10 internet points to the first one who finds something about people from the south who are mad about these west coast liberals revising the history of the War of Northern Aggression.
10 internet points to the first one who finds something about people from the south who are mad about these west coast liberals revising the history of the War of Northern Aggression.
Actually I never understood people who called it the "Northern Aggression" since it was a bunch of southerns actively attacking a fort that caused the north to get involved. Whenever I mentioned this to someone they get mad at claim that I have a "northern bias."
The north was the aggressor in that SC had the legal right to seceed. However, the Union was still the good guys because they weren't violating human rights.
The north was the aggressor in that SC had the legal right to seceed. However, the Union was still the good guys because they weren't violating human rights.
Hahahahaha, the North wasn't violating peoples human rights. That's a good one, I'll have to remember that.
People talk about it a whole bunch, and it was next on the list, so I watched No Country for Old Men. Very very good, but I still think overrated. Everyone raves about it, but it's just under the level of being rave-worthy. Best part was the incredible acting job by Javier Bardem, who I just looked up on IMDB.
People talk about it a whole bunch, and it was next on the list, so I watched No Country for Old Men. Very very good, but I still think overrated. Everyone raves about it, but it's just under the level of being rave-worthy. Best part was the incredible acting job by Javier Bardem, who I just looked up on IMDB.
Definitely read the book if you enjoyed the movie at all.
People talk about it a whole bunch, and it was next on the list, so I watched No Country for Old Men. Very very good, but I still think overrated. Everyone raves about it, but it's just under the level of being rave-worthy. Best part was the incredible acting job by Javier Bardem, who I just looked up on IMDB.
Definitely read the book if you enjoyed the movie at all.
I was gonna say make it a book club book, or any Cormac McCarthy for that matter.
Watched Destry Rides Again after reading up a bit on Marlene Dietrich and seeing a couple clips from it. It's a pretty fun, if standard 1930's western. A little idealized and sanitized, but not much wasn't during that time, so I can't blame it. Actually considering the year it came out (1939), it got away with a decent amount, including at least one frank description of shooting violence, several actual shootings, and a good amount of Marlene Dietrich's cleavage. It also had a pretty great bar fight scene.
The only things I found questionable were 1) a couple of ethnic stereotypes, and 2) it couldn't quite figure out what it wanted to say about guns and gun usage. Statute of limitations is out on this movie, but I'll spoiler warning just in case:
The movie seems to take a stand against guns by having the main character be anti-gun against all odds, and by having two major characters and one major background figure killed; but Destry still ends up solving at least one of his problems by using his marksmanship as a threat, and takes up his father's pistols during the climax. As best I can tell, the message is "guns don't kill people, people kill people", but it's a bit muddled. Feels like they wanted to have an anti-violence message to appease 1930's family values types but also wanted to have exciting shootouts and a violent climax to boost ticket sales, and couldn't reconcile the two. Don't know if that's the case, but that's how it felt.
The beginning of all his books just...Don't get you involved in the right way. I know that there are great stories, characters, and themes in them, but he doesn't know how to start. I never can find myself caring, you know? He's not very good at engaging me.
The Road really ISN'T a great story, that's the thing. It's like a morality play for nihilists. There's a bunch of pointless suffering, and a bunch of unsupported, shallow assertions about human nature, and then it ends without having gone anywhere.
So after another Old School Kung Fu marathon in preparation for my panel at Connecticon I can safely say that the Shaw Brothers set the standard for 70s-80s kung fu movies. Shaolin Executioners, Five Deadly Venoms, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and Return to the 36th Chamber are all really high quality kung fu movies that everyone should check out. It also leads credence to my Greater Wu-Tang Clan Theory of Kung Fu movies, in which every movie referenced/sampled in a Wu-Tang Clan song or album is inherently high quality.
So after another Old School Kung Fu marathon in preparation for my panel at Connecticon I can safely say that the Shaw Brothers set the standard for 70s-80s kung fu movies. Shaolin Executioners, Five Deadly Venoms, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and Return to the 36th Chamber are all really high quality kung fu movies that everyone should check out. It also leads credence to my Greater Wu-Tang Clan Theory of Kung Fu movies, in which every movie referenced/sampled in a Wu-Tang Clan song or album is inherently high quality.
Of those I have only seen Five Deadly Venoms. This will be corrected.
The beginning of all his books just...Don't get you involved in the right way. I know that there are great stories, characters, and themes in them, but he doesn't know how to start. I never can find myself caring, you know? He's not very good at engaging me.
Wait, you didn't find the beginning of Blood Meridian engaging? The fuck.
The Road really ISN'T a great story, that's the thing. It's like a morality play for nihilists. There's a bunch of pointless suffering, and a bunch of unsupported, shallow assertions about human nature, and then it ends without having gone anywhere.
Actually, The Road is a story of the love between a father and son, painting that theme as one of the most enduring bonds on Earth. It's also a bildungsroman of sorts, dealing with the nature of loss and hopelessness and how children learn to cope with it. It's a really powerful book.
See, I agree with WUB's assessment, but I think I'm not tough enough to deal with that much hopelessness. I know it is a really good book, and I am not knocking it as a story or dissing the writing. I'm just not sure it is the right story for me at the moment.
See, I agree with WUB's assessment, but I think I'm not tough enough to deal with that much hopelessness. I know it is a really good book, and I am not knocking it as a story or dissing the writing. I'm just not sure it is the right story for me at the moment.
Yeah, I can't really blame you for that. It's really, really dark. I wouldn't be in the mood to reread it right now myself; I'm satisfied with 1Q84 and Infinite Jest this summer.
The beginning of all his books just...Don't get you involved in the right way. I know that there are great stories, characters, and themes in them, but he doesn't know how to start. I never can find myself caring, you know? He's not very good at engaging me.
Wait, you didn't find the beginning of Blood Meridian engaging? The fuck.
That's one of the ones I didn't read. I've tried three - Suttree, No Country, and The Road.
You picked two of his most difficult to try. NCFOM and The Road are renowned for being tough to read, even by McCarthy standards. Try Blood Meridian or All The Pretty Horses first.
Comments
Robocop Shoot Along.
The only things I found questionable were 1) a couple of ethnic stereotypes, and 2) it couldn't quite figure out what it wanted to say about guns and gun usage. Statute of limitations is out on this movie, but I'll spoiler warning just in case: