A Movie I'd like to see this Fall . . .
Ross Douthat confirms my suspicion that I'll like Capote and hate Good Night and Good Luck. If I see any movie this Fall (besides Wallace and Gromit, Dreamer, Chicken Little, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe), it's going to be Capote.
posted by Kate Marie | 11:42 AM | Permalink
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10 comments
10 Comments:
Kate Marie, talk to the Stewbride. She saw it as part of a SAG screening and the actor who played True Man was there taking questions. She liked it and thinks that he will be up for best actor.
Good Night And Good Luck is supposed to be a well crafted film. Check it out on Rottentomatoes.com The critics are pretty unanimous in their praise, but of course it is a one sided propaganda piece glorifying yet another liberal media 'hero'.
I will have to talk to her. I really like Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He's actually one of my choices for the role of Whittaker Chambers (either Hoffman or Russell Crowe) in the screenplay I keep fantasizing about.
I'm sure Good Night and Good Luck is well crafted, but I've hated plenty of well-crafted films. I have the feeling it couldn't be well-crafted enough to make me like it.
But then sometimes I think I've become a caricature of the paranoid, spittle-spewing Red-baiter. We watched The Iron Giant with the kids several months ago, and it was enjoyable and "well-crafted," but I had a hard time getting over the fact that they turned an apparently apolitical Isaac Asimov tale (I haven't read it) into a Cold War fable, about an Iron Giant (wink wink, nudge, nudge, Iron Giant, Iron Curtain, get it?) that everybody is afraid of, but only because they don't understand that it's really a gentle giant whose destructive capabilities are only used in self-defense. And there's a paranoid G-man and a cool, understanding Beatnik-type and it's all set against the background of the Cold War and the Russians getting the bomb. Sadeeq couldn't understand why I was so ticked off by the movie, but I get tired of having otherwise pleasant experiences (this was a kids' movie, for crying out loud) ruined by simplistic, moralizing, historically ignorant babble.
Speaking of "historically ignorant babble," did you see Roots? I must be the only person my age who didn't. But I'm reading Black Rednecks And White Liberals by Dr. Thomas Sowell and he mentions that series and the historical inaccuracies. Questioned about it, Alex Haley said he wanted to create a "myth for his people," to hell with the truth. (OK, he didn't say that last part.)
I'm only partway through this book but highly recommend it. It's a series of long essays, so you could pick and choose your favorites. It is a real eye opener.
You just reminded me of Alex Haley's tragedy. . . turns out that he was adopted.
Hey, thanks for the recommendation, C.I.V. I haven't read any of Sowell's books, but I like his columns. I'll look for it.
How did you never see Roots? I remember it being a big event in our household. We sat down as a family and watched every episode.
Um, remind me what year it was and I can probably tell you why I didn't watch Roots. I certainly heard about it constantly.
Did you know that Westerners did not go into Africa to capture slaves? Turns out those weenies didn't last long in the wild, what with malaria and other diseases. The wimps had to rely on the dominant African tribes to capture slaves and bring them to market on the coasts. Not that that excuses the wusses, but most people that bought slaves had no idea what went on in the capture. That includes the Arabs, who had WAY more slaves than just about any other people.
KM, Dr. Sowell's Applied Economics and Affirmative Action Around the World are great reads. (I thought his Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy was a tad dull, in comparison.)
SD, say it ain't so! So, what is Alex actually descended from some boring people with no colorful history?
It ain't so. That's just an old Roots joke. It was such a piece of Americana at the time, it spawned its own humor.
It came out in 77. I remember watching it in college in Boston.
1977. College. That fits. No TV in college. That must be how I missed Roots.
Once I got TV out of my system, I didn't miss it. It was years after college before I watched again. Then I took another break until, let's see, probably "Barney" somewhere around '92. I don't miss that.
Come on CIV, embrace the inner Barney. Sing it with me. I love you! You love me! We're a happy family . . . With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you . . . Won't you say you love me too?"
Oh, geez, KM. That is so unfair. Now I'll have that stuck in my head all day. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHH.
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