Alpha Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) This is the thread to submit films for Year 9 of CAYOM 3.0! The release calendar is below. It's pre-filled with the IMAX films from the Advance Schedule Thread, but you will still need to make posts for those movies with details about them. You can also submit your fillers here. Note that you are not allowed to post movies in this thread until they are completed - with full cast and release info and however complete a plot summary you plan on giving them. Keep in mind that directors are limited to one major film or two small films a year and that actors should be limited to a realistic number of projects as well. To submit a film, make a post in this thread including the relevant information. Required info includes: Title: Director: Genre: Release Date: Major Cast: Theater Count: MPA Rating: Runtime: Production Budget: Plot Summary: (Can be as short or detailed as you wish) If you do not have all of this information finalized, you should not post the film in this thread until you do. You can also optionally include other relevant information like producers, composers, the name of the releasing studio (if you are using your own fictional studios), special formats for release (like IMAX or 3D), even custom taglines or posters if you wish. None of this is required to post your film and it can be added after you first post if you so choose. Limited releases are allowed, and they can expand into additional theaters on a week-by-week basis. You will need to specify when the film expands and how many theaters it goes into each week, up until the final expansion that is the widest it will go. I've included some typical midweek release dates around holidays and such. If you want to release a movie on a weekday in some other week, go right ahead and just specify it in the post for that movie. I'll add that day to the release calendar. This post will be updated regularly with new additions. If available, you can click on the title of a film in the release calendar to go straight to its post. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM EST on July 11th, 2022. Titles listed in green are finished. Friday, January 3rd Winner Takes All - Thriller/Black Comedy - Directed by Stefan Schwartz - R - $12.5m budget - 3,088 theaters Friday, January 10th Friday, January 17th (4-Day MLK Weekend) The Formation - Horror/Fantasy - Directed by M. Night Shyamalan - In IMAX (2 weeks) Super Monkey Ball - Animated Comedy - Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn - PG - $91m budget - 3,770 theaters Friday, January 24th Go-Kart Gottlieb - Drama - Directed by Tom Tykwer - PG-13 - $40m budget - 2,370 theaters Friday, January 31stRocket Hero - Action/Thriller - Directed by Christopher McQuarrie - PG-13 - $110m budget - 3,657 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, February 7th Wolfsbane - Horror/Sports - Directed by Gareth EvansFriday, February 14th (4-Day President’s Day Weekend) Beyblade: Secrets of the Sisters - Let Them Rip - Sci-Fi/Adventure - Directed by Julia Hart - In IMAX (2 weeks) Whinge & Cringe - Live-Action & Animation Hybrid/Black Comedy - Directed by Peter Avanzino - R - $75m budget - 3,179 theatersFriday, February 21st Scales of Justice - Legal Drama - Directed by Scott Frank - R - $30m budget - 3,160 theaters Friday, February 28th Death is Not My Friend (Wide Expansion #3) - Surrealist Drama - Directed by Emily Harris - PG-13 - $25m budget - 2,589 theaters Pitch Black - Fantasy Horror - Directed by Francis Lawrence - In IMAX (1 week)Friday, March 7th Untitled Fantasy Film - Fantasy/Adventure - Directed by Jeff Woolnough - In IMAX (2 weeks, 50% split week 2 w/ Starlight 2)Friday, March 14thThe Last Victim - Horror - Directed by André Øvredal - R - $30m budget - 3,150 theaters Starlight 2 - Animation/Sci-Fi - Directed by Rodney Rothman and Josh Cooley - In IMAX (2 weeks, 50% split week 1 w/ Untitled Numbers Fantasy) Friday, March 21st Alakazam! - Animation - Directed by Sarah Smith and J.P. Vine - PG - $125m budget - 3,875 theaters Warmth - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 2,971 theaters Friday, March 28th American Spy - Spy Thriller/Romance - Directed by Ava DuVernay - PG-13 - $45m budget - 3,289 theaters Ninja Turtles - Superhero/Action/Comedy - Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber - In IMAX (3 weeks)Friday, April 4thBikini - Drama - Directed by Kelly Reichardt - R - $10m budget - 1,475 theaters Molly and Emmett - Animation/Fantasy/Children's - Directed by Dan Walker - G - $10m budget - 1,500 theaters Friday, April 11th Heart of the Amazon - Nature Documentary - Directed by Drew Fellman - G - $5m budget - 2,491 theaters Wicker's End - Detective Thriller/Horror - Directed by Lynne RamsayFriday, April 18th (Easter Weekend) The Boy Who Hated Books - Family/Drama - Directed by Thea Sharrock - PG - $42m budget - 3,356 theaters Project Ruby - Animation/Fantasy/Adventure - Directed by Brad Bird - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, April 25th Devil Bean - Action/Comedy - Directed by Doug Liman - PG-13 - $75m budget - 3,361 theaters Shadow of the Comet - Action/Science-Fiction - Directed by Harold Kingsley - PG-13 - $25m budget - 2,086 theaters Friday, May 2nd The Hunted - Sci-Fi - Directed by Rian Johnson - In IMAX (3 weeks)Friday, May 9th (Mother’s Day Weekend) Hearts of Fire: Vengeful Heart - Action/Thriller - Directed by Natália Grimberg - PG-13 - $30m budget - 3,123 theaters Kirby and the King's Caper - Animation - Directed by Pierre Perifel - PG - $100m budget - 4,042 theaters Friday, May 16thAeroMobil: The Future Is Now - Documentary - Directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer - PG - $5m budget - 2,115 theaters Friday, May 23rd (4-Day Memorial Day Weekend) Blockbuster - Biographical Drama - Directed by Damien ChazelleGrand Theft Auto - Crime/Thriller/Action/Satire/Drama - Directed by Liz Friedlander - R - $60m budget - 3,883 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks) Revenge Ex - Romantic Comedy - Directed by Will Gluck - R - $37m budget - 3,925 theatersFriday, May 30thFriday, June 6th Lesedi - CG Animation/Fantasy - Directed by Ashton Corbin and Matthew A. Cherry - In IMAX (1 week)Friday, June 13th (Father’s Day Weekend) Friday the 13th - Horror - Directed by Adam GreenXenoblade Chronicles: Power of the Monado - Sci-Fi/Adventure - Directed by Wes Ball - PG-13 - $150m budget - 3,850 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, June 20thThe Next Good Day - Drama - Directed by Tom McCarthy - PG-13 - $15m budget - 2,820 theatersFriday, June 27th The Scavenger Wars Part IV - Sci-Fi/Epic - Directed by Julie Taymor - In IMAX (3 weeks) Wednesday, July 2nd (5-Day Independence Day Weekend) Heremias - Animation/Fantasy/Adventure - Directed by Brenda Chapman No Rest for the Dead - Buddy Supernatural Mystery - Directed by Joe Cornish War on Drugs: America's Modern Conflict - Documentary - Directed by Lyric Cabral - R - $5m budget - 2,150 theatersFriday, July 11th The Mirage - Western/Horror - Directed by Fede Álvarez - R - $20m budget - 3,664 theaters Friday, July 18th The Hard Way Forward - Sci-Fi Adventure - Directed by Rick Famuyiwa - In IMAX (2 weeks) HOOOOOPs - Sports Comedy - Directed by Charles Stone III - PG-13 - $25m budget - 3,392 theatersFriday, July 25th Vixen and the Castle of Doom - Animation/Fantasy - Directed by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Gianluigi Toccafondo - PG - $15.8m budget - 2,867 theaters Friday, August 1st Attack on Titan: The Wings of Freedom - Epic Fantasy - Directed by Matt Reeves - In IMAX (2 weeks) Dinosaucers - Animation/Fantasy/Children's - Directed by John M. Carrigan - PG - $45m budget - 3,104 theatersFriday, August 8th Gran Turismo - Sports - Directed by Jamie Babbitt - PG-13 - $60m budget - 3,462 theaters Friday, August 15th Beastars - Animation/Drama - Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson - In IMAX (4 weeks) The Excursion (Limited Release) - Portuguese Drama - Directed by Sérgio Graciano - PG-13 - $942.6k budget - 3 theaters Red Dead Redemption Vol. 1 - Western - Directed by Taylor Sheridan Someone's Grace - Faith-Based - Directed by Roxann Dawson - PG - $10m budget - 2,824 theatersFriday, August 22ndThe Excursion (Limited Expansion #1) - Portuguese Drama - Directed by Sérgio Graciano - PG-13 - $942.6k budget - 10 theaters The Talons of the Hawk - Horror/Thriller - Directed by Gareth Edwards - R - $50m budget - 3,170 theatersFriday, August 29th (4-Day Labor Day Weekend) The Excursion (Limited Expansion #2) - Portuguese Drama - Directed by Sérgio Graciano - PG-13 - $942.6k budget - 567 theaters The First Water War - Family Comedy - Directed by David Bowers - PG - $20m budget - 3,201 theaters Final Straw - Action - Directed by Mark Williams - In IMAX (2 weeks) Scythe - YA Dystopian/Thriller - Directed by Matthew Vaughn - R - $100m budget - 3,845 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, September 5thAcne - Body Horror/Psychological Drama - Directed by Jake Hammond - R - $7m budget - 3,231 theaters Seals of Honor - Nature Documentary - Directed by Drew Fellman - G - $5m budget - 2,491 theaters Friday, September 12th Fantastic Four - Superhero - Directed by Gareth Edwards - In IMAX (2 weeks) Gone and Here Again - Sci-Fi Drama - Directed by James Gray Tumbleweed - Western/Slow Cinema - Directed by Gus Van Sant - PG-13 - $10m budget - 2,545 theatersFriday, September 19th Raven Island - Animation/Fantasy/Family - Directed by Rebecca Daintree - PG - $20m budget - 2,055 theaters Friday, September 26thInvader Zim - Animation/Sci-Fi/Black Comedy - Directed by Owen Dennis - PG - $120m budget - 3,701 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, October 3rd Fore! - Comedy - Directed by Tom Gormican - PG-13 - $30m budget - 3,036 theaters Warmth (Limited Release) - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 4 theaters Friday, October 10th (4-Day Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day Weekend) Mechamen - Sci-Fi/Action - Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra - PG-13 - $150m budget - 4,019 theaters - In IMAX (2 weeks, 50% split week 2 w/ Abomination) Sleepy Hollow - Stop Motion/Thriller/Horror - Directed by Henry Selick Warmth (Limited Expansion #1) - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 500 theatersFriday, October 17th Abomination - Gothic Horror/Drama - Directed by Guillermo Del Toro - In IMAX (3 weeks, 50% split week 1 w/ Mechamen) Guinea Pigger - Comedy - Directed by Ron Oliver - PG - $7.5m budget - 3,019 theaters Warmth (Wide Expansion #1) - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 666 theatersFriday, October 24th The Amityville Horror - Horror - Directed by Mike Flanagan Warmth (Wide Expansion #2) - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 1,478 theatersFriday, October 31st Grace and Mercy - Dramedy - Directed by Stella Meghie - PG-13 - $20m budget - 2,754 theaters Warmth (Wide Expansion #3) - Drama/Fantasy - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón - R - $45m budget - 2,978 theaters Friday, November 7th The Last Airbender: The Blind Bandit - Fantasy - Directed by Jon M. Chu - In IMAX (3 weeks)Friday, November 14th Tongue Tied - Fantasy/Romantic Comedy - Directed by Armando Iannucci - PG-13 - $60m budget - 3,215 theaters Friday, November 21st Runaway Train - Biographical Drama - Directed by James Mangold - R - $35m budget - 3,132 theaters The Spy Inside Me - Spy/Adventure - Directed by Danny BoyleWednesday, November 26th (5-Day Thanksgiving Weekend) Texas City - Disaster/Drama - Directed by James Mangold - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, December 5th Second Dimension: Last Hope - Action/Fantasy - Directed by Chloé Zhao - PG-13 - $160m budget - 4,105 theaters Friday, December 12th Hilda and the Black Forest - Animation/Fantasy/Adventure/Dark Drama - Directed by Patrick McHale - In IMAX (2 weeks)Friday, December 19th Dancing in the Doghouse - Thriller/Drama/Romance - Directed by Karyn Kusama - R - $85m budget - 3,301 theaters The Queen Who Never Was - Fantasy Drama - Directed by Michelle MacLarenThursday, December 25th (4-Day Christmas Weekend) Among Us - Comedy/Mystery - Directed by James Gunn - PG-13 - $100m budget - 3,850 theaters Millennium - Alternative History Sci-fi Action - Directed by Christopher Nolan - In IMAX (2 weeks) Edited July 10, 2022 by Alpha 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 THE NEXT GOOD DAY Based On: The Next Good Day, by Oliver Bisky (on Reedsy) Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment, Anonymous Content Genre: Drama Release Date: June 20th Y9 Theater Count: 2820 Rating: PG-13 for thematic material involving suicide, and language Format: 2D Budget: $15 million Runtime: 106 minutes (1 hour and 46 minutes) Director: Tom McCarthy Producers: Steve Golin, Tom McCarthy, Jonathan King, Liza Chasin Screenplay: Tom McCarthy Cinematography: Masanobu Takayanagi Music: Mychael Danna Cast: - Devin Druid as Levi - Kirsten Dunst as Dr. Jan Delaney - Katelyn Nacon as Leah Plot Summary: Dr. Jan Delaney buys a piano to have Levi interact with it. As days of therapy go by, Levi's past becomes clearer. Plot (4.9k words): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G7roroDUMcfCSO8aX4lEoqdZWUJImEutyQ4J7qo9xE8/edit?usp=sharing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) DEATH IS NOT MY F R I E N D VERY LOOSELY Based On: A life of deaths CW: Death, by u/MetallicMintGreen (on Reddit) Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Genre: Surrealist Drama Release Date: February 28th Y9 Theater Count: 2589 Rating: PG-13 for language, thematic material and sexual content Format: 2D Budget: $25 million Runtime: 125 minutes (2 hours and 5 minutes) Director: Emily Harris Producers: Emily Precious, Lizzy Brown Screenplay: Emily Harris Cinematography: Ewan Mulligan Score: Paul Clark Cast: - Hannah Rae as Sasha (teen/young adult) - Olivia Thirlby as Sasha (adult) - Natalia Dyer as Tara - Moisés Arias as Aiden - with Naomi Watts as Michelle - with Liam Neeson as Darren - and James Jude Courtney as the black robed figure Plot Summary: After experiencing trauma early in her life, Sasha begins having visions of a dark creature, whose intentions are unknown. Plot (~7.8k words): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xKOQRcyL-wwKGse0ZuLOgGkfy3HLU4hqGGjohmaO6hI/edit?usp=sharing Edited June 15, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAM! Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) TONGUE TIED Studio Groundswell Director: Armando Iannucci Genre: Fantasy/Romantic Comedy Release Date: November 14th, Y9 Theater Count: 3,215 MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Suggestive Material, Thematic Content, Brief Violence, and Peril Budget: $60 Million Runtime: 1 hr 30 min Original Score Composer: Christopher Willis Cast George MacKay as Prince Chrom* Maria Bakalova as Misha Anya Taylor-Joy as Isabel Jessie Mei Li as Phoebe Jessica Henwick as Ruby Nicholas Hoult as Merlin* John Boyega as Harold Harry Melling as Percy Hugo Weaving as King Charles Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Diane Minnie Driver as Annie* David Thewlis as Archie* with Tom Glynn-Carney as Prince Felix and Morfydd Clark as Winifred * = voice role (wholly or predominantly) Surprise Cameos/Smaller Roles Spoiler Simon Pegg as The Newcaster Nick Frost as The Cameraman Michael Ajao as The Poet Billy Porter as Tyron Banks Note about Hybrid Animation The principal voice roles are CGI animation. The crew pulled a Rango and filmed these characters' actors performing in the studio as if it were live-action, with their movement used as a reference for the animators. Plot Summary (12K words, 23 Doc pages) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HoBKEKeMRnB8XtKO1RWcDoEsBUqHNlrR/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=107706347290266756392&rtpof=true&sd=true Edited April 17, 2022 by SLAM! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAM! Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) Bikini Studio Groundswell Director: Kelly Reichardt Based On: Bikini by Alicia Erian Genre: Drama Theater Count: 1,475 Release Date: April 4th MPAA Rating: R for Nudity and Some Language Budget: $10 Million Runtime: 1 hr 21 min Format: shot in 35 mm and screened in 3:2 ratio Zoey Deutch as Vanessa Ramy Youssef as Shawki Beanie Feldstein as Angie James Ransone as Officer Jim Note on Filmmaking: Many long takes. Slow pace. Close-ups are rare, if any. Spoiler 1960 Fade in on a shot of an apartment living room. Angie (Feldstein) is on the couch, reading a book. There's a bedroom door far down a hallway. Then, a naked young woman (Deutch) opens that door and walks down the hallway. Angie looks up as the woman, her roommate Vanessa, does a cartwheel across the living room and beams with joy. Angie says to put some clothes on, but Vanessa says "why? We're not going out." Then, Vanessa struts back to her bedroom. In the bedroom, she lays down on her bed and stares up at the ceiling. She thinks for a moment and then decides to rummage through the closet and put on a pink bikini. She stares at herself in the mirror and examines how she looks. Vanessa walks into the kitchen while Angie is cooking. Angie looks at her in the bikini, but sticks her nose up and says that if she's going to eat at the table for dinner, she needs to put more clothes on. Vanessa asks Angie to at least tell her if she looks good in the bikini. Angie says that it suits her. Vanessa smiles and walks out. At the dinner table, Angie tells Vanessa (now fully clothed) tells a story about her past from before she moved into town and took a job as a secretary. Angie says that she used to have casual sex in her past, but became pregnant and chose to give the baby up for adoption. Vanessa reminds Angie that it's not the first time she's told her that story. Angie then says that she brings it up again to remind Vanessa of what could be at stake for those who act in too much of a free-spirited manner. Vanessa asks Angie if she thinks walking around the house naked is too free-spirited. Angie says that wasn't what she said (though of course, that's what she means), so Vanessa says she's sorry about what happened to Angie, but she doesn't think it's appropriate to compare their lifestyles to one another's. A silence as Vanessa finishes eating. Then Angie apologizes, and Vanessa mutters that it's okay as she storms back to her room. Angie sits alone, and then Vanessa playfully shouts back, "I think I'll be naked if I want to be naked." Angie rubs her forehead in frustration. Naked again, Vanessa crashes onto her bed, pulls the covers over, and goes to sleep. Cut to the next morning as the alarm goes off to let her know it's time for class. She puts on clothes, and then she examines her socks, deciding whether or not to put them on. She decides not to put on the socks and simply puts on shoes instead. Vanessa goes to her graduate school classes. Shawki (Youssef), a glasses-clad exchange student from Alexandria, wows everyone with an impressive knowledge of American politics. Once the class is over, a friend tells Vanessa that a group of classmates will have lunch with Shawki to learn from him about middle eastern politics, and Vanessa decides to go with them. At lunch, Shawki convinces the students that the Israelis should get out of Palestine, and he also convinces them that tea is meant to drink in a glass with lemon. Vanessa admires him. At a graduate student party, a friend tells Vanessa that Shawki is there, so Vanessa goes to look for him. It takes Vanessa a minute or two to find him, and when she does, he is wearing a cone-shaped party hat on his head and is in the middle of a heated debate with another student. Shawki beats him in the debate pretty handily, and when the other student goes for a drink (because he needs one), Vanessa steps in and strikes up a conversation with Shawki. The conversation ends with Shawki being invited to her apartment. In Vanessa's apartment bedroom, Shawki looks around and says he admires the place. Vanessa asks if he minds if she takes off her shirts. Shawki says it's fine, but he blushes and looks away. Vanessa sits next to him and talks about why she likes not wearing anything—because she likes how natural it feels. Shawki says that he admires how bold she is. She says thanks, and they sit together for a bit. Angie walks in and peeks through Vanessa's open door as Vanessa and Shawki are shown kissing; Angie looks aghast and sneaks away. In the room, Shawki looks at Vanessa and says, "You are the first woman of me," and Vanessa smiles at the comment. Vanessa sees him out of the apartment. Then Angie appears and asks to talk with her. They sit in the living room, and Angie says she thinks Vanessa should date someone American. Vanessa asks why, and Angie says that she could ruin her reputation by falling for Shawki. Vanessa says she doesn't care. Angie says it's Vanessa's decision and walks away. Tears fall down Vanessa's face. In a montage, Vanessa packs her things, hugs Angie goodbye, and drives to Shawki's house. The montage ends with a moment in Shawki's bedroom where they start to make out, then lay down on his bed and continue tumbling toward an implied sex scene. Fade out and back in; Vanessa wears her bikini while she flips eggs in a pan. She calls for Shawki, who shouts that he's in the bedroom. She walks off and finds Shawki going through Vanessa's clothes in the closet and divides them into "should where" and "shouldn't wear" categories. Vanessa asks him why one of her bikinis is in the "shouldn't" section, and Shawki answers that someone could pull the string and the whole thing could come off. Shawki walks out; then Vanessa walks to the closet and starts reordering the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" herself, but quietly so Shawki doesn't hear. Shawki calls for her; Vanessa shouts "ah, the eggs!" and runs back to the kitchen. Shawki is then shown building a small sailboat in his garage. The boat is almost finished; Vanessa watches as he paints the name "Nefertiti" on its side. Shawki explains that he would go fishing and sailing in Alexandria, and he describes that experience and how much he enjoyed it. Vanessa then asks if both of them can fit on the boat. Shawki says that Vanessa is skinny enough as to where it'd be like she wasn't really there on the boat. They drive to Skaneateles Lake and park next to a station wagon. While Shawki sets up the boat at the public launch, Vanessa takes off her shirt and shorts, just wearing a bikini and tennis shoes. When Shawki asks her to put on her clothes, Vanessa reaches into the trunk—and puts on sunglasses instead. "How's that?" she asks—but Shawki turns away. "C'mon, it's kind of funny," she says—but he ignores her. They sail by nice houses. Shawki gawks at them and points to the ones he would want, but Vanessa isn't too impressed by it. They continue sailing, and they sail by the Skaneateles village, a strip of shore decorated with shops. Shawki has to maneuver around a sailing race, and he instructs himself in Arabic as he does so. They sail for a long time, and three young men sail by Shawki's boat in a boat twice its size; they whistle and shout "hey hot stuff!" at Vanessa before sailing on. When the bigger boat passes, Shawki lets the sail go slack. Shawki: I wish to return. Vanessa: Why? Shawki: I'm tired. Ready about! Vanessa: What? Shawki: I told you in the car—ready about! Vanessa: Tell me in regular language. Just this once. Shawki: Ready about! Hard-a-lee! Shawki adjusts the sail, and the sail hits Vanessa and knocks her into the water. She breaks above the surface and waits for Shawki to sail back for her. Shawki sails back for her, but he doesn't stop the boat. He yells for her to get back on, but she feels around the boat and finds nothing to grab onto, so she can't get back in the boat, and Shawki sails right by. Shawki makes a pass for a second time and tells her to get on, but Vanessa still can't get on. On the third pass, Shawki doesn't tell her anything, and Vanessa doesn't try—and Shawki simply sails away. Vanessa finds her sunglasses floating close by and grabs them; by then, Shawki's boat is a speck in the horizon. She swims back toward the town so she can make it to the nearest private dock. The swim takes an hour; during the swim, she deviates between breaststroke and freestyle swimming. She swims without stopping and heaves herself up onto a dock; then, she rolls onto her back, catches her breath, and stares up at the sky. She then walks beyond the dock. The dock's house has a green backyard lawn that is freshly mowed. She almost passes the elevated, screened-in back porch when a voice says "excuse me." A blond-haired pregnant woman walks onto the porch, stands behind the screen, and stares down at Vanessa. Vanessa: I'm sorry. I was just swimming. I didn't mean to trespass. Woman: Where did you get that? Vanessa: You mean my bikini? Woman: Would you mind telling me? Vanessa: No, I got it in Syracuse. Sorry about trespassing. Woman: It's fine. Did you swim across the lake or something? Vanessa: Sort of. Yeah. Woman: I swim at night. I don't want anyone to see me like this. Vanessa: ...My boyfriend pushed me off his boat. Woman: ...My husband's a doctor. A moment's silence. Woman: Goodbye. Vanessa waits for the woman to walk back inside. Then, she walks around the house. She walks down the road that leads to the public boat launch area. Multiple cars pass by with young men peeking out and hollering at her to ask if she needs a ride. None of them actually pull over, though. She continues walking and then has a sudden urge to pee, and she ducks in the bushes. After she finishes, the station wagon from earlier in the film passes by, carrying Shawki's boat on top of its roof. The boat belonging to the three hollering men is attached to the wagon's trailer hitch. Vanessa stares aghast as the station wagon passes by. She makes it back to the boat area and finds Shawki curled up in a ball, sitting near the car. She runs up and asks him what happened. His glasses are missing, and there are red marks on his face. Shawki: The boys take my boat. Vanessa: What? What boys? Shawki: Who like your swimming suit. Vanessa: Let's call the police, Shawki. C'mon. Let's get to a phone. Shawki: No. Vanessa: Let's get your boat back, Shawki. Shawki: I don't want it! A silence. Shawki: Please drive. I cannot see. Vanessa helps Shawki into the car. She drives the car down the windy road and parks at a police station. She asks Shawki to follow her inside, but Shawki doesn't budge. Vanessa unbuckles and gets ready to go inside alone. But Shawki grabs her arm. She stares at him and sees fear in his eyes. Vanessa asks him if he really wants to abandon his boat. Shawki explains that the group of guys told her that they'd try to find her and take her from him. Vanessa says she's not afraid of them. Shawki asks, "what about the police?"—he explains that he's afraid that the police could find a way to pin the blame on him, and he could be arrested and charged. "But it's not your fault," Vanessa replies. But Shawki stays silent. So Vanessa tells him to wait in the car; she'll talk to the police, and if they ask for him, she'll tell them he doesn't want to talk to them—and if they don't help after that, then that's that. Ramy stays silent. Vanessa says she'll be right back; she gets out and walks to the station (still wearing just her bikini, by the way). Inside, she speaks to the officer at the front desk—Officer Jim (Ransone). He looks her up and down. Officer Jim: May I help you? Vanessa: Yes. My boyfriend's boat was stolen by three men. (An offscreen officer says, "who gooses a boat?" The front desk officer laughs and turns back to Vanessa.) Officer Jim: Really? Where did this happen? Vanessa: Around Skaneateles Lake. I saw them driving away with the boat on their car. Officer Jim: On their car? Vanessa: Yes. It was a station wagon. Officer Jim: Righto. Now, you said there were three men. Did you get a good look at 'em? Vanessa: No. I saw them on their boat. They were pretty far off. Officer Jim: Sounds like your boyfriend had a better look at 'em. Vanessa: (hesitates) He did. Yes. Officer Jim: Where is he? Vanessa: (hesitates) He's in the car outside. But he doesn't want to come in. Officer Jim: Oh? Why's that? Vanessa: (hesitates) He's a foreign exchange student, so he's always been nervous around the police. Officer Jim: Oh? Where's he from. Vanessa: Egypt. Officer Jim cocks an eyebrow. He smirks. He looks down at Vanessa's bikini, then up at her face. Officer Jim: Gimme a moment, will ya? Vanessa watches as he walks away. He waves other officers over to him. They talk in a circle. Vanessa leans her head over the counter to get a look, but she's too far away to hear anything. Then, he comes back. Officer Jim: I'll be honest with you. I think we're missing some crucial information on this story. So unless your boyfriend wants to come inside and talk with us, I don't think you'll have a case. Vanessa stares at him. Vanessa: Okay. I can ask him. He might change his mind. Officer Jim: You do that, miss. Vanessa turns to leave. Officer Jim: One more thing. Vanessa whips back around. Officer Jim: Next time you enter a police station... Wear clothes. Capisce? Vanessa's cheeks go red. She turns to look at other officers, who are snickering at the comment. She looks back at Officer Jim. Vanessa: I think I'll wear what I want. Officer Jim is taken aback. Officer Jim: Well. That's your prerogative. Vanessa: In fact! If you won't be of any help— She rips off the bikini's top piece and hurls it on the ground. Vanessa: —then why should I take any of your damn advice! She does the same for the bottom piece. She glares at the officer in rage. Officer Jim's jaw drops. He stares at Vanessa and seems to enjoy what he's looking at. The other officers walk closer to the sight, laughing and whistling. Cut to a low-angle shot of Vanessa, who sizes up the officers before leaving the station. Cut to Officer Jim, who turns to his buddies and says, "well I should have arrested her for indecent exposure, but I'll admit, she made my day." The comment is received with more laughs. Cut outside the station as Vanessa storms to the car. She gets in the driver's seat; Shawki, who'd been sulking, notices her. First, he's shocked, then he's frustrated, and then he's sad again. They sit in silence for a minute or two as Vanessa waits for Shawki to say something, but he doesn't. So Vanessa starts the car and drives off. There's a sequence of the couple driving home and saying nothing to each other before reaching Shawki's driveway. They wait for a moment before Shawki tells her that he's sorry. Vanessa reminds him that it's not his fault. In another montage, Vanessa packs her things, hugs Shawki goodbye, and drives away from Shawki's house. Vanessa adjusts the rear-view mirror and uses it to wipe away her tears before putting it back. Cut to her in a bedroom, where she sits naked on her bed. Her rotary phone rings, and she goes to pick it up. It's Angie, who sits on her couch as she talks to Vanessa. They catch up for a bit; then Angie asks about what happened between her and Shawki. Vanessa explains that they broke up on mutual terms but are still friends. Angie says that's a shame, and then she tells Vanessa to listen. Angie then explains that she still feels guilty about giving up her child for adoption. Vanessa: Hey. It's all right. You made the decision that was best for you. If you couldn't raise him, you couldn't raise him. There's no shame in that. Angie: I know. I just... He was my baby. And I let him go. Is it okay that I did that? Vanessa: You're fine, Angie. You did right by him. He'll have a happy life now. Angie: Who's to say he wouldn't have had a happy life with me, though? Vanessa: Well, I'm sure he would have, even if you would've struggled. But my point is that you don't have to blame yourself for doing what you believe is right. I promise. Angie: Thank you, Van. Really. Oh! I got sidetracked. Uh... Vanessa: Yeah? What is it? Angie: Stacy moved out. Vanessa: She did? When? Angie: Just last week. And I was calling because since I thought you might know someone... But it sounds like you already answered that! Vanessa: Yeah. Well, thanks for the offer! But I think I need to wait before I do that. Angie: Why's that? Vanessa: I want to take a step back and think about what to do next. You know? Angie: Oh. That's fine! Take all the time you need. And if you don't move in, you know I'm just a phone call away. Vanessa: Me too, Angie. They exchange goodbyes and hang up; then, Vanessa sits back on her bed for a little while longer. Then, she quietly puts on her clothes, but stops and considers if she should put on her socks. She smiles, perhaps at the fact that the decision belongs to her. Cut to black. Edited April 17, 2022 by SLAM! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 (edited) A EXCURSÃO (English title: THE EXCURSION) Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Sérgio Graciano Genre: Portuguese Drama Release Date: August 15th Y9 (limited release) / August 22nd Y9 (limited expansion) / August 29th Y9 (wide release) Theater Count: 3 (August 15th) / 10 (August 22nd) / 567 (August 29th) Rating: PG-13 for language, heavy drinking and innuendos Format: 2D Budget: €850 000 ($942.6 thousand) Runtime: 132 minutes (2 hours and 12 minutes) Cast: - José Condessa as Gabriel - Bruna Quintas as Luísa - Isabel Ruth as Teresa - Marina Mota as Matilde - Noémia Costa as Francisca - Ricardo Gómez as the bus driver - with Natalina José as Cremilde - and Rita Blanco as Jacinta Plot Summary: Two siblings in their 20's (Condessa and Quintas) go on a road trip with elderly people. Plot (5.4k words): https://docs.google.com/document/d/11KX4yd2up9psrUW6Lbk459tpploTg5Y_pQqxSMAU8HE/edit?usp=sharing Edited March 2, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 (edited) GUINEA PIGGER Based On: The Tale of a Guinea Pig, by Paul Hoen Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Ron Oliver Genre: Comedy Release Date: October 17th Y9Theater Count: 3019 Rating: PG, for crude humor and references Format: 2D Budget: $7.5 million Runtime: 94 minutes (1 hour and 34 minutes) Cast: - Vanessa Bayer as the voice of Cersei - Kristen Bell as the voice of Guinariel - Jennifer Hale as the voice of Queen Guinivere - Mark Meer as the voice of King Guindoe - and Emily Osment as Joanne Tucker Previous Film's Box Office: - The Tale of a Guinea Pig, Y8 -> $3,429,336 OW / $10,349,236 DOM / $26,303,497 WW Plot: Spoiler One year after the events of The Tale of a Guinea Pig, where Joanne Tucker (Emily Osment) had adopted Cersei (voice of Vanessa Bayer), a malevolous guinea pig who can talk, Joanne and Cersei are living happily as mother and devilish pet. Cersei is still a petulant little miscreant who bosses Joanne around, but she genuinely likes Joanne. Joanne, however, is starting to become overprotective, between afraid of leaving Cersei all alone in her house while she's in her irl job. However, Joanne doesn't want to be cruel and put Cersei up for adoption, nor can she afford to bring in a babysitter, so she decides that she's going to take Cersei to her job with her - even Cersei says that's a stupid idea. Joanne agrees that it's a stupid idea, but it's all she has. So, they go in. Joanne takes Cersei to her boring office job. By casualty, Cersei spots an opening on the backpack Joanne keeps her in. She peeks out, and someone spots her. They point her out, and Joanne freaks out, apologizing for bringing her guinea pig to work. This apology, for not an apparent reason, angers Cersei, who bites Joanne. Slapstick ensues as she escapes everyone looking for her in an office. She ends up sliding into a sewer, while Joanne panicks. Down the sewer, Cersei has encounters with rats, and the rats bow to her, which baffles Cersei. Upon descending further and further down the sewer, she enters a secret cave - where she uncovers a society of guinea pig worshipers, with statues ala Egyptian sphinxes, Aztec temples dedicated to guinea pigs and a large amount of rodents - hamsters, mice, rats, etc. - living in community, all of whom bow before Cersei upon seeing her. Cersei reaches what appears to be the Athean Temple of Zeus of the guinea pigs, and encounters two guinea pigs sitting down on chairs - one of them, a female (voice of Jennifer Hale), claims they were waiting for her. She is Queen Guinevere, and he (voice of Mark Meer) is King Guindoe. They are the King and Queen of the Guindans, an intellectually superior race of guinea pigs. The Guindans are a society born out of spite for humans, Guinevere explains. The first Guindan was a guinea pig from the Soviet Union, experimented on during the space race era. The Soviets tried to utilize groundbreaking technology to implant intelligent cells in a guinea pig's brain, which would then be used on humans in order to make the Soviets smarter and more prepared for war. The first Guindan escaped, never to be found, but legend has it that the Americans spied on the Soviets and discovered they were doing this experiment in secret, then they tried it themselves with a guinea pig of their own - the second Guindan, who then escaped the Americans too, and the first two Guindans met up and founded the Guindan society, built after many different human cultures - such as the Egyptians, the Aztecs and the Ancient Greek - as a means to develop a community the same way humans did, through the wonders built by the slaves (the rationally inferior non-Guindan rodents) to capture the cult of personality. But, as King Guindoe explains, legend has it that only one guinea pig had the potential to cross the paths of both the Guindans and the humans. That would be the Guinea Pigger, the child of the 200th generation of Guindan rulers. Cersei is the Guinea Pigger, Guindoe and Guinevere are her parents, and her real name is Guinglory. Cersei doesn't believe this - it explains why she is bossy and tyrannic; it was in her blood all along, being the daughter of a bunch of overlords. At the same time, another guinea pig, named Guinariel (voice of Kristen Bell), claims that the Guinea Pigger has arrived... and urges every rodent to rise up and escape. Cersei runs after her, begging her to come back, and manages to catch up with Guinariel - who tells her that it's too late to apologize. Cersei is left behind. The King and Queen discuss how Cersei will inevitably ascend to being the Guinea Pigger. Cersei sleeps in the fetal position, thinking that she might be the destruction of the race that raised her. Guinariel eventually returns, and Cersei demands an explanation. Guinariel tells her that she does not believe in rational superiority of the guinea pigs, nor does she believe in the revenge of the guinea pigs against the humans. She is a free spirit who thinks that humanity is, if anything, doomed to be the victim of its own intelligence, as they use it for the wrong reasons - such as making bad movies. But some of them use it for good, and that's what they should dialogue for, should the Guindans ever truly cross paths with them. Cersei does lean into the negativity, believing that the humans will just use them for more experiments, just like that crazy babysitter that tried to have her run an electric energy power wheel. Guinariel asks her, since Cersei was living amongst humans, if she ever had an owner, and she said she had many, but she only revealed to two of them that she could talk, and surprisingly, they didn't treat her bad. Then, a bunch of royal guards - guinea pigs dressed up like royal knights, obviously - show up, and try to capture Guinariel. Cersei helps her escape and runs with her, to Guinariel's surprise, but she still thinks that her legacy must be completed... she is the Guinea Pigger, and she must become what she was destined to be. Guinariel says that if she does, she will regret it for life. Cersei sleeps thinking about it. Joanne, in the human world, looks for Cersei, but can't find her. In hiding, Guinariel wakes up and finds that Cersei is no longer there, but that there is a large buzz coming off the mainlands of the Guindan society. She finds out that Cersei, who claims that tyranny was always her thing, has appeared before the King and Queen, to take the name of Guinea Pigger and ascend to the human world to begin the war of rational beings and the revenge of the guinea pigs, "turned experiment voodoo dolls for humans to play with", against the cruel human race. Guinariel is shocked. Cersei then announces that, her only condition to ascend to the human race, is that the Guindan army, from that moment onward, execute, without hesitation or doubt, everything she asks them to do. The King and Queen, aching for this moment, grant Cersei her wish. Cersei says that the first thing the army will do... is free all the non-rational rodents from the Guindan lair. The guinea pigs are all baffled by this, as they don't want their rodent slaves to be freed - "that's the point: you don't want your slaves to be freed. They're slaves, to you, because they're weaker and less intelligent, and you don't want them to be freed. That is the point!", Cersei says. The King demands Guinglory to obey to his orders, but she says that her name is Cersei, she is now the leader of the Guindan army, and she demands the Guindan army to release to safety every rodent taken by the Guindans for slavery. The Guindans do so, but some start turning on each other, and a war between pro and anti-Cersei'ers ensues. Cersei fights most of them off, with Guinariel's help, and concludes the revolution by defeating the King and Queen, despite being her parents. She beats them with the power of fresh lettuce - which is revealed to be that when Cersei conveniently has a leaf of fresh lettuce next to her, and by coincidence, she did, she eats it, which triggers a nuclear explosion in her brain that turns cells into sandwiches and those sandwiches are then eaten by carnivore cells and then the carnivore cells all link up to create an inner energy rush that transforms all of her moviment into that of a Super Saiyan, and she releases all of her killer energy on those who oppose her, including her parents. She then demands the arrest of those who defend rational superiority and anti-human revenge, including her parents, and decides that the Guindans should rise up to humanity, but in peace, to prove that different rational entities can co-exist and prove that irrational creatures, just like humans, suffer as well - that is the history of guinea pigs after all. Cersei announces that before that happens, she needs to say goodbye to her owner, Joanne. She comes back to the surface, and Joanne and her meet up again. They have a talk about how much they care about each other, and how Cersei learned that she is so much more important in her life than she thinks, but that now, she has bigger things to deal with. She is a legacy child, and she has to create peace in the world. Joanne, not understanding anything she says, says she hopes Cersei will do that from the safety of their couch, but that yeah, she loves her too. Cersei is, against her will, brought back to Joanne's house, but manages to sneak out. She promises, out loud - knowing no one's on the street, except two dogs - that she will bring peace to the world. However, one of the dogs (voice of Bill Murray), talks. "Cindy, did you hear that?" And Cindy (voice of Toni Collette) responds: "Yes, Adam... I did." Edited May 9, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAM! Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 (edited) SCYTHE Studio Groundswell Director: Matthew Vaughn based on the novel by Neal Shusterman Genre: YA Dystopian/Thriller Release Date: August 29th, Y9 (IMAX) Theater Count: 3,845 MPAA Rating: R for Language and Violence Budget: $100 Million Runtime: 2 hr 10 min Original Score Composer: Junkie XL Cast Jenna Ortega as Citra Terranova Finn Wolfhard as Rowan Damisch Mark Rylance as Scythe Michael Faraday Andrea Riseborough as Scythe Marie Curie Gael Garcia Bernal as Scythe Robert Goddard Trevor Jackson as Scythe Volta Chelsea Zhang as Scythe Rand Alexander Ludwig as Scythe Chomsky Iñaki Godoy as Tyger Salazar Hanna Zeile as Esme John Bradley as High Blade Xenocrates with Diego Luna as Scythe Possuelo and Idris Elba as The Thunderhead (voice role) Plot Summary (just shy of 4K, seven and a half pages) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-8EoMPqAUnKNPiPDS0ctiV4pHm1eseB2NCYXpoHPIjo/edit?usp=sharing Edited March 7, 2022 by SLAM! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 WINNER TAKES ALL Genre: Thriller/Black Comedy Directed By: Stefan Schwartz Release Date: January 3, Year 9 Cast: Little-Knowns Theater Count: 3088 Theaters Budget: $12.5 million Running Time: 85 Minutes MPAA Rating: R for scenes of gory violence, strong language Previous Film's Gross (Losers Weepers): $6,213,504 OW/$18,015,784 DOM/$47,009,687 WW Plot Summary: Spoiler The film opens at the scene of a vehicle accident with a van overturned in the middle of the road. We realize this is the vehicle accident at the beginning of Losers Weepers that allowed Evil Friend/Scheming Sibling to get away. It seems all of the remaining occupants of the van are dead, until suddenly, one gasps for air. Film cuts to the survivor waking up in a nice bed in a nice room, and after putting on a change of clothes, limps through a very nice mansion to a backyard veranda where a very rich looking man is sunbathing, with bodyguards scattered around. The rich man asks the survivor questions about what happened to the remainder of the money from the drug deal gone wrong in Finders Keepers. The survivor says he doesn't know, the group was planning to take Evil Friend/Scheming Sibling to a secure location before interrogating him. The rich man shows the survivor a newspaper which as a front-page headline displays an article about the death of Scheming Sibling. The rich man says because Evil Friend/Scheming Sibling is now dead, there is no one who knows where the remainder of the money is. The survivor tries to explain things, he was in a coma for weeks, but the rich man ignores him and proceeds to beat him senseless, kick him into a nearby pool, jump in after him, bash his head against the side of the pool, and then drown him, all the while screaming repeatedly that he wants his money. The survivor obviously does not survive this, and the rich man, the Deranged Drug Lord, gets back out of the pool, and tells his minions no more excuses. He wants his money, and he knows where to get it from. The camera zooms in on a picture in the newspaper article, which shows Sickly Sibling and Secret Savant Step-Sibling. WINNER TAKES ALL We're reintroduced to Sickly Sibling and Secret Savant Step-Sibling, who have slowly begun forming a family connection, now known as Brainy Brother and Shrewd Sister. They still live separately, with Shrewd Sister living with her single mom, Maternal Mother. Their financial affairs are still being handled by Family Lawyer, and Brainy Brother seems to have improved in health and is now dating Gregarious Girlfriend, who is a bit of an airhead. Things seem to be looking up. Then Family Lawyer gets a visit from Crafty Counselor, an advisor to Deranged Drug Lord. Crafty Counselor tells Family Lawyer about the $10 Million Evil Friend/Scheming Sibling stole in Finders Keepers, which has never been recovered, and Deranged Drug Lord wants the remaining siblings to pay him back, since they got more than enough money to do it. Family Lawyer refuses, saying the dead sibling's debts died with him. Crafty Counselor says he’ll make a counter-proposal after talking to his client. Family Lawyer relays the info to Brainy Brother and Shrewd Sister and says it was just a bluff, he's seen this kind of negotiation before. During this conversation, we learn that Family Lawyer has moved most of the family finances into a trust, so it can be more easily managed. There's standard boilerplate about how the money gets disposed of in the event there are no more family members, such as distributions to charities, etc. Meanwhile Crafty Counselor relays the denial to Deranged Drug Lord, who shoots a minion in anger, and Crafty Counselor says he expected this, which is why he is taking the next steps. A robber breaks into Family Lawyer's office after dark and downloads certain files from a computer. Time passes and Brainy Brother and Shrewd Sister continue living their lives, with Shrewd Sister (who is like 10) displaying a lot of aptitude for various mechanical and computer sciences as hobbies. Brainy Brother meanwhile is thinking of proposing to Gregarious Girlfriend. Things take a turn when Family Lawyer, returning home from work one day, is t-boned by a massive 18-wheeler driven by a very MAGA looking trucker. Simultaneously, Brainy Brother and Gregarious Girlfriend are accosted by a mugger who tries to kill them under guise of a robbery, but it turns out Gregarious Girlfriend knows krav maga and she disarms the mugger, and then accidently kills the mugger with a roundhouse kick that turns the mugger's head sideways. Brainy Brother sees an alert about Family Lawyer's death and tries to call Shrewd Sister. Cut to Shrewd Sister and Maternal Mother living in a penthouse apartment with top-of-the-line security, much nicer and better secured than their home from Losers Weepers. They're going about their evening when a helicopter flies near their building, and a side door opens and a machine gun opens fire into the penthouse. Maternal Mother is killed immediately and Shrewd Sister is able to take cover. She makes her way to her invention room, and jury-riggs a ballista, and fires a broken off piece of metal piping through a narrow hole in a wall straight into the cockpit of the helicopter, impaling the pilot, and the helicopter spins out of control out of sight, until an explosion is heard several seconds later. Shrewd Sister packs some things into a backpack and leaves. Meanwhile Brainy Brother and Gregarious Girlfriend get back to Brainy Brother’s home to pack some things and Gregarious Girlfriend runs ahead. Brainy Brother gets a call from his sister and when she says her home was attacked Brainy Brother sees Gregarious Girlfriend about to enter the home and tells her to wait. Gregarious Girlfriend snarks that it’s not like the place is rigged to blow. She opens the door and the home blows up, vaporizing her and knocking Brainy Brother off his feet. Brainy Brother tells his sister they need to meet. The two siblings meet in a private location, when both get invites on their phones to a video conference. It's Deranged Drug Lord, and he says he wants his money back, with taxes, late charges, interest, and other fees, now that 1) He has been insulted by Family Lawyer denying his first request, and 2) He's had to spend money to get his money back ("Helicopters and pilots cost a lot"). The siblings can pay him back within five days, or he'll kill them. The siblings point out that if they're dead Deranged Drug Lord gets nothing, and Deranged Drug Lord responds that his Crafty Counselor had copies made of the family trust, which showed what charities got the family wealth if the siblings died without heirs, and he bought those charities. So, if he kills them, he gets all of their money. He tells them again five days, then hangs up. Brainy Brother thinks they might just want to consider paying the guy off, since he seems loony enough to not stop coming after them. Shrewd Sister responds that even if they pay him, Deranged Drug Lord will probably kill them anyway to get the rest of their money. They need to go after him, it's the only way to be safe. After some talk the brother agrees, but says they need to go off-grid as much as possible, so they can’t be seen coming. They smash their phones, withdraw as much cash from ATMs as possible, and then ditch their credit cards. Deranged Drug Lord meets with Crafty Counselor and tells him to make sure to kill the siblings once he gets his money. Why settle for a portion. Crafty Counselor says he has already made arrangements, hiring one of the best to track down the siblings, since he expects them to go on the run. Film cuts to the MAGA truck driver who smashed Family Lawyer’s car, killing him. The driver takes a call from Crafty Counselor who gives him the info. The driver, the Terminator Trucker, says it will be a pleasure to do the killing. The next portion of the film is like a family road-trip movie, with Brainy Brother and Shrewd Sister renting a car with cash and driving it cross-country, slowly bonding, if testy over the whole situation. Shrewd Sister tries to take charge with all her ideas and Brainy Brother tries to get her to slow her roll, since she’s still a kid and there’s a lot she doesn’t know about the world. They argue, they make-up, they encounter some odd people and get into some odd situations, and all of this is intercut with Terminator Trucker hunting down known associates of the siblings and killing them in various ways, though much of it variations of running them over with large trucks, or interrogating them about where the siblings are going. He suspects they went off-grid and relays this to Crafty Counselor, who agrees. Crafty Counselor advises Deranged Drug Lord to perhaps take a sabbatical, since the siblings might want revenge. Deranged Drug Lord, who is doing target practice with life-size barbie and ken dolls, says if they come for him it saves him the time to hunt them down. The siblings reach the other side of the country, and through some VPN spoofing Shrewd Sister has done a computer search for info on Deranged Drug Lord and has narrowed down his location to a swanky rich coastside town. Brainy Brother points out they can’t just waltz up to his place, they need to find a way to get him out into the open. So they do some surveillance, look about the town, etc., and at one point see Crafty Counselor picking up a new smart car from a dealership. Crafty Counselor gets told by the car salesman about all the brand new electronic features, including remote start-up and shutdown, and wireless connections. Plus it has bulletproof glass so the windows won’t break. Cut to Brainy Brother, in Public Works uniform, using fake credentials to infiltrate a sewage processing plant, which controls the sewer mains in the area, and adjusting some dials for a particular part of the town, reversing pressure. Meanwhile, Shrewd Sister hacks into the network controlling the water mains. Cut to Deranged Drug Lord on his toilet, and when he goes to flush, he hears a gurgle, then a rumble, and then his toilet explodes as a fountain of sewage and waste bursts upward, drenching him in it. Howling in anger, he tries to take a shower, and no water comes out. Even more pissed, he stomps through his home, and when a bodyguard tries to be funny by saying Deranged Drug Lord “looks like shit”, Deranged Drug Lord beats him to death with a mini-statue. Cut to Crafty Counselor arriving to find Deranged Drug Lord cleaned up and wrapped in a towel, with the pool now kind murky. Crafty Counselor shows a surveillance camera photo of Brainy Brother and says this was the siblings handiwork. He has already summoned Terminator Trucker to the area. Deranged Drug Lord plans to take a vacation until this is done. Crafty Counselor advises staying put, since the siblings can’t get in here, and Deranged Drug Lord replies he isn’t saying in a place with no plumbing. Cut to Deranged Drug Lord being driven in an SUV through town. As they near the outskirts, we see Brainy Brother chopping at a big redwood tree by the road with an axe, with Shrewd Sister watching the road with binoculars. They banter a little via walke-talkies about maybe the sister being more healthy to cut down the tree, and then Shrewd Sister sees the SUV approaching and gives the alert. Brainy Brother finishes the axe chopping and gives the tree a push, and it crashes down to the road on top of the SUV in perfect timing. Deranged Drug Lord pulls himself out fo the wreckage, bloody and bruised, and sees the two siblings walking towards the wreck. Deranged Drug Lord exchanges some words with them, and before they can kill him, we hear a loud horn of a truck, and see a massive 18-wheeler coming up the road. Deranged Drug Lord laughs and says the siblings will wish they had died when they did. Shrewd Sister tries to kill him but Brainy Brother pulls her away and says killing him won’t matter if they die too. They run for it as the 18-wheeler pulls near and Terminator Trucker comes out with a shotgun, and a few minions exit from the back compartment. Deranged Drug Lord looks at them and tells them to quit holding their junk and go kill the siblings. Terminator Trucker and his minions follow the siblings into the woods. The next portion of the film is a cat-and-mouse hunt in the woods, with the two siblings trying to stay ahead of Terminator Trucker and cover their tracks. There’s a scene where they struggle to make a mini campsite and argue about who’s at fault for their predicament, and due to being a bit worked up, they’re not perfect, and leave a trace behind. This allows Terminator Trucker and his goons to find their trail, and from a distance he shoots Brainy Brother in the side, who falls into a river which carries his body downstream over a small waterfall. Shrewd Sister has to run for it, and is able to get enough separation to reach an abandoned lodge, which she searches for tools, weapons, anything. Terminator Trucker and his goons reach the lodge and unload a lot of gunfire into it. Then Terminator Trucker has his guys enter, and we see various entry points are rigged with booby traps. A guy coming through the front door as a butcher knife get launched on a spring into his chest. A guy coming through the back door doesn’t watch where he is going and the floorboards beneath his feet are sawed through and they collapse, and he falls into the basement onto several waiting improvised spikes that spike his face. A third guy comes through a window and triggers a tripwire that causes a bookcase to fall, pinning him to the ground, and that fall triggers another tripwire which causes a big cabinet to tip over, landing on his head and squashing it. Terminator Trucker then goes in himself. He realizes in the nick of time that a gas main has been opened and the oven turned on, and he gets out just before the lodge explodes. He sees in the distance Shrewd Sister booking for it, having exited through a basement window, and gives chase. He pursues her out of the woods to a road, and is able to catch up to her and tackle her. He goes to strangle her, but she has a knife and slices a tendon in one of his legs, and is able to wriggle away as he crawls after her. But her ankle is sprain so she can barely hobble as he continues to crawl, and we see an 18-wheeler coming down the road towards them. Terminator Trucker laughs that the rest of his people are coming to help finish the job, but as the 18-wheeler gets closer, Shrewd Sister looks at it and smiles, then tells Terminator Trucker he shouldn’t leave his vehicles unattended, they could get stolen. Cut to Brainy Brother, dirty, soaked, and bloody, driving the 18-wheeler. Terminator Trucker tries to crawl away but is way too slow, and gets run over. Brainy Brother exits the 18-wheeler and gives his sister a big hug. Cut to Deranged Drug Lord in quite a deranged mood, trashing his home in a fury, killing bodyguards who try to calm him down. Crafty Counselor watches this quietly, and finally Deranged Drug Lord simmers down and says he wants those siblings alive so he can tear them apart piece by piece himself. Crafty Counselor sighs and says Deranged Drug Lord is just embarrassing himself now. What was supposed to be a quick money recoupment scheme has gotten too annoying and too expensive, and is making the drug lord a laughingstock. Deranged Drug Lord is outraged at this and says if Crafty Counselor wasn’t so good at his job, he would have him killed. Crafty Counselor replies he is very good at his job, which is why he is the one who actually owns all of the Drug Lord’s assets now after some secret legal manuevers. “So honestly, I don’t see why I even need you around anymore. I can retire in style.” He pulls out a pistol and shoots Deranged Drug Lord, killing him. Cut to a few days later, with Crafty Counselor driving himself out of town, when suddenly his smart car starts driving itself, ignoring Crafty Counselor’s attempts to take the wheel. The smart car drives itself to a trainyard and rests on some tracks. Crafty Counselor continues to try and override the car, but nothing works, and then gets a call on the carphone. It’s Brainy Brother, who says it is time for this to end. Crafty Counselor agrees. Deranged Drug Lord is dead, he has the drug lord’s assets, and has no reason to go after the siblings. “In a way, I should be thanking you, since he made such a fool of himself no one cared when I shot him.” Brainy Brother replies what assurances do they have Crafty Counselor won’t try to kill them down the road. Crafty Counselor replies it was all just business to him, it did not work out, and a good businessman doesn’t waste time and effort chasing down a bad deal. “Never let it get personal, which was our dead drug lord friend’s mistake.” So they can all walk away and move on. Brainy Brother replies “Well, both of us took it very personally.” Cue the sound a train horn blowing, and Crafty Counselor looks down the tracks to see an oncoming old-school steam engine. Crafty Counselor tries to restart the car and drive it, but it stays put. Brainy Brother says sometimes it’s good to stay with the classics, because it is so easy to hack anything these days. Crafty Counselor then tries unlock the car, nothing happens, so he then tries to break car windows to get out that way, but the windows barely register his physical attempts. Brainy Brother comments that the thing about bulletproof windows is they don’t just stop things coming in, they stop things from coming out too. The train horn blows again, louder, and we see Shrewd Sister leaning out of the side of the engine, tugging the horn cord, wearing an old-school train engineer uniform and cap, and we see the front of the engine has a white smiley-face painted on. Crafty Counselor can do nothing but scream as the train engine bears down on the smart car. “Choo Choo motherfucker” Brainy Brother says over the carphone just before the smart car gets smashed into pieces by the collision with the train engine. The train engine comes to a halt and Shrewd Sister climbs out, and Brainy Brother stumbles over from his hiding place, still looking banged up. They look at the wreckage of Crafty Counselor’s car and Brainy Brother says “I feel like pizza tonight, what do you think.” Shrewd Sister replies only if they can get ice cream afterwards, and Brainy Brother says it’s a deal. They walk away into the sunset. 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 (edited) DANCING in the D O G H O U S E Based On: Na Corda Bamba, by Rui Vilhena Studios: Phoenix Fire Entertainment, Anonymous Content Genre: Thriller/Drama/Romance Release Date: December 19th Y9 Theater Count: 3301 Rating: R, for language, violence and sexual content Format: 2D Budget: $85 million Runtime: 155 minutes (2 hours and 35 minutes) Director: Karyn Kusama Producer: David Fincher Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker, Rui Vilhena Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth Score: Atticus Ross, Trent Reznor Cast: - Florence Pugh as Alice Wolfhard - Emily Blunt as Isabelle Peace - Dylan Minnette as Gabriel Wolfhard - McKenna Grace as Emily Wolfhard - Daniel Kaluuya as Leonard Dexter - Joe Keery as Edward Waters - Grace Fulton as Simone Avery - ft. Danny Glover as Robert Montenegro - ft. Octavia Spencer as Marilyn Montenegro - with Daniela Ruah as Lucy Wolfhard - with Robert De Niro as Matt Sails - and Meryl Streep as Fernandine Jameson Minor Cast: - Zöe Wannamaker as Marianne Peace - Beth Littleford as Eleanor Waters - Patrick Fugit as a truck driver Spoiler Cast: Spoiler - David Harbour as Phillip Wolfhard - Viola Davis as Olivia Dexter - Pedro Lacerda as Phillip Waters Previous Movie's Box Office: - In the Doghouse, Y7 - $30,744,077 OW / $104,195,655 DOM / $198,024,466 WW Plot Summary: After the disappearance of their "parents", the three Wolfhard "siblings", Alice (Pugh), Gabriel (Minnette) and Emily (Grace), struggle to resume their lives. Coincidentally, a woman (Blunt) resumes her search for a missing person. Plot: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u1WXlHclVWhLAONkOk6XB3GoPvBBnRoR4LtajZkIEQg/edit?usp=sharing PS: Thanks to @4815162342 and @cookie for pre-reading this. Edited March 8, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 (edited) ACNE Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Jake Hammond Genre: Body Horror/Psychological Drama Release Date: September 5th Y9Theater Count: 3231 Rating: R, for grizzly scenes of self-harm, gore, bloody imagery, nudity and pervasive language Format: 2D Budget: $7 million Runtime: 103 minutes (1 hour and 43 minutes) Cast: - Annalise Basso as Gina - Holly Hunter as Helen - Alexa Demie as Elise Plot Summary: A young model (Basso) becomes anxious over her acne after her modeling agency announces a gig in France. Plot: Spoiler Photographer (O.S. during black screen): Put a big smile on your pretty face. Cut to a shot of Gina (Annalise Basso) smiling and posing during a photo shoot. We figure that this is a professional photography studio, and that Gina is a model, trying out different styles of Spring and Summer clothing, from dresses, tops, jeans, bikinis and swimsuits. After the shoot, Gina is told that, yet again, it went really well, so she should be proud of herself. Gina walks out satisfied. We are then brought to a montage of Gina's life: she is a successful up and coming model, who rose to prominence recently, and is now being requested by fashion brands from all over the US. She is independent from her parents, maintains a healthy social media life, with thousands of followers, and studies in college, whose bills she pays with her modeling gigs, after being "rescued" from working on a grocery store. She genuinely enjoys being a model, and it brought her popularity, with plenty of people noticing her in the outside world, including in college where she gets plenty of attention. The montage concludes with a bunch of shoots that Gina took, as well as fashion shows she partook in, where she faced the catwalk bravely and gloriously. She hangs out plenty with Elise (Alexa Demie), a friend of hers whom she met in the fashion agency both are associated with: Modelmania. Modelmania is, as described by media outlets, one of the most reputable model agencies in the States, although Elise points out that on Instagram and Facebook comments, people who claim worked for the agency said that they would put too much pressure on you, but Gina dismisses this as she and Elise haven't had any bad experiences yet. Afterwards, we meet Helen (Holly Hunter), the director of the agency, who receives a phone call from France. It's from an enormous French luxury brand, who wants to sign a deal with the agency for shoots with some of its models on the rise. Helen courteously accepts to sign the deal, and will proceed, in the near future, to choose three models to partake in the shoots. She then reunites all of the younger/newer models of Modelmania, including Gina and Elise, and tells them the plan. She will only choose three, so, in order to get the spot, they will need to be absolutely perfect in the coming weeks. Elise is confident, but Gina looks in trepidation, with worries on her mind. Coming out of the meeting, Elise tells Gina how excited she is about getting a job in France, especially for that brand, which could catapult her to being the next major fashion supermodel. Gina, however, seems less excited, as she thinks that she can get the job, but she takes "being absolutely perfect" very seriously. She then starts asking Elise if she notices spots on her face. Elise says that she doesn't really, and she thinks that Gina has a very natural beauty. Even without much makeup, she looks gorgeous. However, Gina isn't too convinced. She goes back home, and runs to her bathroom mirror, where she examines her face extremely carefully. She notices one spot breaking out on her face, and she puts makeup on it, which covers it up. But she also undresses and starts noticing some small spots all over her body, including her neck and shoulders, and instead of putting creams to help die the acne down, she scratches and squishes the spots. Her nails are long, so she hurts herself in the process and leaves some marks, but she thinks she did a solid enough job. Gina continues to do shows and shoots, where she "acts perfect" as much as humanly possible, from putting on her best poses and smiles, to making sure that her hair and especially her skin are flawless, demanding the makeup artists to cover everything on her face. Helen comes around and tells her that she's doing a fantastic job, but there's already one person that's coming ahead of her in the race for one of the three spots, which scares Gina - but then, Helen reassures her by saying she's on the right track too. Gina feels increasing pressure, and tries even harder on the shoots, to the point of dropping her usual easy vibes for straight up artificiality in the studio (her smiles seeming fake, and her poses trying way too hard). Elise notices this and tells her face to face that she's kinda becoming less of herself, but Gina says that she's just focusing harder on her job, saying she needs to make sure that she's good enough. "And I better not have any fucking spots on my face", she insists. Elise tells her that she should stop worrying about the spots, but she relents. In college, Gina continues to show results, but her workrate is dropping, with her attention flying off to peer acceptance, constantly asking other girls and boys interested in her if they think her face is perfect. Most of them say they think she looks good, but one or two say they find her freckles funny, and also notice a breakout or two on her face. Those people say they don't mean to offend, but Gina comes out of these conversations more reserved and scared. Back home, she sees herself in the mirror, and notices the spots. On an anxiety rush, she bypasses makeup and tries to aggressively scratch them out or pluck them out, which further scars her face. Then she looks at the freckles. We get a flashback of her in middle and high school, where she would be bullied by her classmates for being freckled and having acne. She would think to herself that her freckles are basically permanent acne, so she asked her parents to get some sort of plastic surgery to replace her skin, but her parents were poor and couldn't afford this - even if they wanted to give her this surgery. This was part of the reason why she moved out of town and saught independence from her parents, to get enough money to afford a plastic surgery. Back in present time, she dives into her freckles and (we get a close-up shot of this) tries to slowly peel skin out of her face, but it only hurts her, so she stops temporarily. She puts a band-aid on her wounds. Gina blurts out to Elise that getting comments on her freckles triggered bad memories from her past, but Elise tells her that she has no reason to believe that her freckles are by any means bad - they're just natural traits of a person, they look cute, and after all, no one, including the agency, ever complained about them. Gina retorts that they never did because makeup would cover them. She reveals to Elise that she hates her own freckles and she peeled skin off her own face, that being why she has a band-aid, which appalls Elise, who tells her to stop it, but Gina says that she won't stop until her "imperfections" are removed. Elise nods negatively. Elsewhere, in the agency, the models are all reunited with Helen again. The director announces that two of the spots have already been assigned, and she's ready to reveal the first model to travel to Paris: Elise! The latter is ecstatic, and believes she's about to fulfill her dreams. However, Gina is furious, jealous and anxious, despite faking smiles to her friend. After the meeting, Helen meets up with Gina personally, and tells Gina that she doesn't know why she has a wound on her face, but she's noticed strange behavior from Gina lately, including some marks on her face and body, but Gina says that she is fine and doesn't want help, she just wants the job. Helen counter-argues that, with that kind of bruises on her body, Gina "is never gonna look perfect", so she better sort herself out. Gina is further motivated to do what she's been doing. At home, she starts diving deeper and deeper into her spots and freckles (we, yet again, get close up shots of her harming her own skin, the blood and pus coming out of the few spots she might have), creating some bad marks all over her face and body. It gets progressively worse, while her outside life deteriorates: her marks get so bad that even the makeup artists in the agency cannot cover it perfectly anymore. Gina insists they can hide them on Photoshop if they're such a problem, but Helen, who is growing tired of Gina, says that she prefers natural beauty. In college, Gina's grades drop due to her obsessive thinking grinding her attention elsewhere; and on her social media, she doesn't post much anymore, and the little she posts looks, again, artificial, with certain people commenting that she looks nothing like that in real life, with all her face marks. Despite this, she continues to attack her spots and freckles. It physically hurts her badly to the point of her vocally screaming, but she doesn't stop doing it, as she thinks she's doing herself a favor. One day, she cuts her face deep with her own plucking and nail scratching. Anxious, she calls Elise, who comes to her home and is shocked at the bloodied and wounded state of Gina's face. Elise says they should dial 911 immediately, but Gina refuses, claiming she just needs someone to do her makeup before they head to the agency. Elise doesn't want to do this and prefers taking Gina to the hospital, but Gina says that if she were actually worried about her, she'd help her replace her skin with "perfect" acneless skin. Elise insists that freckles are not acne, and Gina points out that not only she has conventional acne on top of freckles, but freckles are basically permanent acne and they shouldn't exist. Elise begs her to respond why she is so anxious over her own face, because she needs to understand. Gina explains that she was bullied when she was a child, and that she always dreamt of getting a plastic surgery to replace her skin. She says that she wanted independence from her parents because they were poor and couldn't afford her surgery, so she went out there alone and tried to rebuild her life, until she could get her surgery; she also explains that she models despite hating her own body, because it serves as "revenge" against those who bullied her in the past, since if she's modeling, that must mean that she's better than them. Elise is disappointed at Gina's self-destructive perception of herself, and says that her brain is destroying her beauty, which isn't just physical, but psychological as well. Elise is sure that there is a good, kindhearted, humble and smart person inside Gina, but that person is being overshadowed by their aching and daily struggles. She tells Gina she'll always support her, and encourages her to go see a mental health professional, because her well being is far more important than her physique and a dumb fashion gig done out of anger rumination for people who probably don't even remember that they hurt Gina before, and if they did, they perhaps regret it now. Gina is very moved by Elise's words, thanks her profoundly, and the two hug. Soon enough, Gina calls up a clinic, asking for availability to become a mental health professional's patient soon, over her anxiety and struggles. A first meeting with a local doctor is set up for the next day at night. But shortly after that call, she gets another call, from Helen. Helen tells her that she's been talking to her colleagues at the agency, and she feels like Gina is throwing away an opportunity to be one of the world's biggest models. She says that she has one last chance to prove her worth. She just needs to show up at a photo shoot, give it the best she has - without artificiality or unnatural behavior, and hopefully without wounds as well - and she gets the job in Paris. The shoot has been set for... the next day at night. And if Gina doesn't show up, or shows up in a sorry state, someone else will take the gig. Helen puts it shortly: "Put a big smile on your pretty face." She hangs up. Gina is speechless. At the nick of time, she is conflicted over going to the doctor or the shoot. She is getting ready to go, and has stayed relatively harm-free all day long. But, when she looks in the mirror, all she can think about are the thoughts of being an ugly person - to the point that they literally materialize: she has a vision where she sees (and so do we) a full of acne, typically perceived as ugly face. She then thinks about the possibility to get the job at Paris, which would be enough to shut her former bullies and current critics down forever (with or without marks), and also get the money for the plastic surgery she's always dreamed of. As such, she decides that she's not going to the doctor, instead opting for the shoot. But before she goes, she wants to "remove imperfections". She once again, compulsively, starts ripping skin, scratching and plucking spots and freckles off her face, arms and shoulders, all of which occur in close up shots. She gets too maniacally excited, and starts literally overthinking everything - if the bad skin falls off, will people find it and think she's just hiding something? She wants to get rid of everything entirely, and decides to eat her own flesh. She brutally rips skin off, and stuffs it in her mouth. She also squishes spots and drinks whatever blood and pus comes out of them. She vomits, but keeps going, until she notices that all of her spots are gone. They do disappear, but have been replaced by cuts, bruises and horrible marks. She doesn't care, though, because "they're not acne anymore". She then drives to the agency, and storms inside, but security prevents her from heading into the shoot in her horrid state. Helen comes in, absolutely aghast at Gina's state, telling her that she is in no condition to take any shoot, and that the three spots for Paris are chosen as of that moment, none of them belonging to Gina. Gina, amidst crying tears of blood, begs Helen to let her take the shoot, but Helen refuses, and says that she is barred from the agency until she "becomes perfect" again. Elise, who is behind the scenes of a shooting of her own, is listening to the conversation, and is shocked at Helen's coldness. Helen tells Gina that she can leave and not come back anytime soon. Gina breaks out into shouting and says she's gonna fucking kill Helen, but security pin her down. She has a big panic attack down on the ground, screaming and crying. The other models are hopelessly speechless. Elise is desperate, asking everyone to call 911, but no one seems to do anything. Gina is showered in inner ruminations about people mocking her for looking the way she does. Shortly after, she passes out. We fade in to Gina in a hospital bed, covered with bandages all over her body. Elise is sat down next to her, and is delighted to see her friend wake up. Gina sobs, admitting that Elise was 100% right: her brain is killing her on the inside, and may kill her on the outside too if she doesn't stop harming herself. Elise, emotional, says that no matter what happens, she will always admire Gina, and she'll do everything in her power to help her recover. Gina thanks her, and asks her if Helen fired her. Elise, reluctantly, admits that she did. Gina, tears aside, says she's not surprised. However, Elise says that she quit the agency too, which takes Gina by shock. Elise justifies it: when she heard Helen dismiss Gina, who was in clear need of help, simply because she was hurt and bruised, that was the last straw. She calls people like Helen cold and greedy, preferring to think about money before helping someone. She says: "Those kind of people perceive perfection as physical flawlessness. I don't think that. I think perfection is whatever makes us the happiest people. If your brain gives out on you, you can be the most beautiful person in the world... but your life will never be perfect." Gina, smiling and crying at the same time, is wowed at Elise's intelligence and agrees with it, saying that she fully regrets not seeing the doctor. And thanks Elise immensely for cutting ties with Modelmania too, to which Elise says that she cares more about her friends than a modeling job anyway. Gina and Elise hug. Sometime later, Gina, despite not working as a model anymore, is socially active again, but now, accompanied by a mental health professional that helps her deal with her body dysmorphia and become comfortable with herself. At the same time, a professional photographer working for a non-governmental charity institution contacts Gina, claiming that he was moved by Gina's story - an up and coming model wrecked by her inner demons - and wants to have her in a shoot made specifically to sensibilize mental health problems and body dysmorphic disorder for a wider public. Gina gladly accepts, and there's a chemistry immediately sparking between her and the photographer. Gina takes this shoot, with some of her marks still present on her body and face, but she's not wearing makeup to hide them - instead, she's showing them to the world. The last shot of the film is a still frame of a photo of this shoot: a close-up of Gina's scarred, bruised cheeks, but her with a big smile on her pretty face. The end credits feature irl reactions. The film crew took the photos of Annalise Basso, in character, with the makeup looking as if she was cut, and then, they took pictures of real world people who suffer from self-harm and body dysmorphic disorder - pics of their real selves, and montages that reflect what those people think they look like when they're anxious. All of those photos were then shown to random people on the street, their reactions genuine and not in any way manipulated. Edited July 2, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAM! Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) SCALES OF JUSTICE Studio Groundswell Director: Scott Frank Genre: Legal Drama Release Date: 02/21/Y9 Theater Count: 3,160 MPAA Rating: R for Language and Some Disturbing Content Budget: $30 Million Runtime: 1 hr 33 min Original Score Composer: Rachel Portman Cast Aunjanue Ellis as Jeanine Swett Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective Christopher Cluff Kodi Smit-McPhee as Linus Kenney Rob McElhenney as Officer James Seaburg Claudia Kim as Officer Patricia Ting Tony Goldwyn as Daniel Wallander Woody Norman as Elijah Neary Moisés Arias as Miguel Sanchez Michael Potts as Captain Douglas Finck Eric Roberts as John Neary Ann Dowd as Lisa Neary Harold Perrinau as Darryl Swett with Jonah Hill as Ricky Neary and Alice Braga as Martha Neary Logline: A public defense lawyer goes above and beyond the call of duty to represent a woman who accidentally kills their husband. Loosely Inspired By True Events Spoiler Black. Hissing snakes. Eerie music. Snakes slither on the ground in a dark room, the red glare of the exit sign being the only source of light. Police officers file into the room, now clearly a vacant serpentarium, with guns drawn. One of them finds the light switch and flips it. This is Officer James Seaburg (McElhenney). “Why does it always have to be snakes,” Seaburg jokes. “How about a little less Indiana and a little more investigating,” says candid police woman Officer Patricia Ting (Kim). Seaburg yelps, as a snake bites him in his ankle. The officers muse about whether the snake was poisonous, and Ting tells them to treat him as if it was, telling two officers to tend to Seaburg, two to contact animal control, and two to follow her. They split up. We follow Officer Ting as her group proceeds through the serpentarium. They step around snakes, walk to a display in the back and find Martha Neary (Braga), who’s balled herself in a corner. She looks distraught, and there’s blood on her clothes. Red, human blood. Cut to outside the serpentarium, a bricky three-story building in a downtown area, as policemen carry Martha to the back of a police car. “Where’s Ricky?” she asks multiple times. They put her in the car and shut the door as she looks around with a confused and frightened expression. The camera dollies in on Elijah (Norman), a teary-eyed young boy who watches from a third-floor window. Cut inside that living room; some officers finally pull him away as others take photos of the dead body once inhabited by Ricky Neary (Hill). Cut to Elijah sitting on a bench, wrapped in a blanket, as first responders buzz around his building. Detective Christopher Cluff (Gordon-Levitt), a suit-and-tie man who’s seen it all, sits next to Elijah and introduces himself, telling him he was brave for calling 9-1-1 the way he did. Elijah says it’s his own fault Ricky’s dead; Cluff says it’s not Elijah’s fault because Martha’s the one who shot Ricky. Elijah looks up at him and says “she didn’t know it was him.” Cluff tells him that he hopes that’s the case since no sane person would do what Martha did. Elijah asks him what’s going to happen to her, and Cliff says she’s in the law’s hands now. Police officers ask Elijah if he has a place to stay. Elijah answers his uncle and aunt’s house, so they offer him a ride, and he goes with them. Ting walks to Cluff and asks how he knew Elijah was ready to talk despite what happened; Cluff pulls out a notepad and writes what he memorized from his talk with Elijah, saying he got to hear the 9-1-1 call, and that Elijah was significantly more composed than other kids would’ve been. Ting calls this the strangest murder case she’s ever seen. Cliff shares a hunch: it’s a more complicated case than that… Jeanine Swett (Ellis) cooks breakfast for her husband Darryl (Perrineau) and her two kids, Tyrone and Bernie. Darryl yet again shares his joy at the fact that Jeanine can be a public defense lawyer and also cook the meanest bacon and eggs one’s ever tasted. Swett asks which one’s better. The family agrees that the bacon and eggs are better. Jeanine likes this answer. The television displays a news story of the murder of serpentarium owner Ricky Neary, which quickly grabs Jeanine’s attention. The news story states that Ricky’s wife, Martha Neary, shot him six times in his living room, right in front of their young son Elijah. Tyrone recognizes Elijah as a classmate from school, while Bernie asks Jeanine if this is a case she’d represent. Jeanine reminds her kids that the court system picks who represents the defendant, and that’s if Martha doesn't have one or can’t afford one, so the decision isn’t hers to make. Darryl tells the kids to hurry up and eat so they’re not late for school. Jeanine looks back at the TV… That morning, Ting visits Seaburg in the hospital, as he stayed there overnight due to complications involving the snake bite. He’ll be fine, thank goodness. After banter, she tells him that the department will add an indirect causation charge to Martha’s growing list of charges because the serpentarium security cameras caught her busting the glass and letting out the snakes. “She didn’t bite me, the snake did,” remarks a confounded Seaburg. “She did commit murder,” Ting reminds him. “Shouldn’t that charge by enough?” he replies, chuckling. Cut to Cluff walking into the office owned by police captain Douglas Finck (Potts). Finck asks him for his findings. Cluff tells him that Martha’s saying Ricky’s still alive and that Elijah says she doesn’t know she shot Ricky. Finck says it’s hard to believe that Martha still can’t accept she shot Ricky six times, and he says their best course of action is to enlist a forensic psychiatrist to see if there’s truth to Martha’s claims. When Cluff suggests getting one who can get out the truth as quickly as possible, Finck reveals that he knows of a young prodigy that uses unconventional methods, and if he catches her in a lie, he’ll cut her story at the knees. This would be their first case, and Finck wants to give him the chance now because he believes it’s an open and shut case. “You think it was purposeful,” says Cluff. “You can never be too sure,” says Finck. Cut to the interrogation. Enter Linus Kenney (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a gangly man with square eyeglasses, also wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Linus shakes the hands of Cluff and Finck, thanking them for the opportunity. While Linus gets ready, Finck advises Cluff not to let Linus’s looks fool him—he’s professional, and sharp as a tack too. Linus walks into the interrogation room and greets Martha, who looks confused. Linus tells her not to worry, that he’s here to listen to her, that he’s someone she can trust. Martha tells him the story he’s told countless others at this point—that she was defending Elijah from a monster. Linus asks Martha to go into detail about the monster she saw. Martha told her that it looked like a bipedal snake with blood red scales, fangs, and a thin tongue. And she released the snakes because she believed the snakes were the monster’s offspring. Linus leans in and squints. He asks Martha to show him her canine tooth. Martha’s eyes widen, and she asks why. Linus says he wants to see something. Martha asks which tooth, Linus says “whichever one works.” Martha shows her the tooth; Linus jots down some notes and asks her if she’s ever had a thirst for human blood. Martha, believing she knows where Linus’s head is at, adamantly declares that she is not the monster—she was the hero who killed the monster. Linus breaks it to her: she didn’t kill a monster; instead, she killed Ricky. Martha, tears falling, keeps it going, saying that there’s no way she would ever kill Ricky and that she's absolutely positive she killed the monster. Linus shows her pictures of the body and tells her Elijah was a witness to the murder. Martha stares down in terror, covering her mouth in shock. Linus asks her if she takes medication. By the look she gives him, we know her answer is ‘yes.’ At the station, Cluff and Finck confirm a shared belief that the cause of death was, indeed, a psychotic episode of Martha’s. Cluff tells him that there’s no way she’ll be able to afford her own lawyer, so when the court hearing occurs, she’ll be getting a public defense lawyer. “Let’s hope the court system appoints one who’s willing to understand the situation,” Finck says. Cut to Jeanine hand-washing dishes at the kitchen sink when she gets a phone call. She takes it and is told that the court system has chosen her as Martha Neary’s public defense lawyer. She accepts the case and tells her family she got appointed. Darryl tells her to be wary as anytime a white person has to settle for public rather than private, that’s how you know the situation is a nasty one. Jeanine reminds him that if she can handle cooking and cleaning for him and the boys, she can surely handle the Neary case. She travels to the jail to meet Martha for herself. She gets to know Seaburg and Ting, as do to Seaburg’s foot being in a cast, he’s accepted being a temporary jail guard to keep serving in some way, while Ting’s there to keep an eye on him. Ting escorts Jeanine to the interrogation room. Jeanine and Martha start by getting to know each other. Then Jeanine asks Martha to describe her love for Ricky. While she describes her love, we cut to flashback imagery of Ricky, Martha, and Elijah enjoying their time on a beach during the sunrise. When she finishes, we cut back to Martha, who has tears and a smile on her face. Jeanine tells that by the way she described her love, she knows she didn’t kill Ricky on purpose. Martha accepts the consequences of shooting Ricky but is grateful to have a lawyer that’s on her side. Meanwhile, Cluff interviews Elijah for more information. Elijah is more than willing to cooperate and shares details about the meds that helped her fight off schizophrenic visions, revealing that she’d stopped taking them prior to the incident. He said it was his fault since he was watching cartoons before the incident, and that Martha’s description of the monster matches a monster from the cartoon. Cluff thanks Elijah for the info and tells him it’ll surely help the insanity case. Cluff meets with Jeanine, and they agree to exchange information to help Martha go to a psychiatric ward rather than a prison. She pleads guilty no matter what—it’s a matter of where the law sends her. Jeanine’s not worried about getting funds and permission to gather materials for her defense… Yet. Cut to Ricky’s funeral as the casket is lowered into the grave. After that, Ricky’s elderly parents, John and Lisa Neary (Roberts and Dowd) start an argument with Ricky’s uncle and aunt, who were on Martha’s side of the family. John and Lisa say that what Martha did was terrible. The uncle and aunt don’t deny that, but remind them she didn’t know she was shooting Ricky. Lisa, especially, isn’t having it, saying Martha committed murder and that the situation should be treated as such. All the while, poor Elijah is caught in the middle. Jeanine works on many cases at her desk. An assistant, paralegal Miguel Sanchez (Arias), walks in and gives bad news about the Neary case. Ricky’s parents have hired ruthless prosecutor Daniel Wallander in a bitter effort to send Martha to prison rather than a psychiatric ward. Both environments are bad, but the prison would be worse for Martha. Jeanine has her hands full but tells Miguel to relay it to Cluff. When Miguel goes, she rubs her forehead, soothing a headache. Cluff talks again with Finck, who warns him against putting too much of his energy in the Neary case, since he’s already done his due diligence by finding the cause of Ricky’s death, and if he’s attached to a defense case that loses against Wallander, it could put a dent in his reputation. Cluff says he used to take his kids to see the snakes in the serpentarium, and that he knows how beloved the serpentarium was by the local community. Cluff thinks a case with this many ties to the community deserves the best possible result. Finck tells him that he can gather more information if he wants but advises him to keep it on the down low. Jeanine travels to Wallander’s law firm building for a meeting with him. Wallander (Goldwyn) shakes hands with her, and they proceed to talking. What we gain from the meeting is this: Wallander knows about the case, and while he admits he'd be surprised if he won, he’s doing everything in his power to win for his clients. (“As I’d expect you to,” says Jeanine.) Wallander encourages good communication between their parties and promises to send copies of materials and evidence like the prosecuting party is supposed to—he’ll play nasty, but he’ll play fair. They wish each other luck, and Jeanine leaves as Wallander looks on. Linus visits Martha and does more tests with her. He asks her a series of questions, some pertaining to the medication, others pertaining to her mental state. He shows her boards with ink splotches on them—the Rorschach test—and asks her what she sees. Martha flips the question back on him—what do you see. Linus says he sees a patient. Martha shakes her head; she’s mad at Linus for insinuating that she was a monster. Linus reassures her that he doesn’t think that, so Martha demands to know why he pretended like he thought that. When Linus doesn’t respond, Martha criticizes him, saying he manipulated her. Linus looks down and fiddles with an ink-stained cloth, telling her he manipulated her for her own good, so she could realize how faulty the idea of the monster was. Martha yells that he’s the real monster. “Tell me, Martha,” he says as he covers his face with the ink-stained cloth. “What do you see?” Martha steps away and backs into the wall, and Linus stands up. He lowers the cloth and admits he’ll be a monster if it means his patients come to their senses. Officer Ting opens the door and tells Linus that Martha’s had enough, so Linus leaves while Martha collects herself. When Linus leaves, Seaburg laughs and tells Ting that he doesn’t know who the real nutcase is. Ting jokes to Seaburg and says it’s him. Seaburg laughs. That night, Miguel enters his apartment, cracks open a beer, opens his computer, and finds an email sent to him from Linus. It reads: “I’m listed as a potential witness, aren’t I”. Miguel hesitates; he shrugs (because they’re almost the same age, what the hell y’know) and he replies back: “yes, you’ll probably be an expert witness”. Miguel barely has time to sip his beer when Linus sends a reply: “send me information about the prosecutor.” Miguel shudders. He knows he might be breaking rules if he does that. He replies: “What if I don’t send? It might break rules.” “… … …” “Just the basics. Send now or I won’t show.” Miguel gulps. He looks around as if people might be watching. He starts typing away… The next day, Elijah’s uncle and aunt take him to visit Martha. During their talk, Elijah asks if they might be able to find a way where she can go free. Martha has to tell him that it’s too late for that. Elijah argues that it was an accident, and Martha says it doesn’t matter. Elijah’s upset, and Martha reassures him he might be able to visit her at the ward. Time runs out, and Seaburg and Ting have the unfortunate task of taking Elijah away from Martha. Meanwhile, Cluff interviews local citizens about the serpentarium and gets a lot of positive opinions about the serpentarium as well as about Ricky and Martha, strengthening the defense argument. Jeanine’s working at her desk when Miguel tells her that Linus essentially blackmailed him into sending him information about Wallander. Jeanine rises and asks what kind of information. Miguel stammers and says he sent him basic info and that Linus threatened to walk from sharing his testimony if he didn’t send it to him. Jeanine tells Miguel that she’ll let him off the hook due to the circumstances, but sternly warns him against doing things without telling her first. At dinner with her family, Jeanine lets out a little bit of frustration against everyone. Darryl tells her to eat since it’ll calm her down. It does calm her down, and Darryl says that she has to slow down and take care of herself or else she runs the risk of crashing and burning. Jeanine says she’s under a lot of pressure and that the preliminary hearing takes place the next day, but Darryl reminds her that they’re with her every step of the way. Jeanine thanks them, and the mood lightens up. Cut to the preliminary hearing, where the defense confirms the plea: not guilty by reason of insanity. John and Lisa are there with Wallander, and they shoot death stares at Martha. The judge announces the day of the trial—a little more than a week away. Cut to Wallander’s office as John and Lisa argue about his decision to call in Linus Kenney as an expert witness. Wallander shrugs, saying Kenney’s findings regarding Martha’s psychotic break is vital info the court needs to hear. John and Lisa share their belief that it’s too much help to the defense. Wallander says if they have a problem, they should take it up with the city, and that he’s confident he’ll have a solid prosecution case even with an expert detailing the psychotic break to the jury. Upon getting in their car, Lisa says that now they’ll take matters into their own hands. They drive home, where a car is already waiting for them in the driveway. It’s the punch buggy driven by Linus, who follows them into their house without a word spoken between them. Once inside, John and Lisa, in a last ditch effort, offer Linus $5,000 dollars to back away from sharing his witness testimony. Linus keeps his facial expression neutral and tells them he’ll think about it. Cluff meets with Jeanine to share what he gathered regarding public opinion of the serpentarium and its owners. Jeanine likes what she sees. The phone rings, and she takes it. It’s Wallander in his car, who bites into a cheeseburger and tells her that John and Lisa offered Linus a deal for him to back out from sharing his testimony. This dumbfounds Jeanine. Wallander says that Linus hasn’t accepted the deal yet, but he figured he’ll call her to tell her because “that’s bad news for you.” Jeanine finishes the call and hangs up. Cluff asks if he should investigate. Jeanine tells him that if Linus is as smart as his reputation suggests, then an investigation won’t be necessary—Jeanine just needs to find and speak with Linus immediately so she can convince him to share the testimony. Miguel runs in just in time, as he got an email from Linus saying he wants to speak with her. Jeanine and Linus meet each other in the park and take a long walk. Jeanine tells him she knows he’s not going to take that deal. Linus says a simple truth, that she doesn’t know for sure. “Now listen here, you little shit,” she says. “There’s more than which building a woman stays in that’s on the line. What’s on the line for Martha is her dignity and her legacy as a human being. I’d say it’s already damaged enough, and we’re the ones with the power to make sure the court doesn’t label her a murderer. Yes, she shot him. Of course she did. But she didn’t mean to do it, and you know that!” A glimmer of life flashes in Linus’s otherwise cold expression. But even still, Linus confirms to Jeanine that he will not be the one to tell her whether he gives the testimony or not. They almost go separate ways, but Linus tells Jeanine to wait, asking her why she won’t have Cluff take action against the Nearys’ bribery. “You damn well know a lot of information,” Jeanine says. Linus stares without an expression. Jeanine says that if Linus gives the testimony anyway like she knows she will… Then she lives her life by mercy to the point where she knows she doesn’t need to be pursuing that wrath. The glimmer returns as Linus walks away, leaving Jeanine standing there alone. Jeanine goes back to the office and tells Miguel she’ll prepare for the trial as if Linus is definitely sharing the testimony, and they’ll see what happens when they get official confirmation in a few days. “I hope you’re right about this,” Miguel says. One Week Later The trial begins. John and Lisa sit next to Wallander, while Martha sits next to Jeanine. Jeanine and Wallander share their opening arguments. Lisa is the first witness, specifically a character witness, and she uses her position to attempt to paint Martha as a violent person, bringing up complications from her bi-polar disorder as evidence for her claim. Jeanine refutes the claims pretty easily. Seaburg is called as a witness because he was bitten by the snake, and Ting is a witness due to finding her. Elijah also shares his testimony. Then Linus, who has now clearly decided to share the expert testimony, comes with a projector set-up and a big lecture stick to explain info about Martha’s psychotic break. Martha is the last witness. Wallander’s questions for her are quick and blunt; “what was the gun make and model, how many shots did you fire”—before he sits and lets Jeanine take over. Jeanine looks over at Linus, who has the faint glimmer again. He asks her to describe the monster he saw and describe his love for Ricky—questions like that. She asks her if she regrets the incident. Martha tearfully says there’s not a day that goes by where she doesn’t feel regret for what happened. When the judge allows the lawyers to share closing statements, Jeanine goes first. She gives a triumphant speech about how if humans don’t stop to ask themselves if a perpetrator is truly in control of themselves, then it would lead to a lot of wrongful convictions, and getting Martha the help she needs in a ward would set the correct precedent. Wallander goes up to share his closing statements, but the film cuts to everyone’s looks and reactions instead of paying attention to Wallander’s bit. We cut from there to the beginning of jury deliberation, where they file into the room and begin the process. When the jury returns, the verdict is not guilty by reason of insanity. John and Lisa lower their heads in despair; everyone else in the room looks either happy or relieved. The judge dismisses everyone. Police take Martha into custody; Martha thanks Jeanine as she goes. Elijah and the aunt and uncle also thank Jeanine before they leave. Seaburg and Ting watch from afar, smiling as they stand together. Seaburg bravely invites Ting to lunch; she accepts, and they leave together. Before John and Lisa leave, Cluff asks them for a minute. “You’re on your own with this one,” Wallander says as he ditches them. Cluff tells them he knows the deal they offered Linus and that they’re very lucky to be getting off with a warning. John points at him in anger, but Lisa convinced him not to cause anything. They thank Cluff and go on their way. “You wanna know why I teased you?” Linus asks Jeanine, who definitely wants to know. “I wanted to see if you really cared. So I acted like I had power I didn’t have.” Jeanine says “maybe you’re not so bad after all,” and Linus nods and exits. Jeanine tells Cluff that she should go back home for her family, and Cluff understands. When Jeanine leaves, Finck asks Cluff what he learned from this case. Cluff thinks for a moment and says, “sometimes it’s people who are the real snakes. But the best of us aren’t snakes for very long.” Finck tells Cluff his thoughts were well-spoken as they leave together. Credits roll as the crane shot dollies out. Edited September 22, 2023 by SLAM! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) Based On: Invader Zim, by Jhonan Vasquez Studios: Phoenix Fire Entertainment, Phoenix Fire Family Animation, Nickelodeon Movies Genre: Animation/Sci-Fi/Black Comedy Release Date: September 26th Y9 Theater Count: 3701 Rating: PG, for scenes of cartoon violence, crude and gross humor, and references Formats: 2D, 3D, IMAX, 4DX Budget: $120 million Runtime: 101 minutes (1 hour and 41 minutes) Director: Owen Dennis Producer: Jhonan Vasquez Screenplay: Jhonan Vasquez Score: Kevin Manthei Voice Cast: - Bill Hader as Zim - Nick Robinson as Dib - Charlie Day as GIR - Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Gaz - Troy Baker as Almighty Tallest Red - Nolan North as Almighty Tallest Purple - and Ken Jeong as Professor Membrane Spoiler Voice Cast: Spoiler - Billy West as the Announcer - Melissa Fahn as a scientist - Rosearik Rikki Simmons as the voice of the website - Andy Berman as the MacMeaties employee - Anna Brisbin as Gaz's friend - Richard Steven Horvitz as a scientist Note on Animation: The animation is mostly 2D, but with 3D elements, just like the show. For reference: Plot Summary: Incompetent Irken alien Zim (Hader) is sent to Earth with the prospect of conquering it, and human teenager Dib (Robinson) plans to stop him. Plot: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f_sp0SClAQ4DWIHBSJ0JezzdZYnO7LwITMxH_CIMtbg/edit?usp=sharing PS: Thanks to @YourMother for pre-reading this. Edited March 14, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 (edited) WHINGE & CRINGE Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment, Phoenix Fire Artstyles Director: Peter Avanzino Genre: Live-Action & Animation Hybrid/Black Comedy Release Date: February 14th Y9Theater Count: 3179 Rating: R, for pervasive language, heavy drinking, and scenes of cartoon violence Format: 2D Budget: $75 million Runtime: 95 minutes (1 hour and 35 minutes) Cast: - Ryan Reynolds as Harold - Eric André as Gary - Jim Cummings (voice) as Whingey Cringey Plot: Spoiler Harold (Ryan Reynolds) is a lonely, disenchanted man who works at a bar. Everyday, he drowns in his own boredom and lack of affection by serving cocktails, but even work is starting to get to him, as plenty of big bad goons end up on that side of town to get drunk and a lot of them threaten Harold with violence, of which Harold cannot do anything about. He's thinking of dying by suicide by tough guy just to end his suffering already. His friend Gary (Eric André) advises him that he should cure his loneliness by buying a pet, but not just any pet: an exotic pet, which is seems to be a fad these days. Harold is a big fan of animated cartoons, and takes the decision that he's going to buy a retired cartoon character who's been banished to the wild, and that's gonna be his pet. Harold goes to the black market, and buys Whingy Cringey (Jim Cummings, voice), a tiger-like character who starred in popular 1950's slapstick cartoons, and went to the desert to spend the rest of his life in freedom. The black market people jail up Whingy, who was in a Mexican desert, and send him on his way to America. Most cartoon characters rarely, if ever, age, so Whingy is still as young and alive as he always was. Harold feels more at peace with Whingy around, believing that his loneliness is finally starting to die down; but Whingy is too violent and reckless, scaring away people, sneakily destroying public property and even setting up dynamite and TNT on the streets that thankfully never blows up. Despite clearly being a danger to the wide population, Harold is stubbornly refusing to see Whingy is anything more than a pet. They have a close enough relationship, even though Whingy puts Harold too many times on the front page for his anti-social behavior. Gary asks Harold if he is in any way proud of his acquisition, and Harold says he absolutely is. Gary on the other hand admits that he was wrong - Whingy is too dangerous to be in society. "You should've just bought one of those dogs and cats that show up in kids movies all the time, at least they put less people in danger and actually die." Harold disagrees, and says this was the best thing he's ever done - it gave him a purpose in life. Harold goes about on his days with Whingy by his side, and uses Whingy to reinforce his spot in society, as he takes his pet to the bar he works at and stirs up Whingy on any bad guys that try to threaten him, who then brutally beats them up, asserting Harold as the guy nobody wants to mess with. Harold is happy with his newfound place in society as a tough guy, and turns a blind eye to Whingy's actions for many years. However, as he gets older, he admits that Whingy is getting increasingly less tolerable. It seems that as years go by, and his own age won't slow down, he's beginning to find it increasingly less funny that Whingy likes to destroy and wreck. He's coming to the realization that the dangers of having a pet that's so distant from urban society is truly dangerous. Whingy is angry about Harold trying to put more of a leash on him, and revolts against Harold. Harold, pissed, says he's gonna put Whingy down somehow, and Whingy tries to kill him instead. Harold runs. Harold teams up with Gary for the two to hold up Whingy, who's gone loose on the streets and is breaking things and harassing people. Harold, in a conversation with Gary, admits that he only bought an exotic wild "animal" like he advised him to because, on top of making him less lonely, he wanted to look tougher and stronger, hiding away his total "unmasculinity". Gary says that when he gave him the idea in the first place, he didn't imagine how difficult it would be to handle pets like that. The two agree to team up, stop Whingy and send him back to the wild. They encounter Whingy terrorizing the streets, and they lock him up by baiting him into a chase by foot, which goes all the way to the rooftops, until Gary is able to hold down Whingy - barely. Whingy, angry, tries to attack them, but then Gary shows Whingy a picture of the wild, and Whingy calms down, as if he knew, deep down, that that was his home. Harold and Gary send Whingy back to the wild with the help of a wildlife and cartoon character rights organization, where it gets to be free, doing its thing, and Harold admits that he wish he had spent a livelihood being as happy as Whingy always was, but making Whingy happy at the end made it worth living after all. The movie ends with Whingey pulling the curtains down and saying: "This one's for you, Joe!" Edited June 25, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAM! Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) Deleted. Edited July 25, 2023 by SLAM! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) Based On: Grand Theft Auto, by Rockstar Games; Grand Theft Auto 2, by Rockstar Games Studios: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Genre: Crime/Thriller/Action/Satire/Drama Release Date: January 31st Y9 Theater Count: 3883 Rating: R, for scenes of bloody and chaotic violence, pervasive language and hard drug usage Format: 2D, 3D, IMAX, 4DX Budget: $60 million Runtime: 135 minutes (2 hours and 15 minutes) Director: Liz Friedlander Producer: Tim Iacofano Screenplay: Melissa Rosenberg Cinematography: Dan Stoloff Score: Christopher Lennertz Cast: - Noah Centineo as Kieran Gallagher - Paul Giamatti as Robert "Bubby" Seragliano - Jaylen Barron as Mabel - Antony Starr as Officer McManson - Michael Copon as Officer Carter - Mya Taylor as the meth addict - and Andra Day as Melinda Sylvester Plot Summary: A young man (Centineo) steals meth from his adoptive father's gang and makes a life-changing decision. Plot: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13Oe5VdyDgtcPZObpdmtq2nrf_pYau-E4SCvAD7JwuK0/edit?usp=sharing PS: Thanks to @4815162342 for pre-reading the original version, and to @cookie for the availability. Edited July 12, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 (edited) HEARTS OF FIRE VENGEFUL HEART Based On: Nazaré, by Sandra Santos Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Natália Grimberg Genre: Action/Thriller Release Date: July 25th Y9Theater Count: 3123 Rating: PG-13, for intense sequences of action, violence, language and thematic content Format: 2D Budget: $30 million Runtime: 100 minutes (1 hour and 40 minutes) Cast: - Salma Hayek as Victoria Dennis - Henry Cavill as Roger Saint - Becky G as Nazareth Dennis - Logan Lerman as Dennis Fortwood Previous Movie's Box Office: - Hearts of Fire, Y7 - $13,760,911 OW / $41,564,899 DOM / $111,156,044 WW Plot: Victoria Dennis (Salma Hayek) is still recovering from her illness with the help of Dennis Fortwood (Logan Lerman), who swore to protect her at the end of the last film. Dennis takes over Atlantis, his dead father's wood enterprise. However, Roger Saint (Henry Cavill), a British enforcer, finds out that he is Dennis' father's illegitimate son, and heads to California. Dennis tries to fight Roger, but Roger easily brutes him down and kills him. Victoria, despite being ill, goes on a revenge mission to hunt down Roger. She stealths her way to avoid many fights, and luckily wins fights thanks to her resourcefulness (to grab knifes or guns out of the goons' pockets and kill them before they get to her). Roger eventually kidnaps her, and says that if she doesn't stop chasing him, he'll go after his daughter, Nazareth (Becky G). He releases Nazareth from prison after a prison riot his goons provoked, and Nazareth tries to rescue Victoria, but ends up in Roger's hands. Victoria, resourceful, manages to escape and free Nazareth. Mother and daughter go on an ass kickery tour, but Roger seems too strong for either of them. Roger threatens Nazareth to burn her down - which triggers Nazareth, still feeling guilty over the murder by arson she committed in the first film - but Victoria, protective, stabs Roger and sets him on fire. The police end up arresting her for murder, but she's acquainted for acting in self-defense. Victoria and Nazareth are together again, and mourn the death of Victoria's "son" Dennis, proving that you should never mess with a loving family. Edited July 18, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 (edited) WARMTH Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Alfonso Cuarón Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón Score: Jung Jaeil Genre: Drama/Fantasy Release Date: October 3rd Y9 (limited) / October 10th Y9 (limited expansion #1) / October 17th Y9 (limited expansion #2) / October 24th Y9 (wide release) / October 31st Y9 (wide expansion) Theater Count: 4 (October 3rd) / 500 (October 10th) / 666 (October 17th) / 1478 (October 24th) / 2978 (October 31st) Rating: R, for sequences of torture and assassination, and strong thematic content Format: 2D, 3D Budget: $45 million Runtime: 95 minutes (1 hour and 35 minutes) Cast: - Robert Beltran as Enrique - Lee Soon-jae as Son Plot Summary: A man (Beltran) seeks spiritual guidance from an elder (Soon-jae) in a Korean volcanic island. Plot: Spoiler (The film is in black-and-white, apart from any sequences that say otherwise.) The film opens with the footsteps of a 70 year old man (Robert Beltran), him walking on terrain roads. He is using a cane and is accompanied by a guide dog, calling the dog by "Hector". The dog follows the road along, and the man, named Enrique, walks in his companion's lead. We get a wide shot of the scenery - we understand that this seems to be a national reservation area of a volcanic island. Enrique catches the attention of some tourists along, who want to help him, but he kindly refuses. He continues to trod his way. We get a wide that displays the island's grace. It is Jeju Island, located in South Korea. Enrique and Hector reach a house in a remote location in the island that has a nice view to the whole place. There, a Korean 90 year old man comes out of his house to greet the foreigners. Naturally, he speaks in Korean, and Enrique speaks back in Korean to him. His Korean isn't very good, because his natural language is Spanish; the Korean elder, Son, doesn't speak Spanish either, so they agree to speak in English, a language both are good/decent at. After their agreement, Son makes it very clear that he's not exactly famous enough for his whereabouts to be known, and Enrique claims that it was one of his friends who advised him to meet him. Son asks if it was the dog; Enrique claims it was someone of less intelligence, but greater wide knowledge of the world. Son asks Enrique his motives for wanting spiritual classes with him, and Enrique justifies himself by saying that he feels pressure mounting on himself... age is catching up to him, but it just doesn't get any easier, and he wants to understand exactly what needs to happen in order for him to feel more alive. Son, who understands Enrique is blind, asks him if he has a strong visual mind, and Enrique says he lived most of his life with good sight, so he thinks he does. Son agrees to give Enrique spiritual lessons. Son invites Enrique and Hector inside. Hector peaks around the house, a wood construction with low-key decorations. As they dine together in the relatively quiet kitchen, Enrique asks Son why he distanced himself so much from society. Son replies that he's quite curious, and Enrique apologizes as he didn't mean to offend. Son says that he simply wanted a place away from society, and the island offers him infinite magmatic power to harness spiritual will. Enrique believes there's more to that, but Son suggests Enrique mentally prepares for his lessons, which start tomorrow morning. Later, Son bids Enrique a good night, and Enrique sleeps next to Hector, who seems a bit overexcited. Enrique smiles. Dawn breaks, morning rises, and Enrique is breathing heavily. He drinks coffee with Son, who asks him if he is ready. Enrique, hesitantly, says he is. Son refuses to pressure Enrique too hard, but Enrique insists he's ready. There, Son brings Enrique down a set of stairs into a room that's located within a volcanic hill cave, still connected to the house. The room is in circular shape with a wooden floor, lit with candlelights, and its walls are made of rock. Son describes this room to Enrique, who says it must be beautiful. Son prefers describing it as effective. Son then asks Enrique to sit down on the floor - Hector sits next to him. A few seconds after they sit, Son starts the lesson by telling Enrique to just breathe and focus. Enrique tries too hard and ends up laughing at himself, but Son insists that he do it properly - no need to try super hard, just relax, breathe and focus. We get a fifteen second gradual zoom in shot of Enrique, quiet, just inhaling in hard, taking deep breaths. He seems serene enough. Son, whose eyes are closed now and in synthony with Enrique, asks him to invoke the power of the volcano and release his ki. Enrique asks him how he does that, Son says that he simply needs to relax as much as possible and push his body hard to bring in the volcanic force into his mind. Enrique manages to pull it off, and his memories are now in the astral plane, physically materializing themselves in a cloud around the stone walls of the room - and Enrique can actually see those memories, leaving him in awe. We find out that Enrique left prison about seven years ago, but it is never revealed why he was there. Upon the revelation, Son asks Enrique if he has any explaining to do. Enrique, stuttering at first, says he does not - he was in prison innocently, charged for things he had no control or blame over. Son asks Enrique if these "things" that got him in prison are the reason why he's here in the first place, and Enrique rushes to say they're not, that he's here simply to cleanse himself of any stress and hauntings in his remaining years of life, but it definitely has nothing to do with his jailtime as his conscience is free. Son does not insist anymore. Hector gets up and wants Enrique to go with him outside, so Son asks Enrique to follow his companion out and get some fresh air to breathe. Enrique, hesitantly, does so. Outside of the house, Enrique takes in the fresh air, despite being unable to witness the beautiful scenery of the volcanic island around him. He looks up - the Sun doesn't shine any differently than it did before. Son goes outside to meet Enrique, and asks him what he's doing. Enrique says that sometimes, he likes to look up and feel the warmth of the weather. Son says that he likes it especially when the Sun is perfectly aligned in the sky at around 12PM, which, in that spot next to the house, lines up with the peak of a volcanic hill. He thinks that it means he's still on time to live his life. Son then kneels and starts petting Hector, who is receptive and licks his hands. Enrique is happy, but pensive about their lesson. A day passes. Enrique is ready for his lesson. Son asks him to do the same he did the previous day: take deep breaths, and focus all his energy on his ki, to then release his ruminations and memories to the astral plane. Enrique, taking a solid few seconds to do it, manages to accomplish it. Hector watches in awe as a colorful cloud of memories and thoughts surround the room (these memories are not in black-and-white, but in full color). Enrique is shown living a healthy family life in 1970's Mexico, from where he hails. He had a wife and son, whom he loved very much, although he admits, in the real world, that he doesn't know what happened to them. However, the memories start getting less colorful - but not fully black-and-white - when more is revealed about Enrique: it is shown that he was a member of the state police. He would rally his colleagues over protecting the well being of the country against guerrillas and student protesters, but the memories start getting less and less colorful when we see a younger Enrique engage in actions of backlash, such as beatings, torture or even assassination. Enrique holds back his emotions, while Hector covers his eyes. Son does not react immediately. As soon as the memories have passed, Enrique takes another deep breath, as if he's coming back to reality. Son immediately questions what this was all about, and Enrique explains it: he was a part of the state police during the Mexican Dirty War, which occurred in between the 60's and 80's and was Mexico's Cold War. His job was to prevent the communists from ever taking power away from their government at the time - the American CIA even backed the then-rulers of the country. Son asks him if he really didn't want the communists in power, and Enrique claims that without a doubt, he did, as he associated communism with misery, totalitarianism and repression, and believed in an anti-red vision for his country, so he asks Son not to blame him for anything he did against the (he stutters as he says this) "terrorists"; plus, he was just following orders. Son asks him if he enjoyed anything he did to those protesters. Enrique does not answer, but Son retorts that the memories did not completely lose color. Color in the astral plane represents more than just realistic representations of nostalgia, so Son leaves Enrique to answer by himself what he thinks. Enrique does not reply, he stays silent and speechless. A few seconds later, he speaks, saying that he simply was following orders and was hoping for the good of his people. Hector runs off the room, while Son dismisses Enrique. Enrique leaves the room, not saying a word, but with his head down. Son, silently, lets out a tear. Enrique calls for Hector, who does not come to him. Enrique struggles to go outside the house, and when he does, he cannot hear Hector around. He walks outside, hoping Hector will come back to him. He looks up to the Sun, it still doesn't shine any differently than it did before (to him). Son comes out, and says that his dog seems to have been made to match with him. Enrique, bittersweetly smiling, says that Hector is surprisingly judgmental - he guesses it's more natural with dogs than he might thank. Son smiles too. Son then asks Enrique if he's waiting until 12PM to feel the Sun in the center of the sky like him, and Enrique says that it's no use for him anyway, but Son disagrees, saying that sometimes, it's the little things we don't think we can do that, when we actually do them, realize us the most. After a few seconds of silence, Enrique asks Son not to judge him for what he may have done in the past. Son replies by saying that, to a degree, he understands. Son narrates how he was a Korean War vet, fighting for South Korea, and also backed by the US military in the fight against totalitarianism. North Korea invaded South Korea in a war that lasted three years and killed a suspected three million people, and Son was in the frontlines during some of the invasions of Seoul by the North Koreans, and then the counter operations that led to its recapture two different times. Son, voice beginning to crack, says that he was tasked by the South Korean government to massacre as many suspected communists and sympathizers of North Korea as possible, and he did. To him, North Korea invading South Korea should've never happened in the first place, and the war crimes North Korea committed themselves were horrible atrocities - but, he doesn't take it easy upon himself to remember what he did to people that may have been innocent. That is the reason why Son wanted to stay away from society - even though he is celebrated as a war hero, he felt like he didn't belong anymore. Enrique is sorry, but anxiously brushes off his own worries and says that is not the case with him, as all the people he assaulted were definitely communists. Son asks him if he's sure of it. Enrique, after a few seconds of silence, says he is. Son looks at him with an unflenching gaze, Enrique can't take the pressure and turns his head around. Son says he's gonna look for Hector around. Enrique calms himself down as Son walks around. Eventually, Son does find Hector, who had run off to another end of the area of the island where the house is at. He pets Hector and invites him to come with him. Hector does, and when he sees Enrique sitting down, pensive, he runs to his owner, and pets him around. Time passes, and after Son and Enrique share a quiet dinner, Enrique says he's gonna try to feel the sunset. Son advises him to. Enrique walks outside with Hector, who sits by his side as Enrique pets him. Enrique starts to think. We cut to a flashback, in color, of Enrique in 2019. He is being diagnosed with a neurological disorder that will lead to complete lack of perception of sight. He is speechless. Outside, he stops in his tracks, thinking to himself that he's gotta enjoy "normality" while he can. Impulsioned by this, Enrique gets courageous and visits the opening of a Mexican memorial site for victims of the Dirty War. He walks in the memorial, following along everyone's silence. Eventually, he encounters, in the memorial, pictures of two people he recognizes: his wife and son. Apparently, they had gone missing, and were later presumed dead, as casualties of war, despite the fact that they were the family of a state officer. Enrique cries, begging his family to forgive him. Someone asks him if he needs anything, and Enrique says he does not, maintaining his composure. He then looks at all of the other casualties outside of his family, and he covers his face with his hands. Cut back to present time. Hector is leaning next to Enrique, as Son watches the two from afar. Enrique pets Hector, asking him to forgive him. Hector licks Enrique. Enrique smiles. The next morning, Enrique is up, drinking coffee, and Son tells him that he only really has one more lesson to give him, as he thinks that Enrique is slowly coming to terms with his inner demons. Enrique, looking to the side for a second but then turning his head back around, says that he is not really feeling any differently, just... more loose. Son brushes it off, and asks him to get ready. Enrique drinks his coffee, and harkens back to the conversation he had with Son, about Son being a veteran of war who also killed many people in his time. Enrique thinks to himself. Down in the contemplation room, Son tells Enrique that today, they will not be invoking any ki or going to the astral plane. Instead, they will only talk. Enrique, playing tough, says that if they're talking about what they already did before, he says he has other demons he wants to get off his chest. Son asks him what demons are those, and Enrique lies, saying that it's just that he's getting older and he wants age to stop, so that he can live the good old days again. Son asks him if the good old days are when he was doing his job, and Enrique at first, looks like he's about to say yes, but then, thinks for a second and says that no, it's just when he was with his family. Son says that he too had a family, and misses it everyday. Enrique says that his demons won't let him go, and starts crying, believing that they will torment him for the rest of his life. Son says that's why he's here: to confront them, asking him to just let his emotions go at the moment. Enrique lets it out for a few seconds, as Son and Hector watch. Enrique then makes a question: "Will I ever be forgiven?" Son says that he doesn't know. Enrique then asks if Son will ever forgive him. Son: "It is not my place to forgive you. It is their place to forgive you. Just like... it is their place to forgive me." Enrique just lets it out. Son reaches a hand out to Enrique's shoulder, and comforts him. Hector comforts Enrique as well. Enrique then embraces Son, the two hug. Afterwards, Enrique has a moment of lone time. He breathes in, contemplating what happened. Hector comes in, and Enrique says that it's time for them to go. They meet up with Son in the balcony of the house. Enrique thanks Son for just understanding him. Son says that, deep down, Enrique is the one who needs to understand himself, and he hopes he does one day. The two embrace one more time. Enrique and Hector finally leave, as Son looks up to the sky. On their way back, Enrique and Hector stop for a moment, and Enrique looks up. The movie is in color now: it's 12PM, and the Sun is perfectly aligned with the volcanic hill peak, almost as if it is very much at the center of a clock. The Sun burns bright and fuzzy, and Enrique just feels the warmth come in. Time has aligned itself perfectly. Hector barks, and Enrique smiles with a tear down his face, as we cut to a wide shot of Jeju Island, and then cut to black. Edited June 15, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamamama Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) Second Dimension: Last Hope studio: Good films production Director: Chloe Zhao Genre: Action/ Fantasy Release date: June 27th Y9 Theater count:4,105 Budget: 160 Mill Rating: PG-13: fantasy violence and some language Runtime: 131 minutes Cast Keif: Himesh Patel Leo: Daveed Diggs Madeline: Erin Kellyman Candor: Jason Clarke Elden: Daniel Kaluuya James: Daniel Dae Kim Maraya: Gemma Chan Azlea: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Queen Elisia: Lucy Lui Kavor: Kenneth Branagh Queen Bezella: Rowan Blanchard Ethes: Nonso Anozi Plot: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SHDx-WmvkYSv8pm2uf1EofdOS3gM7lxDIEoPuxSLN2c/edit?usp=sharing Edited July 17, 2022 by lamamama 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCKillswitch123 Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 (edited) WAR ON DRUGS AMERICA'S MODERN CONFLICT Studio: Phoenix Fire Entertainment Director: Lyric Cabral Producer: Spike Lee Genre: Documentary Release Date: July 2nd Y9 Theater Count: 2150 Rating: R, for language, drug misuse, and strong thematic content Format: 2D Budget: $5 million Runtime: 80 minutes (1 hour and 20 minutes) Cast: - Spike Lee as himself/narrator Plot: Spoiler The movie opens with a long split screen double sequence. On the left side, in Lisbon, we see a Black man take a route across the Beato neighborhood, a daily route for him. On the right side, in New York, with colder colors, we see a Black man hiding away to take an illicit drug. He does not want to be seen by anyone in the street, apart from the film crew. The Lisbon sequence develops with the appearance of a nurse, who comes in and helps the man inside a safe consumption facility, as well as giving him a necessity kit for drug consumption. The New York sequence shows not just this man taking drugs, but some others that show on occasion on camera, them not wanting to be seen either. The film blurs out their faces, and does not graphically show the addicts taking drugs, out of respect for their personal privacy. Spike Lee chimes in, saying that this is the difference between the war on drugs in the USA, and the war on drugs in Portugal, a country from Europe where drugs have been decriminalized since 1999. The war on drugs was popularized in the 1970's by the United States, Lee continues. It has been adapted to other territories around the globe, and is generally received in an extremely controversial light. Portugal's approach to the drug situation, from his experiences, is different, almost unique in the world, and shared distant results. The film then goes deep on the concept of the war on drugs in America. It is important to note that drugs have always been a mainstay in society, especially diverse societies like America's, given how they've been historically linked with Black people for their recreational and/or therapeutic purposes, derived from Black populations in territories like Africa and South America that later (mostly forcefully) migrated to, among others, the United States. They've also been known to serve as a good business opportunity for those in economic needs. But despite that, the US had been creating national laws that restricted the distribution and usage of certain drugs since the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, although local laws were doing it from as early as 1860. Later, there had been the 18th Amendment in 1919, which prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol; which was later repealed by the passage of 1935's 21st Ammendment, and afterwards, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt-supported Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act, which suppressed the need for exertion of police power in case of seizure of illicit drugs. But then, in 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, largely an effort by wealthy businessmen, presumably as an attempt to destroy the hemp industry from overtaking their own synthetics. The war on drugs was largely popularized in the 70's, first with the October 27, 1970 Congress-approved Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention, which categorized controlled substances based on their medicinal use and potential for addiction. In 1971, after two congressmen released a report on a growing epidemic of heroin addiction among US Vietnam War veterans - many soldiers of war had been treated with morphine - President Nixon considered that drug abuse (not the war, but drug abuse) was America's "public enemy number one." While Nixon did still make some changes along the way to alleviate federal pressure on drug users - namely the replacement of mandatory minimum sentences for possession of marijuana, with demand reduction and drug treatment programs - and was infamously said by Robert DuPont, the Nixon Administration's White House Drug Czar - yes, drug "czar" - to have "ended the war on drugs, rather than started it" (and that, ultimately, "it was the proponents of drug legalization that popularized the term"), it all derailed upon the Ronald Reagan Administration. Reagan policies included an expansion of penalities toward cannabis possessers, the re-estabilishment of mandatory minimum sentences, and procedures for civil asset forfeiture. From 1980 to 1984, the federal annual budget of the FBI's drug enforcement units went from $8 million to an astounding $95 million. The war on drugs continued, seeing the creation of an Office of National Drug Control Policy in 1988 (its main officer pushed to cabinet-level status in 1993, by none other than Bill Clinton), all the way up to the 21st Century, where Barack Obama had been said to implement a "tough but smart" approach to the war on drugs, which, while appearing liberal superficially, was really just more of the same; a disappointing stance given his opportunity to breakaway from his conservative predecessors. We then move on to the other end of the spectrum: Portugal. A country with 10 million citizens (roughly 3% of the USA's population). A country that is in relative peace nowadays. But before 1999, it was on the brink of ruins. In 1974, Portugal broke free of a far-right fascist dictatorship, then called "Estado Novo" ("New State"), controlled by António de Oliveira Salazar and, later, his post-mortem replacement, Marcello Caetano. On April 25, 1974, a mass movement by the Portuguese military, led by some disheveled higher up officials and members of the Portuguese left-wing, concluded with the quick and mostly bloodless surrender of Estado Novo forces, including Caetano (who was arrested), and the immediate establishment of democratic freedom in Portugal (although liberal political democracy would still take an extra year to come through, but was being planned). But with the end of the regime, and the following year being politically and socially unstable with plenty of civil unrest (mostly due to a stand-off between left-wing and center to right-wing forces, which included terrorism from both extreme ends of the spectrum), came a social crisis. João Goulão, director of SICAD, a Portuguese association designed to help addictions or addictive behaviors, is quoted at saying that, after the fascist regime, "there was no family without an addict." Drugs came in hard after the regime ended, and with it, there was also a significant rise in infectious disease - this was during the worst period of the HIV epidemic - and prison overcrowding. There was a heroin crisis, and with it, Portugal ended up with the biggest ratio of HIV infection in the entire European Union. But in April 1999, everything changed. Beforehand, the Government was trying to do this "the American way": zero tolerance toward drug traffickers and consumers alike. In 1997, it was reported that 45% of HIV-triggered AIDS cases recorded originated among IV drug users - many of which were heroin users: anywhere between 50.000 to 100.000 at the end of the decade. It was therefore believed that targeting drug use would be an effective form of combating the HIV spread. The approach from 1999 onwards, however, was drastically different. Instead of criminalizing drug use, the opposite became law: the National Strategy for the Fight Against Drugs took a stance of mainly proposing harm reduction tactics, double the investment of public funds in drug treatment and prevention services, and reforming the legal framework relating minor drug offences, the main of which was the total decriminalization of possession of up to 10 doses of a determined illicit drug. Substitution treatment - the act of treating addiction with replacement of the drug for another, less harmful substance - after-care, social re-integration of addicts and monitoring of drug usage and treatment, as well as the opening and expansion of official treatment and safe consumption facilities, became commonplace from 2000 onwards. The result? The consumption of heroin and cocaine, two of the more problematic illicit substances, went from affecting 1% of the Portuguese population, to 0.3%. The efforts for harm reduction, including campaigns for utilization of clean needle syringes and refusal of used syringes, led to reduction in half of the HIV infections among drug users by 2019. So, what exactly differs between America and Portugal? How is a country with roughly 3% of America's population and a nominal GDP that doesn't even rank in the top 50 in the world, despite being a so-called "first world" country, surpass the United States in a matter as important as the health and safety of drug users? It all starts and ends with one word: racism. João Goulão, one of the architects of the Portuguese National Strategy for the Fight Against Drugs - the stance that led to the decriminalization and regulation of drug usage - is quoted as saying that one of the reasons why the program was able to get off ground in the first place was because, in Portugal, the drug problem could not be blamed on any ethnic or economic group in society. As a matter of fact, middle aged white men were generally among drug users in late 20th Century Portugal, from all ends of the social class spectrum. And even despite that, many Portuguese conservatives were against this policy, because they believed that Portugal would degenerate into a narco-state if drugs were decriminalized - which, as history proved, was not the case. This is exactly the opposite of what happened in late century America. John Ehrlichman, Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs during President Nixon's run, gave this infamous quote to Harper's Magazine in 1994 about America's war on drugs: "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or Black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and villify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." This quote says it all. According to the non-profit organization Human Rights Watch, in 2000, the war on drugs was a direct contributing factor to disproportionate arrests of African-Americans. Burton Rose released a document with statistics from 1998, that showed how African-Americans represented 35% of drug-related crimes, 55% of convictions, and 74% of people sent to prison for drug possession crimes. Crime statistics show that in 1999, they were far more likely to be arrested for drug-related offences than non-minorities, and received much stiffer penalties and sentences. And this all relates with Black people's aforementioned historic relationship with drugs. For all intents and purposes, American conservatives instrumentalized drugs as a means to hit Black people in the heart. Lest we forget how America was founded: literally on the pillars of slavery! America as we know it today started thanks to the Atlantic slave trade of the 1600-1800's that brought Africans to American land through slavery; which later evolved into "scientific racism", partly thanks to pseudoscientific theories created by white European Americans to try to justify slavery of Blacks (backed even by founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson). The attempted and eventual would-be emancipation of African-Americans was the root for the American Civil War, thanks to America's southern slave states revolting against Abraham Lincoln's expressions to free Black people, as they prefered to maintain their slavery privileges. Even after the conclusion of the Civil War, which ended up with the passage of several pro-African-American federal legislation, white supremacists took advantage of the bitter remains of the defeated and rose to power in the south, and mass segregation and racism continued. And it has not changed much since - as proven by shockingly recent events, such as Charlottesville, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Given America's brutal, relentless past with its African population, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the conservative right-wing in America would have no problem utilizing drugs as a means to hurt Black people. The fact that Nixon knew that he and his administration were lying about drugs makes that extremely clear, and even clearer it becomes when you consider Nixon's subtle attempts to soften drug-related repression in America (he just cared about his enemies, not about the drugs), which was then re-established by Reagan. All the more shocking when you add to that that as recently as from 2008 to 2016, Barack Obama actually allowed the war on drugs to continue. Yes, he did sign the Fair Sentencing Act, which dramatically reduced the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine, a disparity that disproportionately affected minorities. However, the fact is that, at the end of the day, he continued the war on drugs. One begs the question if it may have simply been to appease to the conservative voters he had himself. Did little to change much, in the end, as his two terms were followed by Donald Trump of all people. Funnily enough, despite the disparity between humanism in its treatment of drug users compared to the USA, Portugal isn't innocent regarding its treatment of race - it's a country with a dark past and even present, with its historic imperialism and colonialism. It fought a colonial war with Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, three African countries that were, until then, official Portuguese territory, up to as recently as the very end of the Estado Novo's reign, on April 25, 1974. Fascist dictator Salazar was known to repudiate the idea of letting go of the colonies, recognizing Portugal as one of the greatest Empires on Earth (to reckon the Descobrimentos ["discoveries"] era, when Portuguese navigators sailed out to discover and conquer land around the world, including Brazil, East Timor, Macau and parts of India, as well as many territories in Africa, among which were those aforementioned three; this, in turn, led to the Portuguese Kingdom being the biggest and richest in the world by the 16th Century), and accusing those who did not want the Colonial War to be fought of being traitors to the Portuguese people, similarly to how Hitler did not tolerate the idea of backing down from the war even by the time the Allies were in Berlin and WWII was all but lost. Salazar died in the most darkly comic form possible - a concussion after falling off his chair; but the impact of his state-sponsored Colonial War is felt to this day, with heavy nationalist, far-right movement seizing to stall any progress made on the country's attempts to confront its colonialist past, while mass racism towards Black people, as well as other races (namely Romanian), continues to this day. With all that said, we go back to what we said before: in 1999, when João Goulão and his aides helped create a proposition to decriminalize drug usage in Portugal, it was accepted due to there not being a specific ethnic or economic group to specify drug use on. In America, with conservatives being able to pinpoint drugs on groups that they consider to be dangerous to the white populace, it's another story. This, despite the fact that recreative use of drugs is literally a part of Black history, and that drugs cannot, nor will they ever disappear from the map, but in the 20th Century, Presidents such as Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and even Lyndon B. Johnson before them, were able to instrumentalize drugs as a means to combat Black folk, as well as other political/ideological rivals, in the United States. Ultimately, the war on drugs is more so a war on America's own populace, and the fact that so much of the Western and even Eastern world with conservative roots has tried to replicate it shows how deeply tangled conservativeness is with the attempts to end drug consumption/abuse. While Portugal is far from a country that leads by example in its treatment of non-white minorities, it is a global reference in its approach to drugs, and one that the United States 100% should follow. How it managed to get there, though, is a darker story, and one that reflects the same Western world worries that have plagued America for decades on end now. The film ends with the two Black men from the beginning of the film after they had their dose, and the American man entering the Woodlawn National Cemetery, to witness the UDC monument raised in memory of Conderate soldiers. The look in his face is of disgust. Edited March 25, 2022 by MCKillswitch123 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
