"John Coffey", so titled because of the central figure in the story of The Green Mile (Film). This is a personal subjective review.
A life long procrastinator... I have put off watching a show for close to a decade. And that is The Green Mile. It is a movie based on the namesake novel by Stephen King. I have watched three Stephen King's movie prior to this and they were Misery, Dolores Claiborne, and The Shining.
I have no defence for this procrastination except that this movie is pretty long standing at 3 hours and 8 minutes of reel time. And I like to be focused when I watch a movie. A movie is a piece of art, and I have never fell asleep during a movie, not even when I caught the unexpectedly slow moving Ad Astra... yes, the picturesque one starring Brad Pitt...
This 1999 production directed by Frank Darabont featured the really good looking and talented actors in DaviD Morse, Eve Brent, Bonnie Hunt, (the late) Michael Clarke Duncan and the very handsome young Tom Hanks.
John Coffey was the titular character of a death row inmate played by Michael Clarke Duncan and his story was told by Paul Edgecomb the prison guard played by Tom Hanks.
The story is a smooth collection of some quite provocative themes, a few of which are mortality, friendship, racism and poetic justice. I also enjoyed the admirable and fine interaction between friends and between couples depicted in the movie.
There's also a pretty moving monologue by Coffey as he was accompanied down the green mile, which was eloquently referred to at the very end of the movie when Paul considered his own monumental transgression.
Summary: A deeply touching story that is well told and despite the supernatural component, the very earthly and soul deep issues reaches your mind, heart and soul if you allow.
So, a very calmly played game that became one of my most simple and instructive miniature. A miniature being a game that is over in less than 25 moves. It is rare for any player to get lucky and have a decently played and won game of just 13 moves. My Brazilian opponent gentlemanly resigned after my 13th move because of the positional compromise he got into and even when there was no capture, the opening of my bishop lines, and the threat of knight fork on two black major pieces, even as it was attacking the bishop... it was enough for him to not carry on. It's also special on so many levels, both because the resign came through gracefully, and not a single piece was captured because the game was barely out of the opening phase... and also because I played with a very calm and unexcitable mode. I believe I was possessed by Harmon. LOL.
Alright, this is not about a game of chess. It is about a super-hyped Netflix hit of the last two months, which is about, well, chess lol.
Now it's been half a year since I completed the whole MCU Netflix series during the mid 2020 world wide lockdown. My best friend was binging The Crown, and nudged me one day about The Queen’s gambit. I did not know if it was because of the sheer popularity of the latter or that my best friend remembers my love/ interest in chess.
Starting out on the 7 part miniseries, I wondered when Beth Harmon (remarkably played by Anya Taylor-Joy) was going to meet the enigmatic B Fischer, given her meteorite rise in American chess and also the 60-70s era as a backdrop.
Alas it was not meant to be, because the show was based on a fiction by Walter Tevis. There were though some points of reference to real historical characters and events. Like both Beth and Benny (I remember the good looking boy as Newt from The Maze Runner, and Jojen Reed from Game of Throne) being a kind of Bobby Fischer, based on their own background in the story and some personality traits.
What is of particular interest to me was the details of the show that are probably deliberate and very poignant. [Spoilers Ahead; proceed at your own risk] For example, the biggest game at the end where Beth had with the russian grandmaster Borgov, was played with the Queen’s gambit opening, the namesake of the miniseries’ title. In the style of the church lady: ain't that special?
And then there's something else… the last move she made, before it was GG for Borgov, was a side step of her king. It was, I think, pretty amazingly thought up by the heavyweight chess teachers GM Kasparaov and the American Bruce Pandolfini. She was challenging the Russian Regality and Borgov was a symbol of the king on the Russian side. It was like the move says: move aside, my King.
I bet that last game was designed. And I will find time to share Beth Versus Borgov soon. I’m already looking forward to it myself! just gotta find the time, and let me go to my calendar, and check. hah did you see that coming? ;)
