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room666 · 8 years

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Top 10 Memorable Scenes Of 2016

Along with great films comes sometimes ever greater scenes. This year I broke down 10 of my favorite. These are all my personal favorite and are on this list because I haven’t stopped thinking about them since I saw them in the dark room with the giant shining light where I do my worship. These scenes are Heaven and film is God.

10. Morris From America (Car Ride) Of all the films I saw this year, Morris From America was one of the best surprises. Chad Hartigan’s coming of age tale about a young American boy growing up in Germany with his single father played brilliantly by Craig Robinson is the perfect examination of the loneliness of growing up and being grown up. In a key scene from the film Morris, played by Markees Christmas, has gone out of town with some new friends and gets stranded when he no longer wants to follow the group and starts getting taunted. His father has to come pick him up and the car ride in which Robinsons character explains to Morris all about his own loneliness and sense of sadness with being out of place in Germany is a beautiful revelation for both characters. It’s one of the best things Craig Robinson has done. The sadness and loneliness that we all feel but never can convey is brought out wonderfully in this conversation. As children we assume our parents could never understand our loneliness and as parents we aren’t sure how to connect with our kids but this scene shows that conversations can move mountains and break down barriers.

9. American Honey ( Star Grows Up) American Honey is like if Andrea Arnold was able to capture the wild excitement and the unstable emotional state of the youth of America. Throughout the film you follow Star, played by newcomer Sasha Lane, who is a young Midwestern girl who isn’t exactly living the best life. She and her younger siblings dig through trash cans for food while she also deals with sexual advances from her absent mothers boyfriend. It’s a situation you want her to get out of but what way out is there? Star comes across a van of misfits and lowlifes lead by king rat tail, Shia LaBeouf as Jake in an unusually good performance, who go door to door selling magazines. Star joins this merry band of arm pit stains and sets off on a literal journey to self discovery. The final scene displays the group dancing around a camp fire like some tribe of young stoners who worship Rihanna and it’s a mesmerizing site. Jake and Star and the rest of the group dance around the fire and sing songs as if it’s their most natural state. Jake pulls Star to the side and hands her a little turtle. Throughout the film Jake has been giving Star gifts but it’s mostly to disguise the fact that he’s really taking more away from her. The mind games he plays with himself and her are leaving Star emotionally confused and scarred. She takes the turtle and sets it back in the lake and even taking a dip in it herself. The scene plays like a baptism of sorts, allowing Star to let go of the childish games and relationships and start to become herself, whatever that may be.The scene doesn’t guarantee that Stars life gets better or that she even learned what she needed to from her interactions with Jake and the rest of the crew but it shows one persons internal growth in a masterful way.

8. Swiss Army Man (One Last Fart) Throughout Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s brilliant Swiss Army Man you are subjected to Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse named Manny and Paul Dano as the miserable loser Hank who finds his body washed up on the shore of a random island he choose to kill him self on. After Hank uses Manny as a speed boat he ends up in the wilderness with the need to survive and the only way he can is with the help of Manny and his many uses. He can chop wood and shot bullets out of his mouth and everything else like some ummm… Multi Purpose Dude?…. NO! Like a Swiss Army Man! Throughout the film Hank displays an unhealthy obsession with a female character named Sarah, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, we only see in flashbacks or pictures. You come to find out that, even though he has a picture of her as his screen saver, Hank has actually never talked to her and has been too scared and shy to really function as a socially expectable human being. When we get to the end and Hank ends up in Sarah’s backyard and finally on a beach where he’s already been outed as an obsessive stalker he lets out a fart and declares very proudly it was him who farted and in a lesser film Sarah’s reaction would be one of Joy and maybe she would have even entertained dating him seeing that as his self discovery but not in this film. Sarah and her husband a long with the rest of the crowd gathered on the beach watch in horror and never excuse the behavior. It throws the whole idea of all you have to do is be yourself and you’ll get the girl right out the fucking window. Sarah and the audience know Hank has a problem and regardless of how whimsical and cute it is, it’s a problem and he needs help and she or any woman of your dreams for that matter isn’t the answer and shouldn’t be forced to be your savior. Hank is off but he’s growing and watching Manny smile and fart his way up the ocean waves as everyone watches in disgust and horror and Hank,who stares and smiles knowing he saved a life,was one of the funniest and heartbreaking moments I’ve seen all year.

7. The VVitch ( Unholy bond with Black Phillip) Robert Eggers delivered one of the best horror films to come out in a long time. A slow burn of a film that deals with a family living out in the woods in 1630s New England. The family is cast out of their community and forced to live out in the woods where an evil presence lurks. The Witch is about liberation. It’s about freeing yourself from the shackles of society with all their religion and rules for how one should act. It is especially a tale of liberation concerning Anya Taylor-Joy’s character Thomasin. She’s carried down by the weight of her responsibilities within her family. A role she didn’t ask for but is expected of her since she is a growing young woman. She must watch after the kids and clean the house and cook and do all the things her families religion and society has assigned to her. Throughout the film an evil lurks in the woods in the form of a witch. You know you’re in for some fucked up shit when the film starts with a naked lady cutting open a baby and bathing in its blood. You don’t see all the gory details but you get the feeling that living out in the woods in New England during the 1630s was a pretty stupid idea. The scene I want to talk about is the ending of the film. An ending that pretty much will make or break what you thought of the film up to that point. The ending in which Thomasin pledges an alliance with Black Phillip, the goat who Thomasins younger siblings claim to be the Devil earlier in the film and Thomasin brushes it off, and follows him into the woods to find a camp fire of witches laughing and screaming until all at once they start to lift towards the sky in what is one of the best visual representations of liberation I’ve seen. Now, I’m not saying this movie got me to denounce God and start worshipping the Devil but it did.

6. Jackie ( Assassination Scene )

Pablo Larrain has knocked the biopic on its head with this amazing psychological horror film and Natalie Portman gives the performance of her career playing Jacqueline Kennedy in her most vulnerable and fragile moments. The key scene in question is the sun in which this film revolves around. The assassination scene could have been done in a very exploitive and classless way in the hands of a lesser film maker. The fact that we can actually see footage of the event only adds to pressure surrounding the scene. We all pretty much have watched the film footage. It’s morbid and violent and chaotic and it satisfies the worst of our voyeuristic tendencies. This could have been done in a way that glorifies the scene as some action set piece head shot but Larrain films the scene with a real heavy grace, dropping you in the car with a loud BANG! we are chaos and panic and we’ve landed right on Jackie and you feel as she pushes and struggles with us as we tear through the scene like a bullet creating uncertainty and dread. Every awkward movement and confused look is captured perfectly in this scene and it’s like we are seeing it for the first time and really feeling the weight of it.

5. La La Land ( Traffic Jam )

The opening scene of Damien Chazelle’s spectacular film La La Land is pretty much the opening scene to your life if you live in LA. Being stuck in traffic is hell but almost everyone of those people, honking and shouting, are here because they have a dream and trying to successfully realize that dream can make life one huge traffic jam. This glorious musical sequence is made all the more spectacular by being done in what is made to look like one unbroken long take that slips and glides up down the 105 as morning commuters dance and sing as if though Los Angeles is the casting director for Hollywoods latest big budget musical. They don’t make them like this anymore and Chazelle makes the case that as long as you know what you’re doing and you have a passion for film musicals can still be relevant and fresh but still remind us of the optimism and joy of early Hollywood. The scene encompasses everything about the film. Ambition, talent, and guts. You gotta have them to make it in La La Land and you gotta have them to think you can open a film like La La Land with a musical number as ambitious as this.

4. Captain America : Civil War ( Airport Scene )

The Russo Brothers snuck into my brain and unlocked my comic book geek dreams and wildest fantasies and used that collective knowledge to create not only one of the greatest superhero films of all time but one of the all time greatest superhero film scenes ever put on screen. I can write pages and pages about this scene and every little detail that was done correctly and with such care that it made me cry but I am just going to remind you that Spider Man is the best he’s ever been on screen in his brief moments in this film. Ant- Man and Paul Rudd as Ant Man is the superhero we didn’t know we needed. HE FUCKING TURNS INTO GIANT MAN! Just go watch the scene. As a matter of fact I’m going to stop typing and you should stop reading and just GO WATCH CIVIL WAR NOW!

3. Moonlight ( End of act 1/ Closing Shot )

What can I say about Moonlight that hasn’t already been said? It’s considered one of the best films of the year and for a very good reason. This beautiful film about self discovery and connection in a world that doesn’t give you a chance to do either of those things for yourself is a master class in subtle filmmaking. Barry Jenkins creates a giant effect with small intimate moments and although he is the cook it is his main ingredients that really bring this dish together. All the actors playing the 3 stages of Chiron’s life are pitch perfect and are supported by an array of brilliant performances. One of those performances belongs to Mahershala Ali, who plays Juan the drug dealer, and gives one of the best performances of the year. The scene in question puts us at Juans home where he lives with his girlfriend, played by Janelle Monae, and it’s the end of act one. We’ve just experienced Juan coming across a young Chiron ,who was being bullied and chased by older kids, and eventually forming a bond. This bond allows young Chiron to not have to go home to his crack addict mother, played by a fantastic Naomie Harris, and use Juans place as a safe haven from her addiction and verbal abuse but what Chiron doesn’t know is that Juan is where his mother gets the drugs that are sending her and his life spinning out of control. In an emotional gut punch of a scene young Chiron walks up to Juan who is sitting at his kitchen table and asks him if he is the one who sells drugs to his mother. What follows is one of the most heartbreaking exchanges I’ve ever seen on film and Mahershala Ali as Juan quietly figuring out in his head what to tell Chiron and eventually telling him the truth is an automatic Oscar in my opinion. Juan’s reluctance to tell Chiron and his eventual feelings of disappointment and anger towards himself are all shown in Ali’s eyes and body language. He never goes for the big scene and makes it larger than life because of it.

2. The Lobster ( David picks up on the Heartless woman while biscuit woman dies on the floor next to them ) In Yorgos Lanthimo’s brilliant relationship satire we follow David, played by Colin Farrell, as he is forced to live in a hotel for 45 days because he is single and being single is outlawed and in order to avoid being turned into an animal after 45 days he must find a partner and create a relationship with them in the hotel. Sounds like every other fucking day, am I right? In this brilliant comedy our characters find love with each other by finding certain traits that each can relate to. For example, a young woman has constant nose bleeds and instead of trying to win her over with a personality, another character decides to bang his head or stab a sharp object into his nose in order to give the impression that he also has constant nose bleeds and wins her over. It’s the perfect metaphor for the way people court each other and try to win each other over with surface and artificial things like being into the same bands or having the same fashion sense. In this key scene David decides he needs to find a partner soon and that he will also need to fake something in order to find her. David finds himself being attracted to The Heartless Woman, played by Angeliki Papoulia who was also in the directors previous film Dogtooth, who is given that nickname because she is mean and has no heart. The scene that really brought this film together and makes it stand out above the rest is a scene where one of the hotel guests has just jumped out of a window in an attempt to kill herself. She lays on the floor all crippled and screaming in pain when David sees this as an opportunity to try and court the heartless woman, he walks up behind her as she sits in a hot tub not very far from the attempted suicide and say’s out loud how he hopes that the lady will die soon so that she stops screaming because it’s really disturbing his day and with that heartless statement he gets a glance from the heartless woman and from there they are a couple. It’s doomed from the start and he knows it but with the pressure on us everyday to find a partner we are willing to go against ourselves to please others and even willing to complain about a dying woman’s screams. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking and dark in ways that give me joy beyond comprehension.

1. Green Room ( Patrick Stewart vs. Anton Yelchin )

Jeremy Saulnier’s punk rock horror film Green Room stands above the rest this year when it comes to thrills and twists you never see coming. It’s a master class in suspense and tension. This isn’t some free for all shoot ‘em up stab 'em frenzy, it’s a calculated cat and mouse game that requires our characters to think before acting. A punk rock band has just witnessed a murder in the green room of the venue they just played that just so happens to be run by a menacing skinhead gang. The bands bassist, played by the late and talented Anton Yelchin, was able to dial the cops on his cell phone before it’s grabbed from his hands and this creates a problem for both parties. Now that the band has seen what they saw the venue can’t exactly let them go but after having the cops called on the venue they can’t exactly just straight up murder these kids so they have to figure something out and they get their help in the form of their quiet but menacing leader Darcy, played by a brilliant Patrick Stewart, who figures out a way to get rid of the band and save face. At this point our band is locked up in the green room holding one of the skinheads hostage while they have his gun and figure out how the hell to get out of there. One punk suggests shooting his way out but this isn’t that movie and our characters know that they could have more guns on the other side and at this point the band believes the cops are on their way to the venue. Enter Darcy who shows up to clean the mess by promising that they will let the band go without harming them as long as they hand over the gun and the person they have in the room safely but the band as well as the audience knows that isn’t the case and it isn’t going to be that simple. What follows is one of the most tense stand offs in cinema history. It’s Anton Yelchin trying to figure out if he should unlock the door and hand over the gun to Patrick Stewart on the other side but it’s a back and forth that has both actors matching wit and verbally trying to knock the other out. It isn’t until the end of the scene that we get a burst of violence and chaos but leading up to that is a strategy game that leaves you at the edge of your seat and asking yourself “ What the fuck would I do in a situation like this?” and then showing you there is no right or wrong answer and you can’t always just go into action hero mode because the situation calls for it. For the most part you just die.

#green room #american honey #the lobster #la la land #the witch #morris from america #swiss army man #jackie #moonlight #captain america #civil war #best scenes of 2016 #film #film blog #top 10 lists #film lists

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connecticut-seo-adwords · 6 years

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How Ranking Factors Research Studies Damage the SEO Industry

Recently SEMrush published a research study on Google's leading ranking elements. The study was not unlike numerous other research studies published each year. It used a statistically significant data set to draw parallels in between typical metrics and high position (or ranking) in Google.However, the conclusions they concerned and reported to the market were not entirely correct.Defining Ranking Aspects & Best Practices First,let's specify"ranking elements. "Ranking aspects are those components which, when changed in connection with a website, will lead to a modification in position in a search engine(in this case, Google)."Best practices" are different. Finest practices are tactics which, when carried out, have actually revealed a high connection to much better performance in search results.XML sitemaps are an exceptional example. Developing and uploading an XML sitemap is a best practice.

The existence of the sitemap does not lead directly to better rankings. Nevertheless, offering the sitemap to Google allows them to crawl and understand your website more efficiently.When Google comprehends your website much better, it can cause better rankings. However an XML sitemap is not a ranking factor.The just ranking aspects that we understand about for sure are the ones that Google particularly mentions. These have the tendency to be esoteric, like "high authority"

or" great content "or even" awesomeness". Google generally does not supply particular ranking elements because whenever that they do, web designers overdo it. Remember the link wars of 2011-2014!.?.!? They have learned their lesson.Understanding Correlation vs. Causation Here's another way to think about correlation vs. causation:

A big percentage of high-ranking sites most likely have XML sitemaps. This is a correlation. The XML sitemap did not cause the website to acquire a high ranking.This would be like saying if you consume sour cream, you will enter a motorbike mishap based upon the correlation revealed below.

Let's take another example.High quantities of direct traffic were revealed to have strong correlation with better ranking in the SEMrush study. This was a controversial declaration, due to the fact that it existed as"direct traffic is the primary ranking factor. "While the data is most likely accurate, exactly what does it truly mean?Let's start by defining Direct Traffic. This is traffic that pertained to a site URL without any referrer header (i.e. the visitor didn't come to the site through email, search, or links from another website ). Thus, it includes any traffic for which Google Analytics( or the platform in concern )can not figure out a referrer.Direct Traffic is essentially the container for"we do not know where it originated from."Sessions are misattributed to Direct Traffic all the time, and some studies have actually revealed that as much as 60 percent of direct traffic might really be natural traffic.In other words, it's not a reliable metric.Let's presume for a moment Direct Traffic is a dependable metric. If a website has high direct traffic, they are likewise most likely to have a strong brand name, high authority, and devoted users. All these things can help SEO ranking. However the connection is indirect.There are many other good arguments that have debunked the principle of direct traffic as a ranking aspect particularly. Any goodSEO ought to check out and understand them.Moving on from Direct Traffic, Searchmetrics succumbs to this correlation/causation issue too in their latest Travel Ranking Factors research study, where they assert word count and number of images are both ranking factors for the travel industry.Google has directly exposed the word count assertion and the variety of images declare is so silly I needed to ask John Mueller about it straight for this article: If you check out in between the lines, you can tell Mueller says using a certain number of images as a ranking factor is foolish, and it can vary widely.It is a lot more most likely that a fuller treatment of the keyword in concern is the ranking aspect rather than strictly"word count "and great quality travel websites are most likely to have lots of images.If you desire even more proof word count is a silly metric for any industry

, just have a look at the leading outcome for "is it Christmas?" (h/t Casey Markee ) This website has actually been in the # 1 area considering that at least 2008, and it literally has one word on the whole website. That one word completely responds to the intention of the query.While Searchmetrics does a good task of defining ranking aspects, their use of that term in relationship to this chart is careless. These must be identified" correlations"or similar

, not "ranking factors."width =810 height=446 > This is the core of the matter. Research studies using statistically considerable, connection, or perhaps machine finding out like the

Random Forest design (what SEMRush used)can be precise. I have no doubt that the results of all of the studies mentioned were precise as long as the data that was fed into them was precise. The issue came not in the data itself, but in the analysis and reporting of that information, particularly when they noted these metrics as "ranking elements ". Assess the Metrics Used This raises the need to utilize sound judgment to examine things that you check out. A study might claim that time on site is a ranking factor.First, you have to question where that data came from, since it's a site-specific metric that couple of would know or be able to

guess at without website or analytics gain access to. The majority of the time, this sort of data originates from third-party plugins or toolbars that record users 'behavior on websites.

The issue with this is that the data set will never ever be as complete as site-specific analytics data.Second, you need to think about the metric itself. Here's the issue with metrics like time on site and bounce rate. They're relative.After all, some industries (like maps or yellow pages)flourish on a high bounce rate. It implies the user got exactly what they required and went on their method having had a good experience and being most likely to return.For a

time on website example, let's say you want to speak with a divorce attorney. If you're smart, you use incognito mode(where most/all plugins are handicapped)

to do this search and the subsequent website gos to. Otherwise your partner might see your website history or get targeted ads to them.Imagine your partner seeing this in the Facebook news feed when she or he thinks your marital relationship is strong: Facebook advertisement example from Easy Representative PRO So for a market like divorce lawyers, time on site data is likely to be either heavily manipulated or not readily available.But Google Owns an Analytics Platform!Some of you will say that Google has

access to this information through Google Analytics, and that

's definitely true. There has been no positive connection ever shown in between having an active Google Analytics account and ranking much better on Google. Here's a terrific post on the SEMPost that enters into more information on this.Google Analytics is only installed on 83.3 percent of"websites we understand about", according to W3techs. That's a lot, however it isn't every site, even if we do assume this is a representative sample. Google merely could not feed something into their algorithm that is not available in almost 20 percent of cases.Finally, some will make the argument that Chrome can gather direct traffic data. This has the same issue as Google Analytics though, due to the fact that at last check, Chrome commanded an outstanding 54 percent market share(according to StatCounter ). That's considerable, but just a little

majority of all web browser traffic is not a reputable adequate data source to make a ranking factor.Doubling Down on Bad Information Many of you have actually read this believing that yes, we understand all that. We're search experts. We do this every day. We understand that a chart that states direct traffic or bounce rate is a ranking factor needs to be taken with a grain of salt.The danger is when this info

gets shared beyond our industry. All of us

have a duty to utilize our powers for great; we need to inform the world around us about SEO, not perpetuate stereotypes and myths.I'm going to select on Larry Kim for a minute here, who

I believe is a fantastic guy and a very clever online marketer. He recently published the SEMrush ranking element chart on Inc.com together with a well-reasoned article about why he believes the study has value.I had the opportunity to overtake Larry by phone prior to completing this article, and he impressed upon me that his intention with his post was to examine the claim of direct traffic as a ranking element. He felt that if a research study showed that direct traffic had a high correlation with good search ranking, there needed to be something more there.I informed him that while

I don't concur with whatever in his post, I understand his train of thought. What I would like to see more of from everyone in the industry is understanding that outside our microcosm of keywords and SERP click-through rates, SEO is still a "black box"in lots of people's minds.Because SEO is made complex and complicated, and there's a great deal of bad details out there, we have to do whatever that we can to clarify charts and research studies and declarations. The particular problem I have with Larry's short article is that great deals of people beyond SEO checked out Inc. This consists of lots of top-level choice makers who do not always understand the finer points of SEO.In my viewpoint, Larry sharing the chart as"ranking aspects"and not unmasking the clearly false info included in the graph was not responsible. Any CEO looking at that chart could fairly presume that his/her meta keywords hold some value to ranking (not a lot based on the position on the chart, but some). However, no major search engine has actually used meta keywords for regular SERP rankings(Google News is various ) given that a minimum of 2009. This is objectively false information.We have an obligation as SEO specialists to stop the spread of bad or incomplete info. SEMrush released a study that was objectively valid, however the subjective analysis of it developed problems.

Larry Kim republished the subjective interpretation without effectively qualifying it. 'Constantly '&'Never 'Don't Exist in SEO Last week, I consulted with a new client. They had been struggling to consist of five extra links in all of their content since at some point, an SEO informed them they should ALWAYS connect out to a minimum of 5 sources on every post. Another customer had been informed they need to NEVER EVER link out from their site to anything.Anyone who understands about SEO knows that either one of these statements is bad recommendations and patently incorrect information.We as SEO experts can assist stem the tide of these legendary "discoveries"by

highlighting to our customers, our readers, and our coworkers that ALWAYS and NEVER do not exist in SEO since there are merely too lots of factors to say anything definitively is or is not a ranking factor unless an online search engine has actually particularly specified that it is.It Takes place Every Day Actually every day something is taken out of context, misattributed, or improperly associated as a causation. Just recently, Google's Web designer Trends Expert John Mueller stated this in action to

a tweet from Bill Hartzer: TTFB for those non-SEOs reading is"Time to First Byte". This refers to how quickly your server reacts to the first request for your page.Google has actually stated on multiple celebrations that speed is a

ranking factor. What they have actually not

said is precisely how it is determined. Mueller states TTFB is not a ranking aspect. Let's assume he's informing the fact and this is fact.This does not indicate you don't have to worry about speed, or that you don't have to be worried about how quickly your server reacts. He qualifies it in his tweet-- it's a"great proxy"and don't"blindly focus"on it. There are myriad other ranking aspects

that could be negatively affected by your TTFB. Your user experience may be bad if your TTFB is sluggish. Your site may not make high mobile use ratings if your TTFB is slow.Be very careful how you interpret info. Never ever take it at face value.Mueller said TTFB is not a ranking factor. Now I know that is truth and I can indicate his tweet when needed. But I will not stop consisting of TTFB in my audits; I will not stop motivating customers to obtain this as low as possible. This statement changes nothing about how SEO experts will do their jobs, and only serves to puzzle the larger marketing community.It is our duty to different SEO fact from fiction; to interpret declarations from Google as carefully as possible, and to usually eliminate the misconception that there is anything you CONSTANTLY or NEVER EVER carry out in SEO.Google uses over 200 ranking factors, or so they say.

Chasing these mystical metrics is tough to resist-- after all as SEOs, we are data-driven

-- in some cases to a fault.When you analyze ranking aspect research studies, use an important eye. How was the information gathered, processed and associated? If the 3rd party is making a claim that something is a ranking aspect, does it make good sense that Google would use it?And lastly, does discovering that x or y is or is not a ranking element modification anything about the recommendations you will make to your client or manager?

The response to that last one is almost constantly"no. "Too much depends on other factors, and knowing something is or is not a ranking factor is usually not actionable.There's no ALWAYS or NEVER in SEO and if we want SEO to continue to grow as a discipline, we have to buckle down about discussing that. It's time to take the responsibility we need to the outside world more seriously.Searchmetrics and SEMRush were requested comment, however did not respond prior to press time. This post was initially released on JLH Marketing.Screenshots taken by author, December 2017

Source

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ranking-factors-studies-damage/233439/

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