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watched Cool Hand Luke (1967).
... 'now what we have here is (a) failure to communicate.' being the most infamous line.
* it's real slow at the first half. i've mentioned to my doujin circle and a few other people how watching this in between a few TT videos (against my will) that the pacing is hellaciously slow in comparison to the blistering speed (overstimulation?) of video media these days. definitely takes a bit to get used to, like learning how to read a dense 500-pager book again versus medium articles. but there's a richness to the movie that creeps up on you once when the set pieces and the characters start coming alive and repeating the patterns that have been laid out. long story short is it follows a chain gang in the middle of 1950's florida and in particular one uppity newcomer prisoner as he starts attracting the attention of the wardens.
* the most immediate reaction is i knew these people. no wonder dad loves this movie so much, he's a spittin' spiritual copy of luke (with the smart ass mouth too), set fifty years ahead. not literally with the rest of the cast - but so many of the characters vividly remind me the kind of souls i've met and seen from south georgia and north/mid florida, away from the coasts. hardbitten, hard-as-nails, occasionally uncouth salt of the earth peeps with a wry sense of humor and a massive respect for defiance above everything.
see - my family has a long running joke that all three of us have authority issues. not familial authority issues against kin, not quite institutional authority issues; but anyone Outside trying to dictate new ideas or orderliness on top of ... one's tribe, let's call it that. so much of this movie was a wordless collection of thoughts i've had for a very long time how some people really don't know how to interpret... a certian kind of old white southerner guy, if I can say that? not linguistically as in dialect, but why they say some shit, and when they're bullshitting versus when they're bullshitting with the highest respect to you. i'm reminded of this paper on the jacksonian tradition of the scots-irish, how it (and now this movie) is the one thing I feel like actually Gets this archetype of people. a lot of times i feel like they get willfully misunderstood in complex, messy southern/yankee related bad blood and they're too proud to untangle the confusion a lot of times, also as a little added spite/pride.
* other bloggers have mentioned this movie has (technically) no real plot at least in the new "save the cat" sense. i'd disagree with them in that it's more structured like an aesop, an intimately southern tall tale of sorts. without spoilering it overmuch the last scene is literally just that, a tall tale retelling Luke's mad-hat escapes and how he went on his last one with a smile, dignity and defiance intact. creating a legend that inspires the rest of the gang (with it being.... slightly exaggerated, but not loosing the soul).
* absolutely not the intention of the film makers, and a vapid side note to boot, but damn the captain was kind of hot, (lol).you can't give me an authoritarian with a leather jacket and a gun and expect me to not do a double take. also reminded me in a weirdly nostalgic way of walon vau with like... the silent inhuman viciousness of knowing exactly who to break down; i would have watched this a while back for characterization. it's also a little wild with all the shots of the shirtless dudes in the chain gang and seeing how normal their bodies and faces look versus [gestures at anything made past 2005].
... 'now what we have here is (a) failure to communicate.' being the most infamous line.
* it's real slow at the first half. i've mentioned to my doujin circle and a few other people how watching this in between a few TT videos (against my will) that the pacing is hellaciously slow in comparison to the blistering speed (overstimulation?) of video media these days. definitely takes a bit to get used to, like learning how to read a dense 500-pager book again versus medium articles. but there's a richness to the movie that creeps up on you once when the set pieces and the characters start coming alive and repeating the patterns that have been laid out. long story short is it follows a chain gang in the middle of 1950's florida and in particular one uppity newcomer prisoner as he starts attracting the attention of the wardens.
* the most immediate reaction is i knew these people. no wonder dad loves this movie so much, he's a spittin' spiritual copy of luke (with the smart ass mouth too), set fifty years ahead. not literally with the rest of the cast - but so many of the characters vividly remind me the kind of souls i've met and seen from south georgia and north/mid florida, away from the coasts. hardbitten, hard-as-nails, occasionally uncouth salt of the earth peeps with a wry sense of humor and a massive respect for defiance above everything.
see - my family has a long running joke that all three of us have authority issues. not familial authority issues against kin, not quite institutional authority issues; but anyone Outside trying to dictate new ideas or orderliness on top of ... one's tribe, let's call it that. so much of this movie was a wordless collection of thoughts i've had for a very long time how some people really don't know how to interpret... a certian kind of old white southerner guy, if I can say that? not linguistically as in dialect, but why they say some shit, and when they're bullshitting versus when they're bullshitting with the highest respect to you. i'm reminded of this paper on the jacksonian tradition of the scots-irish, how it (and now this movie) is the one thing I feel like actually Gets this archetype of people. a lot of times i feel like they get willfully misunderstood in complex, messy southern/yankee related bad blood and they're too proud to untangle the confusion a lot of times, also as a little added spite/pride.
* other bloggers have mentioned this movie has (technically) no real plot at least in the new "save the cat" sense. i'd disagree with them in that it's more structured like an aesop, an intimately southern tall tale of sorts. without spoilering it overmuch the last scene is literally just that, a tall tale retelling Luke's mad-hat escapes and how he went on his last one with a smile, dignity and defiance intact. creating a legend that inspires the rest of the gang (with it being.... slightly exaggerated, but not loosing the soul).
* absolutely not the intention of the film makers, and a vapid side note to boot, but damn the captain was kind of hot, (lol).
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Funnily enough, we recently watched Blazing Saddles which felt similarly slow to start, because that's just how movies were done in those days. But I agree, once you get the hang of it, it's so charming in its own way. It forces you to slow down a bit yourself, you know?
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(also, i had never heard of this movie before! but really liked your writeup of it; may check it out sometime. tyty~)
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tbh if you're looking for like. non-hugo, non ny/la type of Media(tm) like that one tumblr post of yours joked about, you'd really love cold hand luke. there's just enough cheekiness to keep you hooked in the second half.
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Thank you!
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