Unstoppable -- new train movie
#46
P5se Camelback Wrote:It is a very sad commentary, indeed, when to portray "gritty real-life situations," the entertainment geniuses of Hollywood feel compelled to lace a script with profanity! I suppose it speaks to the caliber of low rent, under-educated individuals they socialize with! How sad!
Yes, in this predominately blue collar town that I live in there are many who are of the "how many times can I use the "F"-word in a sentence" mentality. In speaking with them on the odd occasion when I would stop in for a cold one at the pub owned by my letter carrier and his wife, I would estimate that few have actually graduated from high school. (I say "actually" as my guess is that a large percentage were "shuffled along" and given a diploma despite not doing any work or going to class with any regularity. Their grammar usage gives them away.)
For the most part, the individuals that I socialize with (at the American Legion, Model Railroad Club and local Methodist church) never use any profanity in their speech and are able to communicate quite well despite their self-imposed handicap! And many of them have held/do hold "Blue Collar" jobs!
I'm often asked why I haven't been to see a movie in a theater in probably ... um ... well, my daughter took me to see the remake of the "Italian Job" when it came out in theaters ... how long ago was that ... and does it really matter? Gratuitous profanity, violence and sex on the big screen turn me right off. I will not pay $12 for a ticket to sit in a theater seat and be repulsed by what I see and hear in a film ... I can go to any of the local watering holes at 10 or 11 at night and see and hear much of the same for the price of a draft beer. And I don't do that very often any more, either.
Gone are the days of John Wayne, Jimmy Stuart, Audry Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Alfred hitchcock, et. al. when filmmakers made you use your imagination to "fill in the blanks" and didn't slap you in the face with foul language, blood and guts, giant fireball explosions, bouncing breasts and super close-ups of deep french kissing in the name of "realism!" No thank you!
I'll stay at home, listen to some good jazz and read a book or build a model ... Thank you!
So I guess I'll pass on "Unstoppable."


I basically agree with this. I'm no fan of profanity and don't enjoy hearing it in a movie. However, if there is a movie I want to see badly enough or like, I will tolerate it or try to ignore it. That's also what I tell my kids when they hear profanity -- I say you don't have to copy or imitate them. Rob
Rob
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#47
What ever happened to movies like "Silver Steak"? They used to imply things so adults would know what was going on, but it went over the children's head.
One of the things about Silver Streak that made the movie was Gene Wilder's reaction every time he got thrown off the train, and the first time on TV they bleeped the phrase. In this case I don't think any other phrase would have worked. I think the movie came out in 75 so see how far we have regressed. Nothing is bleeped anymore and writers don't know how to write a movie that hits all ages.
If anyone remembers Red Skelton, he was the true artist in implied meanings. I feel sorry for younger people today, they have no great entertainers.
Charlie
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#48
Somewhere I heard the words "lousy" and "nuts" were edited out of "It's a Wonderful Life" because it was considered offensive. Apparently, the downward progression of vulgarity has been going on for some time now Icon_lol Icon_lol Icon_lol
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#49
The benefit of having two youngins' is that I have a pulse on what they are in to. I disagree that there are no more good movies out there. While you old timers might guffaw at them, the latest batch of computer animated "kids" movies are some of the best pieces of story telling I've had the pleasure to sit through for 2 hours. Not every single one is a winner but the vast majority of them are great. As a bunch of grown men, try to walk away from Toy Story 3 without getting all teary eyed, seriously, I dare you... Sad

As for the profanity, well, I do my share of it, but even I have my limits. I have the Black Sabbath Reunion live disc set. I listened to it once, I was so turned off by Ozzy constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY telling the crowd to, "Make some %^&@ing Noise!" That I couldn't listen to it again after that. I just wanted him to shut the..... well you get the point.
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#50
tetters Wrote:Not every single one is a winner but the vast majority of them are great. As a bunch of grown men, try to walk away from Toy Story 3 without getting all teary eyed, seriously, I dare you...

My 3-year-old nephew got so scared by Toy Story 3, he started screaming for my sister to turn off the DVD. I'll agree that the story lines of the new kids cartoons are leagues above what they had when I was a kid. But, I am surprised about how many "adult" jokes they put in there to keep the parents entertained. Perhaps they think it will go over the kids' heads, but there have been a few times my jaw has dropped. Then again, when I was a kid, they would still air some of the old cartoons from the 1940s-1950s on local television, and I remember some rather disgusting racial stereotypes portrayed in those cartoons. When going through some old papers at my grandfather's house a few weeks ago (he recently passed away), we found some old gradeschool valentines from the early 1930s. The images on those valentines would be considered quite vulgar today. I guess what one deems appropriate is a function of what era they live in.
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#51
All of this -- i.e. trying to depict a "gritty, real-life" railroad situations in a movie -- has reminded me of another related question.

I've been wondering what an accurate railroad atmosphere -- and workers -- are really like? I've heard some pretty "interesting" stories (from former railroad staff and those connected with railroads) about workers boozing it up and also fudging their time sheets so that they would be paid for more hours or for work they didn't do, etc.

Is there any truth to this? Guess it depends on the era and the railroad ?!

Rob
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#52
30 years ago drinking was pretty rampant, but today, with random drug testing, it is pretty much under control. There is no second chance on most railroads You fail a test and you are done, at least in our area. That's the way it should be too, railroad equipment is very unforgiving you either get killed or kill someone else.
Charlie
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#53
RobertInOntario Wrote:All of this -- i.e. trying to depict a "gritty, real-life" railroad situations in a movie -- has reminded me of another related question.

I've been wondering what an accurate railroad atmosphere -- and workers -- are really like? I've heard some pretty "interesting" stories (from former railroad staff and those connected with railroads) about workers boozing it up and also fudging their time sheets so that they would be paid for more hours or for work they didn't do, etc.

Is there any truth to this? Guess it depends on the era and the railroad ?!

Rob

My brother works in the shop for a tourist railroad, and tells me a few stories. While I have no doubt most of them are decent guys, many have a vulgar nicknames, more than one has a mail-order-bride, most either smoke or chew, and only a few aren't found in the bar on the weekend. That's pretty much true in most industrial environments. I worked with plenty of well drillers and I would say the majority of them have prison stories Misngth .
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#54
So..After all the disscusion about profanity in movies, what real railroaders do...
Should I go see the movie Popcornbeer ...or wait for the DVD?
Is it Thumbsup Thumbsup or Nope
Torrington, Ct.
NARA Member #87
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#55
Are you saying we have a runaway topic? OMG! Wink
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#56
It was in Run 8. It was a big train, ok!

Yes, go see it, it's worth it. No it's not perfect. Yes there are some ridiculous things, but it it is highly entertaining and it's not COMPLETELY bogus.

--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad of the 1950's in HO

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#57
RobertInOntario Wrote:I've been wondering what an accurate railroad atmosphere -- and workers -- are really like? I've heard some pretty "interesting" stories (from former railroad staff and those connected with railroads) about workers boozing it up and also fudging their time sheets so that they would be paid for more hours or for work they didn't do, etc.Rob

My answer would be that railroaders are some of the most diverse people I've ever met. Some of the people I remember:
-A guy so cheap that he saved the napkins out of the open crew packs to take home... he also would eat any unlabeled lunch bag out of the yard office refrigerator so he could save his own lunch for the next day
-A guy that liked expensive toys... he drove a BMW to work, had a second car at his away terminal, had expensive stereo equipment in both. Lived in a very expensive neighborhood. But he had so many toys he had to work constantly to pay for them all. He had a series of girlfriends, but no family since he had no time for one.
-A guy that brought a plethora of luggage on every trip. Whatever it was he might possibly need at home, he brought with him.
-A gorgeous blond female from Alabama that had a southern "drawl" accent, long painted fingernails, she was always clean and smelled oh so good! I remember having a GP40-2 shut down one day, she went back with a fusee and a hammer and fixed it, came back and didn't have a dirt streak or drop of oil on her. She was an engineer temporarily transferred to my division.

Plenty of people who couldn't speak without saying the "F" word, plenty of very religious people. One guy was a pastor of a church. I also knew a guy that had 2 families, one at his home terminal, one at his away terminal.

The only real fudging of paperwork I ever witnessed or took place in was to put our working time off at 11:59 instead of 12:00, so as to allow us to come back to work in 8 hours instead of being mandated for 10 hours rest.

Finally, I never met a reckless engineer. I never knew an engineer to intentionally speed or break rules. Also, the alcohol abuse is all but over. On duty I mean. Plenty of railroaders drink, but it takes planning in order to assure that you are sober when the call comes to work.

Dave
-Dave
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#58
Puddlejumper Wrote:I never met a wreckless engineer

I hope you meant reckless!
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#59
jglfan Wrote:
Puddlejumper Wrote:I never met a wreckless engineer

I hope you meant reckless!

35

Indeed, I did! LOL! I fixed my spelling.
-Dave
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#60
Meh.

With all that been said, I think I'll wait until it comes out on DVD. Sounds like a nachos,cheese,salsa,beers,on the couch, with the laptop and the headphones plugged in kinda movie.

Which means I doubt my wife (the missus despises Denzel...) will want to see this and the kids are not old enough due to the language content. Although in retrospect they've probably heard their oldman say worse! Confusedhock:
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