"Seabiscuit" was good, despite hitting us over the head with the point of the movie at the end in case we were too dumb to pick up on it by ourselves.

RIP Charles Durning - one of the all-time great character actors.



Apparently, he was also a WWII hero: He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.

Didn't know about the WWII heroics, that's pretty amazing. He was so great in so many movies.

Jack Klugman has died also.

Wow, that's two in one day.
I had long since forgiven Klugman for his Quincy episode about punk, which was ineffably moronic.

TV Punk Rock

RIP, Oscar Madison.

Holy hell I had no idea. Every role I have ever seen him in, he was great. Thanks for the history lesson though, amazing.

The only abuse of horses for profit recently is with the Tennessee Walking Horses. Trainers use caustic substances on the shins to tenderize the leg of the animal to train them to step higher. This is against the law and horses are inspected at horse shows for this inhumane treatment.

However you seem to be referring to mistreatment of thoroughbreds in the racing industry. Would you care to back up your statement with some evidence or news article?

The biggest problem now in horse racing is the same problem in all sports, performance enhancing drugs. Pushing the animals beyond there natural ability and creating injuries in the process.

There is also the problem of what to do with the horses when they can no longer race. Can they be retrained and are they healthy enough to be of use.

But knowbody is beating racehorses senseless to run faster unless its some deranged mind back in the stable when knowone is looking. Most of the horses in training probably have a higher standard of care than someone living below the poverty level.

Did any Americans go see Django today? It's pretty cool that your cinemas are open on christmas day, I would have gone if we had it up here.

Wow. Badass.

Saw Les Miz tonight and really enjoyed it. I know the libretto by heart and Hooper had me bawling in all the usual spots which is about all a fan can ask for. Jackman, Hathaway and Barks all excellent and was also surprised by Eddie Tremayne, Crowe was a disappointment. I don't think anyone who's a fan will dislike it, but I can predict mixed reactions from those who haven't, being sung-through and not exactly subtly directed.

Django Unchained confirmed great. 10/10

Django Unchained is decent and entertaining, but it's most definitley Tarantino's worst film. It's overly long without needing to be, and there are the usual fun perfrormances, most noticeably by DiCaprio...but there's something missing.

We don't get to see Django's transformation from whipped slave to badass, vengeful gunfighter, and that's a shame.

The film does not have "that scene" that we've come to expect in a Tarantino film, like the French farmhouse or basement bar in Inglorious Basterds.

The Slavery angle is just that - an angle - and there is no real feeling or a moral purpose of statement. It's just so much window dressing and play acting.

It's fun and violent, and I could listen to Christoph Waltz speak all day, but there is not much there.

Re:Is 'Jack Reacher' movie any good?
Wondering if anyone has seen this movie, and what they think of Cruise as Jack Reacher. Believable or not?

I guess the moviegoer would have to have read at least one of the Reacher books to have a valid opinion.

Watched A Christmas Story for the upmeenth time today, and it is still hilarious.

Saw Killer Joe and was a bit disappointed. Had some dark funny moments but kept waiting for some twisted sh** to happen....flatlined at end, IMO.

TDA

I think the biggest thing keeping Dango Unchained from being great is that Django himself wasn't a particularly interesting or charismatic character. The concept was good, but the execution wasn't - I'm not sure if the fault lies with Foxx or if he just wasn't given enough development to work with.