Zach the Soulstealer

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🎶I’m in a New York State of mind!🎶

Go, Detroit!

Fantastic cinematography by Jack Cardiff brings to life the wilds of Africa complete with the overbearing heat. This makes me root for our two intrepid lovebirds all the more as they get closer and closer to the”final boss.” It’s an epic adventure/love story brought to life by two of the greatest.

Huston co-wrote the screenplay with James Agee and it gives us some great dialogue. “A man takes a drink every once in a while. It’s human nature!” “Nature, Mister Allnut, is what we are put on this world to rise above.” And it makes their inevitable romance feel more natural.

I’m not always one to agree with major movie institutions but it’s small wonder when the AFI put Bogie and Katie as their #1 actor/actress. Bogie flexes his comedic muscles and Katie can wither him with a glance. I normally don’t like the tired “love coming from hate” trope but here it works.

The idea is to use their boat, the African Queen as a torpedo of sorts. The main problem is there’s a whole lot of rapids, a German fortress and nature between them and the Luise. And they have to keep from killing each other at first. It’s an absolute delight to see them together.

It’s WWI and religious missionary Rose “Rosie” Sayer (Katie) finds herself having to team up with drunken, salty riverboat captain Charlie Allnut (Bogie) to escape the Germans. But Charlie finds he’s taken on more than he bargained for when Rosie gets an idea to blow up the warship Luise.

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With any film, casting is key. Especially if you’re going to be spending the majority of the film with only two characters. Luckily for my #99 spot on my 101 favorite #movies list, the African Queen, it’s Bogie and Katie.

Dir. John Huston. Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn. #moviereview

I vote for the first gender neutral gold plated outhouse.

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Norma Desmond is one of the greatest characters not just from the Billy Wilder cabinet but just from any #movie ever. You cannot change my mind on this. Even Glenn Close, talented though she is, can’t quite get the magic Gloria Stuart managed.

“I AM big. It’s the PICTURES that got SMALL.” #filmsky

Perhaps using food as extortion was NOT a good idea, Donny.

Not that you were ever the bastion of great ideas.

If you’re tired of seeing people on #SNAPbenefits eating steak or junk food, have you considered minding your own fucking business? I get good, healthy, local food for cheap at our Co-op for $36 out of your pocket annually, #MAGA.
Try using Trumps ballroom your taxes pay for. See how that goes.

Or under it by a good six feet.

Asses to asses, dust to I don’t care anymore.

Dude looks like he sweats mayonnaise. Soon enough.

So I spent my day at mom and dads while the house cleaner was at my place and decided to watch the first two episodes of this. Not bad. Better than the two movies.

But now mom says she’s going to have nightmares tonight 🤣 #horror

Dick Cheney died.

Meh. My life goes on.

(Hey, as far as I’m concerned, slapping Trump on the wrist is the most bare minimum of bare fucking minimums.) #DickCheney

Got my ballot in the mail box last night #vote

Finally, it coming on the tail end of the silent era, there’s not much of a musical score. This adds to the realism of the film, like a nightmare you desperately want to wake up from. It’s a hard watch but a good reminder that often the “other side” has a story too.

Never once does the screenplay take sides, instead stripping away the tribalism of war and showing us the humanity that is lost. In one scene the boys are enjoying some down time and fall into a talk of why they’re there. After the brutality and craziness, the scene gives some levity and growth.

All the acting across the board is on target. Ayers rips out my heart when the guilt ridden Baumer is trapped in a crater with a British soldier he was forced to kill. He makes Baumers coming-of-age arc all too real, aided by a screenplay by George Abbot, Del Andrews and Maxwell Anderson.

He befriends an older soldier, Corporal Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky, who jokes with him and helps keep him sane as his world and youth are shattered. Due respect to future versions but there’s something about black and white that makes it feel more visceral and stark in a way color cannot capture.

It’s the start of WWI and in a small German town, a school professor radicalizes his young students including Paul Baumer (Ayers) and his chums into fighting for the Fatherland. It isn’t long before Baumer finds out the prof is full of shit as he watches his friends die gruesomely.

two men are hugging each other in a black and white photo while a man is laying in a hospital bed . ALT: two men are hugging each other in a black and white photo while a man is laying in a hospital bed .

I shall preface my review of my #100 pick on my 101 favorite #movies, 1930s All Quiet on the Western Front by saying I have NOT seen the recent version or been in a war. Also, this film makes me fucking ugly cry.

Dir. Lewis Milestone. Lew Ayers, Louis Wolheim. #filmsky

If you can watch masked thugs drag a screaming paralegal woman out of her car at gunpoint with no due process, evidence or Miranda rights and be on the side of the thugs, the word “scum” should be considered a compliment to you. #abolishICE

I have the whole series on DVD. Best gift to myself ever!

And I’m about to eat bacon. Nice to know I live rent free in the empty heads of these losers.

He’s considered armed with deliciousness.

No I do not hate being white or white people…but #MattWalsh and his fans make me roof for white replacement theory to happen sooner. Violence against ICE is self defense. Masked thugs rounding up people, no due process or evidence…whatever happened to “stand your ground,” #MAGAmorons?