Category Archives: Immortality

Before the May 12 fire, the upstairs of the Taoist Temple Museum was the dazzling centerpiece of China Alley. I can still hear the hush that came over visitors once they came up the stairway leading from an iron door next to the ground floor entrance to the building, as they reached the second.

They observed the beauty in the history of China Alley through the artifacts the lamps alternately powered by candles, kerosene and electricity, the main altar and its stunning tapestry showing the Three Brothers of the Peach Orchard, the row of hand carved teakwood Fou-shou-i chairs inlaid with mother of pearl, and the set of the Eight Immortals, the legendary figures of Taoism who became immortal by following the Tao, The Way. The Eight Immortals figures are usually displayed in a group or individually, and in drawings or paintings they are depicted crossing the ocean in fragile boats or on a rustic bridge on their way to the Taoist paradise. On the second story of the Taoist Temple Museum, the Eight Immortals, carved from cherry wood, were displayed in individual glass cases.

In her book, Things Chinese, Rita Aero explains who the Eight Immortals are and what they signify.

Chung Li-chuan was able to revive the souls of the dead with a magic fan. Chang Kuo-Lao traveled on a magical white horse, which he folded up and put away at night. Lu Tung-Pin was granted a magic sword as a reward for overcoming ten temptations (he couldnt resist the sword, which was his eleventh temptation). He is the patron saint of barbers. Tsao Kuo-chiu always carried a pair of castanets on his person because he wanted to be prepared for any emergency. He is venerated by those is the theatrical profession. Li Tieh-Kuai was on intimate terms with the spirit of Lao Tzu, who he used to visit in the celestial regions. One day Li returned to find his body missing, so he had to settle for the physical form of a dying beggar. The body came complete with a crutch, so Li had to limp through the rest of his existence. Han Hsiang-tzu was borne by his teacher to the Magic Peach Tree so he could taste the immortal peaches. He fell from the branches, and would have been killed had he not bitten one on the way down. Lan Tsai-ho is of uncertain sex, but may have been a woman who wandered about in tattered garments begging her way. She carries a basket, and is the patroness of all gardners. Ho Hsien-ku was a lady who lived near Guangzhou, and was revered for the long distances she went to procure dainty bamboo shoots for her ailing mother. Hos only food was mother-of-pearl, which gave her the desired immortality.

Last month we met with a conservator from RLA Conservation of Art and Architecture. The California Preservation Foundation recommended this firm to us. I am still weak in the knees and very shaky each time I enter the devastation of the Museums second floor. Many artifacts are just gone, all that remains of them is smoky air and ash. The artifacts that endured the fire are damaged. We knew the conservators inspection would allow us to know what could be restored.

I was worried about the Eight Immortals, their glass display cases were covered in soot, some cracked. We couldnt see through the glass. But apparently the Eight Immortals are truly immortal. They survived the fire, unscathed. These historical treasures will continue to be maintained for future generations.

I think I might have a couple of potentially immortal tomato plants as well. They have been producing fruit all year round. This week Im sharing a recipe that went viral a couple of years ago. It is a delicious way to use up the abundance of cherry tomatoes from our crazy plants and the lush basil from the herb garden. Blessings upon precious artifacts that survive, plants that continue to thrive and produce, and recipes that stand the test of time.

Arianne Wing is the co-author of Noodles Through Escargots, and co-owner of the L.T. Sue Co. Tea Room and Emporium, benefiting the restoration and preservation of China Alley. She may be reached at ariannewing@gmail.com

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Hanford Gourmet: The Eight Immortals live up to the name - Hanford Sentinel

This opinion piece was first published by The Columbus Dispatch.

Ohios new budget extends the states post-pandemic win streak.

A federal judge recently agreed with Ohio that Congress audacious attempt to keep states from directly or indirectly cutting their own taxes was unconstitutional. Ohios response: a $1.6 billion tax cut.

Thats a big win. Last years tax revenues exceeded pessimistic expectations, allowing Ohio to cut taxes responsibly and return money to taxpayers as the pandemic subsides.

The new budget reduces most income tax rates and lowers the average taxpayers tax burden by three percent. Even better, it simplifies the tax code and pares the number of personal income tax brackets from nine to four.

Policymakers wisely cut the top tax rate now under four percent and anyone making $25,000 or less will pay no income tax at all. Win, win, win, and win.

Success breeds success.

These tax policy victories will keep Ohio economically competitive and on a winning track. Low tax states like Arizona and Texas have been grown their economies by strategically reducing taxes and regulations to attract workers and businesses.

High tax states like Illinois and New York have shrunk their economies, shed residents, and discouraged businesses. To stay competitive, Ohio must welcome new businesses, entice employers with low-tax incentives, and allow workers to keep more of their paychecks.

Not only will families enjoy lower taxes, but those with school children will soon see fuller benefits of school choice. With the budgets education savings accounts or ESAs families will receive state education dollars in designated accounts to spend on educational supplies and services. Families earning up to three times the federal poverty level will receive $500 to help pay for tutoring, curricula, language classes, and tuition at learning centers.

As families grapple with the pandemics ongoing disruptions, this one-time, limited ESA will not only help pay for rising education costs, it will highlight the benefits of school choice and more parental control in learning.

Parents know best what their child needs, and ESAs provide additional financial resources to meet those academic needs. Although not as generous as ESAs in Florida and Arizona, Ohios new ESA lays a solid, workable foundation. Another win.

The new budget also extends Ohios leadership in criminal justice reform, expanding eligibility for the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (T-CAP) program. T-CAP helps low-level, non-violent offenders obtain necessary treatment and rehabilitation. Expanding eligibility will extend that help to more offenders while keeping communities safe and saving taxpayers money in the long run. One more win.

Like every budget, of course, this one has some flaws. Big spending increases for some government programs will pressure decision-making down the road when revenues recede. As Ronald Reagan wisely quipped: The closest thing to immortality is a government program.

Short-term spending programs created today must remain short-term programs and not morph into long-term spending obligations that refuse to die. Vigilant fortitude will be required.

Ohios budget delivers strong victories, reducing and streamlining taxes, enhancing school choice, and expanding successful criminal justice reform.

The fiscal belt should have been tightened and more fat could have been trimmed moves that will be needed later for sustainability but across-the-board tax cuts and smart policy reforms extend Ohios winning streak and give us all something to cheer.

Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute.

See more here:

'Success breeds success.' Ohio is on a post-pandemic winning streak - Buckeye Institute

England return home from the Eternal City standing just two games away from immortality.

A lethal double from back-to-form Harry Kane and two thumping set-piece headers from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson sent Gareth Southgate's men into the Euro semi-finals and a meeting with Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday evening.

Oh what a night this was, as England showed that it isn't how you start a tournament that matters, but how you finish it.

History now beckons. A first major trophy since the World Cup of 1966 and the chance to be remembered forever by a nation in desperate need of a unifying triumph.

Only four of Alf Ramsey's heroes of yesteryear are still with us.

None of them will ever be forgotten and now England's Class of 2021 have a chance to stand with those giants.

The Danes will have something to say about it after their emotional march to the last four.

So too will the winners of the other semi-final between Italy and Spain.

Football will definitely be coming home this week, with Wembley set to stage the business end of this delayed tournament.

England can get better and Southgate will know they must.

Denmark were European champions in 1992. Italy have won two World Cups and the Euros since England lifted their only trophy. Spain have the trophies to show for being the best team on the planet 10 years ago.

In ancient times, lions used to get a rough time across town in the Colosseum.

This was a night when three of them bit back.

Southgate made two changes to the team that thrilled the nation by beating Germany, with 80million Manchester United new-boy Jadon Sancho coming in for his first start of the tournament and Mason Mount coming in after his covid scare.

Social media went into meltdown as the country demanded to know why Jack Grealish and Phil Foden were on the bench.

But England needed less than four minutes to go ahead.

Raheem Sterling dash inside and smart pass released Kane and the skipper gobbled up the chance with mastery of someone who has now scored 37 goals for his country.

Ukraine needed 120 gruelling minutes to beat Sweden and England's passing and movement sapped them to a standstill.

Kyle Walker's poor pass gave them a glimmer of hope, allowing Roman Yaremchuk to fire in a shot that was shovelled around the post by Jordan Pickford.

But it was a fleeting moment as England kept their heel on Ukrainian throats.

Sterling was a constant menace.

He sent one cross just behind Kane before Declan Rice let fly with a follow-up blast from 20 yards that almost took Ukraine keeper Georgiy Bushchan off his feet.

Bushchan got lucky again when Sancho's fierce shot on the turn flew straight at him.

England had been quick out of the blocks in the first half after the break they needed just 56 seconds to put the game to bed.

Luke Shaw's free-kick delivery from the left made a mockery of Jose Mourinho's recent sniping.

Harry Maguire's meaty forehead did the rest with a finish of such brute force that Bushchan didn't even bother to move.

In the 50th minute Kane scored again, bulleting a textbook downward header between Bushchan's legs after Shaw had served up another delicious cross after Sterling's flick had sent him in behind down the left.

Ukraine boss Andriy Shevchenko made a gesture of disgust that resembled a man throwing in the towel.

Kane was denied a hat-trick and the chance to stake his claim for another Golden Boot by a spectacular 63rd-minute save from Bushchanto to claw away his vicious volley.

But from Mount's corner, substitute Henderson timed his near-post run to perfection to head home.

It was his first international goal in his 62nd appearance - and his throaty roar of celebration might have been heard back home.

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England seal emphatic Ukraine win at Euro 2020 and stand two games away from immortality - The Mirror

Variety reported yesterday that the script to Netflixs The Old Guard sequel has been completed and will begin production in 2022.

Based on the graphic novel bywriter Greg Rucka and artist Leandro Fernandez, The Old Guardis mostly immortalwarriors who get exposed in the modern-day and are on the run to protect themselves and, in the film, their newest recruit. Rucka had adapted the first graphic novel into a script for Netflix and Gina Prince-Bythewood directed the film, which had over 78 million views in its first four weeks on the streamer. It was noted as being the first comic book adaptation by a Black woman.

I was skeptical aboutThe Old Guardat first, but when I sat down to watch it with my movie group during quarantine, I ate it up. The cast is made up of Andromache Andy of Scythia, the oldest immortal and leader of the group, played by Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne as Nile Freeman, the newest recruit, Booker/Sebastian Le Livre (Matthias Schoenaerts) a Napoleon era French solider, and the coupleJoe/Yusuf Al-Kaysani (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky/Nicol di Genova (Luca Marinelli) two men from opposing sides of the Crusades who fell in love.

The added hook of everything is that Andy is slowly losing her immortality, and Prince-Bythewood does a fantastic job of directing the action sequences to reflect her changing fighting style as she can no longer take risky moves. In fact, as impressive as everything is about this movie, the best thing was seeing Prince-Bythewood explore this new range as a director.

Prince-Bythewood is mostly known for her Black romances, so seeing her name behind a film like this was already an interesting choice, and she absolutely knocked it out of the park. It also allowed her to really get the intimacy of these characters despite the fast pace of the film. It was a hit for many reasons, and Prince-Bythewoods vision carried it through.

Back when the film came out, Rucka told SyFy: there will be discussions of a sequel, Im sure and since there are two more graphic novels in the series, the material is there. And if we know something about Netflix, they are more willing to invest in something if it comes in a neat three-and-done package.

Im looking forward to the sequel and Im hoping they can get the whole cast back because I love a strong ensemble and Im very invested in this team as a unit. Especially following the ending of the first film, which if you havent seen well what are you waiting for?

(via Variety, image: AIMEE SPINKS/NETFLIX)

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Netflix's The Old Guard Sequel Is Confirmed to Start Filming 2022 - The Mary Sue

The old guard broke all the entertainment records, and now the Netflix blockbuster is returning with its next season. The action movie focuses on Greg Ruckas (who also wrote the script) comic book of the same name. The Netflix film about eternal warriors rescuing one life in order to rescue future generations is far from finished since there is more source material to draw from if more chapters were planned.

The plot revolves around a group of nearly immortal warriors discovered in modern times and must deal with the consequences.

Though no specific plot details were provided, we can anticipate more adventures of Therons immortal warrior Andy and her fellow long-lived mercenary types (the storey mentions explicitly Marwan Kenzaris Joe and Luca Marinellis Nicky as returning) as they deal with their newfound immortality.

The first film ended with a depressed Booker in exile encountering Quynh in his apartment. The original movie ended on a bombshell suspense with the finding that Veronica Ngos Quynh, an immortal presumed to be dead, was still alive.

Due to her immortal powers, Quynh was once a member of the guard who was arrested, locked in an iron maiden, and thrown into the sea to perish for all forever. The sequel might delve into her mental state and reveal how she escaped, as well as where her allegiance lies after all these years. And well, therefore, the sequel is expected to take up where that drama left off.

If the second novel has to be believed, Therons character Andy must compete with the sins of the past, as the almost immortality of Nile (played in a Netflix movie with KiKi Lane) tries to repair the relationship with the warriors new family in season 2.

The sequels script is finished, and production will begin in early 2022, according to Charlize Theron, who featured in the first picture. The Old Guard 2 has yet to be given a release date.

With just a handful of official information, we can not expect a garden full of accurate claims. Where the cast is concerned, there is not much to tell.

If Kenzari and Marinelli are reuniting alongside Theron, the majority of the actors KiKi Layne as Nile, Matthias Schoenaerts as Booker, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Copley should be as well. However, no cast has been announced as of yet.

Steven Merrick (Harry Melling), the main villain of The Old Guard, will not return because he is dead.

There will, however, most likely be some new characters in The Old Guard 2. Well have to wait and see what happens.

The big-budget sci-fi action film became one of the banger movies of all time, with 78 million viewers watching it just after the release in the first four weeks, thanks to an intellectually divergent absorbing plot. It will be nice to see what season 2 holds for the viewers.

Because Ruckas comic series will be a trilogy, its only natural to have three primary Old Guard films. Fans, on the other hand, are begging for prequels and spinoffs on certain immortals. Id like to see Joe and Nicky fighting and murdering each other during the Crusades, then waking up alive and falling in love. Its all there. And Im not the only one. Join the party if you want The Old Guard 2, and you want it immediately.

Originally posted here:

The old Guard 2: Synopsis, Cast, Release Date, and Everything - LeeDaily.com - The Lee Daily Register

One of the time-honored traditions in sports is carving the names of members of Stanley Cup-winning teams onto the iconic trophy, and theNational Hockey Leagueteamed up with Twitter to enable some fans to have their shot at immortality, as well.

According to a new press release from the NHL, fans can tweet directly to the @StanleyCup account with the hashtag #StanleyTweets, and up to 52 of those tweets will be engraved into a first-of-its kind installation at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, featured alongside the Stanley Cup and other official NHL trophies.

The goal is to pick 52 tweets in multiple languages to correspond to the 52 names the winning team gets on the Cup each season. NHL social media director Sean Dennison said the hope is for tweets that evoke emotion and sentimentality with some humor mixed in.

We want this to be as symbolic of the Cup as possible and since 52 names get put on the Cup, lets recognize 52 fans, he said. The modern day fan experience really does take place on social media and especially on Twitter. It captures what people are saying, and I think thats an important part of the story for our sport and for a Stanley Cup win.

Tweets in Czech, English, Finnish, French, German, Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish will be considered.

The thought was really finding a way to give fans recognition for their commitment the same way that we would with the players themselves, NHL executive vice president and chief marketing officer Heidi Browning said.

The social media endeavor launches on the day of Game 1 of the final between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Lightning are trying to win back to back, the Canadiens are looking for their first championship since 1993.

Excerpt from:

NHL to Engrave Fan Tweets at Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto - iPhone in Canada

Her Story and Telling Lies are effective, thrilling stories told using video footage of real actors. Still, developer Sam Barlow chafes at the idea that his two previous games are interactive movies.

I, as a movie fan, was like, Theyre not really movies. Movies are about editing, and cuts, and montage, and this very specific presentation of images by the director to tell you the story. We kind of went in a different direction, Barlow says. Yes, its filmed footage, but there is no cut. And certainly, in Telling Lies, we were trying to expand that and have images that were very uncinematic in terms of just sitting and watching people and thinking about them.

Now, Barlow is leaning into the comparison. This time, he and his team at Half Mermaid are making an interactive movie about movies. Immortality is the story of Marissa Marcel, an actress who starred in three films, Ambrosio, Minsky and Two of Everything, between 1968 and 1999. Then she disappeared. None of the films were ever released.

Barlows previous games have asked the player to solve mysteries using databases, fast-forwarding, rewinding, and searching keywords until they felt satisfied that they had thoroughly discovered the storys twists and turns. In this game, Half Mermaid is eschewing the database for a mechanic that, Barlow teases, has something to say about movies.

Weve come up with a mechanic that I wont super explain at this point but, we got rid of the text-searching idea and the idea of there being this database software and really wanted to come up with some mechanics that were cinematic, that were visual and were about the magic of being cut, and the various tools of cinema, and weve come up with something pretty neat, Barlow says. I still get excited by it when I play around with it.

Well have to wait and see what exactly that means. For now though, Bloody Disgusting had the chance to dig deep on Barlows cinematic influences, his love of David Lynch films and the spiritual successor to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories that is currently in pre-production at Half Mermaid.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

BD: Until the E3 reveal, Immortality was known only as Project Ambrosio and had a heavily redacted Steam page. And going through the trailer, we can see that Ambrosio is one of the Marissa Marcel movies thats lost to time. So Im curious what does Ambrosio signify to you as a working title, and what do you think it suggests about the games themes?

SB: We tried to come up with a codename that we could use externally that doesnt ruin things. Its not like Codename This Is Exactly What the Game Is About. One of the fun things about this project [as opposed to] Telling Lies and to some extent Her Story is that [those games were] really hard to talk about because giving any details of the plot, the characters, or setting was kind of ruining the gameplay. Her Story definitely benefits from, in this very high-level way, its just about, did this person murder her husband? And then you start to get more details. It was definitely hard for Telling Lies because the premise of the game, the genre we were subverting, how the characters were related to each other was kind of fun for people to figure out in the first hour of the game or something, and we were kind of reticent there. Here, theres a lot to dig into, so we can be pretty explicit about what this is about, who these people are, and these movies they made. And with Ambrosio, its even easier because this movie Ambrosio is an adaptation of an existing book that was written in the late 1700s, The Monk, which was one of the great page-turning, pulpy, dark gothic novels. It just has everything you want out of that kind of book: satanic rituals, all sorts of violence, and gothic nonsense. So I think pinning ourselves onto that aspect, which was already out there, felt like a fun thing. And to some extent, when you dig into the three movies, Ambrosio is this movie that Marcel kind of debuts in and is cast very much from obscurity to be in this thing and so its kind of the making of her. And theres definitely a way you can look at it where the other movies feel like iterations on that story or are kind of refinements of some of the elements of it. Its a cool word as well.

BD: Youve talked about Immortality being 10 times more ambitious than your previous work. One of the clear markers of increasing ambition from Her Story to Telling Lies was the expansion of the cast. Her Story had one actress, Telling Lies had a core cast of four characters plus some bit parts. Does the ambition on this extend to a larger cast than what youve done before?

SB: Yeah, I think the ambition is two-fold. We have dug up these three movies, so thats three movies worth of story and cast and characters and locations and everything, and theres a lot of stuff in there. But the ambition is also the scale of the questions were asking. Lets do something with movies ended up being Lets use this as a means to questionwhat even are movies, why do we make movies, how does one make a movie? And then it becomes about looking at these decades. Thats almost the second half-century of cinema. What does that progression look like? And you find between Ambrosio in 68, and what theyre doing on Minsky [in 72] its this leap from kind of the studio system and the remnants of that, to New Hollywood and these very different movies where suddenly you have the directors leading things, these movies become more organic and personal, and the way theyre shot is very different. Suddenly theyre shooting on location, and everything is much more natural and the types of stories that get told. Then, tracking to the end of the 90s where, like 1999 was, for obvious reasons, a fascinating year for movies. Youre at the end of the millennium, and everyone was just sort of getting their stuff out. Coming out of the decadence of the 80s, in the 90s, there was a correction where you had these directors coming up who revered the 70s and were looking back and attempting to create everything had to have a bit more cleverness to it or a little bit of a twist, and it was a lot of referential stuff. Basic Instinct is heavily quoting Vertigo, and Lost Highway is doubly applicable here because its living in this weird Lynchian timelessness where its definitely the 90s but a lot of it has this noir feel but then you have Trent Reznor on the soundtrack. So theres a very interesting fusion at that point. That definitely plugs into the ambitions of the questions that were trying to use this material to explore, get quite big and ambitious and chunky.

BD: Its interesting that you bring up the New Hollywood because I just finished reading Peter Biskinds Easy Riders, Raging Bulls a few weeks ago. Im very interested to see how you dig into those differences, from the end of the studio system, as such, into the directors pictures of the 70s.

SB: That book was quite a trip because I think when I first read it I kind of assumed that, Oh I get the studio system was bad and the way they created and sculpted their stars. Some of the power dynamics. And in my head, it was, And then you get to the 70s, and youre making these wonderful works of art, and everythings cool. And then when you dig into it, youre like, Actually, you just kind of shifted the power to the director, and a lot of those power dynamics were still in play. There are definitely some darker stories dredged up in that book.

BD: Right, and it seems like having that power may have had some scarring effects on some of those people. Like you look at, in that book, they say multiple times that Coppola, after he went to shoot Apocalypse Now, was never the same. You look at where the directors are in 1980 when that era is coming to a close, and most of them are not doing so hot. Except for the golden boys, like Spielberg, who learned to work within the studio system.

SB: I think even Spielberg had the quote in that book that was like, by 1972, the 70s were over. [laughs] Theres this kind of inertia to it all. Theres this trajectory to it all, and then everything falls off.

BD: You mentioned Lynch earlier, and I know that youre a fan of Inland Empire. Its the Lynch film that I find the most frustrating because I love the premise so much: that Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, and Laura Dern are working on a movie that is supposed to have been cursed as the previous leads were killed while they were working on it. Immortality, similarly, is about movies that were never released. What do you think is captivating about that idea of the unreleased film?

SB: I could talk about lost movies for a long time Theres definitely the excitement of having a work, especially if it touches on genius or something, that is not lessened by reality. You dont have to sit and watch them and see if they actually work; you can just imagine. I was a huge fan of the novel Dead Calm. They eventually made the movie with Nicole Kidman. But Orson Welles was obsessed with this book, and he was directing a version of it that he never finished. That whole kind of, Orson Welles, at a certain point, is just trying hard to make movies, and hes just pulling scraps together. I think even just beyond lost movies, something that we were able to explore on this project is just the process and the fluidity of things. Everyone loves to read those Buzzfeed articles that are like, Famous Roles that Were Almost Cast Differently. Oh, Tom Selleck was almost Indiana Jones. The one that blows my mind from the art house end is that Andie MacDowell was going to be the star of The Double Life of Veronique and Kielowski was really, really into that idea. And all these things that could have gone differently, all these choices that could have been made. People love to talk about Jodorowskys Dune and be like Oh look at the concept art, I can imagine it. And obviously, the movie you are imagining when you look at that art and think about it, Im almost guaranteeing, is better than the movie would have been if it had actually gone through, right? Your imagination can really go places.

And then I think theres also a charge to the idea of all that effort to put something on camera to create a performance to conjure up these stories that, when left in the darkroom, festers to some extent. It gains a slightly sinister charm. Its something that is endlessly fascinating to me, which is weird because there are enough movies that do exist that I have not watched that I could go watch right now. But the idea of the road not taken Maybe its that as well. It plugs into your awareness of the many alternate realities that are floating around.

I think when you dig into the careers of artists, you realize the extent to which these random little decisions are instrumental. You take Lynch. I think probably the world agrees that Dune is not the best Lynch movie, and its probably the one that you could leave behind if you were traveling to a desert island. But if he had not made that movie, he would not have then been owed Blue Velvet by Dino De Laurentiis, and you would not have the entire catalog of Lynch movies that we have had since. And even rewinding a little bit more, there you have The Elephant Man because Mel Brooks has watched Eraserhead and decides this guy is the one I want to come make this movie and has to convince the execs. So when you start thinking about these missing projects and every director or star has a bunch of these in their history, things that didnt quite happen it kind of makes you then pay attention to what did happen and the machinations of it all.

And I probably would say Inland Empire is my favorite Lynch. I might be slightly biased because when I saw it,, I lived in this little town in England where we didnt have a cool cinema. It was just the one multiplex that would show big blockbuster movies. But, we had a museum that was a naval museum that was essentially a recruiting tool for the navy. But they had an incredible cinema that they used just to show recruitment videos and documentaries about battleships. So there was a couple in the town that started renting it in the evenings when the museum was shut to put on arthouse movies and horror movies and the cooler stuff. And we went to see Inland Empire there, and we were the only people in the entire audience that showed up. And to get to it, you had to walk through the museum after hours, so youre walking through this empty dark museum to get to go see your movie and so sitting in a giant empty movie theater in a museum thats been closed watching that movie was a real mind trip. At every point where the movie was really futzing with what was really going on, what was real, all these layers, I started being like, Is this movie affecting my brain? Such a weird, surreal setting watching this movie. And theres a shot in that movie and I wont ruin it for people that havent seen it thats in my top five horror moments. And its not gory or intense; it just uses a boom mic. And for me because it was a moment in the film, about two-thirds of the way through the movie, and it was like, Oh, maybe were settling in on whats really happening. Its this scene where you think, Maybe this is building to giving some solid footing in this crazy nightmare with all these competing, layered realities. and just when you think thats happening, its ripped away from you. Youre cast back into this maelstrom of unsettling, weird, different set-ups and that in itself, in a very abstract, Lynch-y way, was so terrifying.

I think sometimes thats whats cool about Lynch, hell cut to something very inoffensive, hell cut to a ceiling fan, and then hell slow things down a bit, and the soundtrack kicks in, and its like, Damn, this ceiling fan is terrifying. I dont think we immediately related things to Inland Empire [on Immortality], but when I made Her Story, part of locking in the [creative direction] was me watching that and being like, Shit, David Lynch is running round filming things with a cheap video camera. I guess I could do that, too. If thats what hes up to, why dont I embrace this kind of aesthetic? Its definitely one of the better movies about the darkness behind the glamor of Hollywood and what does it mean for an actress to lose herself in a role; to become so emotionally [invested] in that, and with the other forces swirling around her, where does that push her? Its very intense and cool, and Laura Dern is incredible.

BD: The cheapness of the camera is definitely part of what makes Inland Empire feel as unsettling as it does. That early scene with Grace Zabriskie coming in and speaking to Laura Dern in the sitting room of her house sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Laura Derns character is very confused by whats happening and you are very confused about whats happening and the camera that Lynch is using to shoot that is a big part of why it feels as unsettling as it does. The cheapness gives it a sort of found footage feeling.

SB: He got excited by what happens when you blow it up on a big screen. It becomes dreamy, thats his favorite word. Thats what I was digging into on Her Story. I watched Inland Empire. I watched a bunch of things, like real-life footage from investigation and interrogations that had been released into the public domain. And then, I watched the casting tapes from Basic Instinct, which had the same texture. It was all shot on a little dinky video camera with very little cinematic flair. Theres a different edge to it thats interesting. There are a few things were playing with here, not entirely similar, but getting to interrogate what is the difference between cinematic reality and real reality in a deliberate way.

BD: So, weve been talking a lot about Lynch without mentioning that one of the writers on this game is Barry Gifford, who wrote the book Wild at Heart is based on and the screenplay for Lost Highway. Weve sort of talked about Inland Empires connection to Her Story, but do you see there being a Lynchian flavor to what youre doing on Immortality and what Barry Giffords work is doing in it?

SB: Yeah, I want to be specific because Lynchs name gets thrown around a lot in video games. Oh yeah, were going for like a Lynch thing. And youre like, What you mean its going to be slightly weird? I think the most weve referenced him on this project is in understanding some of the more horror aspects and what types of horror do I like playing with and what is more disturbing. Some of his movies you wouldnt out and out call horror movies, but there are always moments in Lynchs movies that are upsetting and horrific and dig into those textures as deep as anyone does. Certainly understanding his toolkit and how he crafts those things has been on my mind.

As far as Barry and [co-writer] Allan [Scott], part of the research of digging into this was going back and speaking to people who were working in movies at this time and producing the great works at the time amongst the various creative pairings and things. And so, for us to make this, figuring out which bits are real well lets speak to the people, lets pull in the people that actually did this work. So we spoke to a bunch of people. Is this research or is this me having a fanboy moment digging into all these stories? But then yeah bringing them in so we could pull in those textures and have those things. And theres some fun stuff with Barry that well probably get to later. But the very long phone conversations with Barry have definitely been a highlight for everybody on the team.

BD: In the fiction, are all three American made movies?

SB: So, Ambrosio is a European co-production, has a British director, and was shot in Italy, as many movies were back then. Then, when you get to Minsky, the interesting thing about Minsky is that the director of photography on Ambrosio is the director of that movie. Hes an American director, and that is shot in New York. And then the third of the movies, also shot by the same director but many years later, is shot in L.A. and New York, so yeah, it kind of starts in Europe and then moves to the twin cities of New York and L.A. It was an interesting angle on the second half of movies in the 20th century and the post-war reinvention of movies in a bunch of European countries that then seeds the New Wave and then inspires what happens in the 70s, initially in New York, you have that very kind of New York thrust of New Hollywood but then that stuff kind of spreads over to Hollywood as well.

BD: So, we are a horror website, and youve said that Immortality is spooky. Can you talk about the genres of horror that youre interested in tapping into here?

SB: I will say, no one knows what happened to Marissa Marcel and the initial thrust of the game is figuring that out. There are a lot of dark and violent theories around what happened, why these movies didnt come out. Back then, we didnt have the internet and gossip sites, so it was easier to shut down rumors and have things just become vague bits of hearsay. So, were really interested in having players cooperate with us in digging into this. But if youve played Shattered Memories, were putting both feet back into that world. Her Story and Telling Lies were the format was so explicitly banal, that was part of the provocation of Her Story: imagine anything less interesting than a database program from the 1990s. And you boot up the game, and its there, its a database program, and its a Windows desktop, and theres nothing less evocative or Gothic than that. But that then is a perfect frame to then take people in that direction. So theyre expecting it less and it freshens things up a bit. So both of those projects were then rigidly defined by having to behave themselves because they had this real-world kind of framework, and its probably fair to say that we dont have those same requirements this time around. And I have a personal love for when you sit and watch a Hitchcock movie; you know that Hitchcock is, in some cases, trying to push your buttons. And is trying to set you up so that youre more vulnerable to then him coming back on the attack. So a lot of my favorite horror stuff in any medium is the stuff that gets inside your head [I remember reading] the idea that when youre watching a movie or reading a book, youre sort of letting something bad inside your head Its not just scary and upsetting but its what is even going on here?

BD: In addition to Immortality, youve said that youre pitching a spiritual successor to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Can you tell us anything about that pitch? Or what elements of Silent Hill youre still interested in exploring?

SB: Yeah, its slightly less pitchy and slightly more in early pre-production. So, yeah, the interesting thing was, when I made Her Story, I was slightly reacting to, All right, Ive spent three years making a Legacy of Kain game that was then canceled. Theres a chance that would have been a very cool game, but there was lots about it that was challenging. Part of it was, when I made Shattered Memories, it was a lot of me digging into a lot of my favorite games growing up were exploratory immersive sims and then getting into making Silent Hill games where you have a story emphasis on exploring these atmospheric locations. I kind of started to wonder, to question walking a character around a 3D space, is it too easy? You just naturally get this level of immersion and involvement, but then questioning, how does that specifically drive the story?

And at that time, you were seeing games like Gone Home and stuff that were doing this subtractive thing of taking out gameplay elements. Gone Home very much feels like them taking the BioShock and survival horror vibes but then removing combat and inventory and all these things. So when I made Her Story, it was somewhat out of frustration and somewhat just wanting to push further in a direction, knowing that progress is very slow and incremental in AAA games. So I was excited to explore with Her Story, What does a game look like if I dont have the prop of walking a character around a 3D space? What happens if me being the protagonist doesnt necessarily mean Im the star of the story? And it was still taking at the purest level, what is interesting about games: exploration, expression, challenge, and just translating those to something that wasnt an avatar in a 3D space.

And now Ive had sufficient time away from that world that I notice myself, at the end of every year, Ill be on a couple of juries, and so Ill play through every big game coming out. Ill play through all the third-person story games and horror-adjacent games or action games. I just notice myself more vocally being like, Theyre doing it wrong! They should do this! And then Im like, oh, okay, maybe it would be fun to come back I realized that with Shattered Memories I had not exhausted all of my ideas as to how to mix up the conventional third-person horror game.

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[Interview] Sam Barlow Talks Movie Mystery Game 'Immortality', 'Inland Empire' Inspiration, and the Spiritual Successor to His 'Silent Hill' Game -...

Giannis Antetokounmpos mission is clear: win an NBA title. After dominating the defending Eastern Conference Champions with ease and surpassing the Brooklyn Nets in a hard-fought, come-from-behind series, the Milwaukee Bucks have one last hurdle to clear before they make the first Finals appearance since 1974. The Hawks are no walk in the park as theyve posted one of the best records in the league since coach Nate McMillan took the helm part-way into the season, but the back-to-back MVP winner and crew are ready for the challenge and he might do so sporting some new sneakers.

That new shoe? The Nike Giannis Immortality. Already releasing in Asia in select colorways, this lower-priced option now appears in a clean white base with hits of aqua teal and bright crimson for that summer-time hooping energy that we just saw in the Nike KD 14. There are already rumblings that the Zoom Freak 3 could see a debut as weve been notified by retailers of a potential June release, but well wait and see exactly what Nike has in store as the Playoffs progress.

Expect the Giannis Immortality to hit more retailers in Asia and well notify you if and when these hit the US market. In other hoops news, the KD 14 has just been revealed in primary colors.

Where to Buy

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Mens: N/AStyle Code: DH4528-100

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Nike Giannis Immortality Revealed In Aqua And Crimson As The Greek Freaks Title Run Continues - Sneaker News

It was the moment Liverpool supporters the world over had been yearning for and dreaming of for three long decades.

For most clubs, the trophies which arrived at Anfield in between the 18th top flight league championship in 1990 and what turned into the holy grail of the 19th thirty years later - namely, two Champions League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, three UEFA Super Cups and two Charity Shields - would be regarded as more than adequate and in some cases would constitute a golden era.

But Liverpool FC arent most clubs. The dynasty began by Bill Shankly in 1959 and developed by Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish established the Reds as Englands most successful side and was founded on repeatedly winning what Shanks called our bread and butter, the league title.

For all the glory and prestige of the continental conquests which saw LFC become the countrys pre-eminent side in Europe, it was the continued dominance of domestic league competition which meant Liverpool were for so long seen as the nations top club, with the 13 top-flight titles won between 1964 and 1990 putting the Reds way out in front with 18 in total ahead of closest rivals Everton and Arsenal, who then had nine each.

Kenny Dalglishs champions of 1989/90 were never likely to be placed in the pantheon of Anfields greatest sides but they had appeared to cope with the emotional weight of what the club had endured the previous season and ultimately finished on top of the First Division by a comfortable nine points and were only denied another crack at the-then hallowed Double by a shock FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace.

There was little on the surface to indicate the longest title drought in the clubs history was imminent but six months into the defence of their crown in February 1991 the unbearable pressure Kenny Dalglish had been under in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster coupled with his own and the club's relentless drive to be successful led to him resigning his post as team manager.

With the English game about to undergo fundamental change with the advent of the Premier League, Liverpool were thrust into a seemingly endless cycle of boom and bust which time and again saw Kopites hopes and dreams of a nineteenth title rise then fall as their team would show their ability to compete with the best at home and abroad while bringing silverware back to Anfield, yet somehow always fail to take that final and most meaningful step when it came to the league championship.

Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers all managed to build teams which seriously threatened to end the interminable drought but every time the fates appeared to conspire against them, most heartbreakingly of all in the case of Rodgers in the spring of 2014 whose attacking but defensively flawed side were on the cusp of glory and required only seven points from their final three games to be crowned champions before stumbling with the finishing line desperately close but tantalisingly out of reach.

With Manchester United, who only had seven league titles in 1990 but under Alex Ferguson had won 13 without reply from Anfield to overtake Liverpool by a score of 20-18, now beginning their own transition following the Scots retirement the previous season - and with the other major contenders Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal in a state of flux (terminally in the latters case) - 2013/14 felt for many like the Reds best opportunity for years and much of the anguish felt in the wake of that nearest of near-misses centred on a fear the stars had aligned in a way they may not again for quite some time.

Some Liverpudlians began to genuinely fear their team might never win another league championship and who could blame them, given how the weight of history and expectation had continually saddled talented crops of players and managers with an onerous burden they were unable to fully shoulder.

That was until a man from Germanys Black Forest by the name of Jrgen Norbert Klopp arrived at Anfield in October 2015.

From the very beginning, he identified the psychological impact the quarter-of-a-century wait for another league title had made on the club and its legions of fans, and made it abundantly clear his primary mission was to restore that unshakeable conviction which had characterised many of the great Liverpool sides of the past and turn doubters into believers.

Klopps values and personality immediately seemed made to measure for a club still stuck in the funk of the failed title bid from 18 months previous and by the end of his first part-season in charge he had led Liverpool into two finals, in the Capital One Cup and the Europa League.

Both may have ended in defeat but by this stage it was rapidly becoming evident to a rejuvenated Liverpool fanbase that their new manager got the club and the city, knew what was required to make the team winners again, and had the determination and perseverance required to take the Reds back to the top as evidenced by his coaching successes in Germany with Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund which only came to pass after some initial failures.

Sure enough, after Champions League qualification was secured on the final day of his first full campaign in the charge, Klopps Reds rapidly evolved into a serious force to be reckoned with, surpassing expectations by reaching the European Cup final in 2017/18 with a serious of swashbuckling attacking performances led by the triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

They fell short in Kiev against Real Madrid but went one better the following year once Alisson Becker and Fabinho had joined Virgil van Dijk to gave the side a defensive spine on par with their formidable frontline , producing Anfields greatest ever fightback by recovering from three goals down after the first leg of the semi final against Catalan giants Barcelona before beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Madrid final to win the clubs sixth European Cup and crucially securing the first trophy of Klopps tenure.

That same, astonishing 2018/19 campaign also saw Liverpool make their strongest tilt yet at the Premier League title, matching the previous seasons 100-point champions Manchester City blow-for-blow in arguably the highest quality championship race ever seen over the final months but still manage to agonisingly fall just short despite losing only league match all season (to City) and racking up 97 points, the third-highest top flight points tally of all time.

Breaking that glass ceiling in Madrid however proved to all watching - and most crucially to Klopps players themselves - that this was now a winning team and a champion team which would not rest until they had finally laid to rest the ghost of nearly three decades without a league title.

From the earliest weeks of the season, Klopps men looked like Premier League champions-elect and, having opened up an early points lead at the top of the table which only grew and grew, they marched inexorably and remorselessly towards title glory, winning a mind-boggling and most likely never-to-be-repeated 26 out of the first 27 league fixtures, with a draw at Old Trafford in October being the only blip.

Manchester Citys defeat to their city rivals at the same venue in early March 2020, the day after Liverpool had beaten Bournemouth at home, left the Reds 25 points clear at the top with nine matches still to play meaning Klopps men could be crowned champions before their next match - at Goodison Park of all places the following Monday night - if Guardiolas side lost their next two matches.

But then the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic struck, causing life as we knew it to grind to a halt across the planet in a manner not seen since the Second World War.

The season inevitably was suspended and, while the severity of the public health situation put everything including football into perspective, for a time the fears of those fans who worried Liverpool were cursed never to win another league championship seemed to have a chance of playing out as top-flight campaigns in countries like France and Holland were null and voided with the results expunged from history with self-serving voices within the English game calling for the same to happen here.

Eventually it was decided the Premier League would resume behind closed doors on 17 June and Manchester City beat Arsenal at the Etihad on that first evening of footballs resumption to ensure Evertonians nightmare scenario of Liverpool winning the title at Goodison could no longer happen.

Four nights later, the Reds returned to action after a three-month hiatus by grinding out a goalless draw in a surreal 236th Merseyside derby played in front of empty stands on a sun-kissed late June evening, reducing their lead at the top to a mere 23 points, but the following Wednesday night Crystal Palace were hammered 4-0 at Anfield to leave Klopps men at match point and on the brink of destiny, with Manchester City now having to take all three points away at Chelsea the following evening to prevent confirmation of Liverpools 19th league title.

Heres how that never-to-be-forgotten day and night unfolded:

THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020

Early morning -The morning papers wax lyrical over Liverpools recapturing of their champions-elect swagger against Palace following a slight slump in form by their own sky-high standards of the previous 18 months, only two of the previous seven matches in all competitions having resulting in victories prior to the arrival of Roy Hodgsons side.

Klopp and his team now need just two more points from the final seven matches to become champions of England, wrote the ECHOs Paul Gorst.

Immortality is beckoning and Liverpool are marching forward. Klopp knows, like everyone else, that Liverpool's name will be on the trophy. Now, it is simply a matter of where and when.

There has never been a more worthy champion. Over to you, Chelsea.

12:12pm - The Premier League confirm Liverpools next match, away at Manchester City of all places, will be played at the Etihad Stadium.

With there being a possibility that Klopps men could clinch the league against their closest title rivals, there had been a suggestion the game could have taken place at a neutral venue because of safety fears over fans gathering outside.

But a Manchester City Council safety advisory group agree it can be played at City's home ground, irrespective of what may or may not happen at Stamford Bridge later that evening.

3:05pm - With Red flags, banners and mementos appearing in ever-increasing numbers across the city as Liverpudlians get ready to celebrate, the club announce somewhat poignantly that the man who scored the goal which brought Klopps first win as Liverpool manager - Nathaniel Clyne in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup back in November 2015 - is to leave the club at the end of the month upon the expiry of his contract.

Around 6pm - Klopp and his Liverpool players begin to arrive at Formby Hall Golf Resort, on the outskirts of Liverpool, some 13 miles from Anfield. Despite the manager telling reporters after the Palace game the night before he was not involved in such a gathering so as to shield the club from unnecessary headlines should City keep the title race going, a decision to stay overnight in the four-star resort had been taken earlier in the week (provided Palace were duly beaten and with an 8-day gap before the next match at the Etihad) just in case Guardiolas side stumbled.

Klopp later explained on LFC TVs superb documentary Golden Sky - Jrgen Klopp's Champions, We did what we thought was right. We have to be together, this will be forever and if something happens we have to be together otherwise we call each other and say oh congratulations.. thats not possible.

It started really relaxed, there was another game as well so we watched with one eye, we were eating barbecue then Chelsea and City started.

7:15pm - An hour before kick off at Stamford Bridge the teams are announced and, despite some suggestions Manchester City may rest players given their continued involvement in the Champions League and FA Cup before this marathon season would end, Guardiola names a strong side with De Bruyne, Sterling and captain Fernandinho all named in the starting XI.

The home side, still needing points themselves to try and secure Champions League qualification, also hold no-one back with their attacking trio of Willian, Giroud and Pulisic holding Liverpudlians dreams in their hands.

8:15pm - With Reds across the city and the planet putting aside fifteen years of fierce rivalry for one night and one night only, the game gets underway with everyone who has LFC at heart rooting for Chelsea.

8:21pm - The visitors, in their lurid yellow and orange away colours, start the brighter with Bernard Silva getting an early shooting chance but scuffing his shot tamely at Kepa.

8:34pm - After Gundogan turns Willians cross behind for a corner and then Mason Mount blazes over for Chelsea, City go close when Fernandinho has a free header from Mendys left wing free kick but Kepa tips over.

8:49pm - Two chances in quick succession for former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley as Chelsea begin to take command, Liverpool may not have been able to win the league at the home of their oldest rivals but Kopites begin to wonder if this most bizarre of seasons might see a former Blue deliver the coup de grace.

8:51pm - CHELSEA 1-0 MANCHESTER CITY (Pulisic 36)

The roars of delight can be heard all over Merseyside as City go behind! Benjamin Mendy loses possession to one time Anfield target Christian Pulisic - who joined Borussia Dortmund during Klopps time in charge there - then compounds his error by rashly diving in to give the American international the opportunity to race clear and calmly slot home beyond Ederson. City must now score twice or the title is coming home to Anfield.

Klopp at Formby Hall: Chelsea scored the first goal and there was celebration like I only usually saw when we score. I didnt like that too much, its too early, its Man City and why we celebrate like this, its good, they need a goal obviously for a draw.

9:02pm - The half time whistle blows at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool know they are just 45 minutes away from thirty years of hurt being over.

9:27pm - CHELSEA 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY (De Bruyne 55)

The champagne goes (temporarily) back in the fridge as Kevin de Bruyne thunders a 30-yard free kick into the top corner to remind everyone what talent remains in this City side and how remarkably Liverpool have performed over the last ten months to open up such a huge lead over them.

Klopp at Formby Hall: De Bruyne scores the free kick and it looks like ah of course. Some people were angry with the Chelsea goalkeeper a little bit, like Jump! Or 'catch the ball' or whatever!

9.30pm - Suddenly City are right on top and former Anfield flyer Raheem Sterling races through before hitting the post as Liverpool fans start trying to convince themselves theyd prefer to win the title by getting a result at the Etihad.

9:37pm - Chelsea should be back in front as Ederson makes an uncharacteristic error by shanking a simple clearance straight to Mason Mount who advances on goal but slams his shot into the side-netting.

9:41pm - The nerve-shredding tension shows no sign of abating as City again go close to taking the lead through Sterling who curls an effort from the edge of the box inches away from the top corner. Reds around the world can barely watch as the game passes the three-quarter way mark with City still needing a goal to stop Liverpool being crowned champions tonight.

9:44pm - Chelsea go agonisingly close to retaking the lead as Pulisic goes through again, rounds Ederson but Kyle Walker scrambles it off the goal-line with millimetres to spare, then the rebound is almost poked home but more desperate City defending somehow sees the ball scrambled clear. How did that not go in?!

9:49pm - City seem to have escaped another mad scramble on their own goal-line but no.. PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Ederson denied Tammy Abrahams effort from Willians cross and Pulisic poked the rebound goalwards only for Fernandinho to divert the ball off the line. Amid the confusion with many watching Liverpudlians wondering if it had gone over the line and why the refs watched hadnt beeped, the television replay clearly shows the City captain had used his hand to keep the ball out of the net, VAR confirms a penalty to Chelsea and Fernandinho is shown the red card!

9:51pm - CHELSEA 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY (Willian 78, pen)

With millions of Liverpool fans across the world holding the breath, Willian steps up for Chelsea, gives a tiny stutter and lifts the ball high into the net to Edersons right as the City keeper dives the wrong way. Chelsea are back in front and Liverpool are a dozen minutes plus stoppage time away from being league champions for the first time in thirty years!

Klopp at Formby Hall: The situation around the penalty for Chelsea, they had before a big chance with a block on the goal-line or whatever so then the situation again and its like bam, the ball is in, no its not, the ball is out and in the moment when they didnt score in that situation Ali(sson Becker) gets up and says I cannot watch it any more and gets up and leaves.

A second later, someone says it was handball! and they show the replay and the whole place.. everybody shouts HANDBALL!

Then someone says Its a red card! and everybody shouts RED CARD!

So we wait for VAR.. handball.. red card, the penalty goes in.. celebration.. and then just counting the minutes, it was just incredible.

9:53pm - Pulisic has a chance to put things to bed once and for all but last-ditch David Silva defending denies him.

9:55pm - Zinchenko breaks forward and puts in a dangerous cross but theres no-one in a City shirt there to convert. The soon-to-be-deposed champions are not throwing the towel in but look a beaten side now.

10:03pm - The referee signals there will be six minutes of stoppage time and some Liverpudlian minds immediately switch back to the six added minutes at the end of the Reds epic Champions League semi final second leg against Chelsea in 2005. But this time the fear and tension is gone..

10:06pm - Chelsea substitute Pedro combines with Billy Gilmour whos also just come on and curls just wide but no-one on Merseyside cares any more as fireworks and car horns get louder and louder, we just want to hear that final whistle..

10:09pm - And it finally sounds like a clarion call across the ages, City have been beaten and LIVERPOOL ARE CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1990! There is an explosion of noise, joy and pure emotion across the city and around the world amongst the legions of Reds whove waited what seemed several lifetimes (11,016 days and 1,151 league matches to be precise) for a moment it seemed would never arrive, tears and sheer unbridled ecstasy everywhere.

Klopp at Formby Hall: I called my family ten seconds before the end of the game and said Ok I love you all, I put the phone now on the table, leave your phone on and you can see what happens here..

Absolutely one of the best football moments I ever had in my life, it was absolutely exceptional. You have no idea how it would feel before it happens. It was pure joy, massive relief in the next second and then I started crying. Then I wanted to speak to Ulla (his wife) and couldnt, I had her on the phone and I couldnt speak, I just was crying. I didnt know why it happened, I had no idea why, I couldnt stop, I never had a situation in my life when I couldnt stop crying and didnt know exactly why."

Fans are already beginning to congregate at Anfield with flares, banners and songs in full effect as the city gets ready to party like its.. well 1990!

10:12pm - The messages and tributes begin to pour in from across the globe. BT Sport who have been showing the Chelsea-City game live cross to an emotional Kenny Dalglish - the last man remember to bring the league title to Anfield - bedecked in red and white back home in Southport who says (in-between his phone going off left, right and centre!), "The last two years and since Jurgen's come in has been very positive. He's been fantastic and epitomises everything Liverpool Football Club stands for. Whatever they got, they have deserved it.

"Onwards and upwards. We have a lot more happy days to look forward to as long as Jurgen is here.

"I remember Bob Paisley said once after winning the European Cup, he never had a drink because he wanted to remember the occasion.

"Well, I never took his advice!" he adds as he raises a big glass of champagne to the camera!

10:15pm - LFC principle owner John W. Henry who took over a club a crisis and on the brink of bankruptcy a little under ten years ago writes on Twitter: This was a season for the ages and for the faithful of Liverpool Football Club. It has been an incredible year of magnificent achievement culminating tonight in capturing the Premier League title.

The world has watched the fierce determination of this club on the field for every single match the preparation, the resolve and the talent of those who put together perhaps the greatest league performance ever in any country's history.

This in addition to winning a European championship, a Super Cup and a world championship -- the totality of this accomplishment has brought respite and joy to so many in a year filled with so much tragedy. LFC has made the beautiful game more beautiful than ever.

It is said, We are Liverpool. You, the supporters are Liverpool in every sense and you continue to drive the club forward -- a historic club making history once again.

10:25pm - Sky Sports have gone live with a special Liverpool title winners programme and have former Reds league (and European Cup winning captains) Phil Thompson and Graeme Souness but they are the first to go live with the manager of the newly-crowned Premier League champions and what an interview it is with Jrgen Klopp having to cut it short at the end such is the deep of emotion he is feeling.

Replying to a question from Souness praising the astonishing consistency his side have shown over a long period of time, Klopp says: We all do that together, look its a mix of the history you created which is what we are compared with, rightly so. I think we found a good way to get a little bit rid of it because we had to right our own story but anyways on the other side that gives us a lot of power.

Its the atmosphere in and around the club, the intensity level, how everybody lives football in this club and then its 100% we had a really good hand in choosing the players, the ones we kept here and the ones we brought in, its a wonderful mix, there are all winners without winning fifty times in the past, we have them here now and we can start winning together, its so incredibly difficult in the competitions we are in and its only possible with consistency but thats what drives us.

We knew three years ago we played a really good season and finished fourth and it was clear we lacked consistency but you cannot ask for that, you have to work on that and create that, you have to convince people and thats what we all did.

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Without the players I could do nothing but of course from time to time you have to help them a little bit with a few words and thats what we do as well.

"It's very important to celebrate because these moments are unforgettable. We have pictures from the season and now we have pictures of the celebrations and we will create pictures in the future with the parade with our supporters.

"The boys have time together tonight. It's difficult out there still for a lot of people but tonight we couldn't hold back, we had to come together.

The game at Chelsea was really tense tonight, it was unbelievable. I didnt want to be involved really. But when you watch it, you are anyway really. There was big chances at both ends. It was intense, the penalty situation

But its an incredible achievement of my players. What they did over the last two or three years is exceptional. It is a pure joy for me to coach them.

"This is for Kenny you had to wait. Stevie you too. I know how much this means to everyone."

Its quite an achievement, but I feel overall relief. The big three-month gap, I did not know how wed come back. Theres no easy games in the Premier League.

I was very happy last night and that gave me the 100% feeling we will be fine. That was important for the players and tonight is for the fans.

This is for you. I hope you stay at home and celebrate. Its all here. Weve done it together. Its a joy to do it for you.

I could not be more proud of my coaching staff. Ever since we arrived its been an amazing ride. Its more than I ever dreamed of.

"This is a big moment, I have no real words to be honest. I am completely overwhelmed. I never thought it would feel like this, I had no idea.. its just.. big, sorry gentlemen, see you, all the best..

10:32pm - The cheers, tears and messages keep flowing as Sean Cox is among the Reds and non-Reds showing their happiness at the night's events

10:40pm - Gracious words from Man City boss Pep Guardiola as he praises the newly-crowned champs, "Congratulations to Liverpool for this great season. We still have five or six weeks to play but we won a lot in the last few years and of course we want to close the gap.

"Two seasons ago we were 100 points and they finished more than 25 points behind. Last season they didnt recover the distance and this season they went the distance.

"After two seasons the gap is big. We were not consistent like the previous seasons. Liverpool won the Champions League and were given confidence. They played every game like it was their last game. In the beginning, we didn't play like that way.

"We cannot forget we are still second in the league so we are better than a lot of the teams."

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Jurgen Klopp in tears, a new Liverpool anthem and the night immortality beckoned - Liverpool Echo

What a ride its been for the The Fast and the Furious franchise. Now spanning 20 years and nine films, this soap opera of motor fuel and melodrama has defied logic, physics and death again and again while weaving an intricate tapestry of a cinematic text thats filled with callbacks, cameos and a deep-rooted lore that always returns to the intertwining values of family and vintage American muscle cars.

Director Justin Lin, who also helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth films in the series, and evolved the franchise from minor street racing thrillers into outlandish displays of car ballet, is back behind the camera for F9: The Fast Saga (he also co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey).

Lin ups his own ante with the outrageous vehicular stunts in F9, and its difficult to imagine any future installments exceeding the automobile acrobatics Lin and Casey have concocted. To describe the stunts and set pieces would be to ruin the fun of discovery for audiences; suffice to say there will be moments where youll say, they wont but rest assured: They will, and how.

Narratively, F9 does something no other Fast film has done before: it looks to the past. In a flashback storyline that takes place in 1989, we finally meet young Dominic Toretto (Vinnie Bennett and, of course, later Vin Diesel) and learn more about the infamous vengeful wrench attack that landed him in prison, a crime thats been oft mentioned throughout the series.

The flashback is a way of exploring some of the darker secrets of the Toretto family, specifically regarding prodigal brother Jakob (Finn Cole and John Cena), who resurfaces in Doms life. Turns out hes another freelance precision driver/special agent who frequently works with Doms (many) enemies. What are the odds?

With Jakobs return, Dom has to reckon with his past and the dissolution of his blood family, which he replaced with his chosen family. This motley crew of gearheads weve come to know and love over the years includes the fast-talking Roman (Tyrese Gibson), techy Tej (Chris Ludacris Bridges), Doms love Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and, amazingly, against all odds, fan-favorite Han (Sung Kang) is back, returned from the dead, in a spine-tingling resurrection.

Thats not to say the gangs all here, as Paul Walkers tragic 2013 death means Brian is absent, but within the earnest optimism of the Fast franchise, Brian is immortal, unseen but alive and well in this universe. This question of immortality and the familys seemingly invincible nature is explored in a meta way in F9, especially by Roman, who has always served as a bit of an audience surrogate.

He gapes at and complains about the ridiculous stunts, offering sly commentary on the inexplicable occurrences as a way of getting out in front of the inevitable disbelief. In this film, he questions why they always come out of brawls, crashes and explosions unscathed, an apt question to pose after eight spine-crunching installments.

While it is the ridiculous set-pieces in F9 that take the franchise soaring to new heights, its the meta moments and the willingness to dive into the past in a real way that make this movie innovative within its own formula. In fact, the flashbacks are so enjoyable, it makes the argument for any standalone period-set prequel.

In F9: The Fast Saga, all of the Fast franchises soapy narrative peccadilloes come to fruition, from secret siblings and death-defying characters to the stable of Scooby-Doo villains out to get Doms family (Charlize Theron returns as evil hacker Cipher). The absolutely bonkers storyline is the foundation for the absolutely bonkers action, which is what we look for in the Fast franchise. In F9, bonkers on top of bonkers results in a truly delightful and vividly sensorial time at the movies.

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'Fast' franchise soars to new heights in 'F9: The Fast Saga' while also looking to the past - The Spokesman-Review