Neil and I had arrived in Zagreb on Saturday 9th to recover from the early start and to do a little sightseeing. We were joined by Annette our branch organiser on Sunday afternoon and so we were now complete, a very select group indeed. We were all given a welcome bag by the organisers of our trip which included a small bottle of schnapps, a souvenir of Zagreb and a magnificent, well-presented 100 page trip guide prepared by Karmen Fio, a student of Jasenka, which we hardly had time to open before we were given a short guided tour of the city by Petar Boromisa. We were greeted by Professor Jasenka Sremac, the leader of the trip and her husband Renato in a café where we were treated to a very well-presented display on CD-ROM of the proposed trip showing our route through Croatia. It was all too much to take in at once.
Our driver arrived with the minibus and before long all luggage had been stowed away and we were on the road towards Plitvice National Park to the south, travelling first through Karlovac, where there are still some signs of the war, damaged buildings from the shells. Generally though, at least in the areas we visited during the week, the impression is of a modern country moving forward, proud of its natural beauty and with all good intentions to protect the environment. Our first stop of the day was in Slunj, a small 12th century fortress town above the Slunjcica and Korana rivers where we had a first chance to see the many waterfalls that cascade over the high cliffs. Below, in the valley, we could see the group of historical buildings and watermills that constitute Rastoke, built on small islands amidst travertine terraces forming pools in the river, and surrounded by rapids. The buildings are linked by a wooden causeway that criss-crosses the pools and several of the mills now act as restaurants and snack bars. The fat trout in the pools looked inviting, but we only had time for a quick coffee and then we had to head for our transport and continue our journey to Plitvice.
Plitvice National Park is included on the UNESCO list of the world's cultural and natural inheritance. This karstic area contains 16 lakes, divided into two groups, upper and lower. A downhill walk brought us to the first of the lower lakes, its blue water sparkling in the sun. The blue colouring stems from cyanobacteria, which are also part-responsible for the cold-water travertine barriers separating the lakes. Through time, the barriers collapse and form in different places, mostly where the valley narrows, so since the park's existence, the number of lakes has continually changed, sometimes more, sometimes less and in some places flooded barriers can be seen. There are wooden walkways surrounding each lake and everything of interest is very accessible. At each bend a new vista opens up with water running from the high cliffs forming myriads of waterfalls framed in lush vegetation, especially wild rhubarb, and fish congregate at the pool edges, obviously used to the many tourists and the possibility of a few crumbs falling into the water. One of the most imposing sites is that of the big waterfall (see picture). After walking around the lower lakes, we finally arrived at the largest, where the dense forest opened into a clearing at the water's edge and the smell of barbecued meat wafted over from the restaurants. This was when we realised that sandwiches were not an option on this trip as the restaurants were all reasonably priced and the food was always good. After lunch we took an eco-friendly boat across to the other side where the tour of the upper lakes began. This part of the park is more hilly, but nevertheless quite manageable. The upper lakes lie in Triassic dolomites, the lower on Upper Cretaceous rudist limestones. Our tour, including break, took ca. 4 hours.
From Plitvice we drove for another 1 ½ hours through limestone terrain and if any of you know the Winnetou films from the novels of Karl May, this was where they were filmed. Tired, hungry but very happy with the day, we arrived early evening in Starigrad at the Hotel Croatia, with terrace directly by the sea.
We were joined in the morning by Professor Tihomir Marjanac who was to be our guide and mentor for the day. After departure from our hotel we visited the Paklenica National Park, an anticline in the Velebit mountains, a range stretching from north to south a few km from the coast.. As we left the car park it was explained that all around us was rubbish, Jelar Breccia deposited during the Tertiary and formed from calcareous fragments from the Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic and Permian. It was very poorly sorted with large boulders 3-4 m in size which we saw in the stream bed, down to grains a few mm in size - a real mixture and still a mystery as to the origin. Some of the competing theories were described to us but the jury is still out. The gorge is a favourite place for rock climbers of all abilities and we passed many families with young children being taught to climb. We climbed the gorge as far as the Cretaceous exposures with the path becoming more and more difficult and steeper as we climbed and could see the Jurassic outcrops above. Even higher up out of our view a Permian/Tertiary boundary is exposed and Karmen, one of Jasenka's students described to us how she is researching the 'evidence of absence' of conodonts after the extinction. This involves bringing large lumps of rock weighing 10-15 kilos down the mountain by man/woman power and then using ponies. We also saw the boarded-up entrances of World War II bunkers tunnelled into the breccia, which had remained secret for many years.
After an excellent lunch in the tavern at the bottom of the hill we continued our journey north to Jablenac where we took the ferry to the island Rab. As well as admiring the beautiful coastal scenery en route on our left and noting some of Croatia's 1185(!) offshore islands we also recognised the abrupt change between the gentle slopes of the Jelar Breccia and the scarps of the Jurassic limestone above to our right. Before boarding the ferry, Tihomir pointed out some outcrops of Quaternary deposits, matched by some on the opposite side of the harbour. These beds are the remains of sediments which once filled the whole valley but their origin is still a mystery. They appear to have come from the position of the current Velebit channel which now lies under the sea, but the tectonic movements which could destroy a mountain range and open up a sea channel in its place are hard to imagine.
Our first visit of the day was to the Lopar Peninsular, to a bay normally frequented by nudists, but it was cool and windy and the place deserted. A few kilometres away we could see the treeless island formerly used as a prison for men. Here, Tihomir first showed us stromatolites in the making, soft, stratified deposits in various shades of grey. The weathered sandstone anticline, which continues across the bay on the prison island, contained many trace fossils.
After climbing over the headland, we visited a further bay with different rock structures, notably gutter -casts formed by storm surges. (The geology of the peninsular is complex and can best be read in the extensive field notes prepared by our hosts, which can be requested on loan). This second bay was full of fossil forams – Nummelites – which could be found everywhere. The whole area is ideal for those interested in sequence stratigraphy. Also, many examples of sedimentary depositional features e.g. cross-bedding, herringbone structures etc. can be seen.
As the wind was too strong for further beach excursions, we again climbed to the top of the cliffs and made our way through the macchia to a field camp, where students were involved in various research projects and afterwards on to a restaurant by the sea, for barbecued lamb, which Tihomir had ordered the previous day. In the afternoon a further site was visited to see more examples of the Lopar deposits, before returning to our guest house in Rab.
After an early start we caught the ferry to return to the mainland. After disembarking we walked round a very well constructed coastal path to a fjord-shaped bay about 1km long called Zavranica. We passed a place where a carbonate-saturated spring emerged from the cliff to form travertine making beautifully shaped 'cave' pearls of about 7-12 mm on the floor of the pool. We saw the remains of the German ship sunk in World War II which is now a popular attraction for divers. We walked around the bay admiring the curves of the fjord which allowed a new vista to open at every turn. There were many sea urchins which is a good indication of clean water. Long may it remain so.
On the road to Senj we noticed the evidence of many submarine springs by the circular patches of whirlpools on the surface. These springs bring cooler water to the sea and so provide for some interesting ecosystems.
There has been a settlement at Senj for 3000 years, having had many conquerors including Romans, Hungary, Venice and Austria. Prosperity increased until the middle of the 19th century but time has passed Senj by because the town leaders were persuaded by owners of coaching companies not to allow the extension of the railway to Senj in the 1870s. There were large emigrations and now the town is attempting to improve its amenities as a tourist attraction to admire its many very fine buildings.
We visited the Nehaj fortress outside the town. This is a very impressive fortification commissioned by the Austrians in 1558 using material from about 50 churches and monasteries outside the city walls.
After admiring the views from the top of the castle we were joined for lunch in the fortress by Professor Ladislav Palinkas and his students Sibilia Borojević-Šoštarić and Sabine. A small step at the edge of the eating area caused Eileen to trip over, hitting her chest and rolling over to hit the back of her head. She (I) ignored the exhortations to do it all over again 'for the camera'. After an inspection for broken bones and concussion (a thick skull?) and a rejuvenating cup of tea she was passed fit to continue by 'nurse' Annette.
We then had a short drive up the Josephina road which goes all the way to Vienna to see our first evidence for magmatism in Senjska Draga. Our first stop was for an inspection of a cemetery wall built of different volcanic stones, mostly andesites We had another stop further for an inspection of glacial deposits in which green chloritised andesite containing pink plagioclase or black pyroxene as phenocrysts were found. The sample bags were filling up fast.
Back on the coastal road we climbed up from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous and wondered at the bay of Baker. We noted the awful blight caused by the oil refinery and the narrow easily defended entrance. Eventually we arrived at Opatija, an opulent resort made popular by European royalty and notables. We stayed in the resplendent Hotel Opatjia at a very reasonable rate obtained for us by our trip leader. After dinner there was a short recce of the town to admire its many splendid 19th century hotels and villas.
Leaving Opatija and its high-class tourism, we travelled towards Labin, a medieval town lying on a hill 320 m high, with views towards Rabac and the sea some 3 km away. After a coffee break (coffee breaks were plentiful and we all enjoyed sitting in some picturesque locality, soaking up the sun and chatting), the old town was explored before heading downhill again and along the coast to Pula, the largest city and port in Istria, where a friend of Jasenka was waiting to give a guided tour of the Roman amphitheatre, dating from the 1st century AD: a magnificent monument with a museum containing many Roman artefacts. Limestones prevailed, with many rudists to be seen in the surrounding walls and steps. Lunch on this day, was taken in a restaurant in a very modern shopping centre.
Aleksandar Mezga, the expert on dinosaur footprints, had joined us in Opatija and we were to visit two sites he has been investigating. The first of these was Kirmenjak Quarry. After the heavy rain from the night before, plus the non-stop cavalcade of lorries back and forth, the quarry entrance was turned into a quagmire and it was the first and only place where hiking boots were necessary. Whilst quarrying stone, a large area with strange imprints had been discovered and the quarry manager, a geologist, requested a visit from scientists to determine what had been found. The large horizontal surface shows almost 1 000 footprints, mainly from Sauropods, with parallel tracks indicating that the animals may have been travelling in groups and as the imprints are quite shallow, it was deduced that movement was slow. The tracks continue under a rock face, so there are probably more to be found. We arrived back at the minibus and luckily discovered a well where we could wash the worst of the mud from our boots. Even so, by the time I returned to Switzerland, the rest of the mud had dried to something akin to concrete that could only be removed by brute force and has left traces as a permanent souvenir of the quarry visit.
Porec was the next port of call, a bustling tourist centre with a beautiful old town to explore. The little shops in the narrow roads looked inviting with very little of the usual cheap souvenir shops popular with some tourist classes, but with much home-made ice cream on sale, indicating the Italian influence and proximity of the border. Here we visited the Euphrasius' Basilica with its ancient mosaics and fine stone carvings.
Our last visit of the day was again to see dinosaur prints, this time at the heart of a nudist colony, the 'Solaris' auto camp. At the gate we had to gain permission to enter which is not difficult if you explain that you are a geologist and this is one area that you are researching, but discretion is requested. Here we found Therapod prints with claw marks, some as isolated specimens, others forming trackways. There are also a few Sauropod prints.
After an interesting day we finally reached our destination, a village in the district of Kastelir-Labinci, where we were to stay the night in two tourist apartments. After supper I decided on an early night so poor Karmen, with whom I was sharing a room, had to suffer with my snoring when she finally got to bed.
After an excellent breakfast of ham and eggs ordered from the very hospitable owner of the restaurant where we have dined the evening before, we set off to visit the Baredine Cave. We descended 60 m below the surface to admire the many shapes produced by the steady drip of water to form stalagmites and stalactites, mostly coloured a beautiful red by the presence of ferric oxide. There were many striking examples of 'curtain' stalactites, called 'streaky bacon' in the local jargon because of the red stripes of the ferric oxides. Our guide also shone his torch behind some unpromising spherical shaped structures to reveal skulls, grinning Halloween lanterns and other fascinating shapes. At the bottom we met one of the cave's inhabitants, a small pink salamander which is completely blind and hardly moves. We also examined the exhibition of old farming equipment that they have including an olive press and noted the newly planted orchards of olive trees in an attempt to increase exports of olive oil for this impoverished region.
Many geological structures are the basis for legends of giants or the devil. Croatia is no exception and along the River Mirna there are limestone outcrops on which towns have been built by giants who hurled rocks to one another from their hilly viewpoints. We stopped for a look at the disused St Stephen's rudist limestone quarry in one of the outcrops and learnt of the owner's ingenuity in building a railway to carry equipment up and rocks down but somebody had to climb the hill first! We learnt that rudist limestone is an excellent stone for building because of its compact and resistant nature as well as its beautiful white colour. At another stop we examined flysch deposits which are alternate tubidite deposits of soft marl and carbonate-siliciclastic sand, assured that there were many examples of classic fining upwards Bouma sequences. We had lunch by a fast flowing stream where a water mill could be seen with its well-preserved water wheel and mill race.
For our last stop we met up again with Ladislav Palinkaš and his students Sabine and Sibila. We were taken to two outcrops of barite deposits near Mrzle village which are situated at the Permian-Triassic boundary. We were assured that we were standing on what had been the edge of Pangaea facing shallow salty water similar to sabkhas today. Sabine and Sibila quickly shot up the hill with the ease of practice and after a few taps of their hammers presented with beautiful samples of stromatolites, barite and pyrite. After the extinction the stromatolites were able to flourish undisturbed by grazing sea organisms. We all came away with several bags full of unique specimens. After a delicious meal in an excellent restaurant frequented by Ladislav and his team we made our farewells and returned to Zagreb. After more goodbyes with our very grateful thanks for such a well organised trip we retired to bed before our journeys home.
We are full of praise for the organisation of our trip. We felt that it was a great privilege to be shown the sites by the actual people engage in the research. With the local knowledge we were also able stay in good accommodation at very reasonable prices and ate the local cooking in some excellent restaurants. Nothing was too much trouble for Jasenka. She was continually on her mobile checking that museums were open and that hotels and restaurants were expecting us. We are extremely grateful to everybody who helped to make our trip so enjoyable and interesting. Everybody was also very keen to show us their tourist sites and countryside with great pride. We hope that Croatia soon wins back the tourists who are now rather hesitant to visit. It deserves to be more widely recognised.
A geo-park is in preparation on Rab and we hope to bring more news on this in a future newsletter.


text:
HLTH Network Announces Launch in Avalanche Ecosystem
HLTH Network Is Using Avalanche, the Open-Source Platform for Launching Decentralized Applications, to Deploy Its New Line of Products on an Interoperable, Highly-Scalable Platform
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2021 / As of today, the HLTH.network is now using the cutting-edge Avalanche (AVAX) platform to launch the base layer protocol for global health data and the accompanying line of products. At the beginning of Phase II, HLTH.network's rapid growth led the team to make the switch to the groundbreaking new smart contract platform. Their goals are to deploy their new ecosystem with the speed and efficiency required to become the global health data sharing solution.
The primary reason for the decision was Avalanche's use of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Considering market developments, the use of EVM allows new projects to easily move from Ethereum to Avalanche with limited friction and downtime. The speed and scalability of the Avalanche platform will allow HLTH.network to continue revolutionizing the ever-expanding healthcare industry. By the estimate of Ava Labs, they are capable of processing around 4,500 transactions per second. This is compared to 7 transactions per second for Bitcoin and 14 for Ethereum. In the $10T and growing healthcare industry, this is the scale that HLTH will need to keep pace.
Avalanche also provides the tools to build a diverse array of decentralized applications (dapps) necessary for the HLTH ecosystem to function as intended. This, along with purpose-built, custom blockchains, creates a perfect match between HLTH and Avalanche. The HTLH team will now be free to innovate and initiate highly ambitious programs without hesitation.
The healthcare data industry has a number of issues. Patient data is often mishandled or monetized without authorization from the patient. It is difficult to transmit and exchange information across various entities due to the independent nature of healthcare providers and different country's jurisdictions. Interoperability is difficult because data is stored and used within many different types of systems. Information gets trapped or becomes unusable. It is often difficult to verify data once it has managed to cross over into these differing systems.
HLTH Network was launched by renowned researchers, including Harvard Professor George Church. It is the world's first blockchain-powered genomics marketplace. The HLTH team has been building and researching for over three years and is now ready to bring the project to a global level. They are now offering multiple health data-sharing solutions, including e-commerce, AI, precision medicine, and genomic NFTs.
About Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche is an open-source platform for launching decentralized applications and enterprise blockchain deployments in one interoperable, highly scalable ecosystem. Developers who build on Avalanche can easily create powerful, reliable, and secure applications with private or public blockchain networks. Avalanche gives you complete control on both the network and application layers-helping you build anything you can imagine. The Avalanche (AVAX) token is the native token of the Avalanche platform and is used to secure the network through staking, pay for fees, and provide a basic unit of account between the multiple subnetworks created on the Avalanche platform.
About HLTH.network
HLTH.network will be the world's first base layer protocol alongside aggregating all health data into one world repository to increase accessibility, usability, interoperability, and clinical research on a global scale. Integrating this repository with the blockchain gives users sovereign ownership over their data and increases transaction efficiency. The blockchain is transparent, secure, and functions across jurisdictions, creating a more fair data-sharing environment. The HLTH ecosystem contains a vast amount of products that will appeal to professionals across the industry.
The data marketplace promotes fine-grained sharing of genetic and healthcare data. In the Analytics marketplace, researchers can analyze the data in the data marketplace using bioinformatics pipelines; with the marketplace accommodating third-party analytics and AI algorithms. DNA and health data can be traded as NFTs to support research regarding complex diseases through the world's first genome NFT marketplace. Finally, a Precision Medicine e-commerce platform allows organizations to offer and exchange products, apps, and services in the precision medicine vertical, from genetic tests, health insurance, data analytics licenses, nutraceuticals, diabetes apps, and other items.
Furthermore, HLTH Media's global news service covers next-generation tokenized healthcare. They focus on innovations, people, policies, and innovations. Moreover, as a core component of the healthcare ecosystem, HLTH Capital will solve the world's most pressing healthcare challenges by pushing the boundaries of science and technology. Specifically: Venture Capital, New markets, Network Grants, and Crypto Economics. HLTH Foundation's main objective is to promote adoption, improve partnerships, ensure stakeholder accountability, and help grow global token-based health communities, especially within emerging healthcare systems.
Visit the HLTH.network Website: HLTH.network
Join the HLTH Telegram Community
Follow HLTH on Twitter
Join the Reddit Community
Follow HLTH on LinkedIn
For further information please contact [email protected]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Location regex acting weird on NGINX I come to you today with a super strange comportment on my NGINX reverse proxy.
I use it to be the reverse proxy of a tomcat server and set the host configuration like that:
server {
        listen  80;
        server_name hostname.domaine.tld;

        access_log /var/log/nginx/hostname.access.log;
        error_log /var/log/nginx/hostname.errors.log;

        include errors.conf;
        include proxy.conf;

        location = / {
            deny all;
        }

        location = /manager/(?<uri>\w+)$ {
            deny all;
        }

        location ~ ^/(?<uri>\w+)$ {
            proxy_pass http://recette/$uri;
        }
}

Long story short, I aim to allow access to ressources on this host like that:

host.domaine.tld/ressourcename/(.*)

But I also want to deny any access on the following URLs:

host.domaine.tld/
host.domaine.tld/manager/
host.domaine.tld/manager/(.*)

Here my configuration seems to doesn't work, from what I understand, it's because the third location is always true, even if you set the second location on the configuration file, in this case, you'll always be granted to access the manager vhost even if it's specifically deny.
So, I would like to ask you a little help on this topic because I think that my regex is not correct.

A: Ok, finally got it!
I messed up my regex :'(
Here is the final configuration file which is perfectly working as intended :D
server {
    listen  80;
    server_name hostname.domaine.tld;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/hostname.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/hostname.error.log;

    include errors.conf;
    include proxy.conf;

    location ~ ^/$ {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ ^/manager/(?<$uri>)$ {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~^/(?<$uri>)$ {
        proxy_pass http://recette/$uri;
    }
}

Indeed there were two issues, the first one is the "=" sign which need a perfect match.
The second is the added (w+) which conflict with the already exising catch all regex provided by the (?) directive.
So, thanks to the viewer, and sorry for the disturb ^^

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


As ADMIN, on the endpoint run the PPGPCR Endpoint Enable REG.
Run GPupdate /force on the endpoint which should trigger the auditor.
Wait 2-5 minutes for Events.log to finish.
When finished send Events.log to your support rep.


text:
Endeavor Catalyst
Board Members Greece
Board Members Global
ENDEAVOR INSIGHTS
Miroculus
Christodoulou
Year of Selection
Healthtech, Diagnostics
https://miroculus.com/
To advance science and improve lives faster, together.
Miroculus is building a new operating system for life sciences. It is a toolbox that includes an instrument, a plastic consumable and a software that will allow thousands of scientists, engineers, hospitals and lab operators all over the world to create, share, download and run the most complex protocols and tests in a fully automated fashion at no additional cost. Miroculus has developed a proprietary technology — Miro technology — based on digital microfluidics to automate and miniaturize genomic protocols such as Next Generation Sequencing library preparation, synthetic biology, cell editing, and combinatorial chemistry, in a compact, user-friendly system. Miroculus IP extends to over 25 patent applications within 13 different patent families. The Miro technology utilizes electromechanical forces to actuate droplets on the surfaces of insulated electrodes, without requiring immersion in oil or direct contact with system electronics.
Fay's work has been published in Nature, Cell and Science. In 2012 she was awarded an EU postdoctoral fellowship to investigate the role of microRNAs in thyroid carcinogenesis in the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Greece. Following that, she was awarded the 1st prize of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies Innovation Project for her scientific contribution. Fay completed her PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.
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© 2019 Endeavor Greece, Inc. All Rights Reserved


text:
COVID-19 Vaccine For Children: What Parents Need to Know
News, COVID-19, Medication, Vaccines
What is the dosage for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children?
What is the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine?
Is the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effective in children?
Should my child get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot?
What are the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine side effects?
What is the risk for allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine?
What is the allergic reaction protocol for the COVID-19 vaccine?
What is the benefit vs. risk for children getting the COVID-19 vaccine?
Will there be a vaccine mandate to attend school in person?
Can my child get other routine vaccinations at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine?
What should I do if my child is not vaccinated against COVID-19?
We will update this post as news comes out about COVID-19 vaccines and children. This post was last updated on Jan. 5, 2022.
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is now available for adolescents 5-11 years of age. It continues to be available for children ages 12-15 and older.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends children in these age groups get the COVID-19. The recommendation follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting the vaccine Emergency Use Authorization for children.
Parents can get their child the COVID-19 vaccine at any place authorized to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Visit Vaccines.gov to find a location near you or call your local or county health department.
As of October 2021, there have been at least 1.9 million COVID-19 cases in the 5-11 age group, including 8,300 hospitalizations and 84 deaths, according to CDC. Overall, approximately 6.2 million children have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Widespread vaccination is a critical tool in stopping the pandemic, medical experts say.
"Children are very much part of the herd immunity picture," says board-certified allergist Purvi Parikh, MD. "We can't get out of this pandemic until our children are vaccinated, especially with schools reopening. I know there is a lot of hesitancy because parents are more protective of their children than themselves. What I say to them is that if your child gets this virus, it's far scarier."
In addition to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine is expected to become available for children soon.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project put together a list of frequently asked questions for parents. The FAQs are available in both English and Spanish.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children ages 5-11 will come in two doses, three weeks apart. This is the same as all other age groups. Children will be deemed fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose.
The dose for the 5-11 age group is one-third of that given to adults and adolescents. It is administered as an injection in a muscle, usually the arm. The doses will be available in pediatricians' offices and primary care sites, as well as hospitals, pharmacies, community health clinics and possibly schools. The needle used to administer the vaccine to children ages 5-11 is expected to be smaller than needles for older age groups.
When your child receives the first dose, make sure you schedule an appointment for the second dose. Until they are fully vaccinated, children will be advised to continue wearing masks, keeping their distance from others especially when indoors, and washing their hands.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is a Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine and it comes in two doses. It is designed to trigger an immune response that produces antibodies and protects people from getting infected when exposed to the real virus.
A clinical trial of the 5-11 age group, conducted by Pfizer/BioNTech and presented to FDA, showed the vaccine was 90.7% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. The antibody response to the vaccine was comparable to what is seen in people 16-25 years old.
Clinical trials involving children ages 12-15 showed the vaccine was 100% effective in children ages 12-15. Nearly 2,300 adolescents participated in the clinical trial. Half were given the vaccine and half were given a placebo. None of the children who received the vaccine got COVID-19, while 16 in the placebo group did get it. In addition, researchers said the vaccine's antibody buildup was stronger in the 12-15 age group than for older teens and adults.
COVID-19 booster shots have been approved for children ages 12 and older.
Booster shots are available for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It is recommended people receive the same vaccine dose as their initial series. The booster dose for Pfizer/BioNTech would be administered six months after the child received the second dose of the vaccine.
The COVID-19 booster shot is intended to bolster protection, especially against more transmissible variants. It may be particularly beneficial for people with weak immune systems, including those with asthma.
In addition, research shows that the COVID-19 vaccines decline in effectiveness against infection over time. COVID-19 vaccines continue to maintain strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, however.
Side effects to the vaccine booster shot are considered similar to side effects of the initial vaccine dose.
Side effects were reported to be more common in the 12-15 age group than in those 16 and older. Fatigue was the most common side effect reported, with 78% of the 12-15 age group reporting it as part of the clinical trial. According to FDA, other side effects may include:
pain, redness or swelling at the injection site
nonallergic reactions such as rash, itching, hives or swelling of the face
In the Pfizer/BioNTech clinical trial of the 12-15 age group, there were no reports of serious allergic reactions. Cases of severe allergic reactions, or anaphylaxis, to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are very rare. As of Jan. 29, 2021, the anaphylaxis rate was five cases per 1 million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses administered. Cases of severe allergic reactions to all vaccines are also very rare. It's estimated at 1.31 cases per 1 million vaccine doses given.
Signs of a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can include:
difficulty breathing,
hives or skin rash
swelling of the face and/or throat
Any child with an allergy or risk of anaphylaxis to food, insect venom, oral medications, latex or environmental allergens is eligible to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Your child should NOT get the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine if there is:
a history of anaphylaxis to any ingredient of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
a history of non-severe immediate allergic reactions to any ingredient of the vaccine
an allergy to polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG is a component in the vaccine
had a severe allergic reaction to a first dose of the vaccine
If you have any questions or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine and allergic reactions consult with your doctor or allergist.
Now that children ages 12-15 are eligible for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, parents may have questions about it. Some may be concerned about the risk of long-term side effects or allergic reactions. Medical experts continue to emphasize the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any potential risks. Benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine include:
Preventing your child from getting COVID-19 or from becoming seriously ill or dying due to COVID-19
Preventing your child from spreading the virus to others
Increasing community-wide protection from COVID-19, making it harder for the virus to spread
Preventing the COVID-19 virus from replicating and possibly become more resistant to vaccines
What are the risks of not getting vaccinated and then getting COVID-19? While most children who get COVID-19 tend to experience mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, some do get severely ill. Adolescents and older children are more at risk for serious COVID-19 cases than younger children. Hospitalizations and deaths in children due to COVID-19 have been uncommon, according to AAP. Hospitalizations were from 0.1% to 2.0% of all cases among states reporting. Deaths were between 0.01% to 0.03% of all cases among states reporting. Three out of four of children who died from COVID-19 had an underlying medical condition such as asthma, obesity or a heart condition. In addition, children who have died of COVID-19 are disproportionately children of color: about 75% of all pediatric deaths have been children of color.
Medical researchers are also investigating cases of a rare but serious condition affecting some children with COVID-19. It's called Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) and symptoms involve inflammation of body organs including the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, brain. It's unknown at this time what the risk factors are for developing MIS-C.
This will depend on the state you live in – and possibly the school district your child attends.
The CDC says healthcare professionals can administer other routine vaccinations, such as for measles and HPV, at the same time as the COVID-19 shot. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports this as well. Routine vaccinations have reportedly fallen off during the pandemic. Doctors say it's important that children resume vaccinations.
If your child is not vaccinated, it's important they continue to take preventive steps to avoid getting or spreading the COVID-19 virus. This includes: practicing social distancing and avoiding large crowds of people; wearing a mask outside the home; and washing hands often.


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Bookcase for the living room with open spaces and hinged doors with different thickness. Modern bookcase with wooden suspended bases with drawer and flap door.
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Wall system where its extreme modularity allows you to create different compositions, all by inserting a piece of closed storage compartments.


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In case you didn't know, Laroc is a world-famous graffitier who now, apparently, also warns passersby of the dangers of bedbug infestation.
It's good to have a fallback career!
so is that bed cover now worth big $???
I bet it is. I went back to get it but it was gone!


The ECAR leverages ALEC, an existing core analytical facility at UA, which is dedicated to providing the analytical capabilities and technical expertise required to detect and quantify small contaminant molecules (organic and inorganic) in complex matrices including biological fluids, tissue, water, air, soil, sediment, and biomass. Laboratory instrumentation is maintained by a combination of funding sources including NSF, NIH, DoE, and the State of Arizona. Principal methods involve off-line or on-line separations followed by mass spectrometric detection. Since 2009, ALEC has served as the UA Superfund Research Program Hazard Identification Core (UA-SRP-HIC), and in addition, performed analyses in support of multiple SWEHSC publications.
The ECAR has developed a structured approach to providing assistance for projects receiving subsidized support, to ensure that the best delivery of support results in successful research outcomes.
The ECAR is led by Jon Chorover, PhD, and includes two full-time research scientists dedicated to assisting SWEHSC researchers to access the full range of analytical capabilities. Leif Abrell, PhD, oversees organic mass spectrometric analyses (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, LC-QToF-MS), whereas Mary Kay Amistadi, MS, is in charge of inorganic mass spectrometry (ICP-MS, LC-ICP-MS). These individuals train frequent users or perform analyses on a cost-recovery basis.


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Home → Author Interviews → An Interview with the Authors of Maggie Malone Makes a Splash
An Interview with the Authors of Maggie Malone Makes a Splash
Today The Mixed Up Files is thrilled to welcome co-authors of the Maggie Malone series, Jenna McCarthy and Carolyn Evans. They were kind enough to chat with us about how they write as a team, about their characters, and (psssst) future Maggie Malone adventures. Maggie Malone Makes a Splash, the third book in their Middle Grade series, released on Cinco de Mayo! Congratulations and welcome, Ladies. Thanks so much for stopping by.
MUF: We're curious how your collaborative process works. What does that look like for two authors co-writing a book?
Jenna: In school I was always the person who hated group projects, because I'm a total control freak. I didn't think I'd enjoy the collaborative process, but Carolyn convinced me to give it a try, and it's actually been amazing. She and I take turns writing chapters; when one of us is done, we send it to the other and we read it together on the phone. After we howl and squeal and tell the other how awesome she is, we discuss what we think should happen next, and then the other person gets to work on her chapter. It's exciting to hand off a story mid-plot and then wait to see what your partner does with it. The best part is how seamlessly our voices blend; my kids are always trying to guess who wrote what, and they're often wrong—which tells me we're doing a great job! We rarely disagree, but in the event we do, we have a "three veto" policy per book, which essentially means if there's an impasse, we each get to fight for (and keep) only the three things we feel most strongly about. This way, you push for only what's most important to you. You know your partner is serious about something when she throws down a veto—and you respect it. Fortunately, Carolyn and I see pretty eye-to-eye on all things Maggie so we rarely have to play the veto card.
MUF: What is it like to spend time with the same characters through more than one book, as you create your series? Are there challenges about that? Do you get tired of them, or do you feel you get to know them better?
Carolyn: Jenna and I both love getting to know these characters throughout the series and have more fun with them over time. Frank the genie is probably my favorite character and he just gets funnier, grittier (did I mention he's a cowboy genie?) and more honest, the longer Maggie knows him. We have had a little trouble keeping our minor characters straight between books (was Willis Freedman the long-eared donkey in the Christmas pageant or was that Carl Lumberton?) but lucky for me, Jenna is crazy organized and keeps a running character cheat sheet for us to refer back to. Also, the main part of each book is Maggie's day in someone else's shoes, which inevitably involves her meeting new people, so there are always fun, fresh characters to create in every book.
Can you tell us the inspiration for Maggie? Did it come from more than one place?
Carolyn: Jenna and I wanted to collaborate on a series of books for kids, but we weren't sure exactly what we wanted to write together. We talked on the phone a lot and I mentioned to Jenna that I had been working on an idea for a series that involved a boy main character. I believe she said something like, "No way, man. I got nothing when it comes to boys," because she has two little girls." Plus, she's not a fan of potty humor like I am, so I said, "Fine. What else could we do?" She remembered that she had played around with the idea of magic shoes, but hadn't come up with what the magic of the shoes should be. I think I said something about that girl in the blue gingham dress from Kansas who had a pair of magic shoes so we might want to steer clear of that kind of magic and also those types of shoes. Jenna agreed. We considered flip-flops and probably clogs, but in the end decided that the magical shoes should be boots.
But we still weren't sure what the magic of the boots would be. One day I was meditating (I do that a lot, but probably not as much as I should) when the idea of "spending a day in someone else's shoes" kind of dropped into my head. I love it when that happens. Ideas sometimes drop into my head when I'm in the shower, too, but we don't have to talk about that. So that's how the idea for Maggie's Magical Boots came together. As for Maggie herself, Jenna's daughter, Sophie, helped us decide on her look—the crazy curly strawberry blonde hair and green—not blue—eyes. Sophie is also an excellent editor for both content ("This makes no sense to me!" or "I've never heard this word before in my entire eleven-year-old life!") and grammar ("You said this word twice!" or "Don't you mean 'petal' and not 'pedal'?). Thanks Sophie!
You both write a wide array of books, for different ages. Which is more challenging, to write for adults, or for middle grade readers?
Jenna: I wouldn't say one is necessarily more challenging than the other, but they're definitely challenging in their own ways. With middle grade readers, it's extremely important to get the voice right, and not to use "old lady" words or expressions. (Our kids proofread everything we write for that very reason; if they were reading this, I'm pretty sure they'd tell me not to use the phrase "old lady!") Because Maggie appeals to a broad age range, there's also an issue of vocabulary. As writers, we love big words and aren't afraid to use them, so we always include a glossary in the back in case younger readers are being introduced to a word for the first time. Finally, it was and is extremely important to Carolyn and me that our books have not only strong female characters but also some sort of positive messaging. The trick with that is to do it in a way that readers don't feel like they're being lectured or patronized. Throughout the series, we have Maggie facing all sorts of challenges—from bullies to burglars—and no matter whose life she's in, she never backs down and she always stays true to herself and who she is. Hopefully kids will absorb that messaging and use it in their own lives. [*Crosses fingers.*]
This is your third book featuring Maggie Malone, right? Can we expect to see more in this fun series?
Jenna: Yes, Maggie Malone Makes a Splash is the third in the series so far. We've dreamed up all sorts of exciting adventures for Maggie, and on our website (maggiemalonebooks.com) we invite our readers to suggest lives for her to step into. We've gotten lots of incredibly inspired ideas from creative fans and I won't give them all away, but let's just say President of the United States is a very popular request. I wanted Maggie to try out being a dog for a day—I could just see her riding in the back seat of the family car with her tongue hanging out and her ears flapping in the breeze, and groaning about having to eat Barker's Super Duper Gluten-free Kibble again—but Carolyn put the kibosh on that one!
Thank you so much for joining us today, Jenna and Carolyn! Best of luck on the new release!
Jenna McCarthy is a writer, speaker, and aspiring drummer who has wanted magical boots since she learned to walk. She lives with her husband, daughters, cats, and dogs in sunny South California.
Carolyn Evans is an author, speaker, and singer/song-writers who once opened for Pat Benatar- you can ask your mom who that is. She loves traveling to faraway places but is just as happy at home with her husband and kids, living by a river in South Carolina and dreaming up grand adventures for Maggie Malone.
In fourth grade, Valerie Stein touched an ancient artifact from an archaeological dig. Though she never got to travel the world in search of buried treasure, she ended up journeying to new and exciting places between the pages of books. Now she spends her time researching history, in museums and libraries, which is like archaeology but without the dirt. Valerie's book, The Best of It: A Journal of Life, Love and Dying, was published in 2009. Both her current work and an upcoming middle grade series are historical fiction set in Washington State. Valerie is Proprietor of Homeostasis Press. She blogs at the Best of It.
Valerie Stein
In fourth grade, Valerie Stein touched an ancient artifact from an archaeological dig. Though she never got to travel the world in search of buried treasure, she ended up journeying to new and exciting places between the pages of books. Now she spends her time researching history, in museums and libraries, which is like archaeology but without the dirt. Valerie's book, THE BEST OF IT: A JOURNAL OF LIFE, LOVE AND DYING, was published in 2009. Her current work focuses on historical fiction set in Washington State. Valerie is proprietor of Homeostasis Press, and blogs at The Best of It. She manages Gather Here, an online history site for middle grade readers and teachers.
By Valerie Stein on May 7, 2015 / Author Interviews, Book Lists, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Writers, Writing
Mixed-Up Files Goes on Vacation!
Weeding out good ideas...from the not-so-good
sheilarenfro2015
6:45 am on May 8, 2015
That's amazing that these two writers live across the USA from each other and manage to do this. I"m wowed by this!
10:14 pm on May 7, 2015
This sounds like a really fun book. Fascinating to read about the collaborative process for these authors. Thanks for the post.
Amber Frechette
I almost lol'd when I read about wanting Maggie to be a dog for a day. What a cute idea! This series is something I would have loved in middle school.


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"DARK PHOENIX" (2019) Review
I feel sorry for the old X-MEN Movie Universe. Well . . . almost. For a franchise that began on a high note, it certainly ended with a whimper. At least from a financial point-of-view. And that whimper proved to be the 2019 movie, "DARK PHOENIX".
Actually, "DARK PHOENIX" is not the final film of this franchise. The last film is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2020. As for "DARK PHOENIX", it is the twelfth film associated with the franchise that was associated with the old 20th Century Fox Studios. It is also the second movie in the franchise, after 2005's "X-MEN: THE LAST STAND", to adapt Marvel Comics' 1976-1980 comic book series of the same title.
The movie begins in 1975 when nine year-old Jean Grey and her parents get involved in a car accident that leaves her as the sole survivor. Jean's situation eventually attracts the attention of Professor Charles Xavier, who enrolls her as one of his students at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The story jumps to 1992, nine years after the events of "X-MEN: APOCALYPSE". Some of Xavier's former students have become the next generation of the X-Men, with Mystique aka Raven as the team's leader in the field and the Professor receiving their glory from the public and media. The U.S. President summons the team to assist NASA into rescuing the space shuttle Endeavour, which is critically damaged by a solar flare-like energy during its mission. While the X-Men save all of the astronauts, Jean is stranded and is struck by the energy, which she absorbs into her body to save the X-Men's aircraft from destruction. Jean survives the event and her psychic powers are greatly amplified by the energy. Her powers become uncontrollable and she later accidentally unleashes her power on the mutants celebrating the success of their mission at Xavier's school. Even worse, Jean's enhanced powers attract the attention of a group of alien shape shifters called the D'Bari, whose home planet had been destroyed by the energy force. They want to use the energy (or Jean) to wipe out Earth's inhabitants and re-shape the planet to resemble their own.
Eventually, Jean and the other X-Men learn that Xavier had placed mental walls in Jean's mind as a little girl to protect her psychic mind from experiencing trauma from her childhood accident. Jean's enhanced power destroys the mental walls and the trauma slowly returns, filling her with desire, rage, and pain. Jean then travels to her childhood hometown after finding out that her father is still alive and learned that he abandoned her. Jean recovers her complete memory of the car accident and remembers that her post-traumatic stress disorder had originated with the childhood car accident in which she had inadvertently caused by rendering her mother unconscious at the wheel with her telepathy. When the X-Men arrive to take Jean home but she injures Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver and accidentally kills Raven aka Mystique before disappearing. And her actions led to the U.S. Army searching for her and willing to imprison other mutants at the government's order.
Many X-Men fans and critics had really dumped on this movie when it first hit the theaters. I am not going to examine why this film was so unpopular. I can only discuss how I felt about it. One, it was not an original film. In many ways, "DARK PHOENIX" almost struck me as a remake of the 2006 movie, "THE X-MEN: THE LAST STAND". Or perhaps I should say . . . a remake of the Dark Phoenix story arc, but with slightly different details. I suspect that Kinsberg and the X-Men producers wanted to use the changed timeline from "X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST" as an excuse to re-write the Dark Phoenix story arc from 2006. Personally, I feel it would have been more original of them to completely leave that story arc alone and utilize another narrative for the film.
I also found the enhancement of Jean's powers via some alien energy wave not only unoriginal, but unnecessary. Why did Simon Kinberg even thought it was necessary to enhance Jean's powers? She had displayed an uber level of power when she killed En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse in "X-MEN: APOCALYPSE". I can only assume the solar flare energy situation was created by Kinsberg to introduce the D'Bari. Speaking of the latter, I noticed that their goal to destroy humanity and settle on Earth as its new home bore a strong resemblance to General Zod's plan in 2013's "MAN OF STEEL". Look, I do not mind that Kinsberg had used aliens as the movie's Big Bad for this film. But did he have to recycle a plot from a D.C. Comics movie? Or worse, create this energetic force to enhance Jean Grey's powers, when they really did not require to be enhanced in the first place?
Despite the film's lack of originality, I must admit that I actually managed to enjoy "DARK PHOENIX". I noticed that Kinsberg's screenplay featured a more in-depth exploration of how Jean's enhanced powers had made an impact on her life and on those in her life. I also enjoyed how the actions of certain characters in regard to Jean had resulted in major consequences for many characters. I found it interesting how Jean found herself isolated by her fellow mutants and a lot of the blame could be tossed at Charles Xavier's feet. He did not use his telepathy to contain her power – especially since he had encouraged her to use it to defeat En Sabah Nur in the 2016 film. Instead, he had used his telepathy to suppress her memories of her parents' death and her emotional reaction to it . . . instead of simply helping her deal with a tragic loss. Xavier had used a short cut. And when the alien energy removed his mental blocks on Jean's mind, tragic consequences followed. Xavier did not pay the consequences of his actions with death, but he did pay a heavy price.
Ironically, Erik Lensherr aka Magneto had no interest in exploiting Jean's new powers, as he had done in the 2006 movie. He was more concerned in protecting Genosha, the refugee island for mutants he had founded and demanded that she leave after the U.S. Army appeared. Unfortunately, Magneto's desire to protect those mutants under his leadership transformed into vengeance when he learned about Mystique's death from a grieving Hank McCoy aka Beast. I found it interesting that Hank had never bothered to inform Erik that Mystique's death had been an accident on Jean's part. He was angry at Charles for the latter's handling of Jean and decided to use the latter as a moral scapegoat. And unfortunately, the vengeful actions of both men ended up exacerbating an already dangerous situation. By the time the movie shifted to Manhattan, three forces (including the U.S. Army) were trying to contain, exploit or destroy Jean. Only a fourth group seemed concerned with Jean – namely the X-Men. And for once, Xavier WAS NOT the catalyst for the team's attempt to rescue Jean. Her fellow team members – led by Scott Summers aka Cyclops and Ororo Munroe aka Storm – led this endeavor.
If I must be honest, most of the film's visual effects did not blow my mind. At best, I found them serviceable. I could also say the same about Mauro Fiore's cinematography. However, there was one particular scene in which the film's visuals and Fiore's photography really blew my mind. It involved the major clash that eventually evolved between the X-Men, the mutants under Erik Lensherr and Hank McCoy, the U.S. Army and the D'Bari. I have become increasingly weary of final action sequences shot at night over the past decade, thanks to the second "LORD OF THE RINGS" movie. I must say that I was more impressed by Fiore and the visual team's work in this particular sequence, which began on the streets of Manhattan and ended on a train headed out of the city. And their work was more than ably supported by excellent editing from Lee Smith.
I certainly had no problems with the performances featured in "DARK PHOENIX". The movie featured solid performances from the likes of Evan Peters, Kodi Smit Mc-Phee, Ato Essandoh and Brian D'Arcy James. Another solid performance came from Michael Fassbender, whose portrayal of Erik Lensherr struck me as skillful, but not particularly memorable. I do not think Kinsberg's screenplay gave the actor something new or unusual to work with. At first, it seemed as if Alexandra Shipp was doomed to endure another movie in which her character, Ororo Munroe aka Storm, nearly became a background character. Thankfully, the movie's second half gave Shipp an opportunity to convey Storm's resilient nature with more dialogue and action scenes. I especially enjoyed that moment when Storm and Cyclops made it clear to Xavier their determination to help Jean.
Vuk proved to be the second time I have ever seen Jessica Chastain portray a villain. And I thought she gave an interesting and slightly . . . bizarre performance as the D'Bari's manipulative leader, who seemed focused on seducing Jean for the latter's powers. Nicholas Hoult surprised me by his skillful portrayal of the uglier side of Hank McCoy's nature. This was especially apparent in scenes that reflected McCoy's desire to avenge Mystique's death. Speaking of the latter, Jennifer Lawrence's appearance barely spanned half of the movie. I thought she gave a solid performance. But there was one scene in which she truly impressed me. It featured Mystique's sardonic rant against Xavier for using the X-Men as his personal publicity campaign. I was more impressed by Tye Sheridan's portrayal of Scott Summers aka Cyclops in this film than I was in the 2016 movie. Sheridan's Cyclops became a more mature and determined personality. That maturity was expressed in Scott's continuing love for Jean and his determination to help her as much as possible.
I think "DARK PHOENIX" marked the first time I can truly recall Charles Xavier being portrayed in a negative light . . . and I enjoyed it. This has nothing to do with any dislike of Xavier. But I cannot deny that I found James McAvoy's portrayal of his character very interesting . . . and new. What I really found interesting is that Xavier's uglier side was not briefly manifested in the revelation of the telepathic blocks he had placed in Jean's head. That revelation only deepened Xavier's arrogance and blindness. But audiences first saw signs of these traits, thanks to his argument with Mystique over his exploitation of the X-Men team for personal glory. Some of the franchise's fans felt that Sophie Turner was not up to portraying the "Dark Phoenix" aspect of Jean Grey's character. I suppose they were expecting a re-play of Famke Janssen's portrayal. Even if they were not, I still managed to enjoy Turner's performance. The main reason why I did was because Turner did not try to repeat the older actress' performance. Thanks to Kinsberg's script, Turner was able to put a different spin of Jean's evolution into the Dark Phoenix . . . one that did not paint her as villainous. I also felt that Turner did an excellent job of conveying how Xavier's mental blocks had led Jean to experience post traumatic stress (PST) and loss of control of her powers.
I cannot explain why "DARK PHOENIX" proved to be a box office failure. And if I must be honest, I am not interested in expressing my opinion on this topic. The movie was not perfect. And frankly, I wonder if it was a good idea to use the shifted timeline from "X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST" as an excuse to create a new version of the Dark Phoenix story arc. But I cannot deny that I enjoyed the movie. I thought Kinsberg had created a solid piece of cinematic entertainment with a screenplay that did not become a convoluted mess and first-rate performances from a cast led by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Sophie Turner.
Filed under: History, Movies | Tagged: alexandra shipp, ato essandoh, comics, evan peters, famke janssen, james mcavoy, jennifer lawrence, jessica chastain, kodi smit-mcphee, late 20th century, michael fassbender, movies, nicholas hoult, politics, scott shepherd, sophie turner, travel, tye sheridan |	Leave a comment »
Top Five Favorite Episodes of "COPPER" (2012-2013)
Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from the 2012-2013 BBC America series, "COPPER". Created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos, the series starred Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Ato Essandoh:
1. (1.02) "Husbands and Fathers" – In this brutal episode, New York City detective Kevin "Corky" Corcoran set about rescuing child prostitute/abused wife Annie Sullivan from a Manhattan brothel and her perverse customer, a wealthy businessman named Winifred Haverford.
2. (2.05) "A Morning Song" – Major counterfeiter Philomen Keating takes over the Sixth Ward precinct and hold hostages in an effort to retrieve his confiscated counterfeiting plates back.
3. (1.09) "A Day to Give Thanks" – Following the reappearance of his missing wife Ellen in an asylum, Corky tracks down her former lover in order to learn what really happened to their dead daughter, while he was in the Army. Meanwhile, Confederate agents blackmail Robert Morehouse's wealthy father into helping their plot to set New York City on fire, following the re-election of Abraham Lincoln.
4. (2.03) "The Children of the Battlefield" – While Kevin searches for the person responsible for the kidnapping and murder of young Five Points men, Robert Morehouse and the widowed Elizabeth Haverford exchange wedding vows before the latter reveals an unpleasant surprise.
5. (1.06) "Arsenic and Old Cake" – Corky investigate the death of the dentist of one of his men, who died by arsenic poisoning. Widow Elizabeth Haverford tries to discipline an unruly Annie and return the latter to her abusive husband, a Mr. Reilly. An exhibition boxing match between a young African-American and an Irish-American local politician end with racial tension.
Filed under: Book Review, History, Television | Tagged: aaron poole, alex paxton-beesley, alfre woodard, anastasia griffith, andrew howard, ato essandoh, civil war, copper, donal logue, dylan taylor, franka potente, geordie johnson, holidays, kevin ryan, kiara glasco, kyle schmid, lee tergesen, politics, ron white, television, tessa thompson, tom weston-jones, william baldwin |	Leave a comment »
Favorite Television Productions Set During the U.S. CIVIL WAR
Below is a list of my favorite television productions set during the U.S. Civil War:
1. "The Blue and the Gray" (1982) – This three-part CBS miniseries focused on the experiences of two families linked by two sisters – the Geysers of Virginia and the Hales of Pennsylvania – during the U.S. Civil War. John Hammond and Stacy Keach starred.
2. "Copper" (2012-2013) – Tom Fontana and Will Rokos created this BBC America series about an Irish immigrant policeman/war veteran who patrols and resides in New York City's Five Points neighborhood during the last year of the U.S. Civil War. Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Ato Essandoh starred.
3. "North and South: Book II" (1986) – James Read and Patrick Swayze starred in this six-part television adaptation of John Jakes's 1984 novel, "Love and War", the second one in John Jakes' "North and South" Trilogy. David L. Wolper produced and Kevin Connor directed.
4. "Gore Vidal's Lincoln" (1988) – Sam Waterston and Mary Tyler Moore starred in this two-part miniseries adaptation of Gore Vidal's 1984 novel about the 16th U.S. President during the U.S. Civil War. Lamont Johnson directed.
5. "The Young Riders" (1989-1992) – Ed Spielman created this ABC television series about six riders who rode for the Pony Express between 1860 and 1861. Ty Miller, Josh Brolin and Anthony Zerbe starred.
6. "Class of '61" (1993) – Steven Spielberg produced this ABC television movie about a few West Point graduates who found themselves on opposite sides of the U.S. Civil War. Dan Futterman, Clive Owen and Andre Braugher starred.
7. "Mercy Street" (2016-2017) – Lisa Wolfinger and David Zabel created this PBS series that followed two hospital nurses on opposite sides, at the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia during the U.S. Civil War. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Hannah James and Josh Radnor starred.
8. "Lincoln" (1974-1976) – Hal Holbrook and Sara Thompson starred in this NBC six-part miniseries about the life of the 16th U.S. President. George Schaefer directed.
9. "The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance" (1978) – Brock Peters starred in this Disney television movie about an escaped Union soldier who flees to the Union lines with five Northern children who had been snatched and held as hostages by Confederate soldiers during the war. Russ Mayberry directed.
10. "For Love and Glory" (1993) – Roger Young directed this failed CBS pilot about a wealthy Virginia family disrupted by the older son's marriage to a young working-class woman and the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War. Daniel Markel, Tracy Griffith, Kate Mulgrew and Robert Foxworth starred.
Filed under: Book Review, Essay, History, Television | Tagged: alfre woodard, anastasia griffith, andre braugher, annasophia robb, antebellum, anthony zerbe, ato essandoh, beau billingslea, brad koed, brett cullen, brian f. o'byrne, brian kerwin, bryan cranston, bryce pinkham, cameron monaghan, charles napier, civil war, cliff de young, cooper huckabee, cynthia nixon, dan fetterman, dana ivey, david soul, debra monk, don franklin, donal logue, donna murphy, dylan taylor, erica gimpel, fisher stevens, forest whitaker, franka potente, frederick coffin, gary cole, genie francis, greg rainwater, gregg henry, gregory peck, hal holbrook, hannah james, history, inga swenson, jack falahee, james read, james stewart, jean simmons, jim metzler, john hammond, john jakes, john slattery, jonathan frakes, josh brolin, josh lucas, josh radnor, kathleen beller, kevin ryan, kirstie alley, kurtwood smith, kyle schmid, l. scott caldwell, laura linney, lee horsley, lesley anne down, lewis smith, literary, lloyd bridges, luke macfarlane, luray cooper, mark pelligrino, mary crosby, mary elizabeth winstead, mary tyler moore, mckinley belcher iii, melissa leo, mercy street, myron parker wright, norbert leo butz, old west, olivia d'abo, olivia de havilland, patina miller, patrick swayze, paul winfield, peter gerety, peter jurasik, philip casnoff, politics, richard mulligan, rip torn, robert foxforth, robert vaughn, robin gammell, ron white, roxann dawson, ruby dee, sam waterston, sophie ward, stacy keach, stan shaw, stephen baldwin, steven culp, suzanne bertish, tara summers, television, terri garber, tessa thompson, tim thomerson, tom weston-jones, travel, travis fine, ty miller, wade williams, walton goggins, william schallert, young riders, yvonne suhor |	Leave a comment »
"COPPER": Top Five Favorite Season Two (2013) Episodes
Posted on September 7, 2017 by ladylavinia1932
Below is a list of my top five favorite episodes from Season Two of the BBC America series "COPPER". Created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos, the series starred Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Ato Essandoh:
2. (2.10) "The Fine Ould Irish Gintleman" – Detective Kevin Corcoran begins to question General Brendan Donovan's stronghold in the Five Points community, and solicits coppers of the Sixth Precinct to suss out the truth. Meanwhile, Dr. Matthew Freeman and his wife Sarah deal with bigots in the community.
4. (2.07) "The Hope Too Bright to Last" – Kevin becomes so embroiled in a double that he ends up ignoring his estranged wife Ellen. Meanwhile, Matthew investigates an epidemic among Five Points' poor.
5. (2.11) "Good Heart and Willing Hand" – Looming devastation to Five Points forces Detective Kevin Corcoran to confront the man behind it.
Filed under: Essay, History, Television | Tagged: aaron poole, alex paxton-beesley, alfre woodard, anastasia griffith, andrew howard, ato essandoh, civil war, copper, donal logue, dylan taylor, franka potente, geordie johnson, kevin ryan, kiara glasco, kyle schmid, lee tergesen, politics, ron white, television, tessa thompson, tom weston-jones, william baldwin |	Leave a comment »
The 19th Century in Television
Posted on November 3, 2016 by ladylavinia1932
Recently, I noticed there have been a good number of television productions in both North America and Great Britain, set during the 19th century. Below is a list of those productions I have seen during this past decade in alphabetical order:
1. "Copper" (BBC America) – Tom Fontana and Will Rokos created this series about an Irish immigrant policeman who patrols Manhattan's Five Points neighborhood during the last year of the U.S. Civil War. Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Ato Essandoh starred in this 2012-2013 series.
2. "The Crimson Petal and the White" (BBC) – Romola Garai starred in this 2011 miniseries, which was an adaptation of Michel Faber's 2002 novel about a Victorian prostitute, who becomes the mistress of a powerful businessman.
3. "Death Comes to Pemberley" (BBC) – Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell-Martin starred in this adaptation of P.D. James' 2011 novel, which is a murder mystery and continuation of Jane Austen's 1813 novel, "Pride and Prejudice".
4. "Hell on Wheels" (AMC) – This 2012-2016 series is about a former Confederate Army officer who becomes involved with the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad during the years after the Civil War. Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Common, and Dominique McElligott starred.
5. "Mercy Street" (PBS) – This series follows two volunteer nurses from opposing sides who work at the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia during the Civil War. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Josh Radnor and Hannah James.
6. "The Paradise" (BBC-PBS) – This 2012-2013 series is an adaptation of Émile Zola's 1883 novel, "Au Bonheur des Dames", about the innovative creation of the department story – only with the story relocated to North East England. The series starred Joanna Vanderham and Peter Wight.
7. "Penny Dreadful" (Showtime/Sky) – Eva Green, Timothy Dalton and Josh Harnett star in this horror-drama series about a group of people who battle the forces of supernatural evil in Victorian England.
8. "Ripper Street" (BBC) – Matthew Macfadyen stars in this crime drama about a team of police officers that patrol London's Whitechapel neighborhood in the aftermath of Jack the Ripper's serial murders.
9. "Underground" (WGN) – Misha Green and Joe Pokaski created this series about runaway slaves who endure a long journey from Georgia to the Northern states in a bid for freedom in the late Antebellum period. Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aldis Hodge star.
10. "War and Peace" (BBC) – Andrew Davies adapted this six-part miniseries, which is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1865–1867 novel about the impact of the Napoleonic Era during Tsarist Russia. Paul Dano, Lily James and James Norton starred.
Filed under: Book Review, History, Television | Tagged: aaron poole, adina porter, alano miller, aldis hodge, alex paxton-beesley, alfre woodard, amanda hale, amirah vann, anastasia griffith, andrea frankle, andrew howard, anna maxwell martin, annasophia robb, anson mount, antebellum, ato essandoh, ben daniels, ben esler, billie piper, brad koed, brian cox, brian f. o'byrne, bryce pinkham, cameron monaghan, chris chalk, christopher heyerdahl, christopher meloni, civil war, colm meaney, common, copper, david threfall, debra monk, dominique mcelligott, donal logue, donna murphy, dylan taylor, eddie spears, eleanor tomlinson, eva green, franka potente, gary cole, geordie johnson, georgian era, gilded age, gillian anderson, greta scacchi, hannah james, helen mccrory, history, imperial russia, jack falahee, james fleet, james norton, jane austen, jessica de gouw, jim broadbent, johnny ray gill, joseph mawle, josh harnett, josh radnor, jurnee smollett-bell, ken stott, kenneth cranham, kevin ryan, kiara glasco, kyle schmid, l. scott caldwell, lee tergesen, lily james, literary, luke macfarlane, luray cooper, marc blucas, mark gatiss, mary elizabeth winstead, mathieu kassovitz, matthew goode, matthew macfadyen, matthew rhys, mckinley belcher iii, mercy street, mykelti williamson, myron parker wright, napoleonic wars, norbert leo butz, old west, p.j. marshall, patina miller, patrick malahide, paul dano, peter gerety, peter jurasik, politics, rebecca front, reed diamond, renwick d. scott ii, robin mcleavy, romola garai, ron white, rory kinnear, ruby bentall, shalita grant, shirley henderson, stephen rea, suzanne bertish, tara summers, television, tessa thompson, theodus crane, tim guinee, timothy dalton, tom burke, tom harper, tom noonan, tom weston-jones, travel, underground, victorian age, virginia masden, wade williams, wes studi, william baldwin |	Leave a comment »
"COPPER": Top Five Favorite Season One (2012) Episodes
Below is a list of my top five favorite episodes from Season One of the BBC America series "COPPER". Created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos, the series stars Tom Weston-Jones, Kyle Schmid and Ato Essandoh:
4. (1.03) "In the Hands of an Angry God" – Corky investigates the death of a notoriously racist Irish immigrant and clashes with his African-American friend, Dr. Matthew Freeman when a local black minister becomes the prime suspect.
5. (1.07) "The Hudson River School" – Annie struggles with escape from the abusive Mr. Reilly. Elizabeth turns to Robert, when Corky reacts violently to the news that she had turned Annie over to Mr. Reilly.
Filed under: Essay, History, Television | Tagged: aaron poole, alex paxton-beesley, anastasia griffith, ato essandoh, civil war, copper, dylan taylor, franka potente, kevin ryan, kiara glasco, kyle schmid, politics, ron white, sports, television, tessa thompson, tom weston-jones |	Leave a comment »
"DJANGO UNCHAINED" (2012) Review
Posted on June 27, 2013 by ladylavinia1932
Over three years following the release of his 2009 movie, "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS", Quentin Tarantino courted success and controversy with a new tale set the past. Called "DJANGO UNCHAINED", this new movie combined the elements of the Old West and Old South and told the story about a recently freed slave-turned-bounty hunter in search of his still enslaved wife.
The movie begins with a gang of male slaves being transported across Texas by a group of slavers called the Speck brothers. The group encounter Dr. King Schultz, a German-born dentist, who also happens to be a bounty hunter. Schultz offers to purchase Django, whom he believes can identify a trio of murderous siblings called the Brittle brothers, who had worked as overseers for Django's previous owner. The Specks become hostile and Schultz kills one of the brothers. He then frees Django and leaves the wounded brother behind to be killed by the newly freed slaves. Django and Schultz come to an agreement in which the latter will give the former freedom, a horse and $75 for helping him identify the Brittle brothers. Once the pair achieve their goal at a Tennessee plantation owned by one Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett, Schultz takes on Django as his associate and over the winter, collect a number of bounties. In the following spring, Schultz offers to help Django track down the latter's wife, Broomhilda von Shaft. They discover that she is owned by a brutal, yet charming Mississippi planter named Calvin Candie. The pair realize that in order to rescue Broomhilda, they would have to pose as potential buyers of a fighter slave in order to secure an invitation at Candie's plantation called Candyland.
Even before its initial release in movie theaters in late December, "DJANGO UNCHAINED" managed to attract a good deal of controversy. Producer/director Spike Lee declared the movie as an insult to his ancestors in a magazine article and his refusal to see it. Others have criticized the film for its violence and its use of the word "nigger". And some have criticized the movie for historical inaccuracy. They claimed that the practice of fighting Mandingo slaves never existed and that Tarantino depicted the Klu Klux Klan a decade before its actual existence. And Jeff Kuhner of The Washington Timescomplained that: "Anti-white bigotry has become embedded in our postmodern culture. Take Django Unchained. The movie boils down to one central theme: the white man as devil — a moral scourge who must be eradicated like a lethal virus."
Mind you, I have my own complaints about "DJANGO UNCHAINED". Actually, I have three complaints. One, I found the movie's chronological setting rather confusing. According to the movie's opening, it began in "1858 – Two years before the Civil War". Judging by the weather, Django's first meeting with Schultz in Texas occurred in the fall. Which probably means that the movie began two-and-a-half years before the Civil War, not two years. Yes, I am being anal about this. However, Django and Schultz accompanied Candie to Candyland in early May 1858 . . . at least according to a scene that featured Candie's head slave Stephen writing out a check for supplies. It is quite obvious that Tarantino got his time frame a little off. Was "DJANGO UNCHAINED" set between the fall of 1858 and the spring of 1859? Or was it set between the fall of 1857 and the spring of 1858? Only Tarantino can answer this. I also found the character of Broomhilda von Shaft slightly underdeveloped. Some have claimed that her character is passive. I would disagree, considering she was introduced being punished for attempting to run away from Candyland. But aside from a scene or two, I feel that Tarantino could have done a little more with her character. And three, I have mixed feelings about Tarantino's use of flashbacks in this movie. Some of the flashbacks were well utilized – including those featuring Django's memories of Broomhilda being whipped and branded as a runaway, Schultz's trauma over witnessing the mutilation of a Candie slave named D'Artagnan, and Big Daddy organizing a group of night riders to attack Django and Schultz. But some of the flashbacks seemed to go by so fast that I found their addition to the film unnecessary.
As for the other complaints about the movie, I do have a response. Spike Lee is entitled to his decision not to see the movie. However, I do find his willingness to condemn the movie without seeing it rather strange. Criticism of Tarantino's use of violence in his movies have become repetitive in my eyes. "DJANGO UNCHAINED" is a Quentin Tarantino movie. Can someone name one of his movies that did not feature any violence? Because I cannot. And his recent films do not strike me as violent as earlier films such as 1993's "RESERVOIR DOGS". Also, violence has played a part in many slave societies throughout history . . . including U.S. slavery. Yes, the Ku Klux Klan was first organized in the late 1860s, after the Civil War. But the Klan's origins came from patrol riders, who were recruited by planters in many Southern states to maintain vigilance of both slaves and free black in local rural neighborhoods. So, the idea of "Big Daddy" Bennett organizing a group of local riders to attack Django and Schultz is not implausible.
In response to Jeff Kuhner's accusation of anti-white bigotry, Tarantino not only created the German-born Schultz, who helped Django attain freedom and find Broomhilda; but also a Western sheriff portrayed by television veteran Lee Horsley ("MATT HOUSTON" anyone?), who seemed very friendly to both the German immigrant and the former slave. Tarantino also created Candyland's head house slave, Stephen, who proved to be one of the film's worst villains. So much for Kuhner's accusation. A great deal of "DJANGO UNCHAINED" is set in the pre-Civil War South and its topic happens to be about American slavery. The use of "nigger" is historically accurate for the movie's setting. And I am surprised that no one has complained about the slur being used in Steven Spielberg's recent movie, "LINCOLN". Hell, the word is used throughout productions such as the two "ROOTS" miniseries, the three "NORTH AND SOUTH" miniseries, "QUEEN", the 1971 movie "SKIN GAME" and in a good number of other movie and television productions set in antebellum and Civil War America. Even the use of the slur in a production set in the 19th century North would be historically accurate. I also recall the use of racial slurs for whites in a few scenes. As for Tarantino's use of Mandingo fighting slaves in the movie . . . I have no explanation for its presence in this film. There is no historical evidence of this particular sport. And I suspect that Tarantino was simply inspired by the 1975 movie, "MANDINGO" and Kyle Onstott's 1957 novel upon which the latter was based.
So . . . how do I feel about "DJANGO UNCHAINED"? Frankly, I believe it is one of the best movies of 2012. And I also consider it to be another cinematic masterpiece by Quentin Tarantino. One of the aspects of "DJANGO UNCHAINED"was Tarantino's ability to take a rather dark topic like slavery and fashioned it into a explosive mixture of action, drama, suspense and some comedy. Many have complained that the movie should have been a straight drama, considering its topic. But I disagree. Yes, "DJANGO UNCHAINED" could have been an effective straight drama. But Tarantino decided to take a rare and unique route in unfolding his tale. And in doing so, he managed to fashioned a fascinating story that allowed me to experience an array of emotions that left me more than satisfied by the movie's last scene. In doing so, Tarantino won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
"DJANGO UNCHAINED" was not the first time comedy was used to reveal one of the darkest episodes in this country's history. This has been done in "SKIN GAME" and in television shows such as "BEWITCHED" and the comedy sketch series, "KEY & PEELE". Tarantino used the same mixture of pathos, horror, drama and comedy for many of his past movies – especially in "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS". I found this use of humor especially effective in scenes that included the surviving Speck brother's attempt to convince the slaves freed by Schultz not to kill him. I never knew that James Russo, who portrayed the surviving Speck brother, could be so funny. Django and Schultz's little exchange regarding the former's identification of the Sprittle brothers struck me as funny. I could say the same about Stephen's reaction to Candie's treatment of Django as a house guest and Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly's (Candie's sister) futile attempts to attract Schultz's attention. But the funniest sequence has to be the flashback featuring "Big Daddy" Bennett's recruitment of night riders for an attack on Django and Schultz. In fact, that particular scene practically had me rolling with laughter.
Some people have complained that "DJANGO UNCHAINED" is basically a revenge tale for African-Americans. I find this accusation rather odd, considering that Django's main objective was to find Broomhilda and get her out slavery by any means possible. And despite the movie's prevalent humor, Tarantino did not hold back in presenting not only the horrors and emotional traumas of slavery, but also racism. This was especially true in a handful of scenes in the movie. The opening scene featured an emotionally shell shocked Django being transported across Texas as part of a slave coffle. Other traumatic scenes include Candie's little speech on the inferiority of blacks, the erruption of violence at Candyland that resulted in Django hanging from a barn's roof, naked and bound and Stephen's maleovelent revelation of Django's fate as a slave for a Mississippi mining company. One horrifying scene that I found particularly brutal was a flashback featuring Broomhilda's brutal whipping at the hands of the Brittle brothers, while Django desperately tries to convince one of the brothers to spare her.
I really do not know what to say about the performances featured in the movie. I realize there are no Academy Award nominations for ensemble casts. If there were, I would nominate the cast of "DJANGO UNCHAINED". One, Tarantino cast old movie and television veterans in cameo roles. I have already mentioned Lee Horsley and James Russo. I also spotted the likes of Russ and Amber Tamblyn, Don Stroud, Tom Wopat, Cooper Huckabee, Robert Carradine, Michael Parks and a humorus special guest appearance by Franco Nero. Both Bruce Dern and M.C. Gainey (of "LOST") were especially scary in their brief appearances as Old Man Carrucan (Django and Broomhilda's former owner) and Big John Brittle. Both Dana Michelle Gourrier and Nichole Galicia gave solid performances as Cora and Sheba, Candie's housekeeper and concubine respectively. And Dennis Christopher's performance as Calvin Candie's obsequious attorney, Leonide Moguy, struck me as spot-on.
Don Johnson provided a skillful combination of charm, menace and humor in his role as Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett, the Tennessee planter who served as the Brittle brothers' current employer. Jonah Hill had a funny cameo as one of his night riders. I could say the same about Miriam F. Glover, who gave one of the movie's funniest lines, while portraying one of Big Daddy's house slaves. Ato Essandoh of A&E's "COPPER" was very effective as D'Artagnan, the frightened fighting slave whose runaway attempt led to his brutal death. Laura Cayouette's performance as Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly, Candie's widowed sister, struck me as effective. On one hand, I found her attempts to seduce Schultz rather funny. On the other hand, her outrage over Candie's attempt to display a naked Broomhilda during supper provided a great deal of tension in the scene. Walton Goggins gave a memorable and scary performance as one of Candie's henchmen, Billy Crash. James Remar got to portray two intimidating characters – Ace Speck and Candie's main henchman, Butch Pooch. And he did a damn good job with both roles.
Although I had been critical of Tarantino's creation of the Broomhilda von Shaft, I must admit that Kerry Washington still managed to wring out a first-rate performance from the role. I especially impressed with her in scenes that featured Broomhilda's tense encounters with Stephen; and her subtle, yet pleased reaction to Schultz's purchase of her from Candie and her painful whipping by the Brittle brothers in one of the flashback. And I must admit that I found that last shot of her removing a shotgun from her saddle rather interesting. Perhaps after all that Broomhilda had endured, she was not taking any chances. I believe that the year 2012 will prove to be one of Samuel L. Jackson's best years professionally. Aside from portraying Nick Fury in the year's biggest hit, "THE AVENGERS"; he got to portray one of the most complex and villainous roles in "DJANGO UNCHAINED" as Candie's trusted and malevolent head house slave, Stephen. Watching the movie, I was struck at how much Stephen reminded me of the Mr. Carson character from the British television series,"DOWNTON ABBEY". Both characters possessed the same blinding loyalty, snobbery, jealousy over his position within the slave hierarchy, and anger toward anyone from their background who managed to rise higher than they (for example: Django). Jackson did a superb job in not only conveying Stephen's penchant for utilizing the old "Puttin' on Old Massa"routine publicly, but also his intelligence while in the private company of Django, Broomhilda or Candie. Jackson has a nice singing voice, but I do wish he had received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Many people have expressed surprise at Leonardo Di Caprio's portryal of the villanous, yet charsmatic Calvin Candie. I was not that surprised, considering I have seen him portray a villain before – as the cold-blooded Louis XIV in 1998's "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK". But I do believe that Candie not only proved to be a more memorable villain, but also one of the actor's best roles ever. He was fantastic as the charming, yet brutal Candie . . . and at the same time rather contradictory. It was obvious that Di Caprio's Candie fervently believed in the superiority of whites; yet at the same time, he had no problems with allowing Stephen to handle the plantation's finances or accepting the elderly slave's intelligence and sharp observations about Django, Schultz and Broomhilda with very little reluctance. Di Caprio received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. Unfortunately, he did not receive an Academy Award nomination. And I feel that both he and Jackson were unfairly denied one.
Instead of portraying a villain, Christoph Waltz portrayed Django's friendly, yet ruthless mentor and partner; the German-born dentist-turned-bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz. And he was fantastic. Waltz effectively portrayed Schultz's cold-blooded pursuit of wanted criminals for profit, yet at the same time; conveyed the character's disgust over the institution of slavery and open-mindedness toward Django, Broomhilda and other slaves. Waltz's best moments proved to be Schultz's encounter with the Speck brothers and Django in Texas, his taking down of the wanted Sheriff Bill Sharp (portrayed by Don Stroud), his reaction to D'Artagnan's mauling and the revelation of his disgust toward Candie. Not only did Waltz received nominations for his performance, he also won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award Best Supporting Actor awards. And he proved to have great screen chemistry with Jamie Foxx. I believe that the latter's portrayal of the title character has proven to be vastly underrated by the majority of film critics and some moviegoers. In fact, no one even considered Foxx for any acting nomination whatsoever. I felt disappointed, but not that surprised. Django turned out to be a somewhat introverted character that was not inclined to speak very much . . . whether as a slave or a free man. Critics and filmgoers are not inclined to pay much attention to non-showy characters. Since Django proved to be a such quiet character, Foxx resorted to good old-fashioned screen acting to convey most of the character's non-speaking moments. And he did a superb job in portraying Django's array of emotions – especially in the opening scene featuring the slave coffle in Texas, Schultz's killing of the criminal, his first view of Broomhilda at Candyland, and the confrontation with Candie during the latter's supper party. Ironically, another one of Foxx's best moments proved to be quite verbal in which he attempts to con a group of slavers for a mining company to take him back to Candyland in order to collect on a fake bounty. In the end, Foxx did a superb job in developing Django from a slave in shock over the traumatized separation from his wife to the soft-spoken, yet self-assured man who could be very ruthless when the situation demanded it.
I also have to say a word about the movie's behind-the-scene production. I was impressed by Sharen Davis' costume designs. She did a solid job in re-creating the fashions of the late antebellum period. However, I noticed a few oddball designs for Candie's slave mistress Sheba and a maid at a social club in Greenville, Mississippi; reflecting the planter's penchant for anything French. I suspect this was a visual joke on Tarantino's part. I was also impressed by J. Michael Riva's production designs and Leslie A. Pope's set decorations in the sequences for the Texas town featured in the movie's first 10 to 20 minutes, Candie's Napoleon Club in Greenville and especially the interiors for Candyland's mansion. Robert Richardson did an excellent in capturing the beauty of California, Louisiana and especially Wyoming with his photography. As he had done for "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS", Tarantino used already recorded music to serve as the score for his movie. I did notice that a few songs – especially one for the opening title sequence – seemed to have been written specifically for the movie. However, I do not know who may have written them.
It occurred to me that "DJANGO UNCHAINED" was Tarantino's second period piece in a row. And I found myself wondering if he planned to write and direct a third period movie as part of some kind of semi-historical trilogy. Whether he does or not, I must say that I was impressed with "DJANGO UNCHAINED". More than impressed. I believe it is one of the best movies I have seen released in 2012 and deserved the accolades it received during Hollywood's award season for that year. And I feel that it is one of the writer-director's more original works, due to superb writing, direction and an excellent cast led by Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz.
P.S. Check out this photo:
Ohmigod! It's Crockett and Tubbs!
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: antebellum, ato essandoh, bruce dern, christoph waltz, cooper huckabee, dana gourrier, don johnson, james remar, james russo, jamie foxx, kerry washington, lee horsley, leonardo dicaprio, lewis smith, michael parks, old west, politics, quentin tarantino, robert carradine, samuel l. jackson, slavery, travel, walton goggins |	Leave a comment »