In just a week, I have watched two biographies - "Bobby" and "The Last King of Scotland". Being both a history and movie buff, needless to say I enjoyed the shows tremendously! Although biographies, these are two different shows of different genres. For the former, it is on many people's parallel lives on the day of Robert Kennedy's arrival at the Ambassador Hotel to his subsequent assassination. The show reminds me a little of Best Picture winner "Crash" last year, whereas for the latter, well, one will be surprised at the movie because it is not what one will expect.
"Bobby" is a show worth watching, not just because of all the big names in Hollywood. The storyline itself is dramatic, and being a movie of different people, one can see the different aspects of human nature combined in one movie. There will definitely be one character in the show which any one can relate to.
There is the racist assistant manager who keeps giving Mexicans (who call themselves Latinos) and blacks double work without pay. There is the general manager who is married to a devoted wife, but still has an affair with a gorgeous young thing. There is the fresh-faced teenager who offers to marry her classmate to save him from being sent to the frontline in the middle of the Vietnam War. There is the over-the-hill singer whose star is no longer shining, and her long-suffering husband who in the end decides not to be in her shadows any longer.
There is the retired manager who now spends his time playing chess. There is the socialiate who keeps trying to be in the footsteps of the rich and famous, but all her husband wants is his wife, the one he married. There are the events managers working overtime to run the election campagin smoothly. There is the junkie who offers drugs and hallucinations to innocent punks. There is the reporter from the then-Czechoslovakia (a "Socialist" paper in a "Socialist" country) who camped a few days trying to get an interview but kept getting thrown out for being "Communist". And of course, there is the great man himself, who, due to his unfortunate demise, left the presidency seat opened for Richard Nixon.
Robert Kennedy was an inspiration for many people I believe. He had his visions, of creating a country of equal races and opportunities. No longer will Afros and Latinos or Asians be put down due to their skin colour. No longer will innocent young men go to war to plunder another country and lost their lives. He believed in human rights. He believed in making the country a better place, just like his brother before him. Yet, why did he and his brother (as well as the other human rights activist who abolished slavery, Abraham Lincoln), got their lives cut short just like that? Is it really true then that good people die young? But at least their legacies lived on for a certain extent.
As for "The Last King of Scotland", I did not read the review before watching the show. Anyway I do not have a habit of reading reviews before watching any movies. Normally the shows which I deem as good to watch are usually from watching trailers in the cinema or from the title or the poster. Thus, I was expecting some kind of period show about the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who really was the last king of Scotland on its own before Queen Elizabeth I died and then he became King James I of England and ruled both countries jointly.
However, the poster itself did not look like something from that period. Plus the actor Forest Whitaker (the black guy) won the Golden Globe and SAG Best Actor for the show. To me, my impression was this is a show about a king of Scotland, and it is a black guy who is in the leading role?! I was curious, so decided to watch it. When the movie started, and the year showed was 1970, I was thinking if I had gone into the wrong movie theatre instead.
But along the way, it dawned on me. The movie is actually about the Uganda dictator Idi Amin, who ruled the country with an iron fist. Due to his hatred for the English, he became obsessed with anything Scottish, which was why the Scotsman became his personal physician. Amin dressed in Scottish costume (complete with the kilt), had a marching band of Scottish music (complete with bagpipes). He even once declared that he would like to be a Scottish citizen, just like how he accepted his doctor to be a Uganda citizen. Thus, the "last king" refers to him, who viewed himself as a "king" and loves Scotland. What a way to put it!
Thus it had been pretty fulfilling where movie-watching is concerned. Two great movies, and more great ones coming with the Academy Awards just round the corner. "Babel" is next on my list, and of course Brad Pitt is one of the reasons I want to watch that show! And also "Letters From Iwo Jima", the Japanese side of the story from "Flags Of Our Fathers", another show which I like!
"Bobby" is a show worth watching, not just because of all the big names in Hollywood. The storyline itself is dramatic, and being a movie of different people, one can see the different aspects of human nature combined in one movie. There will definitely be one character in the show which any one can relate to.
There is the racist assistant manager who keeps giving Mexicans (who call themselves Latinos) and blacks double work without pay. There is the general manager who is married to a devoted wife, but still has an affair with a gorgeous young thing. There is the fresh-faced teenager who offers to marry her classmate to save him from being sent to the frontline in the middle of the Vietnam War. There is the over-the-hill singer whose star is no longer shining, and her long-suffering husband who in the end decides not to be in her shadows any longer.
There is the retired manager who now spends his time playing chess. There is the socialiate who keeps trying to be in the footsteps of the rich and famous, but all her husband wants is his wife, the one he married. There are the events managers working overtime to run the election campagin smoothly. There is the junkie who offers drugs and hallucinations to innocent punks. There is the reporter from the then-Czechoslovakia (a "Socialist" paper in a "Socialist" country) who camped a few days trying to get an interview but kept getting thrown out for being "Communist". And of course, there is the great man himself, who, due to his unfortunate demise, left the presidency seat opened for Richard Nixon.
Robert Kennedy was an inspiration for many people I believe. He had his visions, of creating a country of equal races and opportunities. No longer will Afros and Latinos or Asians be put down due to their skin colour. No longer will innocent young men go to war to plunder another country and lost their lives. He believed in human rights. He believed in making the country a better place, just like his brother before him. Yet, why did he and his brother (as well as the other human rights activist who abolished slavery, Abraham Lincoln), got their lives cut short just like that? Is it really true then that good people die young? But at least their legacies lived on for a certain extent.
As for "The Last King of Scotland", I did not read the review before watching the show. Anyway I do not have a habit of reading reviews before watching any movies. Normally the shows which I deem as good to watch are usually from watching trailers in the cinema or from the title or the poster. Thus, I was expecting some kind of period show about the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who really was the last king of Scotland on its own before Queen Elizabeth I died and then he became King James I of England and ruled both countries jointly.
However, the poster itself did not look like something from that period. Plus the actor Forest Whitaker (the black guy) won the Golden Globe and SAG Best Actor for the show. To me, my impression was this is a show about a king of Scotland, and it is a black guy who is in the leading role?! I was curious, so decided to watch it. When the movie started, and the year showed was 1970, I was thinking if I had gone into the wrong movie theatre instead.
But along the way, it dawned on me. The movie is actually about the Uganda dictator Idi Amin, who ruled the country with an iron fist. Due to his hatred for the English, he became obsessed with anything Scottish, which was why the Scotsman became his personal physician. Amin dressed in Scottish costume (complete with the kilt), had a marching band of Scottish music (complete with bagpipes). He even once declared that he would like to be a Scottish citizen, just like how he accepted his doctor to be a Uganda citizen. Thus, the "last king" refers to him, who viewed himself as a "king" and loves Scotland. What a way to put it!
Thus it had been pretty fulfilling where movie-watching is concerned. Two great movies, and more great ones coming with the Academy Awards just round the corner. "Babel" is next on my list, and of course Brad Pitt is one of the reasons I want to watch that show! And also "Letters From Iwo Jima", the Japanese side of the story from "Flags Of Our Fathers", another show which I like!
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