reimbursement up to $1,000 and a Chicago-inspired gift): Jordan White, John S. Maykuth Jr. Funeral Home, Masontown, Penn.

NFDA Convention Photos Now Available

Professional photographers captured all of the excitement of the 2018 NFDA Convention. All of the photos can be viewed at www.nfda.org/saltlake. Attendees may download as many photos as they like at no charge; prints and other keepsake items are available for purchase.

Planning Underway for 2019

The 2019 NFDA International Convention & Expo will take place October 27-30, in Chicago, Ill.

Chicago’s great magic lies in its mix: sophisticated yet friendly, bustling city streets adjacent to long stretches of green parks and sparkling blue Lake Michigan, and a stunning year-round array of things to see and do unique in all the world.

Chicago is more walkable than most global cities, and visitors of all ages enjoy the proximity of such attractions as Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago and other treasures.

The city’s explosive performance art scene delivers audience-thrilling theatre, music and dance in historic venues. And, of course, an endless assortment of restaurants, high-end shopping on the famous Magnificent Mile and nightlife are all at visitors’ fingertips, ready to match every taste, budget and mood.

Information about the 2019 NFDA Convention will be available soon on the NFDA website.

Sponsors        

NFDA thanks its 2018 International Convention & Expo sponsors for their continued support:

Platinum: Federated Insurance

Gold: Batesville, Homesteaders Life Company, LendingUSA, Messenger, Security National Life Insurance Company, Tukios

Silver: ASD – Answering Service for Directors, Bass-Mollet Publishers, Frontrunner Professional, Implant Recycling, Live Oak Bank, LoveUrns, Madelyn Company, NGL, Nomis Publications Inc., Physicians Mutual, Sich

Bronze: DomaniCare, Doric, Funeralocity, Global Atlantic Financial Group, Inman Shipping, Kelco Supply Co, theMemories, Wilbert Funeral Services

About NFDA

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

  Photo Credit: International Center for Documentary Arts

The post Salt Lake Success appeared first on Connecting Directors.

Salt Lake Success published first on YouTube

[burlveneer-music]

Beats & Pieces Big Band - ten

On 27 January 2008 I asked thirteen friends and fellow students to a rehearsal room at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music to play through some tunes I'd written for big band. From that session, Beats & Pieces Big Band emerged. Exactly ten years on from that first meeting, we invited an audience of friends, family and key supporters to the same RNCM rehearsal space for a special anniversary gig, documented here. On behalf of all the Beats & Pieces musicians past and present, thanks for a fun first ten years; we hope there'll be many more to come. Ben Cottrell Ben Cottrell : director Anthony Brown, Oliver Dover, Tom Ward : saxophones Richard Foote, Simon Lodge, Rich Mcveigh : trombone Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters : trumpet/flugelhorn Anton Hunter : guitar Richard Jones : piano/Rhodes Stewart Wilson : bass Finlay Panter : drums

[jillmckenzie1]

Dwayne Johnson Fights a Building

Die Hard is the greatest American action movie ever made. Released on July 12, 1988, there are an awful lot of reasons why it shouldn’t have worked. Casting the lead role of John McClane wasn’t easy. The studios really wanted either Al Pacino or Richard Gere, but neither was interested. Stallone passed on it. Schwarzenegger passed on it. Eastwood passed on it. Hell, even Frank Sinatra passed on it.* They had to settle for Bruce Willis, a motormouthed television actor.

Weirder yet? Despite only being known for fairly obscure English TV, Alan Rickman landed the iconic role of archvillain Hans Gruber. This was his first film. Ever. Even weirder? Director John McTiernan read the novel the film is based on and promptly got rid of most of the story and characters. Why? The book itself is not what you would call a laugh-a-minute. It’s gritty. Serious. The villains are a group of bloodthirsty terrorist fanatics. McTiernan wanted a change. A sense of joy.

Take inspired casting, precision directing, and clever screenwriting, put them together, and you end up with a film that casts a long shadow. Die Hard made $83 million in 1988, which adjusted for ticket price inflation comes out to somewhere around $187 million. It also spawned a sub-genre, in which a lone hero is unwillingly thrust into a dangerous situation located in a single location and does battle with a brilliant mastermind.

There are a lot of Die Hard copycats. A freaking lot. Some are very good, like Speed (Die Hard on a bus) and Cliffhanger (Die Hard on a mountain). Others are okay, like Under Siege (Die Hard on a battleship) and Olympus Has Fallen (Die Hard in the White House). Still others are straight-up Not Good, like Sudden Death (Die Hard in a hockey arena). It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a Not Good copycat. Whoops — shouldn’t have said that, because Skyscraper has been inflicted upon us, and ladies and gentlemen, it is Not Good.

I shouldn’t start sighing audibly at the very beginning of a movie. Sigh I did when we’re introduced to Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) in a flashback to Ten Years Earlier. He’s a member of a hostage rescue team, and when a mission goes wrong, the lower half of Will’s leg is blown off. As so often happens, his surgeon Sarah (Neve Campbell) saves his life and they fall in love and get hitched.

Yeah, Will now has a prosthetic leg, which is kind of a bummer. But Will and Sarah have two cute-as-a-button kids, Georgia (McKenna Roberts) and Henry (Noah Cottrell), so I guess it evens out. Better yet, Will runs a small business charged with assessing the security of skyscrapers. His pal Ben (Pablo Schreiber) even recommends a cushy gig for him at The Pearl.

What is The Pearl, you may ask? Located in Hong Kong, it’s the world’s tallest skyscraper standing at 3,500 feet and 240 stories tall. The Pearl is the brainchild of the bewilderingly rich Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han), and to paraphrase Jurassic Park, he’s spared no expense. The building has state of the art fire suppression systems, top-notch security, and what looks to be a quasi-holodeck in the penthouse. Why is there a quasi-holodeck? Well, the rich are very different from you and I, apparently.

Anyway, the Sawyer clan has moved into a lovely apartment on the 98th floor of The Pearl. That’s inconvenient due to the presence of Kores Botha (Roland Moller), a heavily-armed mercenary leading a team of likewise heavily-armed mercenaries. They proceed to disable the fire-suppression system and set the 96th floor on fire. Why would they do such a nefarious deed? So they can steal a McGuffin, silly! Unfortunately, Sarah and the kids are home and have gotten themselves trapped. As Will prefers his family not on fire, he must brave both the flames and the baddies to rescue them.

Look, if you’re going to rip-off Die Hard and cast Dwayne Johnson as the lead, you immediately have yourself a Rock-sized problem. Johnson is a hulking mass of muscle, and he looks like he could rip Hans Gruber’s head clean off. Do you really want a movie where he smashes his way to victory? No, you don’t, because that’s dull. Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways you make this film defy expectations:

Constantly put Johnson in situations where his strength and physicality won’t help, and he has to rely on his wits.

Have Johnson and the kids get trapped, and Neve Campbell must save the day.

That’s just two scenarios. I thought of those sober and on just two cups of coffee, and I am not a professional filmmaker. Rawson Marshall Thurber is, having previously directed Johnson in the kind-of funny Central Intelligence. Here, he’s getting serious with a slickly-directed film that immediately starts moving and doesn’t let up. That’s a problem, because for a movie like this to work, we first need the environment established. Thurber rushes through the description of The Pearl so fast, we never get a sense of its geography or character. He does a nice job with some vertigo-inducing setpieces, and he’s aided by cinematographer Robert Elswit** in making the fiery mayhem look pretty.

Thurber also wrote the script, and this is where it starts to make me cranky. When the bad guys begin their siege in Die Hard, what’s the first thing John McClane does? He runs away and hides on another floor. That terror is a totally recognizable human emotion, but we rarely feel it here. Dwayne Johnson’s Will is another highly trained badass, and his character is, at worst, uneasy at times. Most of the characters seem unencumbered by personalities. Lead villain Botha is generically evil, and his underlings aren’t much better. There’s a henchwoman who constantly scowls, a snide hacker…and then a bunch of other guys with guns. If you have a big personality like Dwayne Johnson as your lead, you need antagonists that are credible threats. Compare the blue-collar underdog John McClane to the tactical genius Hans Gruber and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s not the fault of the cast that they have so little to work with. Neve Campbell tries her best, and even gets a little ass-kickery thrown her way. She’s a skilled performer and there’s no reason she couldn’t be a credible action lead. As Sarah, she mostly looks terrified, and that’s a massive waste of her talents. I liked Chin Han’s Zhao, despite playing a two dimensional billionaire.

Then there’s Dwayne Johnson and the constant conundrum I have with him. First, understand that he’s an incredibly skilled performer. To be involved in the WWE, you have to be both a credible athlete and a strong actor. Looking at his filmography, I see he’s done films like The Rundown, Pain and Gain, and Southland Tales and delivered strong performances. Also looking at his filmography, he usually plays the same guy over and over. He’s the same guy in Fast Five, the same guy in San Andreas, and the same guy here, the ultra-competent slab of beef who can deliver a haymaker or a quip. It’s all variations on a theme, and understand that I not only like Johnson as a performer, but also he seems to be a good guy. I just wish he’d take risks as big as he is.

Buried beneath the CGI fire, the boring-as-hell McGuffin, and the perfunctory action beats is the seed of a good movie. Imagine an action movie that utilizes all the weird details of modern supertall structures.*** Imagine Dwayne Johnson playing a flawed hero with the odds against him. Imagine a villain that could plausibly beat him — easily. If that movie ever gets made, it’ll be a worthy successor to Die Hard. Until then, we’re stuck with Skyscraper.

  *This is a completely true statement. Die Hard is based on Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever. The novel is a sequel to The Detective, and Sinatra starred in the film adaptation in 1968. Sinatra’s contract stipulated that he had to be offered the sequel first and, completely unsurprisingly, the 73 year old turned down the role.

**Elswit is Paul Thomas Anderson’s usual cinematographer, and he shot There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights. Why was this wildly overqualified guy hired to work on Skyscraper? Probably because he was also the director of photography on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

***Which you can learn a little more about here.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/dwayne-johnson-fights-a-building/