Tag: The Exorcist

April 1st, 2024

Marley: The documentary from 2012 currently on Netflix is a really good companion piece to the recently released, and reviewed last week by me Bob Marley: One Love. I found this documentary much more satisfying and a more complete discussion about the man, the times and his music. How that music became a unifying force in his home country of Jamaica, but also around the world in become a symbol for peace and understanding. The One Love movie had Rita’s children, like Ziggy and others well involved. It shows in the end product. I sure as heck wouldn’t want an ex-wife or one-of-many relationships writing my story and filming it.

One of the things glossed over in the movie was that Bob had 11 children from 7 different women, including a former Miss World, Cindy Brakespeare. Rita was married to Bob at a very early age, but they spent significant time apart, even though she was also one of the backup singers in his band. She self-professes to be more of a manager for him for his groupies than his wife.

Bob Marley was well followed and there was plenty of film taken of him. His tours and performances were also well filmed, even including the critical Jamaica performance where he brought the two opposing political leaders on stage and joined hands with them. This was part of his power to bring together people, with his energy and his music. He was beloved in Jamaica and yet spent much of his adult time away from Jamaica. A poor boy from Trenchtown, with a musical talent and a desire to be heard. His music lives and speaks to people many years after his early death at age 36. How tragic that he never took doctors and physicals seriously, including addressing the big toe issue that he had and which he was never prepared to remedy to utlimately save his life. Soccer, it seems, was far too important for his own fun and recreation that losing that toe would have been too much for him.

Together the latest movie and this documentary provide a more balanced and full review of the life of this remarkable man. The power of music, time and again, shows how it can live forever and resonate with people for years and years to come. This is well worth watching.

The Exorcist: I was recently in Washington DC and Georgetown to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. I also managed to get over the Georgetown University area and made of point of seeing the location for filming of the famous horror movie. What I found was a house not far from the main entrance to the University where the house was used for outdoor shots of where Regan (played by Linda Blair) and her Mom, actress Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) lived while she was shooting a movie.

This above is the famous picture of Father Merrin, played by Max Von Sydow, entering the house.

What you note now from the house is that it is NOT the “L” shape that it was in the film. As a result, there is NO WAY that Father Karras could have leapt from Regan’s window down those stairs, since he would have to have jumped across the parking lot. They just aren’t that close. It is noted that production added a false wing to the house for filming. That way it would be more believable for the scene where Father Karras leaped out of Regan’s bedroom window and fell down the flight of stairs to his death.

Overall it was really cool to see this, as well as the scenes filmed the main campus of the University.

The Trust: A Game of Greed: I had heard through work colleagues about this Netflix series. It is really a train wreck, with people looking to take part of a $250,000 prize to start. Then through various tests, there are challenges to their own integrity as well as the groups, and they must decide themselves whether to vote out members of that trust. All it takes is for one person to vote out a member potentially to have them removed.

The personalities clash or look to work together all in the name of the game and creating drama. So far, it is scary to see people in what they decide to share and not share, and then what the results can be. Some are more willing to play for the team, while others are quick to try and cull the herd of those who are viewed as “unpredictable” or “wild cards”. Only if you like these kinds of shows should you be tuning in. Otherwise it is passable.

December 9, 2019

The Golden Globe nominations formally kicked off the Awards season with their list of nominations today.   The list is here:

Golden Globes 2020: The Complete Nominations List

My overall assessment, shared by Alison who brought this my attention, was “M’eh” in the words of my daughter.   A couple nominations make my eyebrows raise, like “Rocketman” for anything, but Best Picture and also Best Actor?   Really?!   I would have thought that Bohemian Rhapsody shine would have worn off by now.   Apparently not.   The overly long The Irishman, picks up a Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actors (Pacino and Pesci) while notably absent was DeNiro for Best Actor.   Also in the TV category it was the first time ever that the alphabet main networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) were completely ignored.   The streaming services won out, with Netflix, Amazon, HBO and FX for cryin’ out loud got nominations but not them.   It is a changing of the guard.    Game of Thrones had one single nomination for Kit Harrington.   Well deserved for an awful final season of what was a fabulous show overall.

For my watching, I finished The White Queen, which I enjoyed a good deal.  It is the War of the Roses story, a ten episode season from back in 2013, starring Rebecca Ferguson of recent Mission Impossible as Ilsa Faust.  She is played along with Max Irons (son of Jeremy) who is King Edward.   Incidentally George R.R. Martin had inspiration for Game of Thrones from these stories.  Shakespeare wrote these times as well with Richard II (who is given less glorious treatment in this series, although he is initially far more sympathetic, but grows more tragic).   As the name suggests, this is Ferguson’s series and focuses on her from being a widow with two children as she meets a young King, to seducing and marrying him, becoming Queen.   There is internal strife and all manner of game playing going on with serious consequences.  This is England in the mid-1400s.  Whenever I think of Canada and the history here, I marvel at places like England where Kings and battles for the Crown have been going on for centuries earlier.  These pale in comparison too to places like Rome and Greece and they even more less than China.   But Ferguson is very good, and it is this role that caught the attention of Tom Cruise to select her for MI: Rogue Nation in 2015.   I am certain very little had to do with the nudity especially early on in the series.   It doesn’t factor into my positive thoughts AT ALL, about this series…..well a little, maybe.   A bit.   This is on Crave, for those who have it, and can find it.   If you like some good historical fiction with swords and fancy dresses and intrigue, then this could be for you.

I noted as I posted on the movies in this review that The Exorcist did not pop up.  How odd, but I have mentioned it a few times in any Best Of List that I would compile.  It wins Best Horror film ever each time.   I was watching The Extended Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray.  I own this.   I knew that Director and story writer William Peter Blatty did not see eye to eye on this film.  They shared first names but that is about all they shared.  William Friedkin narrates the Blu Ray extras.   The extra scenes added for me, actually take away from the effectiveness and impact of the original.   For example, adding scenes in the medical testing of Regan where she is belligerent and profane with the doctors, takes away from the shock of the language that comes out of her when she is first possessed.   And oh what language it is!  In 1973, this was shocking and disturbing.   It was breaking down barriers and a slap in the face to audiences.   I wasn’t watching in the theatres, but I can imagine.   The setup takes some time, and it is necessary for both the exorcist Father Merrin as well as Father Karras and his relationship with his Mother.   You also see Regan with her Mom, actress Ellen Burstyn.   All characters are excellent.  For me, the horror and shock comes from small little additions, like the demonic face that pops up from time to time, and you can miss it if you blink.   There is dread, and one’s heart beats faster in anticipation after some time about what you could possibly see when you open the door to young Regan’s room.    It never disappoints.    It holds your attention and interest to the very end.   This is classic movie making, and for Friedkin, between this and The French Connection in 1971, he is at the top of his game.  It doesn’t return.   Any one interested in film and film making owes it to themselves to see this.  Linda Blair talked at length about the impact on her, it made her a big star straight away, but also injured her back (you’ll know the scene when you see it).   But I would suggest seeing the original, without the additional scenes like the reverse spider walk which is creepy but out of place.   This is a far cry from slasher films and mass murderer films like Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th where a psychopath is running rampant.   It a small innocent girl turned into a demon for no reason and no explanation who transforms the lives of those all around her.   A classic.