Thursday, October 3, 2013

Anybody seen a good movie lately?

I never hear buzz about good films anymore...nobody's raving about anything in theaters............have you seen anything really good lately?

Let us know!

Z

46 comments:

Ducky's here said...

One of the decade's best documentaries

A little tough to watch but important

voodookobra said...

The Butler.
But Guess which one I’m talking about? NO NOT that piece of GARBAGE with Oprah! Oh HELL No!
I would never recommend anything that was featured with that piece of Crap.
The one with a real man who grew up in segregated Virginia, got a job at the White House and rose to become maitre d hôtel the highest position in White House service?
Guess which one had a happy, quiet life and was married to the same woman for 65 years? And who had one son who served honorably in Vietnam and never made a peep of protest through the pre- and post-civil rights era?
Now guess which butler grew up on a Georgia farm, watched the boss rape his mother and then, when his father protested the rape, watched the boss put a bullet through his father’’s head?
Guess which butler feels the pain of America’s racial injustices so deeply that he quits his White House job and joins his son in a protest movement?
And guess which butler has a wife (Oprah Winfrey) who becomes an alcoholic and has a cheap affair with the guy next door? (I'm surprised it wasn't the vice president.)
After comparing Hollywood’s absurd version of Eugene Allen’s life story with the truth, you wonder why the producers didn't just call it “The Butler from Another Planet.”
Screenwriter Danny Strong says he was trying to present a “backstage kind of view of the White House” that portrayed presidents and first ladies as they really were in everyday life.
Well, I was backstage at the White House -- a few hundred times. I met and knew the real butler, Mr. Allen, and I knew a little about my father.
Portraying Ronald Reagan as a racist because he was in favor of lifting economic sanctions against South Africa is simplistic and dishonest.
If you knew my father, you'd know he was the last person on Earth you would call a racist.
If Strong had gotten his “facts” from the Reagan biographies, he'd have learned that when my father was playing football at Eureka College one of his best friends was a black teammate.

voodookobra said...

Strong also would have learned that my father invited black players home for dinner and once, when two players were not allowed to stay in the local hotel, he invited them to stay overnight at his house.
Screenwriter Strong also might have found out that when my father was governor of California he appointed more blacks to positions of power than any of predecessors -- combined.
It’’s appalling to me that someone is trying to imply my father was a racist. He and Nancy and the rest of the Reagan family treated Mr. Allen with the utmost respect.

It was Nancy Reagan who invited the butler to dinner –– not to work but as guest. And it was my father who promoted Mr. Allen to the maitre d hôtel
The real story of the White House butler doesn't imply racism at all. It’s simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that was never there.
My father’s position on lifting the South African sanctions in the ‘80's had nothing to do with the narrow issue of race. It had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War.

But facts don't matter to Hollywood’s creative propagandists. Truth is too complicated and not dramatic enough for scriptwriters, who think in minute terms, not the big picture, when it comes to a conservative.

Despite what Hollywood’s liberal hacks believe, my father didn't see people in colors. He saw them as individual Americans. If the liberals in Hollywood -- and Washington -- ever start looking at people the way he did, the country will be a lot better off.
Jane Fonda (better known as Hanoi Jane by those my age) playing Nancy Reagan is an outrage, and an insult to all of us that served in Viet Nam! Phew on her

What a disgrace to Mrs. Nancy Reagan!
America we must not forget..................
JANE FONDA as NANCY REAGAN??????
Those of us that were living in those years will never forget that she was a traitor and did a lot of damage to our boys.

She has now been chosen to play Nancy Reagan in her life story. I am sending this one out because so many do not know this truth...and also because she was on 3 times this week talking about her new book.
And how good she feels in her 70's. She still does not know what she did wrong. Her book just may not make the best seller list if more people knew.
Thank you all. Many died in Vietnam for our freedoms. I did not like
Jane Fonda then and I don't like her now.

sue hanes said...


Z - I haven't seen anything good since Lincoln. There doesn't seem to be anything out these days that is worth seeing.

Anonymous said...

People don't want "important," they want "entertaining."

Leftist propaganda films are unbearably dreary and depressing.

Quasimodo

Silverfiddle said...

Instructions Not Included is a beautiful movie. Eugeio Derbez brings his TV show humor to the big screen, but gives it a light touch so that it keeps this emotional moving going.

I highly recommend it.

Thersites said...

A Pervert's Guide to ideology...

...because it hoists Hollywood up its own Marxist petard.

Thersites said...

Shutnado Alert

.@NationalZoo's Panda Cam is officially down due to #shutdown.

REPEAT

.@NationalZoo's Panda Cam is officially down due to #shutdown.

This has been an ALERT of the Emergency Shutnado notification system. Had this been an ACTUAL emergency, a private donation would have been supplied to keep the PandaCams rolling

That is all. Carry on.

Average American said...

I'd really like to see the new Reagan movie, but I won't! I could not bear watching that bitch Fonda. Her and John Kerry can "eat shit and DIE" as far as I'm concerned!

Unknown said...

I haven't seen any recent releases, but I did watch the film, The Man Who Would Be King, the story of a man who was unqualified to be president, so decided to become a monarch, instead.

FreeThinke said...

I can't wait to see the next rerun of The Women!

Baysider said...

Yes, I was quite taken by the movie Mud. It's been out since summer, but we just watched it. Doesn't look promising at first, but turned into a first rate piece -- a 'coming of age' tale that is a slice of Americana. Mr. Bayside knew people like this growing up. And they are like real characters (mostly). For me and a friend in Germany it was like watching something from Mark Twain. But thoughtful, and one I've mulled over many times.

Ducky's here said...

@FT --- I can't wait to see the next rerun of The Women!

------
Try Antonioni's Le Amiche .

Anonymous said...

From Z of the GEEEZ BLOG (from work):

voodookobra...well, if you're Michael Reagan, welcome.
I have friends who wanted to walk out of The Butler because they felt it's all about any negative thing they could possibly find about the White House and the country...very sad. And people really do believe this.
A friend recently said the History Channel called Ulysses S Grant "a cold blooded killer"...
Nobody as truly Christian as RR was could possibly be a racist. Most of us understand that.

But, the attacks never cease and it IS the left with the screenplays getting produced...and people don't seek the truth when the ones telling them lies are also those giving them freebies throughout their lives.

Anonymous said...

I always loved the 3 Stooges, Harry, Nancy, and Hillary!

Anonymous said...

From Z again:

A funny aside that DOES involve an actor so it's not off topic too much:...a true story from a funeral I attended for a dear Aunt on Tuesday.
At the luncheon after the service, people got up to speak about her. She'd taught school for 25 years in Montebello, California, which is now an almost entirely Hispanic community, one that used to be very up-and-coming, very upper middle class and nice. it's horrid now.

One of the speakers is about 65 and said Aunt H had been his teacher and that another kid, Eddie Olmos, had been in his class, too. He said "I'm a little embarrassed that Olmos talks about his awful poor upbringing in a crummy neighborhood because his parents did very well, too, and it's just not true..."

Loved that...
An actor denigrating his upbringing ..... God forbid, he'd come from a genteel, nice area (which he did)...where's the great story in THAT?

Ducky's here said...

@z --
One of the speakers is about 65 and said Aunt H had been his teacher and that another kid, Eddie Olmos, had been in his class, too. He said "I'm a little embarrassed that Olmos talks about his awful poor upbringing in a crummy neighborhood because his parents did very well, too, and it's just not true..."
-----------------

I've always associated Olmos with eliminating stereotypes in Latin roles and opening wider opportunities for Latin actors and he's had a positive effect.

I believe he has championed individual achievement and responsibility.

Pretty good actor.

Anonymous said...

FROM GEEEZ:


Ducky, I like him, too. His STAND AND DELIVER was brilliant and important. I wish more people were conservatives who actually DID believe troubled or low income youths really CAN succeed and don't have to be 'cradled to graved'.
I hate to make this political, but my point about Olmos was and it startled me that he'd misled people about his background just to make things look worse than they are.

Sam Huntington said...

You must be mistaken, Z. An actor would never denigrate his childhood experiences to further his acting career—no more than a now-prominent politician made up stories about his half-white ancestors. Or were they half-black? I keep forgetting. In any case, I’m sure Olmos was only misspeaking. You know how it is. Still, his is a very good actor and so we cannot hold him accountable for comments that “his people” found embarrassing--and untrue.

Joe Conservative said...

Fun ShutNado Fact #37

How many Park Service employees does it take to hang a "Closed" sign?

Answer

Impertinent said...

Flash!

Congressional "approval" rating today?

7%...and that's obviously their family members. Cause it ain't the rest of us.

Imagine if your boss said he approves 7% of the job you're doing?

We need a new George Washington.

Impertinent said...

John McAfee on Ovomits web portal for O care:

"Oh, it’s seriously bad. Somebody made a grave error, not in designing the program but in simply implementing the web aspect of it.

For example, anybody can put up a web page and claim to be a broker for this system. There is no central place where I can go and say, OK, here are all the legitimate brokers, the examiners for all of the states, and pick and choose one.


Instead, any hacker can put a website up, make it look extremely competitive, and because of the nature of the system — this is health care, after all — they can ask you the most intimate questions, and you’re freely going to answer them.


What’s my Social Security number? My birth date? … Here’s the problem. It’s not something software can solve. I mean, what idiot put this system out there and did not create a central depository?


There should be one website, run by the government, you go to that website and then you can click on all of the agencies. This is insane. So, I will predict that the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going to lose their identities — I mean, you can imagine some retired lady in Utah, who’s $75,000 dollars in the bank, saving her whole life — having it wiped out one day because she signed up for ObamaCare.


And believe me, this is going to happen millions of times. This is a hacker’s wet dream. I cannot believe that they did this. … ObamaCare itself is the loosest of all. You can imagine the type of information: Medical records, personal issues, psychological issues.


I mean, the government’s going to know everything in the world about everyone very soon."


And we're going to trust these asswipes to administer this fiasco?

Anonymous said...

From GEEEZ:


Imp, not only that, but the people manning the websites are people with a day's training; and TOTAL availability to ANY of our information; ss numbers, medical background, you name it..address.
it's a total nightmare.
WHY can't the left see this?

Anonymous said...

From Z:

Actually, I mean 'manning the phone calls'...People just call in and tell complete strangers with no background checks, etc., EVERYTHING (as if background checks work!)

That's almost as stupid as the new $85 thing at the airports...just get fingerprinted, convince the airlines that you fly a lot on business, and you don't have to go through the check-ins!
You tell ME someone won't get through with some way to bring plane down. Are we NUTS?

Impertinent said...

@Z:

WHY can't the left see this?


Their desire is control, power and above all...a totalitarian state. They need this hammer over the masses...whom they really fear. What else can there be but total domination over our movements, communications, finances ( IRS ), political persuasions and above all....religious beliefs. That have been under attack for too many years now.

BTW...it's mudslime "appreciation" month.

Kid said...

The last good movie I saw was Team America: World Police. It's more relevant now than when it was made.

Kid said...

One way to protest oBAMmycare is for all of us who are currently healthy to cancel our insurance and pay the fine.

People with pre-conditions cannot be turned down or charged more, so if we get sick, we'll sign up.

You Know there are bunch of gamers who are going to do this anyway. So, one on topic and one off, but mentioned in the comments.

WomanHonorThyself said...

most are soooooooooo slanted with the liberal poison hun but some are entertaining despite it all!

Ducky's here said...

@kid -- The last good movie I saw was Team America: World Police.

-----
Oh dear, let me give you a starter list for the last 10 years.

The Master

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Turin Horse (really, stick with it)

True Grit

The Ghost Writer

Certified Copy

Winter's Bone

A Christmas Tale

Summer Hours

The Headless Woman

WALL-E

Letters from Iwo Jima

Still Life

The Sun

Regular Lovers ...

It goes on but most of those are available on Netflix or Hulu. Film isn't dead despite Tarantino's efforts.

Ducky's here said...

TActually, try picking from this list kid. These folks are pretty good.

Kid said...

Duck, I appreciate your efforts, but I've seen it all. Just not interested in that sort of stuff anymore. Just too predictable.
drama-emotion-comic relief-tension-release-boring music scores-etc.

I did kind of like Kill Bill 1 and 2, but again, very predictable.
Like the chick is going to die before the end? Maybe I'm too old. I like things that really hang it out. Way off the grid.

I also liked the Matrix 1 and 2 but not 3.

And The Lord of the Rings. My God, the most boring stuff I've ever seen. I asked for my Life back after that one.

And the rest of the movies have people that I absolutely cannot stand- cruise, robbins, sarrandon, the libtard dude who is in Gravity the new flick, (who gets pummelled in Team America btw which was very cool.

Your basic hollywood stuff just doesn't do it for me the last 30 years or so.

There are some on that 2nd list I liked. Big Jake for example. If it's going to be a realistic based movie, I want it very realistic.
The Hombre. The Outlaw Josie Wales. Tombstone with Kurt Russel wasn't too bad. Well, guess that gives you an idea.

Z said...

Ducky...what is A CHRISTMAS TALE roughly about?

Kid..uhoh, you and Ducky agree on something!! :-)

Ducky's here said...

One word -- Catherine Deneuve.


She's the family matriarch and gets the family together one Christmas to tell them she has leukemia and needs a marrow donor.

Impertinent said...

Good list Duck:
2,10,21,22,23,31,42,64,74,75,76,86,95,98,108,118,130,152,155,159,163,164,180,181,187,201,219,222,241 & 250.

Z said...

I adore Catherine Deneuve...she's very nice in her village outside Paris, from what they say. She hangs out and chats with villagers, etc. Very nice woman.
There were few women as beautiful as her, I think.

Z said...

voodookobra...

you're not Michael Reagan; but you sure do it well!!!
Actually, I've met you, if you are...at the Alzheimer's luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel :-)
Tell me who invited you to that and I'll know it's you!

Pris said...

I think Les Miserables should have won best picture. I love musicals and this one was soooo good.
Hugh Jackman was terrific.

Life of Pi was good too. Very different and compelling.

Pris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Average American said...

TAKING CHANCE

Taking Chance (2008) is based on the true story of Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl escorting the body of PFC Chance Phelps home for burial after he was killed in Iraq. The Lieutenant Colonel is shown requesting this assignment because the deceased soldier is from his hometown. This film offers a rare glimpse into the solemn, deliberate and respectful process that the Marine Corps takes in transporting the bodies of fallen soldiers home from war, preparing their bodies for burial, and then having officers like Lt. Col. Strobl escort them home to personally deliver the deceased to their grieving families. With great care and respect, the body is prepared for burial in full and precise Marine dress, despite the fact that Phelps was badly wounded and his body was too damaged for an open casket funeral.

Throughout the journey, Strobl (played by Kevin Bacon) strives to ensure that Phelps' body is never left alone and that his personal effects are never removed from his side. As the convoy crosses the country, respects to the fallen soldier are paid by fellow soldiers, airline workers, and airline passengers.

In Phelps' hometown, Lt. Col. Strobl is welcomed to a gathering where friends remember the soldier, and one of his fellow Marines recounts his final hours, including heroic actions which saved several members of his company. The Lieutenant Colonel shares with one Korean War veteran that he himself could have done a tour in Iraq, but hadn't wanted to leave his wife and child, and had requested desk duty instead. The officer seems to experience some shame over his choice, but is reassured by the veteran that there is no shame in his decision.

The next day, Strobl attends the funeral, and gives his final salute to the soldier. Strobl reflects that even though he didn't know Phelps personally, the experience of bringing Chance home has made him miss the soldier.


Stars: Kevin Bacon, Paige Turco, Sarah Thompson, Tom Wopat, Tom Aldredge

Director: Ross Katz

Language: English

Anonymous said...

FROM GEEEZ:

Pris, I've been tempted to see LIFE OF PI via Netflix but never order it for some reason.....I should, you recommend it, it won THE award, didn't it?
Thanks!

AA>..I may rent that..I love Kevin Bacon and the story sounds touching...I'll cry, but what the heck!? :-) Thanks

Jen said...

Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi
Be With Me
Kolya

Did y'all know that Jane Fonda is a Christian now? Just wondering...

Z said...

Jen, she "was a Christian" about 15-20 years ago. It didn't last long.
But longer than Dylan! :-)

Z said...

Did you know her given name was Lady Jane Seymour Fonda?!

Z said...

Jen, by the way..she might still be a believer..I really don't know.

Sorry for that previous comment.

Ed Bonderenka said...

Gravity.

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