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| bartist |
 Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:28 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Joe Vitus wrote: I think it's interesting that It went from a femme fatale to a hairy male cousin that spoke gibberish (adding an extra "t" to his name: to emphasize the female-to-male transition?) before finally settling down as an evil clown in a small town. Apparently, It originally came from outer space.
In a 1940 issue of "Unknown," It was described by Theodore Sturgeon as a plant monster that grew around the skeleton of a man, in a swamp. (title: "It!")
I'm still grinning at Syd's description of Clara Bow "having eight sexy legs and five expressive eyes."
BTW, at the time of publication of King's "It," which was the year of my son's birth, 1986, I recall that it was at that time the lengthiest book in print, somewhere over 1100 pages IIRC. This was before David Foster Wallace had been fully unleashed on the literary world, I guess. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:31 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Mississippi Masala: in 1972, Idi Amin orders all Asians out Uganda, including those whose families had been in Uganda for generations. Young Mira's family is one of those expatriated, and after twenty years, her parents have settled into running a motel in Mississippi, where an Indian community has been established. Mina falls in love with a black man, which causes a lot of problems because the Indian community is expecting to mary among themselves. However, the conflict is balanced because the black man is Denzel Washington. Meanwhile, Mina's father, who longs to return to his homeland (Uganda, that is, where he was born), is trying to recover his property by petitioning Ugandan courts.
Very good film with stellar performances by Sarita Choudhury as Mina, Roshan Seth and Sharmila Tagore as her parents, Joe Seneca as Washington's father, and Washington himself. It comes off as a sweet romance until the racial conflict comes in and hits hard. Mira Nair directs the script by Sooni Taraporevala. |
Last edited by Syd on Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:22 am; edited 1 time in total
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:02 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I probably bought that dvd a decade or more back and haven't watched it, uh, yet.
I didn't know that the Ugandan Indians were part of the backstory. When I was in Uganda in the late 80's, there were still some euphemistic gov't offices handling the transfer/disposition of ex-Indian property and businesses. They were called Displaced Persons Requisition Boards or something like that. I'll try to look it up.
The British had initially brought in Indians to build the railroad from the Kenyan port of Mombassa into the Ugandan interior. Nairobi became an outpost and later a city because it was at the midpoint of the proposed railway. Later the British brought in Indians to run small shops and provision businesses and act as govt clerks, low-level positions that the British couldn't easily fill themselves, and they beleived the Indians to be docile and diligent. And since India was a British colony, there were already some English speaking Indians to be had.
Interestingly Francis Galton proposed that the British import Chinese into East Africa to populate and help run the colonial show (and, uh, to displace those inferior darkies). Which is no doubt getting far away from the film.
Anyway, Amin's plan was a total mess, as Indians were given 90 days to leave and weren't allowed to take anything much with them. And then Amin compounded the economic chaos by giving Indian businesses to his cronies, many of whom just sold off the inventory for quick gain and didn't bother actually running a time-consuming small business. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:18 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Syd wrote: Mississippi Masala: in 1972, Idi Amin orders all Asians out Uganda, including those whose families had been in Uganda for generations. Young Mira's family is one of those expatriated, and after twenty years, her parents have settled into running a motel in Mississippi, where an Indian community has been established. Mina falls in love with a black man, which causes a lot of problems because the Indian community is expecting to mary among themselves. However, the conflict is balanced because the black man is Denzel Washington. Meanwhile, Mina's father, who longs to return to his homeland (Uganda, that is, where he was born), is trying to recover his property by petitioning Ugandan courts.
Very good film with stellar performances by Sarita Choudhury as Mina, Roshan and Sharmila Tagore as her parents, Joe Seneca as Washington's father, and Washington himself. It comes off as a sweet romance until the racial conflict comes in and hits hard. Mira Nair directs the script by Sooni Taraporevala.
Agree. A very good movie.
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:29 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The Indonesian movie "The Raid: Redemption" is about an ill-fated police raid on the headquarters of a powerful drug lord. Overly done stunt scenes and brutality mixed with some traditional themes.
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:03 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Has Denzel Washington ever given a bad performance? Some of my favorites (The Mighty Quinn, for example) tend to get overshadowed by his other performances (Malcolm X in that case.) |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:43 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: Has Denzel Washington ever given a bad performance? Some of my favorites (The Mighty Quinn, for example) tend to get overshadowed by his other performances (Malcolm X in that case.)
Never saw his Broadway performance in Julius Caesar (as Brutus), but word is that it was at best lacking something and at worst woeful.
On film, you're right--and my favorites are likewise among the least appreciated--He Got Game, Out of Time, and Devil in a Blue Dress.
The closest IMO to a bad performance was in American Gangster, in which he was outacted by the far-from-great Russell Crowe.
John Q is an absolutely terrible movie, but it's not Denzel's fault. And Philadelphia contains one of his best performances, but the Oscar went to not-so-hot Tom Hanks. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:32 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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For me, he will somewhat elevate mediocre films, e.g. "Fallen" or "The Book of Eli." Loved "Out of Time."
M. Masala now on my list, thanks Syd. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: For me, he will somewhat elevate mediocre films, e.g. "Fallen" or "The Book of Eli." Loved "Out of Time."
M. Masala now on my list, thanks Syd.
Fallen and Ricochet are trashy films which Denzel makes into "guilty pleasures." Ricochet is helped also by John Lithgow. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:10 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1245
Location: St. Louis
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Ah the nineties, when Lithgow managed to be every other creepy badass you would see on a movie screen!
I'm embarrassed to report that I read the first lines of Syd's thumbnail of "It" (1927) under the impression that Bow had starred in an early horror movie.
The 1990 tv film is made somewhat watchable by Tim Curry's performance.
"Mr. Blanding's" dovetails weirdly with the above, in also containing somewhat grotesque New Englander stereotypes ("Ay-Uh") and some horrors connected with the groundwater. |
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| Shane |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:21 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1168
Location: Chicago
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bartist wrote: Dark Skies - a small cut above the usual B-grade film about little gray aliens who muck up house circuits, implants devices in your head, leave weird symbols, abduct humans, etc. Its chief asset is that we see very little of the Grays, and quite a bit of suburban idyll being gradually subverted. JK Simmons has a nice small part as an abduction expert who makes interviewing the traumatized family look as routine as changing a flat tire. I think it's meant to be funny, but not sure. Fans of "Signs," swing away!
Library reserve finally coughed up "This is Not a Film," the clandestine docu. Hope to see tonight; much looking forward to.
The older television series was a fine attempt at terror and suspense IMO and I'm disappointed that this drivel took the name. |
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| Shane |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:24 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Chicago
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ehle64 wrote: I just put Tunes of Glory @ the top of both my rental queues. I heart Alec Guiness and Criterion, even. WooHoo!
thanks, billyweeds 
Me too Billy I'm a real Guiness fan since I found The Lady Killers!! Thanks! |
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I'd like to continue the argument we were having before. What was it about? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Shane wrote: ehle64 wrote: I just put Tunes of Glory @ the top of both my rental queues. I heart Alec Guiness and Criterion, even. WooHoo!
thanks, billyweeds \
Me too Billy I'm a real Guiness fan since I found The Lady Killers!! Thanks!
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Tunes of Glory
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Man in the White Suit
The Bridge on the River Kwai |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:07 pm |
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Of the early one's I'd also mention:
The Captain's Paradise
The Horse's Mouth
Our Man in Havana
and Great Expectations, in a supporting role. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:13 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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All of Ealing Studio's Alec Guiness movies are classics. I must have seen each of them three or four times.
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