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TV/Movies Megathread

Started by Eddie Teach, March 06, 2011, 09:29:27 AM

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Norgy


Savonarola

#32326
Race (2016)

An enjoyable sports biopic.  The problem with the move is that if you know anything at all about Jesse Owens you know that [spoiler]he won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.[/spoiler]  The movie tries to build tension around will the US boycott the 1936 Olympics? will Jesse personally boycott the Olympics? and will Jesse agree to step into the relay after the Jewish athletes are taken out?  The resolutions are profoundly unsurprising.

If you know the second thing about Jesse Owens you know that [spoiler]he set three world records and tied a fourth at a track meet at the University of Michigan[/spoiler] unless you're Grumbler in which case [spoiler]nothing at all happened in Ann Arbor May 25, 1935.  Grumbler was there an you weren't.[/spoiler]   ;)  So whether or not the coach will let him run in the meet also has an unsurprising resolution.

In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

celedhring

I always struggle with these kind of films, which build tension around real events that you already know the outcome of. Take Valkyrie for example; a fine film, except that you know all along that they're not going to succeed in killing Hitler so it's all pretty pointless.

Josephus

Quote from: celedhring on March 02, 2016, 05:40:57 PM
I always struggle with these kind of films, which build tension around real events that you already know the outcome of. Take Valkyrie for example; a fine film, except that you know all along that they're not going to succeed in killing Hitler so it's all pretty pointless.

Yeah. Was watching Inglorious Basterds and thought the same thing.
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

celedhring

Inglorious Basterds is a fantasy though, while Valkyrie was a historical thriller.

Josephus

Quote from: celedhring on March 02, 2016, 05:57:18 PM
Inglorious Basterds is a fantasy though, while Valkyrie was a historical thriller.

yeah....it was meant as a joke.  ;)
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

celedhring

Fair enough  :thumbsup:

I'm reminded of Gladiator, too, that ends up with the reinstatement of the Republic after the death of Commodus  :lol:

Norgy

Quote from: celedhring on March 02, 2016, 05:57:18 PM
while Valkyrie was a historical thriller.

While based on a story about von Stauffenberg, it's about as chockfull of historical fact as "Vikings".

You should know better.

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Norgy on March 02, 2016, 06:44:24 PM
While based on a story about von Stauffenberg, it's about as chockfull of historical fact as "Vikings".

You should know better.

What did they get wrong? :unsure:

garbon

My aunt was surprised that [spoiler]Hitler didn't die in the plot[/spoiler]...
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Norgy

Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 02, 2016, 06:51:27 PM
Quote from: Norgy on March 02, 2016, 06:44:24 PM
While based on a story about von Stauffenberg, it's about as chockfull of historical fact as "Vikings".

You should know better.

What did they get wrong? :unsure:

The assassination attempt is rather historical. And general Beck.
The story before that and Stauffenberg being some kind of Tom Cruise heroic character... I don't buy it.

Stauffenberg may not have been a Nazi, but like most of the officer caste, he was all aboard until he was not.
My point is that it is based on reasonably cloudy facts.
Not so much crap history as a narrative based on making a heroic character.

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Norgy on March 02, 2016, 07:06:11 PM
The assassination attempt is rather historical. And general Beck.
The story before that and Stauffenberg being some kind of Tom Cruise heroic character... I don't buy it.

Stauffenberg may not have been a Nazi, but like most of the officer caste, he was all aboard until he was not.
My point is that it is based on reasonably cloudy facts.
Not so much crap history as a narrative based on making a heroic character.

I thought it followed Stauffenberg's motivation pretty closely, that he thought Hitler was losing the war.

viper37

Quote from: celedhring on March 02, 2016, 06:07:49 PM
I'm reminded of Gladiator, too, that ends up with the reinstatement of the Republic after the death of Commodus  :lol:
We don't know that.  That is certainly the wish of the Gladiator, as transmitted by a late senator and some anti-Commodus conspirator, but he dies right there in the arena, so we have no idea if Rome turns back into a Republic.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

viper37

Quote from: Norgy on March 02, 2016, 07:06:11 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 02, 2016, 06:51:27 PM
Quote from: Norgy on March 02, 2016, 06:44:24 PM
While based on a story about von Stauffenberg, it's about as chockfull of historical fact as "Vikings".

You should know better.

What did they get wrong? :unsure:

The assassination attempt is rather historical. And general Beck.
The story before that and Stauffenberg being some kind of Tom Cruise heroic character... I don't buy it.

Stauffenberg may not have been a Nazi, but like most of the officer caste, he was all aboard until he was not.
My point is that it is based on reasonably cloudy facts.
Not so much crap history as a narrative based on making a heroic character.

I raised that point at the time, but was told that he was a hero since he opposed Hitler.  Anything else does not matter.
I bet they're the kind of people that would willingly vote for a fascist over a Clinton, but still, there is the "logic", however twisted it appears.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

Admiral Yi

So much easier to follow The Wire with the closed captioning on.  :lol: