I was thinking of that series just a minute ago. If I remember correctly, I think one story that hit hard was of a seasoned vet who was in a trench with his unit and one of our jets came in low to drop some Napalm. He watched as the pods were released and immediately noticed they were spinning backwards, meaning it was heading to where he was so he grabbed the guy next to him and held him overhead as he crouched down. When it was all done and over, all he held was a charred torso.
It was routine in jungle warfare for soldiers, upon wakening to clench their fists as tightly as they could to squeeze out the bluish fungus that filled the scratches and cuts in their hands so they could use them for the day. Being a Seabee in the Pacific Theater, my dad had jungle rot in his feet for the rest of his life. He had the VA use the strongest meds to some weak acids poured into the bottom of his feet to try to eradicate it. He had to stop the love of his life, bowling, from being unable to stand and walk properly for longer periods of time.
I love all those PBS series as well. From WWI to WWII, the Civil War, etc. One need to be reminded.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj , @bdp24, I had a coworker back in the '70s who was a medic in Nam. He was a stoner back then and couldn't shake the habit (I don't blame him one bit). He said it was so f*cked up and hopeless that you had basically three groups to be in: the stoners, the drunks and the straights.
After a fierce firefight you could smell the opium that the Cong smoked along with the cordite as they waited for the Americans to come stumbling by. They were into war about the same as the Americans. All they'd find is spent ammo, pipes and paraphernalia along with tunnels no one wanted to go down into.
They'd be high as a kite watching lead tanks hit land mines as rockets passed by overhead, enjoying the show as best they could. When his second tour came up he had the option of transferring to France so he hopped on that one and buggered out. The worst thing he saw in France was a young couple making love on a tombstone during a hot summer night who picked up Mustard Gas poisoning that was still there from WWI. They almost died from it. I had a grandfather who survived that but not in one piece. My mom remembers holding his outstretched hands only to have a complete layer of skin from his forearms down to his hands come off in her hands.
War sucks big time. You'd think we'd get that into our thick, stupid heads.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj I'm in the same boat as you, or thereabouts. I was 6 months out from being drafted for Nam before the war ended. My older brother went in but he ended up in Germany as an MP. I, too, was gung-ho what with my dad being a Seabee in the Navy in WWII and my uncle was in intelligence. Raised as a good Republican in a Republican household and extended family until I first voted, and never looked back.
Born in '54 and I used to think it was too early but the way things are going now, at least I got to live a good, normal American life.
All the best,
Nonoise
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I just watched Warfare last night and highly recommend it for anyone that has romantic thoughts of combat. This is not a rah-rah portrait of war. It's written by the former SEAL who was there. He was concussed but kept on going and they relied on the memory of all the other SEAL team members to helped piece it together.
It's directed by the same guy who did Civil War and is actually pretty far removed from that in comparison. The military advisor on that was the same SEAL who wrote Warfare with the help of the director. There's no music soundtrack. In the end, things look rather fruitless considering what they sacrificed but that is basically the cost of war. It should be required viewing for all the gung-ho wannabes out there.
All the best,
Nonoise
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and you have been discussing it and sharing your disagreements in a civil manner.
+2, and thanks
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@gano Same here re: agree to disagree.
Guns have been in movies since the beginning of movies. That's why it's a well regulated industry. All it took was an amateur with experience gained from working with real professionals to slip through the cracks and slack off. She was a big fish in a small pond who wouldn't make it in a big budget Hollywood film.
Imagine if Baldwin was shooting a Viking movie and had to swing a battle axe at the camera for the script. Is he supposed to be an expert on battle axes and inspect it or does he rely on the expertise of the armorer?
So he swings it for the camera and the head comes off striking and killing the camera operator. Is he at fault for that as well? Things can go wrong and will forever continue to do so despite the safety protocols we put in place.
Baldwin was supposed to have been given an unloaded gun since it was to be pointed at the camera and that was with safety protocols. The armorer screwed up badly and was lucky she only got 18 months in prison considering she did the same thing a week earlier to another actor, was probably high and despite the dropped charge of tampering with the evidence to hide the live ammo and get it off the set.
I know this is a touchy subject so I'll let this be the last I say on it.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@gano Baldwin wasn't playing with the gun. He was holding it like he was supposed to according the script, aimed at the camera.
I know you hate guns but that's quite the leap of logic to say he "pulled" the trigger as if he knew it was loaded. How else does one hold the gun?
Actors aren't remotely supposed to be armorers. Only some know their way around a gun. That's why there's supposed to be safety on the set with the armorer in charge of the gun and the actor using it as a prop.
Horrible as it was, it's not Baldwin's fault for trusting what's supposed to be a professional. At least two armorers are required to check it. A court of law saw it that way too.
All the best,
Nonoise
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Like @immatthewj, I’m a liberal progressive who was raised in a home with firearms. My dad made my brother and I take NRA firearm safety courses back when it was just that, safety courses and not a lobbying firm on the take for gun manufacturers.
Having said that, I don’t believe Alec Baldwin was at fault, even if he was the producer. He can’t be everywhere at all times and besides, being a producer just means you helped secure funds to have a movie made or know someone who does.
The job of armorer is very important and Reed was young, connected and incompetent. Actors act, amoreres maintain and arm guns, cameramen run cameras, etc. When an actor is handed a gun, the armorer and another person have to have inspected and/or loaded the gun. Live ammo is never allowed on set. "Cold gun" was announced when the gun was handed over. That meant no ammo in it. "Hot gun" means there’s blanks in it. Reed said she checked "most of the time" Her testimony! It’s one of the cushiest jobs in film making you can get and she couldn’t even take it seriously enough to do it right.
Even if there were blanks, there’s no way for an actor to tell if a six gun is safely loaded with blanks unless they look down the front of the gun and rotate the cylnder chamber by chamber and I know of no one who would do that. You can only tell by looking at the buisness end of the bullet. You just can’t swing open the cylinder like on a modern gun and you can’t tell by looking at the primer end of the bullets even if you could swing it open.
Blanks are still deadly. I’ve seen 9mm blanks go halfway through a phonebook and a .45 punch threw a can at close range. That actor who put a gun loaded with blanks to his head and pulled the trigger thinking nothing would happen shoved a half dollar size of his skull halfway into his head.
Reed gave a bag of cocaine to another crew member so it wouldn’t be found on her. Off set she did coke, pot and booze (that’s her business but it speaks to her character). She and/or her subordinate brought the live ammo on the set. As for pointing the gun at the camera, that’s what the scene called for (you see it all the time in movies).
Cinematographer Hutchins was lining up her camera for the shot as Baldwin held the gun. It went off like it did about a week earlier with another actor prompting several crew members to say" f*ck it, I’m outta here".
In the trial Hannah was found guilty of negligent manslaughter but charges of tampering with evidence was dropped after many people suddenly started handling the guns and ammo. That should tell you something. Hannah also faces charges of bringing one of her loaded guns into a bar as well. As for Baldwin, he was exonerated after finding the prosecution hid evidence that there was live ammo on the set. Prosecutorial misconduct as they call it. They had it in for him since he’s a liberal. Go figure.
Now watch this post get deleted.
All the best,
Nonoise
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This one's outta left field: Mickey 17. Even at over two hours long I found it enjoyable and witty as it touched on many things we either take for granted or actually wonder about. Directed by Bong Jo Hoon (who did Parasite), it's both quaintly weird and engaging at the same time.
All the best,
Nonoise
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Well, Todd got two jobs for his 'service' (he primarily scowled and kept a certain someone from testifying because he'd incriminate himself). One is deputy DA and the other is acting head of Library of Congress.
I have a dark sense of humor and even I can't muster up the faintest of smiles on that one.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj Yup. Enjoyed that one too. No one's really all that clean. Always been lured to the dark side of human nature, where it crosses into light. Speaking of which, have you ever seen State of Grace with Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris and Robin Wright? Great cops and mob movie with the mob being of the Irish variety. Made in 1990 but still holds up.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj I hope you like it. I found it to be dark, grim and the ending was no better.
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@immatthewj I can't tell you how many times it's been on with my intention of watching it and I never got around to it. Its now added to my list.
As long as these suggestions are leaning towards noir, I'd like to add a bit of horror and recommend Antlers. It's as dark as one can get and the special effects are a bit of a gut punch. It stars Keri Russell and Jessie Plemons as siblings with a dark past struggling in a dying mining town.
While looking it up I noticed the price for the Blu Ray came down considerably so I may just buy it.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj
Thanks for the heads up. I've always liked movies that can honestly depict reality with all its warts and shortcomings. It can be done seriously and humorously (with the right people making it).
All the best,
Nonoise
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I don't know if this was already mentioned but Out of the Furnace is one unrelentingly somber take on family, drug addiction and poverty with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson (as one mean villain), Willam Dafoe, Forrest Whitaker and Sam Shepard. It'll drain you.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj Agreed. Along with Snatch, Brad Pitt shows just how good an actor he can be given the right role. He was really good in Killing Them Softly (as a hitman sent to clean things up).
All the best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj Actually, I like Jeff Bridges as an actor. From Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, to Against All Odds and on to the present. He was also in that one movie I listed, Bad Times at the El Royale, as a criminal, posing as a priest but having spent way too long in prison, can't quite remember which room he stowed his stolen loot from an old bank robbery. Chris Hemsworth has an especially delicious role as a mudering, sadistic cult leader.
I liked The Ides of March with Ryan Gosling lost in the fog of a primary war and George Clooney going against type as a sleazy, calculating candidate that he works for. I also liked The Counselor and especially, the back and forth over the phone between the cartel leader played by Ruben Blades and Michael Fassbinder as Ruben intellectually schools Michael in the world he wrongly stepped into. That was some might fine and chilling dialogue.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@thecarpathian Most certainly! I'd hate to go the way of Aristide de Torchia, being burnt alive for what he saw and wrote.
@immatthewj Since you listed two political movies, one I'd recommend is The Contender, starring Joan Allen (who should have won best actress) as a VP contender, Jeff Bridges as the president, Gary Oldman as a GOP senator and William Patterson, Christina Slater, Sam Elliot and Saul Rubinek.
All the Best,
Nonoise
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@immatthewj The whole cast was great in Zodiac, almost as if they went against type. Fincher can bring out the best in an actor. I thought John Carrol Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen was fantastic. He such an underused actor.
@thecarpathian I hope they never do a remake of The Ninth Gate. It's perfect as is. Polanski can make things look so simple with his framing and methods but the actors really stand out as a result as they carry the scene and not the other way 'round. I was tempted to buy a Ninth Gate replica book and put it on my shelf to see if anyone would notice.
All the best,
Nonoise
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Talk To Me
Sicario
Zodiac
The Prestige
The Ninth Gate
The Adjustment Bureau
Arsenic And Old Lace
Cool Hand Luke
Rear Window
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Gone Girl
One False Move
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Look no further than Aubrey Plaza
All the best,
Nonoise
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Charley Varrick
The Scalphunters
Dr. Sleep
Killing Them Softly
Millers Crossing
Bad Times at the El Royale
Road to Perdition
Casino
Leon: The Professional (EU version which is about 25 min longer)
Snatch
State of Grace
No Country For Old Men
The Haunting
3 Days of the Condor
Wages of Fear & Sorcerer (original & remake)
Sinister
Hereditary
Ravenous
Annihilation
Hombre
Empty Man
Anonymous
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Social Network
Payback (the director's original take before Mel Gibson took over and changed it)
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In no particular order:
Jean de Florette & Manon of the Spring
The Searchers
Hombre
Donovan's Reef
Knox Goes Away
Lawrence of Arabia
Paths of Glory
Dr. Strangelove
Fail Safe
Interstellar
The Professionals
The Thing (the original version)
Arrival
Blade Runner 2049
Hell or High Water
You Won't Be Alone (be prepared for nothing, and everything)
Only Lovers Left Alive
Too many to list makes it impossible to come up with all the good ones so have at it.
All the best,
Nonoise
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).