Saturday, Part I

Jun. 7th, 2025 01:20 pm
moon_custafer: neon cat mask (Default)
[personal profile] moon_custafer
Got up early and met a_t_rain downtown to watch the York Plays, or at least as many as them as I could see before ten a.m. when I headed home to get ready for this afternoon/evening’s 20th wedding anniversary at the Dog & Bear (which is where I’m currently typing this—we got here early, our guests are supposed to arrive around two o’clock).

I saw the York Plays from the Fall of Lucifer up through the Nativity, and it all gets way for serious after that point so I was happy enough to stop there. The Flood was a highlight, as usual—loved Noah’s obviously fake beard that he removes, after having spent a century constructing the Ark, and replaces with an even longer fake beard. The construction was staged as Noah unrolling the plans and then folding them into a paper boat—God comes and helps him with the final little tug at the corners that turns it into a boat shape.

Later, Abraham was played by someone who reminded me irresistibly of Matt Berry in voice and general appearance; but he made it work. Also this one was originally produced by the parchment-makers’ guild, so the bunch currently staging it not only made the mountain look like a collage of written texts, but handed out stickers to the audience that read “Abraham and Isaac were grete” and “wende, wende parchment makeres!”

ETA— Just remembered the guy who played post-Eden Adam. He was good, but the text for that play hadn’t been modernized as much as most of the others, and contained several instances of the word “mon,” which iirc, and from the dialogue, seemed to mean either “must” or “may”—“where I mon run,” etc. But this actor seemed to think it was more like the modern Jamaican word “mon.” At least, he would phrase it like “Where I, mon, run.”

May-December (Film Review)

Jun. 7th, 2025 05:51 pm
selenak: (Damages by Agsmith01)
[personal profile] selenak
Which I would have watched on the big screen if I could have, but a brief showing time and my tight schedule did not allow it. Anyway: this is the movie in which Natalie Portman plays a (tv) actress, Elizabeth, who wants to play Gracie (Julianne Moore) in a movie based on events taking place about two decades plus earlier than the film's setting, which is 2015. (Though the film itself premiered in 2023.) Said events consisted of Gracie, at age 36, having had a "relationship" with a thirteen years old boy, Joe ,whom she after some years in prison for statuary rape married; he's currently 36 (as is Elizabeth), the same age she was back then, and played by Charles Melton, who I osmosed before this movie was mostly famous for playing a jock type in Riverdale but who is absolutely stunning in this film (and should at least have gotten an Oscar nomination), which given he's working with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman at their best, is truly saying something. There are also kids (the one Gracie was pregnant with when she got caught is now in college, and thn there are twins about to graduate), as well as Gracie's offspring from her earlier marriage, with her son Georgie being the same age as Joe. The movie is directed by Todd Haynes, and dives right into how incredibly messed up a story this is.

Now, if you start the film knot knowing what it's about, then the first few minutes might let you assume it's a black comedy about suburbia; Gracie, Joe and their children live in the proverbial idyllic white fenced area somewhere in South Carolina, with Gracie (who runs a small scale bakery) coming across as somewhat high strung but popular among her neighbours - and then Elizabeth arrives, only to find an anonymous package at the couple's front door which contains feces. There are some comedy beats throughout the remaining movie, but actually I would classify it as emotional horror. Gracie is still absolutely incapable of admitting she ever did anything wrong, and we get an early taste of her ability to manipulate and achieve emotional control when she comments on her daughter's choice of prom dress: "You're so brave to show your arms! I wouldn't have dared", with the result that of course the poor girl doesn't buy that dress but the one Gracie likes. Elizabeth isn't the film's heroine, either, though in the first half her investigation provides the audience bit by bit with the backstory from various povs via the characters Elizabeth talks to; the movie goes full throttle about what a disturbing and ruthlessly exploitative process an actor working on a role can be if that role isn't a fictional character but a real person. (BTW, of course Portman and Moore don't look much alike, but that only helps enhancing the sense of disquiet as Elizabeth adopts more and more of Gracie's mannerisms, with the scene where Gracie gives Elizabeth a makeover with her own makeup and lipstick being a showcase in point.)

Meanwhile, Joe starts out on a quiet background note when compared to the two women, and then the story shows more and more how messed up not just the start of his relationship with Gracie was but how messed up their present day relationship still is. More than one review described Joe as a thirteen years old still locked in the body of an adult man, and before watching the film I assumed this meant Joe would be characterized as a manchild, but no, that's not what was meant at all. If anything, he's the most reasonably and responsibly acting adult in this film. But emotionally, it becomes clear he's never had the chance to process what happened, not least because his entire life is still built around keeping Gracie happy. He became a father years and years before growing up, and the scene where due to his teenage son for the first time sharing pot with him his quiet and calm facade finally cracks and some of that repressed emotion breaks through is incredibly good and heartbreaking.

Incidentally: making a movie which deals with an adult grooming a kid without getting voyeuristic with a young actor sounds near impossible - but May-December by showing us the aftermath and the long term effect everything had on Joe decades later proves it can be done. At the same time, we do get a visual reminder of just how young he was when Elizabeth gets sent video clips of teenagers auditioning to play Joe. (The audition clips don't show more than them introducing themselves with their name and age.) Elizabeth looks appalled, and the audience might think it's because it hits her how young thirteen really is.... and then a few scenes later, she's on the phone with her producer and tells him these guys are just wrong because they don't look sexy enough. Which tells you something about Elizabeth.

Despite how good this film is - with script, acting and cinematography all outstanding - , I'm not surprised it wasn't a box office success (while getting deservedly criticial praise.) It's hardly a subject lending itself to relaxation, and despite its three leads all being very attractive people, any sexual activity is basically the opposite of fanservice - like I said, it's an emotional horror show. Not something I'll rewatch any time soon, though I am glad I watched it once, and am full of admiration for what it achieves.
sonofgodzilla: dead scream! (sailor pluto)
[personal profile] sonofgodzilla
Sometimes I avoid watching magical girl shows because I know I'll have to write one of these entries if I do.

Kimi to Idol Precure )

Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Wizard & Fourze: Movie War Ultimatum )

I read a lot of books these past few months. I'm working my way through the Fushigi Comedy series as a whole, but I'm mostly watching the "robot comedy" shows, so apologies for the lack of variety in this month's post.
oursin: Photograph of Stella Gibbons, overwritten IM IN UR WOODSHED SEEING SOMETHIN NASTY (woodshed)
[personal profile] oursin

Actually, I can't find that the article by Molly-Jong Fast in today's Guardian Saturday is currently online, alas - clearly she had a sad and distressing childhood, even if I was tempted, and probably not the only one to be so tempted, to murmur, apologies to P Larkin, 'they zipless fuck you up...', the abrupt dismissal of her nanny, her only secure attachment figure, when Erica J suddenly remarried (again) was particularly harsh, I thought. No wonder she had problems.

And really, even if she does make a point of how relatively privileged she was, that doesn't actually ameliorate how badly she was treated.

Only the other day there was an obituary of the psychoanalyst Joy Schaverien, who wrote Boarding School Syndrome: The Psychological Trauma of the “Privileged” Child.

***

Another rather traumatic parenting story, though this is down to the hospitals: BBC News is now aware of five cases of babies swapped by mistake in maternity wards from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Lawyers say they expect more people to come forward driven by the increase in cheap genetic testing.:

[V]ery gradually, more babies were delivered in hospital, where newborns were typically removed for periods to be cared for in nurseries.
"The baby would be taken away between feeds so that the mother could rest, and the baby could be watched by either a nursery nurse or midwife," says Terri Coates, a retired lecturer in midwifery, and former clinical adviser on BBC series Call The Midwife.
"It may sound paternalistic, but midwives believed they were looking after mums and babies incredibly well."
It was common for new mothers to be kept in hospital for between five and seven days, far longer than today.
To identify newborns in the nursery, a card would be tied to the end of the cot with the baby's name, mother's name, the date and time of birth, and the baby's weight.
"Where cots rather than babies were labelled, accidents could easily happen"

Plus, this was the era of the baby boom, one imagines maternity wards may have been a bit swamped....

***

A different sort of misattribution: The furniture fraud who hoodwinked the Palace of Versailles:

[T]his assortment of royal chairs would become embroiled in a national scandal that would rock the French antiques world, bringing the trade into disrepute.
The reason? The chairs were in fact all fakes.
The scandal saw one of France's leading antiques experts, Georges "Bill" Pallot, and award-winning cabinetmaker, Bruno Desnoues, put on trial on charges of fraud and money laundering following a nine-year investigation.
....
Speaking in court in March, Mr Pallot said the scheme started as a "joke" with Mr Desnoues in 2007 to see if they could replicate an armchair they were already working on restoring, that once belonged to Madame du Barry.
Masters of their crafts, they managed the feat, convincing other experts that it was a chair from the period.

***

I am really given a little hope for an anti-Mybug tendency among the masculine persuasion: A Man writes in 'the issue is not whether men are being published, but whether they are reading – and being supported to develop emotional lives that fiction can help foster'

While Geoff Dyer in The Books of [His] Life goes in hard with Beatrix Potter as early memory, Elizabeth Taylor as late-life discovery, and Rosamond Lehmann's The Weather in the Streets as

One of those perennially bubbling-under modern classics – too good for the Championship, unable to sustain a place in the Premier league – which turns out to be way better than some of the canonical stalwarts permanently installed in the top flight.

Okay, I mark him down a bit for the macho ' I don’t go to books for comfort', but still, not bad for a bloke, eh.

Zines

Jun. 7th, 2025 09:05 am
used_songs: (Phoenix)
[personal profile] used_songs
I FINALLY printed copies of the zines I made during April and May. If you would like some, send me a message with your address and I will get them in the mail. I am not comment screening, so don’t leave your address here!

Speak Up Saturday

Jun. 7th, 2025 03:55 pm
feurioo: (music: guesch etienne mv)
[personal profile] feurioo posting in [community profile] tv_talk
Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?
veronyxk84: (Vero#buffyS6)
[personal profile] veronyxk84 posting in [community profile] 100words
Title: Wrecking Ball
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Author: [personal profile] veronyxk84
Characters/Pairing: Buffy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Word count: 100 (Google Docs)
Spoilers/Setting: Set in S6, during ep. 6x08 “Tabula Rasa”
Summary: Buffy suddenly gets her memories back.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created for fun and no profit has been made. All rights belong to the respective owners.

Prompt: #445 - In Your Shoes

Crossposted: [community profile] drabble_zone, [community profile] anythingdrabble, My journal, Sunnydale After Dark


READ: Wrecking Ball )

(no subject)

Jun. 7th, 2025 12:32 pm
oursin: Brush the Wandering Hedgehog by the fire (Default)
[personal profile] oursin
Happy birthday, [personal profile] sally_maria and [personal profile] spiffikins!

It's morphogenesis

Jun. 7th, 2025 06:12 am
sovay: (Rotwang)
[personal profile] sovay
For the seventy-first yahrzeit of Alan Turing, I have been listening to selections from the galaxy-brained fusion of Michael Vegas Mussmann and Payton Millet's Alan Turing and the Queen of the Night (2025) as well as the glitterqueer mad science of Kele Fleming's "Turing Test" (2024). Every year I discover new art in his memory, like Frank Duffy's A lion for Alan Turing (2023). Lately I treasure it like spite. The best would be countries doing better by their queer and trans living than their honored and unnecessary dead.
sovay: (PJ Harvey: crow)
[personal profile] sovay
As it turns out, what goes on with my hand is that it's going to have arthritis, but with any luck on the same glacial timeline as the kind that runs in my family, and in the meantime I have been referred back to OT. Maybe there will be more paraffin.

My parents as an unnecessary gift for taking care of the plants while they were out of town—mostly watering a lot of things in pots and digging the black swallow-wort out of the irises—gave me Eddie Muller's Dark City Dames: The Women Who Defined Film Noir (2001/2025), which not only fits the theme of this year's Noir City: Boston, but contains such useful gems as:

One of the most common, if wrong-headed, criticisms of film noir is that it relegates women to simplistic archetypes, making them Pollyannas or femmes fatales, drippy good girls or sinister sexpots. People who believe this nonsense have never seen a noir starring Ella Raines.

Ella Raines is indeed all that and a drum solo on top, but she is not a unique occurrence and I can only hope that people who have not been paying attention to Karen Burroughs Hannsberry or Imogen Sara Smith will listen to the Czar of Noir when he writes about its complicated women, because I am never going to have the platform to get this fact through people's heads and I am never going to let up on it, either.

Anyway, I learned a new vocabulary word.

Fandom50: #15

Jun. 6th, 2025 07:46 pm
senmut: Screen shot of Mikaela dirty in the end of '07 TF, Warrior Goddess in blue above and below (Transformers: Mikaela)
[personal profile] senmut
Almost the end of a decade in 1989. Revolutions, crackdowns, changes in power ... look, 1989 left a mark on my psyche. Evidently I was escaping into the cinema as much as I was to the roller rink, judging from me opening 20 tabs even with me being picky. Going to narrow that down some. Okay, 11 in the final cut.

kinda grouped in genre broadly )
double_dutchess: (Sunnydale Herald)
[personal profile] double_dutchess posting in [community profile] su_herald
Oz: The monkey's the only cookie animal that gets to wear clothes, you know that?
Willow smiles brightly.
Oz: You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen.
Oz: (continues down the hall) So, I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sorta ripped? Like, is the hippo going, 'Hey, man, where are *my* pants? I have my hippo dignity!'
Willow laughs.
Oz: And you know the monkey's just, (with a French accent) 'I mock you with my monkey pants!'

~~What's My Line? Part 2~~


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The three tenors & Hauser

Jun. 6th, 2025 10:01 pm
elisi: Dimash singing (Dimash)
[personal profile] elisi
Here is something for a Friday night:

My Way - Domingo x Carreras x Dimash x HAUSER | Virtuosos 2025


Someone in a comment on youtube said that Carreras and Domingo have never performed with another tenor since Pavarotti died. I have no idea if this is correct, however when trying to verify it I came across this article from 2017: CARRERAS AND DOMINGO VIRTUALLY RECREATED THE THREE TENORS' ATMOSPHERE WITH "MY WAY" AT THE ARENA DI VERONA. And to then use that specific song that with Dimash is clearly a huge honour. <3

I should probably also mention that to sing with them is literally Dimash's childhood dream, he had a VHS with The Three Tenors that he would watch, and that helped inspire him to become a singer.

Also, I doubt they had much time to rehearse - this performance was during The Virtuosos ('a classical music talent show with a unique format, focusing on discovering young classical talent and then giving the talented youngsters a chance to develop and progress in a way that few others have'), they'll all have been v busy. ^_^

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