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Napoleon heralds the return of the man’s movie
The Spectator ^ | 10 July 2023 | Alexander Larman

Posted on 07/11/2023 5:50:19 AM PDT by Rummyfan

The recreations of the battles of Austerlitz and Waterloo, among others, look peerless

...

It is a stereotype to suggest that all a male viewer wants to watch at his local cinema is bloodshed. Yet there is going to be an enormous amount of that on offer during the rest of 2023 (although Oppenheimer, bizarrely, is promising extended scenes of nudity and sex from its stars Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy instead; whatever floats your boat). The return of such maestros as David Fincher, Martin Scorsese and Scott to cinemas is welcome — even if all their pictures had to be funded by streaming services — but it is also a reminder of how few younger filmmakers are emerging with this kind of picture.

We shall see whether Napoleon is another [Ridley] Scott classic, or a disappointment, but its early marketing suggests that the now eighty-five-year-old director has returned with a big, manly epic, full of swagger and panache. When it emerges this Thanksgiving, cinemas will be awash with viscera and blood — metaphorically speaking — and if it proves a critical and commercial hit (Scorsese’s picture has already won rave reviews at Cannes) then we can tentatively look forward to a renaissance in male-oriented pictures. I’m still holding out for a Lord Nelson biopic, but there’s Gladiator 2 on its way next year, with persistent rumors of a Russell Crowe cameo. Who knows: if enough men have films aimed at them again, they might even start going to the cinema in considerable numbers instead of snoozing in front of Netflix in their underwear. And if you build it — and do it well — they will, let’s hope, come

(Excerpt) Read more at thespectator.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: movie
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Visually, Ridley Scott is the best. Now some of his flicks have not been classics but.... I'm curious to see it.
1 posted on 07/11/2023 5:50:19 AM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan

Will Napolean be a black trans in this film?

And will at least half of the French troops be BIPOC?


2 posted on 07/11/2023 6:06:07 AM PDT by uranium penguin
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To: Rummyfan

I hope Ridley Scott’s Napoleon movie features the Eroica symphony in its soundtrack, for the sake of historical accuracy.


3 posted on 07/11/2023 6:09:20 AM PDT by nwrep
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To: Rummyfan

My memory has locked up

Where did Napoleon go after Waterloo”


4 posted on 07/11/2023 6:09:51 AM PDT by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Joe Biden is a kleptocrat)
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To: Rummyfan

In 1970 Rod Steiger played Napoleon in Waterloo. The acting and writi g wete awful and Steiger acted like it was an extra payday, but the bate scenes were unbievable and with thousands of real people. No CGI or what they called FX in those days. I particulzy remember the French cavry attack on the British Squzres, shot from a chopper.


5 posted on 07/11/2023 6:10:39 AM PDT by xkaydet65
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To: bert

Elba, eventually.

L


6 posted on 07/11/2023 6:11:18 AM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: bert

St. Helena. An island in the South Atlantic.

The Brits fixed his wagon, but good.


7 posted on 07/11/2023 6:11:32 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: Rummyfan

Very timely movie. As noted in many posts, France has committed cultural suicide and what now exists at its core has little in common with what once was. France from 1790 through 1945 lost forever its genetic best and was pitifully transformed by the pathetic remnant. Abortion and birth control prevented any chance of recovery. This movie if done well may show people the catastrophic losses that began the decline. Would these migrants have conquered France if French manhood had survived and prospered? Au revoir France.


8 posted on 07/11/2023 6:13:23 AM PDT by allendale
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To: bert

After Waterloo, exile to St Helena in the South Atlantic.


9 posted on 07/11/2023 6:13:42 AM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man.)
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To: xkaydet65

Wow my typing is awful!!!!!


10 posted on 07/11/2023 6:14:58 AM PDT by xkaydet65
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To: Lurker
Elba, eventually.

Elba first, but he left there, returned to France, reconstituted his forces and went on to be finally defeated at Waterloo. Then off to St Helena for the rest of his days.

11 posted on 07/11/2023 6:15:33 AM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man.)
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To: Rummyfan
Oppenheimer, bizarrely, is promising extended scenes of nudity and sex

If that's the case, then I won't watch it. I was looking forward to that movie, even though it's about an NKVD agent. Why does every movie have to have nudity, sex and profanity?

One great exception that I really enjoyed was The Darkest Hour, a recent movie about Winston Churchill. That movie had no nudity, sex or profanity--and it even featured a cat!

12 posted on 07/11/2023 6:16:00 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Rummyfan

I’ve never understood the admiration for Napoleon. With all his military genius, he plunged his country and all of Europe into blood-soaked wars for nothing more than his own ego. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, died as a result.


13 posted on 07/11/2023 6:16:56 AM PDT by JewishRighter
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To: Rummyfan

It’s hard to explain the trajectory of some historical figures. Napoleon was at the right place at the right time and… he won battles. Nothing is more celebrated than victory.


14 posted on 07/11/2023 6:17:01 AM PDT by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Strange that a man with his wealth would have to resort to prostitution.)
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To: Rummyfan; BenLurkin

Thanks for that.

I recently watched the Waterloo movie and then a Wellington video and lost all memory of what came next. I’m supposed to know stuff like that.


15 posted on 07/11/2023 6:19:11 AM PDT by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Joe Biden is a kleptocrat)
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To: Lurker
Elba, eventually

Napoleon's lament: "Able was I ere I saw Elba"--and this is a palindrome (it reads the same backwards).

16 posted on 07/11/2023 6:19:51 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Rummyfan
but it is also a reminder of how few younger filmmakers are emerging with this kind of picture.

I was listening to a young podcast guest talk about how bad Gen-Z sucks in the field of mass entertainment and I thought he might be on to something.

Say what you want about Boomers but there's no denying they made great music and films.

17 posted on 07/11/2023 6:20:05 AM PDT by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President. A conservative who fights and wins.)
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To: nwrep
I hope Ridley Scott’s Napoleon movie features the Eroica symphony in its soundtrack

Could throw in the misnomered "Emperor" Concerto as well. Any Beethoven music prior to 1815 really.

18 posted on 07/11/2023 6:20:38 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: Sirius Lee

Just not the execrable “Wellington’s Victory Overture”.


19 posted on 07/11/2023 6:21:14 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: Fiji Hill

No, Napolean was first exiled to Elba from where he escaped to return to France and then fight the battle at Waterloo.

I remembered all that. It was the second exile that escaped my recall


20 posted on 07/11/2023 6:21:37 AM PDT by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Joe Biden is a kleptocrat)
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