Open Thread Thursday

I miss Charles Browson and his movies.

what is a "Double Dip" recession? I can't find a definition
And If Obama is so worried with the huge deficit why push this budget busting national health care?
does he expect us to think "Obama spending good, all other spending bad"?

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While I haven't seen the episode yet, the Christian and originally chaste but incredibly nasty cheerleader has always been one of the most incoherent and unbelievable characters on the show. The whole package just doesn't make sense as a real person. She's a straw man.

and here i thought we would all get a veggie tray or potato chips and a bowl of french onion dip

Me too.

I miss John Wayne, Charles Bronson, etc… all the GOOD guys who were actually GOOD Guys, fighting against BAD guys who were acually BAD.

No spawn of satan undead metrosexual vampires, no good guys who are actually terrible people, no bad guys who are bad because they are , US Military, Corporate EMPLOYERS, white male Christian types, etc…

I used to LOVE movies, I used to love watching a exciting chase, a shoot out, the boy getting the girl, etc…

Now I can't see past the politics and bs the actors spew to see them ACT.

I almost hate movies now…

i was thinking of one chip twice but yeah that would work too.
See this is why I ask questions, you get answers you wouldn't have otherwise.

Ok I was just reading the headlines in the BH Marquee and Is Newsweek having a slow news week? or are they taking a break from kissing Obama's butt? Talking about or bashing The Passion of the Christ is so 2004…

I always thought they should've killed off the Horst Buckholz character and let Charlese Bronson's live. Buckholz is the reason I've never enjoyed "The Magnificent Seven" as much as "Seven Samurai". Buckholz didn't have the chops to play the Toshiro Mifune character — Anthony Perkins, maybe. Possibly a younger Audie Murphy.

There are hints of this sort of thing earlier. When the girl first discussed her pregnancy with the Glee Club teacher (who is the moral compass of the show) he was visibly disappointed that she didn't want an abortion. It seems incongruous that the teacher, who is thrilled at the expectation of his own child, would be so dismissive of the girl’s desire to preserve her own. But that pretty much told you where the writers were coming from and what to expect from them.

I agree the writing on Glee is clever and a cut above most other shows. The political stuff is unnecessary and annoying – and worst of all completely out of place in this show. It like they just have to try to shoehorn some lefty talking points into an otherwise likeable show.

And just when you think a movie's coming out that you won't hate, the actors in start speaking about politics, religion, and sex, often all three and all wrong.

Guys, you should watch this video of a black Harlem Pastor who expects to be arrested by obamas henchmen for not believing that obama is who he says he is. Very interesting. It keeps rebuffering but it's worth watching. It's about 9 minutes long.

http://atlah.org/atlahworldwide/?p=1240

"That man with the harmonica…he plays when he should talk & he talks when he should be playing…"

Excellent performance by Bronson. Flick is about a half hour too long, but it is a Sergio Leone.

good call…

Having seen 'Magnificent Seven' MANY times (can't even count) Buckholz's performance started out bad- and got successively worse. Too much screen time, too pivotal a character (yes, Mifune was great in 'Samurai') and why the Seven- Yul Brynner in particular- though this whiney loser was a cool guy mystified our 10 year old minds at the time.

Listen, just about anybody else could have played that role better. Supposed to be latin, as well.

Horst Bucholtz stunk in every performance he ever did…

Who was he related to, one wonders…

Bronson was a tail gunner in a B-17 in Europe and survived 25 missions…

Add that to the list.

yes…

a couple of note:

'The Stone Killers'

and a personal fave, Don Siegel's underrated 'Telefon'.

Catch BOTH of those if you can…

Think of it as a W. We are supposedly climbing out of one recession, but many economist believe this will be very short lived, and we will have a second possibly worse recession, with a second recovery. WIth the current out of control spending and healthcare/cap and trade legislation coming out of congress, we have a lot of companies holding off on any but critical hiring at the moment. Why spend any money when you have no idea what congress will do to punish capitalism.

My two cents:
Lauren Bacall is really not worthy of an honorary Oscar. There are plenty of others who produced a larger body of work. She never carried a film on her own and her best work was done as one half of a team (Bogie), an ensemble (How To Marry a Millionaire, Written on the Wind, etc.), or a supporting role (The Mirror Has Two Faces). I believe there are others more worthy: Van Johnson, who died within the past year or Maureen O'Hara who is still alive and kicking.

Well, the dialogue he DOES have is memorable. Remember when Jack Elam and Woody Strode and that other bandit are waiting to ambush him at the train station?"

Bronson: "Did you bring a horse for me?"

Elam (with sinister laugh): "No. I guess we're one short."

Bronson (shaking his head): "You brought two too many."

As long as we're discussing Charles Bronson, two things come to mind:

1) I loved "Mr. Majestyk," based on a story by Elmore Leonard. I often use the line, "Hey buddy- if you want my opinion, you're in the wrong line of work."

2) As a young struggling actor, Bronson used to room with Jack Klugman. Bronson told some hilarious stories about wha ta slob Klugman was (he really did wash his socks and underwear in the kitchen sink and hang them to dry on the faucet). So, Bronson said, when he heard that Klugman was going to play Oscar Madison on TV's "The Odd couple," he regarded that as ideal casting.

Ah, Great flick!! I do remember a beautiful Claudia Cardinal in that movie….

You also cannot go wrong with the "Death Wish" series. "The DIrty Dozen" as well. Lee Marvin was THE MAN and Bronson… well, lets just say watch your kneecaps around the man

Everyone (rightly so) has their own list of favorite Bronson films and great Bronson moments. He made what is, for my money, the best guys movie ever – That would be "Hard Times" directed by Walter Hill. The interplay between Bronson and James Coburn was priceless and the final fist fight (against Nick Dimitri as "Street") perfectly staged. There was no musical accompaniment to the fight and you could just feel the strength and courage of these two guys as they both put their honor on the line. Also great – The last scene in "The Mechanic" where Jan Michael Vincent reads the note in Bronson's car that says "If you're reading this it means I didn't make it. It also means that you''ve broken a filament attached to a timed explosive under the car. Game over! Bang – You're dead!"

I still enjoy watching Charles Bronson movies. Thank goodness for DVD's and movie channels. I started watching him when he was in the 'Man With A Camera' TV series in the 50's and continue to appreciate his unique looks, style ,ability and believeability..

like the above two better than the 'Death Wish' stuff; but 'The Dirty Dozen' is on eof the 10 best films of all time, so there's that…

So true. I totally agree.

"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.

…and that's EXACTLY what is wrong with this fraud, this is what he REALLY THINKS about the military.

They're an inside joke to him, he resents them TAKING $$$ he could be wasting for domestic ~vote buying~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti...

Consider this, in his autobiography James Cagney said Buckholz was one of only two people he ever "actively hated" in his life. If you can get a man (a gentleman) like Cagney to hate you, that says something about your character.

By the way, have you ever watched the special features on the "M7" DVD? Buckholz spends his interview bashing the great Steve McQueen and flashing his yellow Euroteeth. He'd fit right in with the Depp-DiCaprio crowd (effete and self-absorbed).

My favorite CB moment comes, in all things, in HOUSE OF WAX 1953 – in 3-D.

I actually saw it in 3D at a revival house back in the 70s.

Bronson is crazy and lurking around to kill Frank Lovejoy, IIRC.

At this one moment, he rears up from the bottom of the screen and the 3-D effect made it seem like someone had climbed up out of the audience and onto the screen. You had to be there. It was very startling.

He was always good in his films and there are only a few actors you can say that about.

Haha – otoh, you have
Twinky (1970) aka Lola (USA) aka London Affair (USA) aka Statutory Affair

Pretty awful, but it had Susan George from STRAW DOGS, so – Yum.

no surprise there- although McQueen didn't make himself 'a friend' to virtually anybody- ever. James Garner kindly as much said that about \”The Great Escape' in an interviwew. He was a dfifficult and moody sort. Still, Bucholtz career amazed us. Why? No talent, no charm, goofy looking- beetle brow and all teeth- he had to have an 'in' somehow…

liked both of them. 'Chato's Land', too…

I can't think of Bronson without thinking of the Boondock Saints.

"You know what we need? Rope."
"Rope?! What are we gonna need ^&*&*()^) rope for?"
"Charlie Bronson always has rope in his movies, and they always end up using it."

Charles Bronson was the toughest actor that ever lived. If Steve McQueen were as tough as Mr. Bronson. Despite getting the snot beat out of him in the latrine by those airborne heavies in "The Dirty Dozen", he was the last of the "condemned" to survive the mission at the chateau. Not the prettiest (like Clooney or Pitt, f**k them), he was one of Hollywood's finest assets.

I know women swoon for men like this. Deep down inside, they want Charles Bronson. They don't make them like that anymore.

I was thinking the same movie, which was a good one, w/Jan Michael Vincent!!

"What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under 'Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.' The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services."

http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=690

Charles Bronson is the original vigilante, and his films launched the careers of both Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Guest. Brosnan makes my list of the Top 10 Action Movie BAMFs.

I LOVE "The Great Escape." My husband is going out tonight– I think I know what I'll be watching.

Knee-capping is an Irish trait. Isn't Bronson polish?

http://www.softwarea.com/ftp.htm</>

Yes. And the first round of digging was the election a couple of weeks ago.

That is impressive. Flying B-17 missions were some of the most dangerous jobs in WWII. At the altitude they flew to avoid the flak, it was so cold, and the oxygen so thing, it wasn't uncommon for soldier's lungs bleed. They'd take off the oxygen mask and see a puddle of blood in it.

That's a real man's job.

Get 10 economists in a room and you'll most likely get 10 different answers to your question. Harry Truman was once credited with saying he wanted a one armed economist, so there could not be 'on the other hand.'

Do not listen to what the economists the MSM interview. The MSM's goal is not to report, it's to influence on behalf of the democratic party. They just keep interviewing until they find a couple who say what they want to report.

And you are correct. venture capitalists are sitting on their money waiting for congress to stop changing the rules. When it comes to investing, there are more than enough risks as it is. All congress and the white house are doing is making it even more difficult to judge the risk. So they won't.

Remember congress and the white house aren't interested in the economy. If anything, they probably enjoy what's going on. Just as the democrats are generally viewed as weak on security (and what's happening in Afghanistan right now is proof it's true), republicans are generally seen as responsible for bad economies, as they are associated with the title party of big business.

When the economy tanks, voters blame businesses, ergo, republicans caused it.

Intimidate John Wayne? Sounds like she should get what ever she wants.

Wayne and O'Hara…the best screen couple ever! Better than Tracy and Hepburn, Bogie and Bacall, even Powell and Loy (who I love). The Duke and the Colleen were an unbeatable combination.

Charles Bronson, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable. Real men! They don't make them like that anymore. Oh baby!

You know, I've been in the cockpit of a B-2. That is something man.

A dozen years or so ago I almost got laid off from a large, nameless faceless, multinational conglomerate (actually I ended up landing a job in another division at the last minute). While I was looking for another job, I got an interview with some company that I can't remember the name, because they keep changing it every time one company sells it to another.

It started out as Singer-Link, and at that time was owned by the remnants of Hughes Aircraft. One of their divisions makes flight simulators. It was a day long interview, and part of the afternoon was spent viewing the raised floors, and the on site simulator, a B-2.

When they build a simulator, they start with an actual cockpit, off the assembly line, and build on that. They didn't enable the movement portion for insurance reasons, and they have to realign the the projection screens after every session – because of the movement – and that hadn't been done yet. But man was it cool anyway. I got to fly it for about 5 minutes, including trying to land it, which I crashed.

It's like driving a truck. The controls are pretty stiff. The optics were amazing, I looked out the side window, and it was like you could see down, around all over.

Funny story. The guy doing the session told us, when they started training on the simulators, they realized there was no bathroom for missions planned as long as 36 hours. Because of the simulator, they had to modify the design to add a bathroom.

Knee-capping is multi-ethnic. Sicilians do it, pissed off people who happen to be skating in the Olympics do it, you name it.

I sit corrected.

I may be a "Ski" but I'm actually more Irish than Polish. And I'm familiar with its history.

Break their knees with your shalalee, they go down, move on to the next opponent. And no worry, they'll be lying there in agony when you have time to go back and polish them off when the battle is over.

I just watched again 'Once Upon A Time In The West'. Bronson was great in it.
About KSM and the convening of a civilian trial in NYC: By doing that, Holder has thwarted justice again. It is different from the Marc Rich pardon, though, where he acted as a bagman of sorts, but not very diferent. I wouldn't be at all surprised if KSM is alive and well twenty years hence.

Try GUNS FOR SAN SEBASTIAN where he plays a bad guy, but the film is pro christian. As for Bronson and Marvin, I liked DEATH HUNT. Not the best film ever made, but what the hell, it's got Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.