Our police have just told a group of climate change campaigners they must hire a private security firm to run their massive demonstration next month -- at a cost of thousands of pounds!
Allowing people to protest is a key pillar of our democracy -- we pay
our taxes so the police can ensure public safety. But now several groups
are being told to pay for private firms to steward the marches instead! Austerity is changing our very right to protest -- let’s come together to act now and stop this dangerous precedent.
The obsession by Americans about their cars in movies goes back a long time. It may have been one of the best action flicks that you have ever seen and then the car of your dreams comes ripping across the screen and you lose total focus. Everyone else is talking about how great the movie was and all you keep saying is "did you see that car?"
One of my personal favorites has always been the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 fastback. If you don't like this car, you must be living on some other planet. There are plenty of movies that this automobile has started but I don't believe it is ever truly taken over a movie like it did in the Nicolas Cage movie, Gone in 60 Seconds. The car itself had personality and she was named Eleanor and was Cage's nemesis. I don't know that I have ever seen a car in more immaculate shape as when he first sat down inside. I don't know about you, but a tear came to my eye the first time she hit another car and her rear view mirror was ripped off. If I could've, I would've gone through the screen and smack them around for ruining a true work of art.
Another great car that stood on its own was the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS in Dazed and Confused. This car brought me back to my youth as one of my brothers actually had one that was almost identical to it. I remember the first time I sat down and it and he put the key in the ignition and fire that baby up. To quote Matthew McConaughey, “We’re talkin’ some #$%@in muscle.”
The car itself from The Blues Brothers may not have made you want to run out and buy an old police car, but you kind of had to think about doing it after you saw this flick. The 1974 Dodge Monaco was Elwood's pride and joy. One of the funniest lines in the movie to ever describe a car was when Dan Aykroyd said, “It's got a cop motor, it's got cop tires, cop suspension and cop shocks.” You could hear the admiration and loathing so apparent at the same time, it will always remain one of my favorite movie lines.
Last but definitely not least is the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spider California from Ferris Bueller's Day off. Oddly enough, I went to see this with a buddy of mine who himself was a parking lot attendant and I don't believe I've ever heard someone chuckled so loud when those guys took off with the car. He basically answered my question before I could ask it. There really is no other way to describe this beauty than to quote Ferris Bueller, “it's so choice.” This was another one of those movies that brings a tear to your eye on the car gets driven out of the house and into the trees. You have to wonder what the director was thinking when he wrecked that baby.
Based on the Novel Written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Matthew Vaughn, Stardust features a star-studded cast including Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Peter O’Toole, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro.
The Stardust Movie is set in England and goes to la-la-land, another magical world, as the story progresses...
This movie version of the Dan Brown classic was one of the most controversial and intriguing, and I doubt there is/was/will be someone else out there who would question that. Before anything else, let us first establish that "The Da Vinci Code" was not an outright attack to Catholic religion conservatives nor was it an entertainment exclusive for those who had completed their Dan Brown (Langdon) series or their Holy Grail collections. The good thing about this film was that anyone could watch and understand it. Oh no, there was nothing cryptic at all with this Ron Howard masterpiece.
Every TV show has some type of signature that is known for. Seinfeld has the diner, Friends was centered around their apartment, but nothing beats a show that features a muscle car. You find yourself waiting for the scenes when they jump in and start tearing up the streets. The next thing you know you see the same cars driving around in your neighborhood because everyone wants to be like Mike.
The 1969 Dodge Charger for the Dukes of Hazzard was just such a vehicle. With the big old Confederate flag on the roof, generally was a fixture on our television for about six years. The Duke boys managed to out run the sheriff on many an occasion because no car could fly around like General Lee.
Herbie did not have nearly the punch of General Lee, but the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle sure did have some pretty good moves. The car was first featured on the small screen in the late 60s and early 70s and then finally became a star in 2005 when it hit the big screen. Herbie may not have been able to fly like General Lee, but the Porsche 356 engine was enough to get it around the track and take out a couple races.
The late 60s and early 70s produced some of the hottest muscle cars on the planet. Today's cars may have a little more horsepower, but very few of them can make an entrance like the cars of that era. Another monster to go from small screen to big is a 1974 Ford Gran Torino. Starsky and Hutch took down the bad guys in this bright red and white striped Ford that sported a 351 Cleveland and four barrel Holley carburetor. He lived for the trademark moment when Starsky would slide across the hood and then jump behind the wheel and snag a bad guys. The car may have been done a little injustice when it went to the big screen but it's still brought back the memories of one of the best muscle cars of the 70s.
The first time this band was featured in TV it was actually animated, but how can you ever possibly lead out Scooby Doo and the 1972 Bedford CF Mystery Machine. Sporting about 20 different colors splashed in various patterns, the van came to life in 2002 as Scooby Doo went Hollywood.
Not every vehicle was able to make the transition from TV to big screen as movies often adapt them to the current times that they were shot in. It's quite a shame as you would love to see some of those old 60s television shows have the same cars that they were originally shot with.
The one thing that has always amazed me is when a TV show has been turned into a movie and the first thing that comes out of the guy’s mouth after the movie is over is that they just cannot believe that they didn't use the original car. Just another point of how obsessed we are with the cars that we see in television and movies.
The film "Titanic" was riddled with moral dilemmas. In one of the scenes, the owner of Star Line, the shipping company that owned the now-sinking Unsinkable, leaped into a lowered life-boat. The tortured expression on his face demonstrated that even he experienced more than unease at his own conduct: prior to the disaster, he instructed the captain to break the trans-Atlantic speed record. His hubris proved fatal to the vessel. Moreover, only women and children were allowed by the officers in charge into the lifeboats. But the ship's owner was not the only one to breach common decency and ethics.
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