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| Billy Elliot - movie, 4.5 stars 
Finally caught the highly recommended filml, Billy Elliot last night. All I can say is whew! What a beautifully crafted film! The story line was wonderfully balanced with the striking coalminers of Thatcher England struggling to come to terms with the idea that a young man destined to work the mines would rather learn about grace through dance. While it would have been so easy to demonize the coal miner father and brother as homophobic dolts, instead this film takes the more difficult path of showing them trying to integrate the full implications of this young man finding his own path in life that may well lead him to a better life than digging coal in the mines for no gain.
The music selections are right on with T-Rex, The Jam, and the Clash rocking in all the right points of the film. Talk about choreographing music to action! This film does it well.
And then theres the boy! What an incredible debut. I heard on the tele that they auditioned him among the first in a group over 5000 boys, but they came back to him because he had something special! Well, it is plainly evident here that this young man is a natural talent who is adorable as well!
A buddy of mine compared this film to the full monty in that it shows the struggles of the working class in Thatcher England trying to overcome their circumstances with the means availalbe...I'd agree.
Highly recommended! Rent it if you miss it at the theatres!
| | | 2:51 pm - email it |
Friday, December 29, 2000 |
| subterranean kerouac - the hidden life - book, 4.5 stars 
an awesome book...details the real workings and goings on of the genesis of the 'counter-culture' movement. also details some of the bisexuality and alternative relationships that were part of that whole period.
i've read quite a few books on kerouac and this one is the one that comes closest to giving me a full color rendering of how difficult his life and art were to ignite.
the next closest book would be some of the dharma written by kerouac himself but i find that some of it is too cryptic for a simpleton like me to penetrate. here ellis makes the implicit plain for those of us that are not in the know of certain events in american literary history.....excellent reading!!!
| | | 11:17 am - email it |
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