OT- I play Rocky

Scoop123

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Thread of the Year here. Rocky IS my childhood.

I used to see my Dad and Father-in-Law watch the old classics from the 50's and 60's. They had so much peace, comfort and joy just sitting there in their chair on a cold winter Sunday watching their own on-screen legends.

I look forward to being old(er) and watching Rocky for the 30th time. Rocky III ? Probably 45 times. Sly is a legend. I love that the OP mentioned Sly demanded he play Rocky. Hollywood wanted Harrison Ford if my memory is right (trailer mentions Clint or Bronson).

Cannot wait to see this! I dread the day we lose Sly.
 
Aug 18, 2016
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From what I remember from my college days, the earliest artistic depictions present Helen of Troy as a more olive-skinned woman. She wasn't as dark as Lupita Nyong'o, but she was clearly darker than the fair-skinned, blonde version that has become the 'traditional' look today. That pale version only became popular when Western European (Italian, French, and English) artists began producing their own ideas of what she looked like. She became much more Northern European looking over time than she was originally illustrated.
 

Spectrumalaska

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From what I remember from my college days, the earliest artistic depictions present Helen of Troy as a more olive-skinned woman. She wasn't as dark as Lupita Nyong'o, but she was clearly darker than the fair-skinned, blonde version that has become the 'traditional' look today. That pale version only became popular when Western European (Italian, French, and English) artists began producing their own ideas of what she looked like. She became much more Northern European looking over time than she was originally illustrated.
Homer did not describe Helen with any specifics, except the statement she had 'white' skin which is a euphemism for being 'pale complexion of aristocratic women who stayed indoors, out of the sun'.[101][102]

I will add that the frescoes in Pompei depict a very white skinned woman as well.

There are references in both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" of dark skinned people, both soldiers and women. Helen was not. I realise this is all made up, but historically she was described as white or fair skinned.

Now little Ellen Page does not offend me as there are multiple references to homosexuality and other odd proclivities, so in that way she fits right in.

Athena casting is fine too in my opinion.

That said, I have no plans to go see it.
 

steinek11

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I don’t remember Heat being a particularly good movie . But I think I was a teenager and was probably watching it half asleep. There are probably 50 movies. I need to go back and rewatch but really pay attention this time.
 

SuperBigFan69

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I don’t remember Heat being a particularly good movie . But I think I was a teenager and was probably watching it half asleep. There are probably 50 movies. I need to go back and rewatch but really pay attention this time.
Heat is one of those movies that should have been a bigger hit but it was not a true action movie...so my guess is that it lost some of the audience.

It is a great movie with an amazing cast.
 

steinek11

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From what I remember from my college days, the earliest artistic depictions present Helen of Troy as a more olive-skinned woman. She wasn't as dark as Lupita Nyong'o, but she was clearly darker than the fair-skinned, blonde version that has become the 'traditional' look today. That pale version only became popular when Western European (Italian, French, and English) artists began producing their own ideas of what she looked like. She became much more Northern European looking over time than she was originally illustrated.
Kind of like the English white wimpy, depiction of Jesus.
 
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Homer did not describe Helen with any specifics, except the statement she had 'white' skin which is a euphemism for being 'pale complexion of aristocratic women who stayed indoors, out of the sun'.[101][102]

I will add that the frescoes in Pompei depict a very white skinned woman as well.

There are references in both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" of dark skinned people, both soldiers and women. Helen was not. I realise this is all made up, but historically she was described as white or fair skinned.

Now little Ellen Page does not offend me as there are multiple references to homosexuality and other odd proclivities, so in that way she fits right in.

Athena casting is fine too in my opinion.

That said, I have no plans to go see it.
Sort of .....
Xanthos was used to describe her but that word is a broad, romantic descriptor not just a literal definition for white and blonde. You have to look at how ancient Greeks actually talked about color. It wasn't just a shade on a color wheel. It was more about how something gleamed or caught the light. In ancient texts, xanthos was used for anything with a warm, radiant, even beauty. It wasn't just describing light hair, but also a roaring fire, or shimmering bronze. When poets, before the European Renaissance, described Helen as xanthe they aren't handing her a Scandinavian DNA profile; they are saying her hair was lustrous and spectacular. My interpretation is that is was meant to show she was touched by the gods, meaning something like pure brilliance rather than a specific and precise physical checkbox.
 
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Kind of like the English white wimpy, depiction of Jesus.
Potentially, most depictions of Jesus coincide with that of Helen of Troy, some early interpretations show him more in a Mediterranean way, olive skinned and darker hair, but the Renaissance artists, in a way to spread religion, portrayed him in a more light skinned manner, looking more "like us"
 

SuperBigFan69

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IDK man, Rotten Tomatoes this morning, with over 600 reviews, was sitting at a 97% approval rating. Can't suck that bad.
I think you are going to get the super nuts on the right that just **** on it...and then the super nuts on the left that think it is not "woke enough"

Then the normal people that just realize it is a movie and treat it as it is...which is a 2-3 hour way to kill time.
 
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steinek11

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I think you are going to get the super nuts on the right that just **** on it...and then the super nuts on the left that think it is not "woke enough"

Then the normal people that just realize it is a movie and treat it as it is...which is a 2-3 hour way to kill time.
The trailers didn’t do it for me. I do not like his cinematography.

I watched this YouTube video a while back where the guy went into great detail about why movies in the past were so much better. We have a ton of lazy movie making this day that is overly reliant on CGI. They screw with the lighting too much and the emotional connection with the characters just isn’t there. Movies today are **** for the most part.
 

SuperBigFan69

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The trailers didn’t do it for me. I do not like his cinematography.

I watched this YouTube video a while back where the guy went into great detail about why movies in the past were so much better. We have a ton of lazy movie making this day that is overly reliant on CGI. They screw with the lighting too much and the emotional connection with the characters just isn’t there. Movies today are **** for the most part.
I get that. For me...I just watch movies to kill time. It will take me 4-5 days to finish a movie. I just watch a few minutes here and there.
 
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I’ve got a love-hate thing with Nolan. I never know what I’m gonna get with him. Oppenheimer? Fantastic. Dunkirk? We deserve better.
Ive never seen Tenet but I have not heard good things about it. Dunkirk is better in a second viewing after kinda figuring the timelines out....Interstellar is a good one but still a bit of a timeline issue

 
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Spectrumalaska

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Fresco on walls in Pompei.

98] Helen (first from left) and Paris (right), ancient painting from the Black Room in Pompeii. Helen is depicted here with red hair.

Again, pretty white with "xanthe" hair.

Pre-medieval art.
 

Spectrumalaska

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1784320235605.jpeg

Paris and Helen, Athenian vase c. 460 BC

Paris is olive skinned

Pretty white again is Helen, pre Christian and premadonna😉
 

Spectrumalaska

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😍😍😍What a smokeshow!!!!😍😍😍

I guess my point is that 2500 years ago there was a consensus of what she looked like and it was not white washed in any way like the Story of Jesus was.

My copy of the "Iliad" Book 3, line 121 , "now to Helen of the white arms came a messenger."

Richmond Lattimore translation. 1960. This is the one I studied, there may be more current ones deemed better that are different.

I certainly cannot read Ancient Greek so I have to rely on those that say they can.
 

HuskerO58

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Ive never seen Tenet but I have not heard good things about it. Dunkirk is better in a second viewing after kinda figuring the timelines out....Interstellar is a good one but still a bit of a timeline issue


Huh? "His" sexuality? I think he misspoke because there are 2 chicks there. Or was he talking about Brad Pitt?