This entry was delayed in being posted because I was out of the country and my eSim didn’t allow me to login. So this is the result.

Kelly’s Heroes: This is a war film from 1970. It stars Clint Eastwood (as Kelly), along with Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Don Rickles. I have never seen it, and had an opportunity to watch it on an airplane. I knew nothing about it, except that it was a notable film for Clint Eastwood. As a general overview, this is a heist movie in the midst of WWII. There is plenty of discussion about Nancy France. The Germans are well entrenched, and while American forces try to hang on, they are looking to potentially pull back. Within this context, we have an American officer who measures a yacht to take back to the US, while he leaves to Savalas (Sargeant Big Joe) in charge of fighting the battles in the war.

Inexplicably we have Kelly (Eastwood) bringing through a German position a Nazi colonel who has been kidnapped and asked some questions about the German position. As part of the interrogation, Eastwood finds a metal bar in the Colonel’s possessions which the Nazi dismisses as “lead”. It turns out that it is gold, and it is learned that there is a sizeable sum of gold bars in a bank behind German lines (30 miles into that territory). Kelly has the idea to rob the bank, and seeks to recruit a few people to help out. Among those approached is hippy dippy free spirit Donald Sutherland who happens to be leading three Sherman tanks, and necessary. The story unfolds with a tangental over-the-top performance of a general by Archie Bunker Carroll O’Connor.

This movie isn’t as good as other 1970 war flicks Patton nor Tora Tora Tora. Patton was excellent and won George C Scott an Oscar for Best Actor (which he refused). This film seems to think it is a combination between Dirty Dozen and Great Escape with colourful American characters coming together for a common goal, against the Germans. But war as we know is for strategic aims rather than selfish goals (like bars of gold for those involved). It doesn’t work with the idea that these assets should be used to line individual pockets. I am also amazed at how poor the Germans are portrayed, with them having seemingly no communication from one area to another, nor any way to have a coordinated attack against the American attackers. Right up to the end, the Germans are soundly defeated and have horrific shooting ability, nor do they question why a church bell in the town with the bank would be ringing inexplicably. The Americans don’t have heavy casualties, despite the challenges. As the credits roll, one is left to wonder where this group of soldiers will go, on both sides. The war isn’t over. More battles are to come, and yet they will need to address their individual gains and return to their units. It’s pretty confusing and not particularly satisfying. I won’t recommend seeing this but would suggest those who are interested in the war genre should seek out other better films.

Emmy Awards: The Emmy Awards were handed out before I went away and I was please to see that the Netflix series Adolescence received many well-deserved awards. Other shows that I have not watched like The Studio and The Pitt also won multiple awards. I was extremely please to see that The Penguin‘s Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone won in her category. This made up for the Golden Globe. Also both actresses from Hacks winning was excellent and well-deserved. Nate Bargatze was the host and he tried a novel idea of donating $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Club if the winners keep their acceptance speeches to 45 seconds or less. They didn’t. But it was a creative way to keep winners on topic and on time. Seth Rogan and John Oliver took the challenge to heart to be sure. The awards certainly give me ideas on what to watch next when there is truly so much content out there.