s.
The Dark Universe was set to launch with 2017’s Tom Cruise-starrer The Mummy, followed by a Bride of Frankenstein film with Angelina Jolie in the titular role and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s monster. A pre-scandal Johnny Depp was even cast as the Invisible Man.
Unfortunately, Universal stumbled on their first outing, with The Mummy considered a critical and commercial flop. Since those inauspicious beginnings, the Dark Universe has gone … well, dark. Now though, new plans for a rebooted DU are in the works. Blumhouse is planning a scarier, lower budget version of the Invisible Man sans Johnny Depp but with Leigh Whannell (Insidious 3).
That’s all well and good, but I’m far more interested in this Mummy reboot pitched by Lexi Alexander (Punisher: War Zone). Alexander, who is Palestinian and German, has long been a vocal proponent of diversity in film, especially with regards to characters of Middle Eastern descent. The small part of her pitch she revealed on Twitter takes on the West’s pillaging of ancient artifacts and art in the Middle East.
Here is a little peek into my pitch…as you can tell, this will obviously never get made…LOL pic.twitter.com/GVPSYpSoPQ
— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) February 11, 2019
Umm … holy crap this looks awesome? A vengeful mummy with an anti-Orientalist bent? Shut up and take my money. A female perspective would also be welcome to franchise, as (in my opinion) the biggest mistake of The Mummy was centering the story on Tom Cruise’s lackluster white savior over Sofia Boutella’s infinitely more interesting Ahmanet.
While Alexander doesn’t seem to think her pitch will fly, I’m hoping that Universal decides to embrace her political, relevant take on the subject matter. After all, The Mummy was a failure of vision: a thousand studio notes shuffled into a film that pleased no one. Alexander has the vision and the talent to make this project sing. So give her a chance, you cowards.
(via /Film, image: Universal Pictures)
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Have a tip we should know? [email protected]Gov. Rick Perry is spending more on TV ads in Iowa than any other GOP presidential candidate by a large margin.
Perry's campaign in December alone bought nearly $3 million in commercial time according to the Des Moines Register
A super political action committee run separately by Perry supporters spent another $1.33 million.
Yet the ads aren't yet moving Perry up dramatically in the polls.
Since mid-December, the Perry campaign has executed a dual assault to try and rise from single digits in Iowa polls — a ground attack with Perry traveling by bus from town to town and the air assault saturating TV viewers.
"If Washington's the problem, why trust a Congressman to fix it?" Perry asks in one of the ads trying to convince Iowa Repbulicans that he is the outsider they need in the White House.
"The Perry campaign has made some progress," said Jim Henson, director of polling for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. "They seem to have made up a little bit of lost ground, they've stopped the bleeding. Whether the patient is actually healing is another question."
And Perry's done lots of bleeding as a presidential candidate, including his debate fumbles and his support of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants left him little choice to spend heavily on TV ads in Iowa.
"Anecdotal accounts suggest the immigration position that the Perry campaign took went over very poorly in Iowa, and he's been paying for it ever since," Henson said.
Make Us Proud Again, Perry's super PAC, also pays for commercials attacking Perry opponents. But Perry is only up a few points to 12 percent in poll averages in Iowa.
But Henson says the days leading up to the caucus are when commercials — especially negative ads — are most effective. "Even though people perhaps wince and want to look away, it has an impact — they internalize the information," he said."
Political ads, however, have limited impact — especially when a candidate's image becomes framed early because of unscripted events, as Perry knows.
"At the end of the day, candidate performance matters enormously," Henson said.Randomly selected from the HD vaults spiritually protected at Sacred Rhythm Music; We invite you to take part into listening, dancing, spinning and ultimately healing by the way of a few musical works in progress-demos and ceremonial oeuvres, as well as a couple of earlier released compositions imagined and produced by Joaquin Joe Claussell. Also Included are some never before released rhythm tracks and sound effects, both of which helped to lay the foundation for musical structures that were released in the past and can now be used as overlay tracks and DJ creativity.
We live in a chaotic world where everything’s turned upside down. And so, if you find yourself stuck, confused-depressed and you haven’t a clue to whom or where to turn to for help: Just remember that, Music and Love-that’s unconditional-are always there for you when you need them to be. All you need to do is to believe.
About: Wines of the World – (Wine!)??
Come visit Château Lynch-Bages with Jean-Michel Cazes, the heart of this esteemed Bordeaux château. You might also glimpse why he’s a recipient of Wine Spectator’s Distinguished Service Award.
У Парижі, в готелі George V відбулася презентація кращих вин світу. Вперше в історії проекту міжнародні експерти відібрали для дегустації вина тільки одного виробника – компанії SHABO. Винні критики і сомельє відзначили виcоку якість і гармонійність вин: «У них є та жвавість і природність, якої зараз так не вистачає французьким винам».
The Force is strong at Jordan Winery in Sonoma. Our grape growers have it. Our winemakers have it. Our family has it. And soon, our harvest interns will have that power, too. View all our Star Wars videos at http://blog.jordanwinery.com/2015/10/star-wars-video-parody-cab-wars-the-force-of-harvest-awakens/.
When do you Chaptalize? Part 2 of 2 on adding sugar with John Paul of Cameron.
What helps you most when feeling dysphoric?

My 17 y/o ftm is really struggling tonight with dysphoria.  He sees an awesome psychologist and we are doing what we can for him medically to get his transition rolling (he sees the Endo for the first appt in 12 days!). He lives daily as male and passes really well considering it's just the hair cut and clothes at this point. We had his name changed legally 1 month ago. That is pretty much all we can do right now towards his transition. This bout of dysphoria has been bad and I'm feeling helpless. Other parent give me kudos for trying but I'm looking for real advice from folks who actually know what he is going thru. 
I know there probably isn't much I can do realistically but any ideas big and small are welcome.Time has no meaning this year, but the holidays are upon us! Hanukkah is in full swing, Christmas is just around the corner, the Solstice is creeping closer, and there are something like 20 more December holidays that are being celebrated world wide this month.
For the ones that you might celebrate that involve gift giving, our Holiday Staff Picks (found here) are mostly ON OUR SHELVES NOW, which means there’s no waiting for orders that might or might not make it in time. We’ve got something for everyone, for all ages, so be sure to check out the list if you need one more book to complete your holiday shopping list!
If you’re looking for smaller things, we’ve got a whole range of stocking stuffers (found here) that you can email us (at |||EMAIL_ADDRESS||| about adding to your order! There are more than just those featured in the post–we’ve got bookmarks and puzzles and way more socks, t-shirts and journals and calendars. We’re happy to email you pictures so you can browse without browsing for the last minute touches that will make your holiday a bit brighter.
And you can always round out your hard-to-shop-for friends by grabbing an online gift code! Just like a physical gift card, they can be purchased in any amount (here) and never expire. But you don’t have to worry about the mail taking too long! The codes can be emailed or