• Civil War (Spoiler Warning)

    From John Savard@3:633/280.2 to All on Thu Apr 18 09:04:21 2024
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are
    expecting.

    From its title, I was expecting a historical drama about the War
    Between the States in the 1860s, and I was expecting to dislike it
    because, in order to have mass appeal to U.S. audiences, it made it
    seem like there were two sides to the conflict.

    Instead of treating the South like the bad guys in a World War II
    movie.

    But it wasn't a movie about how bad Trump and the January 6 crowd
    were. Modern politics does not rear its head. The President of the
    United States is portrayed as looking a bit like Trump, but that's it.

    Florida and Texas, states strongly supporting Trump and the Republican
    Party, are two of the states leading the secession faction in this
    second Civil War in the United States. But liberal California has
    joined forces with Texas.

    So audiences find out quickly that this movie was not ripped from
    today's headlines. Fine. It shows the devastation a civil war causes;
    it's hard to travel across the country, and gasoline is expensive.
    And worse. So is it a non-political call for people to step back,
    settle their differences peacefully, and not walk over the cliff?

    Audiences are likely to think so, at least for a while.

    But by the time the movie ends, the audience finally learns what kind
    of movie they were watching: it waa about the movie's main characters
    and their personal development. Some more than others.

    Which means that audience members who were looking for a different
    kind of movie will feel they've wasted the price of admission, which
    is a shame, because it's not a _bad_ movie. It's actually quite a good
    movie, of the kind of movie that it was. But if it had been advertised honestly... it perhaps wouldn't have had such a big opening weekend.

    John Savard

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  • From Paul S Person@3:633/280.2 to All on Fri Apr 19 01:39:05 2024
    On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:04:21 -0600, John Savard
    <quadibloc@servername.invalid> wrote:

    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are >expecting.

    From its title, I was expecting a historical drama about the War
    Between the States in the 1860s, and I was expecting to dislike it
    because, in order to have mass appeal to U.S. audiences, it made it
    seem like there were two sides to the conflict.

    Instead of treating the South like the bad guys in a World War II
    movie.

    But it wasn't a movie about how bad Trump and the January 6 crowd
    were. Modern politics does not rear its head. The President of the
    United States is portrayed as looking a bit like Trump, but that's it.

    Florida and Texas, states strongly supporting Trump and the Republican
    Party, are two of the states leading the secession faction in this
    second Civil War in the United States. But liberal California has
    joined forces with Texas.

    So audiences find out quickly that this movie was not ripped from
    today's headlines. Fine. It shows the devastation a civil war causes;
    it's hard to travel across the country, and gasoline is expensive.
    And worse. So is it a non-political call for people to step back,
    settle their differences peacefully, and not walk over the cliff?

    Audiences are likely to think so, at least for a while.

    But by the time the movie ends, the audience finally learns what kind
    of movie they were watching: it waa about the movie's main characters
    and their personal development. Some more than others.

    Which means that audience members who were looking for a different
    kind of movie will feel they've wasted the price of admission, which
    is a shame, because it's not a _bad_ movie. It's actually quite a good
    movie, of the kind of movie that it was. But if it had been advertised >honestly... it perhaps wouldn't have had such a big opening weekend.

    Thanks for the info.

    I'm still planning to watch it, once it comes on an accessible (to me) streaming service or rentable at a price I am willing to pay.

    If enough people react as you suggest, that may be in a few months. If
    its as popular as it seems to be, it may take a few years.
    --=20
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (3:633/280.2@fidonet)
  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/280.2 to All on Fri Apr 19 06:14:57 2024
    On 4/17/2024 6:04 PM, John Savard wrote:
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are expecting.

    From its title, I was expecting a historical drama about the War
    Between the States in the 1860s, and I was expecting to dislike it
    because, in order to have mass appeal to U.S. audiences, it made it
    seem like there were two sides to the conflict.

    Instead of treating the South like the bad guys in a World War II
    movie.

    But it wasn't a movie about how bad Trump and the January 6 crowd
    were. Modern politics does not rear its head. The President of the
    United States is portrayed as looking a bit like Trump, but that's it.

    Florida and Texas, states strongly supporting Trump and the Republican
    Party, are two of the states leading the secession faction in this
    second Civil War in the United States. But liberal California has
    joined forces with Texas.

    So audiences find out quickly that this movie was not ripped from
    today's headlines. Fine. It shows the devastation a civil war causes;
    it's hard to travel across the country, and gasoline is expensive.
    And worse. So is it a non-political call for people to step back,
    settle their differences peacefully, and not walk over the cliff?

    Audiences are likely to think so, at least for a while.

    But by the time the movie ends, the audience finally learns what kind
    of movie they were watching: it waa about the movie's main characters
    and their personal development. Some more than others.

    Which means that audience members who were looking for a different
    kind of movie will feel they've wasted the price of admission, which
    is a shame, because it's not a _bad_ movie. It's actually quite a good
    movie, of the kind of movie that it was. But if it had been advertised honestly... it perhaps wouldn't have had such a big opening weekend.

    John Savard

    I am going to see this tomorrow with my 85 year old father in Victoria,
    Texas. Should be interesting.

    Lynn


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  • From Paul S Person@3:633/280.2 to All on Sat Apr 20 01:15:06 2024
    On Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:14:57 -0500, Lynn McGuire
    <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 4/17/2024 6:04 PM, John Savard wrote:
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.
    =20
    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?
    =20
    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are
    expecting.
    =20
    From its title, I was expecting a historical drama about the War
    Between the States in the 1860s, and I was expecting to dislike it
    because, in order to have mass appeal to U.S. audiences, it made it
    seem like there were two sides to the conflict.
    =20
    Instead of treating the South like the bad guys in a World War II
    movie.
    =20
    But it wasn't a movie about how bad Trump and the January 6 crowd
    were. Modern politics does not rear its head. The President of the
    United States is portrayed as looking a bit like Trump, but that's it.
    =20
    Florida and Texas, states strongly supporting Trump and the Republican
    Party, are two of the states leading the secession faction in this
    second Civil War in the United States. But liberal California has
    joined forces with Texas.
    =20
    So audiences find out quickly that this movie was not ripped from
    today's headlines. Fine. It shows the devastation a civil war causes;
    it's hard to travel across the country, and gasoline is expensive.
    And worse. So is it a non-political call for people to step back,
    settle their differences peacefully, and not walk over the cliff?
    =20
    Audiences are likely to think so, at least for a while.
    =20
    But by the time the movie ends, the audience finally learns what kind
    of movie they were watching: it waa about the movie's main characters
    and their personal development. Some more than others.
    =20
    Which means that audience members who were looking for a different
    kind of movie will feel they've wasted the price of admission, which
    is a shame, because it's not a _bad_ movie. It's actually quite a good
    movie, of the kind of movie that it was. But if it had been advertised
    honestly... it perhaps wouldn't have had such a big opening weekend.
    =20
    John Savard

    I am going to see this tomorrow with my 85 year old father in Victoria,=20 >Texas. Should be interesting.

    One of the reviews on RottenTomatoes said it was like a Turing test
    .... for embedded news reporters. Whatever /that/ is supposed to mean.
    --=20
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (3:633/280.2@fidonet)
  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/280.2 to All on Mon Apr 22 15:55:52 2024
    On 4/17/2024 6:04 PM, John Savard wrote:
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are expecting.
    ....

    The “Civil War” movie was awesome. Me and Dad just sat there and
    watched the USA being destroyed. The mass graves were incredibly
    disturbing. The settling of old scores was predictable. The street
    fighting in DC was incredibly realistic.

    We are living in the good old days right now.

    Lynn


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  • From Charles Packer@3:633/280.2 to All on Mon Apr 22 17:46:06 2024
    On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:55:52 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

    On 4/17/2024 6:04 PM, John Savard wrote:
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are
    expecting.
    ...

    The “Civil War” movie was awesome. Me and Dad just sat there and
    watched the USA being destroyed. The mass graves were incredibly
    disturbing. The settling of old scores was predictable. The street
    fighting in DC was incredibly realistic.

    We are living in the good old days right now.

    Lynn


    What's the image shown during the end credits? A New York Times
    columnist refers to an "Abu Ghraib-style photo that slowly
    develops in the closing credits." After that scandal made the news
    in 2004 I collected all the published images and put them on a web page http://cpacker.org/iraqprison
    Is the image in question one of those? A quick scroll through
    the page of their thumbnails listing them by source http://cpacker.org/iraqprison/source.html
    would be enough to determine that.

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  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/280.2 to All on Tue Apr 23 06:44:59 2024
    On 4/22/2024 2:46 AM, Charles Packer wrote:
    On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:55:52 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

    On 4/17/2024 6:04 PM, John Savard wrote:
    A friend of mine took me to see the movie "The Birth of a
    Photojournalist", which was the sequel to the infamous D. W. Griffith
    film with a similar title.

    Oh, what's that, that wasn't the title of the movie?

    As some reviews will point out, this movie is not what audiences are
    expecting.
    ...

    The “Civil War” movie was awesome. Me and Dad just sat there and
    watched the USA being destroyed. The mass graves were incredibly
    disturbing. The settling of old scores was predictable. The street
    fighting in DC was incredibly realistic.

    We are living in the good old days right now.

    Lynn


    What's the image shown during the end credits? A New York Times
    columnist refers to an "Abu Ghraib-style photo that slowly
    develops in the closing credits." After that scandal made the news
    in 2004 I collected all the published images and put them on a web page http://cpacker.org/iraqprison
    Is the image in question one of those? A quick scroll through
    the page of their thumbnails listing them by source http://cpacker.org/iraqprison/source.html
    would be enough to determine that.

    The image being shown during the end credits was the Oval Office ???
    with the WF troops standing around the murdered President of the USA.
    Plus the two journalists.

    Lynn


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  • From Charles Packer@3:633/280.2 to All on Tue Apr 23 17:21:14 2024
    On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:44:59 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

    On 4/22/2024 2:46 AM, Charles Packer wrote:

    What's the image shown during the end credits? A New York Times
    columnist refers to an "Abu Ghraib-style photo that slowly develops in
    the closing credits." After that scandal made the news in 2004 I
    collected all the published images and put them on a web page
    http://cpacker.org/iraqprison Is the image in question one of those? A
    quick scroll through the page of their thumbnails listing them by
    source http://cpacker.org/iraqprison/source.html would be enough to
    determine that.

    The image being shown during the end credits was the Oval Office ???
    with the WF troops standing around the murdered President of the USA.
    Plus the two journalists.


    Hmm. Maybe only a journalist can decode what "Abu Ghraib-style" means...

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  • From Paul S Person@3:633/280.2 to All on Wed Apr 24 01:27:47 2024
    On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 07:21:14 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer
    <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

    On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:44:59 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

    On 4/22/2024 2:46 AM, Charles Packer wrote:
    =20
    What's the image shown during the end credits? A New York Times
    columnist refers to an "Abu Ghraib-style photo that slowly develops =
    in
    the closing credits." After that scandal made the news in 2004 I
    collected all the published images and put them on a web page
    http://cpacker.org/iraqprison Is the image in question one of those? =
    A
    quick scroll through the page of their thumbnails listing them by
    source http://cpacker.org/iraqprison/source.html would be enough to
    determine that.
    =20
    The image being shown during the end credits was the Oval Office ???
    with the WF troops standing around the murdered President of the USA.
    Plus the two journalists.
    =20

    Hmm. Maybe only a journalist can decode what "Abu Ghraib-style" means...

    The actual photos, IIRC, featured tortured detainees and US troops
    gloating.

    Myself, the death of the President in /Mars Attacks/ was the only part
    of it that I actually found worth seeing.=20
    --=20
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (3:633/280.2@fidonet)