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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Readership Capture: The Obamas Continue to Push the Envelope

Readership Capture: The Obamas Continue to Push the Envelope

by Anne Laurie|  October 15, 20179:54 am| 105 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Excellent Links, KULCHA!, Open Threads, Rare Sincerity

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This is very cool, at least for us snooty high-culture types. From TPM:

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery on Friday announced the two artists commissioned to paint the gallery’s official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.

The former President, the Smithsonian said, selected Kehinde Wiley to paint his portrait. And Michelle Obama chose the painter Amy Sherald.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the pair are the first black artists hired by the gallery to paint portraits of the President and first lady. The publication noted that, far from being lesser-known names in the art world, as is often the case with presidential portrait painters, both Wiley and Sherald have “major followings.”…

Sherald and Wiley have those followings because they deserve them. I haven’t had the good fortune to see either of these artists’ work in person, but I have read enough about them to be excited by this choice. Barack and Michelle Obama are, of course, very smart people whose tastes extend well beyond the usual ‘safe’ sanitized portraitists. If you click over on the YouTube clips, there’s tons of other meaty visual material from both artists to help enlighten your weekend…

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Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    Sasha

    October 15, 2017 at 10:12 am

    I’m hoping for Jon McNaughton to get the nod for Trump’s portrait. It’ll be hilarious.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:13 am

    If you want to talk about pushing the envelope, Baud!’s portrait will be the first presidential nude.

  3. 3.

    jeffreyw

    October 15, 2017 at 10:17 am

    @Baud: …with huge,feathered, fans, I hope. GIFS

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    October 15, 2017 at 10:19 am

    Simme (sp?) Knox did the official White House portrait of Bill Clinton, so they aren’t the first Black artists to do official White House portraits.
    Please oh please oh please 44…
    Wear the tan suit….

  5. 5.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:21 am

    @jeffreyw: I was thinking a big snake — python or anaconda.

    Maybe split the difference and have a feathered boa.

  6. 6.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    October 15, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Do the links in the post show for the rest of you? Something is borked inside my computer. It just won’t connect to some sites. My husband’s computer connects, so it’s not our provider. He’s run every scan and fix he can think of. I may have to switch permanently to my laptop.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    October 15, 2017 at 10:22 am

    @Baud:
    And in this portrait, will President Baud be, um, standing proud?

  8. 8.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:24 am

    @Amir Khalid: Gotta put the American flag somewhere.

  9. 9.

    jeffreyw

    October 15, 2017 at 10:24 am

    …have a feathered boa.

    They are saying that dinos had feathers, I’m sure snakes did, too!

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 10:26 am

    Both artists look like great choices. Can’t wait to see the portraits of Best POTUS Ever and Forever FLOTUS. (Also can’t wait to read their respective WH memoirs.)

    *****

    Changing topics radically: I have never seen The Princess Bride. It’s the current TCM/Fathom Events “Big Screen” selection, showing today with encore screenings Wednesday. I’m pondering going to it. Worth my time/money? (It’s cited frequently enough, here and elsewhere, that I do recognise it as a cultural touchstone.)

  11. 11.

    ThresherK

    October 15, 2017 at 10:27 am

    @Baud: In the name of all that is holy, I beg Baud to commision an abstractionist for the job.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:27 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 10:28 am

    @Baud:

    Commando-in-Chief?

  14. 14.

    schrodingers_cat

    October 15, 2017 at 10:30 am

    @Baud: Feathered boa Baud will be fabulous!

  15. 15.

    MomSense

    October 15, 2017 at 10:30 am

    Part of what pisses off the racists so much is that the Obamas looked so good being POTUS and FLOTUS. All the money and spray tan in the world can’t compete. I love their choices for their portraits. Can’t wait to see them.

  16. 16.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 10:30 am

    About time.

  17. 17.

    schrodingers_cat

    October 15, 2017 at 10:31 am

    @MomSense: We went from Mr Good looking to Mr. Whiskey Barrel.

  18. 18.

    MomSense

    October 15, 2017 at 10:31 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Ha!!

    Go see Princess Bride.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 10:31 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Absolutely! It’s great fun. My favorite line: “Sleep well, my friend, and dream of large women.”

  20. 20.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    October 15, 2017 at 10:32 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Just in terms of cultural literacy, it’s worth seeing. Don’t expect to be deeply moved or anything.

  21. 21.

    MomSense

    October 15, 2017 at 10:35 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    And poor Melania. I think they expected she would be the toast of the fashion world but she just looks tacky. High end fashion houses do not use models with over inflated, fake boobies. They do not look good in the clothes. Her fake boobies are of the kind favored for pron.

  22. 22.

    geg6

    October 15, 2017 at 10:42 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    OMG, yes! Go! It’s great!

  23. 23.

    eclare

    October 15, 2017 at 10:43 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, Billy Crystal alone is worth it. Enjoy!

  24. 24.

    Amir Khalid

    October 15, 2017 at 10:43 am

    I wonder whom Trump will pick to paint his portrait. I think there’s a guy who does right-wing art in America, but his name escapes me.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 10:44 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): It all seems to work here.

    PC? Mac? Tablet? Phone? What operating system? What browser?

    There are lots and lots of potential causes (malware, ad-blocker, other extensions, something corrupted). It’s hard to know without more information.

    You could try forcing a reload of the full page (Shift-Click on the refresh button). If you’re using an ad-blocker, you could try turning it off on the problematic page to see if it makes a difference. You could try “resetting” the browser (which should keep all your settings while reloading the program). Stuff like that. But the details depend on what you are using.

    Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  26. 26.

    Steeplejack

    October 15, 2017 at 10:46 am

    @Sasha:

    That would be perfect.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:47 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Like.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack

    October 15, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Yes, go see The Princess Bride on the big screen. It will be a fun, immersive experience not interrupted by commercials or household distractions.

  29. 29.

    Shalimar

    October 15, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @Sasha: McNaughton would put all the cabinet secretaries and White House staff in the background, and put Steve Bannon in the center. Trump would not be happy.

  30. 30.

    jeffreyw

    October 15, 2017 at 10:51 am

    How does a mansplainer quench his thirst?
    From a well, actually.

  31. 31.

    Jeffro

    October 15, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @MomSense: or for working as an escort…

  32. 32.

    Shalimar

    October 15, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: When you see The Princess Bride, you will ask yourself why you haven’t seen it before now. One of a small number of movies that is must-see for everyone.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Almost forgot.

    I have never seen The Princess Bride.

    Inconceivable!

  34. 34.

    Steeplejack

    October 15, 2017 at 10:53 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    See above.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    October 15, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Definite must see. If I catch it on the tube in time I always watch it through to the sex scene between Billy Crystal and Carol Kane. Talk about steamy, talk about risque!

  36. 36.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes. I thought we had convinced you of this a few weeks/months ago. :-)

    There are many almost Shakespearean lines in there. At least one semi-regular ‘nym (NOoC) takes their handle from a line in the film. After you see it, read the script, and see it again when you can.

    It’s a wonderful film.

    My $0.02. YMMV, especially after my hyping of it, but I think you’ll like it. :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  37. 37.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    October 15, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Why not?

    @SiubhanDuinne: [note to self: build shrine to SiubhanDuinne in prominent area of living room.]

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    October 15, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    So I googled a bit, and found a Tumblr of right-wing art.. There’s a whole genre of this ugly, mean-spirited art. It’s not pretty.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @Corner Stone: Ah, the infamous Director’s Cut.

  40. 40.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    October 15, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @Sasha:

    Well, since Don Martin of Mad magazine is unavailable…

    Ptoing!

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    October 15, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @Another Scott: It’s a PC and I’ve tried Edge, Firefox, and Chrome. I uninstalled the adblocker. Mr. IOL builds computers as a hobby and he’s been trying different scans and resets since yesterday. He’s still working on it. I’m limping along here, so we haven’t reached crisis state yet.

  42. 42.

    Spanky

    October 15, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @Baud: There’s a joke about “half staff” in there somewhere.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 10:58 am

    The recommendations to see TPB are unanimous. Okay, I’ll go see it this afternoon. Thanks, all, for prodding me.

    (It’s quite shocking, the number of really really famous movies I’ve never seen, at least not in their entirety. OTOH, I’ve seen Casablanca probably 50 times, at a conservative estimate, and will see it next month at all four screenings.)

  44. 44.

    satby

    October 15, 2017 at 11:00 am

    @Baud: be still my heart.

  45. 45.

    Laura

    October 15, 2017 at 11:01 am

    The Crocker Art Museum here in Sacramento had a recent exhibition called High Fructose, Turn the Page -a 10 year retrospective of the High/Low art magazine high fructose. The exhibit was extremely challenging contemporary art in a variety of medium. It included a Kahinde Wiley portrait that was huge, luminously beautiful with grace lushness and power, but most of all, unapologetic blackness.
    Our POTUS’ portrait will be amazing, and uncle cracker is guaranteed to lose his shit.
    Works for me.

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:03 am

    @Another Scott:

    Yes. I thought we had convinced you of this a few weeks/months ago. :-)

    That was The Godfather, which I did go see and admired greatly.

  47. 47.

    JPL

    October 15, 2017 at 11:03 am

    I miss the Obamas.

  48. 48.

    RandomMonster

    October 15, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Trump announces he will sign an executive order closing the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

  49. 49.

    satby

    October 15, 2017 at 11:05 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I have seen Casablanca possibly over 100 times, and will see it for the first time on the big screen at the Fathom screening next month. Already have my ticket!

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 11:06 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): It’s a long shot, but you could try a different Domain Name Server (DNS) on the Internet settings (TCPIP v4). It’s the system that converts internet location dotted-names (www.balloon-juice.com) into the dotted-numbers that the system uses to talk to each other (192.168.0.xxx).

    An easy set of ones to remember are Google’s public nameservers – 8.8.4.4 and 8.8.8.8

    Sometimes simply changing to them and changing back fixes things, but they’re pretty good defaults.

    Another thing that might be going on is that IPv6 might be enabled and not configured properly. Lots and lots of weird things can happen in those circumstances. Unless you know how to configure it, it’s usually best to disable IPv6 on Winders.

    Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    Amir Khalid

    October 15, 2017 at 11:08 am

    @Steeplejack:
    I see from McNaughton’s website (as a courtesy to my fellow jackals, no link) that he has already done a portrait of Trump, or at least a rough sketch for a portrait. Not a terribly good one: He captured Trump’s Constipated Scowl of Leadership perfectly, but the hair looks too real.

  52. 52.

    satby

    October 15, 2017 at 11:09 am

    @Another Scott: good advice that I will tuck away just in case, thanks. I’ve started to forget a lot of this stuff since I haven’t used it in forever.

  53. 53.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    October 15, 2017 at 11:11 am

    @satby: Casablanca is the model I always name for delivering backstory. We don’t know what happened between Rick and Ilsa in Paris until halfway through the movie and by that time, we’re dying for the information.

  54. 54.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 11:12 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Google never forgets.

    >;-)

    Go, if you can, and enjoy!

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who is surprised that he actually remembered as much of that previous thread as he did!)

  55. 55.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 15, 2017 at 11:15 am

    @Sasha: Sounds like he ready and waiting

    http://jonmcnaughton.com/president-trump-portrait-11×14-litho/
    http://jonmcnaughton.com/patriotic/you-are-not-forgotten/

    Looking at his website, I am quite surprised there isn’t more more Trump brown nosing from him. Then again McNaughton is a Mormon.

  56. 56.

    StringOnAStick

    October 15, 2017 at 11:16 am

    If a president gets impeached AND removed from office, do they still get to have an official portrait in the national gallery? Does it have a huge asterisk beside it, with a list of all they were convicted of listed beneath it? In a font of, say 64 pts? Maybe 120 pts? Just asking…

  57. 57.

    StringOnAStick

    October 15, 2017 at 11:18 am

    I posted this for @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes in the garden post, but in case he didn’t see it:

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Dude, I think you have an abscess in that tooth and you need to get some antibiotics now, not wait until Monday. If your DDS is like the guy I work for, call the emergency number, describe your symptoms and ask for a prescription to be sent to your pharmacist immediately. The pressure will keep building and the pain will increase dramatically, so do it now, not in the middle of the night when your pharmacy is not open!

    Your DDS won’t be able to do much to fix this tooth until the infection at the root tip is under control (infection makes the local anesthetic a whole lot less effective), so get the ball rolling now, don’t wait until Monday morning. Trust me on this…

  58. 58.

    satby

    October 15, 2017 at 11:19 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): The layers of action in the background of that movie still impress me. I had already seen it multiple times as a youngster before I realized that in the background in several scenes you see the other characters, like the young couple, living out their own stories independent of the main story. So many little details, and in a movie that was still being written as it was filmed.

  59. 59.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 15, 2017 at 11:22 am

    @Baud:

    If you want to talk about pushing the envelope, Baud!’s portrait will be the first presidential nude.

    and featuring dogs playing poker.

  60. 60.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    October 15, 2017 at 11:24 am

    @Another Scott: Holy shit. That ivp6 thing worked. Thank you!

    Mr IOL had already done the other things you named but not that, and it fixed it just like that. You rock.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Woot! :-)

    I was pulling my hair out for weeks on a PC at work until I noticed that, so I feel your pain. And the lesson actually stuck with me! :-)

    Glad to help.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  62. 62.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 15, 2017 at 11:31 am

    Interesting, the word “d0g” get you put on moderation here.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    October 15, 2017 at 11:36 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    (It’s quite shocking, the number of really really famous movies I’ve never seen, at least not in their entirety. OTOH, I’ve seen Casablanca probably 50 times, at a conservative estimate, and will see it next month at all four screenings.)

    Years ago, a local TV station would show classic films with minimal commercial interruptions. Even though I was a big movie fan, for a long time I never saw Casablanca. And for the longest time I never saw the first half hour of It’s a Wonderful Life (all the scenes of George Bailey’s childhood). And now these two are among my favorite films.

    ETA. I add my vote to Princess Bride, not because of cultural significance, but because it is a fun and touching movie.

    Also, I once had a co-worker who avoided the film because he was convinced it was a girl’s movie even though I tried to explain to him that it would be perfect for his son. He simply could not get past the title.

  64. 64.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 11:37 am

    @MomSense:

    Michelle worked J Crew very nicely, thank you very much! Melania should have considered something similar instead of some overreaching young wannabe designer.

  65. 65.

    Just One More Canuck

    October 15, 2017 at 11:40 am

    @eclare: Have fun storming the castle

  66. 66.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 11:43 am

    Did anyone see Cecily Strong’s Ivana Trump last night on SNL? It was killer!

  67. 67.

    Kathleen

    October 15, 2017 at 11:45 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I think it’s the most perfect movie I’ve ever seen. Still my favorite. I also saw PBO listed it as one of his favorite movies also on a list I saw several years ago.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    October 15, 2017 at 11:46 am

    @debbie: I had to mute it about 15 seconds in. I couldn’t take any more.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    October 15, 2017 at 11:46 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):

    Casablanca is the model I always name for delivering backstory.

    One amazing thing is that the flashback does not disrupt the tension or the flow of the main story, even though it takes up a chunk of the film’s total running time. Also creates an interesting contrast between a happier Rick and the older, more hardened character.

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:47 am

    Kehinde Wiley is one of my favorite contemporary painters. There’s a piece of his at the Phoenix Art Museum (I’m a member), and I am amazed by it every time I see it. I just got to see more of his work at the National Galleries in DC. This is a fabulous choice.

    Also FYI, the photos of BHO that are hanging in the Portrait Gallery until the official portrait is completed are by Chuck Close, who also painted Bill Clinton’s portrait. If you don’t know anything about Chuck Close, I so encourage you to check him out. He is disabled and for a while was painting these unbelievable giant canvases with his chin.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:48 am

    @Another Scott:

    Had (obviously) completely forgotten that exchange. It is (equally obviously) clear that This Is Meant To Be.

    Looking forward to the experience. (It’s the film’s 30th anniversary, which is why it’s in the rota right now. TCM likes anniversaries.)

  72. 72.

    Suzanne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:49 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s utterly excellent and charming and funny.

  73. 73.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 11:50 am

    @Suzanne:

    Chuck Close is one of my favorite artists. Talk about perseverance!

  74. 74.

    Kathleen

    October 15, 2017 at 11:50 am

    @satby: One of my favorite lines is delivered by the young woman from Romania (IIRC) who asked Rick if she could trust Captain Renault to keep his word : “The devil has the people by the throat”. I think of that often when pondering the stranglehold Rethuglicans appear to hold over this country.

  75. 75.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    October 15, 2017 at 11:51 am

    Completely OT, but I’ve got a question for the hive mind: does anybody know how legit the wal-mart Puerto Rico fund-raising is? If it’s real, I’d like to kick in, but it is Walmart, after all, so I’m suspicious.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 11:51 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Which is exactly how she is.

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:52 am

    @Another Scott:

    An easy set of ones to remember are Google’s public nameservers – 8.8.4.4 and 8.8.8.8

    Reminds me of nothing so much as the Metrical Index in the back of hymnals :-)

  78. 78.

    Kathleen

    October 15, 2017 at 11:56 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Another aspect of this film, which I consider the most romantic movie I’ve ever seen, is that Rick never takes of his suit jacket and Ilsa is always in a dress! Sometimes externally imposed limitations force writers and artists to be much more creative and the result is so much better!

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:56 am

    @debbie: To top it off……I watched an interview with Chuck Close on The Colbert Report a few years back in which he said that he has FACE BLINDNESS.

    THE MAN WHO PAINTS TWELVE-FOOT-TALL HYPERREAL FACES WITH HIS CHIN HAS FACE BLINDNESS.

    Colbert was amazed out of his character.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    October 15, 2017 at 11:58 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ll make it even more unanimous — Rob Reiner directed it before he got a swelled head, and it’s one of his best movies. The only caution is that Andre the Giant has a very thick and unusual accent, so you may have a hard time understanding his lines even though he gets ones that are just as great as everyone else’s.

    And Mandy Patinkin is totally different than any other role you’ve ever seen him in as the swashbuckling Inigo Montoya.

  81. 81.

    Suzanne

    October 15, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    However, back to Kehinde Wiley…… I think the bold color is first thing that most people observe about his work, with good reason, but the thing I love the most about his paintings is this wonderful sense of motion in the figures. So many posed portraits feel static. His do not. They feel alive and active.

    I have seen Sherald’s work once in person—can’t remember where—and while she didn’t blow my socks off, I am sure she will do a tremendous job, as well.

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    @The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion:

    I never shop at Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart, but in all fairness they are right at the top when it comes to disaster relief on the US mainland (donating needed supplies from inventory, using stores and warehouses as everything from staging areas to shelters, using their fleet of trucks and drivers to deliver stuff, etc.) I was at a presentation years ago by Wal-Mart’s executive in charge of emergency/disaster response, and was blown away. What they do — backed by careful strategic planning — made me question and change a lot of my assumptions about the company. They’re still Wal-Mart, and I’ll still never set foot in one of their stores, but on disaster relief they are pretty solid.

  83. 83.

    debbie

    October 15, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Find a biography if you can. His entire life is amazing. Dyslexia, ADHD, considered a failure in his earliest years. His whole grid system was based on his inability to distinguish faces in their entirety and to deal with his lack of attention span. His spinal cancer changed how he could work, but it also enabled him to adjust his grid system from hyperrealism to total objectivity. Each little bit of the grid is an abstract piece of art on its own as well as an exercise in color science, but when you stand back at a distance, it’s almost hyperrealistic.

    I’m rattling on, but he really is a role model of overcoming, adapting, and achieving.

  84. 84.

    Suzanne

    October 15, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    @debbie: I have “Chuck Close: Life”, which I highly recommend. He’s just an amazing person and his work is astonishing to me every time I see it, and I thought so even before I knew about his personal challenges.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 15, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: If you watch it for the first time now it might seem like just a whole lot of overused quotes strung together, like Hamlet.

  86. 86.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Well, I’m already committed. There was that same sense when I saw The Godfather for the first time a few months ago — that little spurt of recognition — but hearing the lines in context made all the difference. And so will it be, I assume, with The Princess Bride. Getting excited now about seeing it.

  87. 87.

    Baud

    October 15, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Only one way to find out.

  88. 88.

    Brachiator

    October 15, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’ll make it even more unanimous — Rob Reiner directed it before he got a swelled head, and it’s one of his best movies.

    Wasn’t he a Meathead? At least, Archie Bunker thought so.

  89. 89.

    zhena gogolia

    October 15, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think it displays a kind of cleverness that you will find amusing.

  90. 90.

    m.j.

    October 15, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    This is completely off thread, but here goes…
    I was reading over at the Guardian. They were asking the Clinton Foundation whether or not they should return monies contributed by Harvey Weinstein. I would hope the answer would be, “Hell, no.” In fact, I think they should make an offer to the press to follow the money. When they see where it goes and the good it does the Clinton Foundation can turn around and ask if the media would still like them to return those funds.

    It’s a stupid question to have been asked in the first place. What’s the purpose?

  91. 91.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    October 15, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @m.j.: Replies like this make me wish we had a like button.

  92. 92.

    H.E.Wolf

    October 15, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Also, the swordfight scenes are first-rate. The fight director was Bob Anderson, whose career spanned more than 50 years and included “The Master of Ballantrae”, the original three “Star Wars” films, and “Lord of the Rings”.

  93. 93.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 15, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    @m.j.: The purpose is to find another stick to beat Hillary Clinton with, and portray this as her problem.

  94. 94.

    Corner Stone

    October 15, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Also, the swordfight scenes are first-rate.

    I had to think for a couple minutes where in the movie the swordfish scenes were. I thought maybe you were thinking of when they were escaping by boat down the river, and were being chased by those dangerous fish things.

  95. 95.

    chopper

    October 15, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    trump is gonna demand that his be that gif of him hitting Hillary in the head with a golf ball.

  96. 96.

    SWMBO

    October 15, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes it is worth it. The Fathom event theater that we tried to go to received a corrupted file and they refunded our money. We’re trying for the 7pm showing. I sent a feedback email to Fathom, telling them that this was the THIRD event in the last six months over different theaters that this had happened to. WTF? Anyway, the movie is itself a lovely thing. We’re still going to try to see it in the theater (even though we have a DVD, BluRay,and VHS copy.) Yes it’s still worth it.

  97. 97.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    @SWMBO: TPB is one of my all-time favorite movies.

    But, at least at home, the dialog from many of the characters seems excessively muddled and hard for me to (easily) understand. My (mumble) year old ears may be part of the problem, but it doesn’t seem as much of an issue with other movies on our TV (with Yamaha sound bar).

    I see that Criterion made a laserdisc version years ago. Maybe they’ll do a BlueRay version with cleaned up dialog sometime soon.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 15, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    I loved it, I loved it, I LOVED it!!!

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    October 15, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Told ya! :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  100. 100.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 15, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    @Baud: We’re going to hold you to that promise.

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    October 15, 2017 at 5:01 pm

    @JPL:
    Me too ??

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    October 15, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Knew it ???

  103. 103.

    The Golux

    October 15, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    “I want my father back, you son of a bitch.”

    One of the best come-uppances of all time. Right there with Warden Norton getting his due in “Shawshank Redemption”.

  104. 104.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 15, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @Brachiator: “Is this a kissing book?”

  105. 105.

    H.E.Wolf

    October 15, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Very belated reply to thank you for the laugh. :) No doubt you were remembering the Shrieking Eels, by whom Buttercup does not get eaten.

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