After one of the strangest and most controversial Oscar races in recent memory, a polarizing movie, warranting tons of strong opinions online, inevitably rose to top. The Sean Baker film Anora won five of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Actress for Mikey Madison. Its been a weird road to Oscars glory for the critically-lauded movie, which won the prestigious Palme dOr at last years Cannes Film Festival. The comedy-drama, about a strip club dancer whose fairytale marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch suddenly goes haywire, generated early buzz but took a backseat for much of awards season, losing screenwriting and direction awards to films like Conclave and The Brutalist. The movie shockingly left the Golden Globes empty-handed. While the film experienced a bit of a lop-sided awards season, it had a steady presence online as one of the most discoursed movies of the past year second only to two-time Oscar winner Emilia Prez. While the movie impressed most critics and clearly the Academy, Anora has been a lightning rod on film-interested corners of X, Letterboxd, and among sex workers and even the movies own army of stans. First, there was the revelation from Madison that she didnt use an intimacy coordinator for the films sex scenes after being given the option by Baker. It quickly raised questions about Baker as a professional and his relationship to actor protections that have become standard in the wake of MeToo. In fact, much of the conversation surrounding the movie has been centered on Baker, whose politics and intentions as an auteur have often been hard to map. Following the celebrated release of his third film Tangerine in 2015, about a pair of Black, trans sex workers, his low-budget filmography has been exclusively dedicated to portraying sex workers, in what hes repeatedly described as an effort to remove the stigma from the industry and offer an unrepresented class visibility. While accepting the Palme dor for Anora, he dedicated the award to sex workers past, present and future. And in his acceptance speech for Best Original Screenplay, he dutifully thanked the sex worker community. The cast of Anora posing with the Palme dOr Award for Anora during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2024 in Cannes, France. Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty ImagesStill, questions about Bakers relationship to depicting sex work loom larger than ever, particularly with his latest work Anora, with some in the profession logging thoughtful essays about their concerns with Bakers work. Why does his treatment of these characters, specifically women, feel so regressive? For someone whos mined stories from the same marginalized profession over and over again, why has he only been able to come up with anything other than reductive stereotypes? Anora has been marketed as a love story from Sean Baker. Yet it might be his film thats most lacking in sentimentality and tenderness for his characters (a Baker hallmark, even if it often comes out in the form of pity). The movie follows a 23-year-old stripper named Ani (Madison) who elopes with the son of a rich Russian family named Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) after meeting him at her club. Her rags-to-riches romance comes to an abrupt and jarring end when several henchmen show up to Vanyas Brighton Beach mansion, under his familys direction, demanding that their marriage be annulled. Vanya flees the scene, leaving Ani alone to fight off the henchmen who inevitably abduct her and bring her along on their search for Vanya. This drawn-out set piece and all of its violence Ani screaming as shes being bound and bent over on a couch, Ani screaming rape! as a cry for help is played-for-laughs and unsettling to watch. In a review for Angel Food Magazine, Marla Cruz illustrates how this sequence undermines the commonplace violence that sex workers are vulnerable to: Crystallized by the moment she repetitively yells rape! to the goons bewilderment, Anis fear is sublimated into feminine histrionics. The camera cuts to a close up of her screaming mouth, encouraging the audience to identify with the men in their mission to get this unruly woman under control by gagging her with a red scarf. Bakers direction never really sympathizes with Ani or even acknowledges the level of physical and emotional violation shes experiencing throughout the film, constantly undercutting it with anti-PC comedy, or, in more frustrating moments, positioning her as a problem to a group of men who simply are just trying to do their jobs. Viewers are encouraged to gawk, laugh, and essentially normalize her subjugation. Ani is dragged around, humiliated, and stripped of all control until she has an emotional breakdown at the end of the film while shes mounting a man. Through this lens, the entire movie is just another reductive if not moralistic tale of a sex workers suffering. A consistent flaw in Bakers work (with the exception of 2019 film Red Rocket) is that while his movies illustrate their characters economic positioning in arguably amusing and sometimes compelling ways, they lack a sharp point of view. In the same vein, his characters often want for interiority, using naturalistic dialogue to a cover-up shallow characterization. Despite the movie being titled Anora, audiences dont leave knowing much about her her desires, her fears, her family, her past. We only know whats done to her. Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn in Anora NeonAnora is heavily influenced by films of the 70s, bringing to mind Jane Fondas iconic call girl from the 1971 film Klute, as a point of comparison. Fondas character serves as a reminder of the self-determination and agency sex workers can have in film, while still reckoning with the real threats of danger they live under. When Baker attempts to depict Ani as strong-willed, its largely in moments where she comes off as offensive, immature, and a class traitor. Yet, in situations involving money, where she should presumably execute the most authority and cleverness, shes markedly passive and naive. She remains quiet watching Vanya accrue gambling losses at a casino. When he proposes to her, she sassily demands an engagement ring that has at least three karats, when he could afford much more. Most shocking, she demands only $15,000 to be Vanyas horny American girlfriend for a week. After shaking on the offer, Vanya tells her that she shouldve asked for more. She still doesnt. Ultimately, Anora may fall into the category of Oscar-winning movies that seem like a cool, progressive choice on paper, but are ridden with problems and critiques from the communities they purport to represent. There are other factors that have presumably lent to this win, too. Baker is one of the few modern auteurs whos been unwavering in his commitment to making independent cinema for over 20 years now. Anora is also a monument to 70s filmmaking canon, an era of cinema that Hollywood has heralded as an emblem of taste. With Anora, Baker puts himself in the conversation with celebrated auteurs like John Cassavetes, Martin Scorsese, and Robert Altman. If only his work contained some of that eras more radical politics and subversive representations. See More:

Katajanokan Laituri Wood Office and Hotel Building / Anttinen Oiva ArchitectsSave this picture! Kalle KouhiaFinlandArchitects: Anttinen Oiva ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:23000 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Kalle Kouhia, Tuomas UusheimoManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Stora EnsoMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Katajanokan Laituri is a solid wood office and hotel building that sets an example in the possibilities of wood construction in a sensitive urban environment. As the first new building on the formerly industrial Katajanokka waterfront that directly connects to Helsinki's iconic maritime cityscape, Katajanokan Laituri spearheads the transition of this embankment into an open urban space accessible to all. It continues the uniform, neo-classical silhouette of Helsinki along its southern waterfront, while the meandering shapes of its faade break its scale, connecting it to the diverse and layered building stock of the Katajanokka peninsula. A double-structure on the faade with an outer layer of glass, aluminum, and granite that protects the exposed wood structures from the maritime weather connects the building to the wider cityscape and gives it a unique character that changes with the time of day and the four seasons.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The building has four floors above the ground, a publicly accessible green rooftop terrace, and a basement that houses technical facilities and parking. The building was designed as the new head office of the leading Nordic forestry company Stora Enso, and half of it is occupied by a hotel. The street-level spaces connect to the surrounding city on both sides and feature a large, shared open foyer, restaurant, caf, and conference spaces. The structural system and the design of the spaces allow for maximal flexibility and adaptability of the interior over a long lifecycle. The exposed spruce structures together with careful spruce and ash detailing exhibit the natural diversity of wood as a building material. The design of the interior has been guided by a preference for materials that are natural, sustainable, and will age beautifully. Besides wood, the Viitasaari gray granite used on the facades and on the pavement outside as well as inside connects the building to its urban environment. The outdoor spaces of the building are inspired by northern nature and feature a birch grove in the courtyard and archipelago meadows on the rooftop.Save this picture!Save this picture!The project has been guided by the objective of minimizing climate impacts over a long lifecycle and making the best use of renewable resources and materials. The building's above-ground structures utilize standard, industrial, prefabricated Stora Enso massive wood products customized for pioneering structural and architectural solutions. The post-beam frame and the structure for the faade are made of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) produced in Varkaus, Finland. The inner walls and lift- and staircase shafts that stiffen the structure, as well as the floor- and roof structures, are made of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) produced in Gruvn, Sweden. The entire frame consists of 7600 m of spruce and 2500 wood elements.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The building's close proximity to the sea means that extensive flood protection measures have been implemented as part of the building project. As the first block redeveloped on the Katajanokka waterfront, this site spearheads the reactivation, reinforcement, and raising up of the entire embankment. It paves the way for a future permanent reconstruction of the embankment as a continuous public space from the Market Square to the tip of Katajanokka.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Katajanokanlaituri 4, 00160 Helsinki, FinlandLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeMaterialsMaterials and TagsPublished on March 03, 2025Cite: "Katajanokan Laituri Wood Office and Hotel Building / Anttinen Oiva Architects" 03 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027302/katajanokan-laituri-wood-office-and-hotel-building-anttinen-oiva-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Beijing Xitan Hotel Landscape Design / Nikken SekkeiSave this picture!Front entrance after completion. Image Nikken SekkeiArchitects: Nikken SekkeiAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:13000 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Nikken Sekkei Lead Architects: Nikken Sekkei Ltd, Nomura Garden Laboratory More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Exploring the garden that inherited the landscaping philosophy of Tanzhe Temple Beijing Xitan Hotel, an oriental aesthetic resort that combines grandeur and delicacy This project began with a desire on the part of the client and the design team to create a top-quality resort hotel combining grandeur and delicacy, by adding Japanese aesthetics to the mountain landscape of Beijing, China. After five years of design supervision and continuous back-and-forth between Japan and China to realize this vision, we were pleased to announce the opening of the Beijing Xitan Hotel in May 2022. The landscape design was drawn by three Nikken Sekkei Landscape Design Section staff members and Nomura Garden Laboratory Director Kanji Nomura. The team was thoroughly involved from concept planning to the construction stages and singularly committed to realizing the design while exploring the nature of east Asian aesthetics.Save this picture!The site is located in southwest Beijing, on "Tiger Mountain," up a mountain road from Tanzhe Temple. About an hour's drive from downtown Beijing, it has been attracting attention in recent years for its rich natural environment away from the bustle of the city. The scenery reflects the shifts between the four seasons and features panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. A former local village has been fully restored. The attention to detail of the interior design and gardens is harmonious with the rustic atmosphere of the village and represents the essence of hospitality for visitors.Save this picture!The site area measures approximately 21,000 square meters. The building area spans approximately 13,000 square meters, most of which is composed of single-story buildings. This luxury resort hotel sports 38 private guest rooms and is surrounded by 17 courtyards. The hotel is a member of the renowned Relais & Chateaux, a benchmark name in the world of food and travel.Nikken Sekkei - Nomura Teien Kenkyujo Teamwork Nomura Garden Laboratory is a leader in Japanese gardens in Japan and abroad. Director Kanji Nomura is a disciple of Japan's leading traditional garden architect Mirei Shigemori. A veteran of garden surveys and designs in Kyoto and across Japan, Nomura has a deep understanding of the philosophy and methods used to create garden beauty. The landscape architects of Nikken Sekkei worked with him from site analysis to concept creation and design.Save this picture!Save this picture!Design ProcessThe design was developed by traversing the site, standing at key viewpoints, and sketching images arising on the spot while picturing scenes from the conceptual story. By doing so, the staff were able to create a garden that maximally reflected the site's atmosphere.Save this picture!Save this picture!Important Points in LandscapingThe most important thing in creating an oriental garden is for the designers themselves to face the stones one by one while building the garden. The designer imbues their feelings for the garden into each stone, and every stone has its own "expression". In order to find it, it is essential to climb upon the stone, grasp its expression from a three-dimensional perspective, and instruct how to orient it in order to afford the best expression. In this case, due to elevation differences, the elderly Nomura had difficulty checking the expression of stones larger than his own body height. Therefore, the designers took on the role of ascertaining the stone's proper expression and setting it. This allowed the masonry to be assembled quickly without any loss of quality.Save this picture!The "Garden Village" Landscape Design ConceptWith mountains to the north, a valley to the east, a basin to the south, and a longitudinal road to the west, the Xitan Hotel is the ideal abode of the four gods: Genbu ("Black Turtle"), Seiryu ("Blue Dragon"), Suzaku ("Vermilion Bird"), and Biyakko ("White Tiger"). It is also home to stories about the nature and enjoyment provided by this location, as well as designs and episodes that involve the four gods. The secluded, placid environment allows a view of not only the scenery as reflected in the eyes but also one's self-image as reflected in the heart.The site may be suitably called a "Zen" environment. The temple's southwestern location coincides with Saihoji Temple, the original Zen Buddhism garden in Japan. Its name is derived from the saying "Soshi Seirai Goyo Renpou," which talks of Daruma, the founding patriarch of the Chinese Zen sect. The mountain name " Hongyin Mountain " refers to a beloved Zen story that took place in the western mountains of Hongzhou, China, in which scenery was reproduced in the "karesansui" (Japanese: "dry landscape garden"). The garden was created by Zen Buddhist monk Soseki Muso, who was compelled by a special love for the West to design both the garden and the temple. The location of the mountain villa (hotel) coincides with this sacred place for Zen and gardens in Japan. The portrayal of Zen and Japanese gardens as the villa's unique world is a match made in heaven. Nature and garden, history and modernity, art and amenities, China and Japan; the fusion of these elements creates a rare luxury resort, garden village, and ideal world.Save this picture!Hotel ApproachThe approach to the Xitan Hotel, located near the summit of the mountain, begins with a climb up a mountain path. The higher one climbs the meandering path, the more the bustle of the capital is left behind, allowing for anticipation of the extraordinary. The Xitan Hotel stands quietly at the top of the mountain, surrounded by silence. The simple, elegant gate and pine tree view in the hotel rear invite the traveler to paradise.Save this picture!Passing through the gate, one is captivated by the scenery, as the mountain ranges and the undulating garden appear superimposed, echoing each other. This combination of distant and nearby views is known as "shakkei" (Japanese: "borrowed scenery") in Japan and China.Save this picture!Through a gap in the pine-covered approach, a fully restored utopia peeks out from the site of a former village, heightening visitor anticipation. A misty slope invites visitors to a place far removed from the mundane world. The resonant sound of water becomes gradually more pleasant further down the slope.Save this picture!Entrance Hall and LobbyAs the sound of the water grows louder, a large waterfall appears. The magnificent view of the falls with its nearly seven-meter drop, cleanses the mind and leads to paradise. The waterfall's construction employs Japanese garden techniques that meticulously combine various shapes of scenic stones weighing up to 20 tons. The landscape is constructed to look as if water stored in the mountain is gushing out of the ground, creating a majestic waterfall. The sound of the koto (Japanese harp) can be heard from the Zen terrace, which peeks out from the trees.Save this picture!Save this picture!The entrance lobby comes into view as one proceeds, with Otaki Fall on the right. The mountains and the front garden gently envelop the lobby building. The front courtyard scenery, with its "snowflake" stone arrangement, pine forest, and background mountain range welcomes visitors to paradise.Save this picture!As viewed from the lobby, a waterfall flows beyond the pine forest. The stone arrangement at the foot of the waterfall unfolds to the floor of the pine forest. The expansive front garden creates a dignified view for bidding farewell to guests.Save this picture!Save this picture!The consolidated indoor and outdoor view. The stone and cloisonne walls create a luxurious atmosphere. A pine tree with branches extending to the right leads visitors to the guest rooms.Save this picture!Tian Xian Gong Guest RoomsThe Tian Xian Gong is the hotel's oldest courtyard guest room (QuadrangleDwellings). The landscape stones are built to match three old pine trees that have watched over the village since ancient times. The majestic view is harmonious with the mountain range beyond.Save this picture!Save this picture!East Side Terrace "Moon Viewing Platform"The terrace with a "floating" water basin above the entrance lobby is viewable from the Tian Xian Gong interior. Looking up, visitors are enveloped by the green nature connected to the mountain; looking down, the terrace, surrounded by water, appears to float in the greenery. The waterfall can be enjoyed while dining on the moon-viewing platform and listening to the sound of the water underfoot.Save this picture!Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeNikken SekkeiOfficeMaterialStoneMaterials and TagsPublished on March 03, 2025Cite: "Beijing Xitan Hotel Landscape Design / Nikken Sekkei" 03 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027434/beijing-xitan-hotel-landscape-design-nikken-sekkei&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

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Sony's canceled Twisted Metal reboot was apparently a battle royale game.Its developer shared some blurry images of the project: https://80.lv/articles/sony-s-canceled-twisted-metal-reboot-was-reportedly-battle-royale-game/

.@TenebrisSomnia, an upcoming pixelated 2D survival horror game with live-action cutscenes created by an award-winning film crew, has received an updated demo, introducing various improvements based on players feedback. It is coming in late 2025: https://80.lv/articles/demo-of-this-retro-2d-survival-horror-with-live-action-cutscenes-updated/

Re @PalmerLuckey Was fun seeing that come to life when we were working on the game. The dirty damages pass really added a lot.

Congrats! Gints Zilbalodis:Team Flow

RTGints ZilbalodisFlow was made entirely in Blender and rendered using EEVEE.

Fun little demo with a tease of Lovecraftian horror here and there. You need to figure out which medicine to give based on symptoms. Oh, and don't forget your laudanum, you'll need your sanity.Sometimes pages in the book take more than a click to turn, but otherwise it's cool Do No Harm:The wait is over! Do No Harm Demo is out NOW! Enter the room, face the unknown, and make choices that will haunt you forever. Play now on Steam! #DoNoHarm #DemoOutNowhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/3468320/Do_No_Harm_Demo?utm=twitter