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Hermione Lee is the author of biographies of Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton. She teaches at Oxford, where she is president of Wolfson College.
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History, Cultural history, 1800-1899, Europe, Western Europe, UK, Gender, Marriage, Homosexuality
Vol. 29 No. 10 · 24 May 2007
pages 21-22 | 2108 words
Hermione Lee
Between Women: Friendship, Desire and Marriage in Victorian England by Sharon Marcus
Princeton, 356 pp, £12.95, March 2007, ISBN 978 0 691 12835 1
In 1852, Elizabeth Barrett Browning met the expatriate American actress Charlotte Cushman (famous for her trouser roles) and her companion Matilda Hays, a writer and feminist. They had 'made vows of celibacy and of eternal attachment to each other – they live together, dress alike,' Barrett Browning wrote to her sister. 'It is a female marriage.' She added that she had remarked, after the meeting, to a female acquaintance, 'Well, I never heard of such a thing before,' and received the reply: 'Haven't you? Oh, it is by no means uncommon.' Barrett Browning noted, also, that 'Miss Cushman has an unimpeachable character.' Cushman not only had a public partnership with Hays and, after her, with the sculptor Emma Stebbins, but a long secret affair with a young woman who married her adopted son, thus becoming her daughter-in-law. This 'matrilineal, incestuous, adulterous, polygamous, homosexual household', as Sharon Marcus describes it in Between Women, was not, however, 'branded as deviant'. Cushman was indeed 'unimpeachable'. Female marriages like hers, in which couples called each other 'sposa', 'wedded wife' and 'hubbie', and whose members might also be, or have been, married to men, were seen as socially acceptable 'variations on legal marriage' long before 'the sexological idea of inversion' was formulated at the end of the century. This – the 1830s to the 1890s – was an era 'when lesbianism was neither avowed as a sexual identity nor stigmatised as a deviant sexuality'.
Cushman, like some of the other women in female partnerships cited by Marcus, such as the cross-dressing American artist Harriet Hosmer, was, like the Brownings, part of an expatriate, tolerant, liberated, often feminist group of artists and intellectuals. Barrett Browning herself, as made clear by her adventurous escape to Italy with Browning, her admiration for George Sand and her close friendship with the outspoken Anna Jameson, was an exceptionally broad-minded observer. In her eagerness to show the respectability of female marriages, Marcus perhaps doesn't make enough of the tone of that liberal milieu, in which the unshockable 'Oh, it is by no means uncommon' would have been the norm. Henry James's biography (briefly mentioned here) of the sculptor William Wetmore Story recalls with wonderful wry nostalgia those expatriate Italian circles of the 1850s, 'that strange sisterhood' of American 'lady sculptors' and 'the queer little kingdom' of Cushman's theatrical world. Marcus notes that James may have drawn on Cushman's menage, in heterosexual guise, for Charlotte Stant's quasi-incestuous marriage to the father of her lover's wife in The Golden Bowl. But she doesn't mention James's savage satire on female marriage in The Bostonians, or his troubled feelings about his sister's 'Boston marriage' to Katharine Loring (brilliantly analysed by Jean Strouse in her book about Alice James). His darkly sardonic attitudes to female partnerships might have clouded the generally positive, fresh, pioneering spirit of Marcus's book.
But even if the acceptance of female marriage in the 19th century was not quite as general as Marcus would have us believe, Barrett Browning's meeting with Cushman is one of many vivid examples which suggest how wrong we have been about Victorian women's relationships. In thinking about the long 20th-century struggle to legitimise and establish equality for same-sex unions, civil partnerships for gays and lesbians, gay marriages and adoption, we may tend to locate the origins of prejudice and sexual censoriousness in the Victorian era. After all, we know about its 'double standards' and 'separate spheres', about Victorian women's lack of social and legal rights and their confinement within prescribed roles as daughters, wives, mothers and widows, or, conversely, as governesses, spinsters, old maids, dependent relatives or socially unacceptable rebels. We think we know about the Victorian denial or negation of lesbianism, summed up by the apocryphal story (too dubious for Marcus to cite) that Queen Victoria rejected a clause in the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 (criminalising homosexuality, raising the age of consent and legislating against procurement and brothels) that would have criminalised lesbian acts, on the grounds that she didn't believe women did such things.
Marcus, to her credit writing boldly against the feminist critics and queer theorists – such as Judith Butler, Martha Vicinus, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and Carroll Smith-Rosenberg – through whom she has evidently formulated her thinking, proposes a new account of women's lives in the mid to late 19th century. The advantage of her method is that it complicates our historical view, doesn't over-schematise the past and doesn't apply anachronistic ideology to another era. Instead of focusing on Victorian women as 'relative creatures, defined by their difference from and subordination to men', instead of thinking of their relationships with each other 'only as reactions against, retreats from, or appropriations of masculinity', and instead of seeing family, marriage and heterosexual relations as being always in opposition to friendships between women, Marcus argues that the categories of heterosexual and homosexual, through which Victorian culture has often been read, are not flexible enough. In a lucid, well-researched and vigorous study, she suggests a much more plastic, mutable, overlapping model. The large point she is making is simple, even obvious: that there were many different kinds of relationship between women in the period – but her examples are interestingly complicated. Victorian marriage was a changing, elastic institution, she argues, not a monolithic one, and could accommodate 'variations such as divorce and same-sex unions'. (She even argues, with a little more polemical partisanship than elsewhere, that female marriages showed the way to the modernisation of heterosexual marriage because they tended to be more equal and free.) Relationships between women, whether lesbian love affairs, same-sex marriages, friendships, mother-daughter relationships or companionships, were not always sequestered, rebellious, or in opposition to dominant heterosexual relationships. They interconnected and engaged with marriages. Female marriages were often seen, not as unconventional or threatening, but as 'a variation on the married couple', publicly accepted and 'by no means uncommon'.
As well as proposing a more flexible idea of marriage and of relationships between men and women, and women and women, Marcus also feels her way carefully through different kinds of female union. Many friendships between women were 'ardent bonds', as she nicely puts it, using a passionate, intense language of love and eroticism, without being sexual. Many lesbians were also married to men. She does not find it helpful to run all these various sorts of relationship together along a 'lesbian continuum' (a well-established concept in feminist historical writing, whereby very different kinds and stages of female friendship are all read as subsects of lesbianism). Instead she wants to point to the differences between lesbian couples and female friends. At the same time she is interested in the way that 'female homoeroticism' could exist as a component of 'respectable womanhood' in mainstream culture, alongside pornography. Erotic language and images of, by and for women were, she finds, surprisingly acceptable, unselfconscious and open. 'Precisely because Victorians saw lesbian sex almost nowhere, they could embrace erotic desire between women almost everywhere.'
Marcus draws on a wide range of sources, from novels, letters and diaries to fashion plates, stories about dolls, anthropological writings and ambiguous texts on corporal punishment. These don't all work equally well, or in quite the same ways, and there is a tendency for the book to keep repeating its main points on the back of each group of examples. But the variety of evidence used is ingenious, and makes sense. Cutting her way through a swathe of mainly middle-class life-writing, Marcus looks at a whole repertory of expressions of 'female amity', drawing fine distinctions between ardent friendships, spiritual communion, unrequited passions, obsessive infatuations and conjugal relationships. When a woman writes of, or to, her friend, 'My Katie, you were mine in 1842, and you have been twenty times more mine every year since,' or praises her 'darling, clever little hands, lovely arms and wrists', or relates with pleasure how her friend 'kissed me tenderly and gave me her photograph', her passionate language was not necessarily lesbian, and such relationships were not necessarily separate from or alternatives to heterosexuality. The intense emotions of friendship could play into courtship and family life; friends often helped each other marry.
Marcus tracks the links between female friendship and marriage into fiction and poetry, rejecting the kind of 'symptomatic reading' instigated by Fredric Jameson, who urges criticism to investigate the ideological unspoken below the surface of texts and in their gaps. Instead of looking for what has been repressed, Marcus rather refreshingly looks for what is apparent – she calls this 'just reading' – and finds, everywhere, strong examples of 'the interdependence of female friendship and the marriage plot'. So her reading of Middlemarch focuses on the painful relationship between Dorothea and Rosamond; Shirley, Caroline and Mrs Pryor create a 'female marriage plot' in Charlotte Brontë's Shirley; Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh transforms rivalry for one man between two women into an altruistic triangle ending in marriage; Agnes's benign relation to Dora is the crux of David Copperfield; Lucy Snowe in Villette is seen isolating herself through her resistance to desire for or friendship with women; Pip in Great Expectations is the feminised child or doll in the cruel triad of Estella/Pip/Miss Havisham; and Trollope (punitively described as complacent, conservative and antifeminist) is seen to make an exception to his general attitude, under the influence of his feminist friend Kate Field, in Can You Forgive Her?, where an 'eroticised friendship' between two women 'lubricates' marriage between a woman and a man. Again, James shadows these pages, his tragic plot of false female friendship between Madame Merle and Isabel in The Portrait of a Lady undoing the altruism and hopefulness found by Marcus.
The notion of Pip as an abused doll figure in Great Expectations links with Marcus's non-literary materials, where she finds surprising crossings-over between mainstream culture and pornography in a number of domestic, middle-class publications. In fashion-plates, for example, the women showing off the latest styles are posed, often by women artists, for the female, not the male, gaze. Marcus argues that their figures, copiously illustrated here, are displayed as erotic objects of desire. I looked obediently at these bland, decorative, commercial images of fashionable women gesturing to one another's corsages, or holding nosegays, or gazing into the distance, while Marcus pointed out the vulval images, the masturbatory allusions and auto-erotic reveries, or claimed that a teeny-weeny foot peeping out below a long skirt was obviously a 'displaced clitoris', and I began to feel a bit like Queen Victoria: I couldn't quite see it. Still, Samuel Beeton's enthusiastic publication (after Mrs Beeton's death) in a supplement to his popular Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, of a long, swishingly detailed correspondence about the merits of corporal punishment for young girls, certainly proves Marcus's point about 'the everyday homoeroticism of commodity culture'. So does the sadistic, fetishistic language of nursery tales about dolls and their girl owners, which 'describe a process that begins with love at first sight, leads to a honeymoon period spent in bed, and culminates with social reintegration through the paying of calls to exhibit the new love object'. Such narratives illustrate her argument that Victorian women and girls were as much 'enthralled by femininity' as men and boys were. (It's a pity she missed the doll in Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess: Sara Crewe's love at first sight for 'Emily', when she sees through a shop window the doll who will become the inadequate replacement for her lost father, and her angry rejection of the doll when the illusion ceases to work, would have been a perfect example.)
Marcus ends by quoting from A Room of One's Own the sentence, 'Chloe liked Olivia,' which Virginia Woolf gave as an example of the kind of sentence she wanted to see more of in women's fiction, for so long dominated by women only 'in their relation to men'. It's a sentence, Marcus observes, that has been milked for lesbian potential by successive generations of feminist writers and readers. She argues, rightly, that 'Chloe liked Olivia' could refer to friendship or unromantic professional companionship just as well as to romantic love. Chloe and Olivia have been 'overworked', she concludes. 'We need more than two proper names and a verb to do justice to the variety and complexity of women's social alliances.'
Vol. 29 No. 10 · 24 May 2007 » Hermione Lee » I like you
Vol. 29 No. 11 · 7 June 2007
Hermione Lee writes that Virginia Woolf's words 'Chloe liked Olivia' in A Room of One's Own have been 'milked for lesbian potential by successive generations of feminist writers and readers' although '"Chloe liked Olivia" could refer to friendship or unromantic professional companionship just as well as to romantic love' (LRB, 24 May). In the draft of Woolf's manuscript, from March 1929, she writes that after reading the words 'Chloe liked Olivia' in a novel,
there flashed into my mind the inevitable policeman; the summons; the order to attend the court; the dreary waiting; the Magistrate coming in with a little bow; the glass of water; the counsel for the prosecution; for the defence; the verdict; this book is … obscene; & flames rising, perhaps on Tower Hill, as they consumed … masses of … paper.
Just for being friends?
Helen Wright
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The Rise of Contextual
Google Captures the World Stage
Google rocked the digital advertising world last week, announcing they would no longer sell targeted ads based on individual browsing histories next year. This announcement is a logical next step to Google's prior decision to block cookies in Chrome. Google may have been late to the cookie blocking party, following Safari and Firefox, but they make for the biggest headlines.
If you purchase digital ads, on your own or through an agency, you're using Google, which commands 90% of ad search and 40% of the entire US ad market. Google holds unprecedented power in leveraging personal data to track movements for ad purchases. Make no mistake, their plan to stop selling ads based on individual browser data doesn't mean Google isn't still collecting data, they are just using proprietary means, dubbed their "privacy sandbox".
Defining the Privacy Sandbox
The "privacy sandbox" is a data clean room - a place where first party data can be uploaded and Google's collected data lives, but now, is only analyzed internally by Google. While seemingly privacy-compliant, this tactic further strengthens Google by limiting individual company control over data and targeting.
If Google's latest moves leave you feeling uneasy, you're in good company. As the announcement was shared and re-shared, talked about in boardrooms and groaned over in the trenches, Industry leaders are looking for alternatives.
Luckily, visionaries saw this change coming and developed technology solutions that offer privacy-compliant tracking based on powerful, behavioral data.
The Rise of Contextual Targeting
Welcome to the world of contextual targeting - years in the making, it skips invasive tracking and cookie-based inaccuracies, and leverages content-based consumption habits.
Online consumption habits illuminate what a consumer is reading or watching, quickly leading to a superior understanding of consumer motivation. For example, if a consumer is reading articles about the weather in Florida when they live in New York, Content Targeting assumes a trip to Florida is in the making. Layer that knowledge with content consumption on how to purchase a house in another state and the picture starts to take shape - you have a high-value group of people who would likely be in the market for a host of products and services.
Since this kind of targeting is never based on individual level data collection (PII), it offers a wide range of benefits in the privacy era. Larger scale, motivational learnings - the "why" behind consumer-based consumption, stability and improved accuracy.
Contextual isn't a new tactic - it's been around for years, now growing into a sophisticated and refined offering with serious merit in today's digital advertising ecosystem.
As privacy regulations and demands continue to hit the digital ad market, whether from government, consumer demands or advertising behemoths, the need for powerful, more ethical outreach options will continue to grow. And the big winner is turning out to be Contextual.
About Advanced Contextual
Our mission at Advanced Contextual is simple. We believe individual privacy is important and doesn't have to compromise good business. We provide publishers and brands with tools to better understand their audiences through content consumption and dynamic intent data. We do this in a way that preserves both scale and precision, not tied to any single identifier.
cookieless
browsing data
cookie blocking
privacy-compliant
Introducing Advanced Extension from Advanced Contextual
Topics from Google - Eureka!!!
It's Time to Change, Regardless of Legislation or Not

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Have you always felt that the Force is strong with you? Become a true lightsaber master and wield this iconic weapon in the history of film. With this tutorial, you'll learn how to easily develop this image, that you can share on May the 4th, Star Wars Day. For this tutorial you don't need to be an expert on Photoshop, but you should at least know how layer masks work. Leave your fears aside and get ready to become a galactic swordsman.
Before starting to work, it's important that we think of some details for this project (and for any project in general). First, we need to decide the size of the document. In this case, I'll use the same size as the picture I'm going to use. If I need to, I may trim it down, but I don't think we'll have to do that.
Let's see other requirements for any design project. Is it only for web and social media? If so, you'll need to choose the RGB color mode and a resolution of 95 ppi. On the other hand, if you want to print your project, you'll need the CMYK color mode and a resolution of at least 254 ppi.
Don't forget about this to avoid having unexpected issues later on. Besides, you'll be able to see how the final colors will look more accurately.
For starters, open the picture in Photoshop. There are many ways to do this, but I'll tell you the one I often use. Create a new document (Ctrl/Cmd + N) with the same size as the picture you're going to use, or with the size you've decided for your project. I want to use the same size as the picture (4032x3024 px), but I may trim it later on if I need to. Then, to place the image in the artboard, you can either go to File → Place Embedded, or just drag the image to the document. Modify the scale of the image if needed and press Enter when you have it properly placed.
If you wish to use this same picture, you'll find it in the attached files. You can download them here aquí.
In ancient times, each Jedi Knight had to make their own custom lightsaber according to their fighting style and needs as a knight. Next, we'll see how to make our own lightsaber. Like I say in all of my tutorials, you're free to modify the blade and, more importantly, its color, which determines whether the dark side of the Force is strong with you or not.
Select the Rectangle Tool (U). Create a 90x1775 px rectangle with a white fill. To open the Create Rectangle window, just click on the artboard. Don't worry about the color of the lightsaber, because that will be the last thing we'll adjust.
Click on the Rectangle Tool (U) and hold the button to see more tools and choose the Ellipse Tool. Create a 90x90 px circle.
Align the upper edge of the rectangle with the center of the circle.
Select both elements that we've just created and convert them to smart objects. We could either just merge the layers (Ctrl/Cmd + E), but this would prevent us from editing the elements separately. This is why I prefer to work with smart objects whenever possible, but if you feel more comfortable merging the layers, do so.
Select the lightsaber layer and press Ctrl/Cmd + T to open the Free Transform options. Choose an angle of -29º. Then. place the blade where you think it looks good over the handle.
Create a folder and place the lightsaber layer inside. Now, select that layer and press Ctrl/Cmd + J to create a copy. Hide it by clicking on the eye icon. We'll keep this layer just in case we need it later on, or just to have a copy of the image without any further modifications.
Let's start adding effects to the lightsaber to make it look like it's glowing. Select the lightsaber layer and go to Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur… and enter a value of 5,0 px. You might not see any changes for now, but as we apply the effect several times, you'll notice it eventually.
Make a copy of the lightsaber layer that has the 5,0 px gaussian blur effect. Now, repeat the previous step on this new layer: go to Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur… and enter a value of 10,0 px this time.
Notice that, being this a smart layer, it has two effects applied to it: the first 5,0 px gaussian blur and a new 10,0 px one. In other words, you should know that in this second layer you don't just have a 10,0 px gaussian blur, but rather a total 15 px blur.
Repeat the previous step: duplicate the top layer and apply a new 15,0 px gaussian blur to it.
Repeat this once again, but apply this time a new 20,0 px blur. You'll notice that the effects are being displayed piling up on top of the others. This is one of the advantages of working with smart objects, as this allows us to modify these effects at any moment, thus doing a nondestructive editing of our image.
With this, we would already have a glowing lightsaber. Next, we're going to work on the color and the reflection of the light that is being emitted from the lightsaber over the rest of the picture.
The color of a lightsaber tells a lot about the person who's wielding it. As we fans already know, a red lightsaber means that it's the weapon of a Sith. Generally, lightsabers tend to be blue, green, yellow and even purple, but you're free to choose any color that you wish.
We have everything we need to make a decision. Will it be the light side or the dark side? Let's continue!
Create a copy of the lightsaber layer that we left hidden and take it out of the folder. Turn on again the visibility of that layer.
Create a new folder and call it "Glow". Place this folder below the Lightsaber folder. Place the copy layer we've just created inside and create a new copy of this layer.
It's time to select the color for the lightsaber. In my case, it's going to be red (#ff0000).
Place this layer between the two folders and create a clipping mask that affects only the Glow folder. To do this, hold the Alt key and click between the Solid Color fill layer and the Glow folder.
Select the top layer inside the Glow folder and, like we did before, apply a gaussian blur to it (Filter → Blur → Gaussian Blur…). We'll need to enter a higher value than the ones we've used before; namely, a 90,0 px blur.
Select the second layer of the Glow folder and apply a 750,0 px gaussian blur to it. With this, a part of the wall and the character will get some red color on it due to the lightsaber glow.
The lightsaber is almost done—we would just need to polish the part where the blade overlaps the handle. However, the final result wouldn't look as realistic as if we worked a bit on the lighting of our picture. If you want to take your work to the next level, keep reading and learn how to round off this project like a true professional.
Let's apply some adjustment layers to give our design the proper ambience according to the lighting that the lightsaber would create. Let's make our project look amazing!
Select everything we have so far and place it inside one single folder.
Make a selection of your lightsaber master. For this, you can use any selection technique that you want. I'll use the Quick Selection Tool, but this will depend on the picture you're using.
We could use the Refine Edge Brush Tool to polish the selection on the hair area, but I don't think it's necessary given the kind of design we're making.
Keep the selection and go to Select → Save Selection… Name it however you want and save the selection just in case we need it later on.
The selection will be saved as a new channel, which we can see and reuse every time we need it.
Create a Curves adjustment layer. Lower the high and midtones. Apply a layer mask to it with the selection we've previously made (if you hold Alt and click on the mask, you'll make the same selection).
You'll see that both the background and the lightsaber darkened a bit, but the lighting over the lightsaber master didn't change. To tweak this, alternate the use of the Brush Tool (B) and black color with the use of the Gradient Tool (G), and paint over the parts of the image that you want to keep lighted up.
Let me show you the adjustments that I made.
Create a new Curves adjustment layer. This time, increase the red light and the general lighting of the scene. Apply it to the lightsaber master.
Go to the Channels panel and, while holding the Ctrl/Cmd key, click on the selection layer to make the selection again. Return to the Layers panel and create a new Curves adjustment layers. The layer will be created with the mask, but this selection affects the background, so you'll need to invert the layer mask. To do that, click on it and press Ctrl/Cmd + I.
Increase the general lighting of the character on the adjustment layer. Then, select the red channel and increase the lighting on it to make the red tones more noticeable on the image. Now, following the same technique as before, use the Brush Tool (B) with black color, as well as the Gradient Tool (G), and paint over those parts of the mask that you want to keep lighted up.
To keep the layers well-organized, create a new folder and place all the Curves adjustment layers that we've created inside.
To finish off this project, we need to adjust the lower part of the blade to make it look like it blends perfectly with the handle. Go inside the Lightsaber folder and create a layer mask inside the other Lightsaber folder.
Leave the layer mask selected and remove the lower part of the blade using the Brush Tool (B) with black color. I suggest that you use a brush with low hardness to get a smoother result.
Our master of the dark side is ready. Challenge your friends and show everybody in the Projects tab who's the one that can create the coolest and most creative lightsaber. I hope that this tutorial was useful for you. If you have any questions, please write them in the comments section. I'd like you to share how strong is the Force with you, so I can see your results. Young Padawan, see you in my next tutorials here at Tutpad. Oh, I almost forgot... May the Force be with you!


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Racing King lamborghini Cool Lamborghini 57S References
Cool Lamborghini 57S References
Cool Lamborghini 57S References. The bugatti type 57 and later variants (including the famous atlantic) was an entirely new design by jean bugatti, son of founder ettore. Ferruccio lamborghini, an italian manufacturing magnate, founded automobili ferruccio lamborghini s.p.a.
The Crew™ (HARVEY) Buying and customizing GALLARDO 574 from www.youtube.com
The rear axle now passed through the rear frame rather than riding under it, and a. Maybach 57s coupe | mercbenzking via youtube. His 57s model reportedly has a license plate that reads kng of oh, paying homage to his time with the cleveland cavaliers.
Bugatti's london dealer described it as "a sports model introduced. While the maybach 57s coupe was the talk of the town 10 years ago, it looks fairly dated in 2021.
Source: bay2car.com
Ettore's son, jean bugatti, who played a large role in. The 57s was available in three forms of factory coachwork:
Source: www.nbhc.com.au
Type 57s were built from 1934 through 1940, with a total of 710 examples produced. Maybach 57s chauffeurs rejoice as luxury limo gets sporting makeover.
Maybach 57s coupe | mercbenzking via youtube. The main culprit behind this effect is its interior tech.
Source: motorfull.com
Maybach 57s chauffeurs rejoice as luxury limo gets sporting makeover. A special type 57 s45 used a 4,743 cc engine like the tank.
The innovative lamborghini dynamic steering (lds) system is also available as an option. The result was a fined and exceptionally capable supercar able to reach 125 mph.
Maybach 57s chauffeurs rejoice as luxury limo gets sporting makeover. His 57s model reportedly has a license plate that reads kng of oh, paying homage to.
Don't miss what's happening in your neighborhood. These models are typified by their lower, subaisse, chassis which was developed from bugattis compétition chassis.
Source: www.automobilemag.com
The icon that inherited the legacy of the historic s models of the miura, islero, countach and urraco returns with the aventador s roadster. A special type 57 s45 used a 4,743 cc engine like the tank.
The Rear Axle Now Passed Through The Rear Frame Rather Than Riding Under It, And A.
The 57s was available in three forms of factory coachwork: The retail price for a 2019 lamborghini aventador, which is the same model james owns, is worth £357,000. The icon that inherited the legacy of the historic s models of the miura, islero, countach and urraco returns with the aventador s roadster.
The 57S Also Receives A Host Of Chassis.
The huracán performante is equipped with electronic power steering (eps), a system that perfectly adapts to all driving styles and that always ensures the right power assistance on both track and road, following all anima driving modes. The result was a fined and exceptionally capable supercar able to reach 125 mph. Type 57s were built from 1934 through 1940, with a total of 710 examples produced.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, An Italian Manufacturing Magnate, Founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.a.
A special type 57 s45 used a 4,743 cc engine like the tank. His 57s model reportedly has a license plate that reads kng of oh, paying homage to his time with the cleveland cavaliers. Ettore's son, jean bugatti, who played a large role in.
While The Maybach 57S Coupe Was The Talk Of The Town 10 Years Ago, It Looks Fairly Dated In 2021.
6.25 cr * aventador price in new delhi. Type 57s were built from 1934 through 1940, with a total of 710 examples produced. The main culprit behind this effect is its interior tech.
In 1935 Bugatti Made As Many As Four Prototype Competition Chassis That Provided A Basis For The Stunning Coupé Aerolithe And A Torpédo Competition That Appeared At The 1935 Paris Motor Show.
Based on the gallardo and shaped by lamborghini design. The bugatti type 57 and later variants (including the famous atlantic and atalante) was an entirely new design by jean bugatti, son of founder ettore. With its low stance, powerful engine, lightweight construction, 123 mph (200 kph) top speed and influential teardrop body, many believe this is the ultimate bugatti and the first supercar ever made.


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<< Back To E&E Daily
Energy looks for an opening as health care fight drags on
By Geof Koss | 09/25/2017 07:03 AM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants to give health care another try this week. Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Senate leaders are still hoping to mount a last-ditch effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a push that would fulfill years of GOP campaign pledges but one that also diverts attention from pending energy and environment nominees, appropriations and a broad rewrite of the tax code that is supposed to be the centerpiece of the fall congressional agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced last week he intends to hold a vote on health care legislation authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), which would repeal key elements of President Obama's signature legislative achievement, including the expansion of Medicaid.
This week will be déjà vu for Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who once again faces enormous pressure to back the new bill. Under the arcane budget process known as reconciliation, the Senate has until Sept. 30 to pass the bill by a simple majority.
Murkowski in July joined Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona to sink the last repeal push. And McCain's Friday announcement that he would not vote for the measure was a blow to the latest effort.
On CNN yesterday, Collins called it "very difficult for me to envision a scenario where I would end up voting for this bill." Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) further complicated the math on health care by announcing yesterday that will he will not support the bill in its current form.
President Trump in July took to Twitter to pressure Murkowski into voting for that bill, while also lobbying her by phone in what she described at the time as "not a very pleasant call" (Greenwire, July 27).
But Murkowski's relationship with the administration appears less strained than it was in July. Trump invited her to lunch recently, although she was unable to attend because she was attending to Alaska-related business.
On Saturday, Trump took a softer tone in pressuring Murkowski. "Alaska had a 200% plus increase in premiums under ObamaCare, worst in the country. Deductibles high, people angry! Lisa M comes through," he said on Twitter.
Murkowski hasbeen noncommittal on Graham-Cassidy, saying last week she's studying the bill's effects on her state, which has some of the highest health care costs in the nation and has seen them rise under the ACA.
The chairwoman also faced pressure in July from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke when he allegedly said her vote on health care could affect the administration's resource policies in her state.
She told E&E News last week that she and Zinke "are in a good place." Murkowski said, "We've got a lot to work on."
Murkowski dismissed any connection between the upcoming health care vote and the recent leak of an Interior document that showed the administration is considering allowing seismic testing for oil and gas within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
That move, which would move a longtime goal of the Alaska delegation closer to fruition, was made on the merits, not because of political considerations, she said.
"I think what we're looking at now with the discussion for the potential for ANWR is just something that we've been talking about with the secretary," Murkowski said last week. "I've talked about with the president, our governor has been involved, our whole delegation has been involved."
Waiting in the wings
Given McCain's opposition, McConnell's next moves on health care are unclear. There's a number of energy and environment nominees awaiting confirmation that could occupy some of the Senate's floor time.
These include five nominees that cleared the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, including Richard Glick and Kevin McIntyre to join the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, David Jonas to be general counsel at the Department of Energy, Ryan Nelson to be solicitor of the Department of the Interior and Joseph Balash to be assistant secretary of the Interior for land and minerals management.
Also waiting is the Senate's bipartisan energy bill, S. 1460, which stalled in conference talks with the House last year. McConnell this summer bypassed the committee process and placed a revised version on the Senate calendar, which would allow him to bring it up at any time.
While tax reform is supposed to be the fall's marquee priority, neither chamber has yet to pass a budget resolution, which is necessary for passing the overhaul through the Senate by a simple majority.
House Republicans have yet to bring their budget to the floor, as they hunt for votes among the internal factions of their caucus. Deliberations in the Senate Budget Committee on its own resolution continue.
ANWR could make an appearance in that debate as well. Should the committee include reconciliation instructions for the Energy and Natural Resources panel, it could produce legislation that would allow drilling within the reserve to be folded into the tax reform package (E&E Daily, May 24).
However, adding a contentious unrelated issue could further complicate the tax push by alienating Republicans such as Collins and McCain, both of whom voted against opening the reserve in 2005.
Interior-EPA spending
While Senate appropriators have marked up several of the annual spending bills, there are no markups scheduled for this week. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said last week that he still anticipates a vote on that measure within weeks.
While the Senate Finance Committee has already launched hearings on tax reform, its only event scheduled for this week is this afternoon's hearing on the Graham-Cassidy health care proposal.
But while President Trump and Senate GOP leaders have targeted three moderate Democrats up for re-election to join them in writing tax reform, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee said last week that he's heard nothing from the administration for bipartisan help.
"I've had no overtures, no discussions," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told E&E News last week.
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who is a top GOP target for help on taxes along with Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, appeared Friday with Vice President Mike Pence in Indiana at a tax-themed event.
Asked about the White Houseis courting of the trio, Wyden said "there's been extraordinary unity among Senate Democrats."
"Those senators I talk to all the time about various issues, and they made it clear that they agree with the vast majority of the key principles that have been laid out," he said. "These are smart, tough senators and they're dealing with their states and looking at the various issues."
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text:
The Philosophical Ethology of Dominique Lestel
Matthew Chrulew, Jeffrey Bussolini, Brett Buchanan
Dominique Lestel is a French philosopher whose work is significant for the rethinking of animality and human-animal relations. Throughout such important books as L'Animalité (1996), Les Origines animales de la culture (2001) and L'Animal singulier (2004), he offers a fierce critique of reductive, mechanistic models of animal behaviour, as well as a positive contribution to etho-ethnographic and phenomenological methods for understanding animal life. Centred around hybrid human–animal communities of shared interests, affects and meaning, his critical and speculative approach to the animal sciences offers a vision of animals as acting subjects and bearers of culture, who form their own worlds and transform them in concert with human and other partners. In tracing the ways in which we share our lives with animals in the texture of animality, Lestel's cutting-edge philosophical ethology also contributes to an overarching philosophical anthropology of the human as the most animal of animals. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities.
General Introduction: Philosophical Ethology Preface: A Field Philosopher with a Certain Taste for Fish, and Who Does Not Mistake his Hat for an Ethology Introduction: Dominique Lestel 1. The Philosophical Ethology of Dominique Lestel 2. Mirror Effects 3. Hybrid Communities 4. Toward an Ethnography of Animal Worlds 5. Dissolving Nature in Culture: Some Philosophical Stakes of the Question of Animal Cultures 6. The Question of the Animal Subject: Thoughts on the Fourth Wound to Human Narcissism 7. The Friends of My Friends 8. Epistemological Interlude 9. The Carnivore's Ethics 10. The Infinite Debt of the Human Towards the Animal 11. The Animal Outside the Text: An Interview with Dominique Lestel
Matthew Chrulew is ARC DECRA Research Fellow in the Centre for Culture and Technology, Curtin University, Australia.
Jeffrey Bussolini is Associate Professor of Sociology-Anthropology at City University of New York, USA.
Brett Buchanan is Director of the School of the Environment, Laurentian University, Canada.


Professor Cusumano specializes in strategy, product development, and entrepreneurship in the computer software industry, as well as automobiles and consumer electronics. He teaches courses at on the Software Business and Digital Platforms as well as Advanced Strategic Management.
His latest book titled Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles for Managing Strategy & Innovation in an Uncertain World was awarded as one of the 2011 Best Business Books by the strategy + business Magazine (Issue 65, Winter 2011), the thought leadership and management magazine published by Booz & Company. According to strategy + business, Professor Cusumano identifies "the big ideas that create staying power and superior performance," and those ideas are "the principles that should have enormous value for managers in all industries."
This time, Professor Cusumano addressed a CIGS audience over his principles to maintain superior business performance and discussed with participants in detail.


text:
Portraits Magazine
Saint Anselm Blog
Everyday Anselmian
Presidential Primary Debate
Students Reflect on Summer 2021 Internship Roles
By Samantha Jette '20
Saint Anselm College students spent their summer break developing skills and learning about their fields through a wide range of internship positions. Internships are a great way to gain first-hand experience outside of the classroom. With internships ranging from remote work with a cable news channel to finance to local politics, students of all majors expanded their knowledge with these summer opportunities.
For his internship, politics major Kenneth Tran '23 worked with the team behind MSNBC's All in with Chris Hayes. Tran's responsibilities included compiling soundbites, images, and footage for the segment producers. He also performed research, and fact-checked scripts before the show aired.
"I got to work with fantastic, experienced journalists who were so helpful to helping me grow and also providing advice for my own career path," said Tran of his internship.
One of his most notable events was speaking with physician and MSNBC contributor, Dr. Kavita Patel.
A major part of any internship role is gaining experience in a field. For Tran, this meant learning about the "behind the scenes" aspects of cable news, especially at a major network like MSNBC.
Another key takeaway from an internship is a glimpse into the type of career one may want to pursue after graduation. Now that he has completed this internship in cable news, Tran has a better idea about the type of media work he is interested in.
"I am completely open to more editorial jobs now thanks to the people behind All In," he said.
Economics, and marketing major Ryan Heath '22 worked with The Long Group, a financial analysis firm based in Merrimack, N.H., for his summer internship. In this role, Heath analyzed data, prepared presentations for clients, and created marketing materials.
Among other tasks, Heath also created emails for mailing lists and assisted with data tracking for clients' web pages.
"Everyone wears a lot of hats [at The Long Group], which has let me have a fairly comprehensive range of experiences and projects to work on," he noted.
Heath credits his classes at Saint Anselm for preparing him to excel in his new role.
"All the economic research I've done this summer was definitely something I was capable of because of the coursework in my economics major. I also see parallels between a lot of the theory covered in my marketing classes and the actual analysis the firm does," he said.
Heath's summer experience taught him about presenting data and using it to tell a story. He also gained valuable experience in Microsoft Excel.
Maeve McAllister '23 answering phone calls at the Mayor of Melrose, MA office
Politics and criminal justice major Maeve McAllister '23 worked as the operations assistant for the Mayor of Melrose, Mass., for her summer internship.
McAllister's day-to-day tasks included scheduling meetings, answering calls and emails, and coordinating use of City Hall spaces.
Along with her regular responsibilities, the role allowed McAllister to meet several local government officials.
"They were all so great to get advice from and hear about their experiences," she said.
McAllister is also a member of the Kevin B. Harrington Ambassador Program at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP).
"I am learning so many skills and tools that I will bring to the Kevin B. Harrington program next year," she said.
"A summer internship experience is incredibly valuable for the student ambassadors. For starters, they get to supplement their classroom education with real world experience," said NHIOP Program Assistant Thomas Case.
In McAllister's case, this supplementary education included a new perspective on politics and local government that she had not yet come across in her classwork.
"This all translates into an increased likelihood for a job after graduation; employers like seeing internship experience on a resume," said Case.
The college's Career Development Center (CDC) assists students in their pursuit of internships as well as other positions, across all majors and industries. Through their career management system, Handshake, the CDC connects Saint Anselm students to a variety of employer partners, both in the New England area and beyond. In addition, the CDC offers both individual and group information sessions for students of all majors to explore their next steps.
"These one-on-one meetings give students and advisors the time to talk more about students' interests and goals, and then work to support them as they search for internships that meet those criteria," said Assistant Director of Internships and Career Advising Emily Kobrock.
The CDC also assists in the internship process by reviewing résumés and application materials, providing interview tips, and offering helpful insights related to search tactics.
"The most important thing for students who are interested in an internship in any semester, is to schedule an appointment with a career advisor," said Kobrock. "We are here to help them start thinking about opportunities that will fit with your professional and academic goals, as well as assist you as you search for and apply for opportunities."
In addition to the CDC, the NHIOP's ambassador program assists its students in acquiring internships. This includes support during the application and interview process, as well as connections to alumni and other resources.
Internship postings for summer 2022 as well as for fall 2021 and spring 2022, are already available in Handshake, and interested students are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities.
95% of the Class of 2020 Employed, in School, Volunteering
Jumpstart Career Conference offers Alumni Interviews for Students


I know that I said I would start in on the parasol once I got the July squares done, but time just keeps getting away from me and I've had to re-prioritize my projects. If I want to get The Granny Square Project done in time to give it as a Christmas present, I've got to go ahead and see if I can finish the squares in the next month here. I'm not sure how long it is going to take me to join them all.
I have a couple of small birthday presents that I want to see if I can whip up real quick this week. I've also been working on the dress I wanted to make for my daughter. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn and had to order the color online because I can't find it in the stores and the dress is sitting in the cupboard waiting to be finished. And finally, I've got something that I need to crochet for the four of us for my son's 1 year pictures. I won't say more than that because it's going to be a very fun surprise. But I need to get started on that too!
In the mean time, I'm afraid the parasol will just have to wait till this winter, likely after little man's birthday party. I did however, find a pattern that I like for it and I really can't wait to get started.
As a result, here is August's first square. The pattern can be found here. This is another one I've got mixed feelings on. Instead of working the granny clusters in a chain space, it calls for just working them between the previous row's clusters. That always feels very clumsy and tight to me. There were also some instructions missing in the first round that I had to figure out, and each round starts unnecessarily (to me anyway) in the middle of the corner cluster instead of at the beginning of it. Normally you would slip stitch over to the corner space to start the next round, where as here you've often created the corner space by completing an hdc in the top of beginning chain 3/dc. I always hated joining that way, but it's probably just a personal preference. I had to leave off the last row to stay within my seven inches. And my last row is worked with half-double crochets instead of dc's. I don't really like the rounded off corners and I think I might go back and change that. It would probably fit better with the rest of the squares anyway. But this one also has the front post stitches that I love again to give the 3-d appearance of red ribbon behind the black frame. I really like how that looks.
I have to actually buy some yarn for the next square I have planned because I don't have the color I need. I need some dark burnt orange and that's not a color I typically work with. I do believe this will be the first yarn I've bought for this project.
I really like this square. It turned out very pretty. The 3-d effect is accomplished by working behind every other petal on the flower, and then picking the tip of the flower back up after a few rows to anchor it. I got the pattern for this square here.
If you look at the pictures on Ravelry, you can see how much you can change the look of this pattern by changing not only the colors, but the progression of color changes and even what rows you change the colors on.
I did not follow the pattern's instruction on when to change colors and I really like how it came out. Also, the pattern is for nine-inch and twelve-inch squares. It provides additional rows for the twelve-inch. Since I only needed seven inches I used a smaller hook. I completed the rounds for a nine-inch square and still needed a little more width. I did not really like what the pattern called for so I just completed two more rounds of half-double crochets.
That reminds me of another note on this square. After the flower is completed, rounds are stitched in half-double crochets. Hdcs are not my favorite stitch. The rhythm of making the stitch just doesn't flow quite as well as a double-crochet for me. That being said, I really like the look of the hdc rows instead of double-crochets.
January's second square is a bit more complicated. I continued with the cold winter blue and white and added a snowflake. This pattern requires a bit of knowledge in shaping in order to transform the piece from round as it starts out, to square by the last round.
The FREE pattern for this square can be found here on Ravelry. The original picture there is in red and white and the center is done in the contrasting color rather than making the inside all the same color. But it looked like a snowflake to me so I did the center all in white. Just another example of the different results you can get by changing colors. I also skipped the last round of single crochets on this one as I had already reached my seven inches by the round of double crochets.
I do like how this one turned out. The snowflake is very pretty. I didn't find the pattern to be completely clear though. I had to do a bit of experimenting to figure out the shaping. But it all turned out well in the end.
So I am a little behind in starting out the Granny Square Project. The new baby decided to come a few weeks early in December rather than wait till the middle of January so I've been a bit busy. But, we went to visit the in-laws this past weekend and I was able to get caught up while they played with the kids. So I will be posting both January and February's squares here shortly.
January's first Granny Square is the most basic of Grannies. I completed it in blue and white to go with all the cold temperatures and snow we've been having this winter. Each of the squares in the project will be seven inches square.
The basic pattern is as follows. As a note for all my Grannies, I start them all out using the "magic ring." There is a good tutorial here if you need it.
Round 1: Sl st in a magic ring, ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc, ch 2 in ring) 3 times, join with sl st in top ch of beg ch 3, pull tail of magic ring tight to close ring to complete round. Finish off.
Round 2: Join new color with sl st in any ch 2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 1) 3 times, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. Finish off.
Round 3: Join new color with sl st in any corner ch 2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, *(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in corner ch 2 sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, repeat from * around and join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. Finish off.
Repeat round 3 until the desired size is reached. I also added a row of single crochet for edging with 3 sc being completed in each corner. This is completely optional.
The nice thing about this is you can finish off on each round and add a new color, or you can continue in the same color. Each square can look completely different, yet be completed from the same pattern. You can also make it as large or as small as small as you like. Usually the fewest rows completed is 3. (See, I'm trying to appreciate the Granny here.) January's square two coming up shortly!
You can use this pattern for so many different things. You can connect them to make a scarf by single crocheting along the edging, or you can use the join-as-you-go method to create an afghan! I was looking for a star motif pattern and just could not find anything that I liked, so I did it myself.
Gauge: Not critical, but you can increase or decrease the hook size if you want a larger or smaller star. This one measures about 7 inches from the tip of the left arm to the tip of the right arm.
Round 1: With first color, ch 5, join with sl st in first ch to form a loop, ch 1, 25 sc in loop, join with sl st to first sc.
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in same st, hdc in next sc, [dc, ch1, dc] in next sc, hdc in next sc, sc in next sc, * sc in next sc, hdc in next sc, [dc, ch 1, dc] in next sc, hdc in next sc, sc in next sc, repeat from* three times more, join with sl st to first sc, finish off.
Round 3: Join next color with sc in first hdc of any section, hdc in next st, [2dc, ch2, 2 dc] in ch 1 sp, hdc in next st, sc in next st, skip next 2 sc, * sc in next st, hdc in next st [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in ch 1 sp, hdc in next st, sc in next st, skip next 2 sc, repeat from * 3 times more, join with sl st to first sc.
Round 4: Sl st in next st, ch1, sc in same st, hdc in each of next 2 sts, [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, hdc in each of next 2 sts, sc in next st, skip next 2 sts, * sc in next st, hdc in each of next 2 sts [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, hdc in each of next 2 sts, sc in next sc, skip next 2 sts, repeat from * 3 times more, finish off.
Round 5: Join next color with sc in second st of any section, hdc in each of next 3 sts, [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, hdc in each of next 3 sts, sc in next st, skip next 2 sts, *sc in next st, hdc in each of next 3 sts, [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, hdc in each of next 3 sts, sc in next st, skip next 2 sts, repeat from * 3 times more, join with sl st to first sc.
Round 6: Sl st in next st, ch 2, dc in each of next 4 sts, [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, dc in each of next 4 sts, hdc in next st, skip next 2 sts, *hdc in next st, dc in next 4 sts, [2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc] in next ch 2 sp, dc in each of next 4 sts, hdc in next st, skip next 2 sts, repeat from * 3 times more, join with sl st to first ch 2, finish off.
I started this afghan when I was somewhere around 13 or 14 years old, just after I had first learned how to crochet. I guess you could say it was the first design I ever made. I'd decided to make an afghan and just did row after row of half-double crochets with a variegated Red Heart yarn named Wedgewood.
I love variegated yarns. I love the crazy patterns they end up making. So many times I am surprised at what comes out and I never could have planned it to come out better. I have some other pieces I'll post shortly that demonstrate this even better.
So, I worked on this afghan off and on over the years. It started as a way to explore crocheting further and I soon went on to working from patterns and started making all the gifts I came to love to give. But every once in a while I would pull this back out and work on it some more. The row after row of half-double crochets was pretty dull to work on, but the patterns that developed as I worked and changed skeins helped. The hDc stitch makes a very warm blanket too. I finally finished it just a couple of years ago.
It's just a simple blanket for under the comforter on the bed. You can see the fading at the top of the picture from the yarn I started with 15 years ago, and the difference from the more recent yarn. I don't feel it's gift quality, but that's ok because I really just made it for myself anyway. For me it represents getting past the initial stages of doubt as I learned how to crochet and moving on to having the confidence in myself to be able to crochet anything I set my mind to. Not to mention, it has been the longest running, unfinished project I've ever had.


text:
A New Christmas
Life is rarely like a movie poster.
(2019) Holiday Romance (Cinedigm) Prashantt Guptha, Grace Wacuka, Preeti Gupta, Aurora Heimbach, Carl Garrison, Swati Bhise, Harbinder Singh, Vivienne Kjono, Paula Rossman. Directed by Daniel Tenenbaum
For most of us, the holidays are a time of great joy – but not for all of us. For some, the holidays are a bitter reminder of what we have lost and how alone in the world we can be.
Kabir (Guptha) falls into the latter category. He is ornery and tends to snap at his friends and loved ones who are trying to reach out to him. As we discover, his beloved mother Aasha (Bhise) died suddenly and unexpectedly during the Christmas season a year earlier. Kabir still hasn't been able to get over the pain of his loss, despite the best efforts of his pretty wife Shivaani (Gupta). He has essentially put his medical studies on hold and is in danger of losing his place in school. His friend Paddy (Garrison) who gave his mom a job when she needed one is also met with resentment when he tries to point out that Christmas was Aasha's favorite time of year, causing Kabir to stomp off in a huff. Someone clearly needs a hug.
While at Washington Square Park he meets up with Kioni (Wacuka), a vivacious Kenyan applying for film school in New York and is taking in the holiday sights while she's in town. Kabir isn't any kinder to Kioni than he is to his friends, but at least he feels remorse and offers to show her around some of the Christmas sights in town, ranging from ice skating at Rockefeller Center to the gaudy Christmas light displays in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. As time goes on, he and Kioni discover that they have a lot in common. However, his friendship with Kioni brings a stark reminder to Shivaani about past indiscretions and suddenly his marriage is hanging by a gossamer thread. He begins to realize that he is taking for granted the things and people he does have, but after spending so much time and energy pushing them away, is it too late to embrace them again?
Well, it's a Christmas movie so you do the math. There is definitely a New York feel to the film, from the varying ethnic groups that make up the main actors to the locations where Kabir takes Kioni – including for a slice of authentic New York pizza which made me terribly jealous. There is nothing quite like New York pizza.
But I digress. Even though the movie is only an hour and twenty long it feels heavily padded with the various city travelogue scenes, some of which are repeated more than once. The plot is also wafer-thin and I found myself thinking this would have made a much more effective short film, OR the writers could have developed the characters a little bit further. Personally, I would vote for the latter.
The movie is rescued by the chemistry between Guptha and Wacuka which is completely believable. In some ways, you root for the two to get together but the movie, as with real life, doesn't work that way. Kioni gives Kabir the motivation to choose to live life again rather than dwelling on his loss. Before you wonder if Kabir is like the ultimate mama's boy, let me assure you he is not; it is the circumstances around his mother's passing that has made him so reluctant to let go of the pain. In many ways, he's punishing himself for reasons you'll just have to rent the movie to find out.
There is some charm here, and when Guptha and Wacuka are together onscreen the movie is humming on all cylinders. However, the movie does the other characters a disservice by failing to give them the same kind of depth that the two leads are given and it does end up hurting the film. I would say this film is a cut above most Hallmark Channel Christmas movies mainly because the relationship at it's core is so realistic, but it could have been a lot better. The film is currently playing in select theaters around the country and on a smattering of streaming services.
REASONS TO SEE: The chemistry between Guptha and Wacuka is natural and unforced.
REASONS TO AVOID: Feels like this would have worked better as a short; too much padding.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some profanity and adult themes.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Guptha is best known for his work in The Tashkent Files.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu
CRITICAL MASS: As of 12/15/19: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet: Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Holiday
NEXT: Midnight Family
Posted in New Releases, VOD Review	| Tagged A New Christmas, Christmas displays, Christmas party, Cinedigm, cinema, Cinema365, film school, Films, Grace Wacuka, grief, holiday romance, marital infidelity med student, movies, New York City, photography, pizza, Prashantt Guptha, Preeti Gupta, reviews, VOD Reviews	| Leave a reply
Killbird
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
(2019) Thriller (Frozen Fish) Elysia Rotaru, Stephen Lobo, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, Reese Alexander, Jesse Inocalla, Momona Komagata, Joe Zanetti, Hans Potter, Sarah Lindsay. Directed by Joe Zanetti
The problem with paranoia isn't so much that you could be wrong; it's the nagging suspicion that you might be right. When caught up between opposing forces, one apparently crazy and the other perfectly rational, it never pays to automatically believe one point of view or the other.
Taylor Crane (Rotaru) is a photographer who specializes in pictures of birds. She's out in the remote woods of Oregon when her car stalls. Literally in the middle of nowhere, she decides to see if she can hike her way out and to her surprise finds an isolated cabin. The resident, Riad Bishara (Lobo) isn't particularly friendly but grumpily promises to give her a ride to town when he goes to pick up his mail in a couple of hours.
There are some troubling clues, however. His property has a state-of-the-art security system, for one thing. Maybe you can write that off to a person who is zealous about his privacy but then she discovers a hidden room with computers and a board with newspaper clippings as well as a journal that indicate that Riad may be planning something dark and dangerous. To cap things off, she discovers he's keeping a man (Douglas) prisoner in his attic, a man who has patently lost his mind (or has he). Riad discovers her snooping, however, and subdues her, tying her up and questioning her as to what government agency she works for. As for her, she has to wonder what is on the flash drive that he is zealously protecting.
As they say, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you. Maybe it's that mailman (Penikett) who shows up with a package – when Riad always goes to town to pick up his mail. In any case, the movie becomes a game of cat and mouse. Is Riad a terrorist planning to topple the government or at least kill thousands of people? Is he a watchdog threatening to expose nefarious doings of the government? Is Taylor who she appears to be – a bird watcher in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is she what he thinks she is, a highly-trained government-employed assassin?
Zanetti does a good job of keeping his viewers guessing. He establishes the dramatic tension between the two fairly early on (that aspect could have been tightened up a bit) and then lets the two actors go to work and they both are effective. Rotaru, who's had recurring roles in Arrow and Reapers on TV, especially delivers the goods in a physically demanding role. Lobo is at times soft-spoken or in your face angry also gives a memorable performance. The two actors basically carry the movie and the tension between them is what makes (in this case) or breaks the film. The tension between them seems pretty genuine.
The "is she or isn't she" aspect goes on a bit too long; Zanetti is like the basketball player who gives one or two fakes too many and ends up getting called for travelling. He should have faith in his audience that we don't need to be whirled around the same dance floor longer than is necessary; trimming a few scenes which emphasize the confusion as to who Taylor and Riad are would have done the film some good. There are also a few red herrings that seem to be borrowed from other similar kinds of films.
Otherwise, this is a taut and enjoyable thriller from a fresh face in the business. The movie made its debut at L.A.'s Dances With Films festival today and will probably be making more festival appearances before making its way to a streaming service. Keep an eye out for it particularly if thrillers are your jam.
REASONS TO SEE: Establishes dramatic tension nicely and keeps the viewer guessing.
REASONS TO AVOID: Some of the film's aspect are a bit thriller-rote.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some violence and profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is Zanetti's first feature-length film as a director.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: P2
NEXT: Lady Detective Shadow
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged birdwatching, cinema, Cinema365, conspiracy theory, Dances With Films, Dances With Films 2019, Elysia Rotaru, federal agents, Films, flash drive, Frozen Fish Productions, hidden room, isolated cabin, journal, kidnapping, Killbird, movies, Oregon, photography, postman, reviews, stalled car, Stephen Lobo, terrorist, thriller	| Leave a reply
Back in the day, the residents of South Beach really knew how to have a good time.
(2018) Documentary (Kino Lorber) Gary Monroe, Ellen Sweet Moss, Susan Gladstone, Kelly Reichardt, Mitchell Kaplan, Edna Buchanan, Stan Hughes, Denise Bibro. Directed by Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch
In the years after World War II, the city of Miami went through what would have to be termed a major renaissance. The beautiful beaches, warm weather and the presence of brand spanking new air-conditioned hotels became irresistible to those from the Northeast who endured harsh winters. Many of them, close to retirement age, decided that Miami would be a fine place to live. There were plenty of old art deco hotels in the South Beach area that had been converted to apartments; rents were dirt cheap. South Beach became a largely Jewish community, termed by residents as a stetl, a small but vibrant settlement.
Andy Sweet was a Miami native, the son of a prominent Miami judge whose family had helped develop the big beach side hotels that brought in a vibrant nightlife (Miami was the second home of the Rat Pack and most of the big names in Vegas played there regularly. Jackie Gleason hosted a variety show from there back in the day.
Along with his good friend Gary Monroe, the two young photographers set out to capture the South Beach community. Most of the residents were getting on in age; many of them were Holocaust survivors. Dubbed the Miami Beach Project, Sweet and Monroe proposed a ten year involvement, recording the residents and places that made South Beach so unique.
The two couldn't have had more different styles. Monroe preferred black and white as a medium; his pictures were largely posed and had a more somber quality to them. Sweet preferred a much more spontaneous approach; his photos nearly exploded with color capturing not only the moment but the personalities of the people in them. Although many of the subjects posed for Sweet, he managed to get a more casual look as if capturing them in the act of being themselves.
Sweet wouldn't live to see the project through to completion. A mere five years in to the project, Sweet was brutally murdered in 1982 at the age of 28, found stabbed 29 times in his apartment in what was conjectured to have been a drug deal gone terribly wrong. Miami was already changing drastically when Sweet died; a huge influx of Latin (mainly Cuban) immigrants began to change the culture of Miami and on the flip side, became the center of the cocaine trade at about the same time leading to an exponential increase in violence. Although Monroe went on to complete the project alone, by the time he did most of the Jewish residents were already gone, having moved to places like Fort Lauderdale and Boynton Beach where rents were more reasonable. These days South Beach is the center for nightlife in Miami, where the young and famous go to be seen.
While there are plenty of talking head interviews with Monroe and Sweet's sister Ellen as well as a few people who knew him or of him (director Kelly Reichardt is one) which generally speaking can be terribly irritating, it is the photographs that Sweet took that takes center stage. They very nearly didn't.
After Sweet's death, his family was too distraught to even look at his photographs and put his negatives in storage. When Monroe broached the subject of putting together a retrospective of his partner's work only three months after Sweet's death, his family was infuriated and this led to an estrangement between Monroe and Sweet's family that lasted for decades. In the meantime, the storage company charged with keeping Sweet's negatives inexplicably lost them during a move. They have to this day not been recovered.
Fortunately, his sister's partner Stan Hughes found several boxes of work prints while emptying a family storage unit. Hughes is something of a digital photography expert and although the prints were badly faded with time, he was able to start the restoration process, restoring the pictures to their original color vibrancy.
]The movie is not only a pictorial history of the evolution of South Beach but also a love letter to a man whose career was cut far too short. His work speaks for itself and we are fortunate to have the opportunity to see them. The pictures may sometimes have resembled vacation snapshots of happy seniors dancing, flirting, sunning themselves or porch-sitting but every one of them captured so much more than a moment.
REASONS TO SEE: The photographs really have character. A very interesting chronicle of the evolution of Miami's South Beach.
REASONS TO AVOID: This is definitely a niche film.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some mild profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Sweet did a series of city government employees shortly before his death. One of the subjects turned out to be the police detective who would investigate his murder.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 2/16/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 100% positive reviews: Metacritic: 74/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Smash His Camera
NEXT: Patrick
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged 1970s, 1980s, Andy Sweet, art deco, cinema, Cinema365, Documentary, Films, Gary Monroe, Holocaust survivors, Kelly Reichardt, Kino Lorber, Miami, movies, photography, reviews, South Beach, The Last Resort	| Leave a reply
Liverleaf (Misumisô)
The phrase "pure as the driven snow" doesn't apply here.
(2018) Horror (T-Joy) Anna Yomada, Hiroya Shimizu, Rinka Ôtani, Rena Ôtsuka, Kenshin Endô, Masato Endô, Kazuki Ōtomo, Masahiro Toda, Seina Nakata, Minori Terada, Ayaka Konno, Arisa Sakura, Reiko Kataoka, Aki Morita, Sena Tamayori. Directed by Eisuke Naitô
Bullying is sadly not an unusual thing, whether in American high schools or Japanese ones. There always seems to be a human urge for the strong to prey on the weak.
Haruka Nozaki (Yomada) falls into the latter category. A transfer into a small rural middle school from a larger city, she doesn't fit in and is preyed upon mercilessly by a gaggle of girls led by the diffident Queen Bee Taeko (Ôtani) who for a short while was friends with Nozaki. Now, she gives tacit approval to her followers in making the life of Nozaki a living hell.
Things start off typically; knocking her book bag out of her hands, throwing her shoes in a mud pit, knocking her into the mud-type things. Then things begin to escalate; a dead crow is put in her locker and she is jabbed with needles. Her mother (Kataoka) and father (Toda) have a meeting with Nozaki's teacher (Morita) who is strangely cowed by the other students; they call her "vomit teacher" because she throws up when the misbehaving gets extreme. In any case, the teacher informs the parents that the school is closing at the end of the term and there's no sense in opening up a can of worms. Nozaki's parents take the extraordinary step of keeping their daughter home from school.
Infuriated, the bullies send Rumi (Ôtsuka) – a girl with a stammer who would be next on the list to get their full attention – to get Nozaki back to school but Nozaki knows all too well that things will end badly for her if she goes to school, so she declines. Rumi, wanting to fit in with the ugly bully crowd, professes that she wants Nozaki to die. Some of the boys in the group decide to see how serious she is. In the meantime, Nozaki has a friend in Aiba (Shimizu) who is more than a little interested in photography and is, like Nozaki, a transfer student. He lives, for some unexplained reason, with his grandmother.
But Nozaki's refusal causes things to spin completely out of control from there as the bullies go way, way, way over the line. Tragedy results and Nozaki is left a shell of herself, a ghost floating in the winter snow. Even then the bullies won't leave well enough alone and Nozaki finally stands up for herself – and she's holding a knife when she does.
The film, based on an ultraviolent manga, is the latest teen bully horror film from Naitô who has already directed a couple of movies with comparable themes. Some critics have labeled this a revenge film and I'm not really sure if that's accurate; certainly Nozaki's actions later in the film could be construed as seeking vengeance but I get more of a sense that it is self-preservation she's after. She's pushed to a wall and like any cornered animal, fights her way out.
Yomada is excellent as the timid, cringing wallflower turned psycho killer. Her change from one extreme to the other is totally believable and while the gore and mayhem may be somewhat over-the-top, it is a comic book adaptation folks and one would expect an exaggerated amount of violence and bloodshed in that situation. In fact, some of the most brutal scenes in the movie are so beautifully photographed by cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya that you almost feel guilty enjoying the images he captures.
The movie could have used some judicious editing; the climax is a long time coming and when it arrives it's almost a relief. I was left wishing it had come sooner but again, like most Americans I have the attention span of a loaf of bread. It felt like Naitô was taking a bloody long time to get to where he was going. I haven't read the manga so I'm not entirely sure how faithful the film is to it but it feels like there was some fat that could have been trimmed.
As scary movies go this is more visceral than spooky. The scares are mainly in the gore and violence, not so much from any build-up from tension; think of it as a slasher movie in a Japanese school girl uniform (you know, the Sailor Moon outfit) and there you have Liverleaf, which is a local flower that blooms to usher in spring and is a big deal to Nozaki's photographer friend, her only friend and maybe more than that. This isn't going to scare the bejeezus out of you but then again, not every horror film has to.
REASONS TO GO: Some of the scenes of brutality are filmed in a strangely beautiful manner. Anna Yomada delivers a killer performance (literally).
FAMILY VALUES: There is violence and disturbing images, gore, profanity and scenes of brutal bullying.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The movie is based on the Misumisô manga by Rensuke Oshikiri.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Heathers
NEXT: 1/1
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged Anna Yomada, arson, blizzard, bullying, cinema, Cinema365, Eisuke Naito, Films, graduation, Hiroya Shimizu, horror, Japanese cinema, Liverleaf, middle school, Misumisô, movies, murder, nature walk, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival 2018, photography, reviews, Rinka Otani, rural village, snowfall, T-Joy, transfer student, umbrella	| Leave a reply
Country: Portraits of an American Sound
Dolly Parton: Country cool, American icon.
(2015) Documentary (Arclight) Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Lyle Lovett, Waylon Jennings, Roy Clark, Henry Diltz, Sandi Spika Burchetta, Charley Pride, Brenda Lee, Tanya Tucker, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Lorrie Morgan, Rosanne Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Holly Williams, Jim Halsey, Raeann Rubenstein, Larry Gatlin, Dr. Diane Pecknold. Directed by Steven Kochones
Country music, whether or not you are a fan of it, has to be considered America's soundtrack. Sure, rock and roll is just as American an invention but whereas rock became more of a world music, country has remained an essentially American sound. It is the music of rural America, the music of the working man (and woman) and one which has always held American values close to its beating heart.
Throughout its history, country music has been not only a music but a style and photographs have helped to not only capture that style but export it. There have been eras when country performers wore dazzling rhinestone-studded costumes onstage; other eras they have been dressed in their Sunday best and then there have been times when their attire of choice has been that of the cowboy – or the working farmer. There have even been times when country stars wore the latest fashions.
All of it has been captured by some of the great photographers of their era. Names like Henry Diltz, Les Leverett, Raeann Rubenstein, Leigh Weiner, Henry Horenstein and Michael Wilson have captured country's biggest and shiniest stars in their lens. Through those lens, they didn't just capture moments on stage, or posed publicity stills (although they did that too), but they captured the essence of who these artists were (and are). Through these pictures, we got to know the faces behind the voices and in a sense, got to know them as living, breathing people and not just talented musicians and singers.
Through the auspices of the Annenberg Space for Photography (a Los Angeles-based museum for the pictorial art and an offshoot of the Annenberg Foundation, a charitable institution that supports the arts) comes this documentary gathering some of not only the most iconic photographs in the history of country music but also a variety of images that help illustrate the rich history of country as well as its ongoing contribution to American culture.
Veteran documentarian Kochones (who founded Arclight, a distributor of terrific documentaries as well as some non-fiction films) has a wealth of material to draw from but that is very much a double edged sword; the hour and a half running time is not nearly enough. It isn't often that I see a film in which I wish it was longer but that is the case here. The material could easily have filled a mini-series and maybe it should have. One of the biggest drawbacks to this particular film is that it feels rushed. While some of the stars and subjects get an adequate treatment, others feel almost glossed over. Perhaps a mini-series would have given the filmmakers time and space to give all of the subjects the attention they deserved.
Although there are a galaxy of country stars interviewed here it is the photographs that are justifiably the real center of attention. Some of them are amazing, like Johnny Clash flipping a very intense bird at the camera, a fresh-faced young Dolly Parton at the beginning of her career (and there's a star I wish they had spent time interviewing) and the Carter Family looking stiff and formal like Civil War-era photographs taken sixty years later.
Lyle Lovett talks eloquently about country music being less about songs than about stories and so it is with the stars who sing those songs. They all are stories in their own right with their own personalities and their own experiences. They bring those to each and every song that they sing. The machinery of the business can sometimes in its zeal to manufacture an image forget that the stories that got these talents to their attention are what attract the fans the most; perhaps that's a bit naïve on my part but I think that it's true. Image is important in ANY musical genre of course – it's a kind of shorthand that invites the listener in and allows them to be captured by the music – but it's not the be-all and end-all. These images however not only define those stars but in many ways allow those stars to be themselves for all to see.
This is definitely going to appeal to all true fans of country music, although they might not be satisfied with the snippets of songs that are played, but even non-fans will find this very educational. I am more an admirer of country than a lover of it – like rap music, it doesn't speak to me as much as rock and roll does – but even someone who isn't a true believer such as myself can respect the relationship the stars have with their fans and at the hard work and talent displayed not only by the musicians but by the photographers who created the images that helped establish them as stars.
REASONS TO GO: The presentation is high quality. The images depicted here are an absolute treasure that will delight fans young and old of the genre.
REASONS TO STAY: The film feels a bit rushed; it might have been better served as a mini-series.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Since 1974 the Grand Ole Opry has been performed in the Grand Ole Opry House; previous to that it was held at the Ryman Auditorium; during the winter months the Opry returns to the Ryman for three months November through January.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vimeo, Vudu, YouTube
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound
NEXT: Gold
Posted in VOD Review	| Tagged album covers, American culture, Arclight Films, backstage, Brenda Lee, Charley Pride, cinema, Cinema365, Connie Smith, country music, cowboy, Documentary, Dolly Parton, Films, Garth Brooks, Grand Ole Opry, Hee Haw, Henry Diltz, hillbilly, Holly Williams, image, Keith Urban, Kenny Rogers, Larry Gatlin, leAnn Rimes, Lorrie Morgan, Lyle Lovett, Marty Stuart, movies, photography, Ronnie Milsap, Rosanne Cash, Roy Clark, singing cowboy, Tanya Tucker, urban cowboy, VOD Reviews, Waylon Jennings	| Leave a reply
Posted on June 8, 2016 by carlosdev
Hey, I'm walking here, I'm walking here!!
(2015) Suspense (Screen Media) Whitney Able, Alexandra Breckenridge, Michael Eklund, Brendan Sexton III, Benny Ash, Redman, Eunice Ahn, Steel Burkhardt, James Dinonno, Kristopher Thompson-Bolden, Anita Valentini, Rose Wartell. Directed by Nick Basile
On August 4, 2003, New York City suffered through one of the worst blackouts in the city's history. Anyone who hasn't lived through a blackout will not understand what a big deal they are. They often happen in the middle of summer when temperatures are high, so your home gets gradually hotter and hotter. There's no refrigerators so no cool drinks; there's no TV, Internet or or radio unless you're on a battery-operated device and once those batteries die, there's often no way to replace them as batteries quickly sell out and most markets. You can't cook if you have an electric stove (and often if you have a gas one) and once the sun goes down, no light except for candles. Plus, plenty of people will take the opportunity to be assholes and looters. It's not pleasant at all.
Kate Naylor (Able) already has problems enough. A former model, she's working as a yoga instructor and lives with photographer Leah (Breckenridge) – in fact, she's recently moved in with her into a Brooklyn loft. She hasn't quite unpacked yet which irritates Leah, but then a lot about Kate is irritating. For one thing, Kate smokes a ton, even though Leah is after her to quit. Kate's also got kind of a temper and a bit of a masochistic streak, shocking her girlfriend when she asks her to choke her during a sexual encounter early in the movie.
When the blackout hits, Leah is out of town and things between the two women are disintegrating despite Leah's best efforts to make it work. Kate seems disinterested in meeting her halfway and when she has the opportunity to pick up a Canadian biker (Eklund) during the blackout, she does so. She also fends off the advances of neighbor John (Sexton).
As the darkness deepens, Kate lights up some candles, poses for some self-portraits in lingerie, listens to tunes on her boombox and looks at old photos of old affairs. She begins getting restless, especially once she's finished all the booze in the loft. She gets dressed up in a slinky dress and goes out to a local tavern that has a generator, and gets trashed. Once she gets home, she hears noises and sees disturbing things, like someone rattling her doorknob. Her sanity begins to erode. But then, her sanity was not too stable to begin with.
The concept of a woman alone in the darkness is not a new one as a subject for suspense movies, but this is the only one I know of in which the heroine is mentally ill. Able, who is a fine actress just starting to get some intriguing roles, gets the lion's share of screen time and she does a pretty good job. For the most part, Kate's issues are not easily seen unless you spend a couple of hours with her, particularly in a stressful environment.
The problem with Kate is twofold. For one thing, she's such a bitch that it's hard to really relate to her or root for her. That's the double-edged sword of having someone with emotional or mental issues as your lead character; your audience isn't going to relate to them unless they have similar issues. They may find the point of view fascinating (as Kate's is from time to time) but after awhile the charm or lack thereof dissipates. This isn't a knock against Able's performance, just the way the character was written.
The movie does drag a little bit, particularly through the middle when Kate is alone in her apartment, taking pictures of herself, taking a bath and slapping herself in the face. After a little while, you may want to join her. Sorry, that was just impossible to resist.
Sound is very important in the movie and Basile makes good use of it (he also gets points for using a Dead Can Dance song on the soundtrack). There are a few jump scares but Basile uses the sounds of the city to portray the normalcy, then as the blackout rolls in, the sounds change and become much more threatening. It's a masterful piece of the storytelling puzzle that is rarely used this well.
I also thought that the relationship between Kate and Leah was portrayed in a manner that really rung true. These two don't sound like a Hollywood couple; they are the kind of couple that exists in the real world, far from perfect but definitely with at least a spark there. These are people probably sitting at the table next to you in the coffee shop or the bistro.
There was a minor quibble for me in the plot; during the blackout, Kate ends up drawing herself a bath. However, from a logical standpoint, she lives at least two or three stories up. How did the water get there? Most buildings use pumps to get the water up to the higher floors. That wouldn't be working in an electrical blackout. Just saying.
There was enough to recommend this film but only just; the use of sound and Able definitely are the things to look for here. I would have liked Kate to be more relatable but that's more of a personal preference. I'm sure there are plenty of film buffs who wouldn't have a problem with it. Oh, and with Joe (Gremlins) Dante as an executive producer on this, there is definitely a pedigree. All in all, a promising indie film that is flawed but mildly recommended.
REASONS TO GO: Really awesome sound. Realistically depicts the dynamics of a relationship that is falling apart.
REASONS TO STAY: Drags a little bit. The lead is too unlikable to relate to.
FAMILY VALUES: There's some nudity, a couple of sex scenes as well as further sexual content, drug us and a fair amount of profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is Basile's first feature film that's not a documentary.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 6/8/16: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Wait Until Dark
NEXT: Bridgend
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged 2003 New York City blackout, Alexandra Breckenridge, biker, Blackout, Brooklyn, cinema, Cinema365, Dark, dysfunctional relationship, emotional issues, Films, lesbians, loft, mentally ill, Michael Eklund, model, movies, photography, reviews, Screen Media, self-portraits, smoking, suicide attempt, suspense, unpacking, Whitney Able, yoga instructor	| Leave a reply
Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police
Posted on September 8, 2015 by carlosdev
It rocks to be Sting!
(2012) Musical Documentary (Cinema Libre) Andy Summers, Sting, Stewart Copeland, Kate Lunken Summers. Directed by Andy Grieves
In the heyday of MTV, the Police were one of the bands that were essentially made for the music video age. Blonde and good looking, sometimes the fact that they made really good music got lost in the image. Melding a variety of musical forms including (but not limited to) New Wave, reggae, jazz, blues with the occasional burst of discordant noise, they were often unfairly characterized as purveyors of disposable lightweight pop. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Behind the easygoing blonde facade were three strong personalities who often clashed. Bassist Sting was never much of a team player and said so; he would get into heated arguments with his band mates over things ranging from chord changes to which singles were released off of albums. The band member's egos stemmed from the fact that all three were talented musicians and songwriters in their own rights, and recording sessions often became wars of attrition.
Finally, the band called it a day in 2006 which startled the music press and fans alike; their most recent (and it turns out final) album Synchronicity had been a monster success and they were considered by many to be the biggest band in the world. All went their separate ways, however; Sting to a successful solo career, drummer Stewart Copeland to TV and film composition and guitarist Andy Summers to a string of instrumental albums both solo and with other guitarists like Robert Fripp of King Crimson.
In some ways though, the way the band broke up left both the fans and the band itself feeling a lack of closure so in 2007, partly in honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of their first single "Roxanne" the band announced a reunion tour. It would be a one-time event; as Sting put it, "There will be no album. There will be no follow-up tour." The tour would be the last hurrah for the band, a way of saying goodbye to their fans one final time.
Summers, prior to the reunion, wrote a book on his time with the Police entitled One Train Later and decided to do a documentary. Copeland, who had taken Super 8 movies of the band on tour, had previously released a documentary entitled Everybody Stares: The Police Inside Out back in 2006 but it wasn't until well after the reunion had concluded that Summers and Grieve, assuming the director's chair for the first time after establishing himself as a film editor, assembled both from archival footage of the band as well as newer footage from the reunion tour shot by Lauren Lazin.
Here we hear Summers laconically reading from his book over the images and video. Summers, who these days resembles comedian Eric Idle portraying a rumpled professorial sort, is not the most expressive reader ever; most of the voiceover is monotonic which can lull the viewer to sleep, or at least lead them to lose interest. To be sure, however, he's a good writer and the prose is well-written.
One drawback is that the film is exclusively from Summers' point of view. That's a double edged sword; we get a very definitive, consistent viewpoint throughout, but that's the only viewpoint we receive. While we hear Sting and Copeland in interviews talking about the band, there's a kind of facade that is practiced by members of any band which is meant to keep the world at large out of the inner sanctum. Only from Summers do we get any kind of emotional resonance and while that is much appreciated, the film could have used more participation from his bandmates as well.
Grieve, with his background in editing, really weaves the footage from the 70s and 80s nicely in with concert footage from the reunion tour. It's a nice effect although to be honest the songs don't really change much in arrangement over time for the most part although once in awhile the band messed about with the arrangements to some of their lesser known tunes. We do get a sense that the divides that split the band up remain intact; they seem to be better friends outside of the band than within it.
There are some nice tidbits here; Summers, for example, was briefly a member of Eric Burden and the Animals prior to joining the Police. He was much older than his mates, who teasingly tried to convince an interviewer that the Summers who played in psychedelic bands like Dantalian's Chariot and blues bands like Zoot Money's Big Roll Band was actually the Police guitarist's father. Another anecdote that was interesting was that the band's first appearance on the influential British music show The Old Grey Whistle Stop nearly didn't happen when a can of hairspray exploded in Sting's face, necessitating a hospital visit to save his eye; he was forced to wear oversized sunglasses for the appearance because of it.
Summers does go into more personal aspects of his life, such as how the marriage to his wife Kate developed and then disintegrated due to his constant touring with the band, how he sunk into reckless behaviors after the divorce and how an interest in photography went from being a hobby into being therapy. Happily, the couple reconciled and remarried and have since given birth to twin boys in addition to the daughter they had during his Police days. These are some of the more compelling moments in the film.
In some ways this is an ego project for Summers but I suspect he's okay with that characterization; this is more "Andy Summers and the Police" than a fair, balanced portrayal of the band and their music. Summers says, with some pride, "We were allowed (to have egos) because we were really good musicians" without any hint of irony, and deservedly so. This is a band that really never got its critical due during their existence and even less so afterwards. They were more than just a trio of pretty boys that grew out of the punk clubs of England and escaped into pop superstardom; they wrote some amazing songs that still sound good today. I just would have wished for a documentary that was a little less one-sided.
WHY RENT THIS: Nice interweaving of archival concert footage with more recent stuff. Informative.
WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Too Summers-centric in a self-aggrandizing way. Lacks energy.
FAMILY VALUES: Some minor swearing.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The comic book character John Constantine (who appeared in a sadly now-defunct NBC series this past season) was based visually on Sting.
NOTABLE HOME VIDEO EXTRAS: Some of Summers' photos appear in a photo gallery; there's also a Q&A session with Summers from the film's L.A. premiere, a promo piece on his solo album Mysterious Barricades, an interview with Summers and finally a Summers-made trailer for the film (in addition to the official one).
BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: $23,262 on an unknown production budget.
SITES TO SEE: Netflix (DVD Rental Only), Vudu
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Soul Boys of the Western World
NEXT: Hitman: Agent 47
Posted in DVD Review	| Tagged 2007 Grammy Awards, Andy Summers, anecdotes, archival footage, based on an autobiography, Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police, cinema, Cinema Libre, Cinema365, divorce, DVD Reviews, dyed blonde, Eric Burdon, Films, gallery exhibition, image, incessant touring, movies, musical documentary, new wave, photography, reconciliation, reunion tour, solo careers, Stewart Copeland, Sting, The Animals, The Police, voiceover narration	| Leave a reply