Movies to watch

[Detroitnerd]

I just watched Restrepo. Amazing documentary about GIs in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan...

[oladub]

I just watched Beautiful Country on Netflix. Good scenery, acting, and a reasonably good story line about an American soldier offspring whose life quality was very bad in Vietnam and his struggle to reunite with his father in America.

[maxx]

A must see. The U.S. v. John Lennon. What a fascist creep Liddy was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y70s72aBQYY

[bartock]

The Road

Boondock Saints

The Road - what an extraordinarily moving book. I thought the movie was done well.

Can't wait for the long-await film version of McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Now that will be something.

[Jimaz]

The Last Mountain

I don't see it listed in any Detroit theaters yet.

[ejames01]

Restrepo had me depressed. I just couldn't stomach the fact that these guys were getting killed protecting a hilltop in the middle of nowhere.

I just watched Restrepo. Amazing documentary about GIs in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan...

[coracle]

Restrepo had me depressed. I just couldn't stomach the fact that these guys were getting killed protecting a hilltop in the middle of nowhere.

I agree with you. The continuing escalating loss of American lives with no result in sight is totally devastating. I was led to believe we were leaving Afghanistan immediately after 2008 election. A little off message but it's worth reflecting that we have lost a total of 1503 American lives to date over the last 8/9 years in Afghanistan of which 62% or 933 have occurred since 2008 alone. Have we imposed new misguided liberal rules of combat on our military that accelerate their losses? Also the administration/media is trying to hide the losses from us by calling them NATO deaths. One day last week it was reported there were 9 NATO losses but not that 7 were American.

[firstandten]

I agree with you. The continuing escalating loss of American lives with no result in sight is totally devastating. I was led to believe we were leaving Afghanistan immediately after 2008 election.

Who told you that ? And if you say Obama I would also say your comprehension skills are sadly lacking.

[firstandten]

I agree with you. The continuing escalating loss of American lives with no result in sight is totally devastating. I was led to believe we were leaving Afghanistan immediately after 2008 election. A little off message but it's worth reflecting that we have lost a total of 1503 American lives to date over the last 8/9 years in Afghanistan of which 62% or 933 have occurred since 2008 alone. Have we imposed new misguided liberal rules of combat on our military that accelerate their losses? Also the administration/media is trying to hide the losses from us by calling them NATO deaths. One day last week it was reported there were 9 NATO losses but not that 7 were American.

BTW save the right wing talking points for all the many threads on here that beg for it, folks trying to talk up some movies on this one.

[coracle]

I go to the movies at least twice a year. This last twelve months I saw two great movies; The King's Speech and Atlas Shrugged. Both very entertaining that hold your interest. The first is based on history and the other not made by Hollywood so there were no overpaid plastic actors or special effects of impossibilities.

[oldredfordette]

Was Atlas Shrugged as dreadful as the book? The book was like a Harlequin Romance with despicable politics.

[coracle]

Was Atlas Shrugged as dreadful as the book? The book was like a Harlequin Romance with despicable politics.

I can't address your observation relating to Harlequin Romances because I've never read any and obviously you have. I only read books that use words longer than three letters. The movie was as despicable as the book insomuch that it addressed the effects of the political system we are currently embarked on under the current incompetents. It's a great movie.

[maxx]

"Journey Through Dyslexia" is a series of short interviews with people most of whom have dyslexia. They have all been successfull inspite of their problem. Some even think that their creativity is influenced by the dyslexia. All have stories of feeling stupid in school. One sculptor was actually labeled "failure" by his teacher because he could not write his name and drew a picture instead. A businessman is reduced to tears remembering his school experience. It is very moving.

[maxx]

I can't address your observation relating to Harlequin Romances because I've never read any and obviously you have. I only read books that use words longer than three letters. The movie was as despicable as the book insomuch that it addressed the effects of the political system we are currently embarked on under the current incompetents. It's a great movie.

Wasn't John Gault's beef with a corporation that wanted to seize his patent because he worked on it while employed with them? I can't bear the idea of trudging through Ayn Rand's overblown rhetoric again to refresh my memory. "Atlas Shrugged" could have been cut in half and been more effective.
I preferred "The Fountainhead".

[maxx]

"Flame and Citron" is a fact-based story of two Danish resistance fighters with a tragically ironic end and many twists along the way.

[coracle]

Wasn't John Gault's beef with a corporation that wanted to seize his patent because he worked on it while employed with them? I can't bear the idea of trudging through Ayn Rand's overblown rhetoric again to refresh my memory. "Atlas Shrugged" could have been cut in half and been more effective.
I preferred "The Fountainhead".

John Gault innovated a new type of electric motor but when the company Twentieth Century motor Company decide to operate on the basis of From each according to his ability and to each according to his need he abandoned his innovation and left the company. The Company went out of business so everybody lost their jobs.[[see Wikepedia)

I remember Atlas Shrugged was definately boring reading from1957. It was fantasy about a Public Sector that over regulated all aspects of the Private Sector innovators so they could only produce what the Public Sector wanted and where they wanted it produced to satisfy other than market forces. The innovators said "screw you" and left the businesses for the Public Sector to run with less than improving results for workers. They moved to a remote utopia in Colarado that had been prepared by John Gault where everybody lived how they wanted to and were rewarded based on their individual ability and efforts.
As hard as I tried I never finished reading the book. You've made me think though I should look at The Fountainhead next time I go to the Library.

[oldredfordette]

Both Shrugged and Fountainhead were terrible, terrible books. Forget their politics - badly written crap. I can't take seriously anybody who got through those overheated, heaving bosom romance novels. Just bad stuff. To quote Dorothy Parker when Shrugged was published: This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." Ayn Rand was possibly the worst writer, ever. And that includes Nicholas Sparks. Bad.

Movies: The Invention of Lying. Very funny.

[maxx]

"The Black Swan" was somewhat disappointing. It didn't live up to the hype and there were some unanswered questions at the end that made me think the movie makers were playing with me.

Thanks for the refresher, coracle. "Atlas" is definitely a book I wouldn't read again. Maybe I'd watch the movie. I've seen "The Fountainhead" a couple times and liked the premise of artistic freedom.

[tvaspen]

Check out City Island, funny and well acted.

[maxx]

"Of Time annd the City" - Terence Davies paean to Liverpool.

[maxx]

"Hot Coffee" - a doc on the assault on consumers' right to sue businesses euphemistically called "tort reform" and orchestrated by Carl Rove. It also discussed the judicial career of a young progressive judge in MS and how his career was destroyed by businesses that didn't like some decisions he made. They conducted a smear campaign during his re-election bid. He borrowed money from someone which became the excuse for a couple prosecutions. He was eventually declared not guilty, but it took three years. Very disturbing.

[MizMotown]

Recently watched...

Wartorn [[HBO Documentary) about PTSD
Going the Distance [[Drew Barrymore, Justin Long) actually pretty funny
Imitation of Life [[the 1st one) love this movie
The Sisters [[Bette Davis, Erroll Flynn)
Clash of the Titans

[maxx]

Which "Clash"? I like the original [[1981) with all the big names like Olivier and Bloom and the stop-action special effects. They don't overwhelm the stories.

[Jimaz]

In celebration of the promotion of this thread to Detroit Connections, I offer this top-quality film as evidence of the possibility of reconciliation between reason and faith. It's also a great murder mystery!

The Name of the Rose Total duration: 2:06: Playlist

1. Part 1/13
2. Part 2/13
3. Part 3/13
4. Part 4/13
5. Part 5/13
6. Part 6/13
7. Part 7/13
8. Part 8/13
9. Part 9/13
10. Part 10/13
11. Part 11/13
12. Part 12/13
13. Part 13/13

To determine the course of human destiny solely by rescuing books, which books will you choose?

[Ray1936]

Well, I gave it a try, Jim, but the dialogue was so hard to understand I had to give it up. When I watch normal TV I usually always have the closed captioning on, because my old ears just don't hear crickets chirp much any more.

Old age can be a blessing, but it can also be a bitch.

But thanks for the links, anyway.