Skip to main content

Movie Review




What would be your reaction if I told you to rent a movie that has history, violence, war scenes, Arab terrorism, an implied male-on-male rape scene, humor, stunningly beautiful to watch, great characters and has (at that time) an unknown as its lead? What if I told you it was also a buddy and road picture? What if I told you it got a 98% positive-review score at Rotten Tomatoes better even than To Kill A Mockingbird? Now what would be your reaction if I told you it won 7 Oscars including Best Picture? Now what would be your reaction if I said it was almost 50 years old? Are you still with me? Sound like something you'd like to see? Now what is your reaction when I tell you it is Lawrence of Arabia? Can't run away fast enough, can you?

I had the pleasure of seeing it again this week. I had a good widescreen copy and I have to tell you that it was an extremely pleasurable three hours. Why is it is has a reputation of stuffiness, of being a snooze-fest, of being something you wouldn't watch even if someone paid you? Give it a try sometime. It made Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif international stars.

I swear you'll love it.
Here is Ebert's review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010902/REVIEWS08/109020301/1023



O'Toole's looks prompted a different reaction from Noel Coward, who after seeing the première of the film famously quipped "If you had been any prettier, the film would have been called Florence of Arabia".[3]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida.  There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife.  In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride.  He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much.   He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A.   But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here.  If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying.  He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed.  No...
1 comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more