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Samizdata quote of the day

· Arts & Entertainment · Slogans & Quotations

I never have seen any of the Rambo movies and who knows if I ever will? Probably not. The day is always full, and they’re not on any priority list of mine. Despite all this, the latest picture from Mr Stallone has given me one moment of pleasure. How so? Well, it’s being reported here and there that the movie, in which Rambo takes on Burma’s military junta, is making an impression with some of the junta’s opponents. And this has caused Marina Hyde a moment of irritation. ‘Oh, please!’ she exclaims. I don’t know why I should take satisfaction from it. After all, I have no interest in the quality of Marina Hyde’s day; in the normal way of things I’m happy for it to be altogether fine. But there you are: opponents of the Burmese regime don’t have the name of some smug little metropolitan liberal on their lips. They enjoy seeing the discomfiture of a tyranny at the hands of … Rambo. Dearie me, how gross.

– Norm Geras

February 9th, 2008 |

7 comments to Samizdata quote of the day

  • Andy
    February 9, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    I haven’t seen the movie either, but there’s a quote from the trailer which I’ll attempt to paraphrase;

    P1: Please take me up river into Burma.

    P2: Why?

    P1: It could change peoples lives.

    P2: Are you taking any weapons in?

    P1: No.

    P2: You aren’t changing anything.

  • R. Richard Schweitzer
    February 9, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Do you reckon that the Gawdjun and its writers will follow the path (to newspaper oblivion) being pioneered in the U.S. by the NYT?

  • Evan
    February 9, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    Apparently Sylvester Stallone is the new Velvet Underground.

  • veryretired
    February 9, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    I make it a point to avoid anything with Stallone in it, as I have a very low pain threshold for bad acting. Pauly Shore and a few others are in the “Stallone free zone” category.

    I have a similar list regarding several alleged comediennes who have never said or done anything remotely funny. Not surprisingly, Shore is on that list also.

    I also make it a point to read anything I run across by Norm Geras. I might not always agree, but it’s always worth reading.

    There’s an opposite list, of course, of those not worth bothering about. A person has only so much time allotted to him, and I hate to waste it reading tripe.

    I suppose that’s why I rarely listen to politicians’ speeches—why waste time that could be better spent scratching my ass?

  • spidly
    February 9, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    I loved it. not high art, but good action. loads of very graphic 50 cal work.
    Rambo kills a gang of pirates to save the doctors. The head of the group tells him “I know you think what you did was right but killing is always wrong”
    Rambo – *gaze*
    The leader has a change of heart of sorts kind of

  • Alisa
    February 10, 2008 at 7:44 am

    Actually I think that Stallone is a pretty good actor. Most of his movies are crap, but not because of his acting.

  • Saladman
    February 11, 2008 at 7:11 pm

    I have fond memories of the 1st Rambo movie, although I’d have to watch it again to decide whether to call it truly good or just enjoyable.

    I didn’t realize until I saw a “Rambo kill chart” on the internet that he only killed one guy in the first movie. Predictably, the body count has inflated in each movie since. I had my eyes closed for what seemed like a quarter of the last one. I actually think the plot was reasonably well done if simple, but I’m reevaluating my ability to watch new R-rated movies.

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