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[greenkoolayd]

Women seldom make passes at men who don't know who Dorothy Parker is.

as if i needed another strike against me...

[Choop]

lmgtfy

[Drygioni]

Women seldom make passes at men who don't know who Dorothy Parker is.

Yeah, well, up yours.

this explains so so much

[jay-ell]

Meet Mrs. Parker, one of my best friends in the whole world, and my literary inspiration since the seventh grade:

An excellent bio with many fabulous quotes: http://www.peterkurth.com/DOROTHY%20PARKER.htm

Most of her poetry on our kind host's servers: http://poetry.poetryx.com/poets/64/

If you ask me, however, her best work was truly her body of book and film reviews. I can't find any reproduced online, but The Constant Reader's review of "The House at Pooh Corner" is scathing, vicious, and an absolute riot.

If I were half as clever as Dot Parker, I'd be six times richer and have half as many friends.

[miles]

The daughter character actually annoyed me the most. Of all the bands to follow around Europe, she picks U2?! She basically deserved everything that happened to her.

So right! And worst acting in the movie?

[greenkoolayd]

i just watched The Road.  The best way to describe it is beautifully terrible.  an unnamed catastrophe has killed off most of the living things.  the ash-choked skies are unforgiving and its always winter.  a father(viggo mortensen) and son(a decently talented kid) navigate abandoned roads, carrying thier few belongings on thier back and in a decrepit shopping cart.  the father is ill and he regularly coughs up blood, yet they both soldier on, heading toward the supposed warmth of the coast.  the father has to teach his son(age 7-10, approx.) about honor, courage, and humanity, but because there are thieves and groups of cannibals to avoid, he often has to disregard the latter.  despite that, the sons natural child-like empathy teaches and reminds his father not to close his heart to others entirely.  they dont go into detail about what the disaster actually was, but it helps draw you into the narrative.


cool production notes:
Pennsylvania, where most of the filming took place, was chosen for its tax breaks and its abundance of locations that looked abandoned or decayed: coalfields, dunes, and run-down parts of Pittsburgh.  Filming was also done at the 1892 amusement resort (Conneaut Lake Park) after one of the park's buildings (the Dreamland Ballroom) was destroyed in a fire in February 2008. The beaches of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania were also used.  Hillcoat also said of using Pittsburgh as a practical location, "It's a beautiful place in fall with the colors changing, but in winter, it can be very bleak. There are city blocks that are abandoned. The woods can be brutal." Filmmakers also shot scenes in parts of New Orleans that had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and on Mount St. Helens in Washington.

The Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike was used for much of the production.

[wombat]

The first paragraph describes a movie that does not sound preferable to going to the dentist; the second paragraph is about a fascinating film I want to run right out and see. I guess I should rent the DVD and watch it with the sound off.

[Drygioni]

The first paragraph describes a movie that does not sound preferable to going to the dentist; the second paragraph is about a fascinating film I want to run right out and see. I guess I should rent the DVD and watch it with the sound off.

Here's my (revised) review if it helps change your mind.

thats the one with viggo mortensen(sp?), right?  its in my netflix qway.  your good review makes me a little more jazzed to see it.

In that case I will expand.

The Road is a story that is by equal measures haunting and horrifying, yet Hillcoat's superb direction provides a film that is also gripping, enjoyable and curiously uplifting. Throughout the film I was consistently amazed by the stark beauty the film-makers had provided for the post-apocalyptic landscape; everything was perfectly executed, from sweeping vistas of ash-covered plains to the claustrophobic confines of petrified forests.

The acting is uniformly impressive, Mortensen his phlegmatic best as 'The Man'. Kodi Smit-McPhee puts in a convincing turn as his son and companion, with the chemistry between the two continually heart-warming despite their desperate surroundings. Every character in this film is spot-on, oozing humanity whether it be of the most civilised or brutal kinds.

Indeed, what's particularly cockle-warming about this particular brutal dystopian work is how character driven it is. Much like Children of Men, another favourite of mine in this particular vein of films, there is little given to the way of explanation regarding the state the world finds itself in. All we know is that it is how it is; we are drawn ever closer to the characters as we realise that it doesn't matter what happened, all that matters is the challenges that present themselves to our protagonists. The Road goes one step further that most, removing all explanation as to why the world (or North America anyway) is in its current state. All that matters is the coming-of-age story, as we realise the 'road' the father is leading his son on is more than just a stretch of broken tarmac. The unrelenting horror of the world around them is tempered with the beauty of their relationship and I'm shocked it wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

ADDENDUM FOR WOMBAT: Despite my gushing review, it is NOT a 'pleasant' film. Whilst there is great pleasure to be derived from the closeness of the relationship between the two main characters, they routinely find themselves in situations terrible, traumatic, horrifying, grisly, gruesome, gross, and hopeless. Many of my friends found this EXTREMELY depressing viewing. One scene in particular is extremely shocking. Do not watch it unless these things don't bother you.

Basically I liked it LOADS and you should watch it and say what you thought.

[wombat]

Hmm, this complicates matters, but it tends to make me think I should watch it with the sound off while you read your review aloud.

[Drygioni]

You have been sent a recording of myself reading it out

[jay-ell]

THAT, my friends, is quality service.

Cann'd for the extra mile.

[wombat]

Added to the top of the Netflix queue, how can I not?

[pmcd9]

Added to the top of the Netflix queue

Me too.

[dejavroom]

I missed this one in the theaters here. Sigh. I really wanted to see it in a theater =P

[greenkoolayd]

tell-tale