It's so cool getting free proofreading help on the internets!

The intent of films set in the past are almost always for allegorical purposes - the point is to throw light on the present.

You are totally giving short shrift to Three/Four Musketeers, which I'd rate as one of the great films of the 70's - pulling the extremely tricky feat of being genuinely very funny (successfully honoring the spirit of Buster Keaton) with brilliantly executed undertones of true outrage at the class system to which the…

Too bad for Phillip he can't go back and correct his gaffes like I did!

If we're going to play the 'who Hollie looks like game" - I would propose that she looks like a pint-sized Peggy Lee.

What you seem not to "see" is he is movie/tv-star cute and whether he is conscious of it or not, has perfected a certain manner of flirting shamelessly with the camera.

I'm hardly a huge fan of American Idol but even I think I know more about song choices than Elise. Doesn't she know its mostly women who vote - and THEY are inclined to vote for cute guys?  What on earth was she thinking singing 'Let's Get it On"???? How many straight older guys watch AI??? How many straight women or…

Joshua is probably my favorite of these folks,  but when I look at him I wonder who his audience would be.  He is a very old-school type of performer (WHY is the spell check telling me I spelled that wrong?) and unfortunately looks a lot older than he is which probably does not help.

I like Community a lot but the way its fans fetishize the show is pretty over-the-top.

I didn't like her at first, but I'm beginning to see the potential in Nellie's character for a unique creation.

I like your post, but I wonder if the Stooges were as popular when their films originally came out as they became when the films became staples on TV in days of yore.

@  zeppomarxist

I agree 100%  -  I don't only find their films not funny, I can't bear watching them,  but the guys DID have brilliant timing - I bet they must have spent decades refining their schtick touring in Vaudeville, THAT is something I would find a worthy subject for a film.

As someone who used to read tons about old films, I would see the Ritz Brothers names pop up now and then, but there was no way to see any of the films and I became really curious to see one.

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There are an untold number of stupid post-boomers out there who absolutely refuse to watch a movie that is "black and white" or "old", so just the fact that it is 'new' and in 'color' may bring in many new fans who otherwise would categorically refuse to watch the originals.

I'm glad Graves did a lot of research into the story - but ultimately, one should not judge its merits on its historical accuracy.

I don't think the historical accounts of these people can be trusted, the writings that survived are usually either propaganda to prop a person up or character assassinations with very little regard for 'objectivity'.

I would have liked the show better if they had focused on the common men, BUT it was certainly a valid choice to mix in the historical figures into the mix. People could say The Wire would have been better if they had just focused on the drug dealers or whatever.