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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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 Posted - 06/15/2013 : 15:12:04
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I hope this hasn't already got a thread, but I just came from seeing this beautifully done Australian film based on a true story. It is about four aboriginal girls who form a singing group and go to Vietnam to entertain the troops. With a group of basically unknowns as the singers, Dave Lovelace (played by Chris O'Dowd) takes them under his wing as their manager. He turns them from a limping country singing quartet into a group of soul sisters.
Everything seems to work here, not the least of which includes some sad truths about prejudice and the attitudes of both Americans and Australians in the 1960s. You'll smile most of the way through the film, cry just when you least expect it, and read about four amazing women who ended up doing far more than making a bunch of soldiers happy for a little while with their vocals.
If you get a chance to see it, don't miss it! |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 08/06/2013 : 21:23:09
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| Netflix says my rental will arrive tomorrow. More later! |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 08/08/2013 : 20:01:33
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I just saw it and agree with your thumbs-up appraisal. It's not perfect -- the story and characters can't quite overcome a feeling of cliche, even deja vu -- but the energy level remains high. Also, you get two extra visceral elements not usually seen in movies of this type: the twin Sixties agonies of Vietnam and of racism, which was/is not limited to the American South, not even limited to America!
And man, the music! Not only do they make Merle Haggard their own, but when the four girls turn to jumpin' soul music [or heart-rending, as in their response to the death of Martin Luther King], the screen explodes, particularly as you watch them get tighter and tighter with their stage moves and soul-baring vocals.
Each Sapphire is marvelous, and Chris O'Dowd never falters, even when we take a few unexpected turns. A solid rental for an international audience. |
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The Sapphires
