Frogs (1972) is the movie for this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Feb 23, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT, which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows on a computer side-by-side. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something...

How to watch the movie:

• someone plans to stream it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• youtube (uBlock Origin adblocker works): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltc-DUACMfs
• archive: https://archive.org/details/frogs.-1972.1080p.-blu-ray.-h-264.-aac-rarbg
• they say it's on "pluto" as well which I think is some kind of corporate streaming site? Never tried it before, dunno if adblocking works there
• if you want to pay or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/frogs

Frogs ... falls into the "eco-horror" category, telling the story of a wildlife photographer who meets an upper-class U.S. Southern family who are victimized by several different animal species, including snakes, birds, leeches, lizards, and butterflies.

...

A reviewer from HorrorNews.net found it odd for a horror film to be titled Frogs when all the killings in the film are done by animals other than frogs and discussed the acting: "Sam Elliott is good as always. He manages to feel like the outsider while also feeling like part of the group. It makes his role work in ways that it might not work in someone else's control. Ray Milland is also fairly good as the patriarch of the Crockett family. He personifies that bullheaded 'you listen to me because I'm always right' attitude in such a believable manner that you think he is that guy. The rest of the cast isn't as great as these two, but their lack of good performance only helps to make their deaths more fun to watch. They overact or underact in the perfect ways to make the movie priceless."[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogs_(film)

The Bouncer (Original title: Lukas) is a 2018 French-Belgian action thriller film directed by Julien Leclercq, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme... Set in Belgium, the plot follows nightclub bouncer Lukas (Van Damme) who agrees to help Interpol hunt down crime boss Jan Dekkers (Louwyck) in order to regain custody of his 8-year-old daughter Sarah (Verset) from social services.

The original version of the film, which was released in Europe under the title Lukas, is mostly in French with some Flemish, and English with everything subtitled, while The Bouncer, released a year later in the United States, had some scenes cut and is dubbed into English.[3][4] The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bouncer_(film)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFD1k9D3mUg - available free in the US
• https://tubitv.com/movies/526267/the-bouncer - free in the US, England, Canada, and Australia (I think?) - uBlock Origin in Firefox makes it ad-free

Meng Li was betrayed by his brother. After being injured, he ran into obstacles and his life was unsustainable. Li decided to get back on his feet for the sake of his family and returned to the corner with the help of Shopkeeper Zhou.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32262824/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOhSu3cSIvA - english and chinese subtitles, chinese dub. the sound cuts out twice for a minute or two, dunno why (copyright?) but it's not too bad bc nothings happening when it cuts out and the movie has subtitles anyway. available free everywhere except Vietnam, Xin lỗi!
• https://tubitv.com/movies/100034573/the-ancient-wrestler - Hindi dub, english subtitles

Bryant befriends a troubled teen and introduces him to martial arts. As Bryant's mysterious and dangerous past catches up to him, he is forced into a life and death struggle to clear his name, save the boy and get back all he left behind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Good_as_Dead_(2022_film)

"My brother inspired me to write this," said White. "He had a great love for the Latino community. He drove his motorcycle from Florida into Mexico, and then fell in love with Playa del Carmen, a beautiful area there, and he then started a family. So when I moved to Los Angeles and got very connected with Mexico and the Latino community, I just always had a love for the family values that they've had, and the fact that they're just the hardest working people I've ever seen. So it was in my soul to kind of tell this movie, and I wanted to bring this martial arts action genre, like in a very Karate Kid type of way, but with a Latino child, and with this is kind of fusing of genres together. I wanted to tell this story about people, and how sometimes our heroes are wrapped in different packaging."

https://movieweb.com/michael-jai-white-good-as-dead-interview/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_P7b3WIYI - full movie available free in Canada, UK, Ireland, USA, blocked elsewhere
• https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/as-good-as-dead-2022 - to pay/watch ads

In 1889 Vienna, Austria-Hungary, a magician named Eisenheim is arrested by Chief Inspector Walter Uhl of the Vienna Police during a magic show involving necromancy. Later, Uhl explains the story of Eisenheim's life to Crown Prince Leopold.

...

Jonathan Rosenbaum's review in The Chicago Reader praised Paul Giamatti's performance of "a character who feels sympathy for the magician but owes allegiance to Leopold and is therefore divided and compromised ... Giamatti's performance is subtle, expressive, and richly nuanced."[13] Stephen Holden, in his review for The New York Times, praised Edward Norton's role, which, according to him, "perfectly fits his disturbing inscrutability".[14] Variety wrote that Jessica Biel "is entirely stunning enough to fight to the death over".[15] Roger Ebert rated 3.5/4 and wrote that, "The movie sets up a fascinating parable about art, religion and politics, and the misty boundaries between them".[16]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illusionist_(2006_film)

The link from above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2krcvO3z1A

It's got Christopher "Saruman / Count Dooku" Lee! It's got Peter "that guy who blew up Princess Leia's planet" Cushing! Yes, The Gorgon (1964) is the subject of this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Feb 16, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT, which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows on a computer side-by-side. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something...

How to watch the movie:

• someone plans to stream it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• archive: https://archive.org/details/the-gorgon
• if you're in North America, Australia, or the UK try Tubi (uBlockOrigin adblocker still works there, I believe?): https://tubitv.com/movies/499226/the-gorgon
• youtube (uBO still works?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=172VQfCDi6Q
• another youtube (uBO still works?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFhABjmLy2M
• if you want to pay or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-gorgon

Germany 1910: The village of Vandorf has suffered seven horrific murders in five years. In each case, the unfortunate victim has been turned to stone.

...

Variety wrote: "Though written and directed on a leisurely note, The Gorgon is a well-made, direct yarn that mainly gets its thrills through atmosphere. The period storyline is simple and predictable, but John Gilling has turned out a well-rounded piece and Terence Fisher's direction is restrained enough to avoid any unintentional yocks."[7]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The Gorgon myth does not fit happily into Transylvanian surroundings, and there are too many red-herrings indicative of the script's straining after horrific effect (the mad woman, the brain transplantation, etc.). The trouble is that one is never really in doubt as to who the Gorgon is. Also, as in Hammer's stablemate, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, the monster's appearance is belated, vague and insufficiently spectacular. Still, it makes a change from vampires, and though the film has little genuine flair for atmosphere it is quite well acted by Richard Pasco and an appropriately blank-eyed, statuesque Barbara Shelley."[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gorgon

Hey, it's Superbowl Sunday! Since I don't have the kind of image hookup that anon6789 does, I'm looking thru wikipedia for owls that I dig.

This here's a Sri Lanka bay owl! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_bay_owl Looks very otherworldly!

Pic by Abhilash Arjunan, licence info here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceylon_Bay_Owl1_Abhilash_Arjunan.jpg

Description: "Sri Lanka Bay Owl Phodilus assimilis at Arippa forest, Trivandrum, Kerala, India on October 2015"

https://pixelfed.fediverse.observer/dailystats

Looks like Pixelfed's growth spurt is slowing down. Absent any new external stimuli I'm guessing it'll stabilize around 200K to 300K monthly active users -- over a hundredfold order of magnitude from what it was just a month ago.

Masters of the Universe (1987) is the subject of this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Feb 9, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT, which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows on a computer side-by-side. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something...

How to watch the movie:

• someone plans to stream it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• if you're in North America, Australia, or the UK try Tubi (uBlockOrigin adblocker worked there, last I checked): https://tubitv.com/movies/466377/masters-of-the-universe
• archive: https://archive.org/details/masters-of-the-universe-1987_202304
• youtube WARNING: someone posted it there split into a playlist of 10-15 minute videos, but it's missing one whole section of the movie
• if you want to pay or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/masters-of-the-universe

[Masters of the Universe] stars Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill, and Meg Foster. The film follows two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, who travels to Earth with his friends to stop their archenemy, the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will enable him to take over their home planet of Eternia and the entire universe. ...At the time of release, it was met with negative reviews from film critics, but is now regarded as a cult film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Universe_(1987_film)

Masters of the Universe (1987) is the subject of this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Feb 9, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT, which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows on a computer side-by-side. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something...

How to watch the movie:

• someone plans to stream it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• if you're in North America, Australia, or the UK try Tubi (uBlockOrigin adblocker worked there, last I checked): https://tubitv.com/movies/466377/masters-of-the-universe
• archive: https://archive.org/details/masters-of-the-universe-1987_202304
• youtube WARNING: someone posted it there split into a playlist of 10-15 minute videos, but it's missing one whole section of the movie
• if you want to pay or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/masters-of-the-universe

[Masters of the Universe] stars Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox, Robert Duncan McNeill, and Meg Foster. The film follows two teenagers who meet He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, who travels to Earth with his friends to stop their archenemy, the evil Skeletor from obtaining a cosmic key that will enable him to take over their home planet of Eternia and the entire universe. ...At the time of release, it was met with negative reviews from film critics, but is now regarded as a cult film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Universe_(1987_film)

Demonstrators gathered in cities across the U.S. on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s early actions, decrying everything from the president’s immigration crackdown to his rollback of transgender rights and a proposal to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

...

The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media issued calls for action, with messages such as “reject fascism” and “defend our democracy.”

• https://apnews.com/article/50501-protests-project-2025-trump-state-capitols-ddd341171a54ba9b498cbfe7530e18ab

More articles about this story:

• The Oklahoman (OK) - photos https://www.oklahoman.com/picture-gallery/news/2025/02/05/protests-today-50501-okc-capitol-oklahoma-photos/78213725007/
• Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) - photos https://www.cjonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2025/02/05/50501-protesters-take-to-kansas-statehouse-to-let-voices-be-heard/78253814007/
• Austin American-Statesman (TX) https://www.statesman.com/picture-gallery/news/2025/02/05/austin-texas-capitol-protest-50501-movement-reddit-50-states-50-capitals-protests/78244714007/
• CBS News / WJZ Baltimore (MD) https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/50501-maryland-trump-protesters-annapolis-policies/
• Fox 47 (MI) https://www.fox47news.com/news/local-news/happening-today-50501-protest-budget-recommendation-msu-shooting-commemoration
• KVLY Fargo (ND) https://www.valleynewslive.com/2025/02/05/5051-movement-makes-its-way-fargo-anti-trump-protest/
• Fox 9 St Paul (MN) https://www.fox9.com/news/50-states-50-protests-minnesota-state-capitol-50501-movement

edit: more stories

• New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/us/politics/trump-protests-50501-project-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=1.u04.LA5v.QoNbNhOB_HAv
• USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/05/50501-protests-harrisburg-pa/78252288007/
• lel Jeff Bezos' Washington Post just copied the AP story and hid it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/05/50501-protests-project-2025-trump-state-capitols/4e33293e-e388-11ef-ab83-bb30e4340014_story.html
• KTVZ Bend, (OR) https://ktvz.com/news/top-stories/2025/02/05/protesters-gather-in-downtown-bend-part-of-national-opposition-to-president-trumps-actions/
• Des Moines Register (IA) - photos https://www.desmoinesregister.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2025/02/05/photos-50501-protest-at-iowa-state-capitol/78252982007/
• NHPR (NH) https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025-02-05/50501-protest-new-hampshire-trump-musk-state-house
• Vermont Public https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-02-05/hundreds-protest-president-donald-trump-administration-vermont-statehouse

BONUS

• Know Your Meme! https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/50501-50-protests-50-states-1-day

Protests against Project 2025 and President Donald Trump's executive orders are planned for Wednesday at state Capitol buildings in all 50 states ...

• https://www.fox9.com/news/50-states-50-protests-feb-5-2025

Additional coverage of this story:

• Newsweek, a second article: https://www.newsweek.com/50501-protests-update-anti-trump-march-50-states-expands-2025741
• KVRR North Dakota: https://www.kvrr.com/2025/02/04/project-2025-protests-planned-wednesday-at-all-50-state-capitol-buildings/
• Shreveport Times (Louisiana): https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2025/02/04/what-is-the-50501-movement-find-out-more-about-the-nationwide-protest-anti-fascicm-against-trump/78208443007/
• Savannah Morning News (GA): https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2025/02/04/where-are-people-protesting-in-georgia-against-trump-the-50501-details/78207555007/
• the Savannah GA story above seems to have been picked up by USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/02/04/where-are-people-protesting-in-georgia-against-trump-the-50501-details/78207555007/
• Dallas Observer (TX): https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/where-to-go-in-texas-for-the-reject-project-2025-protest-21675389
• Clarion Ledger (MS): https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2025/02/04/people-plan-to-protest-donald-trump-administration-in-mississippi-see-where-when-immigration-dei-ice/78207203007/
• Westword (Denver, CO): https://www.westword.com/news/denver-fifty-state-capitol-protest-when-where-what-to-know-23293344
• CT News Junkie (Connecticut newsletter?): https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/02/04/50501-movement-rally-planned-at-connecticut-capitol-wednesday/
• Herald Dispatch (WV) - very brief: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/protest-against-project-2025-planned-at-state-capitols-wednesday/article_4e7efd0e-e33e-11ef-95da-e7064df63151.html
• Longmont Leader (CO) mostly sourced from the Westword story: https://www.longmontleader.com/colorado-news/nationwide-protest-against-trump-and-project-2025-planned-in-denver-tomorrow-10181600
• Phoenix New Times (AZ): https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix-arizona-fifty-states-protest-when-where-what-to-know-21131150
• KSNT Topkea (Kansas): https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/two-protests-coming-to-the-capital-city-on-wednesday/
• Herald Net (WA) - brief mention: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/protest-planned-wednesday-at-snohomish-county-campus/
• Kennebec Journal (Maine): https://www.centralmaine.com/2025/02/04/trump-project-2025-protesters-to-gather-wednesday-in-augusta/

BONUS:

• Snopes article with some info on who started it https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/02/04/anti-trump-state-capitol-protests-february-5/