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HairynosedWombat
Or has anybody seen a post of mine where I said to him "how I taught my daughter to punch her bully in the nose, you said that my daughter would be better off being gang-raped by every black man in America than to have me as a father."
Or has Equality been in China too long and partakes too much of the rice wine? Terms rjfme does not understand: science scientific method consensus ad hominem irony simile peer review sense of humour Correlation cherry picking hubris English grammar logic comprehension
Man-in-a-suitcase's opinion of the 9/11 hijackers: Not quite heroes, but hey, they were martyrs simply highlighting their cause Man-in-a-suitcase's classy description of a dying poster: rjfme's cancer-ridden arse MIAS praise for Crime country #1: Russia under Putin is such a great place!
And his troll partner Salter-pt finally showed his true colours: It's a good thing that those Jewish teenagers were killed MIAS at it again: "the current repression of gays in some Islamic countries which mirrors the repression in the west till recently," becomes "Western countries did homosexuals face the death penalty "recently"?"
More salter admissions of antisemitism The Jewish scriptures, replete with the codification of genocide, slavery, and various other forms of bigotry, certainly is odious.
Sig bucket
You know, I've seen a lot of people walking around With tombstones in their eyes Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable JFK In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster Peter Sinfield War is Gods way of teaching Americans geography: Ambrose Bierce Opened my window to listen to the news But all I heard was the establishment blues! Jesus Rodriguez
Reviews
The Norman Gunston Show (1975)
The little Aussie Bleeder
THis show pre-dated Da Ali G Show, and other fake interview/talk shows by several years. As most Australians were in on the joke, Gunston (aka Gary Mcdonald, an established actor) could get in first with interviews of overseas celebrities visiting Australia. Examples: Ray Charles - Gunston asked why he wore dark glasses. Frank Zappa. Gunston got him to do a duet on prime-time TV, with Gunston playing quite passable harmonica.
Eventually the joke wore thin, but was for a time refreshingly hilarious to see celebrities trying to be polite to a well respected talk-show host on prime time TV, who was also an obvious nutter.
The Postman (1997)
good to see somebody making a movie of hope rather than violence
This is at least Kevin Costners third attempt to bring a story of hope against the forces of despair and violence, and I think his most successful. The characters are fully drawn (particularly good is Abby) and the story reasonably coherent (unlike his Waterworld). Some have said the ending is a washout but I think it shows some courage to end a Hollywood extravaganza without lots of bloodshed.
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
magical fable of the power of childhood dreams
What better place than the west of Ireland to make a story about how a child can make her wish come true by her own determination. A girl wants to return to her family's island home, left years before because the family was devastated when her baby brother was lost at sea. The legend was that an ancestor was a Selkie (half human, half seal). She repairs the island houses and finds her little brother again, safe and a few years older - he was cared for by the local seals - and the family joyously return to the island. The scenery is stunning, the girl is luminous and the story told with an air of wonder and mystery. There is plenty of room in the story telling for viewers to add their own dreams.
Dalmas (1973)
experimental film with the production crew mixing with the cast
This film has the same plot and structure as Norman Mailers "Maidstone", with LSD replacing alcohol. It starts as a Police murder mystery. The hero eventually enters a picnic with the rest of the cast and crew, who are imbibing LSD. He attacks the Director(Bert Deling) with an axe, which forces them to re-evaluate their relationship. In "Maidstone" there is a party where cast and crew get drunk instead of an LSD picnic. I enjoyed Dalmas as posing interesting questions about relationships between the crew of a film Unit in a poetic way. Deling and the crew appeared relaxed about drugs, whereas the lead actor was hired to be the lead. Maidstone was an alcoholic self-indulgence of Norman Mailers. I do not know whether Deling or Mailer got the idea first.
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Warning: dance aficionados do not enter!
A most frustrating and over-rated piece of badly filmed dancing. The wonderful Antonio Vargas and his flamenco dancing is the highlight of this show, but the rest of the dance sequences are extremely frustrating. How can you show 2 people dancing without filming below their waists? Fred Astaire had the right idea when he insisted his dance sequences be filmed in 1 take and always with full length shots to show what the dancers are doing.
High Tide (1987)
wonderfully acted and directed story of people caught in real-life drama
This is not the stuff of soap-operas but the sort of conundrums that real people face in real life. A testament to the ensemble and director for the powerful story-telling of fallible characters trying to cope but not quite succeeding.
Soldiers of the Cross (1900)
The world's first Feature Film?
I had to comment on this film for its historical role. Some have called it the world's first feature film. It was said to be more of a strung-together series of short pieces to be shown in a Theatre at the one time as a religious lecture, than a single feature film with a coherent plot-line. Documentary evidence is strong that it was made and shown in Australia before any other feature film, around 1899 or 1900. I believe it also toured the United States around 1907. Corrections to the above are welcome.