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Posts:
125
Registered:
10/20/08
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(991 of 991)
Dec 2, 2008 1:03 AM
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I thought that POLISH WEDDING was good. Anything that lets Gabriel act emotionally I like. Poor guy, his wife was cheating on him!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posts:
125
Registered:
10/20/08
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(990 of 991)
Dec 2, 2008 12:57 AM
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> Totally agree, KHW. It's what each of us has been
> raised with that makes it "normal" (whatever THAT
> is). On this same topic, I was watching the news
> tonight (and the continuing coverage of the deaths in
> Mumbai), and thought of how the Hindus bury their
> dead - is it the same as it was in Gandhi's day (when
> they're burned on a funeral pyre and their ashes are
> "scattered").
>
> And, yes, it's definitely closure for me as well to
> see the person who has passed away (and I'm so sorry
> about your father - mine is fighting off cancer right
> now!). I can't begin to imagine the pain of the 9/11
> victims' families who weren't able to physically bury
> their loved ones.
>
> But, back on topic, I started crying when I read
> Gabriel's recollection of seeing the woman in her
> casket and his emotions. Maybe all of that was sort
> of pent up inside of him from the deaths of other
> loved ones (Mom, Dad, Sister, Aine), and it came out.
> At least we know our wonderful guy is not afraid to
> o cry - makes him that much more endearing! 
And the fact that he is willing to talk about it.
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Posts:
125
Registered:
10/20/08
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(989 of 991)
Dec 2, 2008 12:53 AM
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> All of us grow up with rituals depending on our
> ethnicity, our cultures, our denomination, "our
> people". I'm not sure there is ever a right or wrong
> when it comes to practicing any of them. Some of us
> accept them, because they're a part of who we are;
> sometimes we reject them, because we've moved on from
> that belief or we've turned away from it.
>
> As a Catholic, I've grown up with the open casket,
> kneeling before the deceased in prayer. I really
> don't think of it as anything objectionable. If
> anyone every feels uncomfortable about it, it's not
> mandatory. You can simply pay your respects in
> another way.
>
> When my father passed away seeing him in that state
> brought closure.
>
> I can remember my mother sharing with me that years
> ago, when she was a little girl, they would wake
> family members in the parlor of their homes. I think
> I might find that difficult. However, she said they
> really never thought anything of it, because that's
> just how it was done in those days.
>
> Perhaps, years from now, a new generation will create
> another vision of how they choose to commemorate the
> dead. Who knows?
>
> --
> Edited by knowshimwell at 12/01/2008 4:15 PM PST
Whenever I went the kneeler was at the chest area and if you did not kiss the person you heard about it afterwards. You were being disrespectful.
--
Edited by karenweston at 12/01/2008 10:00 PM PST
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Posts:
1,230
Registered:
7/24/08
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(988 of 991)
Dec 2, 2008 12:00 AM
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Hey Jtom, I'm keeping your Dad in my thoughts and prayers for a complete recovery. Stay in the fight...you're not alone...but you know that.
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Posts:
43
Registered:
11/21/08
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(987 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 8:48 PM
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Thank you, jtomppert, for your comments regarding my Dad. He was a really wonderful man. I was one of the lucky one to grow up with two loving parents.
My best wishes to your Dad for a speedy recovery. Watching the people we love go through cancer or illness is not an easy thing.
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Posts:
345
Registered:
9/19/08
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(986 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 7:44 PM
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Totally agree, KHW. It's what each of us has been raised with that makes it "normal" (whatever THAT is). On this same topic, I was watching the news tonight (and the continuing coverage of the deaths in Mumbai), and thought of how the Hindus bury their dead - is it the same as it was in Gandhi's day (when they're burned on a funeral pyre and their ashes are "scattered").
And, yes, it's definitely closure for me as well to see the person who has passed away (and I'm so sorry about your father - mine is fighting off cancer right now!). I can't begin to imagine the pain of the 9/11 victims' families who weren't able to physically bury their loved ones.
But, back on topic, I started crying when I read Gabriel's recollection of seeing the woman in her casket and his emotions. Maybe all of that was sort of pent up inside of him from the deaths of other loved ones (Mom, Dad, Sister, Aine), and it came out. At least we know our wonderful guy is not afraid to cry - makes him that much more endearing!
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Posts:
43
Registered:
11/21/08
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(985 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 7:40 PM
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jtomppert,
How boring to not be able to present a discerning opinion! I don't think I'd care to post on a board that didn't offer alternative opnions. How would you ever learn anything from a different perspective?
I can understand why a lot of people don't like Mad Dog Time or Polish Wedding, but I find them hysterical!! I'm glad GB took the Ben London role; he had the wittiest lines in the movie!! Even he admitted in an interview that he was reading the script in a restaurant and laughing to himself. The waitress came over and asked him what was so funny. When he told her she replied he should take the role if it makes him laugh like that!
The dialogue was so filled with puns it absolutely cracked me up!
Polish Wedding cracked me up, because it was very personal. The dining scenes, the attitudes of the people, were very real to how I grew up. No, I can attest that all Polish woman are not sluts; I never got that impression from the story. It was just those particular characters who acted like that in the story.
Now, GB may not be a chain-smoker, but he's totally not opposed to smoking. I saw the man, in person, chomping on a cigar!!
Okay, I need clarification. From GB's biography are you suggesting you deciphered his father to be an abusive alcoholic? I've read his book, and I even have it on audiotape, and I never perceived that from the text.
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Posts:
43
Registered:
11/21/08
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(984 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 7:14 PM
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All of us grow up with rituals depending on our ethnicity, our cultures, our denomination, "our people". I'm not sure there is ever a right or wrong when it comes to practicing any of them. Some of us accept them, because they're a part of who we are; sometimes we reject them, because we've moved on from that belief or we've turned away from it.
As a Catholic, I've grown up with the open casket, kneeling before the deceased in prayer. I really don't think of it as anything objectionable. If anyone every feels uncomfortable about it, it's not mandatory. You can simply pay your respects in another way.
When my father passed away seeing him in that state brought closure.
I can remember my mother sharing with me that years ago, when she was a little girl, they would wake family members in the parlor of their homes. I think I might find that difficult. However, she said they really never thought anything of it, because that's just how it was done in those days.
Perhaps, years from now, a new generation will create another vision of how they choose to commemorate the dead. Who knows?
--
Edited by knowshimwell at 12/01/2008 4:15 PM PST
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Posts:
345
Registered:
9/19/08
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(983 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 6:56 PM
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Thanks for the link, etopt, re Gabriel's interview and Mad Dog Time (yes, it worked!). Well, I'll have to give it another look-sey. That's too cool about him sitting on the set with all those other stars (and I didn't realize who SOME of them were until they gave the credits!). Duh! I'm glad he enjoyed making it!
And, KW, ye gads. You had to KISS the face of the person in the casket? Luckily, I've never been asked to do THAT (I wanted to touch my grandmother's hand before the casket was closed, and WISHED that I hadn't!).
Yeah, for Catholic's, there's a kneeling bench that's right there by the side of the casket. But it's usually down near the end (near the dead person's feet), so I always would just try to bury my head near the flower arrangement and not look to the LEFT. A quick prayer, the sign of the cross, and that's it (yeah, and EVERYONE IS looking at you while it's happening - ugh!).
Like grandma said, a Jewish funeral is the way to go (no pun intended!).
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Posts:
125
Registered:
10/20/08
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(982 of 991)
Dec 1, 2008 2:33 AM
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> Thank you SO MUCH, etopt, for that link to GB's
> interview. Good lord - he REALLY is the "thinking
> man's (and woman's) actor! (As if we needed to be
> told that!).
>
> I can definitely understand where he's coming from
> re: dead bodies. I don't know if ALL cultures "lay
> out" someone for viewing (I was told by several
> people who live in other parts of the US that they
> ABSOLUTELY do not have "viewings" of the bodies.) My
> dear, sweet Irish grandmother used to say, "You know,
> the Jewish religion has it right. You die, and the
> bury you by sundown the next day. You don't have any
> of this garbage where someone comes to the funeral
> home and says, 'Ooooooh, look how BEAUTIFUL Mary
> looks! I just miss her SOOOO much!,' and the person
> saying it didn't give you the time of day before!"
>
> And with Gabriel being SO close to his parents and
> his sister (who I think was quite young when she
> died), I think it would have absolutely destroyed him
> to see them in death. (And he doesn't mention Aine,
> but read an article that he was "absolutely devasted"
> when given the news that she had died.) But, not
> EVERY mortician does a good job, and I'm still
> haunted by the way some of my family ended up
> looking!
>
> Re: the troubles in Ireland versus the British. When
> I was growing up, these problems were still going on
> in Ireland. I REALLY wanted to visit Ireland as a
> kid, but my parents and my Irish-Catholic
> grandparents were VERY much against it. Even when I
> was a little older, I STILL wanted to visit (but then
> Lord Mountbatten was killed by the IRA and that was
> it once and for all - I guess they thought I would
> get blown up!). I guess that's just ONE of the
> reasons why I sort of "ignored" Ireland in my studies
> and stuck with Russia.
>
> AND my dad is STILL very anti-English, and my
> grandparents were up until the day they died. I
> mean, we're talking about very Christian, loving,
> forgiving people here - but when I told them in high
> school that one of the girls in my class was British
> (her dad had a job where he was transferred to the
> US), you would have thought I had said I was sitting
> next to a Nazi Stormtrooper. They told me "Stay away
> from her," "she can't be trusted," etc., etc. Really
> horrible stuff.
>
> And it's hard to imagine that the bombings and all
> that in Ireland are no more. Sort of like the Berlin
> Wall and the Soviet Union and the election of Barack
> Obama - can't imagine in my lifetime that I was a
> witness to these things!
What I really like about Jews is that everyone is equal in death. The body is wrapped in a white sheet. A simple, plain wooden coffin is used sometimes. No expensive casket or expensive clothing on the body. No laying around for 3 or 4 days. I always thought that was ghoulish. I remember going to a funeral home two days in a row to view the same body and you could see how much she had deteriorated by the second day. YUCK. It was a Catholic funeral and you had to kneel right next to the body. I don't know how Gabriel got away with looking the other way. When you were kneeling up there everyone else would watch you. And you were supposed to kiss the face everytime you entered the room.
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Posts:
839
Registered:
5/11/08
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Posts:
345
Registered:
9/19/08
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(980 of 991)
Nov 30, 2008 10:55 PM
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Oooh, I got quite a discussion going here, didn't I?
Great comments - it's SO great that we can come on these boards and "agree to disagree." I think that makes our group even more special (don't EVER disagree with anyone on the Television Without Pity boards - you'll get crucified!).
No, unfortunately, I didn't care for "Mad Dog Time" (maybe I had had too much Ellen Barkin that day since I had just watched "Ocean's 13" with her earlier).
I SHOULD have taken it as a comedy (glad that GB liked it!), but wish he had taken the Goldblum role who was IN it more (although Goldblum's character was never really FUNNY). And Goldblum banging EB wouldn't have been too comfortable for our guy anyway. And the Paul Anka scene was PAINFUL (sorry!) - our MadHandsome has admitted he can't sing, so please don't try, darling, okay?
But I DID laugh at the Dreyfuss scene when he's shooting Ben and saying, "Hop home, Ben." [BANG] "Now, crawl home, Ben." [BANG] "Roll home, Ben." (Maybe I need to see it again?)
Also, sorry, Polish Wedding is also on my "bleh" list. Gabriel, of course, is GREAT in it - yes, loved the "your nails are like daggers" scene, plus the lamp post and tears, "She threw sand in my face," but being a (former) Roman Catholic, and being around ethnic groups (Irish, Polish, Arabic, etc.), I never really got the "humor." It was almost like they were making Polish RC women to be a bunch of sluts (mom and daughter both slept around and both get pregnant ). And I don't know what the HELL that scene was near the end with the "Mary procession" and the girl being crowned, and the priest trying to pull her off the podium . . . really uncomfortable. I kept waiting for the funny parts and they never came.
AND from seeing it I would have NEVER guessed that MH was not a chain-smoker. It was AFTER I saw it that I read that he was a non-smoker, but he did it so well in the movie that I just instantly thought it was a life-long habit.
Yes, P.S. is another "bleh" movie. The "sex addict" scene is VERY tastefully done - I was actually VERY saddened, and it was due to Gabriel's delivery of the lines (not an easy thing to do). Especially when LL says that SHE was on the list (evidently he had a lot of groupies - male & female).
I liked one of the first scenes that LL & GB had together where she says that he's her best friend (set the "tone" between the two of them), and I thought he wanted to get back together with LL - that's why the "admission" about the "sex addict" thing and him wanting to be "honest" with her? It's been awhile since I've seen it - honestly, a very ODD little movie.
AND I forgot - "Someone/Somebody is Waiting" - I ALSO saw that this past weekend. An earlier post had said that GB was a "jerk" or something to that effect, but I saw him as VERY tragic, very emotional, the whole thing. Just a father who was an alcoholic who wanted to get his family back (after Mom is killed).
Of course, as usual, not enough GB screen time (is there EVER enough - ha!?!). Thought it was REALLY weird with the oldest son burying dad in the backyard. I can understand he freaked out - but it WAS accidental. (The VHS box made it sound like he had murdered his father "in cold blood" when in fact it was an accident).
After I saw "Wah-Wah" today, I thought that GB's real-life character in THAT film could have VERY much ended up like his role in the other movie (alcoholic/abusive dad) if circumstances were different.
Ohhh, and the "bad, bad girl" reference - I almost missed it. Thought that he had said it to Natasha Kinski (sp?) in one of the flashback sequences, but it was to the girlfriend after she stole the sunglasses. Ummm - worth the price of the entire video.
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Posts:
43
Registered:
11/21/08
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(979 of 991)
Nov 30, 2008 9:21 PM
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P.S.-Now, there's a movie that I had a difficult time staying up to watch...It was boring! I like Laura Linney but her character was always snivelling and a bit melodramatic for my taste. In my opinion, I could not accept, or "get into", her match up with Toper (Did I spell that correctly?) Grace.
It's not one of my favorite GB movies.
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Posts:
1,667
Registered:
6/18/08
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(978 of 991)
Nov 30, 2008 9:03 PM
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> Has anyone seen P.S.? I saw just the beginning.
> Gabriel plays a SEX ADDICT!!!!!!!!!! ha ha I'll
> l have to catch it again sometime.
I've seen this one. Sex scene between Laura Linney and Topher Grace, of all people.......hmmmmm....never thought I'd see that combo..........interesting.......
And yes, he was a sex addict...........and had had affairs with MEN.....the scene when he tells her about it is quite touching, mind you.........I actually yelled at the TV when he said that he had slept with men.......NOT GABE!!!! lol............
The movie isn't bad.......it isn't good either.......just middle.......
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Posts:
125
Registered:
10/20/08
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(977 of 991)
Nov 30, 2008 8:32 PM
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Has anyone seen P.S.? I saw just the beginning. Gabriel plays a SEX ADDICT!!!!!!!!!! ha ha I'll have to catch it again sometime.
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