Posted on 01/16/2021 9:01:25 PM PST by ETL
The Ultimate Gift - A deceased billionaire leaves his spoiled adult grandson a series of odd tasks to perform in order to receive "the ultimate gift," with the resentful grandson having no idea what that might be.
Cast
Drew Fuller as Jason Stevens
Bill Cobbs as Theophilus Hamilton
Abigail Breslin as Emily Rose
James Garner as Howard “Red” Stevens
Brian Dennehy as Gus
Ali Hillis as Alexia
>> “... great thing there are various kinds of movies then :)” <<
Yes, many of the responses to the movie were favorable (and I liked most of it myself). I just gave my reasons for not liking the ending.
>> “..and some people want to avoid reality.” <<
I’m an old guy and have seen plenty of reality, bad and good (both in my own experience and through others in non-fiction and fiction). I’m not someone who pretends that bad things don’t exist. I’m well aware of them, too well aware. What I want in my old age is — as much as possible — to enjoy the good aspects of reality and avoid the bad. I classify movies that make me feel sad among the bad.
If I must learn more about what’s bad, I prefer to do so through reading — in relatively abstract terms — not have it be re-created in fiction, for me to experience the emotions vicariously. In fiction I’d rather have something pleasant, or just enough of the more unpleasant aspects of life to make a happy ending more appreciated (something we can’t always control in real life but can in fiction).
Agree we saw it after it came out and have the dvd. Have watched it many times since.
Yes, I saw that when I later looked into his story, mainly to see if he was still alive, and was very surprised by it.
Found this...
“He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1958 to 1963 in Okinawa. Wondering why you haven’t heard him listed in the articles favoring veterans in Hollywood? Probably because he lied about his service, claiming to have experienced horrifying combat in Vietnam, when in fact, he never set foot in Vietnam — not as a Marine anyway. Later, he publicly admitted to his deceit and apologized:
‘I lied about serving in Vietnam and I’m sorry. I did not mean to take away from the actions and the sacrifices of the ones who did really serve there … I did steal valor. That was very wrong of me. There is no real excuse for that. I was a peace-time Marine, and I got out in 1963 without ever serving in Vietnam … I started the story that I had been in ‘Nam, and I got stuck with it. Then I didn’t know how to set the record straight.’ ...”
Lee Meriwether (Catwoman) was in the movie, too.
Yes, she played the black attorney's assistant, and should have been on the cast list that I provided. Copied the list as is from the YouTube uploader.
At least he thought highly enough of those troops that did serve that he wanted to be thought of as one of them. Plus he did actually serve 4 years in the Marines. In other words, he’s hardly a communist-sympathizing POS like so many others in Hollywood then and now.
I do avoid mainstream tv news, and usually learn about what’s happening from talk radio or net forums. When debating particular issues, I access mainstream sources — to find things the left will have trouble denying — but almost always written sources. What they say is less annoying to read than to see.
The news itself — not just the leftist slant on it — has been so bad lately, though, that it’s hard to find anything pleasing even in non-leftist sources. That’s why I’ve been spending a lot of time learning to play my keyboard (more or less “fiddling as Rome burns” — as Nero is said to have done, though he couldn’t have because the fiddle hadn’t been invented yet).
The country’s prospects for the future may seem dire, but cheer up. I’m getting slightly better at playing the keyboard. :-)
I recently purchased a sort of ‘fiddle’ - a bowed psaltery.
I’ll probably never get over my Internet news addiction - until ‘They’ shut all my favored channels down - but spending some time of the day on something more uplifting is not a bad idea ;-)
I had to look up what a bowed psaltery is. I hope you get some enjoyment from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sotvgwFm-MI
Two bows is difficult. It will be a long time until I’m anywhere near that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD_dsfp1Uyk
Some people say that the Appalachian (or Mountain) Dulcimer is the easiest instrument to learn to play. I think the bowed psaltery is easier for a lot of people.
I like ‘weird’ instruments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747hJQNJpeg
Neat!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.