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Buck_Beasom
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Spartacus (1960)
Brilliant Film, Brilliantly Portrayed
Until Shakespeare in Love came out, this was my number one movie. It still stands the test of time.
Acccurately described as "The Thinking Man's Epic," this film should be must viewing for everyone who wonders why "progressivism" will never lose its appeal. The villains are brilliant in their belief that "Rome is an eternal thought in the mind of god." (Crassus. He died, by the way, by having molten gold poured down his throat.) And the heroes are united in their belief that "The finest wine comes from home, wherever it is." Spartacus has, in its own way, become almost a cliché - its "I'm Spartacus" lampooned in an Academy Award lead in and the whole movie replayed as Braveheart. (Witness the sound effects as the shields slap into position during the charge. Mel Gibson admitted to stealing it.) But I defy any thinking person to watch the movie and not tear up: at the scene where Spartacus tells his army, "I know that we're brothers. And I know that we're free. WE MARCH TONIGHT." At the scene where he kills Antoninus, with the words, "I love you, Antoninus, as I love the son I'll never see." And at the end scene, where Jean Simmons - transcendently beautiful - shows the dying, crucified hero his son and says, "It's your son, Spartacus. He's free." In an age when we are so willing to trade our freedom in for the illusion of safety, the message of Spartacus - the movie, and the true historical character - will remain forever uplifting.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Best Movie Ever Made
I watch a lot of movies.
For about 40 years, I ranked Spartacus as the best ever made. Literate script, brilliant acting and a story that transcended age and time. How can you go wrong with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, direction by Stanley Kubrick and a cast that included Charles Laughton, Lawrence Olivier, Jean Simmons and Peter Ustinov? (Forget the fact that this was also the best work of Kirk Douglas - an underestimated actor - and Tony Curtis.) Then came Shakespeare In Love.
There is, quite simply, no better movie ever made. For one thing, it has a truly perfect script. It is a Shakespeare play, within a Shakespeare play. All of the ingredients are there. Mistaken identities. Men playing women (and a woman playing a man!) A doomed romance. A tortured artist. Sex, love, and rock and roll. Pick your metaphor. Shakespeare in Love has it.
The only problem this movie has, (and the only reason it isn't on IMDb's top ten) is that you have to actually have read and seen a little Shakespeare to appreciate it. This leaves out about 90% of the movie-going public, who can't even manage to shut up in the theatre, much less read a book occasionally.
Too bad for them.