Peebs
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Posts posted by Peebs
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Shockley, Ben -- Clint Eastwood in The Gauntlet (1977)
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Evans, Gene
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It Could Happen to You (1937)
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Coates, Phyllis
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Disorderly Conduct (1932)
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Aldo Ray
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1 hour ago, Swithin said:
Although Peaky Blinders features several historic characters, like Churchill, Mosley, and Diana Mitford Mosley, their interactions with Tommy Shelby are obviously fiction. But a lot of the details of Mosley are accurate: his positions in government, possibly some of his speeches, even his actual parliamentary constituency (Smethwick), which does border on the constituency they've given Tommy. The Peaky Blinders gang existed in an earlier period; Alfie Solomons is based on a Jewish gangster named Alfie Solomon; and Jesse Edens, the Communist woman, really existed, although obviously liberties were taken with all of these.
The evil Diana Mosley was born Diana Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters, two of whom -- Diana and Unity -- became fascists/Nazi sympathizers. I saw a play in London several years ago called The Last of the Duchess, about the final days of the Duchess of Windsor. Diana Mosley is played by Angela Thorne, shown in this photo at right, with Anna Chancellor, who plays a reporter.
Yes, good point, the show obviously takes some artistic license. I thought they did a good job of casting Mosley and Mitford although the real ones are far creepier, I think. I'll have to read about her sister. It's an interesting, disturbing, bit of history.
(I just read about the sister, Unity Valkyrie (!) Mitford. Another strange story, friends with Hitler. She survived shooting herself in the head in 1939 for 9 years until her death in1948.)
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Bad, Bad Leroy Brown -- Jim Croce
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Mala Powers was in Geraldine with Jim Backus
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Kristine Miller
Next: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
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On 7/31/2022 at 9:43 AM, Swithin said:
Over the last few weeks, I have binged on Peaky Blinders (2013-2022), watching all six seasons (36 episodes). I liked it very much and look forward to the movie, currently in production.
The series starts out sort of like The Roaring Twenties (1939), with a group of young men home from World War I, who are trying to make their way in the post-war world. Cillian Murphy is brilliant as Tommy Shelby, who becomes an Irish/Gypsy mob boss in Birmingham, England. Shelby is a violent, but generally lovable anti-hero who rules his empire with an iron fist. The finance manager of the operation is his Aunt Polly, played to perfection by Helen McCrory. In the early seasons, the escapades of the Peaky Blinders are fairly local to Birmingham. As the seasons progress, it becomes involved with national and international politics, such as the IRA, the Russian Revolution, and the Fascist movement in England (Oswald Mosley turns up in the later seasons). Winston Churchill turns up a number of times.
Fascinating supporting characters turn up. The most impressive is Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, a Jewish gang leader in London. His appearances weave through the series and have become beloved by audiences. There is a Passover seder scene like nothing I've ever seen. Another great supporting character is a New York mafioso, played by Adrian Brody, who is obviously channeling Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
Peaky Blinders is loaded with sex (including an ****) and violence, very bloody at times. A younger member of the family, at first too timid to perform acts of violence, acquires a taste for it after he is instructed to gouge someone's eyes out with his thumbs.
Much as I loved the series, I have a few criticisms. Some of the characters are annoyingly over the top, particularly Tommy's brother Arthur, played by Paul Anderson. The female characters are problematic as well, always criticizing the men and trying to psychoanalyze and reform them, perhaps as a sop to today's world. I think the series would have benefitted from a few Mama Corleone types, who don't interfere with men's business. An exception is Aunt Polly, who is shrewd and capable, although she makes a couple of mistakes. Sadly, Helen McCrory died and does not appear in the final season.
Another criticism is the way the lead characters' war experiences haunt their dreams. War -- and particularly World War I -- may have been hell, but I think that's overdone.
The production values are amazing, as is the music. The use of Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" as the primary theme is brilliant. The Gypsy angle, including the occasional use of the Romani language, is fascinating. Tommy Shelby may be an atheist, but he is deeply superstitious. A Gypsy curse is something to be feared!
The actors are all terrific, although there is one actress who turns up in the later seasons whom I don't think is very good: Anya Taylor-Joy.
I highly recommend Peaky Blinders, but it's not for everyone.
Peaky Blinders. I just finished season 6 which is the last season of the series to be followed by a movie at some point. I watched season 5 way back in 2019 when it originally aired.
The first three episodes of season 6 were very slow and seemed off from the previous seasons. I imagine the writers had to rework the planned storylines after the death of Helen McCrory (Aunt Polly). The first few episodes have too much of other female characters trying to fill the void left by Aunt Polly's death. I completely agree with Swithin about Anya Taylor-Joy. She stinks. Her scenes as Michael's American wife are verging on embarrassing. Her character slinks around as if we or other characters are supposed to find her sexy but ugh, she's just miscast.
Cillian Murphy is wonderful as Thomas Shelby and is the reason I started watching PB. I also enjoyed Tom Hardy's quirky reappearance as Alfie Solomon. I can't say that I knew much about the real Oswald Mosely and his second wife Diana Mitford and if they were pure works of fiction, you might think that the writers went over the top. But the charming couple really did get married in 1936 Berlin with Hitler in attendance. Their inclusion foreshadows WWII and I believe that is where the series will end. Again, I agree with Swithin about Tommy's brother Arthur who spent most of this season a sloppy mess because of his opium addiction. If he were one of Tommy's prized horses, he'd just put him out of his misery. The season finally felt like it kicked into gear somewhere in episode 4 with Tommy finally settling some scores. The last episode has a bit of a twist as to Tommy's fate. Overall, the last half of the season was entertaining. I hope it won't be too long for the movie to wrap up Thomas Shelby's story. I enjoyed the series but yes, it's not for everyone.
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Walker, Clint
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The Sea of Grass (1947)
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You're in the Army Now (1937)
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Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022)
Currently on Netflix, labeled as a 3-part mini-series. It really could just be a 2 hr. 20 min movie.
About the 1999 version of Woodstock and how it went wrong on so many fronts. Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang was back, regarded as a rather mythical presence overseeing the proceedings. By the end he and promoter John Scher came off as out of touch and indifferent to the complaints of concert goers. Lee Rosenblatt, a twenty-something assistant at the time, said that he tried to point out that some of the bands that Lang was booking (Limp Bizkit, Korn, Rage Against the Machine) were not exactly in line with the three days of peace and music of 1969. Fans of those bands slammed into each other in mosh pits, the lead singers working the crowd into a frenzy. This time the people in charge wanted to make a profit and sold the rights to food vendors who overcharged the young concert goers. They also prohibited any outside food, searching bags as people came in. By the third day as supplies ran short, some vendors were charging as much as $12 a bottle for water. The promoters also cut costs on security and sanitation. One concertgoer said she had trench mouth from consuming contaminated water near the overflowing porta potties. The last night Lang had the staggeringly naive idea of handing out lit candles to the audience, against the advice of his site manager. Countless fires were started as the remaining audience tore apart and burned anything they could get their hands on. Days later reports of women who were raped during the three days came into the office.
I found the topic interesting to revisit, I remember the reports of general chaos and overpriced water, but the documentary is somewhat hypocritical. While they lay blame with the poor planning, several talking heads also talk about the culture of sexist, young men. The documentary makes liberal use of clips of topless young women who, I imagine, felt they were getting into the spirit of 1969 by taking off their clothes. Woodstock 1999 also had a pay-per-view option, the director of which laughingly admitted capitalized on the nudity, drug taking and general debauchery. Not quite the classic 1970 doc, Woodstock that featured so many memorable performances. I think most people would be hard pressed to name anyone who played in 1999.
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William Talman & Elisabeth Fraser
Next: Flying By (2009)
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Week-End with Father (1951)
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Thaxter, Phyllis
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The Breaking Point (1950)
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The Unholy Four (1954)
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I See a Dark Stranger (1946)
Next: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
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Portman , Natalie
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Celia Lovsky was in Soylent Green with Edward G Robinson
Who was in The Prize with Paul Newman
Next: Charles Herbert
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King, Smoothie -- Spencer Tracy in Bottoms Up (1934)
Actor/Movie Association Game
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Moon Over Miami (1941)