What do you miss the most?

Wife and I started watching an iconic series suggested by our daughter, Mad Men.  It is really good.  I find it very nostalgic, everyone chain smoking, 3 martini lunches, debauchery, sexism, racism and worshipping of the all mighty dollar,  aaawww, those were the days.

Favorites of mine are, any Quenton Taratino movies,  If you only watch one, make it, "Once upon a time in Hollywood",  Breaking Bad is a must see.

I was always grossed out by Mad Men, as it seemed to me to be basically "Office Full of Assholes" set in a time that has thankfully gone by. Breaking Bad is always a hoot, thanks to the great writing and acting.

I got into The Big Bang Theory this summer after having steadfastly refused to watch it for twelve years, partly because I've known too many Sheldons in my life. I'm glad I did; the writing in that series was really clever.

I've also watched a number of movies that I probably wouldn't have bothered with in the past. Unfortunately, most of them illustrated to me why it was a good idea to ignore them. I even watched the entire "Matrix" series just to see if the sequels were as bad as the first. They weren't; they were even worse.

Quentin Tarantino takes some getting used to, due to his twin fetishes: women's feet and violent gore. He's made some good movies; I've even learned to enjoy "Pulp Fiction." "Inglorious Basterds" was great due to Christoph Waltz's incredible performance. He was also terrific in Django Unchained, a movie I otherwise hated.

I liked the first two seasons of Mad Men, maybe the third but they ran out of interesting plots, IMO.

Trivia question:  What character had a small role on Mad Men before attaining near-stardom in ongoing insurance ads? 

Candy

I'm thinking Progressive Flo?

I miss the notion that Americans will rise to the occasion and put the country and their fellow citizens first in times of national crisis. If members of the modern conservative movement had been around during WW II, they would have called Pearl Harbor a hoax and tried to kidnap and execute governors for enforcing sugar and butter rations.  

Kevin, have you seen Amistad?  You might hate it also.  Excellent acting and the historical aspect hooked me.  Hard to watch in parts.  1839, Mende tribesmen kidnapped from Sierra Leone by Portuguese slave hunters, to be sold to Spanish traders in Cuba.  Being transported to the US aboard the ship La Amistad, the 53 Africans overtook control of the ship.  Incarcerated in the US until the Supreme Court would decide whether they were "slaves", belonging to Queen Isabella of Spain or free Africans to be returned to their homeland. 

Steven Spielberg directed, John Williams music, Anthony Hopkins as former President John Quincy Adams (he fought against the expansion of slavery in the US), Matthew McConahey, Morgan Freeman, and Djimon Hounsou, others.  No doubt took some license as movies do, but overall an education about this true event in history.  Hounsou was beyond outstanding.

Yep. I thought it was pretty good. Unfortunately, I know American history extremely well, so I kept wincing at all the historical inaccuracies---I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had known less about the period! But I suppose there have been very few (very, very, very few) accurate historical films--the need for plot overrides the need for accuracy. However, I draw the line at schlock like "The Patriot."

A few things that "Amistad" got wrong are that the case was actually about the legality of the Transatlantic slave trade rather than, as is strongly implied, slavery itself. The slave trade was outlawed by international treaty in 1840, the same year the trial was held. Thus, the captives on the Amistad were deemed free not because slavery itself was illegal, but because their capture and importation to the US was illegal.

The film seems to proclaim that this was the beginning of institutional opposition to slavery in America. Far from it! In fact, most of those Supreme Court Justices were still on the Court in 1857, when they ruled on the Dred Scott case, stating, among other things, that Blacks in the US had "no rights which a white man is bound to respect."

If you want an actual historical parallel to "Amistad," you should check out the story of the Creole, a ship that was transporting slaves from Virginia to Louisiana in 1841. The slaves revolted, seized control of the ship, and forced the first mate to sail to Bermuda. US authorities tried unsuccessfully for fifteen years to get British authorities to return "the rightful property of American citizens" (the former slaves, not the ship--that was in fact ultimately returned to its owners). A footnote to that is that the slaves were terrified of being "sold south," moving from a possible tolerable situation (only routinely awful) to one where the weather and climate were horrible and they would be worked to death--the life expectancy of a slave in the Deep South was less than 25 years.

It was a major shitstorm in the South and strained British-American relations for some time. As far as I know, only one book has been written about it. There's quite a contrast between how the British authorities and the US government viewed the situation. The British said that the slaves were unlawful captives and had every right to use violence to regain their freedom. The US said that they weren't even people.

Agree about Amistad movie and the International question, were they already slaves or free captives.  Actually it took me several times watching to get it straight, what went on, when, who was for or against whom. 

Some good nuances in Amistad, such as the SC justices beating it out of the courtroom after their ruling.  Who knows whether that happened (or happens today), but you knew the ruling was not going to be what in their heart of hearts they would have liked to do.  My take on that scene anyway.  And while, yippee the ruling was in the captives' favor, the movie ended on a sad note. 

Agree that no "true story" movie would keep anybody awake without creative license, for sure.  But they are movies, and that one did prompt me to look up more about the event itself.

I think that we might see the justices scurrying away at least twice in November. I think they'll be ashamed at what they will do.

Oh and BTW, you want realism about that era that is almost impossible to watch--"Twelve Years a Slave." Gaah! Great film and great performances, but---gaah!

Bingo!

She had a very small part in Mad Men first season.  Can't recall any speaking lines.  But boy didn't she hit the jackpot!  I don't know her real name, or how she got the Flo part.  Does anybody?