Author: marleneardoin@yahoo.com

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is a 2025 historical drama film directed by Simon Curtis from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes. It is the sequel to Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) and the third and final film in the Downton Abbey franchise. Many of the original franchise’s cast members, who also appeared in the previous two films, will return. Paul Giamatti and Dominic West reprise their roles as Harold Levinson from the television series and Guy Dexter from the previous film, respectively, while Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan join the cast.

Imelda Staunton, who portrays Lady Maud Bagshaw in the previous film, stated in March 2024 that a third and final film in the Downton Abbey franchise was being planned, with the main cast set to return. Following the announcement of several cast members reprising their roles in May, filming began that month and concluded in August. The official title was announced in March 2025.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is scheduled to be released by Focus Features on 12 September 2025.

Follows the Crawley family and the Downton Abbey staff as they enter the 1930s. When Mary finds herself at the center of a public scandal caused by her divorce and the family faces financial trouble, the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future. ^[2][3]

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THE LONG WALK

The Long Walk is a dystopian horror novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 1979, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Set in a dystopian alternative version of the United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, the plot follows the contestants of a grueling annual walking contest. While not the first of King’s novels to be published, The Long Walk was the first novel he wrote, having begun it in 1966–67 during his freshman year at the University of Maine, some eight years before his first published novel, Carrie, was released in 1974.^[2]

It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus The Bachman Books, and has seen several reprints since, as both paperback and hardcover. In 2023, Centipede Press released the first stand-alone hardcover edition.^[3] In 2000, the American Library Association listed The Long Walk as one of the 100 best books for teenage readers published between 1966 and 2000.^[4]

Set in an alternative, dystopian version of the United States, the plot revolves around the Long Walk, an annual contest in which 100 young men walk continuously along a pre-arranged route (presumably on Route 1). Walkers must keep a minimum pace of 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), and are issued verbal warnings by soldiers monitoring their progress if they fall below this speed for 30 seconds. A walker can lose one warning if he walks for an hour without earning another. If a walker receives three warnings and falls below the minimum speed for 30 seconds again, he is shot and killed by the soldiers. The Walk continues until there is only one survivor, who can have whatever he wants for the rest of his life as his prize.

Ray Garraty, from Androscoggin County, Maine, arrives at the start of the Walk on the Canada–Maine border, where he meets the other walkers, among them the sardonic McVries, the friendly Baker, the cocky Olson and the enigmatic Stebbins. The Major, the leader of the secret police force known as the Squads, starts the Walk. Throughout the first day, Garraty befriends Baker, Olson, and several other walkers such as Abraham and Pearson, growing particularly close to McVries and becoming intrigued by Stebbins. The men speculate on who will be the first walker to be eliminated. A walker named Barkovitch reveals to a reporter that he is in the Long Walk to “dance on the graves” of other participants, and later provokes another walker into attacking him, resulting in the latter’s death and Barkovitch being ostracized.

Raymond Davis “Ray” Garraty (#47)

The novel’s main character and point-of-view character, a 16-year-old boy from Pownal, Maine (for which he is called a “hick”). He is described as tall and well-built with a “heavy shock” of “straw-thatch” hair and a faded army fatigue jacket. Garraty is bitter, naive and thoughtful, which makes him a good confidant for the other Walkers, and felt a compulsion to join the Walk that he struggles to understand. Although he has done farmwork, he is not an experienced athlete. His hobbies include dancing, reading, knitting and constellations; conversely, he dislikes beer and cities.

Peter “Pete” McVries (#61)

Garraty’s closest companion, a 16-year-old boy from Passaic, New Jersey. He is described as “awesomely fit” with black hair, a knapsack and a white scar across his cheek, which he received from his ex-girlfriend. McVries is sardonic and has a masochistic streak, often goading others into pushing him away even during the pains of the Walk. He saves Garraty multiple times in the game, also giving him advice. He carries a strong hatred towards Barkovitch, stating his only desire is to outlast him.

Stebbins (#88)

A loner who walks at the rear of the group, a 17-year-old boy and the illegitimate son of the Major. He is described as a “lean Buddha” with pale blue eyes and a “sickly halo” of blond hair, and wears an old green sweater, a blue chambray shirt, purple pants and tennis shoes (which he later swaps for moccasins). Stebbins is calm, playful and mocking, and often talks to Garraty in riddles. He is convinced that the Walk is rigged, and is scared at the prospect of it being a straight game.

Arthur “Art” Baker (#3)

Another participant who is close with Garraty and McVries. He is a young man from a large, lower-class family in Louisiana (for which he is called a “cracker”). He is described as appearing “young and beautiful” and “almost ethereal”, as moving with “deceptive leisure”, and as wearing a red-striped shirt. Baker is sweet and sincere, but is a con artist and a former night rider, and he has a fascination with his own death.

Henry “Hank” Olson (#70)

One of Garraty’s earliest companions, a young man of unknown background. He is described as an experienced smoker wearing his foodbelt slung low “like a gunslinger”. Olson is cocky and arrogant and humorous (“raring to rip”), but quickly becomes withdrawn and unresponsive, with Garraty believing that he has become a “human Flying Dutchman”.

Gary Barkovitch (#5)

A young man from Washington, DC. He is described as small and olive-skinned with a sharp nose and hooded eyes, and he sometimes wears a vinyl yellow rainhat; Garraty considers him to look like a “destructive child’s teddy bear”. Barkovitch is intense and adheres to a mysterious “Plan”, and threatens to “dance on the graves” of the other Walkers, but becomes paranoid and insane when they ostracize him. He and McVries have a heated hatred towards each other throughout the walk.

Abraham “Abe” (#2)

One of Garraty’s companions, a 17-year-old boy called a “rube”. He is described as disjointed and shambling, with reddish hair, Oxford shoes, and a jacket tied around his waist. Abraham is droll and somber and short-tempered, particularly when jibes are made at his intelligence, and entered the Walk partially as a joke.

Collie Parker

A young man from Joliet, Illinois. He is described as a big-muscled blond with a polo shirt and an insolent look; Garraty further describes him as a “leather jacket hero” and a “Saturday night tough guy”. Parker despises Maine and uses excessive profanity, and often attempts to flirt with the spectators despite considering them to be “pigs”.

Pearson

One of Garraty’s companions. He is described as a tall young man with glasses and pants that are too big for him. Pearson is morose and enjoys poetry, game theory and chess, and views the Walk as a competition that can be solved logically. For luck, Pearson has 99 pennies in his pocket, and moves one to his other pocket whenever someone dies.

Scramm (#85)

The predicted winner of the current Long Walk, a participant from Arizona with a pregnant wife. He is described as a shaggy young man with a crew cut, few remaining teeth, and a “moose-like” physique. Although dim-witted, Scramm is friendly and possesses a “simple dignity”. He has dropped out of school and works in a bedsheet factory.

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THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT

The Man In My Basement is a 2025 thriller film directed and co-written by Nadia Latif (in her feature directorial debut), and based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley, who co-wrote the screenplay. It stars Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, Anna Diop and Tamara Lawrance.

The film premiered in the Discovery titles at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, and is scheduled to be released in select theaters on September 12, 2025.^[2][3]

Charles Blakey, an African American man living in Sag Harbor, is stuck in a rut, out of luck, and about to lose his ancestral home when a peculiar white businessman with a European accent offers to rent his basement for the summer.

• Corey Hawkins as Charles Blakey
• Willem Dafoe as Anniston Bennet
• Anna Diop as Narciss Gully
• Tamara Lawrance as Bethany

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LOOKING THROUGH WATER

Looking Through Water is an upcoming American drama film directed by Roberto Sneider, written by Zach Dean and Rowdy Herrington, and starring Michael Stahl-David, David Morse, Cameron Douglas, Walker Scobell, and Michael Douglas. It is based on Bob Rich‘s 2015 novel Looking Through Water and his 2025 memoir Catching Big Fish.

In an attempt to mend their broken relationship, a man invites his estranged son to compete in a father–son fishing competition in San Pedro, Belize.^[1]

• Michael Douglas^[2]
• Cameron Douglas^[2]
• David Morse^[3]
• Michael Stahl-David^[3]
• Walker Scobell^[3]
• Ximena Romo^[4]
• Tamara Tunie^[1]

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9/8/2025 #DowntonAbbey:TheGrandFinale #TheLongWalk #TheManInMyBasement #LookingThroughWater