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eelb53's Replies
Yes, Jazz was appreciated in the US in the 1930's, 40's, and early part of the 50's. There was a mass exodus of Jazz musicians to Europe after Rock took over beginning in the late 50's. These musicians were middle age and older, and had made a living playing Jazz their entire lives. Many survived playing in Europe under less than desirable circumstances. Although not directly expressed, this is what this film is about.
Depends on what type of Jazz you like. Sounds as those you may like the technical genius'whose expertise is as much akin to solving a Calculus problem, as it is to performing a great solo. I respect that the same way I do Classical music. Just not my thing.
I suppose you would toss Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Stan Getz into the bag with Kenny G too. In which you would be wrong.
De Palma said he decided to use a drill as a murder instrument because "I do a lot of murder mysteries, and after a while you get tired of the usual instruments. You can use a knife, a rope, but now we have electrical instruments, which are truly terrifying." He added a drill was big enough to be seen by the character across a canyon. "It was not my intention to create a sexual image with the drill, although it could be construed that way.
It's reasonable to believe that the Reveilles owned the home. It was unoccupied, and an obvious choice for Alexander (Sam) to carry out his plot. Being Gloria and him were both now dead, the house would either go to heirs, or be sold. It's unlikely Jake would have the means to acquire the property, or given the experience he had there, either want to own or live there.
I'm also tired of people who bring up "the book" in an attempt to establish some sort of intellectual superiority. I've probably watched this film a half dozen times over the last 60 years or so, and have never had the urge to rummage through libraries and used book stores looking for "the book".
I only concern myself with what is presented in the film.
I don't deconstruct films looking for things that may or may not be there. This film is known for it's exploration of alcoholism, not homosexuality.
No, not a bigot. It just seems there's an over awareness of a large group of viewers, where they go into a film looking for gay characters, when the plot doesn't have any reliance on the sexual preference of the character in question. If anything, it indicates homophobia. So perhaps they are the ones you should be calling a bigot.
The route of the 20th Century Limited is accurately portrayed in the film. It's where the New York Central chose to lay tracks. The Pennsylvania RR had a more direct route, but it went through the Allegheny Mountains, and the travel times of both railroads between New York and Chicago were similar.
Possibly the housekeeper dismissed the noise as something other than gunfire. She may not have even been in the house at that moment. She has no reason to have knowledge about the gun. She wasn't involved, and Van Damm himself didn't know the gun was fake, until Leonard fired it at him. Doubtful she knew who Kaplan/Thornhill was. He was simply a home intruder to her. She saw a gun lying around and picked it up.
The CIA created the non-existent Kaplan to divert Van Damm. Along with that, they supplied detailed information about his life, such as the hotel he stayed in. It is reasonable to believe they also led the henchmen to think he frequented The Oak Room at certain times. The henchmen went into The Oak Room and had "George Kaplan" paged over the PA system, to see if anyone responded. At the same time, Thornhill needs to send a message to his secretary. He brings a waiter to his table. The waiter informs Thornhill, he must go with him to the office to send the message. Thornhill starts walking from his table, at the same time Kaplan is being paged. The henchmen assume Thornhill is Kaplan.
The poster attempted to establish intellectual superiority over me, by referencing a writer, who is all but unknown except by serious students of English Literature.
Perhaps the poster's insult was purposely abstract, as to be passed over by other readers. When I respond to insults, I don't pull any punches.
I don't think the mob killed him, but I don't think Oswald acted alone either. Too many links with Cuba and Russia.
It's difficult to understand now, with MLK having a national holiday and everything, but in the years leading up to his assassination, a large portion of American society disliked him.
The film relies a lot on the viewer being familiar with the era in which it takes place. If one wasn't alive then, or at least have a knowledge and curiosity of this period of American history, then I could see how the film would be uninteresting.
It depends on what one can get away with. If Charles would've been forced to live off the economy, I think he would've adapted. But he had a support system via his mother, that allowed him to stay in his room. If his father had lived longer, I believe Charles would have chose the lesser of two evils, left home and found a way to support himself.
This family is full of dysfunction. Robert got lucky, in that a bunch of hippies declared him an artistic genius, and he became a cultural icon. Otherwise his plight would likely be similar to his siblings.
It's an interesting movie. Mainly because it's obscure, and hasn't been shown much, if at all, on TV for the subsequent 60 years since it's release. This is the first time I've ever heard of it, and I'm 67 years old. Just now viewed it on TCM.
All said and done, it feels like an extended version of a typical doomsday Twilight Zone episode from the same era. Which, I suppose, isn't all bad.
A thought I had, is that the Steve Martin character is shown as normal, and everyone around him is illustrated as being dysfunctional and lacking in the social graces. Today, those characters would be portrayed as mainstream, and Martin's character would be presented as a boring snob.
Given the difference in the standard of living between the daughter and her parents, it's possible she's estranged from the family for not meeting their expectations, and there's no communication between the two.
A comparison has been drawn between Chance and every sitting President since the film was first released in 1979. This is not some revolutionary line of thought.
This standard didn't come to an abrupt halt either. It was still present throughout the 1960's, and gradually went out of fashion when the WWII generation faded away. Wasn't really completely gone until the 90's. Best barometer I have is the transition among car salesmen and airline passengers. They were the last hold outs. Now it's pretty much down to attorneys and funerals.
Top hats went away much more abruptly in the mid-60's. Eventually replaced with the ball cap.
I think the lack of popularity may have to do with younger generations and the subject matter. Those of us of age in the 1980's had grown up with the TV variety show, and related to the storyline and characters. Succeeding generations don't have that frame of reference.
I also recall the film being showed extensively on the cable channels in the '80's. Viewers may have grown tired of it.