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Post by cato on Jun 19, 2019 16:30:21 GMT
Vale: Franco Zeffirelli Should be fondly remembered by all conservatives for his Shakespeare-based productions and for Brother Sun Sister Moon,to say nothing of JESUS OF NAZARETH. Many,but not all, of his personal views seemingly tended towards moral conservatism also. Brother Sun Sister Moon was a cult favourite of "with it"clergy in the 1980s. Most traditional Franciscans loathed it. I remember ITV used to show Jesus of Nazareth regularly over Easter at peak viewing time for some years if memory serves me right. I also recall a biblical epic about Moses and the Exodus from my 1970s childhood but I can't recall the title. It ran again at peak viewing time over several weeks.
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Post by Séamus on Jun 21, 2019 5:38:55 GMT
Vale: Franco Zeffirelli Should be fondly remembered by all conservatives for his Shakespeare-based productions and for Brother Sun Sister Moon,to say nothing of JESUS OF NAZARETH. Many,but not all, of his personal views seemingly tended towards moral conservatism also. Brother Sun Sister Moon was a cult favourite of "with it"clergy in the 1980s. Most traditional Franciscans loathed it. I remember ITV used to show Jesus of Nazareth regularly over Easter at peak viewing time for some years if memory serves me right. I also recall a biblical epic about Moses and the Exodus from my 1970s childhood but I can't recall the title. It ran again at peak viewing time over several weeks. I'm referring more to the fact that a successful film-maker would embrace the lives Christ and Francis of Assisi at a time of great secularization,even in Italy, and certainly in Britain which society Zeffirelli loved above all,than the absolute quality of the films. I personally,although I take my hat off to Powell's performance,found his Christ a bit too gaunt and psychotic for my liking Jesus of Nazareth was also shown in film form in Dublin cinemas around that time- I can remember my parents bringing me. The same was done in recent years with the Gospel part of the recent Downey&Burnett Bible series,perhaps with only moderate seccess. Coincidentally the CelticWomen group recently recorded the lovely theme of Romeo and Juliet on a recent album
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Post by Séamus on Jul 17, 2019 23:43:16 GMT
An article I read marking Charles Windsor's golden jubilee as Prince of Wales mentioned that the investiture (organised actually by then-uncle Lord Snowdon in a beautiful ruined castle) "was a television sensation. Over 500 million viewers,then a record,tuned in worldwide". I was unaware that Welsh nationalists were very against the continuation of the title,as well as the ceremony,which hadn't been an ongoing tradition- two tried to blow up the railroad Charles would use. "will King Charles put Prince William through the same ordeal? 'not a chance' I am told. 'It'll probably never happen again.'" I've read that Elizabeth's grandfather George V was a pioneer of home-entertainment, installing a theatre at the Duke of Devonshire's home when suffering from bad influenza,his favourite being called Lives Of A Bengal Lancer. He was obviously less enamoured with his oldest granddaughter's taste: (after Elizabeth had been staying with them) "(I'll see)anything except that damned mouse !" There would have only been about three Mickey productions at that stage. HRH obviously saw no contradiction between being an animal lover and watching Steamboat Willie which is often censored now due to Mickey's cruel treatment of farm animals,playing piano with suckling piglets at one stage.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 25, 2019 13:35:26 GMT
Does anyone else like the Carry On movies?
I was an ardent fan of the series for about ten years. I never actually stopped liking them, but I haven't seen one in a long time.
For anyone who doesn't know, they were a series of British comedy movies made from the late fifties to the late seventies. They featured a recurring cast of actors, most notably Sid James, Kenneth Williams, and Charles Hawtrey. Each film had a different theme, often spoofing some other film or genre. They were often set in some historical period such as ancient Egypt or the Wild West.
They are considered trash by a lot of people, which seems unfair. The wordplay and wit in many of the films were outstanding (especially those written by Talbot Rothwell), and the cast were all seasoned and talented comic actors.
They are deliriously politically incorrect, and often accused of being sexist, racist, etc. etc. Which misses the point that the films make fun of everything and everybody, especially the English. Men are nearly all boozy, lazy and lecherous in Carry On films.
Admittedly, they are quite bawdy, and became increasingly bawdy as time went on. The later ones rely heavily on sexual innuendo. So in that sense, they are not very conservative. But I can't help liking them. They are so deliciously and essentially English, it appeals to an anglophile like me.
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Post by Séamus on Aug 19, 2019 8:15:10 GMT
I wasn't too keen on Roger Rabbit,but the death of animator Mr Williams does bring one achievement to mind- the bringing together of Betty,Donald,Daffy,Bugs and Mickey in one film. And who could ever forget Daffy Duck walking out on Donald:I'll never again work with a duck that has a speech impigament? Some trivia- didn't know until recently that Walt Disney had such interest in the arguably (arguably being the point) extinct Tasmanian tiger that he once sent crews there to find and film one. Although there was reportedly a substantiated sighting much later, in the early 80s,if Walt's team couldn't find any,which persumedly they couldn't, I'd harbour little hope now. Unfortunate.
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Post by Séamus on Aug 27, 2019 1:06:31 GMT
Scandals have arisen on 80th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz but the jury seems out on whether the tinman should have ever started rusting. I've been assured by some people that tin doesn't rust like that,by others that it does. I'd imagine that we're looking at a purer unalloyed tin in the 1930s? It emerged recently that the British Royal Mint shelved suggestions for a commemorative Enid Blyton coin due to her being a "racist,sexist,homophobe and not a very well regarded writer"(cf advisory committee minutes),just as Royal Mail announced an October issue of four commemorative (sir)Elton John stamps. One irony being that sir Elton made a mint on the original Lion King film which,I can remember clearly,was considered sexist and homophobic on it's release. Not the triple whammy that Enid scored of course.
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Post by cato on Aug 27, 2019 8:22:53 GMT
Scandals have arisen on 80th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz but the jury seems out on whether the tinman should have ever started rusting. I've been assured by some people that tin doesn't rust like that,by others that it does. I'd imagine that we're looking at a purer unalloyed tin in the 1930s? It emerged recently that the British Royal Mint shelved suggestions for a commemorative Enid Blyton coin due to her being a "racist,sexist,homophobe and not a very well regarded writer"(cf advisory committee minutes),just as Royal Mail announced an October issue of four commemorative (sir)Elton John stamps. One irony being that sir Elton made a mint on the original Lion King film which,I can remember clearly,was considered sexist and homophobic on it's release. Not the triple whammy that Enid scored of course. I see Sir Elton managed to inadvertently drag (no puns intended) Prince Harry and his partner Mz Merkle into controversy by paying carbon credits for their private jet usage. Apart from the well publicised hypocrisy of their environmentalist preaching to mere mortals who will never be able to access a a gulfstream jet.one wonders why they couldn't shell out the cash themselves. Meanwhile Uncle Andrew has emerged as a sleazebag involved in highly dodgy carry on with a recently suspiciously deceased paedophile. Prince William who is as boringly stable as his grandmother meanwhile packs his family on a discount flight to Scotland. Someone in the Windsor soap opera is keeping his head while those about him ..... Several commentators have pointed out the similarities of the super rich paying for their excess flights with carbon credits and the abuse of indulgences prior to the Reformation . Greta Thunberg has also been compared to the leader of the medieval children's crusade or even Joan of Arc. Strange how modern unbelievers end up repeating in a recycled form the more exotic extremes of the great age of faith.
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Post by Séamus on Oct 10, 2019 8:01:26 GMT
Psychoanalyst-type focus on fictional super-heroes(/villains)seems to have become a fad of late. Maybe because it's one thing filmmakers know they can be creative about without getting wrong or possibly it is beneficial for the rest of us to see why we,the fans, refuse to let certain characters disappear. I was so curious to find out if kookaburras were introduced to western Australia because of their popularity in old Hollywood movies, Johnny Weissmuller's in particularly,or just to control snakes, that I looked up the history- actually they were released in Perth decades before talkie films...as WA's birds were deemed too quiet! It's always refreshing when a woman journalist questions the feminist status quo, so an article by a Louise Roberts on the current Joker film was worth quoting: "White men in Australia feel disenfranchised as they wade through demands to apologize for their inherent privilege,toxic maculinity and skin colour. But the allure of victimhood in Joker has confusingly been pushed aside by the self-righteous left,with a number of critics complaining bitterly that the themes of Joker are - wait for it- the very reason Trump swept to power....My son watched Joker with a bunch of friends last week and didn't stop talking about it for days,such was the impact of Phoenix's masterful and unsettling performance. He didn't see it as an endorsement of violence. Instead he and his friends drilled beneath the movie's pathological and narcissistic overtones to see the message of despair and what happens if we antagonise society's vulnerable. In this case men." Hopefully Phoenix will live bit longer than Ledger did to discuss it
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 10, 2019 11:29:29 GMT
Psychoanalyst-type focus on fictional super-heroes(/villains)seems to have become a fad of late. Maybe because it's one thing filmmakers know they can be creative about without getting wrong or possibly it is beneficial for the rest of us to see why we,the fans, refuse to let certain characters disappear. I was so curious to find out if kookaburras were introduced to western Australia because of their popularity in old Hollywood movies, Johnny Weissmuller's in particularly,or just to control snakes, that I looked up the history- actually they were released in Perth decades before talkie films...as WA's birds were deemed too quiet! It's always refreshing when a woman journalist questions the feminist status quo, so an article by a Louise Roberts on the current Joker film was worth quoting: "White men in Australia feel disenfranchised as they wade through demands to apologize for their inherent privilege,toxic maculinity and skin colour. But the allure of victimhood in Joker has confusingly been pushed aside by the self-righteous left,with a number of critics complaining bitterly that the themes of Joker are - wait for it- the very reason Trump swept to power....My son watched Joker with a bunch of friends last week and didn't stop talking about it for days,such was the impact of Phoenix's masterful and unsettling performance. He didn't see it as an endorsement of violence. Instead he and his friends drilled beneath the movie's pathological and narcissistic overtones to see the message of despair and what happens if we antagonise society's vulnerable. In this case men." Hopefully Phoenix will live bit longer than Ledger did to discuss it I feel very conflicted about superheroes. On the one hand, they seem slightly infantile to me, and especially so when film-makers take them oh-so-seriously. (Although I must admit that saw Batman Begins five times in the cinema, back in 2005, at the height of my cinema fever. And I've seen plenty of superhero movies-- you know you are always going to get a visual feast and solid storytelling.) On the other hand, I'm open to the argument that superheroes are the mythology of our era. And it's quite interesting to see how their mythos develops and expands over time, and through many tellings, and through the interaction of the story-tellers and the audience. I remember, as a kid, coming across some American superhero comics. I'd only ever read British comics until then, which were all directed at children or teenagers. These American superhero comics had long letters from obviously adult readers comparing the latest Superman story to what was happening in the Balkans, and stuff like that. I found it very disturbing, even as a kid. It seemed wrong for grown-ups to be so earnest about fictional beings with magical powers who dress in brightly-coloured skin-tight costumes. Is pop culture today's folk culture, or is it the death of folk culture? Is it "dumbing down", or is it just as legitimate for film-makers to explore seriosu themes using superheroes as it was for playwrights of the past to use mythological characters? I'm not sure how to answer those questions.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 22, 2019 14:52:45 GMT
Has anyone seen the 1937 film Parnell starring Clark Gable?
It is ultra-obscure. (And also terrible, by all accounts.)
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Post by Séamus on Oct 23, 2019 11:45:14 GMT
Has anyone seen the 1937 film Parnell starring Clark Gable? It is ultra-obscure. (And also terrible, by all accounts.) I'd be curious to hear their accents though. But then Vivien Leigh wasn't really a southern belle either,so maybe it worked. Since her death a few years ago I've been fascinated by the person of Alicia Rhett,who got the small Gone-with-the-Wind-part of India,sisterinlaw of Melanie,in virtue being a natural southerner. She never seems to have done another film and lived the rest of her long life quietly painting.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 23, 2019 11:58:00 GMT
Another interesting star of the past: Lillian Gish, silent film star, was a devout Episcopalian and a member of the America First movement which opposed intervention in the Second War. (She said she was blacklisted for this, until she agreed to stop speaking out. Shows that it wasn't only the left who were blacklisted.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Gish
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Post by Séamus on Oct 24, 2019 8:10:41 GMT
Another interesting star of the past: Lillian Gish, silent film star, was a devout Episcopalian and a member of the America First movement which opposed intervention in the Second War. (She said she was blacklisted for this, until she agreed to stop speaking out. Shows that it wasn't only the left who were blacklisted.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_GishQuite a career,interesting that she once knew Mary Pickford who in the end become more iconic (of the silent era anyway) I actually read a review of a new biography of a Bill Stephenson,who reportedly forged documents that Roosevelt used to encourage Congress to agree to war with Germany. As they seem to have been fighting Japan already, the importance of Stephenson's forged maps is possibly being exaggerated,but there's a cinematic connection here too- Mr Bill once worked with (British intelligence officer) Ian Fleming at the Rockefeller Centre;Mr Fleming eventually used the location for scenes in the original James Bond novel.
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Post by cato on Oct 24, 2019 8:32:15 GMT
I was in the Stella Cinema in Rathmines last week to watch Downton Abbey. The cinema opened last year and is a restored masterpiece of cinema in its heyday. It's a bit expensive but the surroundings and well behaved viewers are worth the cost. It's the perfect venue to watch an old classic or something nostalgic.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 24, 2019 10:03:55 GMT
I was in the Stella Cinema in Rathmines last week to watch Downton Abbey. The cinema opened last year and is a restored masterpiece of cinema in its heyday. It's a bit expensive but the surroundings and well behaved viewers are worth the cost. It's the perfect venue to watch an old classic or something nostalgic. I'm looking forward to going there. Haven't been yet.
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