Tag: Masters of the Air

December 16, 2024

Emilia Perez: The Golden Globe nominations were announced this past week, for the award ceremony that will take place Sunday January 5th. The awards are for both film and TV. This Netflix movie lead all nominees with ten nominations, which is the most ever for a film surpassing Barbie a year ago with nine. The nominations include Best Musical or Comedy, Best Non-English Picture, Best Female Actor (Karla Sofía Gascón), Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez), and Best Director among others, including two songs. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, knowing nothing about the premise.

The first big surprise is that this has singing and dancing in it. It is mostly in Spanish. Who knew that Zoe Sandana could fluently speak Spanish, along with singing and dancing? Certainly not me. The overall premise is one that I won’t share in detail, but basically there is Saldana who is a bright criminal lawyer in Mexico City, Mexico. She works hard and has other more senior lawyers take her arguments and use them (not as well as she could) on behalf of the firm’s clients. But she is a bit disillusioned. Life for her is not very fulfilling with too much work and not enough personal life. A chance meeting puts her in a position to take on a new client who will pay her handsomely for assisting with a super-secret project that this client is looking to undertake. The temptation is too great to pass up, but the audience wonders just what this will entail. Things happen, and the project is a success.

Fast forward and this client is looking in many ways to have their cake and eat it too. The underlying message being that one cannot ever fully escape their past. With the follow on message that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword, however much you look to start afresh. The client and Saldana both observe this lesson first hand. As an aside, I am surprised about the Globe nomination for Gomez. She was a singer in her past. Much of the role is not a stretch. The story overall is an interesting premise, although certainly not universally applicable, as the fact situation is very specific and I would think, in a word, unique. I guess the singing is also novel as a way to communicate the plot, with the thoguhts and feelings of those involved. Should this be the most awarded film ever in Golden Globes history? No. Then again, the awards are now more comprehensive adding different categories like Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, which I think is a way to try and reward those films making tons of money like Top Gun Maverick or Barbie. Curious though that Dune II didn’t get a nomination for this but Alien Romulus did. This is a party after all, and you want unique and plentiful guests to encourage viewership. With Dick Clark productions acquiring Hollywood Foreign Press, there is nothing but ratings to seek. This movie being in a musical category helps it. I do not see it as the Best Picture for the year.

Masters of the Air: This Apple TV series has nine episodes. Brought to us from the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg producing tandem that created Band of Brothers for HBO back in 2001, which remains one of the best war-time series and movies in recent memory. This story focuses on the airmen who were bombing and protecting Britain during the Second World War. Starring Austin Butler from Elvis fame, and Barry Keough in some earlier episodes in this is a true-to-life telling of the stories of these airmen. The final episode shows a number of the principal players with pictures and post-war descriptions of what had happened to them, and how old they lived until.

It took me some time to get through this as I am not an Apple TV subscriber. Rather I saw some early episodes on a flight to Europe and then managed to find someone with a subscription where I could finish it. I am glad that I did. Time and again, over and over there are stories of very heroic young men who are about the same age as my youngest son. I think about the risks, the responsibility, the character and courage of each of them as they faced one day after anther in war time. The youth of today, and even the younger version of me cannot fathom this level of stress and anxiety. We have labeled it, they lived it. Of course, many came back broken men who were a shell of their former selves. PTSD is a real thing. So many came back with mental scars and addictions to alcohol and other mind-numbing substances. But they were facing a worldwide threat to a way of life. They saw foreign country after foreign country fall, and chose to setp up for what they believed in. The early bombing missions into Germany were hell as they had to fight through barrages of land based shells, but also in the air. Dogfighting with German fighter planes, while trying to deliver a bomb to a target. They were heroic, and they found a way to do the job required.

I don’t put this on par with Band of Brothers but it was better than the follow up The Pacific from 2010. I like that there is an effort to retell the stories of these men at the end of their lives. Each of them has a story to tell. Of course there are women, and women who made great sacrifices and contributions to the war effort. But generally these are the men fighting in the planes, and on the front lines. Most of the actors are unfamiliar. But they each do an admirable job at bringing forth a life unknown to most but a few family and community members. As a father, the stories hit home harder, as I think about having my children in harm’s way. But I am glad that I watched this, and I encourage others to do so. If for nothing more than to understand that 2024 is 40 years since 1984. And that 1984 is 40 years since 1944, when D-Day took place and the invasion back into France. The beginning of the end for the Nazis, who fall a little over a year later when they gave up air superiority, and the bombing of their industrial complex wiped away their ability to wage war. This is worth your time.

Interstellar: Remarkably it has been ten years since the first release of this Christopher Nolan film, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain and John Lithgow. It has been re-released in theatres and I saw in IMAX on Friday night. Knowing the story well, this experience allowed me to more soak in all of the sub-plots and other aspects to it. Upon first viewing ten years ago I downloaded the Hans Zimmer soundtrack that I regard as one of the finest sound tracks anywhere (the use of the organ is just excellent). From the first moments of the film, it creates the mood of the entire film. There are times in an IMAX theatre when the seats shake at the deep music. Time is a key theme and this is fully explored. This is also visually stunning and and a sound sympthony, as the space ship goes through a worm hole and past a black hole, and shows us in detail a plausible argument on what it can all be about. And it is all just an argument and conjecture. Nolan loves to play with time and Einstein’s theory of relativity is given a good workout as it is explained, and how such a thing a time slippage can take place. How does one hour on a particular planet equal seven years of Earth time? Gravity.

But space aside, this is a also a very deep personal movie, with a father taking on a mission which can impct the whole world, while leaving behind his own two teen children. There are no easy choices. How do you separate one’s own desire to do what you are feel you are born to do, and wish to do, against spending time with your kids and watching them live and grow? The scenes on the Mann planet with the discussions about survival instinct, care for one’s own family versus humanity overall are very poignant.

This movie was nominated for five Oscars, all in sound, music and visual effects. Hans Zimmer did not win the Oscar for this, rather The Grand Budapest Hotel did win. The only win was Visual Effects. This is the year Birdman won the Best Picture Oscar.

If you haven’t seen this movie, then see it where it belongs in all of its grandeur. If you know the film, but want a refresher check it out. This is a movie that deserves to be seen on the big screen with big sound. It is a remarkable achievement. Some of Christopher Nolan’s best work.

January 29th, 2024

I was delayed in posting this since I was in the air myself yesterday. I am reviewing a number of series that are actively showing on a weekly basis, and therefore I have not seen the conclusion, and they are not bingeable (if that’s a word!). This cannot be said for Ted Lasso, since it has three seasons completed and I am only finishing up Season 2. I managed through buying tickets to an event (Amadeus film performed with a live orchestra) to have a complimentary Apple TV subscription for 30 days. I am making the most of it!

Masters of the Air: This was recently released this month, and is from the same producers (Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg) who had previously brought the excellent Band of Brothers (2001), and the less compelling The Pacific (2010). I have previously reviewed Band of Brothers, and I have read the Ambrose book on which it is based that I highly recommend. The producers in each instance have excellent production, with real life stories then depicted on the screen. They are looking to replicate the real stories of those who were involved. Ambrose naturally takes it from an American perspective, which summed up is that “the Americans won the war”. It is to be conceded that the American involvement in WWII post Pearl Harbour was a tremendous help to the Allied forces, in manpower and equipment but it is safe to say that the British, Canadian and other Allied powers made the American participation possible. Without the Battle of Britain, Dunkirk, and various other battles, including the British and Canadian participation on D-Day itself the outcome could have been very different. In Masters of the Air, the first couple of episodes follow a new group of recruits in the Army Air Corps flying B-17 bombers. It stars Austin Butler (yes Elvis actor) along with Caleb Turner and Barry Keoghan (from Saltburn) this time with a thick New Yorker accent. They are pilots, and after training are being put into bombing sorties from England. Like the predecessor series, you follow a group of young men (mostly) and their stories, as pilots, crew, bombers, navigators both officers on the ground and in the air. Some of the scenes are extraordinary. It is well shot and well crafted on screen.

Only two episodes in I could quibble about Austin Butler’s hair being too long, but I am far more focused on the overall quality of the production and the stories told. You care about these young men, and realize that many are in their late teens and twenties. They put themselves in harm’s way and many pay the ultimate price. I remark that these young men were brave beyond measure, doing what everyone felt had to be done. They care about their buddy, and their crew. They see unspeakable things, all the while trying to make a positive contribution to the war effort. Butler and Turner both play majors, and are leaders in this group. Like Captain Winter in Band of Brothers, you see their leadership style and how they handle these stressful situations. It is compelling. It is exciting and one wonders how it will all shake down for these men as the war goes on.  Definitely worth viewing, especially for those who have any interest in WWII. 

Ted Lasso Season 2: I liked season 1 of this Jason Sudekis vehicle series where he plays a positive talkative Amercian football coach in the UK, brought in to help bury a soccer team. He has a squad of players, an owner who obtained the club in a divorce settlement with her billionaire jerk ex-husband and some assorted other local characters. I have spoken about the premise before. 

This season continues on with the stories of the characters involved. We also too get to see more vulnerabilities about the Ted character himself. For all of his “gosh-gee-willakers” outlook on life and being authentic to a fault with all those that he meets, he is also flawed as everyone is with layers of complexity to his personality. He suffers in his own way, and it impacts his job and those around him. No one in this series escapes issues, which is to its credit. Some issues are more obvious than others, like owner Rebecca’s own insecurities of being left by her husband and owning this team. The Ex enters her life from time to time just to torment her. In a funny line, and this show is quite funny, after Ted and coaching staff meets Rebecca’s Mom he says:

“…I love meeting people’s Moms. It’s like reading an instruction manual as to why they are nuts!!!” So very true. 

And we are all flawed and nuts in our own way. I really enjoyed the Christmas episode. I think like other quality sitcoms, this program works because it can make you laugh, but then shortly afterwards can make you tear up. Like M*A*S*H, or Cheers or even Ricky Gervais’ After Life. I will continue to watch this and note that sadly this show was always seemingly the bridesmaid and never the bride in award season.  It is good. It is worth watching. 

True Detective: North Country: Full disclosure, I have not seen the prior seasons of this series, even the well reviewed initial season with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. I am reminded that I need to do that. Interestingly there aree some tie ins to that season with this new season starring Jodie Foster in the lead role. Set in Alaska, but filmed in Iceland, this series follows a detective trying to uncover some mysterious deaths. Here at a mine in a remote part of Alaska, a group of scientists disappear without explanation, and then locals are trying to figure out what is happening and what has happened. 

Foster is, like others in the community, dealing with her own issues as they head into the dark season up there, with the sun not making an appearance. It is difficult to disclose much more without giving some of the surprises away. It is well written, and the people acting interact with the skepticism of those who have known each other a very long time. They have history. it comes back to haunt them. There is certainly an element of supernatural going on, as they trudge around with sets that feel like The Thing has been resurrected. One underlying message for me is that people are people. Each has their own needs, many with that well studied hierarchy of needs. As an audience you can feel the cold, and I wonder about the pierced cheeks and whether that metal stud makes it feel that much colder out. Without any prior knowledge of the prior seasons, this one for me must stand on its own. I will continue to watch and see where it lands. It is all very odd for the moment as we are four episodes into it. More to come, but worth a watch.