Seriously, they've been romanticized so much in our culture(Pirates of the Carribean, Vikings TV show) even though all they've been are infamous pillagers, rapists, and thieves.
If not.. read it!
Easily one of the best books I've read.
If you're on familiar with Jon Roberts, he's one of the guys in the Cocaine Cowboys documentary. Huge smuggler in the 80's, but he talks alot about his early life in the Mafia.
His dad was a member of the Gambino's, which soon after Jon joined up with. Talks about encounters with various mobsters inc. John Gotti and such.
There is some "Writers Licence" obviously, but honestly I couldn't care less, it's a fucking solid book start to finish.
READ IT!
Pretty sure this will be my next audiobook. Any reviews of the narrator. The book seems great with rave reviews.
You can read this whole thing on my blog as well, It's the same article, just looks better here.
Like most film fans I enjoy reading a lot of reviews not just for finding a worthwhile movie to watch but also to gain some insight and look into different perspectives on films that I find interesting. I especially like reading reviews of films from the past to see how assessments back then measure up to how the film is viewed right now and to see if similar assessments of the directors of those films and predictions regarding their careers have aged well. We all know about how certain movies like The Thing or Blade Runner were poorly received during their time only to become highly influential movies within their genre later on but it’s even more fascinating to read exactly why these movies were panned and what lead to their reassessment. So with that in mind, I would like to talk about 5 reviews that I found very fun to read with the benefit of hindsight.
Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema.
Andrew Sarris is considered a titan in film criticism. Credited with popularising the auteur theory in the United States, Sarris wrote the highly influential book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 in which he assessed various films and directors of the sound era up to that point. One of the most fascinating parts of his book is this excerpt on Francis Ford Coppola.
>Francis Ford Coppola is probably the first reasonably talented and sensibly adaptable directorial talent to emerge from a University curriculum in film-making. You’re A Big Boy Now seemed remarkably eclectic even under the circumstances. If the direction of Nichols on The Graduate has an edge on Coppola’s for Big Boy, it is that Nichols borrows only from good movies whereas Coppola occasionally borrows from bad ones. Curiously, Coppola seems infinitely more merciful to his grotesques than does-anything-for-an-effect Nichols. Coppola may be heard from more decisively in the future.
To give you some context, Mike Nichols had just come off two back-to-back critical and commercial megahits in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate both of which combined had 20 Oscar nominations and 6 wins including one best director win for Mike Nichols. While on the other hand the films Coppola had made at that point weren’t particularly successful critically or commercially and
... keep reading on reddit ➡[Agents Of
... keep reading on reddit ➡What's crazy in the whole conversation about Mexican drug cartels is the lack of deserved emphasis on US government involvement in the formation of drug trafficking networks that established what we know as the Mexican Cartels. This is what led to the violence in Mexico today with Mexican cities taking up all top five spots in the rank of cities with highest murder rate in the world where they are not officially at war.
Where do we even begin? US government involvement in Mexican affairs goes far back most notably following the 1911 Mexican Revolution with the right wing coup d'état and assassination of the democratically elected Mexican President Francisco Madero in 1913 with the support of US ambassador to Mexico Henry Lane Wilson. But we don't have to go that far.
Let's start off in July 2, 1975 with the arrest by Mexican police of Alberto Sicilia Falcon who was then the world leader in cocaine and marijuana trafficking earning $3.6 million a week, which was really big back then. Apparently he wasn't Mexican, but rather Cuban. He told his interrogators that he was trained in Fort Jackson in a secret war against Fidel Castro helping move weapons to certain groups in Central America in exchange for his movement of drugs. Funny enough, Falcon would escape from Lecumberri prison in 1976 in much the same way and with as much fanfare as Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán 40 years later - through a lit tunnel from his cell. Too bad Falcon was captured three days later and was transferred to a maximum security prison known as Las Palmas till 1999. It's been reported somewhere in the interwebs that he died of a stroke in 2011.
So what happened after Falcon was arrested? He was reported to have been able to manage his drug empire from prison, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as effective as much as if he was free. So who filled his position? Well let's examine the time period. This is 1975. Prior to this, Mexico wasn't as relevant in the international drug trade as she would later become. It was the "French Connection" that dominated the drug domain with Corsican and Sicilian mafias running heroin from Indochina and Turkey to be processed in Marseilles and transshipped via Canada. This network formed around World War II following US intelligence recruiting of American Mafia figures. It started with Operation Underworld where Naval Intelligence recruited the likes of Charles "Lucky" Luciano to protect the American northeastern seaboards from Nazi sabotage. His contacts also
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hello all!
My name is T and I am a part time board game designer. I have a few designs sold and one game published. I’ve been working on one particular idea for several years now. That idea is GM, where you are the General Manager of a fictional American football team.
I’d like to give a brief overview of the game here and then get the opinions of some of the Madden faithful on if they’d ever like to take beloved Franchise mode to the gaming table.
Overview GM is collection set game where you are attempting to field the best team to beat other player teams and the AI deck during the regular season and playoffs.
To start, each player may select a fictional team or all may be dealt randomly. Teams are flavor only, giving a name, a city and a single ability. Each team has an owner however and each owner has a “Wallet” rating. This rating means that your Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator and Special Staff cannot go over a certain amount.
Example Austin Desperados
- Owner: Rafael Guzman
- Wallet: $27
- Ability: Special Staff do not count toward your Wallet.
There are events and actions you can take that will change their Wallet rating.
In the Standard Game, each player is dealt 17 cards at game beginning and they can decide. A player has a name, position, skill level, potential level and scheme.
Here’s an example
Mark Wilson, CB Skill - 3 Potential - 7 Scheme - Man Coverage
The Skill is shown as a colored in star, potential is an empty star.
Do you draft a player with high skill but not much potential for future growth, or take a guy who can grow into a future HOFer?
Any time your team’s scheme is more than 50% your entire team gets a skill boost of +5 for being in sync. So do you draft the best player available, or the pieces you need to make a cohesive unit?
After you’re dealt the 17 cards you’ll decide who to pay and who to cut. A player is paid by simply taking their Skill level and paying them $1 per year. You can put them on a 1, 2 or 3 year contract. Each player starts with $30 of cap space per year, in small cardboard chits indicating which year those dollars are from.
Any backup players you have go into a face down pile and make up your Special Teamers. They do not require pay. Kickers are the only players not on Offense or Defense and must be paid at their Skill rating cut in half rounded down.
The Draft Now you’ve got your squad and you know where your weaknesses are, it’s time for the Draft. You will d
... keep reading on reddit ➡Do your worst!
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
They’re on standbi
DDT: NEVERMIND 2021
Date/Time: Dec 26, 1500 JP/1 AM EST
Major Match(es):
KO-D Openweight Championship ~ (c) Konosuke Takeshita vs Yuji Okabayashi
DDT Universal Championship ~ (c) Daisuke Sasaki vs Masahiro Takanashi
Minoru Suzuki returns to DDT to team with Maki Itoh and Chris Brookes!
__
Dragon Gate: The Final Gate
Date/Time: Dec 26, 1700 JP/3 AM EST
Major Match(es):
Open the Dream Gate Championship ~ (c) YAMATO vs KAI
__
Stardom: Stardom Dream Queendom
Date/Time: Dec 29, 1700 JP/3 AM EST
Major Match(es):
World of Stardom Championship & SWA World Championship - No Time Limit ~ (World) Utami Hayashita vs (SWA) Syuri
Wonder of Stardom Championship ~ (c) Tam Nakano vs Saya Kamitani
Giulia vs Konami - Giulia's return match and Konami's final match before going on hiatus
__
OZ Academy: 25th Anniversary of OZ Academy ~ I see the light ~
Date/Time: Dec 30, 1130 JP/Dec 29, 9:30 PM EST
Major Match(es):
OZ Academy Openweight Championship ~ (c) Maya Yukihi vs Yuu
__
GCW: Til Infinity
Date/Time: Dec 31, 8 PM EST/Jan 1, 1000 JP
Major Match(es):
Allie Katch vs Charli Evans
PCO vs Unannounced
__
Zero1: Happy New Year (Show will air on wrestle-universe for NOAH fans)
Date/Time: Jan 1, 1130 JP/Dec 31, 9:30 PM EST
Major Match(es):
Zero1 World Heavyweight Championship ~ (c) Takashi Sugiura vs Masato Tanaka
__
NOAH: NOAH The New Year
Date/Time: Jan 1, 1600 JP/2 AM EST
Major Match(es):
GHC Heavyweight Championship ~ (c) Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Go Shiozaki
GHC National Championship ~ (c) Kenoh vs Kaito Kiyomiya
GHC Tag Team Championship ~ (c) M's Alliance (Naomichi Marufuji & Keiji Mutoh) vs M's Alliance (Masato Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki)
KENTA returns to NOAH to reunite with No Mercy partner Takashi Sugiura and Sugiura's current partner Kazushi Sakuraba
__
WWE: Day 1
Date/Time: Jan 1, 8 PM EST/Jan 2, 1000 JP
Major Match(es):
WWE Universal Championship ~ (c) Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way ~ (c) Big E vs Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley
Raw Women's Championship ~ (c) Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan
Edge vs The Miz
__
GCW: Die 4 This
Date/Time: Jan 1, 8 PM EST/Jan 2, 1000 JP
Major Match(es):
GCW Tag Team Championship ~ (c) The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs Alex Zayne & Blake Christian
GCW Ultraviolent Championship Deathmatch ~ (c) Alex Colon vs John Wayne Murdoch
__
AJPW: New Year Wars [Night 1]
Date/Time Jan 2, 1130 JP/Jan 1, 9:30 PM EST
Major Match(es):
Triple
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Pilot on me!!
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
With the G1 underway, this is always a time when people unfamiliar with New Japan Pro Wrestling get their eyes drawn to company. Especially lately, for a myriad of reasons, there may be a lot of people who have been largely unfamiliar with the recent status of the lion's den.
As such, I thought I'd make this little guide to one of the systems deep at the core of New Japan, its factions, and the stories behind them. (As well as give a little one-line intro to each wrestler within them.) Hoping this will make getting into (or back into) New Japan during one of the best periods of its calendar year all the easier.
At its core, New Japan is split into multiple factions which each have a place in determining where wrestlers fall on the face/heel spectrum, their ideals etc. They will almost always tag together and rarely ever fight each other. So let's break it down, starting with the most recognisable:
##Bullet Club
The one you're most likely to know if you've seen any wrestling merch, Bullet Club is the most distinctly heel faction of New Japan, and was created by Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) alongside Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga to be a home for foreigners to New Japan.
They've had multiple incarnations, each one symbolic of their leader at the time.
Devitt's Bullet Club was a group of rebellious gaijin misfits who wanted to break the traditions of the company and introduce a more western sense of wrestling to New Japan.
AJ Styles' Bullet Club was a glory seeking BC. Rich with titles, and they became iconic for it, growing into the globally reaching brand you know today.
Kenny Omega's Bullet Club was one that wanted to revolutionise wrestling itself, and focused on major individual achievement, merch sales and crowd-pleasing matches, which made this the only time in which Bullet Club ever felt like more of a tweener faction, getting cheers from audiences. However, many BC members from the older days took issue with this, which led to a civil war in the faction that ultimately split The Elite from the BC. Which leads us to....
Jay White's Bullet Club, the current, "cutthroat" incarnation of Bullet Club, with the group being by far at its most heelish since its inception. With these guys, expect dirty tactics, interference and general shitcannery.
There was a bit of a mix-up in BC this last year during the pandemic; since almost all of the faction was stuck in the west when the pandemic hit, EVIL ended up sho
... keep reading on reddit ➡I won't be doing that today!
When I got home, they were still there.
You take away their little brooms
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
There hasn't been a post all year!
It’s pronounced “Noel.”
It really does, I swear!
After all his first name is No-vac
Let me start by saying thank you again for following along with Mrs. Lady Zedd and I - we’d have done the 600 anyway (that’s just like us) but it wouldn’t have been near as much fun without you. If you haven’t already - Help Us Decide 2022 - I love a good poll.
For some reason, I thought typing the list out and giving some interesting ways to data-mine would be a quick, easy way to highlight the Movie Algorithm Project’s value and utility. By the time I’d worked out it wasn’t going to be quick I’d gone too far to quit (ha!) At any rate, in lieu of the end of month report, I present 2021’s Viewings in MAP order;
Best to Worst MAP Results
((95-100 - Exceptional))
99.95 - The Big Lebowski (1998)
99.86 - Harold and Maude (1971)
99.85 - The French Dispatch (2021)
99.78 - Avanti! (1972)
99.77 - The Goonies (1985)
99.74 - Pete Smalls is Dead (2010)
99.72 - The Empire Strikes Back, Unaltered (1980)
99.60 - Willy Wonka (1971)
99.60 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
99.44 - Star Trek II, Director’s Cut (1982)
99.43 - Popeye (1980)
99.36 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
99.26 - Star Wars, Unaltered (1977)
99.25 - The Princess Bride (1987)
99.24 - The Secret of NIMH (1982)
99.14 - Defending Your Life (1991)
99.11 - McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
98.96 - Pirate Radio (2009)
98.92 - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
98.92 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Director’s Cut (1977)
98.89 - Funny Farm (1998)
98.85 - The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)
98.79 - Star Trek II, Theatrical Release (1982)
98.76 - Brewster McCloud (1970)
98.49 - Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
98.45 - Return of the Jedi (1983)
98.43 - My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
98.32 - The Rescuers (1977)
98.21 - Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
98.14 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
97.98 - Babette’s Feast (1987)
97.97 - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
97.90 - 3 Women (1977)
97.85 - Mulholland Drive (2001)
97.83 - Spirited Away (2001)
97.71 - Excalibur (1981)
97.42 - The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
97.30 - Starman (1984)
97.09 - The Dark Crystal (1982)
97.07 - The Out of Towners (1970)
97.04 - Howl’s Moving Castle (2094)
97.00 - Midsommar (2019)
96.95 - Hot Rod (2007)
96.80 - The Shape of Water (2017)
96.47 - Ponya (2008)
96.47 - Kirikou and the Men and Women (2012)
96.20 -
... keep reading on reddit ➡What, then, is Chinese rap?
Edit:
Notable mentions from the comments:
-
Spanish/Swedish/Swiss/Serbian hits
-
French/Finnish art
-
Country/Canadian rap
-
Chinese/Country/Canadian rock
-
Turkish/Tunisian/Taiwanese rap
Ive read plently. Just trying to read some I might have missed.
