IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

In last week's show, viewers may remember that I pointed out the actor Bud Cort near the end of Sweet Charity. Well, he died a few days later (archived NYT obit). Therefore in remembrance of Bud Cort, today we'll be paying tribute to him by showing the movie Harold and Maude. This film was (and may still be) akin to a right of passage for certain high school to college age people struggling to find meaning in a society they rejected.

First, though, we'll pay attention to the other half of the Harold and Maude duo with one of the films written by Ruth Gordon with her second husband Garson Kanin: Adam's Rib. We'll follow with a short set of Cat Stevens' songs recorded at the BBC to ease into the main attraction.

Adam's Rib (1949)

1h 40min 58sec, English with hard coded English subtitles
Directed by George Cukor, Writers: Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin
Featuring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Judy Holliday

Synopsis: Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Gordon

Gordon and Kanin collaborated on the screenplays for the Katharine Hepburn – Spencer Tracy films Adam's Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952). Both films were directed by George Cukor. They were close friends of Hepburn and Tracy, and they incorporated elements of the actors' personalities in the films. Gordon and Kanin received Academy Award nominations for both of those screenplays as well as for A Double Life (1947), also directed by Cukor.

Ruth Gordon was active in film and stage from the silent age, appearing as an extra in 1915 before making it to Broadway, then Hollywood. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Rosemary's Baby.

Harold and Maude (1971)

1h 31min 44sec, English with English subtitles
Director: Hal Ashby, Writer: Colin Higgins
Featuring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles

Synopsis: Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Cort :

Cort was discovered in a revue by director Robert Altman, who subsequently cast him in two of his movies in 1970, MAS*H and Brewster McCloud. In the latter, he played the title role. Cort went on to his best-known role as the suicide-obsessed Harold in Harold and Maude. Though it was not particularly successful on release, it gained international cult status and is now considered an American classic, ranking Number 69 on the American Film Institute's 100 Best Romantic Comedies.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067185/trivia/

[Cat] Stevens was hired to compose the film's score but could not complete his contract for scheduling reasons. Ashby had already been using Cat's song catalog as mood enhancers and scratch tracks during production, so a deal was made to finalize the score using them in place of all originals. Stevens wrote the opening song, "Don't Be Shy," and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" especially for the film. Most of the Stevens songs heard in the film were taken from his albums Mona Bone Jakone or Tea for the Tillerman. His songs 'Pop Star,' 'Time,' and 'Fill My Eyes' were originally to be used in the film but were cut.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a VPN for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

Adam's Rib (U - general audience)

Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: None
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: None
https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/13521
shaving/cutting
gun violence

Harold and Maude PG (the list reads a lot worse than it plays)

Sex & Nudity: Mild
Violence & Gore: Moderate - several "comical" fake suicides
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/9876
drug use
overdose
blood/gore
excessive gore
amputation
hand damaged
shaving/cutting
razors
stabbing
someone burned alive
drowning
hanging
asphyxiation
someone struggles to breathe
someone becomes unconscious
someone attempts suicide
someone dies by suicide
someone dies
major character dies
self harm
hospital scene
someone has a mental illness
PTSD
meltdown
screaming
sudden loud noises
car gorn / tire screech
car crash
obscene language/gestures
large age gap!
sexual content
someone sexually objectified?
religion discussed
existentialism discussed
gun violence
natural bodies of water

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/adams-rib/
letterboxd.com/film/harold-and-maude/

movie links (these may change):

• 4pm EST/ 9pm UTC Adam's Rib: https://tankie.tube/w/86YjsQuaTQCiqWyaM651PM
• 5:50pm EST/10:50 UTC Cat Steven's songs: https://tankie.tube/w/cFffXuyv9DbPts6TyzqFRU
• 6pm EST/ 11pm UTC Harold and Maude: https://tankie.tube/w/sJRXzmDVCtDNg3uyoVGDmw

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy.

Sambizanga

Domingos is a member of an African liberation movement, arrested by the Portuguese secret police, after the Feb 4 barracks attack in Angola, 1961. His wife goes from a prison station to another, trying in vain to find out where he is.

directed by Sarah Maldoror and written by Maldoror, Mário Pinto de Andrade, and Maurice Pons, based on the 1961 novella The Real Life of Domingos Xavier by working class sympathetic settler José Luandino Vieira.

Sambizanga was the first feature film produced in Angola and by any Lusophone African country. Maldoror was the first woman to make a feature film in Africa.[1]

This hits a lot of firsts, but for me, mainly, I’m surprised we didn’t show an Angolan film here

Les Orphelins De Sankara

Thomas Sankara came to power in Burkina Faso in 1983, with the promise of a revolutionary government that would transform the West African country. To help build the revolution, he sent 600 children — many orphans from rural areas — to be educated in Cuba. But after Sankara’s assassination, the children were stranded. The last would only return to Burkina Faso in 2005. SANKARA’S ORPHANS tells their stories through interviews with some of the 600, along with archival footage of their lives on Cuba’s Isle of Youth — where both Sankara and Fidel Castro came to visit. Along with their education, the children worked in the fields and received weapons training. This, combined with their idealism, frightened the new Burkina Faso regime, which worried they might return and take up arms

We’ll start at 4:30 PM EST on Blorptube, right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine
Be there, comrades!

Letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/sambizanga/
https://letterboxd.com/film/sankaras-orphans/

Doesthedogdie.com links:

https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/265848

CWs for the films (excluding spoilers?)

https://www.unconsentingmedia.org/
https://www.imdb.com/

Sambizanga:

Les Orphelins De Sankara

???? (nothing listed)

Sources for movies:

Sambizanga: https://tankie.tube/w/jnfYP8oCjW91k53xpY4aYL
Sankara’s Orphans: https://tankie.tube/w/ixBa3q7FaAwKGesfcm2yRV

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Today's Hairy Harmonies is the promised second of two parts (last week was the start). To contrast with last week's musical Hallelujah, this week we have The Emperor Jones. To contrast with Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, we have the musical remake, Sweet Charity.

The Emperor Jones (1933)

1h 16min 17sec, English with English subtitles
Directors Dudley Murphy & William C. de Mille

DuBose Heyward is best known for Porgy and Bess, but here we have an earlier work that turned Eugene O'Neill's stage play into a screen play. It stars the magnificent Paul Robeson before his most famous performance in Show Boat (which we'll show in a bit). He would later become an activist and if there's time, we'll have a few extras about him. The 'extras' in this piece include dancer Harold Nicholas (of the Nicholas Brothers) and singers Moms Mabley AND Billie Holiday!!! Also Rex Ingram (who played the Djinn in The Thief of Baghdad among other roles) and They don't get the screen time they deserve, but wow!

As in Hallelujah, this is a story written for and by white people about a black man who rises and falls. Of particular interest here is the parallel swamp scenes near the end of each.

Sweet Charity (1969)

2h 31min 2sec, English with English subtitles
Directed by Bob Fosse, Music by Cy Coleman & Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

The plot is the same as Nights of Cabiria, but with additional writing credits to Neil Simon and Tullio Pinelli. Instead of Cabiria, we have Charity, played by Shirley MacLaine, Ricardo Montalban as the suave star and John McMartin as the suitor -- but the real stars are the dance numbers by Fosse! Paula Kelly and Chita Rivera are marvelous as well as unmissable numbers with Sammy Davis Jr. and Ben Vereen, and with Stubby Kaye singing towards the end.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

The Emperor Jones (1933)

Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
from: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/149852
N-word
hate speech
gun violence
someone cheat
ghosts
anxiety attacks (?)

Sweet Charity (1969)

Sex & Nudity: Mild
Violence & Gore: None
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Moderate
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
from https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/214069
someone sexually objectified
someone leaves without saying goodbye
claustrophobic scenes
anxiety attacks
struggle to breathe
unconsciousness
natural bodies of water

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/emperor-jones-1933/
https://letterboxd.com/film/sweet-charity/

movie links:

• 4pm EST/ 21:00 UTC: https://tankie.tube/w/roirwHoM7mT85ACy5ZKGJQ
• 5:20pm EST/ 23:20pm UTC: https://tankie.tube/w/3jEgWZ1huWugH8kYfDLCKk

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Today's Hairy Harmonies is the first of two parts (the second to be shown next week). In this half, we see an initial film, and next week we'll see a later film that takes something from each of these. The theme of the set is 'becoming someone else'. In Hallelujah, our protagonist is 'lured' to evil, traumatized by it and tries to become a new man. In Nights of Cabiria, our protagonist is 'lured' from the 'evil' of prostitiution to the prospect of becoming a housewife.

Hallelujah (1929)

1h 39min 56sec English with optional English subtitles
Directed by King Vidor, Music by Irving Berlin

This is the first time the major studio musical with a black stars and cast members. It is VERY racist, but VERY interesting and contains memorable songs.

Bob Mondello explains,

In "silent" films, whites had mostly "played" black characters in blackface, a tradition Al Jolson brought to talkies when he sang "Mammy" in the The Jazz Singer. But Hallelujah was different. Black audiences could see and, for the first time, hear themselves on screen. That proved revelatory, even when the plots traded heavily in stereotypes.

Being an all-black film limited Hallelujah's box office prospects, but it did better than the studio expected, and established -- with a mix of music, down-home characters, and religion -- that the genre known as "race films" could make money for the big studios.

Nights of Cabiria (1957) Le notti di Cabiria

1h 58min 33sec, Italian with burned in English subtitles
Directed by Federico Fellini

1958 Winner Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world.

Janet Masil writes:

The star's prize-winning, heartbreaking performance, the story's allegorical resonance and Fellini's sweeping, soulful vision of a Roman prostitute's resilient humanity mark "Nights of Cabiria" as a cinematic masterpiece. Not coincidentally, "Nights of Cabiria" has been refurbished and revived by the same team (Bruce Goldstein of Film Forum and Mike Thomas) who brought back Godard's "Contempt" last year, and who display the same acumen in reissuing a film of special prescience. Though it was shot in black and white amid the stark poverty of postwar Italy, neither the style nor the searching of "Cabiria" has grown dated at all.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

Hallelujah (1929)

Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: None
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

Not reviewed on 'Dog Dies', but from memory:

RACISM
racial slurs
n-words
cheating
gun violence
religon discussed
somebody dies
character dies

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Sex & Nudity: Mild
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

from 'dogdies': Dometic abuse
Child Abuse
Gas Lighting

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/hallelujah/
https://letterboxd.com/film/nights-of-cabiria/

movie links:

• 4pm EST/ 9pm UTC: Hallelujah: https://tankie.tube/w/jwP3r5crDvm1SogQx8PVcG
• 6pm EST/ 11pm UTC: Cabiria: https://tankie.tube/w/oJsTfXyMGn9PPw7ioWaZtp

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Today's Hairy Harmonies are short and rather 'clean' (as far as content warnings go) despite the hairy issues of the era. We get to see films of prominent and vocal Artist-Activists from the era of U.S. civil rights. The first is about the person, muscian Nina Simone, and the second is first-hand conversation about the struggle and results as documented in film of author James Baldwin talking to his brother. Prior to both is a film on a third compatriot, drummer Max Roach documented in The Drum Also Waltzes.

What Happened Miss Simone (2015)

1h 42min 4sec, English with optional English subtitles
Directed by Liz Garbus

A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."

I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1982)

1h 32min 5sec, English with hard coded English subtitles
Directed by Dick Fontaine and Pat Hartley

Conversation with James Baldwin retracing his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and offering insight on the passage of more than two decades. Also featuring David Baldwin Jr. and David Baldwin.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

What Happened Miss Simone
Sex & Nudity: Mild
Profanity: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
Listed but not reviewed on 'dogdies' : https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/24528

I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Listed but not reviewed on both Imdb and 'dogdies' (https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/413956), but expect uncomfortable subjects and some 'offensive' language.

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/max-roach-the-drum-also-waltzes/
https://letterboxd.com/film/what-happened-miss-simone/
https://letterboxd.com/film/i-heard-it-through-the-grapevine/

movie links:

• (preshow 2:45pm EST/7:45pm UTC) Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes: https://tankie.tube/w/23Pw3hw3vrmRPtKuFafTDD
• 4pm EST /9pm UTC: What Happened Miss Simone: https://tankie.tube/w/1FPqLdHFtzPk8MxVR4MqiK
• 6pm EST /11pm UTC: I Heard It Through the Grape Vine: https://tankie.tube/w/heGGzg8ZBZjm1FbhVbGfRX
• Outro (2 minutes): https://tankie.tube/w/5J19msRJcQJCRmqTpjdmV7

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Today we'll have two films where the protagonist excels at work the larger society does not expect of them. Why unexpected? Because they are black men in a racist United States that holds unreasonably limited expectations.

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

2h 14min 50sec - English with hard-coded English subtitles
Directed by Spike Lee

Loosely based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, the film reimagines his real-life story of inflitrating the KKK. John David Washington stars as Stallworth, along with actors Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, and Harry Belafonte's last performance before his death in April 2023.

American Fiction (2023)

1h 56min 59sec - English with hard-coded English subtitles
Directed by Cord Jefferson

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. More than that, the film juxtaposes the lives of urban mythology with the novelist's own family life where the issues are no less 'real' nor less painful for being outside the ghetto steotype.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC with no delay -- right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

-- some violence and a lot of racism / n-word use in both films --

BlacKkKlansman
Sex & Nudity: Mild
Violence & Gore: Moderate
Profanity: Severe
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Moderate

from: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/15912
drug use
sexual content
sexual assault (groping, etc., but not penetration)
r*pe mentioned
someone sexually objectified
someone watched without knowing
someone resrtained
someone tortured
finger/toe mutilation? (described)
someone burned alive
someone dies
religion discussed
obscene language/gestures
ableist language or behavior
hate speech
blackface
r-slur used
homophobic slurs
antisemitism
n-word
sudden loud noises
screaming
copaganda
incarceration
car crash
car honk / tires screech
someone hit by a car
gun violence
natural bodies of water

American Fiction
Sex & Nudity: Mild
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: Severe
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Moderate
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

from: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1069167
someone has a chronic illness
dementia/Alzheimer's
heart attack
someone struggles to breathe
somone becomes unconcious
someone dies
major character dies
family member dies
parent dies
someone dies by suicide
hospital scene
someone leaves without saying goodbye
gaslighting
alcohol abuse
drug abuse
someone drugged
r*pe mentioned
natural bodies of water
cheating
bisexual cheating
dissociation, depersonalization, or derealization
someone has a mental illness
obscene language/gestures
homophobic slurs
n-word
screaming
minority is misrepresented (it is the plot)
blood/gore
gun violence

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/blackkklansman/
https://letterboxd.com/film/american-fiction/

movie links:

• 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC : https://tankie.tube/w/dDCtD982WeVEMqy1AcdiBa
• 6:20pm EST/11:30pm UTC: https://tankie.tube/w/4LcB42bQJCZUaZ6D92bTYs

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Today we'll have two films where the classic dumb blonde must do as her man says. Feel free to get annoyed both about the premise and the way the films resolve, but come see two of the keystone films that cemented the 'dumb blonde bombshell' into pop culture.

Pre-show: John Waters reminisces about why he loves 'The Girl Can't Help It' (20 minute youtube short)

The Girl Can't Help It (1956)

1:37:36 - English with hard-coded English subtitles

Jayne Mansfield, 'the smartest dumb blonde in Hollywood', is the eye candy in this story of a gangster who wants his moll to be a singer. Uhg! Fortunately, there are lots of actual singers and musicians to entertain despite the premise.

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayne_Mansfield

Mansfield undertook her first starring film role as Jerri Jordan in Frank Tashlin's The Girl Can't Help It (1956). Originally titled Do-Re-Mi, it featured a high-profile cast of contemporary rock and roll and R&B artists, including Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, The Platters, and Little Richard. Released in December 1956, The Girl Can't Help It became one of the year's biggest successes, both critically and financially, earning more than Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had three years before.

Note director Frank Tashlin's other work, including Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

Born Yesterday (1950)

1:42:17 - English with hard-coded English subtitles

Winner for Best Actress in both The Academy Awards and Golden Globe, Judy Holliday plays Billie, girlfriend to corrupt junk mogul Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford) who comes to Washington, D.C., to "buy" a congressman. When his girl embarrasses him socially, Harry hires journalist Paul Verrall (William Holden) to educate her.

Note director George Cukor's other work including The Philadelphia Story and My Fair Lady.

We'll be blorping at 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC right here:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Remember: everyone should use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

The Girl Can't Help It
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: None
Listed but not rated on 'dogdies': https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/33534

Born Yesterday
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: None

from: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/78622
domestic violence
woman slapped
drinking
smoking

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/born-yesterday/
https://letterboxd.com/film/the-girl-cant-help-it/

movie links:

• 4:00pm EST/9:00pm UTC: Pre-show short: https://tankie.tube/w/oh7wVZLj2fRgDxLpsNngpN
• 4:20pm EST/9:20pm UTC: The Girl Can't Help It @ 4:20: https://tankie.tube/w/pEuRbpWj2X9PuVzkk38UNB
• 6:00pm EST/11:00pm UTC: Born Yesterday: https://tankie.tube/w/jwfcB78V4HnfRgMF2xp15z

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

Since we recently watched a film where people talked about 'The King & I', we kinda need to see what all the fuss is about, so for today's Hairy Harmonies we have TWO films about Thailand (then Siam) around the reign of Mongkut, the fourth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868 at age 63.

The Siam Renaissance/Tawipop/ ทวิภพ (2004)

2h 23min 17sec
Thai/French/English with hardcoded English subtitles EXCEPT for the English dialog.

This movie was the 2nd adaptation of the 1986 source novel, Thawiphop. While not a commercial success (perhaps it'd have done better if they'd cut out 1/2 hour of lingering on the star), it is noted for sparking modern interest in discussing Thai idedity. Synopsis: Maneechan, a diplomat investigating recently uncovered documents in France concerning ancient Thailand, learns the story behind them first-hand as she travels back in time through a mirror.

The King and I (1956)

2h 13min 14sec
English with English subtitles

The 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon was based on memoirs written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. Leonowens' stories were autobiographical, although various elements of them have been called into question. From this, we get a Rogers and Hammerstein musical! Plus, there's Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, and Yul Brynner! Wow!

Because these flicks are sooo long, we will be using Blorptube at 3:00pm EST/8:00pm UTC:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

... but if you skip the first 1/2 hour of Tawipop, we can sum up the start for late-comers very quickly.

It is recommended to use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

The Siam Renaissance
Listed but not reviewed on IMDB nor 'dogdies': https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/196838

From memory, it has:
unhinged reality
someone watched without knowing
restraint? (made to be a 'guest')
natural bodies of water

The King and I
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild
from: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/24048
someone dies
major character dies
family member dies
parent dies
someone restrained
someone 'kidnapped' (concubines -- not willing?)
anxiety attack

letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-siam-renaissance/
https://letterboxd.com/film/the-king-and-i/

movie links:

3pm EST/8pm UTC: The Siam Renaissance: https://tankie.tube/w/uwza1PJFXAEtVTZar5LFP2
5:30 EST/10:30 UTC: The King and I: https://tankie.tube/w/ts17i8rDNPz5CC5A9MUSGi

blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

※Remember to turn on your VPN and make sure you have a Hexbear account.

What's the chef cookin' tonight?

Kill Buljo (Action, Adventure, and Comedy 1h 33m -- and NOT for kids). Full summary and details here: https://hexbear.net/post/7187097

Excerpt:

In the summer of 2004, Tommy Wirkola and his friends made a short film called "Kill Buljo". They got the idea for the short film when they were in the local video rental store and started talking about how it would be fun to make a Northern Norwegian parody of Kill Bill. And so they met up to shoot the whole short film in one day, and edited it over the course of half an hour.

Synopsis:
Jompa Tormann and his guests and family are brutally gunned down during an engagement party. Sami- and women-hating police officer Sid Wisløff is put on the case. Together with his colleague and a Sami guide, Wisløff tries to find the guilty party, but Tormann survived and he wants revenge!

The movie will be followed by a special NYE short handcrafted by the evening's temporarily absent, but with us in spirit host, @Erika3sis@hexbear.net !

Content warnings and accessibility

Audio description: Not available.

Sign language: Not available.

Language of audio: Norwegian.

Captions: English.

Content warnings:

Sex & Nudity: Severe
Violence & Gore: Severe
Profanity: Moderate
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Severe
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

• The dog dies!
• pets die
• animals die
• dead animals
• animals abused
• non-human characters die
• people die
• family members die
• kid dies (offscreen)
• audio gore
• shakey cam
• domestic violence
• child abused
• someone beaten up by a bully
• child abandoned by a parent
• gaslighting
• minority is misrepresented : Sámi people
• sexual content
• someone sexually objectified
• someone sexually assaulted onscreen
• someone lose their virginity? (debateable)
• large age gap (two men and cop)
• obscene language/gestures
• hate speech
• jokes about sexual assault on men
• "Man in a dress" jokes
• homophobic slurs
• n-word
• r-slur
• ableist language or behavior «Mongolid» A disabled cop who appears to be on the spectrum is mistreated
• fat jokes
• excessive gore
• body horror
• blood/gore
• eye mutilation
• genital trauma/mutilation
• torture
• finger/toe mutilation
• head squashed
• broken bones
• amputation
• someone falls to their death
• someone buried alive
• someone crushed to death
• drowning
• shaving/cutting
• someone restrained
• someone struggles to breathe
• someone becomes unconscious
• someone asphyxiates
• someone held under water
• someone wets themselves
• abused becomes the abuser
• someone have a chronic illness
• someone suffers from PTSD
• addiction
• alcohol abuse
• someone has a seizure
• claustrophobic scene
• hospital scene
• someone watched without knowing
• stalking
• someone kidnapped

Links to flicks:

• Kill Buljo → https://tankie.tube/w/jHzqfEw4TA2cFMLf9kCubc
• "A Blorpy New Year" NYE special → https://tankie.tube/w/uxnq2ckniBRy5So6X4jx2h

♫ Uniting nations at the speeeed of liiiiight ♫
[epic sax solo]
♫ Station of the '20s — TV☆3SIS! ♫>

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120

To end the year, we have two tales of a planet wrecked by humans, and the astronauts (comsmonauts) trying to do damage control.

Silent Running

(1972) English with English subtitles: 1h 26min 29sec

Bruce Dern is an astronaut on a greenhouse spaceship carrying the last of Earth's plant samples.
side note: Director Douglas Trumbull previously worked with Kubrick on special effects for 2001.

U Are the Universe / Ти – Космос

(2024) Ukranian with English subtitles: 1h 41min 48sec

Ukrainian space trucker Andriy is hauling radioactive waste off-planet when the world suddenly and unexpectedly ends.

We will be using Blorptube at 4:30pm EST/9:30pm UTC:
https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

It is recommended to use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Content Warnings:

Silent Running (Rated G)

Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: Mild
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: None
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

'dogdies' does not mention it, but one could reasonably say that several major characters die
Explosions
(Nuclear?) Explosions
Animals kinda die
Kinda hopsital-ish scene
Blood
Suicide
Car-ish crash hits character

U Are the Universe (Ukranian)

Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: Moderate
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

from 'dogdies':
someone dies by suicide (off screen, kinda)
shaving/cutting (safe, normal shaving with electric razor)
non-human character 'dies' (robot turned off)
someone asphyxiates (off screen)
someone dies
family member dies
parent dies
major character dies
someone sacrifices themselves
screaming
shower scene
nuclear explosion
someone has a meltdown
someone becomes unconscious
someone leaves without saying goodbye

letterboxd:

• https://letterboxd.com/film/silent-running/
• https://letterboxd.com/film/u-are-the-universe/

movie links:

• 4:30pm EST/9:30pm UTC: Silent Running: https://tankie.tube/w/rtr9pSCNEBzQvgVFjFjYJa
• 6:00pm EST/11:00pm UTC: U Are the Universe: https://tankie.tube/w/aTmz5oxqk1aaamqEn1LJwt

Extra note: On Wednesday, New Year's Eve, the early show will include a handcrafted short from @Erika3sis@hexbear.net explicitly for us on the occasion of the end of 2025. For us and by us, you'll want to tune in Wednesday. See also the details for the early Wednesday movie, Kill Buljo, and the Sámi culture/people over here: https://hexbear.net/post/7187097

[I don't see any announcement for anything before the late show, so if we don't get a lemmy movie, we'lldo community choice! As a backup, we might watch the highest grossing Russian language kids flick of all time:

https://letterboxd.com/film/youth-2017-1/

Youth 2017 芳华

Directed by Feng Xiaogang

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120?scrollToComments=false

We will be using Blorptube at 5:00pm EST/10:00pm UTC:

https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

It is recommended to use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube. ](https://letterboxd.com/film/youth-2017-1/)

Happy (belated) Solstice! There's no music this week, but THREE films starting extra-early in case people are on vacation and looking for a distraction. The films shall be: The Snow Queen (1967) Снежная королева -- this is the live-action version, NOT the animation, which has already been shown -- followed by Old Man Khottabych/Flying Carpet (1956) Старик Хоттабыч, then Bell Book and Candle (1958). These are all magical movies. The first two are geared for kids and the last geared for adults that want some fantasy. Why these films? Because even though Solstice is simply the point at which Earth's axial tilt is pointed directly towards the sun (in the north or south depending on if it is summer or winter solstice) the 'pagan' associations with the event make it a lovely time for flicks with magic and magical creatures.

IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a VPN whenever visiting Blorptube, or anywhere else on the internet, for that matter. Protect your privacy. You can read more about Peertube and potential security concerns here: https://hexbear.net/post/3471120?scrollToComments=false

We will be using Blorptube at 3:00pm EST/8:00pm UTC:

https://blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

It is recommended to use a vpn for blorptube and any peertube.

Matrices for blorptube:
https://matrix.to/#/#visual_cuisine:matrix.org | https://matrix.to/#/#blorptube:matrix.org

Details and CWs for each:

Снежная королева

The Snow Queen (1967) 1h 19min 37sec

Synopsis: An adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen".

Content Warnings: no ratings from 'dogdies'
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: None
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

Старик Хоттабыч

Flying Carpet/Old Man Khottabych (1956) 1h 20min 53sec

Synopsis: A boy finds a special jug and releases an ancient genie. The powerful and kind wizard is ready to fulfill all desires, but he doesn't know anything about the reality of the 20th century.

Content Warnings: no ratings from 'dogdies'
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: Mild
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: None
Frightening & Intense Scenes: Mild

Bell Book and Candle

** (1958) 1h 42min 3sec**

Synopsis: Before "Bewitched", there was this wholesome movie about a witch. A modern-day witch likes her neighbor but despises his fiancée, so she enchants him to love her instead.

Content Warnings:
Sex & Nudity: None
Violence & Gore: None
Profanity: None
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: None

from https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/8871 :

animals harmed in the making: According to IMDb entry, staff intentionally frightened and provoked one of the more docile Siamese cats. The effects of the abuse never left the cat.

animals abused: cat was handled at times, such as being shaken a bit too firmly or harassed with a broom. In one sequence it it forced into a small trash can and held in there by a piece of wood over the top. We hear it meow in upset.

dead animal?: Not really. Not on screen. Just fake ingredients for spells.

Letterboxd:

• https://letterboxd.com/film/the-snow-queen-1967/
• https://letterboxd.com/film/old-man-khottabych/
• https://letterboxd.com/film/bell-book-and-candle/

Links to films:

• 3pm: Snow Queen : https://tankie.tube/w/oMyLXvS5oF3tEBJ9Qg6WE5
• 4:30: Flying Carpet: https://tankie.tube/w/sxyjExjWJMTkbbhgJGJTwj
• 6pm: Bell Book and Candle: https://tankie.tube/w/91DWQmKFJ1oRUCe9xZtz3x