300
Though this paean to ancient moral codes and modern physical training is based on the real Battle of Thermopylae, the film takes many stylistic liberties. The most obvious one being Persian king Xerxes was not an 8-foot-tall Cirque du Soleil reject. The Spartan council was made up of men over the age of 60, with no one as young as Theron (played by 37-year-old Dominic West). And the warriors of Sparta went into battle wearing bronze armor, not just leather Speedos
The Last Samurai
The Japanese in the late 19th century did hire foreign advisers to modernize their army, but they were mostly French, not American. Ken Watanabe's character was based on the real Saigo Takamori who committed ritual suicide, or "seppuku," in defeat rather than in a volley of Gatling gun fire. Also, it's doubtful that a 40-something alcoholic Civil War vet, even one with great hair, would master the chopsticks much less the samurai sword.
Apocalypto
This one movie has given entire Anthropology departments migranes. Sure the Maya did have the odd human sacrifice but not to Kulkulkan, the Sun God, and only high-ranking captives taken in battle were killed. The conquistadors arriving at the end of the film made for unlikely saviors: an estimated 90% of indigenous American population was killed by smallpox from the infected Spanish pigs.
Memoirs of a Geisha
The geisha coming-of-age, called "mizuage," was really more of a makeover, where she changed her hairstyle and clothes. It didn't involve her getting... intimate with a client. In the climatic scene where Sayuri wows Gion patrons with her dancing prowess, her routine - which involves some platforms shoes, fake snow, and a strobe light - seems more like a Studio 54 drag show that anything in pre-war Kyoto
.Braveheart
Let's forget the fact that kilts weren't worn in Scotland until about 300 years after William Wallace's day and just do some simple math. According to the movie, Wallace's blue-eyed charm at the Battle of Falkirk was so overpowering, he seduced King Edward II's wife, Isabella of France, and the result of their affair was Edward III. But according to the history books, Isabella was three years old at the time of Falkirk, and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
In 1585, when the movie takes place, Queen Elizabeth was 52 years old - Cate Blanchett was 36 when she shot the film - and was not being courted by suitors like Ivan the Terrible (who was dead by then). And though the movie has her rallying the troops at Tilbury astride a white steed in full armor with a sword, in fact she rode side saddle, carrying a baton. She was more of a regal majorette than Joan of Arc.
The Patriot
Revolutionary War figure Francis "The Swamp Fox" Marion was the basis for Mel Gibson's character, but he wasn't the forward-thinking family man they show in the flick. He was a slave owner who didn't get married (to his cousin) until after the war was over. Historians also say that he actively persecuted and murdered native Cherokees. Plus, the climatic Battle of Guilford Court House where he vanquishes his British nemesis? In reality, the Americans lost that one.
2001: A Space Odyssey
According to this film, in year 2001 we would have had manned voyages to Jupiter, a battle of wits with a sentient computer, and a quantum leap in human evolution. Instead we got the Mir Space Station falling from the sky, Windows XP, and Freddy Got Fingered. Apparently the lesson here is that sometimes it's better when the movies get the facts all wrong.
Lately, a few people have told me that they have seen the movie 10,000 B.C. and while they said it is good, they feel they need to mention that it's not historically accurate...REALLY? That movie is a good example of what the stone age was as Chronicles of Riddick is a good example of the future will be like. It's good to have a action based movie based in the past, but why can't we stick to the parameters that history has given us. Nobody knows for sure how they built the pyramids, but it certainly wasnt with wooly mammoths...would it have been less impressive if they were large african elephants?
To my delight, someone at Yahoo! also had a similar peve and made a little article and I thought I'd just do a little copy/paste job here...so here we go...
10 MOST HISTORICALLY INACCURATE MOVIES
10,000 B.C.
Director Roland Emmerich is usually a stickler for realism (see: sending a computer virus via Macintosh to aliens in Independence Day). So we hate to inform him that woolly mammoths were not, in fact, used to build pyramids. Heck, woolly mammoths weren't even found in the desert. They wouldn't need to be woolly if that were the case. And there weren't any pyramids in Egypt until 2,500 B.C or so.
Gladiator
Emperor Commodus was not the sniveling sister-obsessed creep portrayed in the movie. A violent alcoholic, sure, but not so whiny. He ruled ably for over a decade rather than ineptly for a couple months. He also didn't kill his father, Marcus Aurelius, who actually died of chickenpox. And instead of being killed in the gladatorial arena, he was murdered in his bathtub.
My brother turned me on to a britcom a few months back and I'm now hooked on them. It started with "the IT Crowd" then moved to "Peep Show" and "That Webb and Mitchell Look (or situation, or sound)" and "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace"
"Darkplace" is the best spoof of an early 80's horror/action show...that characters are great and it's really hammy. This is a small clip from one of the songs in the show...it's great!
I think this is a pretty old clip of YouTube but I had completely forgotten about it. In the last few days I'm driving my wife crazy with New World Order videos and it's made have to go and find more palettable ways show her some of these videos.
In this video, Alex Jones is interviewing Dean Haglund who was one of the main characters of the X-Files and The Lone Gunmen...he was the guy that looked like the love child of Garth from Wayne's world and Geddy Lee from Rush. He talks about the episode of the TLG ( I think it was the first one) where thwarted a terrorist plot against the U.S. The odd thing is that it was EXACTLY what happened in 9/11. What makes the clip even better is that it was filmed about 6 months BEFORE 9/11 happened. According to Haglund, members of the CIA came to them and adviced them on episode ideas.
It's a pretty interesting little clip.
What is your favorite quote and why?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy
I think it's good advice to a government that tries to supress it's people.
I started looking at blogs as a alternative way for my wife to communicate with her friends and family. We both have Myspace accounts and rarely use them because it just doesn't do what we would like for it to do. As I started researching Blog sites, I thought "This is actually a pretty good way to express one's opinions" (something that Myspace is horrible with), so after looking at other blog sites, I decided to create my own.
The blog doesnt have as much customization as Myspace, but the parts it does let you customize are far superior than the ones on Myspace. While you couldnt really share something you had read with Myspace, the blog lets you easily.
I plan to post up art work and discussions on politics in the future and probably rant quite a bit.
