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chelsie-fan-55 · 3 years

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‘Oldies are doing well’ Phyllis Logan hails older generations as Downton helps BritsDOWNTON Abbey star Phyllis Logan says it was “fabulous” to be reunited with the cast and production crew to shoot a second film due out early next year. The sequel follows on from the events of the first film released two years ago, which was set in 1927 with Robert and Cora Crawley, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, receiving a visit from King George V and Queen Mary during a royal tour of Yorkshire. Filming of the second film, which sees Dominic West, Hugh Dancy and Laura Haddock join original stars including Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery and Elizabeth McGovern, started at Highclere Castle in Hampshire in April and finished in June. Phyllis, 65, who has portrayed Downton housekeeper Mrs Hughes in all six series of the original ITV drama and reprised the role for both films, said: “It was fabulous to be reunited with the cast again, we had such a lovely time, but it was over far too quickly. “During the six seasons that we did (for TV) we usually started filming in the February and finished in the autumn, so we had a good six months of each other, and now it is curtailed into a matter of weeks, so it was done a bit too quickly but we had a great time. “There is lots of nice, really fun stuff in it, I must say and some lovely star turns.” Phyllis, who is also the narrator of fly-on-the-wall TV show The Highland Vets, which starts its fourth series on Channel 5 tomorrow (MON) night, believes period dramas like Bridgerton and Downton have provided much-needed escapism during the past 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic. She says: “With the likes of Downton Abbey it looks so magnificent, the costumes are magnificent and the mores of the time are different where you don’t air-kiss and have to be suited and booted, and straight-laced, well certainly outwardly.. who knows what they got up to behind closed doors. “But we try to show some of this too and the public just can’t get enough of this type of costume drama. “Everyone has been bingeing or re-bingeing on their favourite shows just to give them a sense of normality. “If you can watch Bridgerton, if you can watch Downton Abbey, or your favourite comedy show, you think the world is ok now, or get a sense that life is continuing in a fashion.” Downton has also led the way in using older actors in prominent roles at a time when TV and film has been criticised for being ageist. Phyllis says: “It’s been fabulous and long may this continue. With Dame Maggie (Smith), Dame Penelope (Wilton), myself and Jim Carter, the oldies are doing well.” Her husband Kevin McNally, who is also 65, is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in all five Pirates of the Caribbean films but joined the cast of Downton for its second series on ITV as Horace Bryant. Phyllis says: “It was nice to have my husband in Downton as well but it was very peculiar the way it happened. “He was on set at one point and said I have just been offered this job and I said ‘oh, what is it?’ And he said Downton Abbey, and I said ‘very funny, what’s the job?’ And he said Downton Abbey and I said ‘oh come on, I haven’t got time, I’ve got to go back on set’. And he was being serious. “They did not even tell me they were going to offer it to him and I thought they should have run it past me first, surely.” She adds: “And it ended up with most of the scenes we were involved in being together, which was unusual. “In normal circumstances as he was playing a posh person and I was playing the housekeeper as usual, I thought our paths would never cross but the way the storyline worked we were always together. “So sometimes we got picked up in a car together to bring us to the castle and it felt like ‘bring your husband to work day’, so I thought ‘what is going on?’” Phyllis, who also starred as Lady Jane Felsham in Lovejoy with Ian McShane for eight years, met Kevin, who portrayed Bernard Ingham in The Crown last year, when they co-starred in mini-series Love and Reason in 1994. Since then they had only appeared together in short films and an episode of comedy show Rab C Nesbitt until their joint stint in Downton, but Phyllis says she would be happy to work together again in the future. And Kevin’s help was vital when it came to recording the narration for The Highland Vets, which follows the vets, nurses and receptionists at DS McGregor & Partners veterinary practice in Thurso, Caithness, as they treat animals in the remote northern tip of the UK mainland. After recording the first couple of episodes of series one in a studio in London’s Soho, Phyllis has been forced to do her narrations since the first lockdown in March last year from the study of her home in west London. She says: “Kevin was my sound engineer for the Highland Vets. They sent all this equipment and I was so useless at using it that Kevin was thankfully around and on hand to be my sound engineer.” The fourth series of the Highland Vets, which contains seven hour-long episodes, starts with the vets treating a young Common seal spotted struggling on a beach by a walker. She adds: “I haven’t done many narrations. I enjoy this one because it is such a lovely programme, there is always something different cropping up, so it is a pleasure to do it.” As a result of the repeated lockdowns for the pandemic she has yet to travel up to Caithness to meet the staff at the vets. But Prince Charles did pay them a visit during a two-day tour of Scotland, where he is known as the Duke of Rothesay, at the end of last month (JULY). Unfortunately the TV cameras were not there at the time but wearing a kilt, he was welcomed by senior vet and director Guy Gordon, who introduced him to his team, including Katie Reiss, 22, who had only started work a few days earlier. Ms Reiss said: “It’s an unorthodox start to work! We spoke about my training at Edinburgh University and chatted about how the vets have been really helpful integrating me into work. “He (Charles) said to stick at it and not lose hope because I have wanted to be a vet since I was a wee kid.” Guy says: “We felt honoured that Prince Charles was keen to visit our veterinary practice to meet the staff and learn about what we do. “He stayed with us for about 45 minutes chatting about aspects of our work with genuine interest and insight. “The light drizzle didn’t dampen this special occasion nor cause him to hurry, he took time to engage with everyone. “So they have the royal seal of approval.” She adds she loves getting to see The Highland Vets before anyone else to do its narration. “There are a few sad bits that do not go to plan but it is so heartfelt.. and the fact that they are in that location which is absolutely spectacular, that they all love it, they love their lives, their jobs, their workmates, their animals. “It’s just beautiful and lovely and life-affirming stuff, even when things go wrong.” Phyllis also stars in a film, The Last Bus, with Timothy Spall which they shot two years ago but has just been released. It tells the story of an old man whose wife has just died using his free bus pass to travel to the other end of the UK, where they originally lived, with her ashes in a small suitcase. She will also be seen in the second series of BBC drama Guilt, which is due to air later this year. *The new series of The Highland Vet starts tomorrow at 9pm on 5Select. Source: Sunday Express

#downton abbey phyllis logan #Phyllis Logan #downton abbey #elsie hughes #the hightland vet #guilt #lovejoy #the last bus #ladybaby

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judgement-free-sideblog · 4 years

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Blood tears and sea breeze

Hi! I wrote this at 1:46 in the morning, in the middle of a night shift on a saturday and I have some things to say:

It took me so long to finish this story for many reasons, first of all I got a full time job at the hospital and we got a lot of covid and not covid patients so that was physically and emotionally draining. Secondly I just lost inspiration, my life became one responsibility over the other and I had no more time to me, so I went in autopilot mode and tried to do the best I could.

And suddenly the year ended and I realized how much I missed, and finally something wonderful and magical happened. The love of my life proposed to me and I felt alive again,

I change jobs, I'm now a Resident so now I'll have even less time than before but I have so much more hope for the future. So here it is the end, may we read each other again, but for now this the conclusion of this story, told in three parts because it became longer than I thought

************************

Warnings: ANGST, mental health issues, graphic depictions of violence, blood, cursing, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of sex, substance abuse.

Summary: The not so peaceful town of Broadchurch face dead again, while Alec Hardy continues his journey to redemption will this school teacher be the key to solve the mystery or just another victim of the ever watching evilness that seems to reside in the town.

First Previous Next Last

Chapter 21: Shadows...

The light inside the narrow corridor was flickering, maybe some old installation, how appropriate, the youngest of the Langfors thought, and old dusty and cold place, to keep the one responsible for all her tragedy.

Looking at her in the tiny space, covering her body with a blanket, she looked pathetic and yet she dare to have that stupid concerned look on her eyes, like she was the one about to go to jail, and not the other way around. Because her plan had worked, it all have worked out so perfectly, and now all that was left for Ash to do was saying goodbye.

Y/N was silent waiting for her to say anything, but she couldn't speak, no yet, she needed to see her like that, to keep in her mind that memory, she needed to remind the pain, because those were the only moments she felt alive.

"Was it something I did?" Y/N had a cautious tone, almost afraid to upset her, it was almost offensive, I'm not going to explode, she tought, I'm not a lunatic, but the familiarity of her concern pleased her. "How can I fix it?" Y/N plead and Ashley finally and looked at her, the fluorescent ceiling lamps gave the white room a blue shine but she was almost sure, as always, that the blue light was coming from her.

"It was just a card mommy" She said and before she could add something about how all the other children at preschool made one, the quick and hard stinging pain of a crop aimed at her side made her five year old body fall to the ground.

"Just a card? A card to a whoreson peasant" He and his stupid need to call himself royalty. There was no ounce of royal blood in him since at least three generations prior but he couldn't left it rest. "No daughter of mine will go around making a fool of herself by fraternizing with bastards in need, you are not some common whore and you will not bring shame to this house" he said about to strike another hit with the crop but she run, and left her room to the backyard, they will catch her in no time of course but she just wanted some air.

She didn't understand half of the words his father said, and definitely none of his stupid hate. She felt so alone, so sad and so empty, but she like it out there, she could look at the blue sky and the blue ocean meeting in the horizon, the beach was kilometers from her but was visible from her house, and specially she could see her, the tiny girl always happy and dancing with her mother and her older sisters, she was desperate to talk to her since she spotted her on day from her window, she wanted to know what she did to make her mother hold her like that, to make her father kiss her and give her presents every other day...

Ashley closed her eyes and shut the pain away like she always did, she needed to remember that pain, but then a tiny soft touch on her shoulder make her look up, there she was covered in a beautiful blue light, with a white dress, concerned look on her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" She asked, Y/N had jumped the fence from her house the moment she saw Ashley running. "Is it because your dress is torn? I can fix that, so your mommy won't be mad. Come on." She gave her a hand and she was sure she would never let her go, and for the years to come she didn't, until now.

"He was mine, and you took him, that's what you did" She said finally "Like you always do"

**********

"Forensics are on their way" Katie said once she entered the room again, the blood on the bodies looked fresh enough to know this was recent, other elements of the force have been there the day before arresting Langford and his sister said the parents where upset when she left them...

"Hey, what is a Baronet?" Derek asked, already gloves in hads and protectors on his feet "Is not like a actual royalty is it?"

"No, is the lowest rank and I think you have to pay for it and have land or something, why?" She asked putting on her gloves as well.

"A very old framed portrait of a guy, it says it's a baronet" He said showing it to her. A rapid Google search later and they found out that in fact Mr Langford's grandmother Dame Mildred Langford was the last Baronetess in their line, subsequently his father, Mildred's child born in 1946 chose to not keep the title and the nobility ended there.

There were many signals of adoration towards the woman, but very little towards his father.

"Langford is almost forty, so he was born around 1980, let's asume his father was 20 when he had him...Do you happen to know royalty gossip in broadchurch from the 1960s?" Katie said looking at the necks from the victims, there was a lot of hate and anger in there.

"No but I know someone who might" Ramos took out his phone and start calling "it may take a while, you should check the other room while I'm here... Hola tita? Como estas? Oye me pasas a tito por favor? It's a work thing please" Katie gave him a puzzled look. "My grandmother remarried to a English guy shut up!" He said while she exited the room. "Hola tito, I have a question for you"

The rest of the house was like the exterior, it surely had seen better days, old fashioned furniture and mold growing in some places, the only place remotely modern was in Langford's sister room, all pink an glittery, with 90s pop stars posters on the walls, the place was torn however, someone had been seeking something frantically there, Katie looked in the open window she could see next door house, smaller, and vacant but somehow happier. And in the backyard there was a pile of apparent garbage with flames and smoke coming out of it, with smoke still coming out of it and she run downstairs.

By the time she arrived at the backyard Ramos was already putting down the fire and trying to pick something before it was too late.

It was mostly old photographs in albums in the style of the framed picture in the livingroom. What probably were letters were now completely burn and in the middle of all the ashes there was a wooden box that miraculously haven't succumb to the fire yet.

*********

"Broadchurch police open now" Brian was about to tear the door down but nobody open, and even with Hardy screaming and putting out his gun the place looked abandoned.

"Looks pretty empty" Not only the deli but also the street, it was possible they hadn't open the whole morning "Are you sure she said the deli?" He said looking at the back alley next to the Trader's. But Brian didn't answer, he was trying the phone once again trying to reach her, and Hardy thought of how much would he loved to hear that stupid ringtone of Miller's phone when suddenly the muffled notes of the song he now will love for ever, whatever the fuck it was, came from behind the deli.

They rushed to the door of the back of the restaurant where they probably downloaded supplies and before they could agree on their actions they pushed the door down, of course it was empty apart from some vegetables but the sound was not coming from there, it was coming from behind the door of the freezer, where a fine line of light was coming maybe indicating the last hope they had.

They opened the door and Hardy's heart must be stronger than he had thought because he almost died with horror at the sight of Miller unconscious, with the skin completely pale, and the hair and her lashes covered in frost, with only a tiny mist coming out her mouth indicating she was still alive.

A millisecond after their initial shock they took her out and before she fall asleep again she was conscious enough to see both of the men she loved and to look at Alec and whisper a silent "Thank you"

****

"Maybe it would be easier if you told me how I stole him" you said, with the same tone you use to have for misbehaving children, specially since now you could not see an adult in front of you, only a very scared children, and very sorrow eyes. "I'm pretty sure I was already dating him when I introduce him to you and Charles, we were kind of apart at the time because of the Deli..."

"Oh you really are as stupid as you look don't you" she said irritated, but the superiority in her voice made you think she had bite, and she confirmed it when she continued "Do you happen to know how hard it is to win money with a Deli? Because I certainly don't, that restaurant and your idea of working there would have ruined me if it wasn't because I found a way to save myself"

She then proceeded to explain to you how she, Charles and that monster of a doctor that had treated you before worked together luring young rich men into buying rohypnol to drug innocent girls, only that the "innocent girl" in question happened to be a very alert and awake Ashley, so when they arrived at some hotel or secluded place Charles would extorsion them in order to "keep quiet" Easy money at expenses of creeps, and no victims, until she meet Jonathan.

"I texted Charles to let that one go, and we talked all night, I knew then and there that he loved me and that he was the one... he promised to call the next morning, but you have to appear, with your prudish routine, you stole the only man that ever loved me for me" she said and part of you believed her, but part of you was sure she was lying somehow.

"Then when we meet again he tried to denied it, he tried to pretend he didn't remember, he even proposed to you but at the end he couldn't keep it in for any longer and he came back to me" she said with an expression of triumph in her face like she was looking at something that was not there and for the first time since she arrived you felt angry at her, and disgusted by her smile.

****

"So Langford's father was a crazy old fuck, who hated his father's for loosing the title in order to be one with his people, apparently they have an old factory here in broadchurch, and all his workers love the man, when he died his child try by any means to regain the title and he lost the factory, the land and the family money, he only had this house... a tough environment to grow" Derek said once the box was safe out of the fire. "Also you are invited to my aunt Nicole's birthday party" he said a little embarrassed.

"Is your grandmother cooking? I'm in" Katie said casually while she tried to open the box and Derek relaxed immediately.

It opened with a click and inside it was a cellphone, with trembling gloved fingers she opened and realized it was Ashley's phone, there was the text she had seen so many days before, the one Jonathan sent before he died, she had an unopened voicemail so she checked it, it was a regular costumer asking why the deli was closed that day, but before she turned down again she went trough the saved messages it was only one.

"I know you won't listen, but I had to try" Jonathan Norbury's voice said he sounded tired and angry "I have been trying to make it easier for you so you won't get hurt but you left me no choice, I'm talking to Charles tonight, I'll give him his store back and I'm leaving Broadchurch in the morning, I'll go to London to set the venue..." He sighed as if he was about to do something painful "I love her Ash, I'm sorry but I do, I let my fear to disappoint my father drive me back to the alcohol and made you part of my mistakes, I should have never slept with you, I should have never let your brother near her... I'll marry her and I'll take her away from here... from you and your brother, and you can resume your life with Charles and your business, I won't involve the police as long as you left us alone, I promise, I know you, you are not as bad as you think you are, and you are worthy of love... it's only that I can not love you, I hate to said this to you but that night doesn't mean to me what it means to you, the girl of that night became a constant reminder of the life I needed to leave behind, of the man I don't want to be. I could had been you or any other woman that night and the result would have been the same, me going to AA and then to church and falling for her, because is only her, it's always been her and now I have to make it right. I'm sorry"

"Do you remember what they told us about what happened with the psychiatrist? The thing she did with her wrist?" Derek said while Katie's mind was racing with this new information cursing herself for not confiscating the phone the moment she first entered the station, she wasn't a suspect then, her conscience said but it was not enough

"About the bracelet?" She said rising her look surprised she could still process logical thoughts

"Did her mother had another one? You know like a pair or something?" He said completely serious.

"I don't know, maybe, why?" She asked looking at him.

"Because I think we have to arrest the Langford's for a whole new crime" he said giving her a picture of Charles next to a completely damaged car with an old couple dead inside, the woman was wearing a necklace that she immediately recognized as a pair to the bracelet she bagged as evidence so long ago, and even with the wounds the resemblance to Y/N was undeniable, those were her parents.

******

Miller woke up in a hospital bed with an IV on her arm and a lot of blankets and space heaters around her, Brian was there looking shocked at her and she had her heart full with joy for having him, but her sense of duty was bigger so before anything else she just asked "Where is Alec?"

"I'm trying really hard not to take this personally" Brian said almost angry "But is really hard to take you seriously when you look like a bloody burrito" he said pointing at the foil blanket over her "Shitface is out there"

"I'm sorry" She said immediately "I'm so glad you saved me, and I really love you now more than ever, but someone else's life is at risk and I need to talk to DI Hardy. We can discuss how much you hate him when we get home tonight ok?" She said and he was about to respond but the fact that she call his place home was enough to make him stand up and get Hardy inside.

"Is she awake?" He said desperately when he get inside and Brian exited the room not wanting to hurt his pride anymore, he trusted her enough and was enough in love to let her be. "How are you?" Alec said not sure if he could get closer.

"Don't mind me" She simply said like being nearly frozen to death was a regular Tuesday for her. "You have to get to the station quickly" she said pulling down most of the blankets and sitting on the bed. "Y/N is in danger, you were right she is innocent" she said and since Hardy didn't react immediately she add "And someone is about to kill her"

"How do you know?" He said and Miller couldn't help to notice the fear in his voice, he was already convinced she was innocent but he needed for her to tell him to make it real.

"The friend, it was her from the start and even before that... That woman is a monster. There is a sound recorder sewn inside my jacket, she confessed before tying me up and leaving me inside her stupid fridge" She said and show her two burning marks on her side "She used a teaser to knock me out, she knows her brother will break sooner or later so she choose to confess and tied all her lose ends"

"And she confessed to killing Jonathan and what else?" He asked and she was sure what he wanted to ask.

*****

"You should have told me" you said trying to buy time from her to think what to do next "If you knew he loved you so much you should have told me and I would have gladly go away... I have always wanted the best for you"

"Oh don't come at me with that ridiculous attitude, you knew we loved each other and what did you do?? You had to ruin everything, don't pretend now you don't remember" she said and suddenly everything became clear on your head

You were not mad that night because she left you alone in the dancefloor... but because you saw her kissing him, she was all over him and that stupid purple shirt, you were so mad at her, and you saw so much regret on his eyes but it didn't matter and you just wanted to get out of there, and then Charles came out of nowhere and you went out with him because you felt weird and weak and so confused...and then that happened, and by the time you wake up Jonathan was holding you so tightly and so lovingly that you chose to forget... as you had chosen to forget all those other times, you were sure now that that stupid voice in those videos was not you... and you pray for the forensics department to realize it was some cheap editing of your voice over your body... but you were certain you had actually slept with Charles just not as willingly as it seemed

You felt disgusted by yourself, and by those who claimed for so many years to be your friends, and you hate her so much in the way you can only hate someone you loved for so long and you had to ask because your heart was hurting so much.

"Why?"

She didn't answer, you where about to elaborate in the question because she had already told you why she killed him but she did understand you, she simply was looking for the answer

"Because you had everything I ever wanted"

****

Alec was driving as fast as he could, with Miller's story resonating on his head. Ashley Langford loved Y/N's life and hated her for a long time, when she was going away to Paris she thought she will finally take her place on her family.

But she soon realized that in Paris or in Broadchurch her parents would never stoploving her and she send Charles to mess their car, she saw them die, all because they decline her offer to live at their house when she left.

She was convinced Jonathan was in love with her since they met when he arrived at Broadchurch, but he rejected her when Y/N introduced them formally, maybe as Miller thought, he didn't even remember her. And then when they got engaged she found a way to get him drunk.

Their affair was simply disgusting, she will drug Y/N unconcious so she would sneak out with Norbury, assuring him Charles was simply watching her, but she needed to hurt her, to humiliate her, so she let Charlie take advantage of her over and over again until Jonathan found out at the club at the same time Y/N found out.

In the end Norbury had done the right thing and ended the affair. Hardy listen to the audio Harford sent him, and everything was becoming clear, now he only hope he will be on time.

****

"Do what you must then" You said "If this will make up for whatever it is I did to you... then just do it already" you said now ready to accept the end, and desperate to stop feeling this much hurt.

You thought one last time of DI Hardy, you may be innocent from the murder, but Ashley had made a good work destroying everything you care about and you felt so unworthy of him, even if she didn't killed you you could never look at him so it was better this way.

"No yet" she said and she reach inside her pocket, only now you saw she was holding a gun on her right hand "You knew your dear Alec is out of the case for getting too cozy with you?" Maybe when this is over I will visit him, I'm sure a man like him will be glad to have a women in his life after what happened to his friend Miller" She said and you fear the worst specially sin DS Miller had told you she thought Ashley may be involved in all of this "And after his little whore blow her brains out" she said. "Do you think Paul will say something for you? As far as I know suicidal people get no favors from church" every word she said was meticulously aimed to hurt, and she said them so casually that it almost felt spontaneous "Oh don't get anxious, your end is coming, but first you have to wear this"

You knew what it was before she finished her sentence, a delicate necklace just like the bracelet you longed for so many years, your mother had the necklace so you wouldn't feel alienated by having to wear it, you had given her the bracelet back so long ago and when she died it was never found... and you understand without her telling you that somehow she was responsible for them dying too. And the disgust for her and yourself turn to anger, to a primal need to erase her existence and she was there smiling and something broke inside your mind.

****

Alec was walking fast to the cells, ready to kill Ashley Langford but by the time he got to Y/N's cell he froze still as he saw Y/N extended her hand to take what seemed to be a necklace while Langford pointed her gun at her.

What happened next was so quickly that he almost didn't had time take his own revolver out. Y/N trembling hand became steady to take the necklace and she took Ashley by surprised by pulling her arm inside the cell and taking the pistol from her hand.

"Oh come on do it" Ashley said surprising Hardy and Y/N "Prove me and the world that you are not perfect, that you are as rotten and corrupted as me, come on kill me!" She said and Alec finally speak.

"She is not" he said loud enough for them to hear but he was not screaming. "The only corrupted and repellent creature here is you" he said approaching slowly trying to get Y/N's attention but she was still firmly holding bot the gun and Ashley "You are not like her" he said again.

"I told you detective that I never wanted to find out who did this because I was afraid of what I would become" she said and he was afraid for a second by the anger in her voice. "This ... woman" She said as if she wasn't sure she could call Ashley that "Took everything from me, my dignity, my reputation, my friends... even my family" she said with so much suffering in her voice that he only could flinch his fist inside his coat. Where the fuck was the other guard? "She took the man I loved... the man I thought that also loved me"

"She didn't" he said and took out his phone, he held it in front of him as he approached her and play the audio.

"That's a lie" Ashley start screaming, now completely unbalanced, "He loved me, he loved me!!!!" At the moment the words "it's only her" came out of the phone Y/N hand relaxed and Hardy use the opportunity to take the gun out of her hand and pull Langford aside, as the bloody security guard finally arrived, without hesitation he took the keys from his hand and opened the cell while the man carried a very disturbed Ashley away, and before Y/N could fall in the darkness and space out again he hold her against his chest.

"It's you, it's only you"

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@allonsymexgirl @laciesaito @dazedkrosupreme @timey-wimey-lovi @coffees-and-constellations @ladyaziraphale @acid-gurkerl @moonuvert @tennantious @nonstoplover @locawriter @tf18unipups @dazedkrosupreme

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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From Dog Soldiers to The Reckoning: Neil Marshall Revisits His Filmogrpahy

https://ift.tt/3eedpk3

Ever since launching his career in 2002 with the independent action-horror thriller, Dog Soldiers—a bracing, fresh werewolves-vs.-soldiers exercise—the writer and director Neil Marshall has been devoted to genre filmmaking. His second film, The Descent, is a generally acknowledged modern horror classic, and since then he’s branched out to post-apocalyptic action, historical thrillers and high fantasy before returning again to horror.

His sixth and latest film, The Reckoning, stars Charlotte Kirk (who co-wrote the script) as a young woman who is accused of witchcraft in northern England in 1665 after losing her husband to the Great Plague. With its period setting and story of unjust persecution and hysteria directed against women in particular, The Reckoning (which just premiered on Shudder) channels some of the old Hammer Studios vibe, as well as that of iconic British films on the same topic like Witchfinder General.

For Marshall, The Reckoning represents a return to the genre that gave him his start and to his early independent days, following 2019’s poorly received reboot of the horror-themed Hellboy franchise. The latter film was his first feature in nine years, during which time he directed episodes of high-profile TV shows like Westworld, Hannibal and most notably Game of Thrones while trying to get various theatrical projects off the ground.

With The Reckoning now making its premiere on Shudder, Marshall is already at work on his next film, a horror outing called The Lair. He says it’s “a bit different from The Reckoning… it’s going to be full-on action, monsters, guns, explosions, the works, blood and guts.” With Marshall now seemingly back on track with feature films, we thought this would be a good moment to take a look back at his career to date.

The Beginning

Marshall was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, and he says that he was inspired to become a filmmaker when he saw Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time in his youth:

“I’m definitely a product of the nerd generation of the ’80s, and proud of it,” he confirms. “Raiders is the movie that got me into making movies. I was already a big movie fan, just like anybody. But when I saw Raiders, it just changed everything, as did watching The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark on TV. I just thought, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life,’ and never looked back.”

Interestingly, Marshall says that his one unrealized dream project to date harkens back to the impact that Raiders had on him:

“There’s one in particular, a project called Eagle’s Nest…I always wanted to do my Indiana Jones project, my Raiders kind of project, and Eagle’s Nest is very much in that vein. It’s set during World War II, but it’s not a war movie as such. It’s an adventure/action movie. It’s kind of like Die Hard meets Where Eagles Dare, or Indiana Jones meets James Bond. Spies and soldiers and things. It’s full-on action adventure. That’s my dream project, and I still dream of one day getting it made.”

Pathe

Dog Soldiers (2002)

After attending university, Marshall spent a number of years as a freelance film editor before finally getting the chance to direct his first feature film, Dog Soldiers, from an original screenplay he had written. The taut, low-budget thriller revolved around a squad of British soldiers who are attacked in a remote house by a pack of werewolves. For Marshall, it was his chance at last to pursue his dream of making films.

“It was a six-year process of getting it written and getting it financed and getting it made, and it was just stubborn determination,” the director says. “But finally getting there and finally getting on set was just amazing, so satisfying. It was finally achieving a dream that I set about 20 years earlier, really.”

On whether anything surprised him about his first time as a feature director, he adds, “Well, I had directed stuff before. I’d done some short films and some TV things. This was my first feature, but it wasn’t completely new to me. But I was so well-read at the time. I’d spent my teenage years reading nothing but Starlog and Fantastic Films, and all that kind of stuff and learning how these things work. So it wasn’t a complete surprise. I think the main thing was, is just how exciting it all was.”

Werewolves, which were the film’s monsters, hadn’t been seen on the screen in a while at that time. Marshall suspected this would make the film a refreshing change of pace.

“I didn’t want to do the classic Curse of the Werewolf story, which is essentially what all werewolf films had been up until that point,” says Marshall. “I wanted to do essentially Aliens with werewolves, in which they’re just a ferocious enemy and really difficult to kill, and who they are as people is irrelevant.”

Pathe

The Descent (2005)

Next was Marshall’s 2005 film The Descent, in which six women go exploring in a cave system and discover that the tunnels are inhabited by cannibalistic humanoid creatures. A staple of “best horror of the 2000s” lists ever since its release, The Descent was not only genuinely terrifying but groundbreaking in its use of an all-female cast, which was originally not the case.

“I think when I wrote the first draft of it, it was mixed,” Marshall recalls. “When I pitched the treatment, I think then it was a mixed group. I’d done such a testosterone group of men or whatever with Dog Soldiers, part of me was like, ‘Well, let’s just do the complete opposite of that.’

“Then the more research I did into the world of caving and climbing and outdoor sports, it turns out, it’s a really heavily populated by women, and they do everything that the men do. So I just kind of figured, well, why not? Why not have an all-female group? It makes it very different. It made it different from anything that I’d seen for a while, and it came about that way.”

On the inspiration for the horrifying creatures in the caves, called “crawlers?”

“The creatures just came from trying to pare things down to a very, very basic form. I had great difficulty with the werewolves on Dog Soldiers. The guys in the suits, they couldn’t see very well. They were on stilts, so they were really limited in how they could move. Even for a practical effect, they couldn’t move around that well. I wanted to dispense with all that and have the crawlers be as freeform as possible.

“The whole point of the crawlers was that they were meant to be humans who evolved to live in caves,” he continues. “They’re the caveman that stayed in the cave. Whereas the rest of us left and evolved, they stayed in the caves and devolved to live in darkness. They were always essentially going to be human, so that really just required some basic prosthetics. But beyond that, they would just be people. That gave me so much more freedom of movement and allowed them to be fast and agile.”

Universal

Doomsday (2008)

The Descent was a critical and financial success, earning some $57 million on a budget of less than $5 million. It opened the doors for Marshall to begin entertaining offers to direct bigger films, and soon Rogue Pictures (a division of Universal) gave the director a budget of more than $24 million to make Doomsday, his homage to post-apocalyptic action movies of the ‘70s and ‘80s in which Scotland is sealed off due to a deadly virus.

“Doomsday touches upon two things that have cropped up in later work,” Marshall says. “One was the building of a wall to separate two countries, particularly England and Scotland. And then the other one is a viral outbreak, which comes into play in The Reckoning, as well. And the wall reappears in Centurion. It also, I guess, figured in my Game of Thrones episode.”

On the eerie relevancy of doing a movie about a country sealed off because of a viral outbreak, he says, “It was very strange that end of last year, I think it was, when the second wave [of COVID-19] hit, that they closed off the border between England and Scotland. I just thought, ‘This is Doomsday. It’s happening right now. Only a matter of time before they build a wall.’ But yeah, it has been quite scary, especially with The Reckoning, as well. Who could have seen it coming, you know?”

Doomsday was also the first time Marshall had major Hollywood studio resources to work with, which made it a strikingly different experience.

“It was great having much better resources to do a lot more crashes and explosions and things like that. It was a big action movie, it required all those bells and whistles, and we got them all, so that was fantastic… We had more time to shoot it, which was great. I loved that. Because we were filming it down in Cape Town, in South Africa, we didn’t really have the studio on our backs at all. We were let loose to do it. It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had making a movie.”

Magnet Releasing

Centurion (2010)

For his next film, Marshall turned to the early history of Britain and its resistance to the Roman Empire for inspiration. The result was Centurion, which starred Michael Fassbender, Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko in a violent tale based on the legendary disappearance of the Roman Empire’s Ninth Spanish Legion in what is now northern England and Scotland in the second century. A.D.

“It’s very loosely based,” Marshall explains. “It’s based more on a legend than the history. The history unfortunately disproved the legend. It’s a classic example of the quote, ‘When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.’ The facts aren’t very interesting, but that’s historians doing their thing. Until then, it was a legend that I really liked, the legend of the 9th Legion that marched into Scotland and disappeared without a trace.”

Even though historians have since argued that the Legion wasn’t wiped out in battle with northern England or Pictish tribes as long believed, Marshall was still fascinated with the story:

“My whole kind of thing was, ‘Well, why and how? If it disappeared, how did they disappear? Did none of them survive? If no one survived, how do we even know about it?’ So that’s when I came up with the story of the lone survivor and trying to explain it in logical terms. Nothing supernatural or anything of that, but logical terms of how they were massacred and why.”

As with several others of his films, Marshall also saw contemporary reflections in the story.

“When we were making it, it seemed very relevant to what was going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the insurgents fighting the oppressors. Telling the story from the Romans’ point of view made it a bit more interesting, because they were the invading army and the other side were freedom fighters. Because we were telling the Romans point of view, it was kind of like, ‘Well, they’re our heroes—but are they?’ I just thought that was really, really interesting.”

Lionsgate

Hellboy (2019)

Hellboy, which was not a sequel to the two films made by Guillermo del Toro and which starred Ron Perlman, featured David Harbour as the title demon from Mike Mignola’s long-running comics. Marshall’s first feature in nine years landed with a loud thud both at the box office and with critics.

“It was one of those things,” the director says now. “The reason I was away from features for nine years was not out of choice. I was trying to get my features made during that time. But because of the revolution in television, there was a certain kind of budget level that I had been working in that disappeared from features and was now going into television, during a transition period of the last 10, 15 years. And I couldn’t find anybody to finance films at that kind of level.”

Game of Thrones at 10: The Series That Changed TV Forever

By David Crow

Movies

The Best Horror Movies of 2020

By Rosie Fletcher and 4 others

Marshall says that when he was initially approached about Hellboy, the idea was to create more of a straight forward horror movie version of the character:

“That appealed to me, and obviously getting a chance to do a feature was a big thing. Despite my reservations or whatever, I jumped at it, because it was a chance to do a feature after nine years. I wanted to get back in the game. But I made an unwise decision, because I should have based my choice purely on whether the script was any good. Unfortunately, the script was never any good, and there’s only so much a director can do.”

Marshall notes that the problems with the Hellboy script arose from confusion over what kind of film it was supposed to be.

“I’ve said it a few times before, you can’t polish a turd. Even the best director in the world can’t make a masterpiece out of a script that was substandard. This was a confused script from the start, combining different stories and sticking rigidly to the comics, which worked fine as graphic novels. But when you translate them to the screen, there are gaping plot holes.

“Unfortunately, the producers just didn’t care. They brought me in so they could tell me what to do. They didn’t really want to make a horror version of it at all, because I was the most experienced horror person involved in the entire production, and I wasn’t allowed to touch the script. I wasn’t allowed to bring any kind of horror essence to it. So it just ended up as a disaster, really. It was just a mess, and a deeply unpleasant experience. That’s the price that I paid for making the wrong choice, or making it for the wrong reasons specifically.”

Shudder

The Reckoning (2021)

Going back to his roots with The Reckoning was a “breath of fresh air” after Hellboy, Marshall says in 2021.

“It was the complete opposite,” he explains. “On Hellboy, I had lots of money and no creative input. On this one, I had full creative control over the piece and no money. But that was a good sacrifice to make because the experience of making The Reckoning—even though we had less money, less time, whatever—was just creatively way more satisfying. It was good to just get back to my roots and get stuck in there and make this little movie that I’m really proud of.”

The director says that he wanted to capture the tone of some of the iconic Hammer horrors from the ‘60s and ‘70s with The Reckoning while the subject matter touched on themes expressed in horror classics like Witchfinder General or Mark of the Devil.

“I felt that there hadn’t really been anything made in that particular period or about that kind of subject matter, the witch hunter in particular,” says Marshall. “There have been witch movies obviously, but not the witch hunter. That kind of vibe, and that Hammer kind of vibe as well, hadn’t been done for a while. But the reason to do it at all was because I felt that it was relevant today for a modern audience… witch hunts are still going on today. They just take on a different form. And certainly, misogyny and female persecution has not gone anywhere in the intervening hundreds of years since our story took place.”

Marshall also notes that he missed being part of the horror film festival circuit, a thriving subculture in its own right.

“I actually wanted to get back on the horror circuit, as far as the festival circuit is concerned, because I loved that experience with my first movie,” he explains. “Going around the world, going to these incredible festivals, meeting the fans, engaging with the fans and also meeting other filmmakers. It’s so inspiring doing that. That was my hope with The Reckoning, but of course, all that went out the window with COVID. But fingers crossed, we’ll be back full strength and next year will be great.”

The Reckoning is currently streaming on Shudder.

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The Coronavirus 2020 NBA Draft Prospect Binge Report

Remember when people looked forward to 2020 with actual optimism? That was fun while it lasted. Instead of joy and relief, this year has brought us tragedy after tragedy and now utter chaos. That is not typically how one would start an article about NBA Draft prospects, but I have managed to accomplish absolutely nothing but watch replays of college basketball games of NBA Draft prospects amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. There are much more serious things going on right now, but maybe you could use a distraction. So here goes nothing! Here are some takeaways from prospects I’ve watched during the season and now after the season got shut down.

Lottery:

Anthony Edwards SG Georgia: I don’t know if blame needs to be put on Edwards, the construction of his Georgia team or Tom Crean, but Edwards tended to float through games and settle for tough shots he shouldn’t need to rely upon given his athleticism and superhero frame for a college freshman. And then, all of a sudden, you’ll see him flip the switch and embark on ballistic streaks like this where he explodes and decides not to miss. He’s an elite shotmaker, whether it is contested or on the move or both. It felt like he had too much of a green light to shoot these and Edwards relied on these shots a bit too much, and that put a damper on his efficiency. He did get to the free-throw line 5.3 times per game, but with his ability to drive, that probably could improve as well. A nearly identical assist/turnover ratio needs improvement as well. However, while I did not see a frequent number of passes manipulating scrambling defenses, I did see Edwards make the correct pass at times when swarmed by help defense, both in transition and in the halfcourt. When engaged, Edwards can be a staunch defender as well, but that wasn’t always the case. Again, it didn’t help playing on a young team that was often, at best, a disorganized mess (seriously, that’s me being nice). But, ideally, you’d like to see a player of Edwards’ caliber carry his team to more wins than what Georgia accumulated this season. But the talent is overwhelming and *clearly* there. He should be the number one pick (at least among the crop of college basketball prospects), but both he and the team that drafts him has work to do to get the most out of that talent.

Isaac Okoro SF Auburn: Isaac Okoro just might be the best defensive player in the draft, certainly on the wing. I watched Mason Jones give Auburn fits en route to a 40 point performance, but when Bruce Pearl (finally) placed Okoro to take him out, he obliged as if he was Jason Bourne on the loose, shutting Jones down and allowing Auburn to escape Bud Walton Arena with a win. He’s big, long, tough, and athletic to stay in front of just about anybody. Offensively, he’s more of a work-in-progress but is a good slasher who can pass or finish off a straight-line drive and can play a little bit of pick and roll. He’s got to improve as a shooter (29% from the three-point line, 67% from the free-throw line) and as a ballhandler, but will be able to defend in the NBA from day one. At the very least, he’s Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The floor for him as a player is very high because of his defense. If his offensive game improves, however, he can be much more though.

Tyrese Maxey PG/SG Kentucky: A more in-depth look at the Kentucky guard is coming soon. Spoiler alert: I like him. A LOT.

Onyeka Okongwu C USC: A deeper dive into the Trojan big man will arrive shortly.

Obi Toppin SF/PF Dayton: An in-depth look at Mr. Toppin is dropping soon.

Devin Vassell SF Florida State: A deeper dive on the Florida State wing will drop shortly.

Cole Anthony PG North Carolina: If Anthony Edwards played in a mess, then I don’t know what the hell you’re supposed to describe what this season’s North Carolina team was. Anthony got hurt, his team completely fell apart without him and had little to zero help on his team outside of Garrison Brooks. So yeah, not great by any means! As a result, he’d often dribble into waves of defenders and/or hoist up forced shots which took a sledgehammer to his efficiency. He showed a little bit of a post and midrange game, did his best to control the tempo of the game and run pick and roll when he actually had room to do so, but that was not the norm. He should be better with NBA caliber teammates and spacing surrounding him next season. He should still go in the mid-to-late lottery, but this wasn’t the season many had hoped to get from him this season.

1st Round:

Saddiq Bey SF Villanova: You want a 3-and-D guy? Enter Saddiq Bey. Bey shot 41.8% from three during his two years at Villanova. Bey can hit them on the move as well as standing still, off the dribble or catch-and-shoot. He can defend multiple positions, staying in front of quicker guards or guys his size as well. I wouldn’t recommend a steady diet of Bey putting on the ball on the deck as a primary option, but he can definitely go create his own shot as well, as he did here against Georgetown, piling up 33 points in the process. Bey won’t overwhelm with his athleticism, but he can get the job done well enough to be a threat. Villanova’s a program that routinely churns out quality NBA players, and I wouldn’t expect anything less when it comes to Saddiq Bey.

Kira Lewis Jr. PG Alabama: Kira Lewis Jr. could be one of the better values out of the guard spot this season. He’s arguably the fastest player in the draft, and likely has that distinction amongst guards. He’d use that to his advantage to get to the rim, and when defenders try to cut him off or go under screens he’s a good enough shooter to make defenses pay. It felt like his first instinct was to find open teammates before going for his own. Lewis would flash finesse finishes in the paint, another nifty counter to balance his speed, but felt like he’d more often struggle to finish those plays than not. He needs to improve on that and his turnovers, but if he can, there is a lot to work with here. As an 18-year-old sophomore, Lewis is young for his age too and already has two years of experience under his belt. He needs to develop though and go to a place with a track record of developing young talent. If that’s the case, he can be a big-time steal. I’m a fan.

Jaden McDaniels SF/PF Washington: Perhaps no player in this draft is more perplexing, enigmatic, or boom-bust than McDaniels. There are days like his game against UCLA where once he is dialed in, he’s a scoring menace and guards 1-5 defensively. There are other days where you don’t even notice he’s on the floor. He still is raw and needs some fine-tuning to his game, but the flashes of brilliance are so tantalizing. He has the tools to become the versatile positionless wing to wreak havoc across the floor, but he’s going to need to go to a spot who can get the most out of him. The situation is key in the NBA, and there might not be a player more dependent upon it than McDaniels. If he gets to the right spot, he could be the steal of the draft.

Isaiah Stewart C Washington: While there are some concerns about Jaden McDaniels’ motor, there shouldn’t be much regarding his teammate, Isaiah Stewart. Stewart came to play all season long, routinely gobbling up rebounds and bending the rim. He racked up a double-double in nearly half of his games (14 out of 32) during his freshman season in Seattle. Stewart is a brute force at 6’9” 250 pounds yet runs like a gazelle in transition nearly every chance he gets to do so. What I also like about Stewart is he has very good touch around the rim and can go to the post and finish in case of an emergency. He fits the mold of the Clint Capela-archetype of today’s bigs. Sitting in the middle of Washington’s 2-3 zone didn’t allow for much to see how Stewart defends on the perimeter, but more and more NBA teams have elected to trot out zone defenses in stretches anyway in an attempt to throw off their opponent by giving them a different puzzle to solve. There is some question as to how much these types of bigs can actually produce in playoff series, but Stewart has skill in his own right to not be solely dependent on others throwing lobs to him like Clint Capela or Jarrett Allen, who both were played off the floor for stretches in the postseason last year. He’ll help whoever drafts him.

Nico Mannion PG Arizona: I was a little disappointed watching Mannion. He’s a floor general who looks to pass and make his teammates better, things I value out of my point guards for sure but was expecting a little more given the hype before the season, and he didn’t seem to live up to it. To be fair, he did finish the season well, but he was inconsistent. He also did not have an open court to play under in the halfcourt (a Sean Miller special) and thrived in that type of environment, mostly in transition. He’s a fantastic passer who looks to throw the ball up the floor in transition and is unafraid to let it fly before the defense is set. Creating his own shot proved to be too daunting a task at times, however, and that led to both he and Arizona’s inconsistency (again, coaching didn’t do him many favors though). Mannion is and can be a good player in the league, but I’m not sure we’ll see the star he was hyped to be before heading to Tuscon.

Cassius Winston PG Michigan State: More on the Spartan floor general will come soon.

Patrick Williams SF/PF Florida State: A deeper dive on the other wing from Florida State will arrive soon.

Tre Jones PG Duke: The problem with Tre Jones during his freshman year at Durham was his shooting ability. He shot 26.2% from deep that year, but things changed fairly drastically this go-around. He bumped his three-point percentage up to 36.1% while holding his water from the free-throw line. It’s easy to compare him to his brother Tyus, but it also holds weight with Tre’s ability to defend. If his shooting holds true, I don’t see how he couldn’t produce and follow the same trajectory as his brother in the NBA.

Jahm’ius Ramsey SG Texas Tech: Youth is the rage when it comes to the NBA draft, and Ramsey has a lot of it, as he won’t turn 19 until June. When it comes to youth, Ramsey showed it for stretches at Texas Tech, sometimes losing track of his man defensively or driving with reckless abandon into traffic (an unfinished handle to blame for some of that). Working in Ramsey’s favor, however, is the fact he hit 60 of 141 threes, not all of the catch-and-shoot variety, with some tough contested looks like this one sprinkled in between. However, I’m not sure his shot is as potent as his three-point percentage suggests, as his line-drive release and free-throw percentage (64.1%) strays from his percentage from deep, but shooting well from deep surely can’t hurt Ramsey’s chances. I wouldn’t count on Ramsey becoming a plus creator with the ball in his hands as his handle needs more polish to tap more into that area of his game, but he has given glimpses he can do so in spurts. Maybe Ramsey could step into a rotation with his effort level, but his best-case situation would be going to a team touted for its development prowess in the first round to give some reps and experience before throwing him to the NBA fire.

Sleepers:

Immanuel Quickley SG Kentucky: More on the Kentucky guard will arrive shortly.

Mason Jones SG/SF Arkansas: More about the Arkansas guard will come soon.

Desmond Bane PG/SG TCU: Desmond Bane should be getting more love than he’s getting. He can reliably play both guard spots with his ability to cut and move without the ball and space the floor (he’s a career 43% shooter from distance from well over 500 attempts throughout his four seasons at TCU) and create offense for himself or for others with the ball in his hands. Not only does he have the game to toggle between either guard spot, but at 6’6” 215 pounds, he possesses the size to switch across the floor and make difficult for anybody he’s guarding. He isn’t quite the conductor that fellow senior draft-eligible prospect Cassius Winston is, but the difference between the two is negligible. Bane could end up being an absolute steal if he were to fall in the second round, which, quite frankly, shouldn’t happen.

Elijah Hughes SF Syracuse: For those eager to read more on the Syracuse wing, it will drop shortly.

Isaiah Joe SG Arkansas: Isaiah Joe is a bit of an enigma. A knee injury really bothered him over the second half of the season and the construction of his team forced him to almost exclusively shoot threes, hurting his percentage from the field (36.7%). His form is still splendid, however, and the release is quick enough to get shots off when others can’t. He can get his own shot off the bounce with a step-back and is a nice passer in space, but struggled to finish through contact. He did embrace on the defensive side, however, routinely stepping up to take charges. I think it would do Joe good to come back and get stronger, but his shooting should keep him in the NBA for a long time in a time where everyone is looking for guys who can shoot from beyond the three-point line.

Payton Pritchard PG/SG Oregon: Pritchard reminds me a lot of Fred Vanvleet. He’s tough, tenacious, will get after it defensively, and will not go down without a fight. Both possess handles good enough to get them where they want to go along with their strength to bruise through defenders. Get a big man on a switch and Pritchard can handle them no problem and bury shots from distance. Teams need reliable guards off the bench, and Pritchard has proven he can be that for whoever drafts him, whether through his stellar play in the Pac-12 tournament last season or stepping his game up again this season, averaging over 20 points a night with 46.8/41.5/82.1 shooting splits. He won’t go high, but I feel fairly certain he’s going to stick in the NBA for a long time.

Nick Richards C Kentucky: John Calipari doesn’t do a whole lot of three-and-dones, but the payoff for Richards finally came through this season. Even at the beginning of the year against Michigan State and Evansville, he sort of got pushed around, but that changed during the course of the season. He’s athletic, can move up and down the floor, is a lob threat, can operate out of the post, and showed good verticality in the paint defensively. He has glue for hands, catching nearly every pass that came to his direction, even in tight corridors. As the center position continues to be an area where value is found, Richards can be a value for teams in the second round.

Jalen Smith C Maryland and Xavier Tillman C Michigan State: I’m lumping these two together because both Smith and Tillman seem like good archetypes for the modern big man. Defend the rim, switch on the perimeter, roll to the rim, hit the occasional three (Smith shot 36.8% on 2.8 attempts this season), and rebound. Smith likes to slip screens and is a threat to score both rolling to the rim or hit catch-and-shoot threes. Smith showed flashes of making the right reads on the move as well when rolling to the rim but would force passes that weren’t there, in part leading to his paltry near 0.5 assist/turnover ratio, but that can improve. Tillman can make the same passes when rolling to the rim as well and is a solid, but not as explosive compared to Smith, finisher in his own right. While he isn’t quite the shooter Smith is, his 3 assists per game are more than quadruple Smith’s on about the same number of turnovers. For a team that needs help in its frontcourt defensively, Smith or Tillman would make for a more than fine selection in the late first or early second round.

Markus Howard PG Marquette: I watched his game against USC and was quickly reminded: this guy can get buckets. Now, I’m not sure what else he does, but he can score and is one of the better shooters in the draft. If you need a Quinn Cook on your bench who can come in and flip a game or two with three quick threes, then this is the guy for you late in the draft.

Ashton Hagans PG Kentucky: Hagans is the polar opposite of what Howard is. He’s not as renowned a shooter, but he is a hound defensively and is a physical finisher at the rim. He’s quick and really fast with the ball in his hands and knows how to run a team. The league is falling out of favor for guys who aren’t shooters, but his defense and savvy should be enough to, at the very least, get Hagans on an NBA bench somewhere, especially if there are teams out there who believe they can develop that jumper.

Kaleb Wesson C Ohio State & Vernon Carey Jr. C Duke: Wesson and Carey are the archetype centers that are falling out of favor in the NBA. While they have defensive limitations on the perimeter, both Wesson and Carey are skilled passers who can match both low-post brute force with three-point prowess (Wesson shot 38% on threes during his career at Ohio State. Carey hit the same percentage, albeit on a much smaller sample size of just 21 threes). Unfortunately, their time of conception was off a few years in terms of how the NBA values big men like them, diminishing their draft stock, but both have a shot of sticking in a rotation somewhere with their abilities to generate offense.

Skylar Mays PG/SG LSU: If you value versatility at your guard spot, Skylar Mays can be a very nice value in the draft. He boosted his efficiency up big time this year, shooting a career-high 49.1% from the field and 39.4% from three, allowing him to switch up and shift roles depending on what his team needed. He can affect the game and create offense both with and without the ball in his hands at the start of possessions. I could see him stick in the NBA for a long time.

Yves Pons SF/PF Tennessee: Pons is a monster athlete. He looks like a tight end out there. The man can actually fly. Seriously. Granted, that is against air, but that still doesn’t seem normal at all. He can get in a stance and defend guards and use his 6’6” 215-pound frame and athleticism to hang against bigger players. He even shot about 35% from three this season. It didn’t feel like Tennessee tapped into his athleticism enough, but an NBA team would be smart to and give him a chance to be a role player off the bench in the mold of a Derrick Jones Jr.

Cassius Stanley SF Duke: I’ll be honest, I didn’t think much of Stanley as an NBA prospect outside of his insane hops and wasn’t sure I’d sway off of that line of thinking. I was wrong. Going back to the hops though, the man literally has pogo-sticks for legs to fly across the hardwood, and no I’m not kidding. Get him running on the wing in transition and odds are he’ll bring the house down. Also, how’s this for an inbounds play? But, while Stanley is very much still a raw prospect, there is more than meets the eye than just aerial acrobatics. I was surprised to see he ended the season shooting 36% from deep and it bore out on the tape as he made defenses pay *enough* for making him beat them from distance. He’d use his freaky athleticism to slash to the rim and get to the free-throw line (3.6 free throw attempts per game). He’d benefit from a tighter handle and could use a better feel for the game (he nearly doubled his assist numbers with turnovers), but think he showed he *can be* more than just a dunker. He’s more than worth the shot in the second round.

Jordan Nwora SF Louisville: I wish Nwora was a little more consistent. I also wish he had more avenues towards production other than scoring. Nwora came on the scene last season with his scoring prowess and has coupled that with efficiency from deep (he shot 39% on over 450 threes during his three seasons at Louisville). Nwora’s defense and playmaking do not inspire a ton of confidence, but Nwora can serve as an instant offense energizer off the bench.

Aamir Simms PF/C Clemson: Simms’ name has not entered many NBA Draft discussions that I have heard/read, but that seems like a mistake to me. With requisite size (6’8” 240 pounds) and ample athleticism, Simms’ build suggests he is capable of handling the pounding of an NBA big man. His game does so as well. Passing is a strong suit of his game, as Simms can deliver nifty passes from all types of angles and areas along the floor. He can either finish or playmake a little in the dribble hand-off game and can also elevate in the open floor in the pick-and-roll. He’s a career 35% three-point shooter and owns essentially a neutral assist/turnover ratio (better than many other bigs in this class). He isn’t the biggest brute out there but uses every ounce of his frame to take the punishment from his opponent and hold his ground. Is Simms a star? Not exactly, but I could see him be a positive contributor off the bench and possibly work his way into being a starter a la Maxi Kleber has done with the Dallas Mavericks. Simms should not be ignored.

Kristian Doolittle SF Oklahoma: Kristian Doolittle deserves some more love, in my opinion. He’s 6’7”, 232 pounds, ideal size for the modern wing, with the versatility to guard multiple positions. Doolittle shot 37% from three during his four seasons at Norman, albeit on only 131 attempts, but still (he was solid from the free-throw line too, hitting at least 77.5% of his free-throws in three of four seasons). I see quite a bit of Dorian Finney-Smith, who has turned into quite the role player for the Dallas Mavericks, in Doolittle’s game. I could easily see Doolittle becoming a role player like Finney-Smith and becoming a very nice steal for whoever gives him a sh

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