#mainly because it was filmed in like 2018-2019

[killerandhealerqueen]

Are you fucking telling me that Jiang Yuelou is 24 here?  Motherfucker, I always thought he was older.  Like 29 or something

[bigfrozenfan]

HAPPY 10 YEARS ANNIVERSARY to FROZEN

I made another edit too and you can decide which you like more.

How it all began for me...

"Addicted to Frozen", that's the subtitle of my Tumblr blog since I created it in February 2019 and thus joined the international fandom for the first time. However, it took me a while to decide to do this, mainly because of the language barrier. In the end, the first teaser trailer for Frozen II was the deciding factor.

However, my addiction to the Frozen franchise started earlier, but only on Christmas Eve 2016, when I was visiting my sister and I was supposed to choose the films for the evening while she cooked dinner for us.

I can still remember, as if it was only yesterday, zapping around on the tiny TV and getting stuck on the first scene with the ice harvesters from Frozen. Something had almost magically drawn me in and when the story with the two little sisters Anna and Elsa developed further and she sang "Do you wanna build a snowman?", I was in love with the film. Since then, not a single day has gone by without me thinking about the movie, first buying the DVD and then a lot of posters. I was on Pinterest every day and also searched for fan art there. At this time, I also started collecting merchandise for the movie and have now built up one of the biggest collections. In 2018, a picture came into circulation that I later searched for everywhere and tried to find out the source. It showed Anna and Elsa in a previously unknown new outfit in a forest.

A few months later, the bombshell dropped with the release of the teaser trailer for Frozen II. The hype was born and it was simply indescribable what was happening on Tumblr. There were so many posts every minute that I couldn't keep up with it all. There was wild speculation and I published my very first two posts on Tumblr with the title "The Disney FROZEN II Teaser Trailer Mania". Ever since that trailer, I was absolutely hooked on Frozen! I couldn't help myself.

After that, I reblogged for all I was worth, created my first edits and started writing my first fanfic. However, as a novice writer, I was still too clueless and made a lot of mistakes (this only changed with the second fanfic, years later). Over time, I got to know a lot of fans, signed up on other social media platforms and my love for the Frozen movies remains unbroken to this day.

I hope this hype starts again with Frozen III and IV, because I really miss those times in fandom.

Here are some brand new pics of my collection including all the Frozen II stuff:

In daylight...

...and at night...

If you want to see more details i can make an additional post. Just let me know.

[bloodcoveredgf]

(i hope its okay if i send a lot of these im so curious lol)

💀= what horror movie scared you to death?

💅= who is the greatest horror movie badass bitch?

🦇= favourite horror movie?

🐺= favourite type of horror movie monster?

🧨= most shocking ending to a horror film?

⚰️= favourite horror trope/cliche?

🎥= can you recommend me a horror film?

omg its totally okay tysm this is so fun :) gonna leave the answers under here because i rambled so much hgdkjf

what horror movie scared you to death?

the most recent time was back in 2018 when i watched hereditary for the first and only time... so hereditary but it was mainly for emotional reasons that movie just cuts deep for me and makes me deeply sad and uncomfortable and it genuinely horrified me back then

who is the greatest horror movie badass bitch?

queen akasha from queen of the damned like i dont care.... its always been her for me i know theres many more and they popped into my head but shes soooo iconic and badass! another that came to mind was erin from youre next and ellen ripley from alien and laurie strode from halloween.. but id have to shoutout like 80 more badass horror women to feel satisfied right now so im gonna leave it at that <3

favorite horror movie?

i am constantly fighting myself on this one but i think its officially the lost boys :) im comfortable saying that no matter what because of the sheer amount of love i have for it and how many times ive seen it and the fact i own 3 copies of it on physical media now

favorite type of horror movie monster?

ohhh you know.... vampire forever and always <333

most shocking ending to a horror film?

okay im going to mention many again because i cant control myself everrr... so saw (2004) still hits... the others (2001).. a tale of two sisters (2003) and lake mungo (2008) < all kind of plot twist movies but theres also inside (2007), excision (2012), and audition (1999) which are endings you can mostly see coming or somewhat expect but arent any less shocking or upsetting!

favorite horror tropes/cliches?

oooh soo many honestly. gotta love tropes and cliches of a genre that is most beloved to you! im definitely going to leave some out because theres so many effective and great ones like an easy one could be the final girl or weird girl and another could be creepy music swelling to signify that something is about to go wrong or tricking you into being wary of that or the scare that you wait for but it never comes/the fake-out, fear of the unknown like things shrouded in darkness or things that arent visible to the naked eye or something, the "one last scare" trope where the killer or whoever comes back for one last scare, or the twist of "it was actually this other thing/situation all along!"which isnt always effective or interesting but great when it is and is original... but a few lesser known or used fun ones im thinking of are weird/creepy/fucked up twins, losing a limb and replacing it with some kind of weapon, also technology is the mind killer and will actually kill you!

can you recommend me a horror film?

bliss (2019) or the pit and the pendulum (1961) or black sunday (1960) or phantom of the paradise (1974) ^_^ hopefully theres one in there you havent seen hehe

[batri-jopa]

I'll be talking about #ATWD kintouri trail now.

It goes like this: you watch the movie And Then We Danced (2019, dir. Levan Akin) for the first time. Maybe even stay for the whole End Credits because of that enchanting beautiful music... And you notice the very last song in the credits is a little different. Sounds really old, unclear and... well generally not so very great. Probably been put in end credits to correspond with those old films of georgian dances the movie begins with, you think. Yeah, fair enough, you think.

Only a tiny detail more: its name is Kinto's Song.

Rings a bell? Like: hey, wait a minute, wasn't the dance that boys were dancing also named kintouri?

So, yeah, you've found the connection, you can be proud of yourself! Now if you decided not to be obsessed with ATWD you feel satisfied enough already and just go on and live your life...

Otherwise - you start to dig.

.

First of all: what does kinto (კინტო) mean?

In old Tblisi (end of XIX century, beginning of XX) Kintos were small merchants, often street fruit sellers, usually carrying their goods on their heads around the city.

Their lifestyle was not like the rest of the georgian society and their traditional clothes were different from other Georgians as well: instead of chokha Kinto was wearing black outfit with baggy pants and a silk shawl hanging from his silver belt - the shawl was to wrap the fruits and vegetables in them to weight.

Sources (read if you're interested): [X], [X], [X]

So, young males and rather poor ones. And without families in the very family-centred georgian society... I don't think it's very surprising to learn that homosexuality wasn't rare among their community (although that's the part you won't find on georgian wikipedia). Even less knowing that when you're on the bottom of the social ladder it's finally where nobody around cares about your life anymore🤷 (I only wonder if it was rather the primal reason for anyone to leave his home and choose a life like this or if it was finding out ones orientation due to mainly interacting with other men. I suppose it might have worked both ways?)

Then we come to the "traditional georgian dance" issue: Kinto's traditional dance is kintouri (or Kintauri, კინტოური) also known as shalakho (შალახო) and it is said to be informal and light natured. I've also read that some of its parts (like hands movements) are of Persian origin. A female Persian dance specifically. [X]

Of course when Kintouri became a part of official Traditional Georgian Ballet - it went through some changes. As was mentioned in And Then We Danced in the last 50 years it became more "masculine", just like adjaruli and other Georgian Dances. So before that I believe it could have been more like this?

It's Fridon Sulaberidze (ფრიდონ სულაბერიძე) who was born in 1941 but I have no idea what year the film is showing😕 probably 1970's?

Now finally: what is the Kinto's Song? It is the song recorded on X-ray plate almost hundred years ago and found in 2018. Illegal song: song of a man loving two other men. I guess Levan Akin must have found the song quite recently before making And Then We Danced (2019).

Knowing all that historical and cultural context - I can not imagine any better fitting song for the end of the movie about struggling between your tradition and culture and your love to another guy...

That movie is a masterpiece in every little detail!🥰❤❤

.

Of course it's just a beginning - what I wanted to indicate just now is that the song in End Credits is a hint to kintouri being a trail to follow throughout the movie. Furthermore I want to show you how it may lead to see few movie scenes in a little bit different light (like here), so expect me talking more about #ATWD kintouri trail from time to time

[arithmeticanimaniac]

tag someone you want to know better

tagged by @romanceyourdemons

favorite color: bright pink (also any happy color)

last song: the last song i deliberately played was either “Almost Like Being in Love” by Nat King Cole or “September in the Rain” by Dinah Washington, but the last song that came up on shuffle was “Juliet” by LMNT

last movie: either around the world in 80 days (2004) or inception (2010)

currently watching: the last season of archer (2009)

other stuff i watched this year: lmao i actually have a lot of half baked reviews in my drafts but i never posted them because i’m almost always at my queue limit so here’s my chance to do a rapid fire round of reviews (based entirely on whether i enjoyed them)

how to marry a millionaire (1953) 👍 too many people forget what a comedic genius marilyn monroe was

Love Sarah (2020) 👍 🥲 a bakery, romance, grief and healing, intergenerational bonding, what more could you want

My man Godfrey (1936) 👎 boring

bringing up baby (1938) 👎 it has its moments, blueprint for disney channel show shenanigans

memories of the sword (2015) 👍 sooooo melodramatic

The Dig (2018) 👍 haunting

the misfits (2021) 👍 it is Not Good, but inexplicably charming

Free guy (2021) 👍 responsible for the resurgence of mariah carey in my playlist

Papillon (2017) 🤷🏻‍♀️ hard to get through but not bad

Chungking Express (1994) 👍 i’m not usually an atmospheric film type, but wow

The Lost City (2022) 👍 i had fun

The French dispatch (2021) 🤷🏻‍♀️ tried watching this multiple times, fell asleep each time but the fact that i tried multiple times means it goes on this list

most of the movies in the DCAMU (2013-2020) 👍 i saw a gif from Teen Titans: the Judas contract (2017) which led me to watch 11 of these 16 movies lmao curse you tumblr

Blue crush (2002) 👎

the Batman (2022) 👎

Lost in the stars (2022) 👍 the whole thing could’ve been avoided if (spoilers) were lesbian, but anyways it made me want to visit hainan and shanghai

Dumplings (2004) 👍 i mean i can’t eat dumplings anymore without gagging but

the burning sea (2021) 🤷🏻‍♀️ i remember laughing at the cheesiness (idk how accurately they translated from norwegian), but solid disaster movie

alive (2020) 👍 korean filmmakers really know zombies, but mix in quarantine era

Palm Springs (2020) 👍 went into this blind expecting white lotus lol (very much not white lotus)

The babysitter: killer queen (2020) 👍 i can only do horror if it’s campy horror

the menu (2022) 👎 well made movie, not for me

blockers (2018) 👍

joy ride (2023) 👍

Spider-Man: across the spider-verse (2023) 👍

king arthur: legend of the sword (2017) 👍 i don’t care i enjoyed its ridiculousness

Austenland (2013) 👍 it’s so bad!! i laughed, i cringed, i awww’ed

the tuxedo (2002) 🤷🏻‍♀️ better enjoyed in highlight clips

Matilda the musical (2022) 👎 if i hadn’t seen the danny devito version i might have enjoyed this

heathers the musical (2022) 👎 the off bway actors were better

Mayhem (2017) 👍 samara weaving and steven yeun! another movie apollo threw a covid dodgeball at

Charlie Chan at the wax museum (1940) 🤷🏻‍♀️ could’ve been good, hard to watch with the yellowface and racism

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) 👍

shows i dropped this year/didn’t finish: justified (2010), killing eve (2018) , gannibal (2022), beef (2023), doom patrol (2019)

currently reading: bel canto, but mainly just a lot of medical articles

currently working on: finding a new job because hellooooo 2 year itch

current obsession: ok so if you look at english language sources, most say that pregnant onions are toxic and therefore not edible. however, the medicinal value of pregnant onions is apparently not uncommon knowledge in other cultures (fuck yeah china and south africa). so a family friend gave us a few mature plants that make into soup and i picked off the little seedlings and have been tending to them. that led to spending more time tending to my other plants (i have a lot more loquat trees than i remember) and now i’m trying to air layer some stuff. TLDR; gardening

tagging anyone who wants to do this :)

[disney-film-tourney]

Hey I’m back~

So I’ve been doing research for the Disney bracket and whew - Disney owns way too much. Like I knew that before, but wow does it really click now. So Walt Disney Studios has:

-Walt Disney Pictures, Disneynature, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Pixar

-Marvel Studios, Marvel Studios Animation

-Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound

-20th Century Studios, 20th Century Family, 20th Century Animation

-Searchlight Pictures

-Buena Vista International

-Star Distribution

Plus:

-Touchstone Television

-Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (1978-2018), Walt DIsney Television (1983-1994)

-Skellington Productions (1986-1996)

-Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group/Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (1998-2006)

-Disney Television Animation (1984-2003)

-Touchstone Pictures (1984-2016)

-Hollywood Pictures (1989-2001, 2006-2007)

-Caravan Pictures (1992-1999)

-Dimension Films (1993-2005), Miramax Films (1993-2010)

-Disneytoon Studios (2003-2018), Disney Circle 7 Animation (2004-2006)

-The Muppets Studio (2006-2014)

-ImageMovers Digital (2007-2010)

-Kingdom Comics (2009-2013)

-Fox VFX Lab (2019)

-Marvel Animation (2019-2020)

-Blue Sky Studios (2019-2021)

-Fox 2000 Pictures (2019-2021), 20th Digital Studio (2019-2023)

Like wtf that is too much power. But regardless of my feelings on that, I’d still like to continue with the bracket if anyone’s interested.

I’ll make a separate post of films I’m considering including. I’m only doing animated (both old school and CGI), and one film per series (i.e. just the first Toy Story film.) (Tbh just doing this out of convenience, but if anyone really wants a particular sequel/remake/continuation in there, just let me know.)

I’m trying to figure out which of the many studios should be included. Like just ones that straight up have the word “Disney” in there. Or include others, but only when the Mouse technically owned them/distribution rights. Mainly thinking about Studio Ghibli here because I really don’t associate them with Disney, but I believe they have/had rights for home distribution and the English dubs. Same for Marvel and Star Wars, if they have any recent animated films.

So yeah. This update is longer than I meant it to be. Let me know what you think. Have a good one!

[greensparty]

Album Reviews: Paul McCartney and Wings / Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs

Paul McCartney and Wings One Hand Clapping

I guess you could say I've written a bit about Sir Paul McCartney on this site (read here) and his former bandmates The Beatles (read here). I've gotten to cover his 2021 documentary series McCartney 3, 2, 1, I saw him live at Citi Field in 2009 and Fenway Park in 2022, and earlier this year I got to cover the 50th anniversary of the classic album Band on the Run from Paul McCartney and Wings. This week UMe is releasing an often-bootlegged but never officially released live album One Hand Clapping.

album cover

In August 1974, when Wings were riding high with Band on the Run released in November 1973, they entered Abbey Road Studios to record both a TV concert documentary and a live album. For one reason or another the documentary and live album were never released. The band at the time was made up of Sir Paul, wife Linda on vocals and keyboards, the late great Denny Laine (1944-2023) on guitar, and new guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1953-1979, a member of Wings from 1974-77), and drummer Geoff Britton (a Wing from 1974-75). The film and the live recording became a popular bootleg among fans mainly because it wasn't commercially released. In 2010, the doc was finally released on the bonus DVD of the Band on the Run Archive Collection release. Select tracks were also includes on the bonus disc of that collection as well. Select tracks have also surfaced on the bonus discs of McCartney and Venus and Mars. To mark the 50th anniversary of this, it is finally being released in various formats. The version I got to review is the digital stream of the Double-LP that includes a special 7" single with 6 additional bonus tracks not available on the CD or digital versions.

Sir Paul at Fenway Park on 6/8/22

the late great Denny Laine at City Winery on 1/9/19

The thing with this album is much of it felt somewhat anticlimactic. I have the 2010 Band on the Run release that included the bonus DVD with the One Hand Clapping documentary. It was awesome and the band was in their prime. When I interviewed Denny Laine in 2019, he said Band on the Run was very significant to him. When I saw him at City Winery in Boston shortly after our interview he played much of that album as well. All of Disc 1 is from that special from the 2010 bonus DVD. Disc 2 gets into other live in-studio renditions, including some Beatle covers. But the real treasure that's been unearthed here is the 7" single on the vinyl edition that the band recorded in the backyard of Abbey Road Studios including The Beatles' "Blackbird" and covers of Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly hits. Wow! In the end, let's celebrate that this is finally being released and the extras that have never been heard before!

For info on One Hand Clapping

4 out of 5 stars

Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs Vagabonds, Virgins and Misfits

I've always considered guitarist Mike Campbell to be a secret weapon! In Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Petty was the singer and leader, but Campbell had so many memorable guitar solos. Campbell even played on Petty’s solo albums too. After Petty’s death in 2017, Campbell has been keeping busy. In addition to joining Fleetwood Mac in 2018, he formed his own band The Dirty Knobs, who now go by Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs. I got to review their 2020 debut Wreckless Abandon. Campbell actually formed the band while he was in The Heartbreakers but never recorded with them until that debut. Since then, they released a follow up in 2022 with External Combustion. Separate from Dirty Knobs, I was also lucky enough to get the 2022 live release Live at the Fillmore 1997 from the Heartbreakers and my album review was actually quoted on The Heartbreakers website for the album! But I digress. This week sees the release of the third album from The Dirty Knobs' Vagabonds, Virgins and Misfits.

album cover

new album cover looks a little like The Heartbreakers' "Don't Come Around Here No More" music video with Campbell 2nd from right front row.

Since the last album there's been some lineup changes. Drummer Matt Laug left to join AC/DC for their tour and was replaced by former Heartbreaker Steve Ferrone. Guitarist Jason Sinay was replaced by Chris Holt (Don Henley). They joined bassist Lance Morrison and singer/guitarist Campbell. This album also features appearances from Graham Nash, Lucinda Williams, Chris Stapleton and best of all former Heartbreaker Benmont Tench. That makes three Heartbreakers on one album!

This album's got that trademark blues-rock sound they delved into on the debut. It reminded me of ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Texas blues bands. Even though Campbell himself is a native of Florida, I heard more of a Southwestern vibe than a Southern vibe. There's some cool guests. The thing is, I wanted to like this album more than I did. Campbell is awesome and the band is tight, but it just felt like an album that was pretty good instead of pretty awesome. Maybe it's going to take a few more listens but I had high hopes.

For info on Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs

3 out of 5 stars

[davisexplainableart]

(Yeah, I admittedly rushed this one. Sorry)

September 14, 2018:

Davis (as Scorpi): Er... Okay, I think it's on, now...

*moves over to the couch that the camera is pointing directly at*

Davis: Uh, hi there, everyone. It's uh... me, Davis. So, I'm sure you're all probably wondering what is going on... Well, erm...

.......

Davis: O-Okay, let me explain. So, obviously, I'm currently stuck as a penguin in the Cartoon World, and I'm not able to speak English as one. Well, I decided that... that I could try to interact with you guys, seeing as I'm able to speak again... a-as a Mixel.

.........

Davis: N-Now don't worry, Tommy and Tara aren't being replaced. They're... they're still hosting in the Cartoon World... but they... hopefully aren't aware of this. I mean, there's not that many people that I'd... feel like telling about this whole Mixels thing... towards...

Flare (offscreen, holding the mic): *Ahem*

Davis: Oh right, um... well I uh... think it's time to get back to tonight's Stick Friends now... y-yeah....

================================================

Okay, so what the heck is this supposed to be, exactly?

As I stated in that segment, in the cartoon world, I had been stuck as a penguin that was unable to speak any language (besides penguin noises). I had been stuck as a penguin since January 2018, and I didn't get my old body back until 2 years later (January 2020).

Luckily, since I had access to the Mixels' dimension through Scorpi's body (don't worry, I don't think he minded), I was actually able to speak in my normal voice (despite Scorpi only being able to make squeaking noises).

So, because some of the Mixels were familiar with TV production, I decided to ask a few to get involved and film live segments for Fridays in the Mixels dimension.

At first, however, everything was pretty much improvised. I didn't use a script until a few months later (I think it was November), I often missed cues because I wasn't paying attention to the time, and I didn't even have a studio until February 1, 2019. Initially, I just filmed in the Spikels' tribe base, sitting on a couch.

I remember thinking that none of the Fridays crew in the main Cartoon World were aware of me doing this. That was until January 29, 2021 when I was told that they knew the whole time.

Naturally, many were upset with my addition for obvious reasons (lack of studio, no script, me being lazy, etc.).

Luckily, we began to pick things up around January/February 2019:

We got our own studio for the show, which was almost identical to the original studio from the Powerhouse Era, all the way down to the transporter they had during that Era.

With the studio, we were able to bring on an audience, just like in the Cartoon World.

On February 8, 2019, I brought on a co-host in the form of Chao (AKA that Cragster+Zorch lookalike with brown hair). She would stay for the rest of the block's run.

We quickly got a much bigger crew to help us out.

Also, If I'm being honest, another reason I did this was because of things falling apart.

2018 wasn't the best year for Fridays, with production nearly being cancelled twice.

The 1st was due to us constantly skipping weeks. This warning came about in March of that year, after a 4-week period without any Fridays shows.

The next warning came around August or September, due to the cast and crew not doing much other than say when a show was next or whatever, that or just making normal conversation with each other. This issue had started around late 2017, but had gotten worse by fall 2018.

Ultimately, this Mixels thing, though disliked, ended up being one of the factors that helped save Fridays.

I'm mainly bringing this up because there are some segments from the Mixels dimension that I'd like to share with you guys this month.

[tenaflyviper]

Is it all right to ask for recommendations?

I've started dipping my toes into horror over the last few years, after avoiding it entirely for the longest time. I think what had been putting me off is tons of on-screen gore and brutality that I had been hearing about in the context of series like Friday the 13th, Halloween, Saw, etc. What got me interested in horror, what draws me in, is the psychological aspect of horror. My favorite for this is still the Babadook, but I also enjoyed Bird Box.

Basically, I'd like to find more media that avoids excessive gore and physical suffering, and focuses more on psychological horror.

I had not anticipated just how tricky of a task this was going to be! Many of the films we consider classic psychological horror delve into body horror in some form (Jacob's Ladder, Altered States, Audition, or any David Cronenberg or David Lynch film), or they may not be excessive, but still possess a little gore (like Long Weekend or Wake in Fright--the latter of which was cut from this list due to unfortunately featuring real scenes of kangaroo and rabbit hunting. Without those, it would have made a great addition).

Because of this, there will be some much older films in here, but give them a chance--they are classics in filmmaking. Also, some of these may not sound like psychological horror/thriller, but I tried to be very thorough in making sure they qualified.

I utilized "Does the Dog Die?" and parent resources to try to make sure each listing was acceptable. Apologies if I somehow missed anything!

M (1931) (more a crime thriller than horror, but a classic!)

Dead of Night (1945)

Isle of the Dead (aka Isle of the Snake People) (1946)

Les Diaboliques (1955)

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Peeping Tom (1960) (highly recommended!!)

Psycho (1960)

The Innocents (1961)

Cape Fear (1962)

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Kwaidan (1964)

Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)

Repulsion (1965) (I didn't want to add this one because of Polanski, but it keeps popping up, and it definitely fits what you're looking for)

Twisted Nerve (1968) (mild)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) (mild)

Don't Look Now (1973) (mild)

Carrie (1976)

Someone's Watching Me! (1978)

Next of Kin (1982) (mild)

The Stepfather (1987)

Pin (1988) (mild)

The Vanishing (aka Spoorloos) (1988) (mild)

301, 302 (1995) (WARNING: Very brief dismemberment with blood; sexual assault scene; themes of eating disorders and cannibalism. However, all of this is rated very low on the parental guide and DtDD, and the film is mainly about the relationship between these two women who are apartment neighbors)

Perfect Blue (1997) (is it okay if it's animated?)

Pi (1998) (mild - a bloodless (iirc) piece of brain randomly sitting in a subway, and a very brief shot of someone beginning to drill into their head. Not graphic. More of a thriller, but highly recommended.)

Ringu (1998) (mostly offscreen, or implied)

The Nameless (1999)

Tomie (1999) (mild) (ignore the listed title--this is the first Tomie)

Frailty (2001) (mild--most is offscreen)

Pulse (2001) (WARNING: Suicide by hanging)

The Ring (2002)

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) (blood and surface injuries, but not much gore; a bird has its neck snapped)

The Uninvited Guest (2004)

Triangle (2009) (one neck stabbing; ableism)

Devil (2010)

Take Shelter (2011)

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012) (more comedy than horror, but still noteworthy)

Compliance (2012) (WARNING: Non-graphic sexual assault)

Borgman (2013) (mild)

Coherence (2013)

Creep (2014)

The Childhood of a Leader (2015)

The Invitation (2015)

Personal Shopper (2016) (mild - no violent acts onscreen, but one scene of the aftermath)

Under the Shadow (2016)

Get Out (2017) (blood on clothes, but mild gore)

Thelma (2017)

Possum (2018) (WARNING: Child abuse/assault is mentioned; spider imagery)

Ma (2019)

There were a lot of others that sounded good that I had to shoot down due to being unsure of the gore content, but perhaps I can make a separate list for those later, and anyone who's seen them can weigh in on them.

Anyway,

Enjoy!

[watashawa]

Biden Family

Copied and pasted:

Here is a story you don't want to miss!!!!

Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia, had three children: Hunter, Beau and Naomi.

In 1972, Neilia and Naomi, died in a car accident. Joe eventually married a woman named Jill (his current wife).

He already knew her because she had been Hunter's babysitter at the time of the car accident. (Yeah, THAT seems normal- marry the babysitter). They had a daughter named Ashley. Ashley lives 'a quiet life' and is frequently in and out of rehab for various substance abuse issues.

Now sadly, the sanest, most normal one of the 3 surviving kids, Beau, dies in 2015 from a brain tumor. He had been married to Haillie and they had 2 children, a boy and a girl named Natalie, who was 11 yrs old when her dad died.

Enter Hunter Biden, in 2015, to "comfort" his brother's widow. Mind you, Hunter is married at the time, to Kathleen Biden, since 1993. He starts screwing around with his dead brother's wife in 2015...his wife Kathleen finds out about it and they separate. Hunter moves in with his dead brother's wife, Haillie,and her two kids and they have a grand old time. He ultimately gets divorced from Kathleen in 2017. Meanwhile, he starts screwing around with a stripper,  while still shacking up with his dead brother's wife, before his divorce is finalized, and gets the stripper pregnant. Haillie kicks his butt to the curb supposedly for this indiscretion in 2018. He denies the stripper's baby is his, although a paternity test proves otherwise and eventually marries a woman named Melissa in 2019 after knowing her for 6 days...

Does the tale end there? Why no, no it doesn't.

That just sets the stage...

Enter the laptop from hell...loaded with emails, text messages, photos, child pornography,  videos, and other sordid digital images of drug use and rampant weirdness....

Hunter Biden dropped the laptop off in Delaware, his home state, to get it repaired. It seems he dropped it in some water while in a meth-induced state of mind. He then neglected to pay the $85.00 repair fee and the laptop became the repair shop owner's property for non-payment. When the owner saw what was on it, he was ao disturbed that he contacted the FBI. No response. The DOJ? No response. Eventually, it landed in Rudy Giuliani's possession and he turned it over to the Delaware State Police AFTER making 4 copies of the hard drive. Turns out, there's quite a lot of child pornography on there...much of it involving children on Hunter's many trips to China. The Chinese Communist Party uses this as a blackmail tactic... They supply the young girls, they film you, unknowingly, and then they can keep you "in line", while paying you the big $$$ to do their bidding, like lucrative deals with your VP father.

Millions of dollars were paid to Hunter Biden for favors with the US Govt while Joe Biden was VP under Obama.

For 8 years Hunter made the contacts and split the money with his father, referred to as the "Big Guy" in all emails detailing how their ill gotten gains would be split up amongst all the criminals involved.

Joe Biden sold out his country and used his meth head son to do it. ...

But, IT GETS WORSE. Today, on the laptop, emails were released between Beau Biden's widow, Haillie, and Joe Biden in 2017 and more in 2018 when she and Hunter were still living together. They were casually talking about the continual "sexually inappropriate behavior" she had witnessed from Hunter toward her 14 year old daughter, Natalie, HIS NIECE!..

She told Joe that she felt she had put her children in a dangerous situation by getting involved with Hunter Biden. Joe knew his son was screwing around with his niece and he advised his daughter-in-law to go to therapy.....No one went to the police and the abuse escalated. THAT is the main reason she broke off her relationship with Hunter. Among the pictures of Hunter having sex with young Asian children, there were hundreds of provocative pictures of a 14 year old girl, mainly topless, and hundreds more of Hunter Biden, in sexual poses with her, HIS NIECE. She was 14 yrs old and HE WAS 48!!

BOTTOM LINE: ANY MAN WHO CAN'T TAKE CARE OF HIS OWN HOUSE, HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

THE END.....but, is it? Nope. Rudy says there is more to come, primarily involving Joe Biden getting rich off laundering foreign money through our country, using his son as intermediary. Biden is as dirty and crooked as they come. Hillary looks clean compared to him. Now it makes sense why Obama REFUSED to endorse him as the DNC candidate until he was the last man standing!

More to come...

Dear God, how much worse can this get?

[sixgunslinger]

Copied and pasted:

Here is a story you don't want to miss!!!!

Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia, had three children: Hunter, Beau and Naomi.

In 1972, Neilia and Naomi, died in a car accident. Joe eventually married a woman named Jill (his current wife).

He already knew her because she had been Hunter's babysitter at the time of the car accident. (Yeah, THAT seems normal- marry the babysitter). They had a daughter named Ashley. Ashley lives 'a quiet life' and is frequently in and out of rehab for various substance abuse issues.

Now sadly, the sanest, most normal one of the 3 surviving kids, Beau, dies in 2015 from a brain tumor. He had been married to Haillie and they had 2 children, a boy and a girl named Natalie, who was 11 yrs old when her dad died.

Enter Hunter Biden, in 2015, to "comfort" his brother's widow. Mind you, Hunter is married at the time, to Kathleen Biden, since 1993. He starts screwing around with his dead brother's wife in 2015...his wife Kathleen finds out about it and they separate. Hunter moves in with his dead brother's wife, Haillie,and her two kids and they have a grand old time. He ultimately gets divorced from Kathleen in 2017. Meanwhile, he starts screwing around with a stripper, while still shacking up with his dead brother's wife, before his divorce is finalized, and gets the stripper pregnant. Haillie kicks his butt to the curb supposedly for this indiscretion in 2018. He denies the stripper's baby is his, although a paternity test proves otherwise and eventually marries a woman named Melissa in 2019 after knowing her for 6 days...

Does the tale end there? Why no, no it doesn't.

That just sets the stage...

Enter the laptop from hell...loaded with emails, text messages, photos, child pornography, videos, and other sordid digital images of drug use and rampant weirdness....

Hunter Biden dropped the laptop off in Delaware, his home state, to get it repaired. It seems he dropped it in some water while in a meth-induced state of mind. He then neglected to pay the $85.00 repair fee and the laptop became the repair shop owner's property for non-payment. When the owner saw what was on it, he was ao disturbed that he contacted the FBI. No response. The DOJ? No response. Eventually, it landed in Rudy Giuliani's possession and he turned it over to the Delaware State Police AFTER making 4 copies of the hard drive. Turns out, there's quite a lot of child pornography on there...much of it involving children on Hunter's many trips to China. The Chinese Communist Party uses this as a blackmail tactic... They supply the young girls, they film you, unknowingly, and then they can keep you "in line", while paying you the big $$$ to do their bidding, like lucrative deals with your VP father.

Millions of dollars were paid to Hunter Biden for favors with the US Govt while Joe Biden was VP under Obama.

For 8 years Hunter made the contacts and split the money with his father, referred to as the "Big Guy" in all emails detailing how their ill gotten gains would be split up amongst all the criminals involved.

Joe Biden sold out his country and used his meth head son to do it. ...

But, IT GETS WORSE. Today, on the laptop, emails were released between Beau Biden's widow, Haillie, and Joe Biden in 2017 and more in 2018 when she and Hunter were still living together. They were casually talking about the continual "sexually inappropriate behavior" she had witnessed from Hunter toward her 14 year old daughter, Natalie, HIS NIECE!..

She told Joe that she felt she had put her children in a dangerous situation by getting involved with Hunter Biden. Joe knew his son was screwing around with his niece and he advised his daughter-in-law to go to therapy.....No one went to the police and the abuse escalated. THAT is the main reason she broke off her relationship with Hunter. Among the pictures of Hunter having sex with young Asian children, there were hundreds of provocative pictures of a 14 year old girl, mainly topless, and hundreds more of Hunter Biden, in sexual poses with her, HIS NIECE. She was 14 yrs old and HE WAS 48!!

BOTTOM LINE: ANY MAN WHO CAN'T TAKE CARE OF HIS OWN HOUSE, HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

THE END.....but, is it? Nope. Rudy says there is more to come, primarily involving Joe Biden getting rich off laundering foreign money through our country, using his son as intermediary. Biden is as dirty and crooked as they come. Hillary looks clean compared to him. Now it makes sense why Obama REFUSED to endorse him as the DNC candidate until he was the last man standing!

More to come...

Dear God, how much worse can this get?

COPY AND PASTED.

[vuljoseph]

PORTUGUÊS: Eu voltei, e voltei com os headcnons sobre ShinArthur pais!!!

Esses headcanons envolvem principalmente um personagem original meu, o nome dele é Keith Kusakabe. Antes de tudo, peço encarecidamente para NÃO USAR O KEITH EM SEUS TRABALHOS, OU ALGUM DESSES HEADCANONS ENVOLVENDO ELE SEM A MINHA PERMISSÃO!! TAMBEM NÃO REPOSTE A IMAGEM DO POST SEM PERMISSÃO! A arte em questão veio diretamente do meu Twitter, se quiser me dar um biscoito lá, você pode.

E bem, sim, Keith é assexual, eu decidi isso porque eu precisava criar um O.C assexual e projetar nele minhas vivencias.

Escolhi ele por puro favoritismo que tenho com ele por ser o meu bebe ShinArthur, e que eu amo MUITO!! Durante essa epoca horrivel da pandemia do covid-19, eu fiquei meio "presa" nesses headcanons envolvendo o Keith, já que eu o criei perto do final de 2019 e tudo mais. Fire Force me ajuda a lidar com meus problemas desde 2018, eu me apeguei muito a obra e a ShinArthur por conta disso. Durante a pandemia, foi Fire Force que não me deixou perder o controle, eu sou Brasileira, e dado ao estado do meu país foi dificil não perder o controle. Eu tenho uma relação afetiva com a obra do Ohkubo-sensei muito grande e está sendo importante compartilhar isso com alguem fora da minha bolha!!!

HORA DOS HEADCANONS!!

1- Keith foi encontrado abandonado no meio de um incêndio nas instalações de Haijima, com diversos infernais. Foi o Shinra quem o encontrou chorando debaixo de alguns escombros, ele teve a sensação de que pode ouvir o choro do bebe através do Adolla Link. Shinra pode sentir que o bebe deveria ser dele e de Arthur, mas ele tinha medo de que se tivesse um filho, a criança sofresse a mesma exclusão que ele sofreu.

2- Arthur quem insistiu para que eles adotassem Keith, em partes porquê o bebe só parava de chorar se tivesse no colo de um dos dois, mas também porquê ele se viu na situação em que o Keith estava. Arthur havia sido abandonado também, e não poderia fazer com aquele bebe o mesmo que haviam feito com ele.

(E também porquê ele e Shinra cuidaram do bebê por uns dias antes da decisão, e Arthur ficou extremamente encantado com a visão de Shinra dormindo na cama junto do bebe. Esse foi o motivo principal)

3- Arthur escolheu o nome Keith para o bebê, já que Keith significa "floresta dos ventos" ou "lugar ventoso" , o primeiro significado fisgou o Arthur por conta do primeiro kanji do nome do Shinra que também significa "floresta". Arthur achou perfeito, já que Keith o lembrava de Shinra de forma quase sobrenatural, apesar dos olhos azuis.

4- Shinra foi quem se apegou ao Keith mais rápido, apesar do medo que ele tinha de ser pai por conta de seu passado. Cuidar do bebe acabou o lembrando de Sho, quando ele era bebe e deixou Shinra extremamente nostálgico, mas também deu para ele uma vontade muito grande de ter uma família com Arthur.

5- Shinra já se desesperou a ponto de começar a chorar porquê o Keith teve febre, e ele tava sozinho em casa com ele e nada do Arthur voltar da farmácia com o remédio.

6- Shinra fez o primeiro aniversário do Keith com tema de super herói, e o Arthur ficou triste porquê o Shinra não deixou ele vestir o Keith de bebe cavaleiro, mas ele ficou muito mais feliz porquê o Keith ficou adorável de Spider-man.

7- Arthur e Shinra passaram a brigar muito no começo , mas brigar de verdade, não como no anime que eram discussões leves. Eles só pararam porquê graças a deus tiveram inteligência emocional suficiente para ver que isso afetava principalmente o Keith, que ficava irritadiço e não queria comer quando eles brigavam. Eles tiveram que aprender a se comunicar melhor, e que se um fizer algo que o outro não gosta é pra eles sentarem e conversarem. Isso melhorou bastante a relação deles, e o Keith também ficou bem melhor e menos irritado.

8- A primeira palavra do Keith foi "anjo", porquê depois do casamento o Arthur passou a chamar o Shinra de anjo e de anjinho. E de tanto ver o Arthur chamando o Shinra assim, o Keith acabou aprendendo.

9- Quando o Keith tinha um ano e seis meses, o Shinra e o Arthur saíram e deixaram ele sob a responsabilidade do Sho, que entrou em colapso em menos de duas horas porquê não aguentava mais ver desenho infantil.

10- Keith nunca havia chamado Sho de "tio" só de Sho, e na primeira vez que ele chamou ele de "tio Sho" ele começou a chorar. Arthur filmou tudo e mandou pro Shinra que também ficou emocionado.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENGLISH: I came back, and I came back with the headcnons on ShinArthur parents !!!

These headcanons mainly involve an original character of mine, his name is Keith Kusakabe. First of all, I kindly ask you NOT TO USE KEITH IN YOUR WORKS, OR SOME OF THESE HEADCANONS INVOLVING IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION !! ALSO DO NOT RESET THE POST IMAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION! The art in question came directly from my Twitter, if you want to give me a cookie there, you can.

And well, yes, Keith is asexual, I decided this because I needed to create an asexual O.C and project my experiences on him. I chose him out of pure favoritism that I have with him for being my baby ShinArthur, and that I love SO MUCH !! During this horrible time of the covid-19 pandemic, I was kind of "stuck" in these headcanons involving Keith, since I created him towards the end of 2019 and everything. Fire Force helps me deal with my problems since 2018, I got really attached to the work and ShinArthur because of that. During the pandemic, it was Fire Force that did not let me lose control, I am Brazilian, and given the situation on my country it was difficult not to lose control. I have a very affective relationship with Ohkubo-sensei's work and it's been important to share this with someone outside my bubble !!

HEADCANON TIMES!!

1- Keith was found abandoned in the middle of a fire at the Haijima facility, with several infernals. It was Shinra who found him crying under some rubble, he had the feeling that he could hear the baby's cry through Adolla Link. Shinra may feel that the baby should be his and Arthur's, but he was afraid that if he had a child, the child would suffer the same exclusion that he suffered.

2- Arthur who insisted that they adopt Keith, in part because the baby would only stop crying if he was in the lap of one of the two, but also because he found himself in the situation that Keith was in. Arthur had been abandoned too, and he couldn't do the same thing to that baby as they did to him. (And also why he and Shinra took care of the baby for a few days before the decision, and Arthur was extremely delighted by the sight of Shinra sleeping in the bed next to the baby. That was the main reason)

3- Arthur chose the name Keith for the baby, since Keith means "windy forest" or "windy place", the first meaning hooked Arthur on account of Shinra's first kanji which also means "forest". Arthur thought it was perfect, since Keith reminded him of Shinra almost supernaturally, despite his blue eyes.

4- Shinra was the one who got attached to Keith faster, despite the fear that he had to be a father because of his past. Taking care of the baby ended up reminding him of Sho, when he was a baby and left Shinra extremely nostalgic, but it also gave him a great desire to have a family with Arthur.

5- Shinra already despaired to the point of crying because Keith had a fever, and he was alone at home with him and no Arthur came back from the pharmacy with the medicine.

6- Shinra made Keith's first birthday with a superhero theme, and Arthur was sad because Shinra didn't let him dress Keith as a baby knight, but he was much happier because Keith was adorable for Spider-man.

7- Arthur and Shinra started to fight a lot in the beginning, but really fight, not like in the anime that were light discussions. They only stopped because, thank God, they had enough emotional intelligence to see that it mainly affected Keith, who was irritable and didn't want to eat when they fought. They had to learn to communicate better, and that if one does something that the other does not like, it is for them to sit and talk. This greatly improved their relationship, and Keith was also much better and less irritated.

8- Keith's first word was "angel", because after the wedding Arthur started to call Shinra an angel and an sweet angel. And from seeing Arthur calling Shinra that much, Keith ended up learning.

9- When Keith was one year and six months old, Shinra and Arthur left and left him under the responsibility of Sho, who collapsed in less than two hours because he couldn't stand to see children's cartoons anymore.

10- Keith had never called Sho "uncle" only from Sho, and the first time he called him "Uncle Sho" he started to cry. Arthur filmed everything and sent it to Shinra who was also moved.

[queen-of-films]

Marvel Women in Red Corsets: Is it Simply a Male Gaze or Feminist Statement?

In light of recent Women-Led Marvel films, I noticed a fashion streak of red and corsets. As many of us know, superhero films are commonly made by men, even films with a woman protagonist. I grew up watching powered women on-screen, I was even convinced that a superhero film focused on a woman was feminist which may not always be the case. Some Marvel films with powered women are criticized for catering to the male gaze (how the women are presented on-screen). While others may see the trend of red as a bold feminist statement.

1. Jennifer Gardner as Elektra in Elektra (2005)

I loved watching Elektra as a kid as much as I love her red outfit. It took me a while to realize what Jennifer Gardner was actually wearing which was a red corset and satin red pants; to be honest I was more focused on her twin swai swords.

2. Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Dark Phoenix in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

I also was not aware that Famke Jassen was wearing a corset. Mainly because when Jean Grey wears her red cloak it was a symbol of her transformation into the dark phoenix. It's only in this shot we are able to see her cloak open, revealing her corset and the nature of her destructive powers.

3. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in Civil War (2016), Infinity War (2018), and Endgame (2019)

Scarlet Witch was already a badass superhero/villain, but Elizabeth Olsen's performance and outfits will make people remember Wanda in the MCU if they hadn't known her already. There's a slight shift in Wanda's outfit; she's known to wear red because it's her emblem color as is Elektra's and Dark Phoenix's. In her first appearance in Age of Ultron Wanda wore a red leather jacket with a black dress with some ripped black tights. I thought wow this woman is a mixture of punk and goth and I thought it awesome. As Wanda's powers become more enhanced we still see her with a red leather jacket, but with a corset. And just like Jean Grey's transformation into Dark Phoenix, we see Wanda in a witchy' attire in endgame when she attacks Thanos.

Overall, one might point out that the choice of red corsets could simply be a male gaze tactic since these films were directed by men. But, these three women wield ultimate power and strength that is meant to be threatening and empowering. It's bold to say that the fashion trend of red and corsets is feminist, after all, corsets have a history of making women feel bound by the patriarchy. But in contemporary society, women now own the corset, and in my opinion, Elektra, Dark Phoenix, and Scarlet Witch are owning their corsets.

[xxitsxbillxhaderxnationxx]

Y’all I’m over it!! 🤨

FIRST DON’T COME AT ME FOR THIS POST. I repeat DO NOT come at me for this post. This is mainly a heads up to those lunatics who want to throw around false accusations of dating a celebrity like #BillHader (this is also happening to I believe Matthew Perry and Ben Afleck, only their situation is much worse).

I woke up this morning to a bunch of rumors that #BillHader may have been dating someone during the filming of IT2 and someone matched with a girl who claimed to have dated him 🤨

1st off, who cares and 2nd when would he have had the time to date? 2018 was a busy year for him. Let’s take a look shall we;

First, we have Barry. He was doing a lot of Press and Promo for Barry S1, alongside working on S2 plus spending as much time as he can with his girls knowing he wasn’t going to see them much during the summer. (Aw sad 😞).

Second, he was in the middle of a divorce. He separated from Maggie in July 2017 (estimated). Then he filed for divorce in Oct/Nov 2017 (estimated). They finalized their agreement in June 2018 (this is public knowledge by the way) a mere few weeks before getting on a plane to Toronto, Ontario for IT2. He also hosted SNL in March 2018.

Third, he was in Toronto for 2 1/2 months (estimated) filming, then he left in the second week of August (estimated). He wrapped up the promo for Barry S1. Then they started filming S2 in late August/early September 2018.

Fourthly, he had another busy year in 2019, with promoting Barry S2, IT2 and Noelle (plus or minus a few other projects).

Finally, he did have a confirmed relationship from Oct 2019 - July 2020 (ewe); but it was another celebrity (yeah we all know her name, not worth repeating).

Okay let’s recap, he was (supposedly) single from (roughly) July 2017 - (roughly) October 2019, then he had a relationship (ewe) that started in (roughly) October 2019 - (roughly) July 2020. Now he is supposedly single as of May 2021.

So, to the ladies claiming to have dated Bill Hader, explain to me how the hell he managed being your boyfriend with his busy schedule? We are also still in a pandemic. I’m sure Bill is still limiting his time in public to when it’s absolutely necessary. We know he doesn’t frequent bars (he did mention that he’s not much of a drinker) and I doubt he’s on dating apps (remember, he doesn’t have ANY social media). Also I’m sure any spare time he has is spent with his three daughters.

Sorry for the rant, Hadernation. I feel it’s my duty to help defend Bill, because he doesn’t have social media and I’m sure he wouldn’t like to hear that there are crazies spreading rumors about dating him. He’s not able to dispute it/defend himself and that makes me sad. Also reminder his FRIENDS do send him tweets from time to time. So, you really want that image going to Bill so he thinks you’re insane!? I’m just saying. The goal is to get Bill on social media not scare him away from it.

Now remember be safe on the internet. Anyone could say they are dating Bill Hader (or any celeb for that matter). I mean could easily say that I am or I have dated him before. (I’m not nor have I ever dated him, and even if I did, I still wouldn’t tell anyone for clout).

Alright? Be kind to one another and I hope you all have a great day!! 💕

[greensparty]

Green's Party Guide to the 2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films

Anyone who knows me knows I am a longtime champion of the Short Film categories for Animation, Live Action and Documentary at the Academy Awards, mainly because I have made short films and I know how hard it can be to tell a story in a short amount of time. I am very excited to continue my annual tradition of showcasing the Oscar Nominated Short Films (read the  2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 guides). 

2024 movie poster

This year’s nominated short films are available from ShortsTV both in theaters and online. I’ve watched all of them and here are my thoughts and predictions:

Best Live Action Short Film:

This year's Live Action Short Film nominees is one of the strongest collection of nominees in years! The After (U.K.) was produced by Neon Films and distributed by Netflix. In this heavy drama, after a traumatic experience with his family Dayo (played by David Oyelowo) becomes a rideshare driver and one of his jobs helps him to confront the past. Oyelowo (who also produced this film) has been excellent in a number of films including Selma and The Butler, and this is truly a showcase for him! Red, White and Blue (U.S.) was produced by Samantha Bee. In this drama, a single mother (played by Brittany Snow, another notable actress) bring her young daughter with her as she crosses state lines to get an abortion. Without getting into spoilers, it goes from a sobering to even more sobering and has a lot to say about the need for reproductive rights in all states. Knight of Fortune (Denmark) is about a man who's at a morgue to say goodbye to his suddenly deceased wife and he forms an unlikely friendship with another widower. In a category filled with heavy dramas, this one is among the heaviest, but there's also a humanity to it in showing in a very fragile state how a total strange can lend a helping hand. Invincible (Canada) is based on a true story of the last 48 hours of a 14-year-old boy's life while he's in a juvenile center. While there are some powerful moments, it does feel like at times like it's a feature being squeezed into a short. Netflix's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (U.S. / U.K.) is the most high-profile as it's from director Wes Anderson adapting from Roald Dahl and it was released on Netflix in September. Anderson had previously adapted Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox and this time he's adapted a 37 min. film but with the same scale as a feature. The film explores a variety of stories narrated by Dahl (played by Ralph Fiennes), the main story being about Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is able to predict the future and see through objects thanks to a book he stole. This one is easily the biggest budget, most star-studded and most visually impressive.

Will Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is the clear frontrunner. Wes Anderson has been Oscar-nominated in a number of other categories (Screenwriting both Original and Adapted, Animated Feature director, Directing, and producing Best Picture) and yet he has never won even though he is one of the most critically acclaimed and innovative directors working today. In some ways it is kind of unfair that an A-list director makes a short film on the scale of a feature when so many Live Action Shorts are low budget and trying to make something impressive in a short amount of time and don't have nearly the resources Anderson does to be able to get this cast, the production design and to adapt Dahl. On the other hand there's no rule that says Live Action Shorts are meant for newcomers and directors early in their career...so survival of the fittest. But something that needs to be said about this year's crop of nominees is that there's a lot of heavy drama, and this one is charming and lighter in contrast, which could steal the thunder.

Should Win: I'm going to have to say a tie. Henry Sugar is highly impressive, but Red, White and Blue stayed with me and had a twist that was devastating.

Best Animated Short Film:

This is also a great year for animated short nominees: Our Uniform (Iran) is about an Iranian girl unleashing her memories of school as she looks at her old uniform. The animation style and aesthetic is very unique. Letter to a Pig (Israel / France) is about a Holocaust survivor speaking to a classroom about how a pig saved his life and a student goes into a dream about it. This is very heavy and intense. But I do feel like animation purists are going to have an issue with the fact that is also used some live action footage interspersed with the animation. But either way, this is a very innovative approach to the subject matter. Pachyderme (France) looks at a young girl visiting her grandparents in the Summer countryside. A young female protagonist and/or a woman looking back at her younger self is a common theme in this year's nominees, but this one has some gothic and horror elements to it. Ninety-Five Senses (U.S.) is directed by Jared Hess (yes the director of Napoleon Dynamite is an Oscar-nominee) and his wife Jerusha Hess (writer with Jared on several films and Austenland). An old cowboy (played by actor/director Tim Blake Nelson) reflects on the body's five senses in his lifetime as he's about to run out of time. Let me just say I was not into Napoleon Dynamite at all, but what got my attention more than the directors was Tim Blake Nelson, an underrated actor who shines in everything he's in. I kind of liked how the animation changes within each sense Coy describes and also how it has a sense of nostalgia about the pre-digital era. WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (U.S.) got my attention immediately as I am a lifelong Beatle / John Lennon fanatic. It was co-written by Sean Ono Lennon, who also co-produced with his mom Yoko Ono. Director Dave Mullins was previously nominated in this category for Pixar's 2017 short Lou. Set during a World War I front, a pigeon carries messages between two soldiers playing chess, unaware they are on opposite sides. There is no dialogue and the music score of Pixar veteran Thomas Newman enhances the powerful anti-war message of this colorful visual feat!

In addition to the official nominees, ShortsTV is including two additional films in the Best Animated Short Film program, both of which were on the short list but did not get nominated. Wild Summon (U.K.) is narrated by Marianne Faithfull and it was produced by Oscar-winner Adam McKay. It looks at the lifecycle of the wild salmon as it looks in human form. While it is a bit long, there is a strong environmental message to it. I'm Hip (U.S.) was directed by animation veteran John Musker, who was nominated for two Oscars for Animated Feature for The Princess and the Frog and Moana. This is about a hip cat who sings a song about how hip he is to the world around him...who don't agree.

Should Win: WAR IS OVER! is the best of this year's strong crop. With the state of the world what it is right now, an anti-war message anchored by a John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas" made a very strong statement. I'm a huge fan of Sean Lennon and it'd be awesome to see him accept!

Will Win: WAR IS OVER! Not only is there the name recognition of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but the World War I setting completely driven by visuals and no dialogue will go a long way.

Best Documentary Short Film:

This is a great year for Short Docs: Nai Nai & Wài Pó (U.S. with Mandarin subtitles) was a festival hit acquired by Disney+. Director Sean Wang makes a touching and personal profile of his grandmothers who live together and dance, exercise and joke together. There is a sadness about mortality, but there's also a sense of humor to this that makes the subjects seem funnier than it would in another director's hands. The Barber of Little Rock (U.S.) is produced by Liz Garbus (a two-time Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature) and the New Yorker. In Little Rock, AR a local barber Arlo Washington has founded People Trust, a non-profit community bank fostering economic progress for underserved and underbanked residents. This doc looks at a number of people who have collaborated with People Trust (each of whom could easily be the subject of their own doc), but the through line is very much Arlo who is fighting the good fight to provide opportunities a lot of banks are not and to help the community as a whole. Island in Between  (Taiwan) is produced by the New York Times. The doc's director S. Leo Chiang reflects on his own relationship with Taiwan, United States and China from the islands of Kinmen, just off of mainland China. The cinematography is breathtaking to say the least! The ABCs of Book Banning (U.S.) was produced by MTV Documentary Films. It was co-directed by Sheila Nevins (a big doc producer and executive who is just now directing) and was co-directed by Trish Adams (a previous Oscar nominee for Best Doc Feature for GasLand) and Nazenet Habtezghi (a producer on American Experience). This looks at the topical issue of banned books from school districts in recent years. Instead of just documenting the battles and the politicians who campaigned for book banning, this doc talks with children and in some cases the authors of some of the banned books. This is very thought-provoking and lends itself to a longer conversation after the film is over. The act of saying a book cannot be read in a school district raises bigger issues and concerns about intent and prejudice. By the end of the film, I truly wished we could force Desantis and his staff to watch this! The Last Repair Shop  (U.S.) was produced by L.A. Times and distributed by Disney+ and it was co-directed by Kris Bowers and Ben Proudfoot, who are veterans in this category having been nominated A Concerto is a Conversation at the 2021 Oscars and Ben won for last year's The Queen of Basketball. Here Proudfoot and Bowers (an accomplished music composer for numerous films) look at Los Angeles, one of the few cities that offer to repair music instruments for the public school students at no cost. The doc looks at the repair shop, but more specifically the four craftspeople who specialize in these instruments as well as the students who play them. This is very much a doc that pulls at the heartstrings. But what I loved about this is that it is really an analogy about how music can be something that brings people of all walks of life together to make something beautiful.

Should Win: Some highly impressive docs in this category this year, but The ABC's of Book Banning made the strongest statement. But do not discount The Last Repair Shop, also about the need for art in our society.

Will Win: This could go any number of ways, but the fact that The Last Repair Shop is now on Disney+ and was broadcast on ABC-TV, definitely raises its profile significantly. The fact that it was a bigger budget doc with a sweet message is going to go a long way too!

This year's Oscar Nominated Short Films can be seen online from ShortsTV as well as select movie theaters including programs at Coolidge Corner Theatre and Landmark Kendall Square Cinema.

[thosch3i]

So here's my personal ranking of DMBJ adaptations, thanks @mejomonster for the idea :D

(but psst first if anyone seeing this post haven't seen it already, there's an interest check for a pingxie gift exchange! over here.)

1. Ultimate Note (2020)

So I wrote a long ass post about UN here, where I mainly talk about the Iron Triangle because they're the heart of DMBJ and their relationship is what makes or breaks an adaptation for me, all else equal. But thankfully UN also has good pacing, faithfulness to the original story (and honestly a smoother and less confusing way of portraying it, but thats not saying much), no exceptionally cringy added romance plot lines, female characters treated as well as they can be given they were fridged in the source material, and a cast and crew with a deep appreciation and love for the characters and story, making the most of what they could with a tiny budget and no promotion. (UN is now the most highly-rated DMBJ adaptation on douban!) The main cast is a bit green, no doubt, but the longer it goes on the better they get. (If you scroll through my #translation tag far enough you'll find stuff XYL and ZSX have said about their characters. XYL especially, really understands Zhang Qiling and I will always respect him for that, which is why he's my favorite Xiaoge.) I'm just eternally sad about the ending and that there probably won't be a S2 for the main story finale because NPSS won't sell the rights again.

2. The Lost Tomb 2 (2019)

Before UN came out, this was my favorite Iron Triangle. The Pangzi and Xiaoge friendship was also super cute here! A sorely underrated friendship, for sure. And I absolutely adore TLT2 Xiao Hua. He and UN Xiuxiu would make a great team. The entirety of the first half (undersea tomb) was remarkably true to the source material (despite being unnecessarily draggy at points), and I do like that they made the Bronze Tree arc more of an Iron Triangle thing than a Wu Xie solo mission like in the novel. But uh, the second half of this drama was just...really confusing lol with so many long shots of them trudging through snow endlessly. But it's a cute Pingxie and Iron Triangle. (Saw someone once say TLT2 is the fluffy Pingxie but UN is the angsty Pingxie, which......accurate tbh.) But...man...will TLT2.5 (Heavenly Palace) ever be released from jail ;;;;;; its supposedly already filmed (different cast) but can't air for...legal reasons? idk? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

3. Time Raiders (2016)

A wacky movie that makes no logical sense whatsoever but God it was such a fun, wild watch lmao. Pingxie were so unnecessarily gay in this, and also TLT2 Pangzi is great as always. I liked A-Ning being a total badass as well. Movie gets a bit sad when you realize there's a deleted scene canonizing the movie as book!Wu Xie's wishful thinking and fanciful story he told because he misses his friends. In reality, Pan Zi and A-Ning are dead, his San-shu is missing, and he doesn't know if he'll see Xiaoge again (which is why TR!WX is always taking photos of him, I'd say).

4. Qinling Sacred Tree Donghua (2021)

So uh this still doesn't have official English subs (you can find it on a streaming site somewhere but I can't vouch for translation quality). But it's a pretty faithful adaptation of the Bronze Tree arc, but with a slight twist to make Xiaoge more relevant. (I'm still squinting at Liang-shiye.) Still largely a Wu Xie and Lao Yang duo mission, though. But the scenery in the donghua is gorgeous and the food looks really good too...and, like, it's a good and solid adaptation. I just wish it had been an Iron Triangle adventure 😅

5. Sha Hai (2018)

Qin Hao is an amazing Sha Hai Wu Xie. I love him, and the fact that ZSX posted a photo with him ;;;;;;;; my favorite Wu Xies ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (fun fact: to this day, QH's Weibo pfp is of himself as Wu Xie!) But anyway. Yeah I mostly just love Wu Xie here and everything he's gone through and turned himself into now that Xiaoge is gone. There are several UN parallels because they were done by the same company (which is also why a lot of the actors are the same). Unfortunately, the whole plot was....??????? and I wasn't a fan of any of the romances, or any of the side characters in general 😅 Skipped...so much of it lol. Why did they do *gestures vaguely at the entire show* Man at least they had Three Days of Silence. Small mercies.

6. The Lost Tomb 1 (2015)

They did Pangzi so dirty, I'm sorry sweetheart. That aside, the OCs were also a big ?????? and the fact that they had the iconic Iron Triangle hotel fight so early...WITHOUT THE FULL IRON TRIANGLE????????? But TLT1 Pingxie were literally a case of love at first sight soulmates so that was sweet. Also the blood feeding. Nice 👌 This Xiaoge is probably what most of the tomb-robbing world (or very casual dmbj fans ig lmao) see when they think of Zhang Qiling: aloof, mysterious, terrifyingly strong, (and kinda 2000s emo-boy-looking for some reason???)

7. The Lost Tomb Reboot (2020)

Confusingly wild deviations from the original story, really cringy romances + fridged women, and unnecessarily dragged out plot aside, I just wasn't feeling the Iron Triangle in this one 😅 Nor was I a fan of the treatment of Xiaoge. (He was stolen from his mother as a baby and abused by the Zhang family ever since, used as a convenient bloodbag to get around tombs and he didn't even understand he was a human being with a heart who could want things until he met his mother again in Three Days of Silence, where he finally regained the "heart" given to him by his mother that the Zhang family had taken from him...and then the first thing he experienced was the loss of his mother. I think this was the only canonical instance of him crying. After that, he lived a life full of mostly loss and more trauma, being kidnapped, kept naked in a basket, and used as zombie bait when he lost his memories...and knowing all this about his past, Pangzi tells him to use his blood in a tomb, enthusiastically, without hesitation. Like...you don't tell your best friend to cut himself because you think his blood might be useful. Especially not your best friend who you know in his past has been abused just like that since birth by his blood-related "family".) I do, however, think all the actors did amazing jobs with what they were given and are very talented. The effects were also good and the music is fantastic too. I don't think I need to praise Z1L's acting because everyone knows how good he is, and he pulled off that hallucination scene where he saw Xiaoge die for him just beautifully 👌 And Xiaoge smiles! Also very cute.

So yeah that's all the adaptations I've seen! It's past 1:30am so I'm a bit rambly but 🤪🤪🤪