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billyweeds
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 7:17 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
I've seen most of the movies on that list, and loved some of them, notably "Lonely Are the Brave," Kirk Douglas's favorite of his own films, and Michael Douglas's of his dad's...and mine.

Definitely planning to watch "Wake in Fright," which sounds terrific.
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Befade
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 9:40 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
Gromit.......I just watched Ararat for the second time. For some reason I saved your review of it.....you didn’t think much of it. Egoyen is one of my favorite directors but that film had problems like you said. Too many strands. What stood out for me was the importance of the Armenian artist, Arshile Gorky. That he represented the impact of the Armenian genocide. He watched his mother die of starvation. But that wasn’t the reason he committed suicide. He’d been diagnosed with colon cancer and had a colonoscopy bag. Plus he’d had an accident where he broke his neck and was unable to use his painting arm. That Egoyen named his son Arshile seems a little off because Gorky changed his real Armenian name to Arshile Gorky and represented himself as Russian.

I recently watched a documentary his granddaughter made called Without Gorky.

As to Egoyen, I’d recommend my favorite The Sweet Hereafter. And his latest, The Guest of Honor with David Thewlis.

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gromit
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:27 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Egoyen should be Egoyan.
-yan and -ian surname endings are a hallmark of Armenian names.
Like William Saroyan or Kim Kardashian and Charles Aznavourian.

The -ian/-yan ending means son of, so much like Mc in Irish names or -son/-sen in Scandinavian names.
_____________________________________

I went to Armenia 2 years ago.
Mt. Ararat is the symbol of Armenia, but it lies a little over the border in Turkey today. Modern-day Armenia is really just Western Armenia, while the eastern part has been lost. That's where the genocide occurred and the Armenians were kicked out of.

People were pretty friendly in Armenia, but a little low key.
We joined a one-year old's birthday party at our small hotel down in the south. They wanted us to dance and knock back shots, and it was pretty loud and raucous for a kid's birthday party. And the next day we joined a country fair. I was glad we went down south to see the Tatev Monastery, because the north of the country was pretty brown and dry and dusty. But when you head south, you enter the Armenian highlands which were green and lush -- quite a contrast.

Yerevan was an interesting city.
I think I ended up liking Armenia and Azerbaijan better than Georgia, whereas I thought Georgia was going to be the star and so planned more time there. Georgia was a bit messier and more disorganized than I expected. Maybe the wars with Russia set it back a bit more than I anticipated.

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Syd
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 4:44 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Did you get to see the gladiator statue in Yerevan?

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Befade
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 5:09 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
I’ve always wanted to go to Turkey....Istanbul, the Bosporus. Never thought about visiting Armenia. Mt. Ararat reminded me of Mt. Fuji.

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gromit
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 6:36 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
There are a few of those chubby Botero sculptures on the way to the mildly interesting Cascade. There's Charles Aznavour Museum at the top, but that closed when we were there. We did go to the Parajanov Museum which was pretty great. Bigger than I expected. We got there at 3:45, and though they close at 5, they let us stay until 5:30, when they actually lock up. Parajanov made art out of all sorts of items, including etching with his thumbnail on yogurt foil lids when he was imprisoned. Everybody enjoyed the Parajanov Museum despite not having heard of him previously.

We really enjoyed our trip to Turkey, but that was circa 2011 when the economy was booming and Erdogan hadn't gone full dictator yet. People were very friendly, Istanbul one of the world's great cities. We traveled down the west coast and looped back from Izmir and ferried back across the Sea of Marmara. Large country, so we only caught a corner of it. But Istanbul was a standout. Helped that we were there for Ramadan before exiting, and stayed in three different hotels in three different sections of the city.

I always wanted to get to Armenia and Georgia, such an interesting historic tucked away corner of the world. Not easy existing between the Turks, Russians and Persians. While Baku and the Caspian always sounded exotic. Surprisingly, corrupt autocratic Azerbaijan was a standout. All the oil wealth has led to a good deal of new and impressive building, while the country was more efficient than I expected. I thought it would be more of a sleepy dysfunctional backwater. Instead it was pretty dynamic and purposeful.

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Befade
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:27 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
I love Botero. I think Columbia has a supply of his art. One interesting thing I just learned: travel from U.S. and within U.S. is not easy. But there are no restrictions for going to Turkey.......but am I brave enough?

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gromit
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:49 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Mask wearing is mandatory in most of Turkey.
Seniors have a curfew and even outdoor hour restrictions, but that doesn't apply to foreign tourists. Schools are closed. So it seems Turkey is taking CV-19 seriously.

Really I'd wonder how Turks respond to interacting with foreigners/Americans right now. Are they okay/low-key, or does the presence of Americans unnerve or frighten or anger them -- as they might worry about tourists spreading the Virus. And the US is a hotspot. Think about how Americans might react to running across someone newly arrived from India, for example. Could put a damper on a trip.

Quote:
Turkish Citizens and residents above the age of 65 will be able to go out every day, between 10:00-20:00. Several provinces, including Ankara and Izmir, have implemented new restrictions on people 65 years and older. These measures include limiting the hours per day those individuals are allowed outside, limiting their use of public transportation, and prohibiting the elderly from attending large events such as weddings, market places, and shopping centers. This does not apply to foreign tourists.

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gromit
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:53 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Switching to the Lobby for more travel tales ...

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gromit
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 11:39 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
I dug out the Dvd of Egoyan's Felicia's Journey, but the disc wouldn't play. It had decayed such that it looks like the glue holding the two layers together seeped out. I remember how Cd's and Dvd's were billed as indestructible. Just marketing propaganda.

Not sure what other Egoyan I have here or where to find it.

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Befade
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 9:57 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
The Sweet Hereafter is the one I watch over and over. (Partly for the snow)

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billyweeds
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:07 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
After watching the marvelous "table read" of the script from "The Princess Bride," for which 110,000 viewers donated money to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, I revisited the movie, which I've never loved to the extent a lot of people do. Bottom line: I liked it a lot better now that I've loved the reading, but I'm still not convinced it's the all-time classic some folks insist it is. I enjoyed it, but that's it.
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bartist
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:37 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Syd wrote:
April and the Extraordinary World has a great title sequence at the beginning, a great opening scene, a tremendous laugh near the end, and is a pretty good alternate history which dares to suggest that humanity would be better ruled by sentient, talking, immortal and invulnerable Komodo Dragons. But this is a future in which scientists have been systematically kidnapped since 1970 (including, apparently, Michael Faraday, Nicolas Tesla , James Clerk Maxwell and Thomas Edison, since the invention of electricity is being depressed.)

On the other hand, the Earth is still in the Steam Age in 1941, coal deposits are being exhausted (really? I think they're underestimating the quantity of Earth's coal) and countries are going to war over wood, so perhaps our STIIKDs are not doing that good a job after all. Still, it's a matter of debate.


Gromit mentioned this film today, at the Elba website, in the context of a political chat and a remark i had made about the "best people" for Trump administration being reptilian extraterrestrials. I haven't yet seen this, but now I will. I'm guessing "since 1970" means more like since 1770? My guess on the exhaustion of coal would be that if you had only 18th century technology there would be less that you could dig out of mines practically. Will watch and share my thoughts.

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bartist
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:41 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Befade wrote:
The Sweet Hereafter is the one I watch over and over. (Partly for the snow)


I just had a chuckle at the last four words of your post.

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Befade
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ
Oh well....I always watch movies with snow or swimming pools.....
Speaking of Swimming Pools....Reminds me of The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster. I’ve been rediscovering him on the Criterian channel. Just streamed Criss Cross where he plays a man so desperate to get back with his ex wife that he attempts to pull off a heist with disastrous results. And Come Back Little Sheba playing an alcoholic husband married to the Oscar winner Shirley Booth. I’m becoming a huge fan.....

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