What have you been watching?

Recently watched Allied. I don't think I briefly reviewed it. If I did I apologize for the double post.

I was actually looking forward to the film. Starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. I actually like Pitt and very much Cotillard as an actress and in other ways . In brief it is basically a "love story" about two SOE agents working operations in French Morocco and later in Britain during the war. The story reaches it's zenith after they return, marry and have a child. If I continue on I will spoil the drama because, to be honest, this movie lacks plenty.

With two top billed actors one would seem to think the acting would be believable. The chemistry between the two is non-existent. Their first meeting and subsequent love affair rivals Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Most importantly, as the plot unfolds, the characters relationship more or less decides the fate of the movie and it fails to draw any emotion from the audience. Pitt displays a consistent lack of emotion. I think it is by design as he is an undercover SOE operative, but he plays it poorly, without any range. Cotillard is the only saving grace of the film. A tough woman but hints at an internal struggle (plus she is very easy to glare at on screen). As the conflict thickens, about an hour into the tedium, you already know the outcome.

The action sequences and material were acceptable and the only thing worth enjoying. I can't imagine ever watching this film again.

 

I agree whole heartedly about Pitt's performance and the lack of chemistry. During the first half I kept wondering why Pitt was so dead. The roof top scenes were lifeless. Cotillard was doing all the work.

Where the movie was worth watching for me was the scenes set in the Blitz. Pitt's "sister" and her grilfriend, the guests in the party scene, etc. I would have liked those secondary characters to be fleshed out a little more. I found it kind of odd that, given Pitt's occupation with the SOE, he would be scrutinized more closely with those affiliations. I keep thinking of the movie "Gone Girl" where Ben Affleck's sister has a more integral rôle in the main suspence plot. Affleck's character's relationship with his sister had depth.

 

Excellent point about the Blitz. Those were well done, especially the party scene where they downed the Heinkel. Very intense, even in the small confines of my den.

 

Hollywood hates the idea of digital. All that couch casting/pedophilia losing its power.
How great could movies be if the pitt/jolie etc budget was put into script / digital.
Toy Story etc -show how good entertainment could be.
Let China consume it.

hollywood dying leaves the door open for honest art.
Writers, digital artists, voice etc. One door closes, another opens.

 

Poppy, I can keep the Hollywood ninja assassins at bay only so long............

 

Fear not brave fellow. Help is on the way. (lena dunham/schumers niece/ madonna are a very heavy weight for one mod to fend).
(looking into mirror)
Donald, Donald, Donald...
There. Peace now. i can feel it already.

 

Heard our "arts " budget was reduced from 36 million to 29 (yeah haw)...Next up- cbc liberal BS paid idiots.
cbc Calgary is so left, it walks in circles. We normally put those kind of cows down.

 

Yesterday I watched an interesting Belarussian film about the first battle of Smolensk that took place in July 1941. The film is called The Dnieper Line (Dneprovskiy rubezh) and is from 2009.

The film is very true to the actual events but has an odd cut so the flow of the events could be better. Good English subtitles are available. Worth watching.

 

Just watched the first episode of the Netflix documentary series Five Came Back. Excellent so far.

 

My wife and I got Netflix in december for "The Crown" and "Gilmore Girls, A Year In The Life" with the intention of unplugging after a couple of months. I don't think we will be able to.

I have been binge watching "Hannibal". Cancelled after three seasons because the producers couldn't secure the rights to "Silence Of The Lambs" and the other books. It's a shame. Very well written series. I would have loved to see what they would have done with the Clarisse character.

 

I watched a French post WWI drama called 'Life and Nothing But' (La vie et rien d'autre) from 1989. This film shows the aftermath of the war and the difficulty they had in identifying corpses and searching for MIAs. Apparently there were some 350,000 MIA French soldiers. An odd film but quite interesting all-the-same.

 

Most of you probably know about The Russian Liberation Army under General Andrey Vlasov, who fought for the German Wehrmacht.

There was, however, also another unit, The 1st Russian National Army, which was a pro-Axis collaborationist army under the Finnish borne General Boris Smyslovsky. Initially part of Nazi German Wehrmacht, Smyslovsky's forces were elevated to the 1st Russian National Army on 10 March 1945. On 4 April 1945 it received a status of the independent allied army. Liechtenstein was the only state which denied Soviet demands for the extradition of Russians who fought in the side of the Axis powers.

The whittled-down army of 462 men, 30 women, and 2 children then moved into neutral Liechtenstein on 2 May 1945, the Grand Duke, however, decided to stay in the US occupied zone in Austria because neither Liechtenstein nor Switzerland would issue him an visa. The Russians were cared for by the Liechtenstein Red Cross. On 16 August 1945, a Soviet delegation came to Liechtenstein in an attempt to repatriate the Russians.

A couple of days ago I watched a film about these events, it's a French-Swiss production from 1993 called 'Wind from the East' (Vent d'Est). It was a very interesting film. English subtitles are available on the internet.

 

I just watched this and I agree, a very very good movie. Did not know it was not new. A great review posted on your blog.

 

I miss the old days when Saturday afternoon monster- scifi films was the mainstay of local programming.

 

Just watched my favorite episode of "Hogan's Heroes." It was "Operation Briefcase". Hogan has to get a briefcase bomb to a German general trying to kill Hitler. Oscar Beregi played General Von Stauffen.

It had a more serious bent overall than all the other episodes. They even have a man die, the operative called "Hercules". He had the bad luck of being airdropped on the only night an anti-aircraft battery was in the neighborhood.

 

Kuhlmey Action in KareliaJuly 1944

 

There is a new series on PBS, which by the way, usually produces excellent viewing on any series. This is not a documentary. It is a series, first part was Sunday night. I assume the rest will also be on Sunday night. It looks great and for those with Comcast on Demand or another tv provider, it is free if you missed the first one, and I am not sure how many there are. It is “World on Fire”, the Second World War. Mostly foreign actors but also Helen Hunt. She plays an American corespondent. It starts with Germany’s invasion of Poland. Graphic, as you can imagine. It opens with an English correspondent trying to get his new Polish wife out of Poland as the Nazis are invading. Looks excellent so far. Each part is an hour long.

 

Does anyone remember the American TV show "That's Hollywood" with Tom Bosley?