'Witnesses have to have some quality'

'I’ll deal with that on my own'

I love the Hurricanes‚ but this is straight up comedy

That process is time consuming‚ but it also is disadvantageous to the taxpayer

'There’s a bunch of random dudes in the room breathing and watching you'

News The Magic Faraway Tree Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy Will Star in the Enid Blyton Adaptation The Magic Faraway Tree From the writer of Paddington 2&;#63; NEAT. By Molly Templeton | Published on May 3‚ 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Once upon a time—in the 1930s and ’40s—Enid Blyton wrote a series of books about a trio of children who find a magical tree in an enchanted wood. She wrote a lot of other books‚ too‚ and while she is not necessarily a household name in the U.S.‚ in the U.K. she was‚ in 2008‚ voted the country’s favorite writer. At that time‚ The Guardian noted‚ more than eight million of her books were sold every year. But there has never been a live-action movie adaptation of her work. Now‚ an impressive team is working on changing that. Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Claire Foy (The Crown) are set to star as the parents of the aforementioned children in The Magic Faraway Tree‚ which will be directed by Ben Gregor (Brittania‚ Bloods) and—possibly most importantly—has a screenplay by Simon Farnaby‚ who co-wrote Paddington 2. (Farnaby also co-wrote Wonka‚ but let’s ignore that for now.) Here’s how Variety sums up the story: The Magic Faraway Tree follows Polly (Foy) and Tim (Garfield) and their children Beth‚ Joe and Fran — a modern family who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. Soon after the family’s arrival in the countryside‚ the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents including treasured characters Moonface‚ Silky‚ Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man. At the top of the tree‚ they are transported to spectacular and fantastical lands and‚ through the joys and challenges of their adventures‚ the family learn to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years. Blyton’s work has been criticized‚ over the years‚ for being racist‚ sexist‚ and otherwise full of outdated stereotypes and attitudes. Updated editions have come and gone‚ and it will certainly be interesting‚ for Blyton fans‚ to see how this adaptation plays out. No premiere date has been announced‚ but filming is expected to begin next month.[end-mark] The post Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy Will Star in the Enid Blyton Adaptation &;lt;i&;gt;The Magic Faraway Tree&;lt;/i&;gt; appeared first on Reactor.

Movies &; TV I Saw the TV Glow I Saw the TV Glow Is a Meditation On Becoming That Will Haunt You Jane Schoenbrun’s new film uses ’90s nostalgia to a terrifying and provocative end. By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on May 3‚ 2024 Credit: A24 Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: A24 At an early screening of I Saw the TV Glow‚ the gentleman introducing the film told the audience that it was like writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s first feature‚ We’re All Going to the World’s Fair‚ “on steroids.” Which prompted Schoenbrun to kindly correct him when they introduced the film: “It’s like World’s Fair on HRT.” A different sort of steroid‚ they suggested. It was a film written and created as Schoenberg navigated stages of their own transition‚ and bound to that journey at scale. For all that is irrevocably the journey‚ I Saw the TV Glow defies easy categorization by its very nature. It is a film that can be read under a number of critical microscopes‚ and enjoyed for many more besides. It is about transness and queerness‚ certainly‚ but it is also about the ways in which fandom can anchor lives‚ and the places we find ourselves in life that don’t fit. And it is a story about becoming… and about the violence inflicted on anyone who attempts to become in direct defiance of the world that they are crammed inside. The story unfolds like this: Owen (Justice Smith) meets an older teen at his school named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who loves a television series that he finds himself strangely drawn to‚ despite never having seen an episode. The show is called The Pink Opaque‚ the tale of two teen girls who are connected psychically and must use their joint abilities to battle the minions of Mr. Melancholy‚ the man in the moon. Maddy is obsessed with the show’s complex lore‚ and invites Owen over to watch it. In the following years‚ she tapes the show off the TV for him and leaves the VHS copies at school (though they rarely speak) because Owen’s parents won’t let him stay up late enough to watch it. Maddy disappears one day‚ and everyone believes her to be dead. But eight years later‚ she shows up mysteriously to ask Owen a few questions—has he ever noticed that bits of fiction seem to bleed with their real lives&;#63; Does he ever feel like something about their world doesn’t add up&;#63; Is he sure that the place where they exist is real‚ and that The Pink Opaque isn’t who and where they’re supposed to be&;#63; One might assume that this entire concept is metaphorical‚ that the whole conceit is just clever way to make a grounded statement using fantastical terms. But I Saw the TV Glow isn’t interested in telling us where the line between fantasy and reality lies. Is this a sticking point for me‚ personally‚ having watched the internet slowly ply every reader with a million “theories” nabbed from Tumblr and Reddit and YouTube that X character is really dead the whole time&;#33; or A secret tragic backstory is obvious if you pay attention to the dog’s scarf&;#33; Yes. Sink into the discomfort of never knowing. Let it rip at you like a cheese grater to the skin. The fractured ambiance of this film deserves a concept album‚ and its soundtrack makes an incredible go of it‚ with songs from Sloppy Jane‚ yuele‚ Caroline Polachek‚ Florist‚ and more peppering the story. The performances are devastating: Lundy-Paine and Smith embody their own numbness to a haunting degree‚ a rippling tension running between them the whole film as they each wait for the other to act in a way that they can understand. (Or perhaps… recognize&;#63;) It feels strange to admit that I’ve been waiting for Justice Smith to receive a part worthy of him since Detective Pikachu‚ but I’m glad that day has finally come. His frequent gasps of life‚ the moments when he comes up for air amidst the vacant lot that is Owen’s reality‚ are where the true horror of the movie lies. And there are many thoughts lying between all of the choices Smith makes‚ alongside the script’s depiction of Owen—thoughts about queerness and neurodivergence and how often they exist in the same place. About how difference compounds until it becomes scaffolding that holds together rather than a renovation. About disconnection and how desperately we yearn for its inverse. As an experience‚ the film is an exemplar of the form and proof that Schoenbrun’s powers are growing. The careful attention paid to film grain and aspect ratios‚ the flawless replication of goofy television tropes from three decades prior‚ the deadpan delivery of the actors creating a stylized atmosphere but also forcing the audience to listen to the content of the dialogue over the emotions present in the characters… until emotion erupts into the narrative‚ so sharp and hot it’s like being flash-fried. Schoenbrun talked of what it was like to play with large sums of money after years on the New York DIY filmmaking scene‚ and this piece of cinema gives us a glimpse of what movies could be were the current model more willing to fund them. Fragments of the inner strangeness that reside in us all‚ brought into the dim glow of the screen. The experience of the ‘90s is hyper-real in this rendering‚ from the font used on the cover of Maddy’s Pink Opaque Episode Guide (I had an X-Files version just like it) to the ridiculous prosthetics used on TV villains to the messages Maddy scribbles on the VHS tapes she leaves for Owen in pink gel pen. (My VHS-recorded shows were mostly Farscape and The Invisible Man.) My colleague and I had an entire conversation about the Fruitopia vending machine in the school lunchroom after we left the theater. The Pink Opaque itself is built on the bones of a number of ‘90s shows—Buffy the Vampire Slayer being the most obvious—but also Charmed‚ Xena: Warrior Princess‚ Ghostwriter‚ The Secret World of Alex Mack‚ The Adventures of Pete and Pete‚ and several more besides. Then there’s the anonymous sprawl of their hometown‚ which later prompts Owen to utter‚ “This isn’t the Midnight Realm. It’s the suburbs.” It’s the toughest balancing act of all to heap a story with nostalgia while you stitch it to something fledgling and painful that fights to stay alive. And perhaps that’s why the setting of TV Glow never slips into the anodyne mistakes that many pictures fueled on our remembrance of the past offer. The ‘90s is where millennials like me grew up‚ but we’re a cynical bunch now‚ offered an optimistic glimpse of a future that never came to pass. And even while that future was held before us like a flickering candle in a ball pit‚ the persistent phobias of the era encouraged our conformity. We are‚ for the time being‚ the last generation that was widely‚ actively‚ and vehemently discouraged from coming out. I Saw the TV Glow offers a glimpse into the places we retreated in order to find our own kind of comfort. Our safety. Our selves. It shows its audience what a lifeline these campy and clever worlds gave us when there was nothing else to model ourselves on. But these TV shows‚ with their punny dialogue and band cameos and haughty‚ attractive teens in belly shirts and moody lipsticks‚ could only provide a respite from the world. Not a cure for it. The journey to being‚ to becoming‚ is far more agonizing than that. And not everyone makes it through. I Saw the TV Glow lives in that liminal space where you ask yourself the question: What would you risk for the chance to find out&;#63; If you won’t‚ will you survive the alternative&;#63; Perhaps that is the reason why the film offers no answers to its own mysteries: The answer will be different to everyone sitting in that audience. All of us took different roads and will find ourselves at different points in the journey. And so we can’t be given the conclusion. There’s an arcade game that blinks the words YOU’RE DYING late in the film. Startling‚ but also universally accurate: We all are. So how will we live&;#63; [end-mark] The post &;lt;i&;gt;I Saw the TV Glow&;lt;/i&;gt; Is a Meditation On Becoming That Will Haunt You appeared first on Reactor.

News The Exorcist The Next Exorcist Movie Might Get Mike Flanagan as Its Director Is this pairing of director and material just too good to exist&;#63; By Molly Templeton | Published on May 3‚ 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Is it time for the world of The Exorcist to get good again&;#63; Deadline reports that Mike Flanagan—he of The Fall of the House of Usher and‚ perhaps more relevantly here‚ Midnight Mass—is in talks to direct the next film in the current Exorcist trilogy. In the words of resident Exorcist and Mike Flanagan expert Leah Schnelbach‚ “he’s so good at ‘furious former catholic’ he might be too right for this gig&;#63;” Flanagan is‚ we must note‚ a very busy man; one of the plentiful things on his plate is an adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. He is also adapting King’s “The Life of Chuck” into a film with a very good cast. But one assumes that Blumhouse and Universal’s Exorcist sequel might be too tempting for Flanagan to pass up. (If you have seen Midnight Mass‚ you get it.) The last film in the series‚ The Exorcist: Believer‚ was directed by David Gordon Green and released last fall‚ and was not generally beloved. Green then left the franchise. The second film in the trilogy is‚ or was‚ titled The Exorcist: Deceiver. The entire Exorcist Cinematic Universe is an epic tale full of ups (the William Friedkin-directed original film) and downs (Renny Harlin&;#63;)‚ some of which Schnelbach gets into in their review of The Exorcist: Believer. Given that that piece is titled “The Exorcist: Believer Will Make You Doubt Your Faith in Movies‚” it seems clear that this series is presently at a point from which it can only go up. And Flanagan might just take it into the stratosphere.[end-mark] The post The Next &;lt;i&;gt;Exorcist&;lt;/i&;gt; Movie Might Get Mike Flanagan as Its Director appeared first on Reactor.

Rereads and Rewatches Terry Pratchett Book Club Terry Pratchett Book Club: I Shall Wear Midnight‚ Part I Back to Tiffany Aching and the Chalk… By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on May 3‚ 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Sorry‚ I forgot to stop reading and got all the way through Chapter 6&;#33; So that’s where we’re reading up to this week. Summary Tiffany is at the end-of-summer scouring fair on the Chalk. Two girls approach to give her a bouquet meant to attract a beau and ask if she has any “passionate parts” as a witch (since they’ve been told not to become witches on account of witches not having those parts). Tiffany tells them that witches are just like everyone else that way‚ just more busy. She goes to watch the cheese rolling‚ which turns to mayhem due to the Feegle turning up and unleashing Horace on all the unsuspecting and unsentient cheeses. Rob Anybody tells Tiffany he was sent on behalf of the kelda‚ who just wants to make sure that Tiffany is okay. Then Roland pauses on his journey home after seeing the injuries on the cheese-rolling field. Tiffany assures him that nothing wrong‚ and he leaves with his new paramour‚ Letitia. Later that night‚ Tiffany is sent to Mr. Petty‚ an angry drunk who has beaten his daughter until she miscarried‚ to warn him away before the men in town come to kill him. Then she has a talk with her father about why Petty became the sort of man he is‚ and the fact that his daughter might not be his biological child. Tiffany tells her father to get the old stone barn cleared out for her. The Feegle are nearby listening. Tiffany asks them to help her get Petty’s daughter Amber up to their mound where she can be helped. Jeannie‚ the kelda‚ and the Feegles aid the girl‚ who is still unconscious. Jeannie then has Tiffany fed and tells her that she’s been having visions in her brain that danger is surrounding her‚ but she cannot tell where the danger comes from this time around. She warns Tiffany to be cautious and invites her to stay the night and rest. Tiffany does and wakes to Amber laughing: The soothings that Jeannie performed have worked well on her‚ and she can begin to heal. Tiffany leaves swiftly to head back and bury the stillborn child‚ but she sees a figure with a walking stick that vanishes. Then she sees a hare that bursts into flame‚ runs off‚ and also vanishes. When she gets back to Petty’s barn‚ she finds Mr. Petty has come back and put a ring of flowers around the baby’s body‚ then tried to hang himself from the rafters. Tiffany cuts the rope with Rob’s help‚ saving his life. She brings Amber to her home and learns that Mrs. Petty went back to find her husband‚ claiming he was attacked. Tiffany’s father says the rest of the town need to look after the family and not everything can be Tiffany’s job. Tiffany goes to the Baron next to help take his pain away‚ and his nurse Miss Spruce is talking about how she doesn’t hold with Tiffany’s magic and thinks that people shouldn’t fall to demonic forces. The Baron talks to Tiffany for a while and asks if she saved his son’s life all those years ago—as her father apparently told him recently. She admits that she did‚ and he gives her fifteen dollars: old money made of mostly gold‚ which will fetch a very high price. Tiffany doesn’t want to accept it‚ but he insists. He asks if he’s going to die soon‚ and she admits that he is. Tiffany shows him the fire trick she does to sanitize her hands‚ and it brings up a precious memory for the Baron‚ a song about a hare going into fire‚ and he dies happy. Miss Spruce is quick to accuse Tiffany of murder and theft‚ though the head of the guards‚ Brian‚ knows Tiffany and isn’t too concerned about that. Tiffany suggests that she go to the city to inform Roland that he is Baron‚ which everyone agrees to. She arrives at the Feegle mound to find Amber back there; Jeannie thinks Amber should be trained as a witch‚ as she learned their ancient language just by hearing it. Tiffany goes to talk to Mrs. Petty and has the Feegles clean her kitchen‚ which terrifies the woman. Tiffany comes home to find that Wentworth has been in a fight with a local boy who was saying mean things about her being a witch. Tiffany’s mother warns her that things are getting strange out there‚ and that she needs to be more careful. Tiffany and the Feegles start toward the city‚ but Daft Wullie sets fire to Tiffany’s broomstick‚ necessitating a landing on a carriage that’s carrying a disco ball. The coachman‚ William Glottal Carpetlayer‚ has jumping bones. Tiffany tries to help him when a figure suddenly appears—a man with no eyes‚ who casts no shadow and promises to find her wherever she goes. The Feegles attack him and he’s gone‚ and the coachman is so grateful for having his bones fixed that he agrees not to charge Tiffany for scraping the carriage’s paint job. They make it to Ankh-Morpork‚ where Tiffany heads to Boffo’s Joke Shop and meets Derek and his mother Mrs. Proust‚ the witch who all the warty stereotypical witch masks are actually based upon. Mrs. Proust tells Tiffany about witching in a big city and takes her to see dwarfs who can repair her broomstick. When they find out she’s friends with the Feegle‚ they agree to do her repairs at no charge. Commentary Unsurprisingly‚ as Tiffany approaches adulthood‚ she finds herself doing too much and expecting that she can somehow shoulder the whole thing by sheer force of will. Or‚ as the narrative helpfully hands us: Perhaps that was the trick of it‚ Tiffany thought. If you kept yourself busy you wouldn’t have time to go nuts. Gurl. That’s not how this works. I dunno‚ I love that while a good witch’s work is predicated on doing what needs to be done that other people are leaving by the wayside‚ this book is peeking over the top of that summit and finding… oh look‚ there’s just more work. And Tiffany is in a prime position to allow this to happen because she has always been like this‚ always believed that other people couldn’t manage without her and always trying to do everything herself. It’s very easy to blow right by the Self-Sufficiency mark and careen straight into burnout being your life’s default state. This is a subject I happen to be a little belligerent on personally‚ due entirely to personal experience. I will grab my more Type A friends by the face and lovingly whisper “If you don’t take a break‚ your body will decide when you take it in the most dramatic way possible” every chance I get. I wish I could do the same for Tiffany‚ but that is the point of this story. Buy the Book I Shall Wear Midnight Terry Pratchett Buy Book I Shall Wear Midnight Terry Pratchett Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget These coming-of-age lessons for Tiffany always deal in both rather than either-or as a rule of development‚ like a finely balanced seesaw: In previous books we’ve seen her take responsibility for her community‚ learn that most of life is in doing the gritty awful jobs that you’d rather look away from‚ but now we’re getting the inverse of that‚ an acknowledgment that being part of a community does involve relying on it in some fashion‚ and also that no one person can be everything that people need. We’re also arriving at the point where many of Tiffany’s personal relationships are reshaping themselves into what they will be when she’s an adult‚ and the changes there are rocky‚ to say the least: Her potential romance with Roland is over—he’s moved on to Letitia—and her relationship to her family is altering too. Mr. Aching would hardly be the first parent to realize that his kid’s grown up a bit faster than he’d prefer‚ but the real tragedy is in Tiffany looking at her family and not believing for one moment that they can aid her‚ that she can trust them to pick up slack. It’s going to be a rude awakening. Asides and little thoughts Of the Baron: “To him‚ the pain was a bully‚ and what do you do to bullies&;#63; You stood up to them‚ because they always ran away in the end. But the pain didn’t know about that rule. It just bullied even more.” Yeah. Um. I’m trying to remember if it was ever suggested that the Baron was such a genial fellow‚ because I feel like this is a sizable retcon on Pratchett’s part. The guy we heard about in the first couple books sounded pretty distant‚ haughty‚ and cold to me. Granted‚ dying probably makes a difference‚ but he’s still a lot more affable than I would have expected. It seems important that Mrs. Proust says she’s teaching young people respect for other people’s property‚ not because vandalism is in and of itself some kind of high-grade evil‚ but because a lack of respect for it “would‚ you mark my words‚ have resulted in him getting a new collar courtesy of the hangman.” A teach-to-the-outcome sort of plan. Pratchettisms She sidled away as politely as she could‚ but as noise went‚ it was sticky; you got the feeling that if you let it‚ it would try to follow you home. For the onlookers‚ of course‚ it was just another show; you didn’t often see a satisfying pile-up of men and cheeses‚ and—who knew&;#63;—there might be some really interesting casualties. What a name. Halfway between a salad and a sneeze. The world was always very nearly drowning in mysterious omens. You just had to pick the one that was convenient. At last someone had taught a boy something useful&;#33; Next week we’ll read Chapters 7-10&;#33; The post Terry Pratchett Book Club: &;lt;i&;gt;I Shall Wear Midnight&;lt;/i&;gt;‚ Part I appeared first on Reactor.

You’ve doubtless spotted numerous Imperial Outposts out in the world of LEGO Fortnite‚ although every single one requires you to have Code Clearance to enter. Thankfully‚ there is one other way. How to get Code Clearance in LEGO Fortnite Without Code Clearance‚ you won’t be able to get into the Imperial Outposts in LEGO Fortnite. At least without force. Code Clearance is something you’ll earn as you level up the Rebel Outpost‚ a new structure that’s arrived with all the Star Wars content. You’ll be able to locate the Rebel Outpost easily with the Macrobinoculars that Rebel Captain Bravara gave you. Screenshot: PC Invasion Once there‚ you’ll need to raise the Rebel Outpost level to six. That’s six upgrades‚ which will take some time. The quests will have you clearing rubble‚ constructing buildings‚ and fighting Stormtroopers. Once you’ve made it to level six‚ you’ll gain two things. Code Clearance‚ and a Blue Lights...