Only got to see two movies this week owing to local elections and other stuff taking up a lot of my spare time .
THE BLIND SIDE 2009 122 mins
Waited a few weeks to get this from netflix .
a little dissapointed wanted much more NFL football in it not even much college .
It was supposed to be a movies about Micheal Oher's life but it seemed to me more about her Liegh Tuohy ,played by Sandra Bullock i quess thats because she played a great part fully deserving of the oscar .
thoughly enjoyable film shows courage in the face of adversity , and what a positive attitude can do for a person .
dont miss seeing it
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE 1998 126 mins
Well this was one on my WIFES weepy (chick movie) list a slightly differant version of Romeo and Juliet then as the bard wrote it
another academy award movie* 3 here* and i thought Judy Dench stole the show .paltrow was good dont know what her accent was supposed to be
a good movie to watch the ladies will need tissues .
good choice of film a little long i thought
JohnA Wrote:SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
I hated this movie.
JohnA Wrote:i thought Judy Dench stole the show .
I absolutely adore Dame Judy! She and Helen Mirren and two of my most favourite actresses ever!
Speaking of movies....this past week I watched "This is England" on Sundance which portrayed a gang of skin heads in the late seventies (just after I left, but I know it was in existence prior). It was quite painful to watch, yet I couldn't not watch it. Then I watch "Small Island" a 2-part movie on PBS Masterpiece Classics about Jamaican men who fought for England in WWII and decided to live there after the war, one of whom brought his Jamaican wife to live in England as well. Both movies were about racism but in different eras and against different races, the first movie against Pakistanis mostly, and the second against blacks.
I used to believe that I was not at all racist, yet, I get very annoyed with every phone call that I make, having to press 1 for English, worse yet, if I have to listen to the Spanish bit before I can make my selection. I really allow it to raise my hackles in a shop to hear the nought to 90 ramblings of Hispanics. It pisses me to no end when they sneak under the fence and get credit cards and food stamps and home loans straight away when so many others do without (because they don't have credit, but then neither do the Mexicans when they get here)
To be absolutely honest, I do not wish a bit of harm to any hispanic person, I truly don't. I'm not going to go skin-head on the lot, in fact, I won't do a thing. But having watched these two movies and my irritation with a certain race makes me realise that I am not really any better than the hatefully cruel and unjust bigots that I despised in these movies....and that I would cry the same tears of remorse for the Hispanic people if I saw them as brutally treated as the Jamaicans and the Pakistanis in the movies.
Perhaps I should watch more movies that do not make me think so much!
isabella1895 Wrote:JohnA Wrote:i thought Judy Dench stole the show .
I absolutely adore Dame Judy! She and Helen Mirren and two of my most favourite actresses ever!
same here better then most of the pretentious crap hollywood puts out
I want to reply to Isabella's v. interesting post. I saw the movie This is England and thought it was very good.
I don't think you meant to suggest that all hispanics are "sneaking under the fence". Don't forget the thousands of Puerto Ricans here. Our government doesn't make much mention of it, but most undocumented aliens are stayovers - people who've overstayed their visitors visa (which is what I did for 10 years). The last time anyone counted, the majority of illegals in NYC were Italians. Go to any Irish bar - I'll wager there's at least one illegal working there.
Remember that America has no official language. There's absolutely no reason why phone directions should not be bi-lingual. I wonder whether you would learn English if your TV, your newspaper, your friends, supermarket cashiers, etc., etc. all spoke Spanish? I would imagine Florida is like California in some parts where there is absolutely no necessity at all to speak English.
I doubt very much that there is an undocumented Mexican here who would rather not be home with his wife and kids. Their lives are horrible here for the most part. And the dangerous journey they took to cross the border is unimaginable to me. (The farther south they travel from in South America, the more dangerous their journey is.)
I'm no bleeding heart liberal, but having been an illegal myself, I do, of course, have some sympathy for them.
Bunty and Judy Wrote:Remember that America has no official language. There's absolutely no reason why phone directions should not be bi-lingual. I wonder whether you would learn English if your TV, your newspaper, your friends, supermarket cashiers, etc., etc. all spoke Spanish? I would imagine Florida is like California in some parts where there is absolutely no necessity at all to speak English.
Constitutionally, that is true but in that case, why is the ability to demonstrate that you can write and speak English part of the US citizenship test?
Clearly the US government thinks it is important and necessary.
pilgrim_007 Wrote:why is the ability to demonstrate that you can write and speak English part of the US citizenship test?
English Language Exemptions
You Are Exempt From The English Language Requirement, But Are Still Required To Take The Civics Test If You Are:
Age 50 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States for 20 years (commonly referred to as the “50/20” exception).
OR
Age 55 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident in the United States for 15 years (commonly referred to as the “55/15” exception).
Note: Even if you qualify for the “50/20” or “55/15” English language exceptions listed above, you must still take the civics test. You may be permitted to take the civics test in your native language, but only if your command of spoken English is insufficient to conduct a valid examination in English. If you are age 65 or older and have been a permanent resident for at least 20 years at the time of filing for naturalization, you will be given special consideration regarding the civics requirement.