Category Archives: Film & TV

STALINGRAD The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

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I’ve only read a handful of history books (crime fiction is my passion) but they’ve all be great reads. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century; Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civ89l War Era; Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869; and Wires West: The Story of the Talking Wires. I’m currently reading STALINGRAD The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor.

(Wikipedia) “Stalingrad is a narrative history written by Antony Beevor of the battle fought in and around the city of Stalingrad during World War II, as well as the events leading up to it. The book starts with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the subsequent drive into the Soviet Union. Its main focus is the Battle of Stalingrad, in particular the period from the initial German attack to Operation Uranus and the Soviet victory.” Continue reading →

Favorite scenes from TV and movies

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I’ve been collecting these for 20+ years. One of the reasons I started blogging… to have a place to collect these. I could have linked each of these directly to the post/video but it’s better if you just browse. Or you can use the search box at the top of the page.

  • 12 Monkeys (Consumerism)
  • Alien (Breaking quarantine)
  • Andy Griffith Show (“Is this good government!”)
  • Boiler Room (Ben Affleck speech)
  • Brazil (Ministry of Information)
  • Broadcast News (Keep it to yourself)
  • Carnivale (gas station shooting)
  • Charlie Chan (Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter)
  • Dave (budget cutting)
  • Dave (Commerce Secretary)
  • Deadwood (kidney stone)
  • Dr. Strangelove
  • Five Easy Pieces (diner scene)
  • Game Change (Concession speech)
  • Glengarry Glen Ross (always be closing)
  • Good Will Hunting (why not work for the NSA)
  • Inherit the Wind (creationism vs evolution)
  • Mississippi Burning (Gene Hackman grabs deputy’s balls)
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (assorted)
  • Network (Mad as hell)
  • Rainmaker (“You must be stupid!”)
  • Rambo III (Freedom speech)
  • Snowpiercer (axe battle)
  • Sorcerer (bridge scene; picking out a truck)
  • St. Vincent (Bill Murray sings Bob Dylan)
  • The Deer Hunter (fuck it)
  • The Deer Hunter (Russian roulette)
  • The Dentist (W.C.Fields)
  • The Memory Expert (W.C. Fields)
  • Time Bandits (understanding technology)
  • Shakespeare In Love (“It’s a mystery”)
  • Tarzan the Ape Man (pygmy scene)
  • The Shield (“yammy full of Georgia joy juice”)
  • Three Days of the Condor (final scene)
  • Time Bandits (understanding technology)
  • True Detective (Philosophy of Rust Cohle; Rust Cohle on religion)
  • True Romance (White Boy Day)

“Let’s make him look like Drexl Spivey”

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You’ve heard to saying, “There’s no small parts, only small actors?” Certainly true of Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Drexl Spivey, the drug dealer in True Romance (1993).

The following year Oldman played a corrupt narcotics officer in The Professional. Another superb performance. In one of the opening scenes Oldman lead a team of narcs into an apartment searching for some missing heroin. Photo below is one of the half dozen cops on the raid.

Don’t know who the actor is but that’s not important. The similarity to Drexl Spivey seems too strong to be coincidental. Was this an inside joke on Oldman?

Praise the Lord!

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I’ve been watching the HBO series, Carnivàle. First aired (streamed?) in 2003 so nearly 20 years old but holds up well. The scene above is a great example of what I call the “after thought” shooting. A staple in action movies but not so much back then.

According to Fashion Stylist Rebekah Roy: “It cost $4 million US per episode; it was one of the most expensive shows to produce. There were an estimated 5,000 people costumed in the show’s first season!” The costumes were designed by Chrisi Karvonides-Dushenko.

“The last great action film”

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Excellent piece in The Guardian on a new book/oral history from the pop culture reporter for The New York Times, Kyle Buchanan about the making of Mad Max: Fury Road. The piece — “A fetish party in the desert’: the making of Mad Max: Fury Road– includes excerpts from more than 130 new interviews with key members of the cast and crew, including Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, and director George Miller.

I’ve watched the movie half a dozen times and, like the author, didn’t realize the stunts were not CGI. They were real. My copy of the book is on the way.