Writing from home tonight. I am off again for Easter weekend. Happy Good Friday, therefore, a truly miraculous day leading up to an even greater one on Sunday. Tonight I watched "Darkest Hour" (2017), the Winston Churchill biopic for which Gary Oldman recently won his Oscar. As biopics go, it's about what you would expect. English Director Joe Wright presents Churchill warts and all : he's a difficult personality, a political bulldog who rubs his fellow Parlimentarians the wrong way. He's very aggressive and an alcoholic, but he also suffers from insecurity. His wife and his trusty secretary bolster him up in his times of doubt.
The storyline takes place in May 1940. Churchill is chosen to replace the ineffective Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minster. The leaders he chooses for his War Council all want him to pursue a peace treaty with Hitler, whose troops are steamrolling Europe in all directions. The War Council are certain that England will be next. The siege at Dunkirk is taking place at the same time; the lives of the entire British Army are at stake (see "Dunkirk" as a companion piece to "Darkest Hour").
The tension in the film comes from the tug-of-war between the Appeasers - those who wish to give in to Hitler - and Churchill himself, who for all his flaws, including his overseeing of the Gallipoli massacre in World War One, has the understanding of the Fascist mindset to know that Hitler will not abide by any peace treaty England might sign. As it turns out and as history has shown, he was right. He was a flawed politician and imperfect man (aren't we all), but he was the right man to stand up to Hitler.
"Courage" was his byword. I remember as a kid, my dad had a plaque on the wall of our living room. On parchment, in calligraphic script, it read "Success is never final and failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts" - Winston Churchill. My sister has that plaque at her apartment now. Dad, as an American Veteran, was a big Churchill fan. Nowdays, there is a lot of opposition to his position of near-Sainthood in Britain by folks who claim all sorts of racist and Imperialist views and policies for Winston.
I don't know about any of that and haven't investigated it. The movie does show him as a bit of a brute, but mostly he is portrayed as wanting to stop Hitler, who he rightly saw as not merely an enemy but as a monster who could not be reasoned with.
For that correct judgement, and for his leadership during the "Darkest Hour" in England's history, he will be remembered and held in the highest regard, no matter his other failings.
Two thumbs up for "Darkest Hour". It's your basic movie biography, with nothing startling that emerges, just the history that you know. But Gary Oldman literally embodies Churchill, his Oscar was well deserved, and his performance brings new life to the oft-told story as well. See it.
I was reading back last night's blog, and I see that I went on a partially incomprehensible political tirade. Sorry about that, but I hope my overall point came through all the gibberish.
Tonight I am gonna avoid an outburst by making a list, which I haven't done in a while. Lists are innocuous, right? Even if you disagree with the listings? ("Hmmm, well....I dunno. Maybe").
Well anyway, the General Englishness of Things got me to thinking, what are the Greatest Progressive Rock Albums Of All Time? Then I thought, "wait a minute: you've certainly made this list before". I know I've done "The 25 Greatest Albums Of All Time". I did that one on FB in 2012, but that included all styles of rock music. This one is just for Progressive Rock.
It's late, so I might not elaborate on my choices, but if I don't I will try to expound in upcoming blogs. Writing about music might get me away from wrangling about politics for at least a little while.
Well anyway, let's start! We have one rule, that there can be only one album per band.
Here are the Top Five Greatest Progressive Rock Albums Ever Made. These are The Holy Grail.
1) "Brain Salad Surgery" by Emerson Lake and Palmer. Still sounds futuristic almost 45 years after it's release, as it will 100 or 1000 years from now.
2) "Selling England By The Pound" by Genesis. This is the distillation of every English musical and cultural influence and sounds like it was recorded in a thatched cottage while Robin Hood and his Merry Men went about their business in the background.
3) "In The Court Of The Crimson King" by King Crimson. Check it - this album was released in October 1969, six months before The Beatles broke up. It is easily the greatest debut album by a Progressive band, and it set an very high bar for any act to follow, both in musicianship and creativity. Ritchie Blackmore has said that he heard it as a member of Deep Purple when they were just beginning their career too, and he said to his band members, "what are we gonna do now"?
4) "Godbluff" by Van Der Graaf Generator. Once again a pure English amalgamation, featuring the champion of Shakespearean vocals Mr. Peter Hammill, and his brilliant lyrics. "The Undercover Man" alone could be considered one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, in my opinion. A high water mark for English artistry.
5) "Tales From Topographic Oceans" by Yes. This was the first Progressive Rock album I ever bought, partially because of it's bitchin' cover by Roger Dean (and it was only $4.99 on sale for a double album), but I had also heard it played in College Records, and although many Yes fans would choose "Close To The Edge" or "Fragile" as their picks on such a list, I choose "Topographic", the album that caused Rick Wakeman to quit because it was too weird, which is what I love about it. It is one of the most experimental Progressive Rock albums ever recorded.
So that's the Top Five. We will try to do more very soon.
Elizabeth, I hope you had a great week, and I will bet you are gearing up for the screening of your film next week at the festival. You are gonna have a sold out show, and you are gonna get a great reaction.
I am also seeing your other posts on FB, and I am glad to see you back. Remember that I am intuitive and that I always get the message.
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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