Folks, I’m about to watch the new Jeff Nichols movie, Midnight special, so this is a chance to give you a reminder of movies conservatives should watch.
By the way, the Batman v. Superman movie is pretty good & very American. I feel for the director, because I resemble his case: Trying to give popular spectacles intellectual & moral dignity in a world where the people who are pretentious about learning show their vulgarity by not finding insight in popular stuff & the people who enjoy popular spectacles concur that the things they enjoy are mindless. Few people are willing to say that criticism of popular spectacles should include an attempt to understand their intentions & some knowledge of the clever stuff they have to say. But the super-hero movie really is hard to bear because it’s a super-hero movie; not for a conservative audience, for the most part.
The finest hours, however, is. Great movie, was killed by the distributor/studio & it’s going to end up teaching a lesson to people who worked hard on it, that it’s not worth it or even possible to show American audiences stories about great things in America’s pretty-recent past. It’s up to you, folks, to make this movie count & show your preferences.
I heard about this from Mr. Armond White, lately NR’s movie reviewer, & I’m probably the last guy who admires him–me & my friend–so we talked it over & we watched The finest hours–a Churchill title that!–& I’ve been too busty to give a full review, but it’s high time I tell you, as a foreigner, but a friend–it’s your patriotic duty to watch this movie. I’ve not seen anything this American since, I guess, American sniper. I’ll link to that–go to my website,I was on fire that day!
Mr. Armond White thought this was all-American, too. It’s a heart-breaking story, but you cannot beat it for grit. It’s not Southern & it’s not Western, & it’s New England all over, but you’ve gotta see it. It is free of the sordid in a way now almost unseen–like the other ’50s movie, Brooklyn. Read what I had to say about that, too. This movie does even less to prettify America–but it shows grit & humanity like you wouldn’t believe. This flopped terribly. It’s not the latest Marvel/Disney thing. America went to see Star wars or what have you. It’s a damned shame.
I don’t have anything bad to say about this movie now. There’s a surfing shot. Insufferable. There, one bad thing. The rest is just astounding. Watch it & thank me later. Watch this movie & support these guys, if you can. I have no idea how they got the money for this & without people like you shouting from the rooftops that they did good by America, they might not get the chance to do it again. I don’t have the solution for this sort of problem, but I’m trying.
Let me tell you another thing. There are no more stars. It’s over. You gotta fix that somehow. But for now, there are actors who do good. My friend & I were talking today about how Mr. Casey Affleck is so much better than his famous, rewarded, successful brother. Watch him in this movie & you’ll know what I mean. For American stoicism, the only he could do better is if he were Atticus Finch. We all have this in common folks, we share in it & you’ll know it when you see it. My young miss thinks she sees it in me, too, & I’ve not yet had the stuff to let her down.
But a lot of other guys look great, because they look like Americans–not the American look–but actors who play Americans. I’ve seen those looks on Americans’ faces. I’ve seen the gestures. These actors do right by people. Mr. Chris Pine, lately doing a Shatner impersonation, does a job you’ll remember him for, pardon my preposition… Mr. Ben Foster, who stopped playing psychos. Mr. Eric Bana, in a smaller role, as a Southern officer. He shows a few things about why the South still matters. & lots of other small roles, including a plucky young woman. & a gruff guy you’ll know but maybe not by name, a Mr. Graham McTavish. Try to take your eyes off him when he’s on screen.
Welp. . . how was it? Your Florence post at R> (which for those not going there, R>, not Florence, has turned into an argument about rhetoric) has given me some insight into how it seems that you don’t/can’t “just enjoy” a movie. I mean this in a good way.
I know what you mean–sometimes I do, but mostly, you see how I write–my mind is going places. But sometimes, I’m just at home, as it were. There was a lot of that in Florence. The place speaks to my love of beauty in a unique way.
I’ve not had enough time to write about that. But I’m not giving up. I’ll come back to that after Easter.
& I’ll take it for granted that you’ll still be interested & read, probably–but I hope to remember to thank you for it!
After Easter. . You and Mr Devereaux have that in common!
He was born into the Orthodox rite, too?
Yes, but his wife is not and they already had Easter and Christmas is on Dec 25th.
I don’t get the part about Christmas!
Isn’t Orthodox Christmas a week later? Educate me! (and please ignore ET over there uuggg I try to like her but find less and less to like)
and are up late or early? its like 3AM in Bucharest!
I have not been sleeping much lately…
So Orthodox Christmas is Dec. 25–same as Catholics.
Easter is different, though, & most years they do not coincide. Catholics use the modern Gregorian calendar for the calculations. Orthodox calculations are still done on the older Julian calendar. Hence the distinctions in the last four centuries & change…
*
As for the wrathful lady, she sometimes goes to far. I think she’s far too proud to walk back her less charitable comments, but not even people who sacrifice friendship to pride make me lose it; I’d rather it were otherwise, but I’ll live this way, too.
So you guys can get it.
Orthodox Christianity is a warren of national religions, with the King Kong being Russian. Greeks are orthodox also. So are Syrians and other Mideastern Christians. The orthodox in Ukraine are called Catholic although NOT of the RCC.
In most orthodox sects, Christmas is celebrated on January 7. This is due to the fact it was defined by the old calendar, so it precesses every 100 years or so. At some point in the future it will go to January 8. The Greeks have simply taken the “Catholic” definition of Dec 25 and celebrate it then. Most of the orthodox don’t.
Easter, OTOH, is simply defined differently. Some of the difference is again due to the Julian vs Gregorian calendars, but also due to defining Easter. Orthodox require that it fall AFTER Jewish Passover, as it does biblically; western Christianity doesn’t seem to care.
Hope that makes all clear as mud.
Yep, thanks, Dev! I think that the first Orthodox person I met (and knew she was Orthodox) was Serbian and I’m pretty sure that’w where I got the notion about Christmas.
Since the last supper was a seder, Easter should come after Passover.
Well, I watched the trailer and it left me confused. Sort of reminded me a little of the movie about the kid who was “special” – white something or other (?cloud).
Then I watched a couple other trailers by Jeff Nichols. It would appear he definitely does things that are off the beaten path. ?You seen any of the other movies of his.
I did see Mud. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but I did end up enjoying it — it sort of grew on me. I liked that McConaughey and Witherspoon got “dirty.” By that I mean they were normal people playing low characters. They didn’t have to be pretty. Penelope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona is wonderful example of this.
I’ve seen all his movies, Mr. Jeff Nichols’s. I recommend most of them & have for years. Way more Americans need to see American directors’ movies. It’s a shame these guys cannot find an audience while the latest tripe is a massive international success & literally sucks up all the time & money while never saying or showing anything to its American audience about, well, America!
If you want to talk about what the hell happened to the American families in the lower social classes & what it does to manliness: He knows it all. Mostly, it’s Arkansas stories, because it’s where he’s from, but he’s really good at it &, although he apparently cannot be popular, he makes good movies that acquire enough prestige, both in America & internationally, that he keeps working.
My favorite young director.
Mud is his best. Go to my website. I’ll persuade you to watch it. I’ll write more about it & link to my pomocon co-conspirators writing about it. They like the director as much as I do, so there are a few of us now!
His debut, Shotgun stories, is pretty near. Sort of realistic & depressive Hatfields & McCoys, but contemporary & with at least a chance at redemption…
This new one , with the special kid, is weird. It’s actually a retelling of the Gospel, in part, & a story about whether Christianity makes sense in modern America anymore, in part. But it’s weird–when you see it, you’ll liked it, I think. It shows a remarkably American father.
& his other one, Take shelter, about manly protection going crazy–I cannot really recommend it… But I’m still interested in it & would show it to young men, because it shows things going wrong in our times…
He has a new movie coming out this year–Loving–about the anti-miscegenation case Loving v. Virginia (the best-named case in SCOTUS history since Dred). I’m really excited about that one.
Dev, I can recommend Mud. It’s a boy story, having to grow up too soon.
I haven’t planned to see Superman v Batman. Perhaps I should.
I didn’t quite like how it was made. There are flaws & there is a lot that’s not fun or exciting enough. Really disliked the bad guy-annoying more than bad…
But it’s the first spectacle to try to poeticize 9/11. I think it’s a failure, but it is surprisingly noble. By itself, it’s enough to earn my praise: It not only is far above its critics & the audience, but it has no condescension for anyone & no fake sophistication. It is as American as almost anything I’ve seen. The extent to which the super-hero stories are about the troubles of the modern executive & the modern citizen & how it is duty bound to America as a kind of story, not in any partisan way, but in a deeply patriotic way–all of this comes across in the first few minutes without any hedging or cultural commentary. It is as American as it looks & it looks shockingly American.
This guy, the director, a Mr. Zack Snyder has won my respect.