Thank you. I am glad that we agree. Having grown up in a war zone, I probably take the inevitability of violent outbursts more easily.

I love horses too. In the early 1960's (in my 20's), for about a year, I rode almost every day. I loved horses from early childhood. I think that they are twin "best friends" to men.

Huh? Nothing could be further from my mind. I stated that Capitalism is the most productive path we have ever taken. But we were talking about rich super heroes and I was specifically addressing Stark Industries.

Just because you are a Capitalist does not mean that you are good or that your business practices are ethical. The whole foundation of the first Iron Man movie was that his munitions were now being used by terrorists - who then caught Tony as a big bonus prize.

My spinoff from this was that it is easier to just do good if you are healing people; if you are making munitions you really have your job cut out for you to be sure that you are not inadvertently doing evil.

Jan

Dear K,

I am just taking the opportunity for sending to YOU and to honor YOU with my 1000th input into this Gulch. It feels good to have arrived there. You have taught me a lot about it by just being so active in it.

Thank you. I am raising a glass of Veuve Clicquot in you honor. Notice how well her name fits with what we do so much here.

All the best.
Sincerely,
Maritimus

I generally just watch Scifi movies, but I ended up selecting this one for some reason one time and was entranced. Of course, I have ridden since I was a teen and the love of horses and their beauty is not foreign to me, so perhaps it was a slippery slope.

Jan

Hello, Jan,

The last time I checked, socialists, communists, fascists, thieves and parasites walk, in spite of pants, skirts, tuxedoes or bikinis. All od them have nothing to do with capitalism. Capitalism did not cause their appearance, did not create their moral codes or their whim of the moment attitudes. Capitalism is not a blueprint for designing human beings. It is the most advanced socio-political system ever invented. The most advanced, because it is the one by far most compatible with the fundamental human nature and the one most conducive to the cravings for life and survival, freedom of thought and action and the multidimensional pursuits of happiness.

Somehow, I thought that your description blamed capitalism for human stupidity and wrongdoing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I hope that you agree.

All the best.
Sincerely,
Maritimus

I think that Secretariat is one of the best movies, primarily because it is a through examination of the way a full commitment to a goal, despite the fears and the setbacks can bring a deeply rewarding success. Few movies convey this with so many beautiful images. You can talk me into watching the Blue Ray version almost any time.

saint marie, herb. gorgeous actress

Sorry, but Eva Marie Saint gotta be a great grandma by now.

GHBs! I am laughing so hard. thanks. it's always nice to wake up to an I the living laugh

Oh boy! North by Northwest is probably my favorite movie. Wish I was on an overnight train trip with somebody cute and curvy right now.

OK, I've seen parts of it.

Open Range - a western with Robert Duval, Kevin Costner, and Annette Bening.

In a scene where Boss and Charlie face the corrupt marshal in the crowded town diner...

Boss Spearman (Duval): "And we'll be having more than that with you, Marshal."

Marshal Poole: "No need to make the café messy...with folks. I've got a warrant sworn out for your arrest for assaulting Baxter's men."

Boss Spearman: "We got a warrant sworn for attempted murder for them that tried to kill the boy who's laying over there at the doc's. Swore out another one for them that murdered the big fellow you had in your cell. Only ours ain't writ by no tin star bought and paid for, Marshal. It's writ by us. And we aim to enforce it."

Marshal Poole: "Is that so?"

Boss Spearman: "We got no quarrel with none of you folks. Baxter's men bushwhacked our friend and shot him dead. Shot a sixteen-year-old boy, too. And clubbed him so hard...he might not live. Tried to take our cattle.

Your marshal here ain't gonna do nothing about it. You don't like free grazers in this town. We don't much like being here. But a man's got a right to protect his property and his life. And we ain't letting no rancher or his lawman take either. We got no intention of harming bystanders."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4werfN6f...

I would add the classic movie Shane. If only for the dialogue from Alan Ladd explaining why a gun is not evil. Short, sweet, and so much truth!

Let's not overlook flipping off the Nazis in The Sound Of Music.

I haven't seen this in a long time, but as I recall, the hero of Shenandoah (1965), played by James Stewart, sounded like an Objectivist.

Everyone here picked the movies that I would have chosen. So, I'll have to to a TV Western series: Have Gun Will Travel. That was the first time I had seen a character with a profit motive.

Thank you for the heads-up on the film, "Agora," fellow gulchers. I ordered it straight away. As for me, the first film that came to mind was, "Cyrano de Bergerac," made in 1950 and starring Jose Ferrer. It was one of many film adaptations of the Edmond Roston play, which I believe Rand liked.

Might be Who would have thought that a racoon with a blaster on a walking plant would have been viable?

Jan

Best Iine in Avengers1 ! "Puny god."

Jan

One of the things that was remarkable about the first (and second too - but more startling in the first) Avengers movie was that the two Avengers without super powers had as effective a role as the demigods that make up the rest of the team. I thought it was superb when Black Widow interviewed Loki and he got the best of her - so NOT!

Jan, it is serious but uplifting

Nevada Smith. Steve McQueen plays the young version of Alan Ladd .

So True. That one should definitely make the list. Has some great lines

*****
Sam Wilson: Hey, Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?

Steve Rogers: If they're shooting at you, they're bad.

*****


Steve Rogers: Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You're heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time to tell the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not.

Sam Wilson: Did you write that down first, or was it off the top off your head?
*****
and perhaps my favorites from the show:



Nick Fury: These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen.

Steve Rogers: I thought the punishment usually came *after* the crime.

Nick Fury: We can't afford to wait that long.

Steve Rogers: Who's "we"?

Nick Fury: After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surgeon threat analysis. For once we're way ahead of the curve.

Steve Rogers: By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection.

Nick Fury: You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff.

Steve Rogers: Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so the people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear.

Nick Fury: S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you get with that program, Cap.

Steve Rogers: Don't hold your breath.

Who knows Antman might be good too