On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:53:21 -0500, Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe wrote > Having admitted that, I want to assert that film is a business. It > occasionally produces some great artists, John Huston, Akira > Kurasawa, Ingmar Bergman, but it remains a business. <snip> > The typical investor in films would rather have one that > teenagers see ten times than that history buffs see once and cheer > about its accuracy and clarity. The market can do many things but > it isn't much good for making great art any more. I think that Hollywood would judge "New World" as a business failure too because it's more of a self-indulgent piece of ....art than a marketable source of entertainment. "Master and Commander" though a mish mash of at least four of Patrick O'Brian's books, and not a faithful rendering of any one book, "Far Side of the World" in particular, it was at least entertaining and well done. "Pirate's of the Caribbean" which was also a historical atrocity as far as material culture goes was a very entertaining and lucrative production. It would seem that "New World" fails on all counts, and amounts to little more than a video coffee table book. August Schellenberg was awesome in "Black Robe" as was Wes Studi in "Last of the Mohicans". With such talent in the movie, it's a shame that a better film could not have been made. Regards, Tom Apple To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html