Could be some of my family relatives - some were French-Canadian fur trappers, and while not Comanche, another path is Blackfoot, now in Alberta and Montana!
Thanks for the review. I use a router/modem with Sling. Hulu and other app are always behind a pay wall, so I sigh and move on, but if I can get it a la carte....
Thanks for the referral - don't normally do US and contemporary cinema but I'll make an exception in this case....I do a lot of cinema watching on youtube and then contemporary politics and reading (Seventeen Moments in Spring; The Road to Calvary, both based on Soviet/Russian TV series) take up a lot of time.
Another powerful recent film that used Native American actors is "Killers of the Flower Moon". For the first time in years I went to a theater to watch, knowing there would be magnificent panoramas of the prairies that I wanted to see in their full beauty. Powerful, beautiful and gut-wrenching film. It is so emblematic of brutal American colonialism.
I saw that film in the theater, and frankly it was way too slow-paced and long for my theatrical tastes, though the cinematography was great. It struck me as one of those films that missed a chance to do a better job at telling a compelling story that we need to remember.
On the same subject, I'll recommend a great book. Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne. It tells the sweeping story of the Comanche very well, ending with Quanah Parker, of course.
I understand there's a movie based on the book directed by Ridley Scott coming out, so hopefully he'll do the book justice.
Interesting. I thought it kinda sucked. (Seeing all the “A-“ and “4/5” ratings certainly doesn’t help one’s expectations.)
I was surprised to see it rated R. Certainly it has more than enough gore, but the violence is presented way more like that from a video game (where things getting killed left and right is normal and expected) than that from actual good sci-fi (where each act of violence is emotionally shocking to the viewer, feeling much closer to how you might feel in real life).
Really, the whole thing feels more like a video game. The plot, pacing, and character development is basically “collect the skills and tools needed to eventually defeat the final boss.” They didn’t do more than the bare minimum to introduce characters or story, so they all feel like NPC that you don’t need to think much about.
I just never got the feeling of fear or suspense. Which makes it hard not to be a little cynical. Could they have done everything exactly the same other than made the violence less graphic, rate it PG and more appropriate for Disney? Did they instead make it overtly graphic and rate it R, simply so that it’s not a “kids” movie (because they know kids will watch it anyway)?
Alberta is of course going to be beautiful, but the video-game pacing means who needs to waste time on lengthy establishment shots?
Using natives as most of the cast, imo, was hardly a breakthrough. More like a requirement. (Just try doing a remake of Dances with Wolves with an all white cast today, and see how that goes.) But if you say anything other than how amazing it was that they did that? Or used a strong female lead? (Never mind Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor because this time it’s different.)
I didn’t even make it as far as to the French. But I hear they’re just cheap cardboard cutouts too. Surely no reason to imagine they could be introduced as actual people deserving actual respect…
Typo FWIW: "maybe the a bear" Agreed by the way, good film. Usually not a fan of prequels but it works in this case.
Thanks. Fixed.
Could be some of my family relatives - some were French-Canadian fur trappers, and while not Comanche, another path is Blackfoot, now in Alberta and Montana!
A couple of the actors ARE Blackfoot, and it was filmed in Alberta, so who knows?
I thought this was pretty good as well when I watched it!
Thanks for the review. I use a router/modem with Sling. Hulu and other app are always behind a pay wall, so I sigh and move on, but if I can get it a la carte....
I don't know how long we'll keep Hulu myself. We tend to subscribe and unsubscribe about twice a year.
Don't worry. I also do book reviews. One should be coming in a week or so.
Thanks for the referral - don't normally do US and contemporary cinema but I'll make an exception in this case....I do a lot of cinema watching on youtube and then contemporary politics and reading (Seventeen Moments in Spring; The Road to Calvary, both based on Soviet/Russian TV series) take up a lot of time.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Another powerful recent film that used Native American actors is "Killers of the Flower Moon". For the first time in years I went to a theater to watch, knowing there would be magnificent panoramas of the prairies that I wanted to see in their full beauty. Powerful, beautiful and gut-wrenching film. It is so emblematic of brutal American colonialism.
I saw that film in the theater, and frankly it was way too slow-paced and long for my theatrical tastes, though the cinematography was great. It struck me as one of those films that missed a chance to do a better job at telling a compelling story that we need to remember.
On the same subject, I'll recommend a great book. Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne. It tells the sweeping story of the Comanche very well, ending with Quanah Parker, of course.
I understand there's a movie based on the book directed by Ridley Scott coming out, so hopefully he'll do the book justice.
I'm sitting in my local coffee shops, so can't watch this now, but FYI...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHBsIjRaNI
I watched it and liked it. Thanks again for the heads up.
Interesting. I thought it kinda sucked. (Seeing all the “A-“ and “4/5” ratings certainly doesn’t help one’s expectations.)
I was surprised to see it rated R. Certainly it has more than enough gore, but the violence is presented way more like that from a video game (where things getting killed left and right is normal and expected) than that from actual good sci-fi (where each act of violence is emotionally shocking to the viewer, feeling much closer to how you might feel in real life).
Really, the whole thing feels more like a video game. The plot, pacing, and character development is basically “collect the skills and tools needed to eventually defeat the final boss.” They didn’t do more than the bare minimum to introduce characters or story, so they all feel like NPC that you don’t need to think much about.
I just never got the feeling of fear or suspense. Which makes it hard not to be a little cynical. Could they have done everything exactly the same other than made the violence less graphic, rate it PG and more appropriate for Disney? Did they instead make it overtly graphic and rate it R, simply so that it’s not a “kids” movie (because they know kids will watch it anyway)?
Alberta is of course going to be beautiful, but the video-game pacing means who needs to waste time on lengthy establishment shots?
Using natives as most of the cast, imo, was hardly a breakthrough. More like a requirement. (Just try doing a remake of Dances with Wolves with an all white cast today, and see how that goes.) But if you say anything other than how amazing it was that they did that? Or used a strong female lead? (Never mind Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor because this time it’s different.)
I didn’t even make it as far as to the French. But I hear they’re just cheap cardboard cutouts too. Surely no reason to imagine they could be introduced as actual people deserving actual respect…