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Cradle Will Rock 8.5/10
A very well done film chronicling the 1930's Federal Theater Project and the production of Marc Blitzstein's labor movement musical Cradle Will Rock directed for the stage by Orson Welles. It was made by my personal favorite Hollyweird liberal, Tim Robbins (if you haven't seen Bob Roberts, then you must!). It is a major production and he pulled it off swimmingly.
Check out this cast of characters:
Hank Azaria ... Marc Blitzstein
Rubén Blades ... Diego Rivera
Joan Cusack ... Hazel Huffman
John Cusack ... Nelson Rockefeller
Cary Elwes ... John Houseman
Philip Baker Hall ... Gray Mathers
Cherry Jones ... Hallie Flanagan
Angus Macfadyen ... Orson Welles
Bill Murray ... Tommy Crickshaw
Vanessa Redgrave ... Countess Constance LaGrange
Susan Sarandon ... Margherita Sarfatti
Jamey Sheridan ... John Adair
John Turturro ... Aldo Silvano
Emily Watson ... Olive Stanton
Bob Balaban ... Harry Hopkins
Jack Black ... Sid
Paul Giamatti ... Carlo
...and these are just the well-known cast members. It's a huge production. Sets, costumes, extras...the whole bit.
It's quite enjoyable to watch, if maybe a bit heavy-handed with the message here and there.
I definitely recommend it.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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