never-ending gallery

[Diane321]

I cannot locate a post I made in this thread on a recent visit, reporting wholly unacceptable activity. I didn't name names, so I wonder why it was deleted.

As I'm here, I may as well state my opinion on cocktails: They are not to my taste, and the very idea of those sweet and sickly concoctions makes me feel quite nauseous.

And yet I confess there was time when I pretended to like cocktails. It was when someone of unknown identity was threatening to smash up my 16 year old Lagavulin. A friend and cocktail enthusiast defended me against this nasty and anonymous thief of peace of mind. I was terribly obliged to this friend, and I made up some nice things to say about them. Gosh, I even sent them a bottle of Advocaat and a bottle of lemonade.

I didn't suspect it at the time -- but it turned out that my apparent saviour was the very same reprobate who was threatening to shatter my precious bottle of Lagavulin. Such duplicity!

Anyhow, notwithstanding the serious matter I mentioned in my first paragraph, I raise a glass - along with those up top - in wishing everyone a most marvellous Christmas, and happy New Year moving forward.

[LisaLCFan]

I cannot locate a post I made in this thread on a recent visit, reporting wholly unacceptable activity...

"Wholly unacceptable activity" in this thread? I wonder what that may have been?

...As I'm here, I may as well state my opinion on cocktails: They are not to my taste, and the very idea of those sweet and sickly concoctions makes me feel quite nauseous...

Manhattans are not "sweet and sickly" -- I would say that they are rather dry cocktails, consisting mostly of whiskey (Rye or Bourbon) with a splash of vermouth and a few drops of bitters, garnished with a cherry. Not all cocktails are sweet -- take the classic Martini, for example, which is gin and dry vermouth garnished with an olive -- not a hint of sweetness to be found (it also happens to be my favourite cocktail -- the Manhattan takes second place). Of course, to each their own.

Anyhow ... I raise a glass - along with those up top - in wishing everyone a most marvellous Christmas, and happy New Year moving forward.

It does seem to be that time of year again. Best wishes to all.

[Geoffrey]

american actor

[LisaLCFan]

american actor [Rami Malek]

I enjoyed the movie Bohemian Rhapsody (in which Malek plays Freddie Mercury) -- the music was really good -- but Rami Malek's bug-eyes and enormous prosthetic buck teeth (which caused him to mumble and speak awkwardly) were a bit distracting. I didn't know very much about Freddie Mercury and Queen before seeing the film (although I have owned one or two of their albums over the years, and I still like some of their music), but I later learned that the movie misrepresents Freddie quite a bit (e.g., apparently, Freddie was much nicer and more fun in real life compared to the self-asborbed and rather flaky character in the film, etc.), as well getting wrong some of the facts/chronology. But, if one is willing to put those things aside, and assess it purely as a musical film "based on" real people and using their music, it does the job (at least, for me!).

It reminded me of The Doors movie with Val Kilmer, in that it focussed heavily on the lead singer and almost ignored the other band members, and both films played around with the facts and portrayed the lead singers in ways that were not entirely accurate or particularly flattering (which apparently enraged a lot of fans of both singers/groups). But, purely for entertainment value, as with Bohemian Rhapsody, I enjoyed The Doors movie -- the music was great!

Have you seen those films? I tend to enjoy music biopics -- I love music! (But, I didn't like Maestro (the film about Leonard Bernstein) -- too long and boring and hardly any of the movie was about music! It was a tedious soap opera about a disfunctional marriage, and I have virtually no interest in that aspect of Bernstein's life. He was such an iconic conductor/composer/musician, and yet, you'd never know it by watching that film. And, the huge prosthetic nose was ridiculous!).

[Geoffrey]

LisaLCFan wrote:
>Have you seen those films?

i did see the freddie mercury one, and also ones with dylan and bob marley, plus some others, but not the doors. unlike yourself i don't find rock music biopics particularly enjoyable, or even memorable. actors seldom equal the original people, and the story line is often boring. i love music too, although prefer the real mccoy - but as you say "to each their own".
-----
a couple of exceptions come to mind:

1. the movie 'amadeus' (1984), with tom hulce as mozart, which i thoroughly enjoyed; the guy playing salieri was also great! an entertaining and non-serious film.

2. a 3-part german tv series called 'mit meinen heißen tränen' (1986), with udo samel as schubert. i have written about this before - the most astonishing biopic one could wish for. prior to this i knew almost nothing about schubert, but here was five hours without a single boring scene. i saw it with norwegian subtitles, but doubt that it has ever been texted into english. absolutely fabulous!"

[LisaLCFan]

...the movie 'amadeus' (1984), with tom hulce as mozart, which i thoroughly enjoyed; the guy playing salieri was also great! an entertaining and non-serious film...

Very enjoyable movie, indeed -- mind you, not true, regarding the story involving Salieri, but it makes for a good film, and F. Murray Abraham definitely does a wonderful job.

"Immortal Beloved" has a lot of good moments, with Gary Oldman doing a fabulous portrayal of Beethoven, and, of course, the music is sublime. But some of the storyline (particularly concerning the identity of "the immortal beloved) is absolutely preposterous and, by all accounts, not even remotely true.

I often find that the less I know about the subjects of these music "biographical" films, the more I enjoy them, since I am not comparing them to the real thing, but rather, just watching them as movies. But, as with all genres of films, some are definitely better (or worse) than others.

I did see the Dylan movie -- A Complete Unknown -- and it was okay, brought back memories of when I first heard those tunes, back when I was into early Dylan stuff, and it was kind of fun to have a re-creation of the historical context (since it was all before my time in real life).

Rocketman was good (I thought!) -- I used to love Elton John and I listened to a lot of his music as a teenager, and the movie was fun, very flamboyant, rather like Elton himself! And, it's a musical, with choregraphed scenes that are not meant to reflect reality, and so it's not the typical dramatic bio.

I did look up Mit meinen heißen Tränen when you first mentioned it, but as you surmised, there does not seem to be an English subtitled version, and I do not understand German (or Norwegian!).

Hope you're having a good weekend! Cheers!

[Geoffrey]

LisaLCFan wrote:
>"Immortal Beloved" has a lot of good moments, with Gary Oldman doing a fabulous portrayal of Beethoven, and, of course, the music is sublime. But some of the storyline (particularly concerning the identity of "the immortal beloved) is absolutely preposterous and, by all accounts, not even remotely true.
>
>Rocketman was good (I thought!) -- I used to love Elton John and I listened to a lot of his music as a teenager, and the movie was fun, very flamboyant, rather like Elton himself! And, it's a musical, with choregraphed scenes that are not meant to reflect reality, and so it's not the typical dramatic bio.
>
>Hope you're having a good weekend! Cheers!
-----
i have not seen 'immortal beloved', but have read accounts about beethoven's character. it is difficult to know what is true and what is false, but by all accounts he was quite an eccentric, unorganised person who suffered from mood swings. there are stories of him counting exactly 60 coffee beans per cup, keeping a chamber pot beneath his piano, things like that. the most important thing is that he managed to produce music that will last for a long time. gary oldman talks about him in 'leon the professional' while killing a family.

neither have i seen 'rocketman', although i love elton's music. i saw him a while back when he gave a highly successful concert just a stone's throw from where i live. biopics of rock stars do not attract me a lot. they seem kind of hollow, or maybe i am just difficult to please. i would prefer to watch repeats of julia roberts' films, such as 'notting hill', 'pretty woman', 'sleeping with the enemy', or 'erin brockovich'.

my weekend was hectic, going here and there, socialising as always. relatives are arriving tomorrow evening and will spend christmas with me, so it is unlikely i will be online very much until after next weekend. my back pain improves about 1% each day, but that is normal after the severe prolapse i had at the end of october.

wishing you (and anyone else reading this) as good a holiday as possible.

cheers back!
----------------------------------
PS:
i have not even seen the leonard cohen movie that was released a year or two ago, despite everyone telling me it's so good. when people that i know and like a lot die it seems easier to avoid watching movies about them until it doesn't affect me so much. i can tolerate short youtube videos better.

[Geoffrey]

santa must have used a lorry this year!

[its4inthemorning]

Just a short note in between wrapping Christmas gifts:

Loved the film "The Doors," Val Kilmer did an exquisite job playing Jim M, and the music was quite well done. You are right, Lisa, that the other band members were paid short shrift, but that was pretty much true during the band's history. Actually, very short history: Six years from band formation to Jim's death, with six noteworthy-to-epic albums to show for it. After a few listens to their songs, when you can tear yourself away from Jim's vocals a bit, the importance of the contributions by Ray, Robbie, and John become obvious.

My favorite music star film is still "The Glenn Miller Story," with Jimmy Stewart in the title role. The big-band 1940s is alwaysa a welcome period of music history to revisit, and the movie is a fine tribute to a very talented musician who sacrificed a life of stardom for the cause of WW II.

4

[LisaLCFan]

[Re: The Doors] ... After a few listens to their songs, when you can tear yourself away from Jim's vocals a bit, the importance of the contributions by Ray, Robbie, and John become obvious..

I really like The Doors -- they were accomplished musicians, and I love the way they combined elements of different genres into their music. Their songs were absolutely a group effort: for their first three albums, the songwriting credit was divided evenly amongst all four members of the band (all songs by "The Doors"), which was on Jim Morrison's insistence, and for the last three albums, there were still several songs that were credited to the entire group, reflecting their collaborative nature.

As for the instrumental parts of their songs, I think that they are definitely as interesting as the vocals, and well worth paying attention to, for those guys were very good at creating music that perfectly fit with and complemented the lyrics. John's background and interest in jazz created wonderful, complex, and often hypnotic rhythms that held everything together; Ray had classical piano training which made for some very elaborate keyboard work, in addition to playing the baselines simultaneously, since they didn't have a bass player; and Robby was a whiz on the guitar, amongst other things using flamenco/classical guitar techniques, i.e., playing finger-style rather than using a pick/plectrum, which gave him a very organic sound. The lengthy instrumental improvisations on some of their recordings and in live performances certainly showcased their skills. The Doors are great fun when I'm in the mood for their brand of trippy/psychedelic/jazz/classical/art-music/rhythm & blues/rock!

My favorite music star film is still "The Glenn Miller Story"

Excellent movie!

[LisaLCFan]

...i have not even seen the leonard cohen movie that was released a year or two ago, despite everyone telling me it's so good...

If you are referring to the 8-part miniseries "So Long, Marianne" (2024), I saw it, but I did not like it at all.

Geoffrey, your Christmas tree is lovely and looks very festive with all the presents underneath! Have a great time!

[Geoffrey]

[Geoffrey]

charles III, king of england

[199Dan]

Why?

[Geoffrey]

199Dan wrote:
>Why?
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why does this adulterer appear like that? it's not unusual to look strange when one's parents share the same ancestors.