vxbush 1/28/2020 6:06:28 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 1/28/2020 6:11:58 AM

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As long as OR recommended a film last night, I'm happy to say that I finally got a chance to see The Half-Naked Truth again for the first time in years.  It's a slight entertainment, but what a talent line-up:  fast-talking Lee Tracy (but I repeat myself) is a carnival barker/publicity man in a stormy relationship with the carnival cooch dancer (Lupe Velez); Eugene Pallette is the sideshow escape artist.   When the failing carnival breaks up in a "hey, rube!" fight with the townsfolk, the three make their getaway to New York, where Tracy passes Velez off as an escaped harem girl to get her into "Merle Farrell's" [i.e., Earl Carroll's] Broadway review.  "Farrell" is played by Frank Morgan, known to most as the guy who plays the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz.  Hi-jinks of all sorts ensue.

Velez's carnival song, "Hey, Mr. Carpenter, I Got a Big Job for You" is a hoot.  77 minutes of pre-Code fun.

buzzsawmonkey 1/28/2020 6:53:42 AM

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BTW, while I'm on the topic of movies, allow me to recommend Kevin Brownlow's superb book, The Parade's Gone By.

Originally published in the '60s, then reissued by the University of California press, it is a comprehensive look at the films and movie industry of the silent era.  Extremely entertaining and well-written, with a number of interviews or portions of interviews with people, then still alive, who'd worked in the silent-film era, it gives an excellent background in the breadth and scope of early filmmaking, and fosters an appreciation of the skill and inventiveness of the people who worked in the industry.  

Looking at the book again, after not having done so for some years, I realized that a great deal of my knowledge and appreciation of film came from this book; for example, it was by reading Brownlow that I learned of, and understood, the use of tinting and toning films in the era before color film---even the crude two-strip Technicolor---was available.

Brownlow also discusses, and treats as a matter of course, the contributions and skills of the many women who worked in the early film industry, without any noxious feminist ideology polluting his historical record.

Copies of the book can be found on Amazon and ebay, and are well worth the price.

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 7:48:13 AM

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In #2 buzzsawmonkey said: As long as OR recommended a film last night

Specifically, Big Trouble in Little China; which, I say again (without hyperbole!) is the greatest work of art, in any medium, ever produced by the human race. 

buzzsawmonkey 1/28/2020 7:50:20 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 4:

Myself, I aim a little lower; I'm content with something that provides a brief diversion.

buzzsawmonkey 1/28/2020 7:51:47 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 4:

Isn't Big Trouble in Little China a Jackie Chan flick?  

I'll be interested to see the cyber-hijinks of Jackie 4Chan in future films...

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 8:00:38 AM

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In #6 buzzsawmonkey said: Isn't Big Trouble in Little China a Jackie Chan flick?  

Nope, but you'd be forgiven for thinking that, it's got something of the same "goofy martial arts flick" vibe. 

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 8:29:59 AM

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Gallup poll: Race relations perceived as being far better now than during Obama Administration

I guess it helps when you have a POTUS who is not actively trying to inflame racial hatred. 

buzzsawmonkey 1/28/2020 8:43:36 AM

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lucius septimius 1/28/2020 9:00:38 AM

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In #4 Occasional Reader said: Big Trouble in Little China;

It is indeed a masterpiece.

Syrah 1/28/2020 10:46:27 AM

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How bad is the Corona Virus thing?

https://nypost.com/2020/01/26/coronavirus-whistleblower-nurse-says-china-has-90000-sick/

How much can we trust China to tell us the truth about how bad this thing is?

Syrah 1/28/2020 10:48:48 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 11:

will the Chinese Wuhan Virus be as bad as the Spanish Flu outbreak?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

vxbush 1/28/2020 11:20:23 AM

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In #11 Syrah said: How much can we trust China to tell us the truth about how bad this thing is?

That's a big problem. I'm seeing rumors about a bioweapons lab existing in Wuhan and that is fueling fear across the internet. 

vxbush 1/28/2020 11:23:00 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 13:

Articles like this one at the Washington Times do not help. 

vxbush 1/28/2020 12:21:03 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 13:

And then China throws money at American professors who work for China as well as the American government. There is serious money being pushed by China. 

JCM 1/28/2020 12:36:00 PM

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Reply to Syrah in 11:

My commute right now I take the bus the last short distance because parking around my building is horrible.

Last Night as the bus pulls up to the stop a see a woman standing at the stop, a little separated from the others at the stop wearing a surgical mask. Just being careful or considerate if she has a cough I think... she gets onto the crowded bus and takes the mask off.

I laughed inwardly.

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 1:11:08 PM

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In #13 vxbush said: I'm seeing rumors about a bioweapons lab existing in Wuhan and that is fueling fear across the internet. 

That seems like utter bollocks, no offense.  Pure rumor.  

"will the Chinese Wuhan Virus be as bad as the Spanish Flu outbreak?

Unlikely, based on what I've read.  Most of the fatalities from the Spanish Flu were actually from secondary bacterial infections.  No antibiotics at the time.  

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 1:14:16 PM

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In #16 JCM said: she gets onto the crowded bus and takes the mask off.

And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

/

PaladinPhil 1/28/2020 1:18:09 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 4:

I have to purchase a copy of that movie and instill the glory of the film into the wife. I love the ending. :)

lucius septimius 1/28/2020 1:26:13 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 18:

But Prince Xi is happy and and dauntless and sagacious.

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 1:36:08 PM

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I spotted an ad on the Metro earlier today for some yogurt-like product which - so the ad said - "Icelanders have enjoyed for thousands of years." 

Considering that Iceland was first settled in the 5th century AD, that's quite a feat. 

Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 1:57:21 PM

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In #19 PaladinPhil said: I have to purchase a copy of that movie and instill the glory of the film into the wife. I love the ending. :)

My favorite bit; when hero Jack Burton finally gets his first kiss from love interest Gracie Law, as she's all done up for her "wedding" to Lo Pan; he then turns around to keep battling the bad guys... of course with a great big smear of lipstick on his face.  Only after a few more rounds of fighting does Gracie frantically wipe the lipstick off him. I cannot recall any other movie that featured this utterly realistic fact of life.  

vxbush 1/28/2020 2:12:38 PM

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In #17 Occasional Reader said: That seems like utter bollocks, no offense.  Pure rumor.  

Oh, no disagreement; I'm hearing things involving one source, one person, who is stating this, who I know nothing about and no one else has stepped up to back him up. 

doppelganglander 1/28/2020 3:11:35 PM

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Occasional Reader 1/28/2020 4:38:11 PM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 24:

How much did you manage to embezzle?