dave32

I remember reading this interview with Sergio Leone, damn I wish I still had it. Anyway, he talked about wanting several other actors to play 'blondie' (eg, the man with no name), other than Eastwood. But they all turned it down or had other commitments. He said when Eastwood did his screentest he wanted him to go for 'realism,' and Leone was pissed off that he was just walking around upright, totally calm, in the gunfight scenes. But then when they played back the scenes - it came across as a guy who didn't give a shit (and therefore was dangerous). And it worked. Eastwood got the part.

I'm neither anti or pro union. Sometimes they do good, sometimes they don't. And it can be complicated to assess. Nevertheless -- they should not be held above a critical eye.

Well, yes, that's true. And I'm sure unions have historically done good things and probably do good things now. Does that make unions above reproach or fault? Do you see the issue with that logic? EG, if someone wouldn't have wiped out a large chunk of Native Americans and robbed their land, the US as we know it probably wouldn't be here. That doesn't make make it right, or a model that should be perpetuated without question.

What happens when you place these kinds of organizations into the current state of California, which is heavily regulated and legally imparts rights to workers never dreamed of decades ago. Unrealistic pension structures and perks that cannot be sustained are part of the reason for the collapse of the auto industries in Detroit and the mills in Chicago. It ain't all corporate bad guys. Like I said, I don't know. Our education system at the elementary and high school level pretty much sucks and lags far behind where it could be. The inflexibility of the Teachers Unions and their willingness to cling to the status quo, killing things like merit based pay differentials or the ability to can the a-holes who do nothing are partially responsible. The groups that really need help -- migrant workers congregating in parking lots to be picked up or working the fields -- the unions could give a shit about them. Anyway, you're right - money, power, politics is the name of the game.

Ooops. Ps. Neglected to state that I was referencing "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" (film cited in the post above mine).

Hmmmm. No offense U7. No Wisconsin discussion eh? Suppose I'm a little late. My own experience with Nursing Unions over the past few years has soured me (promotion of apathy, greed, adverse effects on patient care -- not to mention that in Scal there are several different nurse unions that actually fight each other and create problems when one facility is short-staff and another has surplus). Many unions strike me as being just as greedy/corrupt as those 'evil' corporate entities they posit themselves against, posing as champions of good against evil exploitation while conveniently removing themselves from oversight or criticism in the process. There's a need for safety nets, but unions need to evolve and stop being part of the problem. Just saying.

I'm too lazy to go look - was there anything about Wisconsin here? Very interesting. I went from coming from 100 percent pro union background (pops, granddad, most uncles worked in the steel mills - Chicago/Gary), to migrating to California and experiencing some of the shittier sides of unions as corrupt political institutions. I'm not sure what Walker did was a bad thing. Don't know.

Saw this one years ago and it left me with a sense of melancholy that lingered for a few days. Powerful film, not what I expected and I know many who didn't like it at all. Chronicles someone's descent into a difficult mental condition - but who is still able to find a genuine (albeit unusual) voice of artistic expression. Not glamorized, you can see the loss. And the impact. But it's also hopeful in strange way.

I'd donate lend moral support for a statue of Jed Clampett in Beverly Hills.

Don't care much for Mickey Rourke, but agree he did alright here. Film was made on a shoestring budget and one neat thing about it is -- the bulk of it was shot in a dive bar on Alvarado street (rough part of LA running the edge of K-town and downtown, intersecting with Macarthur Park, not where you want to be strolling alone at night), where Bukowski spent several years of his life as a drunk. Many of the extras were recruited from the neighborhood. Bukowski wrote a small novel about making the film, it's funny and surreal -- definitely doesn't portray hollyweird in the most glamorous light. Worth reading if you have the opportunity.

Alright, so when people talk about Guy Ritchie they always talk about 'Snatch.' And it's not a bad film. Even with Brad 'my ass is so over-rated' Pitt. But have you seen RocknRolla? It got worse reviews than Snatch. A lot of critics panned. But I love this movie. With every ounce of my miserable apathetic existence I tell you that this film is a great one. Is that subtle enough? Ps. I'm glad he got away from Madonna. U0wQXw-UtSE

Mass flocking, yep. I think it takes a certain amount of willpower to overcome the tendency to flock. Probably no escaping it. The trick is to get people to recognize themselves as part of a larger whole, and yet still retain their local (ethnic) identity -- and to stop brutalizing each other over petty differences. Of course, take away hope for any kind of promising future and everything gets chucked out the window. Maybe in the next millennium.

Embarrassed to say I've never seen an Anthony Mann film. Netflix can remedy that. Thanks. All the films I listed except the first three were passed on to me by my father (he had them on tape in his library, except for 'Unforgiven,' which we went to see together in the theater). A girl in LA took me to see 'Treasure of Sierra Madre,' when it was shown at the Hollywood Forever cemetery (yep) on Santa Monica Blvd. Was surprised how much I liked it, and how dark and un-Disney the story was (good guy is overcome by greed, destroys his companions, ends up dead -- not your typical movie fare). Also, about Gary Cooper, the more I'm exposed to his work, the more I appreciate him.

High Noon, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Shane, The Wild Bunch, The Magnificent Seven, Man Called Horse, Jeremiah Johnson -- and of course the great Trifecta of Westerns: Good-Bad-Ugly, Fistful of Dollars, Few Dollars More. Watched em all a million times and they impacted me -- I'm sure -- growing up. Almost forgot Josey Wales, Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter. But, I never did care much for John Wayne. Even as a kid.

I started watching Monty Python in grade school. Chicago PBS showed it on Sunday night at 11pm. I'd wait till my parents went to sleep and then tape it. After 'the lumberjack song' I was hooked. Never did get Dr. Who though. zzzzzzzzzzzz. Snoozefest. I tried to watch the new Robin Hood series on BBC (not that new anymore), but it was too Disneyfied.

btw - Reason I brought up that story -- the truck owner was a nice OLD latino guy, and at the time I was still relatively new to LA. Later I obviously knew he was an illegal. I got mixed feelings on that. Yes, there need to be immigration controls and there should also be a central language requirement. But most illegals I've met were actually pretty nice people. There is an attitude with some groups though - I'm talking about young immigrant kids growing up poor in LA who just don't care - that is basically 'fuck you, we'll take what we can get and don't give a rat's ass about your culture or values.' I don't know what resolution is. Would hate to see LA become an extension of Tijuana. Would also hate to see it become some boring ass white bread city.

Carrell is annoying. I endure the show every now and then to see the one secret weapon the US version has - Rainn Wilson aka Dwight Schrute. I'm truly sorry Munch but it's a wonderful thing. I would dare to postulate he's even superior to his counterpart on the original - Gareth Keenan. In every other way the UK version is better. I Was surprised when I was told 'the office' was based on a UK program. Later tuned it in on BBC (cable) and not only was it based on the UK version, but the first episode was a word-for-word copy. Fucking lame. What was the point of that?

Worked for a conservancy awhile in Santa Monica and they gave us these ancient beat-up WWII era jeeps to drive around in (Flash, you probably had one of these after you traded in the model-T ). These things were death traps, always breaking down on PCH and the 405 and aaaaah! Anyway. I'm driving through Highland Park on a residential st and this dog runs into the road. I JAMMED the brake but they were so lousy I wasn't going to stop in time to avoid the dog. So I veered. Right smack into a parked truck. Clearly there was damage and clearly my fault. The dog just laughed. The owner comes out of an old apartment building all the windows barred and even razor wire along parts of the fence. He looks alarmed. I got my insurance stuff and whip out a phone to call the cops. He starts emphasizing, "NO," "It's OK." I think he wants to squeeze me for cash so I tell him, I work part-time, no money dude. "It's OK." The jeep I drove was so beat-up already I honestly didn't know if there was damage, it was all chipped paint and dinged steel in front, nobody at the conservancy would care. But there was clear damage to his truck. I ask the guy again what he wants -- "nothing, it's OK, don't worry." And he's trying to get me to leave. I had $40 in my pocket and gave it to him, out of guilt.

Gervais was FANTASTIC. I was grateful for his boldness, and you know there's no way in hell they will have him back, which is a shame. One thing I did notice during my brief and ignorant stint in Europe, is that not only Brits -- but Western Europeans in general seemed to resent it if/when their peers rose above their station in life. You find that everywhere, but... people there, from what I could see, were much more locked into a path from a young age -- if you're a worker, you're a worker. If you're an academic, you're an academic. If people broke out of that to do something else, the environment was not forgiving. And Brits especially could be vicious amongst themselves when one of the group rose above his/her 'station' in an unconventional manner. I don't know. Maybe it's just me and I have no idea what I'm talking about... but that was the impression I was left with.

R-rVUMRBj9E Hmmm. Don't have the capacity to choose them carefully, but I like the idea of taking ownership. Well put sir.

Ooops. I should've read this first. Obviously you are familiar with metaphors. Look, basically we agree. We don't have free speech without limits or consequences. There are limitations. But I don't take it as far as you guys with the implication that the use of this macho slogan 'don't retreat, reload' was literal and on par with Metzger, who did - literally - want to murder people (and pressured his followers to act out, employing much more than a cheesy slogan).

I think Cheney did more harm to the US and by extension the world than we'll ever know. Not our finest moment.

No LK, I don't believe her general campaign slogan of "don't retreat, reload" literally meant gun based violence. I don't think you believe that either. I know you're familiar with metaphors. She probably could've (and should've) picked a better one, considering today's climate. btw - I looked up Metzger, it seems he ran for congress in CA as a democrat, and spearheaded a group here to round up illegals. Hmmmmmm. Since were throwing out all these comparisons now to tie people in to society's most nefarious characters, who could possibly fit that bill? Interesting. I also read somewhere that Metzer liked Singha. Hope there's no Singha drinkers on the forum. Dershowitz is beautiful because he can't be pigeon holed, the conservatives dislike him as much as the liberals. And please explain to me how you equate being OJ's defense lawyer with being conservative? I like that. That's good. New.

She's good at reaching her audience. She's not good at reaching the populace as a whole and would make a terrible president. How the election pans out will be interesting. I think I pissed off OH. btw - my intent was to demonstrate what happens when you employ speech controls ---> do you really want dialog at a level where people have to walk on egg shells for fear that an anonymous psychotic somewhere could misinterpret their meaning? It's almost silly. That said, there are influential people in media who make their careers off of feeding into fear and base emotions, and while you do see that on both sides, it happens more on the right, currently. No doubt. Alright, beat this one enough.

That's my problem with her too. And I"m not kidding, I think the post-tragedy video on her facebook site is.... ugh. Not because she used the term blood-whatever, but because it struck me as blatantly rehearsed and void. I should not have said the crosshairs were trivial. They weren't trivial, they were incredibly stupid. Dude, I'm not a Palin fan. I kinda was initially, but it wore off. Short attention span (mine) and what not. But just like the righ-wing media treated Obama unfairly, I do believe the an element of the left-wing media has it out for Palin. Oh yeah. And the Metzger comparison is utterly fucking ridiculous. C'mon OH -- I'm waiting.... (btw - I think OH is a good person with a good heart. And the Metzger comparison he's making is still complete bullshit - I also think there's a lot of Palin detractors out there who will feed the fire). So what does it all mean? You got me. But shooting from the hip, you should try it some time. With a water pistol.