From: arthur@alum.calberkeley.org   
      
   On 2/8/2026 10:53 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   > Arthur Lipscomb  wrote:   
   >   
   >> I finished out my Shout Factory "Blaxpoitation" box set.   
   >   
   >> I won't go through everything.  But I'll mention Sheba, Baby which was a   
   >> 1975 movie starring Pam Grier.  I had seen "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown"   
   >> before, but this was my first time watching this one.  Grier stars as a   
   >> private investigator who heads down South to save her father from some   
   >> local gangsters.  She of course winds up killing them all with extreme   
   >> prejudice.   
   >   
   > Haven't seen these in years, but I vaguely recall that this was one of   
   > the better ones.   
   >   
      
   Sheba, Baby was OK.  It's a solid workhorse movie, but it needed a   
   better villain.  I'm on the fence if I liked Coffy or "Foxy Brown"   
   better.  I think the edge goes to "Foxy Brown," especially since it has   
   better villains and ending, but unfortunately that's one of the ones I   
   had to stream, so the presentation wasn't the best.  I was able to watch   
   Coffy in 4K with a really good commentary from the director.   
      
      
   >> The Notebook 2004 romantic drama starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel   
   >> McAdams.  I never saw this before now, although I was well aware of it   
   >> being popular.  I have (season) tickets to see the live stage musical   
   >> version, so I figured I might as well watch the original.  The movie was   
   >> mind-numbingly boring!  McAdams plays a rich girl who falls in love with   
   >> a poor man (Gosling) but her parents disapprove.  I could not care less   
   >> about any of the stupid characters and their stupid problems.  Please,   
   >> please, please, let the live stage musical be better than this!   
   >   
   > It's yet another Nicholas Sparks novel. His novels are mild. When people   
   > are dying of chronic illness, they barely have adverse symptoms.   
   >   
   > I watched it, in theater, for James Garner. He was very sweet with Gina   
   > Rowlands, reading from the memoir. Rowlands' performance was praised by   
   > critics, even though she just lies there. She's the mother of director   
   > Nick Cassavetes.   
   >   
   > Garner is Duke in the framing story, the older version of Noah. It's   
   > supposed to be a surprise that he's playing the same character later in   
   > life and therefore Rowlands is the older version of Allie, but it's   
   > telegraphed. There's no reason for the surprise.   
   >   
      
   Yeah, from the moment the movie started it was *obvious* who they really   
   were.  I was half hoping he would turn out to be the James Marsden   
   character.  At least then it would have been a surprise.   
      
      
   > I agree with your comments about the backstory.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)