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Showing results for tags '1996'.
Found 6 results
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I saw "Sling Blade" when it was released, and 23-years later, the only thing I remembered about it was that I really liked it. After having seen it a second time, I can now say that I *love* it, and that it's one of the most brilliant one-man packages I've ever experienced as a filmgoer (Thornton was the screenwriter, the director, and the lead). That said, the entire cast was nearly perfect, without a bad, or even average, performance in the film - every single actor soared in this wonderful movie. See "Sling Blade." I won't taint this film for you by summarizing the plot, or commenting on its components, but I invite anyone and everyone to watch it, and if you disagree with me, to post your viewpoints down below. I'll be very surprised if anyone writes anything, but I'll also look forward to reading your dissenting opinions. Cheers, Rocks-
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- Southern Gothic
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First, let me say that if you've ever had difficulty understanding the dialog in a film, you'll understand when I advise you to consider using Closed Captions for "Trainspotting" - a film largely spoken in the "language" of Scottish, and if you've ever had a conversation with someone from Scotland, you'll know exactly what I'm saying here. *** WARNING - SPOILERS FOLLOW *** I *love* the stop-motion introductions of the main characters - and here they are: "The Worst Toilet in Scotland" scene was hi-*lar*ious. It was also one of the single-most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life: I thought watching "The Walking Dead" would cure me forever of any revulsion while watching anything going forward: Nope. Thank *God* there was some comic relief with Renton's Thomas Pynchon-inspired swim. The scene, as a whole, is legendary, and will be considered a classic even fifty years from now, and I suspect you'll remember it for as long as you live. I've never seen Trainspotting before - it's a culture (the heroin culture) that I just don't relate to, and in a sense, this movie is a lot like "Go Fish" for me - an arthouse favorite that I've just never bothered watching because it didn't call out to me. (You can also rest assured that I wouldn't have mentioned Go Fish if I didn't have plans, in the back of my mind, of seeing it in the near future). However, I can tell just seventeen minutes into this ninety-five minute film that I'm going to pretty much *love* it - not five seconds have passed that I haven't enjoyed, thoroughly and immensely, and I have a feeling the subject matter may well be the only thing preventing Trainspotting from being considered one of the great comedies of our generation - although, maybe I should wait until the end of the film before making such a prediction. In terms of dialog, character development, and an overall "likability" factor, I think Trainspotting is going to rate pretty highly with me; again, let me not get ahead of myself. If I say this at the end of the movie, then you'll know to make a beeline to watch it on Amazon Prime, where it's *free*! One thing I've always wondered is: What does "trainspotting" even mean? Like "A Clockwork Orange," it's explained in the book, but not in the movie. From Wikipedia: "The cryptic film title is a reference to a scene (not included in the film) in the original book, where Begbie and Renton meet 'an auld drunkard' who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are using as a toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin'." After that explanation, I *still* don't know what it means, but at least I have a better idea. Oh my *goodness*, the scatological humor in Trainspotting is abundant and dis-gusting! I know it's chocolate, I *read* that it's chocolate, but it's still as cringeworthy as anything I've seen in quite awhile. And even though you know it's chocolate, you still cringe. The Baby Dawn scene was one of the most bitter pills I've swallowed in a long, long time. And the extended scene where Renton's parents lock him in his room to become clean is quite powerful - there are a *lot* of memorable visuals in this film, some of which I'll never forget. You know, I was *just* about to write that the movie hit a slow spot not long after Renton got clean - it could either be that, or the fact that I'm getting sleepy (the same thing happened to me with Divorce American Style after the couple separated). I was just about to write that when Begbie is making out in the car with a prostitute, and all of a sudden, he sits up with a start and says, "Fuck!" It seems he put his hand in a rather private place and felt something down there he wasn't expecting. Ha! Ha! Ha! Surprise! Did I say earlier that this movie was a comedy? Well, it may have started out that way, but it shifted to an intense drama, with a heavy dose of suspense and intrigue. Trainspotting is a very good movie, and unlike anything I've ever seen. Highly recommended if you're of an exploratory nature - you won't be disappointed. It's not perfect, but few things in life are.
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John Travolta first made his name in film in the 1970's, often as the result of dance scenes. During the 1970's Travolta was young lithe, rangy, and an excellent dancer. As he aged, gained weight, and took on dramatically different roles, some of them included memorable dance scenes, not the least of which was the one in the whimsical film "Michael," made in 1996. Travolta played an angel on his last trip to earth and was staying in a motel in Iowa. Three reporters from a Chicago rag and a pet dog are sent to the motel to uncover the Angel and then return on a road trip back to Chicago. While stopping at a roadside tavern for some nourishment the following dance scene ensues: Done to the music Chain of Fools, Travolta, as the pied piper of dance: -
That's the beauty of the Bald Goalkeeper...just insert the next one into the lineup. The talent is coming. You need to remember that MLS is only 20 years old. Players that are only just now entering the pro-ranks will be the first generation of player that has had a domestic pro-league during their entire lifetime. And let's face it, MLS wasn't that great in its early years. In the next 5-10 years, I think you'll see an uptick in the level of play in the U.S. player (yeah, yeah, I know that's been promised before), as kids come up through the system who have been able to attend domestic games on a regular basis, train with pro-teams, go through pro-academies. That's a big difference over pre-MLS, when basically you grew up playing for your school, a travel team, and attended soccer camp during the summer. -
It's pointless to tag all of Wayne Gretzky's career NHL records - he has his own Wikipedia page of them. Here's how times have changed: In the 1980s, Wayne Gretzky was so famous that I used to tell people that the three most famous people in the world born in the same year as me were Eddie Murphy, Princess Di, and Wayne Gretzky. Feeding off of these posts, I'm very curious how much I missed not fully appreciating watching Gretzky play - *everyone* knew him, but I didn't understand what he was doing, or how good he really was, except from what I kept reading in the papers. So how good *was* he? How *important* was he? Is he a Wilt Chamberlain? A Babe Ruth? And for those in the "Mario Lemieux Camp," why would you pick Lemieux over Gretzky?
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While I love Ella Fitzgerald, and have mentioned elsewhere the pleasure I had in hearing her in concert long ago at Symphony Hall in Boston, she has never been one of my favorite singers, and I've never been a devotee of her cult. I think my biggest problem with Ella's singing is that in so many recordings, she seems to sing songs as if the words had no particular meaning. Not always, but often. There's no denying her mostly flawless vocal technique. My favorite album of hers is "Pure Ella", which you can find on YouTube. It's just Ella's voice and Ellis Larkins's piano; it was released in 1994, but was a combination of two LPs from the early 50s. Here is Ella from that album singing "I've Got a Crush on You."
