[Redcarmoose]

The 70mm Road Showshow stuff. My brother made it to the 2nd day.

 

[keepitsimple]

Leon the Professional Full Movie 8/10

Free on u tube

 

[keepitsimple]

  Get a hold of the original Norwegian version.
 
 

I think i will mate

 

[keepitsimple]

 
 
The Dead Zone - 8/10
 
One of my favourite King adaptations by one of my favourite directors, starring one of my favourite actors. If you were being critical, you might say the film's 'Hitler Dilemma' is painted in broad strokes, but that's more than made up for by the brilliant end move and some star turns from the venerable Herbert Lom, Tom Skerritt and Chris Walken. Showcases Cronenberg approaching the zenith of his powers with a lot of familiar tropes to the fore - obscure clinics, the cult mindset and powers of transformation. He's always had a way of dignifying material that would be schlock in the hands of lesser directors; it's surprisingly poignant at times.

ill put that on me list -cheers

 

[Hutnicks]

The Program (2015)   10/10 For what it is.
 
   This being the much awaited Lance Armstrong film. It could have been apologetic, and it could have villainized him drastically. What comes out of this film is a driven, viscous competitor who took the sport as it was and made it into an extreme product targeted at winning one single race every year. It's odd once again to see a film with no clear heroes. Everybody comes out damaged, even the good guy here. This film is a very well told tale about one of the most complex eras of a very complex sport. I was fairly amazed that they managed to get it all across in the time allotted. The casting with the exception of Landis is spot on. Ben Foster is downright creepy in the role and Elaine Cassidy actually made me think they used Betsy Andreu for the role the first time she appears on screen.

 

[Redcarmoose]

  The Program (2015)   10/10 For what it is.
 
   This being the much awaited Lance Armstrong film. It could have been apologetic, and it could have villainized him drastically. What comes out of this film is a driven, viscous competitor who took the sport as it was and made it into an extreme product targeted at winning one single race every year. It's odd once again to see a film with no clear heroes. Everybody comes out damaged, even the good guy here. This film is a very well told tale about one of the most complex eras of a very complex sport. I was fairly amazed that they managed to get it all across in the time allotted. The casting with the exception of Landis is spot on. Ben Foster is downright creepy in the role and Elaine Cassidy actually made me think they used Betsy Andreu for the role the first time she appears on screen.

Being a cyclist and a fan of Armstrong I can't emotionally watch the film. The subject just hits me so deep, I want to run away from it. The fact is that enhancements were always used in the sport. Much was not known to the public in the 1960s. Everyone has always taken something but Lance was singled out because he made the Europeans lose and look less right in their own backyard with their favorite sport. As with all great people, they are subject to controversy. The movie title should be "Sore Losers"

 

[Hutnicks]

  Being a cyclist and a fan of Armstrong I can't emotionally watch the film. The subject just hits me so deep, I want to run away from it. The fact is that enhancements were always used in the sport. Much was not known to the public in the 1960s. Everyone has always taken something but Lance was singled out because he made the Europeans lose and look less right in their own backyard with their favorite sport. As with all great people, they are subject to controversy. The movie title should be "Sore Losers"

Lifelong Cyclist here and racing fan as well. Not just that sport but just about every sport. The unspoken Omerta of sport is you don't tell. It did not come into public view until people started dying.
Armstrong was persecuted and prosecuted not so much for winning, but for being an arch bully. Riders and teams used dope galore but none actively sought ought naysayers and quite literally ruined there lives. Thats really the kicker here and why he was penalized so harshly. Did he deserve it? History will be the judge of that. The complicity of the UCI and the press (That means you Phil Ligget you whining little piece of human waste claiming innocence and that you were "duped", BS) here make Jobs Reality Distortion Effect look like pure kindergarten stuff. It was the unprecedented level he took things to in protecting the lie that did him in. That and the foolish arrogance of making a comeback. He'd have never been caught if not for that.
 
On a personal note. I admire the achievement and have little use for the individual in this case. I would not want to sit next to him on an overseas flight, but would probably say hi at a triathlon or something. Like all great competitors in any field the sociopathic traits are there. Most control them and use them only in the apex situations. He could not, or chose not to. I don't think even he understands himself. What he and Bruneel did, and I pointed this out to anyone who would listen at the time of the first win,  (Europe did not and still will not get it) was to strategically plan to win one race at all costs. The team was organized for it , Lance was saved for it and the plan was to use up every rider on the team to wear out the competition so their ace could be in yellow in Paris. It worked, it should have revolutionized strategy and tactics for bike racing but it did not. Shame. The doping was merely another part of the toolkit in winning. A component as much as the bike itself (if that does not scare you witless, it should) and they used it better than any other team. Remove that component and the rest of the strat and tactics are still sound, still unused for who knows what arcane "traditional reasons"  A team managed in that way with a stable of 4 top riders and a good crew of domestiques could have dominated all the Grande Races for decades.
 
What did happen though. Lance Sold the sport to the world. He is responsible for the resurgence of the road bike when you could not buy anything from a bike shop but an MTB for years, until he came along. The industry, and  UCI, owe him a great debt that he will never collect on and that they will never acknowledge. I honestly do not know if it is fair treatment for the greatest bike salesman in the history of cycling. Brands like Cervelo would not even exist were it not for his rise to prominence in the sport.
 
Personally I would have loved to see the UCI taken to task for conspiracy along with Armstrong but as with all major sports, too much is at stake for the sanctioning organization to ever get hauled into that kind of litigation.
 
  Sorry for the runon post. It is simply that pro or con this film will not disappoint. It wraps the above issues up in the time frame allotted very well . The non cyclist part of me (if there is one) cannot help but think that problems of that magnitude are not limited to cycling.

 

[oqvist]

  Being a cyclist and a fan of Armstrong I can't emotionally watch the film. The subject just hits me so deep, I want to run away from it. The fact is that enhancements were always used in the sport. Much was not known to the public in the 1960s. Everyone has always taken something but Lance was singled out because he made the Europeans lose and look less right in their own backyard with their favorite sport. As with all great people, they are subject to controversy. The movie title should be "Sore Losers"

cheaters excuses is always everybody do it. No not everybody do it but generally those that achieve the impossible often do it.
 
There is clean racers in Tour de France even if they are in the minority.

 

[WraithApe]

 
Personally I would have loved to see the UCI taken to task for conspiracy along with Armstrong but as with all major sports, too much is at stake for the sanctioning organization to ever get hauled into that kind of litigation.

 
OT:
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What about the FBI and Swiss authorities' take-down of FIFA's inner circle last year - 'Teflon' Sepp Blatter et al. New precedent maybe?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Great posts guys. For me in my twenties it was Greg Lemond who became my hero. At the time I knew of no such thing of performance drugs.


As we are cyclists here with personal ideas about our "hobby" and passion, I think normal folks don't understand the hardships of climbing hills in the rain after a whole day? Or how dangerous and painful the sport can be after falling or being hit by a car running a stop light. Great to bring up the idea that it IS all sports which can misuse and use drugs. And truly their is a morality here, which maybe at times could help those ( young ones) whose "passion" could personally lead them to do things which they would regret in later life. I myself used illegal drugs twice when cycling. Both times was due to ego. One time was to win a large street race against some pros and semi pros. Still during the race I found I didn't know everything and was kept from wining by the simple use of body slamming. Lol

Also remember too I'm only bringing the above up only to demonstrate that I do know of the lies we tell ourselves about the safety, when in reality much of it truly IS crazy.

Another time I used a performance compound to win out over a friend who would consistently beat me on hills. So I guess I do understand how the same ideas would enlarge when a whole career is on the line, even world fame. Not to mention that someone like Lance was completely indoctrinated by a corporation, a culture, a mindset to win at all costs and a team of doctors. To think that he could have won clean is an interesting question. And yes, I'm sure that there are great clean riders, as I was one 99.99% of the time.

Thanks for the responses. It is a complex subject and possibly at the heart of it, cycling could be a beautiful sport with less risk if the drugs were completely removed? Though I think most of us realize that is pure fantasy.

That same view of a fantasy is what inspires many of us, the stories and old films of the great riders which reach the level close to inhuman and God-like due to their abilities. We would maybe be even more inspired if they did it with a healthy lifestyle and clean hard work?

 

[WraithApe]

As we are cyclists here with personal ideas about our "hobby" and passion, I think normal folks don't understand the hardships of climbing hills in the rain after a whole day? Or how dangerous and painful the sport can be after falling or being hit by a car running a stop light. Great to bring up the idea that it IS all sports which can misuse and use drugs. And truly their is a morality here, which maybe at times could help those ( young ones) whose "passion" could personally lead them to do things which they would regret in later life. I myself used illegal drugs twice when cycling. Both times was due to ego. One time was to win a large street race against some pros and semi pros. Still during the race I found I didn't know everything and was kept from wining by the simple use of body slamming. Lol

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

OT again, but I can't let this one go LOL. At least where I live, it's cyclists, not motorists, who need to be reminded what a red light means. I'd say over 50% of cyclists routinely run red lights - as a driver I'm always worried at a junction that I'm going to go and some cyclist who's run the stop light will flash across my vision. They often come very close to taking out pedestrians at crossings too; several times I've almost been decapitated by some cyclist who completely ignores the red at the crossing and comes hurtling through when the 'walk' icon is flashing. For some reason, they don't seem to think of themselves as standard road users and decide for themselves which rules of the road they're going to choose to obey.

 

[Redcarmoose]

   

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

OT again, but I can't let this one go LOL. At least where I live, it's cyclists, not motorists, who need to be reminded what a red light means. I'd say over 50% of cyclists routinely run red lights - as a driver I'm always worried at a junction that I'm going to go and some cyclist who's run the stop light will flash across my vision. They often come very close to taking out pedestrians at crossings too; several times I've almost been decapitated by some cyclist who completely ignores the red at the crossing and comes hurtling through when the 'walk' icon is flashing. For some reason, they don't seem to think of themselves as standard road users and decide for themselves which rules of the road they're going to choose to obey.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Totally the agree with yourt post. Only posted the statement to explain in part just another aspect of the romance/pain/danger always with the sport. The fact that so much of the risks are almost part of it all.IMO

The willingness to do anything. Though football is the same way, if you know of any old pro ball players with bad backs. They all have them.

 

[bavinck]

cheaters excuses is always everybody do it. No not everybody do it but generally those that achieve the impossible often do it.

There is clean racers in Tour de France even if they are in the minority.

Finally we agree on something lol.

 

[Hutnicks]

   
OT:
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What about the FBI and Swiss authorities' take-down of FIFA's inner circle last year - 'Teflon' Sepp Blatter et al. New precedent maybe?

OT again. Sorry.
 
 I think the differnce is Blatter misappropriated funds and that raised the ire of the masses and brought the legal hornets down on him.  The UCI was complicit in ignoring tests to bring more money into the sport.
 
@Redcarmoose. If you raced against pros then you know well how hard and far these guys will go to win a race. Multiply that by about a 1000 and the pressure of being on a front running team must be incredible. Being told flat out you will never win without doping is a very cold dose of reality to swallow indeed.

 

[mutabor]

 
OT again. Sorry.
 
 I think the differnce is Blatter misappropriated funds and that raised the ire of the masses and brought the legal hornets down on him. 

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I think it was not a coincidence that Blatter was attacked at a time when Russians just finished celebrating Winter Olympic Games which they used to show the world that Russia was a force to reckon. Then there were sanctions and talks about how to take away Soccer World Championship 2018 from Russia and how did they manage to win that championship in the first place? After that the US started to dig under Blatter.