One of the very few cousins I’m close to (she was at our wedding) lives in Israel. Spoke to her brother yesterday; shortly after he and I spoke, he called back to say he’d gotten a text from his sister telling him that she and her dog were in a bomb shelter again at 3:00 a.m. He said she has 90 seconds from the time sirens go off until the rockets start falling.
JFC.
At least she’s not living in Lod, where the fucking hanky-head citizens have torched three synagogues, several businesses and hundreds of cars. (Which seems like rather a lot in a town about the size of the suburb I grew up in.)
AFAIC, it’s time to bulldoze the entirety of Gaza into the sea. And nuke something in Iran as a “warning” that Tehran’s next.
Also: God damn the Biden administration…from the top on down.
Prayers for the safety of your cousin and all Israelis, Fatwa. This is looking more like a turning point in Middle East relationships rather than the more normal skirmishing that goes on there. And America’s response and support under Biden is going to be less than underwhelming.
I liked the movie Seven Samurai, but with subtitles and considerable length it’s not one for casual watching unlike its American counterpart, The Magnificent Seven. The character development is stronger in Seven Samurai, for both the farmers and the samurai, but I think that the Magnificent Seven’s bandits are more well-rounded characters especially the bandit leader.
Culturally, Magnificent Seven is a western with more or less predictable plotting for an American like me; Seven Samurai kept me guessing a bit as to what was going to happen and how it would play out. One major difference between the two movies is the love story subplot – a happy conventional ending in the American version and not a happy ending in the Japanese version.
Thanks, Mac, for supplying the link and encouraging me to watch it.
Thank you for your thoughts on the movies. I read that Kurosawa actually wrote up a story and detailed history and profile of all the major characters so the writers and actors could bring them to life. He wanted the actors to reflect the daily influences of the people in the village. He also insisted on building the village rather than using sets and stages as he wanted the actors to feel the environment, even though it made shooting harder. It was way over budget and one of the studios most expensive films at the time but was very successful. They were shut down several times over the cost. It was his longest film. It always catches me a bit to see how long it is as it seems to rush by for me. I have seen one version dubbed in English so it may be out there if wanted, but I did not like it. As I said before I get a lot from the spoken dialog. Six of the samurai ended up based on historical figures but Mifune’s character was largely left to him to improvise and create.
I liked the western for it’s interesting mix of actors but it fell short for me. My favorite westerns would be more like Shane or The Wild Bunch.
I saw the seven samurai when I was like 16 or something. I didn’t get it at all, but I sat through it anyway. I would probably enjoy it now, as I understand Kurosawa’s work much better now as a grown up and better educated dude.
The version at the link I posted is from the Internet Archive and seems a good one. I downloaded it to burn to DVD and it was almost 1.9GB. I found it when I was looking for a copy with Spanish subtitles.
Sure Happy It’s Thursday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, dv8, and Sven!
dv8 -- good night!
Sven -- thanks for the review of Seven Samurai. I’m going to have to watch that when I get a chance.
Mac -- excellent thread meme, and thanks for the link to Seven Samurai!
Fatwa -- prayers for the safety of your cousin, her family and Israel. This administration has swiftly undone all the positive work in the Middle East that the Trump administration did and I fear that Sven is right. Never before have we seen this number of Arab citizens of Israel emboldened to take part in the attacks.
I think it’s clear the Israeli Arabs have chosen sides and ought to be given the boot…either from the country or on their necks until they ‘ave ceased to be.
This is a fine demonstration of why a one-state solution would actually be The Final Solution.
Just got back from dropping Teh Older off at LAX. We made it up and back in 1 hr 42 minutes. That’s normally what it would take just to make the drop-off.
Have to get up in five hours. Elena has a spinal shot and we need to be there at 6:30. I do hate mornings. I was on the phone and the computer six times today with people from the doctor and the hospital. Hope it goes smoothly tomorrow. I don’t really know what to expect but we will have the weekend for her to recover. Good night, my friends.
Excellent thread meme, Mac.
One of the very few cousins I’m close to (she was at our wedding) lives in Israel. Spoke to her brother yesterday; shortly after he and I spoke, he called back to say he’d gotten a text from his sister telling him that she and her dog were in a bomb shelter again at 3:00 a.m. He said she has 90 seconds from the time sirens go off until the rockets start falling.
JFC.
At least she’s not living in Lod, where the fucking hanky-head citizens have torched three synagogues, several businesses and hundreds of cars. (Which seems like rather a lot in a town about the size of the suburb I grew up in.)
AFAIC, it’s time to bulldoze the entirety of Gaza into the sea. And nuke something in Iran as a “warning” that Tehran’s next.
Also: God damn the Biden administration…from the top on down.
good night everyone.
Good morning, Dv8, and Fatwa --
Prayers for the safety of your cousin and all Israelis, Fatwa. This is looking more like a turning point in Middle East relationships rather than the more normal skirmishing that goes on there. And America’s response and support under Biden is going to be less than underwhelming.
I liked the movie Seven Samurai, but with subtitles and considerable length it’s not one for casual watching unlike its American counterpart, The Magnificent Seven. The character development is stronger in Seven Samurai, for both the farmers and the samurai, but I think that the Magnificent Seven’s bandits are more well-rounded characters especially the bandit leader.
Culturally, Magnificent Seven is a western with more or less predictable plotting for an American like me; Seven Samurai kept me guessing a bit as to what was going to happen and how it would play out. One major difference between the two movies is the love story subplot – a happy conventional ending in the American version and not a happy ending in the Japanese version.
Thanks, Mac, for supplying the link and encouraging me to watch it.
Thank you for your thoughts on the movies. I read that Kurosawa actually wrote up a story and detailed history and profile of all the major characters so the writers and actors could bring them to life. He wanted the actors to reflect the daily influences of the people in the village. He also insisted on building the village rather than using sets and stages as he wanted the actors to feel the environment, even though it made shooting harder. It was way over budget and one of the studios most expensive films at the time but was very successful. They were shut down several times over the cost. It was his longest film. It always catches me a bit to see how long it is as it seems to rush by for me. I have seen one version dubbed in English so it may be out there if wanted, but I did not like it. As I said before I get a lot from the spoken dialog. Six of the samurai ended up based on historical figures but Mifune’s character was largely left to him to improvise and create.
I liked the western for it’s interesting mix of actors but it fell short for me. My favorite westerns would be more like Shane or The Wild Bunch.
I saw the seven samurai when I was like 16 or something. I didn’t get it at all, but I sat through it anyway. I would probably enjoy it now, as I understand Kurosawa’s work much better now as a grown up and better educated dude.
The version at the link I posted is from the Internet Archive and seems a good one. I downloaded it to burn to DVD and it was almost 1.9GB. I found it when I was looking for a copy with Spanish subtitles.
Sure Happy It’s Thursday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, dv8, and Sven!
dv8 -- good night!
Sven -- thanks for the review of Seven Samurai. I’m going to have to watch that when I get a chance.
Mac -- excellent thread meme, and thanks for the link to Seven Samurai!
Fatwa -- prayers for the safety of your cousin, her family and Israel. This administration has swiftly undone all the positive work in the Middle East that the Trump administration did and I fear that Sven is right. Never before have we seen this number of Arab citizens of Israel emboldened to take part in the attacks.
Drive-by:
Cheers for the prayers re my cousin and others.
I think it’s clear the Israeli Arabs have chosen sides and ought to be given the boot…either from the country or on their necks until they ‘ave ceased to be.
This is a fine demonstration of why a one-state solution would actually be The Final Solution.
Fuck. That. Noise.
Just got back from dropping Teh Older off at LAX. We made it up and back in 1 hr 42 minutes. That’s normally what it would take just to make the drop-off.
Have to get up in five hours. Elena has a spinal shot and we need to be there at 6:30. I do hate mornings. I was on the phone and the computer six times today with people from the doctor and the hospital. Hope it goes smoothly tomorrow. I don’t really know what to expect but we will have the weekend for her to recover. Good night, my friends.
Good night, Mac. Prayers for a successful procedure and for you and Elena’s comfort.