Confused and angered by mother! while 'IT' breaks new records

We talked about MOTHER! earlier today.. 

 

But now we know: The movie is a FLOP..

Mother is 'dying' in box offices with a "F" cinemaScore and only $7.8 mil .. it has been been a tremendous failure to Jennifer Lawrence.. And increasingly lampooned online as being a holier than thou-premised film with a scene where a baby literally gets eaten..

A few reviews from ROTTEN TOMATOES from the non-paid reviewers.. those I trust more.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!!! WTH is this trash? I have never seen such a bad movie. Do not tell me this is "art". This movie demonstrates all that is wrong with movies today. Hey, lets kill babies....seriously? Oh just symbiotically art....BLAH BLAH BLAH.

X X X

After seeing this you will fill in the title "Mother!" With and additional expletive. WARNING DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY! I am your average move goer so trust me. who likes a good scare, a good laugh, great story and action. The fact is this movie, has no story, and after an hour you will be screaming "Mother..F***** " what a waste of time and money...probably the worst movie released with such hype in 10 years!

X X X 

Got up early in order to see this today, and now I want to go back in time and get the extra sleep. The trailer was purposefully ambiguous because the average viewer won't glean anything from it, and maybe that was the intent: to draw in an audience to find out what is going on. I had no idea what was going on, and found myself getting angrier and angrier as my questions were never answered. The conclusion/reveal didn't do anything for me, and made no sense to me as a whole.

DEADLINE is writing,

Last weekend, Paramount had a custom in-theater trailer for Mother! on It telling moviegoers. “In one week, in this theater, one movie will mess you up for life…You will never forget where you were the first time you saw Mother! After the movie, visit the box office to get your tickets.” One rival marketing head told Deadline, “If I was a horror fan and then went to see Mother! I’d be pretty pissed because it’s not your run of the mill Screen Gems film.” What could Paramount do? How else could they sell this movie? Mother! begins as a quiet movie and then gets really gonzo toward the end and goes off the rails. Lawrence and Aronofsky say it’s all allegory. There is a gripping, ‘WTF is going on now?’ sensibility to the film, and in that sense, the quick clip, suspenseful marketing arguably didn’t betray.

MEANWHILE: 'IT' appears to be the big winner again this weekend.. and even talk about the movie on social media has increased over 30% since last week...  This weekend IT will now become the biggest September release ever when it reaches $218 million cumulative..

And mother!? ... ugh.

DOES 'MOTHER!' DESERVE THE PRAISE IT IS GETTING? (A spoiler alert with this one)

The horror film 'mother!' Is getting high praise from noble media affiliations. It is also being billed as an intellectual horror flick with a message.. religious overtones.. social justice ramifications.

Big name star: Lawrence.

Big name director: Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN FAME)

Shock scene (SPOILER): Infant being eaten.

Let's unpack this..

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jennifer-lawrences-mother-marks-new-turn-year-prestige-horror-1039071) opines:

Taken purely on its surface, the film is about the horror of hosting ungrateful houseguests. Going beneath that surface, it’s about gruesome male narcissism. Ignoring its text and subtext entirely though, mother! is something more ambitious: A herald of prestige horror at a moment when we might actually need it. It’s September, the calm before the dizzying storm of awards season self-aggrandizement, when we stop thinking of movies as works of art and start thinking of them as show horses; we sacrifice the substantive power of movies in this stretch of the year, focusing instead on making predictions, playing the odds and analyzing marketing campaigns. mother!’s theatrical release falls just on the cusp of celebratory madness, three months earlier than Black Swan’s back in 2010. But both movies screened at the Venice International Film Festival, often treated as the start of the Oscar race by pundits; both movies star esteemed, in demand lead actresses, the latter Natalie Portman, the former Jennifer Lawrence.

X X X 

VULTURE has a report on this too .. And they go deeper into the shock scene of an infant being eaten. And they really work hard but find a reason to praise it..

From their report:

http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/lets-talk-about-the-ending-of-darren-aronofskys-mother.html

Aronofsky is no stranger to shock value, having given us such moments as Winona Ryder stabbing herself in Black Swan, the main character giving himself a lobotomy in Pi, and the infamous “ass to ass” scene in Requiem for a Dream. But killing off a newborn, even a CGI one, is a big leap for him. Baby murder is generally off-limits in cinema, and witnessing it triggers your lizard brain’s instinct to protect young life, making even the most hardened stomach potentially churn. It perhaps fits with the environmental and religious metaphors of the film (which we’ll get to in more detail in a minute) by showing the ways in which mankind destroys that which is most precious to us. But there’s also a solid argument to be made that it was a gratuitous attempt to inflict something memorable at the cost of good taste.

X X X

I am a fan of the unwritten but prescribed rule of leaving graphic scenes OUT of movies involving children.. "IT" was a little much for me even during the opening sequences, but I get it. The movie had to focus on Georgie first.. but still.

The NETFLIX hit "CLOWN" ? ,That movie went too far for me, as well.

Call me a wimp .. But I have an idea of then type of horror film I like. Less blood. More store. Less cautionary problems for vision, but mental fear and distress..

But mother!? This is my take, without seeing it:

Basically it is a snuff film. Pornographic and violent. Suitable only for degenerates who pretend to be intellectuals. Absolutely horrible and vile. And that is it.

Now before I go deeper into a category that will cause my own impunity and commentary of being a boring and tired no-name who shouldn't even have a voice at all with my audience, let me offer a counter point that many of you may already agree with before reading. From the VULTURE article, a comment, a defense of the movie and the anti-religious message, and the baby eating scene:

"They kill the baby, Him says to forgive them, the creepy priest says he's not really dead, the worshippers put his carcass on an altar and ceremonially eat his flesh. Remind you of anything? The baby is Jesus, eating him is the Eucharist.

The movie is a brief, ugly history of humanity culminating in the whole thing blowing up with the help of some fossil fuels in the basement. You'll laugh, you'll cry!

I thought it was a wild trip and I didn't even get the Mother Earth thing until later. In retrospect, I think it makes sense. But it's also a dark portrait of religion as practiced by the masses of Him's fans/worshippers. Him's beautiful scripture is perverted in their hands. Sharing means stealing, love is cannabalized for cheap comfort, and supposed Christians behave in every awful way people have done and still do in a thrilling cinematic tableau worthy, as others have said, of Hieronymus Bosch. All the while, horrified mother (earth) and her house are abused and Him (God) pleads for patience.

It must also be a dark portrait of the artist/muse dynamic. In this layer of the metaphor, Him is more of an a-hole, a wannabe God. He can't just create. He relies on the adoration of his muse -- whom he only loves for that adoration. Her love is symbolized by her heart, which calcifies in the apocalyptic furnace along with her body, leaving behind a delicate glass rock containing the force with which he will start again -- this time, with a new girl. The old one's dust, remembered and valued only for her love of Him. Not sure he's trying to say sorry to an ex here or what, but the Great Artiste comes off as an all-consuming narcissist in this telling. 

Don't buy the reviews that say it's very disturbing. I find mere trailers for ordinary horror and action films more upsetting for their blasé callousness. Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer as a hilarious chain-smoking Adam and Eve are worth the price of admission alone."

"Criminal" clowns March on Washington

From BUSINESS INSIDER:

Juggalos are ardent fans of the fringe hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse and they paint their faces like clowns to be like ICP's founders, Joseph Utsler (commonly known as Shaggy 2 Dope) and Joseph Bruce (commonly known as Violent J).

The march on Washington is not just a big party, though. They group is designated as a criminal gang in several states, of which the FBI has taken notice. In 2011, the FBI's National Gang Threat Assessment identified the Juggalos as a "a loosely-organized hybrid gang" who often "exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence."

 "Most crimes committed by Juggalos are sporadic, disorganized, individualistic, and often involve simple assault, personal drug use and possession, petty theft, and vandalism," the FBI report said. "However, open source reporting suggests that a small number of Juggalos are forming more organized subsets and engaging in more gang-like criminal activity, such as felony assaults, thefts, robberies, and drug sales. Social networking websites are a popular conveyance for Juggalo sub-culture to communicate and expand."

And the Juggalos, along with the Insane Clown Posse and their record label, Psychopathic Records, believe these descriptions from the Department of Justice are unfair.

MORE: http://www.businessinsider.com/juggalo-march-on-washington-insane-clown-posse-2017-9

Calling Seph Lawless! Now Toys "R" Us may be a new location for photos

The internet killed the shopping mall.

Toys "R' Us, a normally stand along stores that has been existent in strip malls or next to Pizza Huts for generations, is potentially the next building in your local distressed town to grow weeds..

From REUTERS:

(Reuters) - Toys ‘R’ Us is working to put together a loan to fund its operations in a potential bankruptcy filing that could come before the holiday sales season, according to people familiar with the matter. The toy merchant’s move underscores the deep distress rippling through retailers of all sizes as consumers increasingly shop online at sellers such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) or go to discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N). A spokeswoman for Toys ‘R’ Us did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The people could not be identified because the bankruptcy plans are not yet public.

X X X 

My local toy store closed just about 6 years ago after my son was born.. there are a few distances away.. during our very few trips to Toys R Us, it was a lackluster experience with overly expansive aisles of toys that mostly went un-purchased.

I even regularly saw people checking their Amazon accounts WHILE shopping, illustrating that the best deal is what the consumer hunts.

Toys R Us.. You will soon join the rest of them.

Retail hell.

No way Jose!

AND NOW IN THE POTENTIAL CONE OF JOSE: NEW YORK CITY.. BOSTON..? JERSEY?

It is amazing to consider how long Jose has been floating around the Atlantic Ocean. He formed some time shortly after Irma did 5000 miles ago.. and he tailed behind her as she took center stage in the islands and America..

Since her escape from the United States across the North Atlantic, Jose has wobbled and bobbled, turned into a tropical storm and recently has been upgraded to a hurricane again.

The stats:

As of 0500 AM EDT Sat Sep 16 (Advisory # 44)
Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale: Category 1
Maximum Sustained Winds: 70 knots; 80 mph
Minimum Central Pressure: 983 mb
Located at: 27.9N 71.8W
Movement: northwest at 8 knots; 9 mph

And now it appears that Jose has finally chosen a path .. he will travel to the Northeastern part of the United States and potentially have a landfall near Jersey or NYC.. Maybe even Boston.. The storm is expected to stay around a Category 1 or below as it will be in considerably colder waters than it is now..

But strength aside, the storm is expected to blow up into a monster when you consider the mileage and landscape it will encompass. Just as Sandy did in 2012, Jose is supposed to blossom into a massive Nor'Easter-ish type storm..

Anyone from North Caroline north to Maine should be on guard for this situation and prepared for an either glancing blow or a direct strike...

Jury decides Slenderman verdict

Wisconsin girl who admitted to participating in the stabbing of a classmate to please horror character Slender Man will avoid prison after a jury determined Friday that she was mentally ill at the time of the attack.

Anissa Weier trembled as the jury's verdict was read after a week of testimony and some 11 hours of deliberations. She wasn't available afterward, but her attorney said Weier was relieved and cried following the verdict...

JAMIE LEE CURTIS RETURNING TO HADDONFIELD! Will reprise role as Laurie Strode

This is some of the best news for ORIGINAL Halloween movies fans

Ever .. 

. Blumhouse just announced that legendary scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis will reprise her role as Laurie Strode when the new Halloween movie opens on October 19, 2018.

This is not a sequel of news films .. it ignores H20 and Ressurection, instead focusing on being a sequel to the second movie..

From the press release:

Curtis “come to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.”

The release continues: “Inspired by Carpenter’s classic, filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride crafted a story that carves a new path from the events in the landmark 1978 film.”

Exciting stuff.. 

'Slender man' deliberations begin

From the AP:

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin girl accused of helping her friend stab a classmate nearly to death to please the fictional online horror character Slender Man was lonely and depressed and had descended into "madness," her attorney said Friday in pleading with a jury to send the girl to a mental hospital rather than prison. 

Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser lured classmate Payton Leutner into the woods at a park in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb, in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. A passing bicyclist found Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 at the time. 

Both Weier and Geyser told detectives they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man's "proxies," or servants, and protect their families from the demon's wrath.

Weier, now 15, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors in August. But she claims she was mentally ill during the attack and not responsible for her actions. A jury heard three days of testimony from psychologists and detectives. If the jury agrees she wasn't responsible, she'll be committed to a mental institution. If not, she faces prison.

Jury deliberations began today.. 

Developing

It follows It

The film IT is getting awfully close to $200 million.. It may surpass soon.

I predict this weekend: It will be the number film for the second week in a row.. and maybe just as big..

DEVELOING..

The odd 'invisible wall' attack in Cuba

This may be one the strangest AP news dispatches I have ever read..

I cannot add more to it..

The blaring, grinding noise jolted the American diplomat from his bed in a Havana hotel. He moved just a few feet, and there was silence. He climbed back into bed. Inexplicably, the agonizing sound hit him again. It was as if he’d walked through some invisible wall cutting straight through his room.
Soon came the hearing loss, and the speech problems, symptoms both similar and altogether different from others among at least 21 U.S. victims in an astonishing international mystery still unfolding in Cuba. The top U.S. diplomat has called them “health attacks.” New details learned by The Associated Press indicate at least some of the incidents were confined to specific rooms or even parts of rooms with laser-like specificity, baffling U.S. officials who say the facts and the physics don’t add up.
“None of this has a reasonable explanation,” said Fulton Armstrong, a former CIA official who served in Havana long before America re-opened an embassy there. “It’s just mystery after mystery after mystery.”

MORE

In several episodes recounted by U.S. officials, victims knew it was happening in real time, and there were strong indications of a sonic attack.
Some felt vibrations, and heard sounds — loud ringing or a high-pitch chirping similar to crickets or cicadas. Others heard the grinding noise. Some victims awoke with ringing in their ears and fumbled for their alarm clocks, only to discover the ringing stopped when they moved away from their beds.
The attacks seemed to come at night. Several victims reported they came in minute-long bursts.

spiPhone X: Brave new world with a filter

It is hard to believe that only ten years ago, the technology that Apple would be selling the public was just about unfathomable.. Extremely fast processors. Facial recognition. Emojis that can make poop turn into your face and voice. 

In 2007, people were happy with Myspace and turning 'off' the net in favor of a night out. Now they can't leave home without the smartphone.

Apple wants to capitalize further on the influencers: Those who we are told have 'disposable income' (credit cards) and are below the age of 25 .. those who care less about processor speed and more about selfie. Those who would indeed literally buy an iPhone simply because it can turn their face into an Emoji of feces...

Let's pause for a moment. The most precious few seconds of Apple's big unveiling was a big flop: They tried to announce facial recognition but when they actually attempted to use it, it failed.

Apple has offered an explanation for an embarrassing glitch at the launch of its most expensive iPhone ever, arguing that the phone didn’t make an error – the company’s staff did.

During the first ever public demonstration of the expensive iPhone X, Apple executive Craig Federighi attempted to unlock the device using the company’s new Face ID feature, which scans a user’s face to ensure only they can unlock their phones. But the feature failed, bumping Federighi to an old-fashioned passcode entry screen and forcing him to switch to a backup phone.

Too many people. Not tech. The people.

The people ruin everything!

But it's pretty interesting to say the least: The biggest selling point of Apple in 2017 is a device that can see you, get to know you, and also stay knowing you even as you age. As your facial features change.  

The cutting edge of yesterday was fingerprint.. now it's motion sensing, unlocking with gestures, and facial definitions that will be forever surveiled by your very own pocket spiPhone.  How quaint.

I am not going to lie to myself, though. AT this point there is really no way that technology slows down. There is no ability or us to quell the march of advancement. In a few years, when iPhones or smart phones of your own choice are firmly implanted in either your hand or buttocks, facial recognition will look so 2000 and late.

Yes indeed... Things that would have been either laughed at or feared 20 years ago are completely and perfectly normal now. And expensive.

Thankfully we all have that 'disposable' income... Income that is mostly disposed of in the form of debt payments, late payments, and school loans that are constantly being tinkered with because of how high a percentage of your take home pay they consume.

But all that can be on hold for a while! 

A new phone is out. And I can make by face an Emoji if shit. 

2017, baby. The future is now.

THE CHAINSAW NUN AFTER IRMA

An off-duty cop in Miami went to check out the damage Hurricane Irma brought to a local neighborhood when he encountered a nun cutting up trees to clear the roadways...with a chainsaw.

Sister Margaret Ann wanted to help clean up damages after witnessing an almost car accident as a result of the storm. She took it upon herself to start the cleaning process.

The Miami-Dade Police Department posted to Facebook, uploading the video and praising her for being the symbol of kindness in the community.

EW shares exclusive details of IT 2

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has some exclusive details concerning the upcoming IT film (so as long as perfect things happen and the film is made, which I assume it will be) .. from the report:

MIKE HANLON

“My idea of Mike in the second movie is quite darker from the book,” the filmmaker said. “I want to make his character the one pivotal character who brings them all together, but staying in Derry took a toll with him. I want him to be a junkie actually. A librarian junkie. When the second movie starts, he’s a wreck.”
Muschietti said he wanted to “infuse more agency to him in those 30 years we don’t visit.”
“He’s not just the collector of knowledge of what Pennywise has been doing in Derry. He will bear the role of trying to figure out how to defeat him. The only way he can do that is to take drugs and alter his mind.”

Pennywise's origin and weakness 

“It resonates with what the kids do when they go to the smokehouse in the Barrens,” Andy Muschietti says. “By inhaling these fumes from the fire they have visions of It, and the origin of It, and the falling fire in the sky that crashed into Derry millions of years ago. We’ve brought that to Mike, by the end of those 30 years Mike has figured out the Ritual of Chüd.” 

No, that’s not a reference to the 1984 schlock classic C.H.U.D., which stood for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers.” King’s Ritual of Chüd is more of a Lovecraftian spell, an old-world mysticism that involves a duel of imagination between the shapeshifting trickster and the children (now adults) who want to end It once and for all.
But even as Hanlon sounds the alarm to his old friends that they must return, his addiction becomes just another demon he has to battle.
When the Losers return, he won’t be facing it alone.

Stan Uris 

“There is something in the future for him, taking his own life, that finds its seed in this film,” Andy Muschietti said. “He is the one who doesn’t want to accept what’s going on. And being the one who didn’t want to participate he gets the worst part.”
Those who’ve seen the movie know the part: deep in Derry’s sewer system, Stan separates from the group and comes face-to-uh-something with It in the form of the creepy woman from the painting in his father’s study. 

When his friends finally find him, It has its comb-toothed jaws around his head and is sucking Stan’s face into its mouth. Although he survives, the memory and the traumatic stress he lives with makes him decide it’s a horror he can’t confront again.

What did NOT make it into IT and why it may be best it didn't.

IF you read IT by Stephen King, you may recall there were some elements that could have garnered the film an NC17 or above rating.. Group sex.. masturbation while torturing animals.. and Bevvie's dad doing MORE to Bevvie than worrying about her..

Lots.
Lots of things could have upset the apple cart.

What resulted was a stellar film that, in a perfect would, would be worthy of some Oscars (we know Hollywood doesn't like to reward horror often however) .. If these few elements would have been included, perhaps the movie's successful script would never have made it to cinemas..

MOVIEPILOT has a bit more on the items that floated from the script into oblivion.  Read with caution.

Concerning the MOST controversial of all (and there are a LOT), this:

Lost in the sewers and with nowhere to turn, Beverley realizes that the only way for the group to escape is for each boy to take it in turns and put their "thing" inside of her. By losing their virginity together, the Losers' Club can then once more tap into the power of the Turtle and find their way to safety. Yes, this scene is even more insane than the Deadlights themselves, no Muschietti didn't include it in his adaptation and yes, Stephen King himself continues to defend the sequence, even now.

Whether you believe that the sewer gang-bang should have appeared in the movie or not, it's fascinating to see how Muschietti tried to remain faithful to #IT while still navigating the controversy of #StephenKing's original text. It's no wonder then that Cary Fukunaga's original script never made it into production. After all, there's only so many controversial plot points one can add to a movie before the inevitable starfish attacks and incestuous rapes take things a step too far.

The HORROR REPORT ponders if these omissions are such a bad thing. After all, the film was WILDLY successful and will most likely continue to be throughout at least the early autumn.. Ignoring some of these aspects of the book, even with Stephen King adamantly defending them, may have been the best decision ever made.. mainstream for the masses! The Loser's Club wins.

LIFE IN SPACE

If you never saw the movie called LIFE with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, you should. It is about a life form discovered on Mars. The entire world changes.. the space station changes too when the life form begins to rapidly get intelligent and gigantic, devouring astronauts and taking over the vessel..  

The horror movie aside, there is something equally strange afoot on the space station.

From reporting from  SKY NEWS (http://news.sky.com/story/shape-shifting-bacteria-spotted-on-international-space-station-11033655) 

Bacterial cells treated with a common antibiotic have been spotted changing shape to survive while aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The way bacteria act in near-zero gravity environments could pose a serious problem for treating astronauts with infections.

The "clever shape-shifting" was detected in bacteria being experimented on in the near-weightlessness of space, and is believed to help the bacteria survive.

An experiment on the common E coli bacteria subjected it to different concentrations of the antibiotic gentamicin sulfate, a drug which kills the bug on Earth.

THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS IN CRISIS AFTER IRMA

As the Earth Changes..

This is reporting from the WASHINGTON POST (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/after-irma-a-once-lush-gem-in-the-us-virgin-islands-reduced-to-battered-wasteland/2017/09/12/b49532e0-9736-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.4b43fb7b69f2) along with a must-read article about the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Irma and the destruction being seen in the islands:

_{CRUZ BAY, U.S. Virgin Islands — The Asolare restaurant is gone, practically blown off its cliff, along with its world-famous carrot ginger soup. The facade of Margarita Phil’s is a junkyard of yellow and vermilion planks. Multimillion-dollar homes and aluminum huts alike lie in ruins.}

_{On the island of St. John, that was only Irma’s beginning. Once a lush gem in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a chain steeped in the lore of pirates and killer storms, this 20-square-mile island is now perhaps the site of Irma’s worst devastation on American soil.}

_{Six days after the storm — some say several days too late — the island finally has an active-theater disaster zone. Military helicopters buzz overhead and a Navy aircraft carrier is anchored off the coast, as the National Guard patrols the streets.}

The 'prince of horror' promises a new Halloween

Producer Jason Blum, the CEO of the budget-conscious and incredibly successful Blumhouse Productions (Get Out, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge) has promised that their planned Halloween sequel – the one written by Danny McBride and David Gordon Greenand directed by Green – will definitely be released by its planned date in October of 2018. And additionally, there’s word that Carpenter himself is still interested in providing the score. 

All seemingly good news for Halloween fans for the man who once dubbed himself the Prince of Horror..

The newest incarnation of Halloween, is hoping that viewers ignore Halloweens 4-infinity in place of this one, as it takes place immediately after the Rosenthal Halloween 2.

Getting confusing?

Yes.

And that it why it seems Halloween films have become a mockery of themselves. Nothing serious anymore in the way of actual scares or storylines.. 

John Carpenter being included, along with a catchy piano song, may help... but I get the feeling that we have been down this long path before.  And it leads to nothing but sequels drowning in misadventure and contempt for premise and character development. I'll give it a chance.

...got to be better than the Rob Zombie versions, no?

Irma making one last stop--in Texas!?

Hurricane Irma has ventured on a remarkable 5,000 mile plus journey from the African coast all the way through the island nations of the Caribbean..Florida.. the Southeast United States. And now TEXAS!?

Seriously.. Check out this current national satellite composite .. The low pressure that was once Irma is now slowly expanding enough that a portion of it has made it to Houston and other flood-ravaged locations that Harvey rampaged in August.

There is no damage expected..even radar shows that little rainfall is taking place as IRMA finishes off her long voyage across the United States..

But 5,000 miles?  Only an armchair analyst of weather, but that seems incredible.

The trouble facing Florida right now includes power outages that may extend weeks, and 90 degree heat that is about to hit in many places where senior citizens and fragile citizens have no access to cool air conditioning.. 

The situation facing placing like Barbuda and St. Martin are so much worse: People roaming streets with machetes or others looting.. the island nations have turned into desperate zones that seemingly have been forgotten.

It is storm fatigue.. the summer of crippling category 5s.. And Jose? No way.. stay away. 

‘Uncontacted’ Amazon Tribe Members Reported Killed in Brazil

‘Uncontacted’ Amazon Tribe Members Reported Killed in Brazil :

The New York Times reports

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — They were members of an uncontacted tribe gathering eggs along the river in a remote part of the Amazon. Then, it appears, they had the bad luck of running into gold miners.

Now, federal prosecutors in Brazil have opened an investigation into the reported massacre of about 10 members of the tribe, the latest evidence that threats to endangered indigenous groups are on the rise in the country.

The Brazilian agency on indigenous affairs, Funai, said it had lodged a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in the state of Amazonas after the gold miners went to a bar near the border with Colombia, and bragged about the killings. They brandished a hand-carved paddle that they said had come from the tribe, the agency said.

“It was crude bar talk,” said Leila Silvia Burger Sotto-Maior, Funai’s coordinator for uncontacted and recently contacted tribes. “They even bragged about cutting up the bodies and throwing them in the river.”

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2f33O58

THE PARABLE. Stephen King's 'It': Pennywise vs. 'The Losers' Is a Parable for a Tormented Nation

THE PARABLE. Stephen King's 'It': Pennywise vs. 'The Losers' Is a Parable for a Tormented Nation:

The movie is a surprise blockbuster at $123 million. Here’s one reason why.

“Everyone needs reassurance that it’s good to be part of a group, and it’s great to come together against division and fear,” Andy Muschietti told EW on Monday morning. “Fear is used as a tool these days to divide and control and conquer. And hate is a tool. And that’s something Pennywise does, so that’s something resonating in our society right now.”

One things that contributes to the frustration are those under the sway of the monster, who refuse to see the reality of what’s happening — much like the adults in It, all of them grotesques whose darkest sides are activated by the monster lurking below.

King himself hit this comparison right on the red nose, joking in a speech at the Women’s March in Sarasota, Fla., last January: “We just elected Pennywise as president.”

That is an observation I can believe in.. I just wrote about PENNYWISE’S HURRICANE WEEKEND at box offices … how we are ALL members of the losers club.. and how we are actually potentially united more if we unite against fear, whether it is a clown or a natural disaster. Nice to see that Muschietti agrees..

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2wmEfyv

Watching 9/11 all year long

 

I have always struggled to know why I, along with many others, watch footage of 911 every year ... also several times throughout the year. It seems ghoulish, it seems like we just relive a snuff film in real time every moment. For me, there is a sense of guilt that comes with it because of how it can also induce nostalgia. 

For me, I become nostalgic for the year I turned 21, the moment when my youth seemed the most buoyant and yet obnoxious.. and a time when things seemed much more simple.

Ever since the events of that day occurred headlines about it have been taken over by Xenaphobia, warmongers, and conspiracy theories of all nature.  If you were listening to the talking heads and pundits, then you most likely have been told the exact reason why 9/11 occurred.  Some will give you the backstory on the government officials that they believe were actually behind it. 

Others will tell you about how we should have bombed Middle Eastern countries to smithereens because of their support of the terrorists.  A few may point out how inept American leadership was in the summer leading up to the event. Remember that memo given to Bush during his August vacation ??  

We do this all the time, we relive the nasty events and try to shad them in a civilized way.  People strive to bring some common sense and normalcy of thought progression as to why things occurred.

But I don't believe that is why we watch footage of 9/11, and not why we relive the same 102 minutes time after time.

I actually think the reason is quite simple.

For the raw emotion.

The true and visceral raw emotion that it brings, it seems real. We can relive those days when commercials along with TV coverage of the mundane and trivial was all we cared about. September 11 was the end of the Seinfeld era, the conclusion of the decade about nothing. Stock markets were strong, mortgage loans being given out like candy.. the conclusion came, though, and the piper was paid.

I can recall the footage of the today show one Bryant Gumbel was cautiously curious as to why some would say the second plane flying into a building was a purposeful act.  Because we were naïve, because we were innocent. A generation that grew up lost in space forgot the space that they were in. The dotcom bubble was first, then everything burst at 9 AM on September  11th..

 

When I watch coverage from those moments, when I view the footage again, and when I relive my own emotions and memories from that day, I don't do it in any joy of those who perished.

When viewing those television moments prior to the breaking news, I actually feel in some strange way like 911 will not happen. When I watch the footage of the 'Everybody loves Raymond' interview on CBS before the first plane hit, or the fact that Nokia stock was up 5% and Motorola was closing on CNN, I feel like the next moments actually will not occur. 

An impossibility..

Because we all know what occurs next, we all know the planes crash and that the Pentagon is it in that building is fall down, that President Bush is flown around the nation and Dick Cheney is in a bunker in no mans land. We all know that the speaker of the house is rushed out of DC and that news coverage comes to grips with the fact that their world, along with ours, has been changed forever with them only mere seconds.

But we still watch, and I don't believe we watch because it's fun. I believe we watch because even to this day we have not come to grips with this moment and we have not been able to actually make sense of what we saw.

We've gone to war, we debated who is behind the events, we have become divided as a nation and almost 20 years later a much more racist and bigoted world. None of it had to happen, but it did. And we watch the coverage of this day to feel that true and raw emotion because somehow perhaps we get united in our sadness in our anger. Even if it's only for 102 minutes and it goes away once the replay on YouTube has ended. 

HURRICANE PENNYWISE AT BOX OFFICES

I have a few ‘floating’ observations to make about this past weekend. Initially I fell victim to the hype..the overkill..the horror–from the news media!

I have been in touch with some family and friends–a few haven’t responded yet–who live in the hurricane zone in Florida.. So far fine. Power is out for them, about over 3 million people. News media reports this morning indicate that about 5 so far have been confirmed dead because of the storm–a few from car wrecks while trying to evacuate..

But last night while trying to sleep through some anxiety that has been increasing with recent weather conditions worldwide, I tuned in to hear Chris Jericho from the WWE during the initial minutes of Coast to Coast AM hosted night by Richard Syrett. I needed to hear it.. Jericho was in the Tampa area–the location where most damage was said to be coming. The eye wall..the horror! The misery! Jericho said he was busy watching Game of Thrones and, if he didn’t know Hurricane Irma was outside, may have just thought it was a rainstorm with wind. I was thankful to have heard this…

I saw a few articles this week of people planning hurricane parties.. people saying 'F IRMA’ online. Even a few that would have taken a really bad road and shot guns into the storm. Bad, bad idea people.

There has been looting, yes. There is flooding.Some locations may be without power for days, weeks..or months. All of those dire warnings have come true for some. The storm surge isn’t done ravaging.. and yes, low line areas like Miama have been dealt a warning shot that, in case climate change continues to march ahead, they will have to deal with being at sea level. Maybe one day below.. All of these things are true…

….fear.

With fear comes violence..with fear comes people making really awful choices. Distraught souls wandering in the land of fright .. their plight.. without might.. no fight.

Fear takes away so much potential from people. Fear, heralded by the media so often as they hype storms for ratings, forces the human condition into a less than desirable state.

Fear.

It’s interesting that Pennywise the Dancing Clown made his presence known in movie theaters across America the same weekend we dealt with IRMA. The film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT was a remarkable success! $110 million domestically and the biggest horror release ever. A record setting film. Biggest R rates release .. the global box office has been rocked by a clown and the Loser’s Club facing their fears just enough to fight off the enemy.

He thrusts his fists against the post but still insists he sees the ghost.

Pennywise is a bit like Irma, isn’t he? The fear… so many are placed into a 'holding’ position by fear..they get locked in the 'dead lights’ of the media. We are rampaged mentally by media outlets showcasing the doom and gloom of the planet. Just as Derry is damaged permanently by a killer shapeshifter who utilizes the deepest fears of its prey in order to defeat them quickly.

We cannot allow fear to overcome us.

So often I think we have turned into a circus of ourselves. Social media is amazing..You can literally watch someone Periscope live from a hurricane half a globe away and chat. Amazing. The speed at which information is disseminated is unbelievable .. But so often we overhype things that shouldn’t be and marginalized amazing things that need to be known. The goodness of the world is sidelined … blistering headlines this morning showcase that: DOOM! HORROR! IRMA! MISERY! DESTRUCTION! And a sale on meat at the local grocery store. Sports in section b.

Yes..Pennywise is the darkest horror figure in box offices perhaps ever. The remarkable film actually deserves an Oscar, and whether it’s the first to get one in the genre since SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, I don’t know.

Pennywise is also a lot like the media tycoons that promulgate misery and fear.. Sex doesn’t sell nearly as much as blood. If it bleeds it leads baby. Pennywise is similar.. he will lurk in shadows and sewers and wait until the moment when your'e most afraid.

When the Loser’s Club faces their fears, thrusts their fists against the post and stop seeing ghosts, they can overcome not only an outside presence of evil but also the darkest demons within themselves. We all should be a little more like the Loser’s Club from IT.

We are all messed up. We are people. People filled with histories that keep us down and nostalgia that removes the darkest days from our past. Mixed up people who so often cannot express ourselves without medication or alcohol. We have fright when we look in the mirror, but only because we see what’s inside.

So on this September 11–an anniversary of a day that also fills us with heartbreak and fear, I sa this: F Irma. And Jose too.

F Pennywise, or whatever incarnation he takes on in the madness of your mind.

Bravo Loser’s Club. We are ALL members, if we want to be..