With all of these alternatives, it may be helpful to check out CNET or another site that presents aggregate reviews. For the next month, many of these services will probably get a rush of customers and will have to learn to adjust.
If you’re ready to travel within Delaware County, there is a great old-timey store called Goodies that offers DVDs and even unopened videotapes for sale. Of course, stores such as Goodies also offer the opportunity for socialization. Many of us have been inside too long and would welcome the chance to meet and talk to other people who are also interested in movies.
There are also various thrift stores that offer DVDs and videotapes.
Charles Durning’s D-Day memories were so painful that for decades he suppressed them. Drafted at age 20, Durning eventually earned a Silver Star for valor, a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone, and three Purple Hearts, given in the president’s name to those wounded or killed in military service. Just out of high school, which he didn’t complete until the war ended, Durning was the only survivor in a unit that landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
Durning’s World War II experiences are unfathomable, and his actions in defense of his fellow soldiers, selfless and heroic. During the Normandy battle, Durning killed seven German gunners, but suffered serious machine gun wounds to his right leg and shrapnel wounds throughout his body.
After a six-month recovery in England, Durning was rushed back to the front lines to fight against the German Ardennes offensive. During the Battle of the Bulge, Durning suffered more wounds, this time in hand-to-hand bayonet combat when he was stabbed eight times. Despite the vicious assault, Durning summoned up the strength to kill his attacker with a rock which earned him a second Purple Heart. Soon after, his company was captured and forced to march through the Malmedy Forest; in the ensuing “Malmedy massacre,” German troops opened fire on the prisoners, and Durning was among the few who escaped.
Durning would earn his third Purple Heart when, in March 1945, he moved into Germany with the 398th Infantry Regiment, where he was severely wounded when a bullet struck him in the chest. Private First Class Durning was evacuated to the U.S. to spend the remainder of his active Army career recovering until he was discharged in January 1946.
Born in 1923, Durning grew up in Highland Falls, N.Y., near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His father, James, an Irish immigrant who had joined the Army to gain U.S. citizenship, lost a leg during World War I and died when Charles was 12. James’ widow Louise supported her five children by working as a laundress at West Point. Four other children died from scarlet fever.
After the war, Durning used dance as physical therapy to strengthen his badly injured leg and speech therapy to smooth out a stutter that had developed. He began training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was told he lacked talent. Undeterred, he took small roles with Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Company and taught ballroom dancing at the Fred Astaire studio.
Eventually, Durning achieved his lifelong goal when he landed parts in television and the movies. His most memorable silver screen appearances among his 200 films include The Sting, 1973; Dog Day Afternoon, 1975, and Tootsie, 1982. His significant honors include numerous Academy, Emmy and Tony Award nominations.
Charles Durning with Dustin Hoffman in ‘Tootsie.’
Reluctant to visit the site where so many of his comrades lay, Durning returned to Normandy only once after the war ended. Looking back during a 1994 Memorial Day service to recognize the invasion’s 50th anniversary, Durning noted remorsefully that the U.S. had engaged in at least five wars since World War II — Korea, Desert Storm, Panama, Grenada and Vietnam. He said that each war is pertinent to only the individual who was there.
“I don’t know what they went through; they don’t know what I went through,” said Durning. “Each person fights his own war. Each person is on a one-to-one basis with whoever’s opposite him.” Durning added: “That war changed history as we knew it. It was the greatest armada that ever hit any country, anywhere, anytime in the history of mankind. No one will ever see anything that enormous again.” World War II was, Durning said, the last war that had a well-defined purpose.
In January 2008, Durning was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and his star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame adjacent to the actor he most admired, Jimmy Cagney. Durning died of natural causes at his Manhattan home on Christmas Eve December 24, 2012, aged 89. Two days later, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in his honor. Durning is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the ultimate tribute to an American hero.
Nice Matinee Crowd For Sound Of Freedom — We caught the 1 p.m. matinee of Sound of Freedom at the AMC Marple 10 in Delaware County, Pa. The theater was about three-quarters full. The audience stayed throughout and stayed silent throughout.
I have been thinking about how British movies have treated The American Revolution, with July 4 approaching. Well, there are only three such movies that come to mind, and that’s partially because the Revolutionary War is barely taught in Britain.
Many British considered Britain and the colonies to be like a mother and her whining teenager, as this article makes clear.
“The Madness of King George” (1994), a joint British-American production, speaks of George III, who was the king during the war. The film takes place in 1788. “When King George III goes mad, his lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.”
To add to this, the British Prime Minister at the time was Lord Frederick North.
Briefly, there are only three British or British-American films dealing with the war. “The Devil’s Disciple” from 1959 is one of multiple versions of the George Bernard Shaw play, and it has the best cast — i.e., Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Lawrence Olivier.
The plot summary is ”the black sheep of a family and the local minister discover their true vocations during the Revolutionary War.”
Next, we have 1985’s “Revolution”, starring Al Pacino. This plot is “a trapper and his young son get pulled into the American Revolution early as unwilling participants and remain involved through to the end.” It’s actually a British-Norwegian production, and it was widely criticized for having been made in England. Though it tanked at the box office and critically, it’s now being re-appraised.
There’s also 1929’s early Brit talkie “The American Prisoner”, whose plot summary is “an American prisoner of war escapes and saves a squire’s daughter.” I did not find any online reviews.
Lastly, there’s a BBC TV series entitled “Rebels and Redcoats” (2003).
There are also a few more films that were made as joint US-Canadian ventures. To be continued.
Deciding that the mass of us needed a guide as to whether or not a movie is “woke” or not, James Carrick has created a needed guide for those of us worried about “wokeness”.
He gives his opinion on whether a film is “worth it or woke.”
His ratings are:
woke
woke-ish
non-woke
in the ways he defines woke, including “A woke rating indicates a strong emphasis on activism over narrative”. It’s possible he means only “left ” activism over narrative, but that remains to be seen.
To be fair, there were two movies he reviewed which I then compared with IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes;
Sounds of Freedom received an overall score of 97% and an approval under role models. Surprisingly, IMDB, which usually has both negative and positive reviews, was almost exclusively positive.
Rotten Tomatoes which usually has various opinions also had only positive reviews. Sounds like a movie to see.
Another review was on Spider-Man; Across the Spiderverse. He finds a problem with a “2.5 second flash of a “Protect the Trans Kids sign” in Gwen’s room” but otherwise seems to like the film.
Again, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes seem to agree.
One can understand that there is are well-made movies with bad intentions like the silent Birth of A Nation as opposed to poorly made movies with good intentions like Guess who’s Coming to Dinner. We all have our belief systems but we should also be open to any art that questions it and hopefully he has that capacity.
In short, though I won’t agree with all of their reviews, it seems an interesting addition to IMDB, which has been my main source, which is why I signed up with Worth it or Woke. At least, this gives me someone else to argue with in future posts, now that I’m receiving them on a regular basis.
Follow-up; One of the first reviews received indicated Padre Pio was a poorly made movie with good intentions, and IMDB generally agreed.
Hollywood has a sordid history of refusing to have a moral backbone, from racist films such as Birth of a Nation (1915) to the failure to oppose the 1934 Hays Production Code to acceptance of a blacklist to numerous other other things.
Now, this same Hollywood, has created “new inclusion rules” for Oscar consideration.
The standards are requirements for on screen representations 30 percent of smaller roles are played by women, LGBTQ, disabled people, or ethnic minorities.
Also, creative leadership with similar quotas.
Also, industry access. Again these are quotas for “under-represented groups”.
But whose definitions are we using?
There is also an audience development standard.
The late Kirstie Alley responded by saying “Can you imagine telling Picasso what had to be in his paintings.?”
Richard Dreyfuss has also spoken in opposition to these new rules extensively
“It’s an art. No one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is,” he said.
Let me just add that the 2004 version of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, with Al Pacino is tremendous. Pacino, it should be noted, is not Jewish.
Guess this should be remade with Woody Allen, Larry David, or Paul Rudd or…….
Jim Caviezel had a lengthy interview with Steve Bannon concerning the released of the long-delayed film Sound of Freedom and the child trafficking it depicts.
Sound Of Freedom Getting Released — Sound of Freedom, the film about the vile plague of child trafficking based on the life of heroic Tim Ballard, is finally gettin released reports Jack Posobiec.
Slave Princess More Than Britney — Slave Princess, Liz Crokin’s hour-long documentary regarding the plight of Britney Spears, can be watched for free on Rumble and should be.
It’s about a lot more than pop star’s troubles. It describes how greed has inexorably corrupted our judicial and political systems, along with the traditional media, which a thinking person understands affects us all.
Among those called out are Vice President Kamala Harris, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC1), and Congressman Charlie Crist (D-Fla13), who is former Florida governor and current gubernatorial candidate.
Crist was a Republican while governor.
Especially called out is Disney.
Ms. Crokin notes that vicious and vacuous attacks began on Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla1) shortly after he defended Ms. Spears and requested she be asked to testify in person before Congress.
Alex’s War Worth Watching — I splurged six bucks on Saturday to watch Alex’s War, a documentary by Alex Lee Moyer about talk show host Alex Jones.
I was never a fan of Jones. He was a 9/11 truther and hated George W. Bush.
I have to concede he was right, at least with regard to Bush.
Ms. Moyer’s documentary is interesting and informative and worth watching. It’s balanced. She does not duck Jones’ Sandy Hook fiasco but Jones comes across as likable with valid points.
The movie is available on most streaming services, notably excepting Netflix, and is in theaters in select cities, albeit not in the Philadelphia area as of yet.
