What have you been watching?

Age of Heroes (2011). Great movie!

 

For some reason this tv movie was not appreciated as well as it should have been. I liked it. It was never officially released on dvd. Only a VHS quality transfer was ever released. Surprising considering the cast (Billy Crystal et.al.)... Considering many of the crappy movies about wwii flyers that are out there and based on nothing historical, this comes across as a well researched and fair account of this event. There is some melodrama mixed in, but... I read the book and it was a sincere attempt at showing the event, including snippets of life in the city before the bomb was dropped. The score by Maurice Jarre was not bad either.

 

HBO recently showed it in a marathon run and I rewatched for the first time since its Premier way back when. While my original criticisms remain (diffused and disruptive story telling due to following various unrelated characters) I found deeper content that gave a nuanced chronicle of the experience of Island fighting in the Pacific.

You can look at it from the historian's point of view and think it great, but as the casual viewer you see a mish-mash of vignettes that asks a lot from the viewer to keep up with radically divergent story lines and characters.

 

I recently watched "The Expendables 1 & 2" They were ok. Sort of like a modern day equivalent of the Saturday morning western shoot'em ups. Meh. "The Expendables 3" is next. Meh again I'm sure.

 

Watched this movie a lot of times when I was a kid. I was so thrilled to see our local television running it again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_a_Few_Dollars_More

 

Hang 'Em High (1968), another movie starring Clint Eastwood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_%27Em_High

 

Watched an especially good episode of Combat! last night.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0544585/

 

Two great post-WWII moves. Both films are about soldiers readjusting to civilian life after WWII.

1) "The Best Years of Our Lives."

2) "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit."

 

I have just watched two WWII related films, one Russian and one Chinese

The Russian is "The Star" (Zvezda) from 2002 that is based on actual events in 1944 during Operation Bagration. The story is about a group of Soviet scouts working behind enemy lines. In 1953 there was another film about this event with the same name. If you like films based on actual events then you will like this one.

The Chinese film, "The Message" (Feng sheng) is an espionage thriller from 2009 set in Nanking 1942. This is an excellent movie, well played and with an interesting plot.

 

Watched Escape From Alcatraz (1979), based on a real event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Alcatraz_(film)

 

Saw a bit of "Today We Live" on TCM this morning.

The little bit I saw had a lot of very good action scenes of the B-2A Curtis Condor. Good aerial stuff as well as closeups of the exterior, cockpit and crew stations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_B-2_Condor

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024675/

 

Saw "The Expendables 3". Meh. I hear they're making a 4th one. Yay.

 

They are the typical brain off, munchies and cold drink at hand movies. Their best part are the sly pokes made at their old movie roles.

 

Yeah, but it doesn't carry the movie. It needs much more help than that.

 

I have to agree with you. I'm a fan more from the historical perspective I guess.

My wife made the point that the first episode of BoB (the training at Curahee) allowed the viewer to get to know the members of easy company without the confusion of the uniforms and battle scenes. The Pacific throws you in more quickly and the groupings of soldiers (Leckie and his two or three buddies, Sid Phillips and Basilone and his two or three friends) are more difficult to get to know. Also Sledge is introduced and then dropped for most of the first few episodes, making it more difficult to identify with.

 

Got a couple of days off.

Watched the finale of Breaking Bad. Phenomenal.

"Mad Max-Fury Road"

Also tried to get through "The Lion of the Desert" starring Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed. Ran out of time and had to return it to the Library. Story of Libyan revolt against Mussolini circa 1929-1930.

 

The first episode, new season of South Park...SP has razor wit, similar to political cartoons.
They nailed it once again, calling the 2 presidential candidates- Giant Douche / Turd Sandwich.
And as always, the portrayal of Caitlyn- slays me.

 

The War Lover

https://www.amazon.com/War-Lover-Robert-Wagner/dp/B00008R9M6

A bit sappy, and dated...but a well made and very well acted movie. I am sure there were Guys Like McQueen in the air force, not sure how much of his "stuff" they would have put up with though.
I would like to see a WWII movie that used age appropriate actors (i realize it is probably not possible). When you watch these films, as good as they are, it is so easy to lose sight of the fact that these actors were much older (usually) than the "real" soldiers would have been.
Imagine being 22 years old, flying a B-17, and being in charge of a crew of, what was it...10.?
I realize they did not just grab any 22 year old and make him a B-17 captain, but they sure did not have time to cherry pick the best, plus.....they needed MORE Than The Best.
I never want to make it a contest, but Man...!!..... those guys in The Army Air Force, especially before they had any great numbers of Mustangs, they really had it it tough.
God Rest Them All

 

Watched Valkyrie (2008) with Tom Cruise as von Stauffenberg. Not a bad movie but not a great one either if you ask me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie_(film)