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Post by stephen on Mar 15, 2024 21:05:47 GMT
Jared Harris gave us the definitive cinematic turn as Grant (and should've gotten a follow-up biopic by Spielberg), and Affleck's a good foot taller than the real man was, but I am intrigued by the idea of Affleck playing Grant, as there are certain parallels in their reputations and historical reappraisals of their respective careers. I'm into this. I remember watching this video a while back about some of each president’s shortcomings and when it got to Grant his issue was the people he hired around him. While Grant may (or may not) have had good intentions at heart, most of the people in his administration certainly did not and would repeatedly undermine him, only interested in exploiting their position to enrich themselves. These betrayals really hurt Grant personally, and when I saw his portrait in the video I was watching while hearing about this stuff (and his legendary boozing) that’s when it hit me. I saw the sad, despondent look on that bearded man’s face and thought “that’s Ben Affleck” There are two brilliant biographies on Grant that just recently came out, and the History Channel did a fantastic three-part miniseries documentary adaptation of Ron Chernow's book that I definitely recommend, and I know exactly what you mean with his despondent Affleck-esque reaction to the sheer scale of corruption he found himself surrounded by. Grant is such a fascinating figure that you could build a whole series off of him. His Mexican War antics, his relationship with his father and his wife's family (fervent abolitionists vs slave-owners), his utter haplessness in civilian life, his meteoric rise in the Civil War, his fractious bromance with Sherman, and that's not getting into the presidency and everything after. |
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Post by Joaquim on Mar 15, 2024 21:24:19 GMT
I remember watching this video a while back about some of each president’s shortcomings and when it got to Grant his issue was the people he hired around him. While Grant may (or may not) have had good intentions at heart, most of the people in his administration certainly did not and would repeatedly undermine him, only interested in exploiting their position to enrich themselves. These betrayals really hurt Grant personally, and when I saw his portrait in the video I was watching while hearing about this stuff (and his legendary boozing) that’s when it hit me. I saw the sad, despondent look on that bearded man’s face and thought “that’s Ben Affleck” There are two brilliant biographies on Grant that just recently came out, and the History Channel did a fantastic three-part miniseries documentary adaptation of Ron Chernow's book that I definitely recommend, and I know exactly what you mean with his despondent Affleck-esque reaction to the sheer scale of corruption he found himself surrounded by. Grant is such a fascinating figure that you could build a whole series off of him. His Mexican War antics, his relationship with his father and his wife's family (fervent abolitionists vs slave-owners), his utter haplessness in civilian life, his meteoric rise in the Civil War, his fractious bromance with Sherman, and that's not getting into the presidency and everything after. Adding these books to the [long] reading list, thank you good sir  |
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Nikan
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Post by Nikan on Mar 15, 2024 22:20:20 GMT
Leonardo DiCaprio as Theodore Roosevelt. Come on Scorsese, do it already! What are you waiting for?? They look nothing alike and there's absolutely nothing in DiCaprio's bearing as an actor that would lead me to think he'd be a good choice for TR. Who WOULD be good as him? |
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Post by stephen on Mar 15, 2024 22:28:10 GMT
They look nothing alike and there's absolutely nothing in DiCaprio's bearing as an actor that would lead me to think he'd be a good choice for TR. Who WOULD be good as him? Nick Offerman circa 2005. |
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Post by franklin on Mar 16, 2024 0:03:39 GMT
Leonardo DiCaprio as Theodore Roosevelt. Come on Scorsese, do it already! What are you waiting for?? They look nothing alike and there's absolutely nothing in DiCaprio's bearing as an actor that would lead me to think he'd be a good choice for TR. Does Gary Oldman look like Churchill without good make-up?? A great make-up combined with an extremely committed physical transformation by gaining weight will do. |
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