where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
show: 1:00 p.m. ( extra dollar off First Show Matinee )
costs: $6.25 Ticket + $5.25 small Popcorn ( w/ butter ) + $4.25 medium Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $15.75
auditorium: 14
seat: 4th row, 8ht column
synopsis: Rugby politics.
After the fall of apartheid in South Africa, the newly-elected president, Nelson Mandela, uses the national sport of Rugby as the means to unite all of his countrymen.
prediction: This propaganda may become a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Shanty town; 2.) Presidential staff meeting; 3.) Rainbow nation; 4.) Mandela's clan name; 5.) Rugby game; 6.) The unwanted jersey; 7.) National Sports Council; 8.) Unity; 9.) Human calculation; 10.) Bad beer; 11.) Family; 12.) Invitation to tea; 13.) Inspirational song; 14.) One Team, One Country promotional tour; 15.) The poem, Invictus; 16.) Conspicuous Chester; 17.) God bless Africa; 18.) Television interview; 19.) The dance; 20.) The penitentiary; 21.) Over-exhaustion; 22.) The All Blacks rugby team; 23.) The plane; 24.) Maori battle song; 25.) Street urchin; and 26.) The support of a whole nation.
audience reaction: The audience liked this movie.
recommendation: Read up on South Africa's recent history first before seeing this movie.
spoiler alert! Why were all the presidential bodyguards always clustered in one room of the presidential building with none of them on guard duty outside of the presidential office? When the Springbok team went jogging before their game against New Zealand's All Blacks, they passed by a white car ( on the left side ) that looked too modern to be in that era, the car looked like a Chevrolet Aveo.
fyi: Invictus is a Latin word meaning: unconquered, unconquerable or undefeated.
The poem that Mandela and the Springboks drew inspiration from was first published in 1875. Here, now, is the poem in its entirety:
INVICTUS, by William Ernest Henley
>Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
>In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
>Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
>It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
********************************************************
And now, for the very sobering facts: South Africa, after the fall of apartheid, became the Crime Capital of the world. The whites are the intended victims of racial hate crimes, specifically kidnappings, sex-slaveries, rapes and murders! And the South African government, dominated by the ANC ( African National Congress, of which Mandela was a leader )/Communist party condones such acts. The media saint, Nelson Mandela, was a convicted terrorist who wasn't allowed to come to the United States before 2008 because of his criminal status. If you want to know more about what Clint Eastwood is hiding away from his propaganda movie, do a Google search on: The Killing Of Whites In South Africa ... And America's Silence ( Although this article was written in September of 2002, the crimes against Africa's whites continue unabated--I just received an article two weeks ago reporting the rape/torture/execution of two Boer women [ A government spokesman said, "Anybody who doesn't like it in South Africa is free to leave." SCOOPIFIED, Winter 2009 ]). And for all of Mandela's talk about unity and non-violence, I'm not aware of him condemning his ANC's encouragement and silent support of such crimes. Why does the media not report on these atrocities? Are they so naive as to think that they are the only source for REAL news? Or are they afraid to be rightfully blamed for the monsters that they constantly help to create?
word of advice: You may be the only one who stands in your way to success.
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
tidbits: I may have to see this movie again because I missed the first ten minutes and because the screen went black twice:
At 2:04 p.m. ( the picture was restored four minutes later ).
And at 2:54 p.m. ( the picture was restored two minutes later ).
The management gave everyone a free movie pass. I may use mine to see this movie again.
