Suddenly he’s everywhere.
First of all – Ryzsard Kapuscinski was working on a book about Idi Amin when he died – Or maybe he finished it, not sure. One of the chapters in his book about Africa was devoted to Idi Amin – awesome, it was my favorite chapter.
Second of all – Forest Whitaker’s brilliant piece of acting – which just won him an Oscar. I’m so happy. That guy (Whitaker, I mean) has been around forever and … I’m just always so happy to see him. He makes a movie better just by being in it. (Ahem. Ahem. However, even he couldn’t save this monstrosity – but I consider that a point in his FAVOR, actually.) Integrity oozes off of him.
Third of all – I added Barbet Shroeder’s documentary about Idi Amin on my Netflix queue (hahaha, I have to keep reminding myself of the coolness of my Netflix queue – Yeah, whatever, I have a Netflix queue, yeah, uh huh, it’s not a big deal, whatever) … but anyway. I’ve heard about this documentary for years – it sounds chilling, and … well, right up my alley. Wacko dictator? Throbbing personality cult? Corruption, violence, political insanity? Count me in. So that will arrive whenever.
Fourth of all – I go to one of my favorite sites this morning – and see this.
My favorite Forest Whitaker moments are his big smile when Stephen Rea discovers the twist in The Crying Game and after he had hustled Fast Eddie in The Color of Money asking him, “Really, do you think I need to lose weight?”. I love his acting. One of my faves.
I read a true crime book once (duh) about a doctor from Chicago that was falsely convicted of murdering his wife, so when he was out on bond, he fled to Uganda and became the personal physican of Idi Amin. I can’t remember the name, though. Let me do some searching.
Lisa – ohmygod, yes, please find it. Sounds right up my alley.
Heh – I followed the monstrosity link and read the trivia. The last item:
Forest Whitaker expressed his regret for participating in this movie.
Good times!
Finally! It’s called “The Doctor, The Murder, The Mystery” by Barbara d’Amato.
Here’s the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Murder-Mystery-Barbara-DAmato/dp/0425156249/sr=8-13/qid=1172597713/ref=sr_1_13/104-0339386-4231177?ie=UTF8&s=books
Nightfly – hahahahahahaha Yay for him!!!
Lisa – seriously, you are my hero. I love true crime. And true crime that involves an African dictator? Ordering it now.
The book is now on its way from whatever used book store I just bought it from. For one cent. hahahaha Thanks for the tip, Lisa – it sounds really interesting.
I think you’ll like Barbet Schroeder’s Amin doco. There’s never been such a clear-eyed, deadpan portrait of anti-colonialism gone horribly wrong as this film. It starts off almost comic, portraying Amin as a borderline eccentric (albeit one who took power ruthlessly), but almost imperceptibly the film shifts into a presentation of full-tilt madness.
By the by (on another issue), is Netflix really all I keep hearing it cracked up to be?
Tom – I can’t wait to see it. I know he was a madman – perhaps even clinically so – but I’m VERY excited to see footage of him, etc.
And I’ve been “on Netflix” for 4 days now – and so far I’m very happy, and like a kid in a candy store.
For example – I don’t know of any video store in my area that would carry the Idi Amin documentary – so it’s great. I am signing up for all kinds of stuff I either haven’t seen since I was a kid, or stuff I’ve never seen but have always wanted to.
I’m really happy with it so far.
Tempe – hahahahaha yeah, really!! That’s gotta be tough.
I went thru a whole Judge Reinhold phase – i remember when he was poised to be the next big thing – member that?? Ruthless People I think was his big moment.
And he did a ridiuclous movie with Meg Tilly about New York City cops called Off Beat and you know what? I remember loving that movie.
Ebert gave it a good review so I checked it out and it’s kind of adorable. Very romantic and funny and sweet.
Did anyone else see it??
Here’s the Ebert review that made me go out and see it.
I saw that movie. I thought it was cute, too. Judge sitting in the front seat of the patrol car between Meg and her boyfriend … the two of them bickering … during a high speed police chase … yes, it was a little ridiculous but still fun.