The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please)

San Phrangmung · 16th February 2011, 19:26

Want to share a story of a guy here whom i think many of us could identify with.

The map is the journey that Christopher took over 2 years (1990-1992) through Nth America and Mexico

Christopher Johnson McCandless was born February 12, 1968 in El Segundo, California. His parents are Walt McCandless and Wilhelmina Johnson (who was known as Billie) and his sister is Carine.

Walt also had children from his first marriage and they were living in California, although Walt was still legally married to his first wife when Chris and Carine were born. (This is something that Chris found out later which infuriated him to the point where he thought his life had all been a lie)

In 1976, Walt was offered a job with NASA as an antenna specialist so they moved to Virginia and his mother worked as a secretary at Hughes Aircraft. Later Walt and Billie started a consultancy firm which became very successful. But it seems working and living together affected their marriage resulting in arguements in front of Chris and Carine which cause them to distance themselves from their parents.

Chris was a good student with A average grades and he was also a good runner leading a team of cross country runners.
But, he was very stubborn and strong willed. He would train his cross country team mates hard taking them on practise runs in places where it was easy to get lost. But he saw it as a challenge and saw running as a form of spiritual exercise. An example of his stubbornness was receiving an F for one subject becuase he refused to write an article in the particular way that the teacher had asked.

He graduated from High School in 1986 and shortly after took off on an solo adventure for the summer arriving back 2 days before he was due to start college. He arrived at college scruffy compared to his well dressed room mate. His room mate dropped out several weeks later but Chris went on to get exellent grades. He graduated from Emory University in 1990 but saw titles and honors as immaterial and irrelevant. Later he would say that university is a 20th century fad and not something to aspire to.

Shortly after graduation, he gave the remaining money from his education fund to Oxfam. The cheque written by Chris on 15th May 1990, totalled $24000. He then left quietly from home to begin his adventures and assumed the name Alexander Supertramp of which he got from the book The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William H. Davies from 1908. When asked by someone where his family were, he would reply that he didn't have a family anymore.

He travelled through various states of America in his car (which he left after it was caught in a flash flood) and by train, hiking, canoeing and of course walking. The challenge to himself was to travel with the least amount of belongings as possible and as little money as possible. He had no map and no agenda, just the will to travel.

His dream was the Alaskan adventure and he would tell this to those he met along the way. Some people he worked for on odd jobs would try to convince him to stay and some would insist on giving him supplies to help with the journey.
He seldom accepted.

He reached his final destination on April 28, 1992 in Fairbanks Alaska.

Four months later he would perish from a combination of errors and his body was found in an abandoned old Fairbanks
City Transit Bus numbered 142 which was located on the Stampede Trail.

He kept a journal along the way and took self portraits now and then. His final self portrait was a picture of him holding a farewell note in his left hand and waving with his right hand. He was but 30kg in weight and eventually died of starvation and possibly poisoning from fungus on some fruit he had eaten.

His body was found by hunters 19 days after he died and later his parents would visit Bus 142 to leave a memorial

Jon Krakauer (A writer from Outside magazine) did an article on Chris in January 1993 and later wrote the book which
in 2007 became the movie 'Into the Wild' by Sean Penn.

Chris'es actions have caused many different debates on safety in the wild and what not to do and many have said that
what he did amounted to suicide. But, he has also had a lot of praise for his courage and spirit of adventure. Bus 142 has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, with many visiting every year and posting Youtube vidoes and pictures on the internet.

There is also a documentary on the Chris McCandless story. You can read more here.

Christopher McCandless Journal Entries for his Alaskan Adventure -

Day 2: Fall through the ice day. Day 4: Magic bus day. Day 9: Weakness. Day 10: Snowed in. Day 13: Porcupine day.... Day 14: Misery. Day 31: Move bus. Grey bird. Ash bird. Squirrel. Gourmet duck! Day 43: MOOSE! Day 48: Maggots already. Smoking appears ineffective. Don't know, looks like disaster. I now wish I had never shot the moose. One of the greatest tragedies of my life. Day 68: Beaver Dam. Disaster. Day 69: Rained in, river looks impossible. Lonely, Scared. Day 74: Terminal mad. Faster. Day 78: Missed wolf. Ate potato seeds and many berries coming. Day 94: Woodpecker. Fog. Extremely weak. Fault of potato seed. Much trouble just to stand up. Starving. Great jeopardy.

Day 100: Death looms as serious threat, too weak to walk out, have literally become trapped in wild—no game.Day 101-103: [No written entries, just the days listed.] Day 104: Missed bear! Day 105: Five squirrel. Caribou. Day 107: Beautiful berries. Day 108-113: [Days were marked only with slashes.]

Source: Chris McCandless Now I Walk Into The Wild | Alexander Supertramp | Christopher McCandless Into the Wild

s@tan2s@int · 16th February 2011, 19:57

San sir... the movie " Into the wild" based on Mcandless life is one of the best movies I have ever seen..

The OST of this movie was composed and sung by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame..

The lyrics of the song "Gone" is something I think everyone in this forum will identify with.. it goes something like this..

"When the gas in my tank feels like money in the bank
Im gonna blow it all this time, take me one last ride"

San Phrangmung · 16th February 2011, 22:05

Sabarish thanks to my brother who copied the movie from a friend to his hard drive i was able to watch 'In to the wild' this evening.

sachinj12 · 16th February 2011, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by s@tan2s@int

San sir... the movie " Into the wild" based on Mcandless life is one of the best movies I have ever seen..

+1. Its refreshing to see a movie of that sort than the regular action stuff. Great acting and an engaging story with excellent screenplay. Just loved the movie.

anekho · 17th February 2011, 03:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by s@tan2s@int

San sir... the movie " Into the wild" based on Mcandless life is one of the best movies I have ever seen..

+1!! Really loved the movie - definitely ranks up there with some of the best movies i've seen!

prince_pervez · 17th February 2011, 19:20

Watched 'Just Go with it' starring Jeniffer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Cheesy slapstick stuff as expected. I was in a very sleepy mood and I lost most of it due to the humour.
Jen is shown as a office receptionist/secretary and boy the scene when she dresses up to potray herself to be an upper class lady is amazing. Your jaw will drop.

The negotiation scene with the kids is hillarious. "One more mention of that, and I'm walking". lol. The other girl is hot and I don't remember her name. Jen is clearly aging.
Anyone loving Hawaii should watch it. Some scenes are very well shot.

Music is horribly below average. Sometimes gives the feeling that it is not in sync with the tempo of the movie.

One time watch. 3/5.

chevelle · 17th February 2011, 22:06

Some movies that i saw recently.

1. Game of Death: Wisley Snipes

- A good action movie. Its tactical still doesn't make any ground making moves.
- Watch if you have nothing to do

3/5

2. Gulliver's Travel: Jack Black

- Totally a fantasy movie which is sometimes hard to digest. Feels like a bollywood movie initially especially the way Jack lands in Lilliput.
- Have mixed feelings about this one. Its not too good, not too bad.

2.5/5

3. Life as we know it: Katherine Heigl

- A good family movie about a couple who hate each other landing up with a child.
- Loved katherine heigl as usual. Somehow she picks up similar roles. Never get bored of her though.
- A simple one line story, very well told. Good dose of laughter, emotions make it a watchable movie.

4/5

4. 127 hours:

- Awesome movie. Period

4.5/5

5. knocked up (2007)

- Amazing movie. Stars Katherine Heigl. Loved it to core.
- Simple story, told in a very good way. Its a little vulgar, but what the hell, i liked it

4.5/5

6. Valentine (2001)

- A slasher movie featuring some hot babes.
- A good movie for slasher loving movie goers. Others avoid.

4/5

7. John tucker must die

- A teen comedy. Plenty of 'eye candy', little bit of entertainment, little bit of laugh. A typical high school movie. Watch if you have nothing to do.

3/5

8. River of darkness

- Joke of a movie. AVOID. What was kurt angle(wwe star) thinking when he agreed to this movie?

1/5

9. Jumanji

- Epic. Enough said. Must watch.

5/5

Samurai · 18th February 2011, 00:12

Saw Rocky Balboa on TV today. I missed the first 20 minutes I think. Then I saw it for 5 minutes and got hooked. The Rocky series has always been about heart. And I was not disappointed.

Just checkout this advice he gives his son who is afraid about what people will think about Rocky fighting at 60s.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IMDB

Rocky Balboa: I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilige. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life. Don't forget to visit your mother.

prince_pervez · 18th February 2011, 01:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

The Rocky series has always been about heart.

Talk about that!
Rocky 3 with Clubber Lang (Mr. T) was the best IMO.
Then Rocky 4 with Dolph Lundgren was good.

Rocky Balboa (the movie) was nice too. Specially towards the end.

mobike008 · 18th February 2011, 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Talk about that!
Rocky 3 with Clubber Lang (Mr. T) was the best IMO.

+1. Clubber Lang was the best boxing bout ever filmed in a movie and sometimes I feel it looked better than real boxing matches.The brutality and sheer action is till date unparrallel.

It can be compared to Rocky 4 with Drago but, it was more mechanical/robotic than natural. However, what I liked more in R-4 was the James Brown song " Living in America" and all that showbiz before the bout.

My favorite is R-3 then R-4

mobike008 · 19th February 2011, 10:57

Continuing with the boxing theme.

Saw the movie " Fighting" starring Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard.

It's based on street brawl style fighting and about CT who is from a small town coming to NYC for a living. He gets into this fighting for money. Somewhat similar to Bloodsport which was for a trophy

CT doesnt look convincing as a fighter though he is big and in good shape.

The fights werent too well choreographed except for the last fight which was terrific.

Terrence Howard is nice to watch. He was also seen in "Crash"

Basically an average movie to keep the clock ticking

2/5

mav2000 · 19th February 2011, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008

+1. Clubber Lang was the best boxing bout ever filmed in a movie and sometimes I feel it looked better than real boxing matches.The brutality and sheer action is till date unparrallel.

It can be compared to Rocky 4 with Drago but, it was more mechanical/robotic than natural. However, what I liked more in R-4 was the James Brown song " Living in America" and all that showbiz before the bout.

My favorite is R-3 then R-4

My favorite would be 2 and then 3. 1 was by far the most gritty of the series, but 2 is my all time best.

MCR · 19th February 2011, 20:15

Watched the following movies on the flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt.

1. Life as we know it.

4/5. Good movie. Emotionally touchy.

2. RED

2.5/5. Absolutely no story line.

JVH · 19th February 2011, 20:42

I had heard a lot about this movie but somehow couldn't get a chance to see it. It stars one of my fav actors - Marlon Brando in his younger years and I must admit it was for him that I finally watched the movie.

It's an amazing movie dominated by a lot of dailogues and expressions specially from Vivien Leigh and some amusing and delightful angry outbursts from Brando as Stanley Kowalski. The movie might be slightly on the slower side but its very nicely edited (probably a little theatristic). Wouldn't want to discuss the story in detail for you can read up but I would like to recommend this as a must watch and a classic. Brando might have shone as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront formally (oscars) but I believe his performance in this movie is very much equal (if not better). And I was surprised the movie won many awards except the character of Stanley Kowalski.

A must watch classic.

Rating - 4/5

artofzen · 20th February 2011, 01:04

Watched the following over the past month:

1. Secretariat - a very well made movie. Not as good as "Sea Biscuit" . Watch both if you havent. Feel good movie about horse racing.

2.Buried - This movie got lost among the 127 hours hype. I loved it and liked it as much as 127 Hours.

16th February 2011, 19:26	#3346
San Phrangmung BHPian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Guwahati Posts: 599 Thanked: 139 Times	"Happiness Real When Shared" The story of Christopher Johnson McCandless Want to share a story of a guy here whom i think many of us could identify with. The map is the journey that Christopher took over 2 years (1990-1992) through Nth America and Mexico Christopher Johnson McCandless was born February 12, 1968 in El Segundo, California. His parents are Walt McCandless and Wilhelmina Johnson (who was known as Billie) and his sister is Carine. Walt also had children from his first marriage and they were living in California, although Walt was still legally married to his first wife when Chris and Carine were born. (This is something that Chris found out later which infuriated him to the point where he thought his life had all been a lie) In 1976, Walt was offered a job with NASA as an antenna specialist so they moved to Virginia and his mother worked as a secretary at Hughes Aircraft. Later Walt and Billie started a consultancy firm which became very successful. But it seems working and living together affected their marriage resulting in arguements in front of Chris and Carine which cause them to distance themselves from their parents. Chris was a good student with A average grades and he was also a good runner leading a team of cross country runners. But, he was very stubborn and strong willed. He would train his cross country team mates hard taking them on practise runs in places where it was easy to get lost. But he saw it as a challenge and saw running as a form of spiritual exercise. An example of his stubbornness was receiving an F for one subject becuase he refused to write an article in the particular way that the teacher had asked. He graduated from High School in 1986 and shortly after took off on an solo adventure for the summer arriving back 2 days before he was due to start college. He arrived at college scruffy compared to his well dressed room mate. His room mate dropped out several weeks later but Chris went on to get exellent grades. He graduated from Emory University in 1990 but saw titles and honors as immaterial and irrelevant. Later he would say that university is a 20th century fad and not something to aspire to. Shortly after graduation, he gave the remaining money from his education fund to Oxfam. The cheque written by Chris on 15th May 1990, totalled $24000. He then left quietly from home to begin his adventures and assumed the name Alexander Supertramp of which he got from the book The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William H. Davies from 1908. When asked by someone where his family were, he would reply that he didn't have a family anymore. He travelled through various states of America in his car (which he left after it was caught in a flash flood) and by train, hiking, canoeing and of course walking. The challenge to himself was to travel with the least amount of belongings as possible and as little money as possible. He had no map and no agenda, just the will to travel. His dream was the Alaskan adventure and he would tell this to those he met along the way. Some people he worked for on odd jobs would try to convince him to stay and some would insist on giving him supplies to help with the journey. He seldom accepted. He reached his final destination on April 28, 1992 in Fairbanks Alaska. Four months later he would perish from a combination of errors and his body was found in an abandoned old Fairbanks City Transit Bus numbered 142 which was located on the Stampede Trail. He kept a journal along the way and took self portraits now and then. His final self portrait was a picture of him holding a farewell note in his left hand and waving with his right hand. He was but 30kg in weight and eventually died of starvation and possibly poisoning from fungus on some fruit he had eaten. His body was found by hunters 19 days after he died and later his parents would visit Bus 142 to leave a memorial Jon Krakauer (A writer from Outside magazine) did an article on Chris in January 1993 and later wrote the book which in 2007 became the movie 'Into the Wild' by Sean Penn. Chris'es actions have caused many different debates on safety in the wild and what not to do and many have said that what he did amounted to suicide. But, he has also had a lot of praise for his courage and spirit of adventure. Bus 142 has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, with many visiting every year and posting Youtube vidoes and pictures on the internet. There is also a documentary on the Chris McCandless story. You can read more here. Christopher McCandless Journal Entries for his Alaskan Adventure - Day 2: Fall through the ice day. Day 4: Magic bus day. Day 9: Weakness. Day 10: Snowed in. Day 13: Porcupine day.... Day 14: Misery. Day 31: Move bus. Grey bird. Ash bird. Squirrel. Gourmet duck! Day 43: MOOSE! Day 48: Maggots already. Smoking appears ineffective. Don't know, looks like disaster. I now wish I had never shot the moose. One of the greatest tragedies of my life. Day 68: Beaver Dam. Disaster. Day 69: Rained in, river looks impossible. Lonely, Scared. Day 74: Terminal mad. Faster. Day 78: Missed wolf. Ate potato seeds and many berries coming. Day 94: Woodpecker. Fog. Extremely weak. Fault of potato seed. Much trouble just to stand up. Starving. Great jeopardy. Day 100: Death looms as serious threat, too weak to walk out, have literally become trapped in wild—no game.Day 101-103: [No written entries, just the days listed.] Day 104: Missed bear! Day 105: Five squirrel. Caribou. Day 107: Beautiful berries. Day 108-113: [Days were marked only with slashes.] Source: Chris McCandless Now I Walk Into The Wild \| Alexander Supertramp \| Christopher McCandless Into the Wild
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16th February 2011, 19:57	#3347
s@tan2s@int BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 129 Thanked: 130 Times	Re: "Happiness Real When Shared" The story of Christopher Johnson McCandless San sir... the movie " Into the wild" based on Mcandless life is one of the best movies I have ever seen.. The OST of this movie was composed and sung by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame.. The lyrics of the song "Gone" is something I think everyone in this forum will identify with.. it goes something like this.. "When the gas in my tank feels like money in the bank Im gonna blow it all this time, take me one last ride" Last edited by s@tan2s@int : 16th February 2011 at 20:30.
	() Thanks

16th February 2011, 22:05	#3348
San Phrangmung BHPian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Guwahati Posts: 599 Thanked: 139 Times	Re: "Happiness Real When Shared" The story of Christopher Johnson McCandless Sabarish thanks to my brother who copied the movie from a friend to his hard drive i was able to watch 'In to the wild' this evening. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by San Phrangmung : 16th February 2011 at 22:17.
	() Thanks

17th February 2011, 19:20	#3351
prince_pervez Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA Posts: 4,210 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Watched 'Just Go with it' starring Jeniffer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Cheesy slapstick stuff as expected. I was in a very sleepy mood and I lost most of it due to the humour. Jen is shown as a office receptionist/secretary and boy the scene when she dresses up to potray herself to be an upper class lady is amazing. Your jaw will drop. The negotiation scene with the kids is hillarious. "One more mention of that, and I'm walking". lol. The other girl is hot and I don't remember her name. Jen is clearly aging. Anyone loving Hawaii should watch it. Some scenes are very well shot. Music is horribly below average. Sometimes gives the feeling that it is not in sync with the tempo of the movie. One time watch. 3/5.
	() Thanks

17th February 2011, 22:06	#3352
chevelle Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: sacto Posts: 1,299 Thanked: 552 Times View My Garage	re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Some movies that i saw recently. 1. Game of Death: Wisley Snipes - A good action movie. Its tactical still doesn't make any ground making moves. - Watch if you have nothing to do 3/5 2. Gulliver's Travel: Jack Black - Totally a fantasy movie which is sometimes hard to digest. Feels like a bollywood movie initially especially the way Jack lands in Lilliput. - Have mixed feelings about this one. Its not too good, not too bad. 2.5/5 3. Life as we know it: Katherine Heigl - A good family movie about a couple who hate each other landing up with a child. - Loved katherine heigl as usual. Somehow she picks up similar roles. Never get bored of her though. - A simple one line story, very well told. Good dose of laughter, emotions make it a watchable movie. 4/5 4. 127 hours: - Awesome movie. Period 4.5/5 5. knocked up (2007) - Amazing movie. Stars Katherine Heigl. Loved it to core. - Simple story, told in a very good way. Its a little vulgar, but what the hell, i liked it 4.5/5 6. Valentine (2001) - A slasher movie featuring some hot babes. - A good movie for slasher loving movie goers. Others avoid. 4/5 7. John tucker must die - A teen comedy. Plenty of 'eye candy', little bit of entertainment, little bit of laugh. A typical high school movie. Watch if you have nothing to do. 3/5 8. River of darkness - Joke of a movie. AVOID. What was kurt angle(wwe star) thinking when he agreed to this movie? 1/5 9. Jumanji - Epic. Enough said. Must watch. 5/5
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19th February 2011, 10:57	#3356
mobike008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 11,705 Thanked: 14,870 Times View My Garage	re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Continuing with the boxing theme. Saw the movie " Fighting" starring Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard. It's based on street brawl style fighting and about CT who is from a small town coming to NYC for a living. He gets into this fighting for money. Somewhat similar to Bloodsport which was for a trophy CT doesnt look convincing as a fighter though he is big and in good shape. The fights werent too well choreographed except for the last fight which was terrific. Terrence Howard is nice to watch. He was also seen in "Crash" Basically an average movie to keep the clock ticking 2/5
	() Thanks

19th February 2011, 20:15	#3358
MCR BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: BLR/MYS Posts: 882 Thanked: 637 Times View My Garage	re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Watched the following movies on the flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt. 1. Life as we know it. 4/5. Good movie. Emotionally touchy. 2. RED 2.5/5. Absolutely no story line.
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19th February 2011, 20:42	#3359
JVH Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,045 Thanked: 207 Times	A Streetcar named desire I had heard a lot about this movie but somehow couldn't get a chance to see it. It stars one of my fav actors - Marlon Brando in his younger years and I must admit it was for him that I finally watched the movie. It's an amazing movie dominated by a lot of dailogues and expressions specially from Vivien Leigh and some amusing and delightful angry outbursts from Brando as Stanley Kowalski. The movie might be slightly on the slower side but its very nicely edited (probably a little theatristic). Wouldn't want to discuss the story in detail for you can read up but I would like to recommend this as a must watch and a classic. Brando might have shone as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront formally (oscars) but I believe his performance in this movie is very much equal (if not better). And I was surprised the movie won many awards except the character of Stanley Kowalski. A must watch classic. Rating - 4/5 Attached Thumbnails Last edited by JVH : 19th February 2011 at 20:45.
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20th February 2011, 01:04	#3360
artofzen BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: VOCI-LHR Posts: 735 Thanked: 68 Times View My Garage	re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Watched the following over the past month: 1. Secretariat - a very well made movie. Not as good as "Sea Biscuit" . Watch both if you havent. Feel good movie about horse racing. 2.Buried - This movie got lost among the 127 hours hype. I loved it and liked it as much as 127 Hours.
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