[rtpoe]

"Collecting" a few flicks about Irish history to watch in honor of Irish-American Day.

There's The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), about two brothers who fight the Brits in the war for Irish independence, then each other in the civil war that followed.

And The Siege of Jadotville (2016), about a battle in the mess in Africa in the "de-colonization" era where fewer than 160 Irish peacekeeping forces held off an attack by some 3,000 mixed troops - only to be called cowards and shoved aside because after six days, they had to surrender when their ammunition ran out - and no one could be bothered to come to their rescue.

[TheZookie007]

Speaking of the results of European colonialism:

Watched Hotel Rwanda (2004) for the first time today. Starring Don Cheadle and Sophie Okenedo, it's the stunning true story of how Hutu hotelier Paul Rusesabagina (Don's character) and his Tutsi wife Tatiana (Sophie's character) kept their family and almost 1,200 guests and refugees safe in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The movie is partly based upon Philip Gourevitch's 1998 book with the chilling title We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families.

Although in my opinion it deserved all the acclaim it received, including Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (Cheadle), Best Supporting Actress (Okonedo), and Best Original Screenplay, the account as portrayed in the movie was not without criticism from the post-genocide Rwandan government, led by Paul Kagame.

[3deroticer]

Highly controversial movie! I think we were fascinated that even blacks can be racist toward other blacks. As it turns out the NAZI favored the straight nose Africans over the flat nose types. So they establish a hierarchy caste system inherited from NAZI quest for purifying the nation. It can be human nature to selectively associate to those they feel similar to, but a conscience effort to not do so by looks. "Planet of the apes" was a very racist movie and Charles Heston notice that during meal break of shooting the movies all the primates typecast hang out to their collective group during the meal, and nobody told them to do so. I guess it was easier to explain to the public about evil of racism, if its not in their own yard.

[solvegas]

In theaters now there is a Cold War spy movie called " The Courier ".  Set from 1960 through 1965, it is a story of a unlikely spy played by Benedict Cumberbatch as British salesman Greville Wynne who MI6 and the CIA recruit to assist Soviet GRU ( Soviet Military intelligence agency not under the control of the KGB. Similar to the relationship that the Pentagon controlled NSA and the separate independent CIA have in the USA )  Colonel Oleg Penkovsky gather and steal Soviet secrets which untimely disclose Soviet activity in Cuba and the Cuban Missile crisis of October 1962. I was 6 years old then.  It is nothing like a James Bond spy movie but better because it shows how banal and boring real intelligence activity can be. This was a real life incident and many of the details have only been declassified recently. Go see it. 

[TheZookie007]

The Courier looks very interesting.

[solvegas]

The Courier looks very interesting.

It is. It won't insult your intelligence, There is no gratuitous violence or overacting because the story and the facts are compelling as they are. I highly recommend it. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

     W A R N I N G !!!!!

Do NOT watch Cosmic Sin!

Possibly the WORST movie of the 21st century

[TheZookie007]

     W A R N I N G !!!!!

Do NOT watch Cosmic Sin!

Possibly the WORST movie of the 21st century

"To suggest that Bruce Willis is phoning in his performance in Cosmic Sin would be an insult to telephone communication, which can be an effective means of conveying important information and genuine emotion.

Willis’ work—and this movie as a whole—accomplish neither of these things. As directed by Edward Drake, who co-wrote the abysmal script with supporting actor Corey Large, Cosmic Sin is at once baffling and boring. It lays the groundwork for its futuristic, sci-fi setting with lengthy and convoluted title cards, suggesting a transporting adventure awaits. But then the Earth of 2524 doesn’t look or feel terribly different from the one we occupy today, except for robot bartenders and the obligatory flying cars. And apparently there are no acting lessons in the future, as the performances here are uniformly stiff and unconvincing...

After starring in a recent string of such cheap action flicks, including Hard Kill, Survive the Night and 10 Minutes Gone, it appears Willis would rather be anywhere else but here. He offers nary a trace of the trademark swagger that made him a superstar in the ‘80s. Regardless of the situation, he delivers his lines in a sleepy monotone. Doing shots alone at a roadside dive bar at the film’s start, he’s theoretically trying to convey a sense of isolation and regret, but all we get is boredom. It’s the most honest and relatable moment in the whole movie."

-- Christy Lemire on RogerEbert.com, 12 March 2021

[Meatman]

Planes,Trains and Automobiles (1987)
I usually watch this at least once a year.
I think it’s John Hughes’s best movie and John Candy’s best performance!
Something I found out the other day is the original cut of the movie was over 3 and a half hours long but there is only one deleted scene that appears on any DVD release.That’s because no one can find what happened to the original cut of the film including John Hughes before he died.The script for the lost footage is out there but not the footage itself.Strange that a film classic like this movie has so much extra footage but nobody knows what happened with it.
Here’s an article about the lost cut of the movie:
https://www.avclub.com/unpacking-the-3-hour-planes-trains-and-automobiles-cut-1845776326

[solvegas]

Just saw in the theater a movie called " 12 mighty Orphans " set in 1938 Fort Worth, Texas, Masonic orphanage starring Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall about a most unlikely High School Football team winning the state championship. It's a great story of a real event which will make you feel good. 

[TheZookie007]

I watched Captain Marvel for the first time since its release. It wasn't as bad as people were trying to make it out to be, although the reason why Nick Fury got his famous eyepatch was as underwhelming as people told me it was.

[MaxBigfoot]

I watched Captain Marvel for the first time since its release. It wasn't as bad as people were trying to make it out to be, although the reason why Nick Fury got his famous eyepatch was as underwhelming as people told me it was.

I thought it was an good movie.  And yeah, I was pretty disappointed in the eyepatch thing too.

[TheZookie007]

I already knew the broad outlines of the story but having recently watched the Hulu documentary Batman and Bill and dug into the details, I can say:

FUCK BOB KANE

FUCK HIM STRAIGHT TO HELL.

-- TheZookie "also, fuck that motherfucker Bob Kane" 007

[StrikezOne]

The Sound of Freedom. It was actually a pretty decent movie. But you wouldnt know this if you listened to mainstream, for some odd reason absolutely hate the movie. I wonder why...?

[solvegas]

Saw the 40th Anniversary of National Lampoon's Vacation movie with Chevy Chase and Beverly DeAngelo with Christie Brinkley and John Candy as supporting characters/actors on the big screen in the cinema and it was/is a great comedy.