#beastsofnonation

[muthur9000]

Born only child of African immigrants to England. His father was from Sierra Leone and his mother was from Ghana. His name is of Krio African origin. Has no formal acting training and DJ's under the name "Big Driis the Londoner". He broke a land speed record, drove a dragster, and piloted an airplane in his miniseries Idris Elba: No Limits (2015). An avid rally fan, he competed in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship as well as starred in the miniseries, where he races a rally car with help from Ari Vatanen. He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama. He is an actor in London, England. Elba appeared in Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007) and Prometheus (2012), Thor(2011) and its sequels Thor: The Dark World(2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also starred in Pacific Rim (2013), Beasts of No Nation (2015), for which he received BAFTA and Golden Globenominations for Best Supporting Actor and Molly's Game (2017). In 2016, he voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia, Shere Khan in the live action/CGI adaptation of The Jungle Book, Fluke in Finding Dory and played the role of Krall in Star Trek Beyond. He will make his directorial debut with an adaptation of the 1992 novel Yardie by Victor Headley. Thank you for your sacrifice Captain Janek. "Where the hell you going, doc? You know what this place is? Those Engineers, this ain't their home. It's an installation. Maybe even military. They put it out here in the middle of nowhere because they're not stupid enough to make weapons of mass destruction on their own doorstep. That's what all that shit is in those vases. They made it here. It got out, turned on them. The end. It's time for us to go home." #startrek #captainjanek #stackerpentacost #idriselba #prometheus #pacificrim #startrekbeyond #thor #thedarkworld #Ragnarok #thedarktower #mollysgame #ageofultron #beastsofnonation #infinitywar https://www.instagram.com/p/BnYaRsFHZqs/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1godilz4a6xi8

[subwaybookreview]

Yizhi: "I opened the first page and saw this dedication: 'For Those Who Have Suffered'. I was moved by this sentence. I'm not sure why. One day, I hope I can do something big for people. Now, I do what I can—even if it's a small act, like buying people on the street pizza or fried chicken." @yizhi__w #BeastsOfNoNation #UzodinmaIweala #repost / @theubc for #subwaybookreview #newyork 🗽 (at Fulton Street)

[harperbooks]

We put him to work today (oh, just 300+ books to sign 😳), but @uiweala still mustered up a smile for this picture 😆 We can’t wait for everyone to read #SpeakNoEvil, on sale 3/6! . . #weloveourauthors #indienext #igreads #beastsofnonation #publishing

[harperbooks]

Congratulations to our wonderful author @uiweala! His upcoming novel #SpeakNoEvil is a March Indie Next pick! 👏👏👏 @shteyngart calls it “a lovely slender volume that packs in entire worlds with complete mastery.” . . #indienext #indiebound #thankyoubooksellers #uzodinmaiweala #beastsofnonation #IGreads

[harperbooks]

Starred reviews are in for Speak No Evil (on sale 3/6), the upcoming sophomore novel from @uiweala, author of the critically-acclaimed Beasts of No Nation!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “An essential American story” (#booklist), a “moving, powerful story” (#publishersweekly), “Highly recommended” (#libraryjournal)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ . . #uzodinmaiweala #speaknoevil #beastsofnonation #igreads #bookstagram

[thewritermuses]

Beasts Of No Nation

Beasts Of No Nation - Cary Joji Fukunaga

Beasts of No Nation has some major structural flaws, but it is still a fantastic film. We follow Agu, Abraham Attah (Spider-Man: Homecoming & Tasmanian Devil), as he is forced from a contented childhood into the life of a child-soldier.

Once he becomes a soldier, his story is intertwined with that of his Commandant, Idris Elba (The Wire & Luther). These dual storylines are what cause the biggest problem for the film.

Agu is our hero, but there is no crisis for his storyline.

While his fate is tied to the Commandant's, the crisis faced by their leader is not faced by Agu. Agu has no agency at this part of the film. The downbeat in the film is entirely the Commandant's.

The setup at the start of the film gives you no idea of what is coming. We get to meet all his family and learn a little about their trials and goals.

While all of the opening scenes feel like separate glimpses of life, we learn that they are all interconnected.

The film captures these kids' childhoods so well at the start. We get to see this again after the first combat action is over. Agu has just been forced to commit atrocities.

But life resumes, they are kids, and they return to playing. They have to hunt for their food.

This juxtaposition of utter mundanity and brutal atrocity is something else to watch.

There is a terrible section where we begin to suspect, but are not sure, that the Commandant is molesting one of the children. Then Agu is selected. 

It is a great choice by the filmmakers not to show this scene. We get to see the impact that it has on Agu, which is heartbreaking.

We are also left guessing, but not really - something happened in there that seriously messed him up, and what else could it be after all that he has seen.

Agu has an internal monologue throughout the film, and it is excellent. We gain insight into what he is thinking as terror surrounds him. 

One of the most powerful of these is after they take a town and his comrades are raping a lady, he thinks: God, do you see what we are doing?

A close second is after they have surrendered to the UN, and a councillor is trying to get him to talk. The whole internal speech here is on another level - it is one of the best things ever put to film.

At the end of it, he stares blankly into the lady's face and thinks: I have been to war, and she doesn't know what war is.

The speed at which the opening develops is great. Agu's friendship with one of the other kids is touching.

There are some crazy hallucinations where they get him high as they go into battle. The pathetic downfall of Commandant at the end is a stark contrast to the power he had at the beginning. Overall, it's a great film.

[bsides-n-rarities-n-dope-music]

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Egypt 80 - Beasts Of No Nation

Live at the Zenith, Paris in 1984

[geek-ramblings]

Box Office Buz: DVD and Blu-ray releases for August 31, 2021

Well if you are like me, the extreme heat is driving you indoors to watch more movies! We kick off this last week in August with In the Heights. Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) is a bodega owner in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, on the northern tip of Manhattan. He takes care of his neighbors, pines for a local girl and dreams of winning the lottery and escaping to his native Dominican Republic to start a better life. But as Usnavi and the rest of the inhabitants of Washington Heights learn, sometimes you have to learn to appreciate what you have and where you live.