films
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:01 pm1.-Angela's Ashes
Born in Brooklyn, New York City on August 19, 1930, McCourt is the eldest son of Malachy and Angela McCourt. He is joined by brother Malachy in 1931, twins Oliver and Eugene in 1932, and a sister, Margaret, in 1933. After the death of his sister Margaret when she was only a few weeks old, his parents move the family back to their native Ireland, where his younger twin brothers both die within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie (b. 1940) are born.
Life in Ireland, and specifically life in Limerick City, in the 1930s and 1940s is described in all its grittiness. The family lives in a dilapidated lane of houses that regularly floods, and share one outdoor toilet or lavatory with all their neighbours. Although his father teaches the children Irish stories and songs, he is an alcoholic and seldom finds work (when he does he spends the paycheck money in the bars), and so they live on the dole (welfare) or charity while the father spends days drinking in bars. For years the family subsists mostly on bread and tea. (Divorce was illegal in Ireland until 1997).
Author Frank McCourt
Frank's father finally gains employment during World War II at a defence plant in Coventry, England. In this situation, he finds it easy to drink away most of his wages, and only once does he send any money back to the struggling family in Ireland. Their mother is destitute, as there are not many jobs for women at the time. Angela's sister and her widowed mother begrudge any help they have to give her, because they disapprove of her husband, mostly because he hails from Northern Ireland and therefore he has a strange accent and what Angela's family calls 'the odd manner.' The McCourt family are continually afraid of going to hell if they do not pray or confess often enough as specified by the church.
In the damp, cold climate of Ireland, the children have only one set of ragged clothing each, patched shoes and no coats or boots. Frank develops typhoid and chronic conjunctivitis, and is hospitalized. Sometimes Frank and his brothers have to scavenge for lumps of coal or peat turf for fuel, or steal bread to survive. The family is finally evicted after Frank takes a hatchet to the beams to burn for winter heat and the ceiling collapses in on them. The family is forced to move in with a distant relative who treats them poorly. Teenage Frank starts work for the Post Office as a telegram delivery boy, and also works for the local money lender writing threatening letters to the people who owed her money, as a means to save money and is finally able to realize his dream of returning to America. The story ends as he sails into Poughkeepsie, New York, to begin a new life at the age of nineteen.
2 Movie quiz
-What actor played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars'
-In "Back to the future", what speed must the Delorean reach to travel through?
-While in Vietnam, where was Forrest Gump shot?
-In Lord of the Rings,What actor plays Frodo?
-What's the first rule of fight club?
-What is the little girls name in "Pan's Labyrinth"?
-In Fargo, what item makes an appearance toward the end of the film?
3Actors and actresses.
began her career on Broadway in the early 1950s as understudy for and later acting the role of The Girl (the part memorably essayed by Marilyn Monroe on film) in the comedy "The Seven Year Itch". She went on to appear opposite Edward G. Robinson in "The Middle of the Night" (1956-57) before Hollywood beckoned.
Was born and raised in Wisconsin. After briefly attending the University of Wisconsin, she moved to NYC to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she made the acquaintance of the man whom she would marry--actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes. She was brought to Hollywood to portray Jose Ferrer's wife in "The High Cost of Loving" (1958) and went on to bring warmth to her role in "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962). Followed with her first collaboration with Cassavetes as director, "A Child Is Waiting" (1963), in which she was the emotionally distraught mother of a mentally challenged child. After a five-year hiatus from the big screen during which she concentrated on raising her family with the occasional TV guest role thrown in, she returned to films as the wife of a millionaire who hires Frank Sinatra's "Tony Rome" (1967) to find their missing daughter. But it was to be her association with her spouse that would bring her considerable attention and acclaim.
Born in Brooklyn, New York City on August 19, 1930, McCourt is the eldest son of Malachy and Angela McCourt. He is joined by brother Malachy in 1931, twins Oliver and Eugene in 1932, and a sister, Margaret, in 1933. After the death of his sister Margaret when she was only a few weeks old, his parents move the family back to their native Ireland, where his younger twin brothers both die within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie (b. 1940) are born.
Life in Ireland, and specifically life in Limerick City, in the 1930s and 1940s is described in all its grittiness. The family lives in a dilapidated lane of houses that regularly floods, and share one outdoor toilet or lavatory with all their neighbours. Although his father teaches the children Irish stories and songs, he is an alcoholic and seldom finds work (when he does he spends the paycheck money in the bars), and so they live on the dole (welfare) or charity while the father spends days drinking in bars. For years the family subsists mostly on bread and tea. (Divorce was illegal in Ireland until 1997).
Author Frank McCourt
Frank's father finally gains employment during World War II at a defence plant in Coventry, England. In this situation, he finds it easy to drink away most of his wages, and only once does he send any money back to the struggling family in Ireland. Their mother is destitute, as there are not many jobs for women at the time. Angela's sister and her widowed mother begrudge any help they have to give her, because they disapprove of her husband, mostly because he hails from Northern Ireland and therefore he has a strange accent and what Angela's family calls 'the odd manner.' The McCourt family are continually afraid of going to hell if they do not pray or confess often enough as specified by the church.
In the damp, cold climate of Ireland, the children have only one set of ragged clothing each, patched shoes and no coats or boots. Frank develops typhoid and chronic conjunctivitis, and is hospitalized. Sometimes Frank and his brothers have to scavenge for lumps of coal or peat turf for fuel, or steal bread to survive. The family is finally evicted after Frank takes a hatchet to the beams to burn for winter heat and the ceiling collapses in on them. The family is forced to move in with a distant relative who treats them poorly. Teenage Frank starts work for the Post Office as a telegram delivery boy, and also works for the local money lender writing threatening letters to the people who owed her money, as a means to save money and is finally able to realize his dream of returning to America. The story ends as he sails into Poughkeepsie, New York, to begin a new life at the age of nineteen.
2 Movie quiz
-What actor played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars'
-In "Back to the future", what speed must the Delorean reach to travel through?
-While in Vietnam, where was Forrest Gump shot?
-In Lord of the Rings,What actor plays Frodo?
-What's the first rule of fight club?
-What is the little girls name in "Pan's Labyrinth"?
-In Fargo, what item makes an appearance toward the end of the film?
3Actors and actresses.
began her career on Broadway in the early 1950s as understudy for and later acting the role of The Girl (the part memorably essayed by Marilyn Monroe on film) in the comedy "The Seven Year Itch". She went on to appear opposite Edward G. Robinson in "The Middle of the Night" (1956-57) before Hollywood beckoned.
Was born and raised in Wisconsin. After briefly attending the University of Wisconsin, she moved to NYC to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she made the acquaintance of the man whom she would marry--actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes. She was brought to Hollywood to portray Jose Ferrer's wife in "The High Cost of Loving" (1958) and went on to bring warmth to her role in "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962). Followed with her first collaboration with Cassavetes as director, "A Child Is Waiting" (1963), in which she was the emotionally distraught mother of a mentally challenged child. After a five-year hiatus from the big screen during which she concentrated on raising her family with the occasional TV guest role thrown in, she returned to films as the wife of a millionaire who hires Frank Sinatra's "Tony Rome" (1967) to find their missing daughter. But it was to be her association with her spouse that would bring her considerable attention and acclaim.