Ballard, who was played by Jim Caviezel in the hit filmSound of Freedom , is said to have sent at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear, festooned with fake tattoos, and to have asked another “how far she was willing to go,” in the words of a source, to save children.
“It was ultimately revealed through disturbingly specific and parallel accounts, that Tim has been deceitfully and extensively grooming and manipulating multiple women for the past few years with the ultimate intent of coercing them to participate in sexual acts with him, under the premise of going where it takes and doing ‘whatever it takes’ to save a child.”
While I’ve watched a very solid number of the all-time classics from pre-1970, I had forever decided not to be interested in The Bridge on the River Kwai. I tend to go into war movies with a basic expectation that I’m less likely than the average viewer to enjoy them, though this is coupled with an assumption that they will be saddled by significant time in the battlefield that I won’t find interesting.
Having watched it now, it was a silly thing to have waited so long on. It’s excellent. Alec Guinness’s legend was well-earned; there isn’t anything I haven’t enjoyed him in. This had a timeless enough feel that I also believe it would be more accessible than the average classic of its era. I’ll say that 12 Angry Men is probably still the only classic that I will push literally anyone to watch and tell them to GTFO with any concerns about the age of the film, but this probably goes into the next tier, where anyone who is open-minded to the classics should absolutely watch it if they haven’t already.
I completely agree, although Holden is also no joke. He’s more a straightforward 1950s “leading man” type, but he was in some pretty great movies. Also David Lean’s resume is pretty damned impressive. Lots of talent on this one.
This particular move also benefits (in terms of aging well) by having no central female characters. 1950s film has obviously dated gender role portrayals, if you take that out of the picture then the film feels more timeless.
Let me be clear: **** Chris. Otherwise known by his stage name of [redacted].
But if you’re looking for a movie to revisit from his filmography, holy shit is the film commentary to Blow a goldmine for cinephiles.
My favorite tidbits are the director pointing out little tweaks that made the movie better than good. For example, the best slices of dialogue or character beats were added in a last-minute rewrite by Nick Cassavetes (son of John Cassavetes).
There’s a tense moment when George Jung returns to meet a key figure in his drug scheme. George promised to return with $50k. And he does! But then there’s an extra final beat where George first tells the drug lord, “Sorry, I couldn’t get the $50k.”
After the audience takes a deep breath, he says, “Because I got $75k.”
Watched this one and had a lot of fun (hadn’t heard of it before your post, thanks for the rec).
Great old school cast especially leading duo Keith carradine (always delivers) and Powers Boothe (who apparently used to be young and chubby ? lol).
Was caught off guard by how good the final segment was, a+ tension build-up.
To be honest the ending was so sweet but it also made me incredibly sad as those situations are so scary and not something I am looking forward to experiencing more and more from people around me and eventually myself.
Alright I’ve remedied this hole in my viewing resume. 2001 is indeed an incredible bit of filmmaking. I have a lot of love for Paths of Glory and The Shining, but this immediately skyrockets to the top of my Kubrick list.
I’m so glad you loved it. The behind the scenes stuff is really cool too, even if you can guess how they came up with some of the most HOW THE **** shots back when this was made.
