The odor of desperation emits from MSNBC's shredding, chopping, and masticating of the news for us. And speculation is not news, so their speculation during this election season seems similar to those barely perceptible shifts and shakes felt by those on the Titanic who were pouring wine. I may watch PBS all night, cram for the Montreal …
The odor of desperation emits from MSNBC's shredding, chopping, and masticating of the news for us. And speculation is not news, so their speculation during this election season seems similar to those barely perceptible shifts and shakes felt by those on the Titanic who were pouring wine. I may watch PBS all night, cram for the Montreal cognitive test should I ever have to take one. or impose order on my junk drawer, anything that will reinforce my feeling of agency in this maelstrom.
very eloquent statement of my own inner life right about now.
my own current solution has been to go through every collection on the Criterion Channel of even remote interest. it's been working, but there's a lot left to this year.
and for what it's worth...MOTA is, at best, a snorer. as for anachronistic usages, I found a single use of "recycle" in the first ten minutes. but I KNOW it's gonna get worse. I guess it's as simple as lightning struck with "Band of Brothers," and it was much better than it had any right to be. but it just wasn't replicable. they had a LOT of luck on their side, too (the quality of the actors and much better writers and directors), as well as a genuine narrative (the same guys invading and fighting till they hit Germany, which is sort of perfect...as Sam Fuller understood a long time ago). MOTA is also burdened by these shitty voiceovers "explaining" things. the flying stuff was much closer to playing a computer WWII game than watching a movie. I'll take "Air Force" over this stuff any day. "Air Force" would be worth watching for James Wong Howe's amazing work ALONE. any day. and for exciting, there's my required annual viewing of "Twelve O'Clock High."
my dad would have dismissed this after fifteen minutes. but he was so demanding about war movies that I couldn't get him to even TRY OUT "Band of Brothers." it's been...what???...well over two decades. that's a lot of time in movie land...
Watched the first two episodes of MOTA last night and have to agree with you and Tom. The sound was poorly done, and the planes must have been from kits because they aren't many of those left, with one being nearby in the Yankee Air Museum in Willow Run, MI. "Band of Brothers" did all of this so much better and probably had better advisors. And even the old TV series "Twelve O'Clock High" with Robert Lansing as Boyington wasn't bad in the way it conveyed the intensity of air war.
I went back and watched a few episodes of the TV show, which I never watched when it was on. now, with thousands of low-rent streaming services, we can watch just about ANYTHING. I've actually watched some episodes of "My Little Margie" (don't bother).
one of the problems with MOTA is that you can't use archival footage (intercut with new footage and clever editing) the way the old movie or TV show could. and the CGI on the show is just sooooooo OBVIOUS. I've seen better. didn't these guys have enough money to make that shit look RIGHT? thing is, the makeup folks are amazing and they can certainly make wounds look real, but all that does is make you look away or come out with a half-ironic "oy vey." and that Austin Butler guy needed to stop sounding like his fake Elvis. and Barry Keoghan (obviously a terrific actor) has the same weird generic NYC accent nobody has ever actually had spoken; that shit stopped happening c. 2006. he needs a better dialect coach.
I will admit that when the flames engulf everything inside the plane, it's genuinely scary for half a second.
I remember Willow Run very well. it felt like what a real airport felt like when I was little...muddy with very few concessions made for anything that might have resembled human comfort. just like LaGuardia, which was three blocks away from my childhood apartment. and now, LaGuardia's a mile away and has become something of a showplace.
I just sent that review to my "knowledgeable folks" email list. She even took the time to read the book so she could review it with knowledge.
I watched the two episodes this morning over at my neighbor's since he subscribes to
Apple. Here's my review:
I hate being the guy who told you so, but Masters of the Air is so bad it makes The Pacific look worthwhile. I went over this morning and watched the first two episodes with my neighbor who is also in Duh Biz and subscribes to Apple TV. I should say forced myself to watch as I sat there, both a knowledgeable World War II historian with a current best-seller about 8th Air Force and as a knowledgeable screenwriter and watched them swing and miss at every damn point. I can't believe two guys as talented as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks could make this many mistakes in one show.
As an historian, allow me to say that the script typist (calling him a screenwriter is something I cannot bring myself to do) managed to write the Mythology rather than the History. And as a reader of the book (three times) I know the Actual History was there to be used, explained so well that even a moron like this guy, who obviously doesn't know the pointed end goes in front, could get enough material to get it right. And I am sure he was doing what the Tom & Steve Show wanted, since he didn't get fired.
As to the acting, I was reminded once again why I don't think there are 10 male actors in Hollywood under 40 who deserve to be called such. As both an aviation photographer and someone who has flown around in old airplanes, the CGI wasn't quite as awful as "Red Tails," but it it was a close race to the finish line.
We screenwriters have a rule about criticism: one bad review is one person's opinion; two bad reviews might be a coincidence; three bad reviews are a damn fact. The show has scored 3.3 out of 7 over at the IMDb. That's a whole bunch more than three bad reviews.
I really really really wish I was writing to tell you all I had been wrong about this overcooked turkey.
The first season of the Twelve O'Clock High show is good. But then the same thing happened that would happen on every other show where Don Bellisario was involved as a producer (this was his first) - the second and subsequent seasons go awful (like Baa Baa Blacksheep) with all sorts of stupid ideas driving the plots. I spoke with guys who wrote both shows (12 O Clock and Blacksheep) and the good writers all quit when the orders came down for plots starting with developing the second seasons.
The odor of desperation emits from MSNBC's shredding, chopping, and masticating of the news for us. And speculation is not news, so their speculation during this election season seems similar to those barely perceptible shifts and shakes felt by those on the Titanic who were pouring wine. I may watch PBS all night, cram for the Montreal cognitive test should I ever have to take one. or impose order on my junk drawer, anything that will reinforce my feeling of agency in this maelstrom.
very eloquent statement of my own inner life right about now.
my own current solution has been to go through every collection on the Criterion Channel of even remote interest. it's been working, but there's a lot left to this year.
and for what it's worth...MOTA is, at best, a snorer. as for anachronistic usages, I found a single use of "recycle" in the first ten minutes. but I KNOW it's gonna get worse. I guess it's as simple as lightning struck with "Band of Brothers," and it was much better than it had any right to be. but it just wasn't replicable. they had a LOT of luck on their side, too (the quality of the actors and much better writers and directors), as well as a genuine narrative (the same guys invading and fighting till they hit Germany, which is sort of perfect...as Sam Fuller understood a long time ago). MOTA is also burdened by these shitty voiceovers "explaining" things. the flying stuff was much closer to playing a computer WWII game than watching a movie. I'll take "Air Force" over this stuff any day. "Air Force" would be worth watching for James Wong Howe's amazing work ALONE. any day. and for exciting, there's my required annual viewing of "Twelve O'Clock High."
my dad would have dismissed this after fifteen minutes. but he was so demanding about war movies that I couldn't get him to even TRY OUT "Band of Brothers." it's been...what???...well over two decades. that's a lot of time in movie land...
Watched the first two episodes of MOTA last night and have to agree with you and Tom. The sound was poorly done, and the planes must have been from kits because they aren't many of those left, with one being nearby in the Yankee Air Museum in Willow Run, MI. "Band of Brothers" did all of this so much better and probably had better advisors. And even the old TV series "Twelve O'Clock High" with Robert Lansing as Boyington wasn't bad in the way it conveyed the intensity of air war.
I went back and watched a few episodes of the TV show, which I never watched when it was on. now, with thousands of low-rent streaming services, we can watch just about ANYTHING. I've actually watched some episodes of "My Little Margie" (don't bother).
one of the problems with MOTA is that you can't use archival footage (intercut with new footage and clever editing) the way the old movie or TV show could. and the CGI on the show is just sooooooo OBVIOUS. I've seen better. didn't these guys have enough money to make that shit look RIGHT? thing is, the makeup folks are amazing and they can certainly make wounds look real, but all that does is make you look away or come out with a half-ironic "oy vey." and that Austin Butler guy needed to stop sounding like his fake Elvis. and Barry Keoghan (obviously a terrific actor) has the same weird generic NYC accent nobody has ever actually had spoken; that shit stopped happening c. 2006. he needs a better dialect coach.
I will admit that when the flames engulf everything inside the plane, it's genuinely scary for half a second.
I remember Willow Run very well. it felt like what a real airport felt like when I was little...muddy with very few concessions made for anything that might have resembled human comfort. just like LaGuardia, which was three blocks away from my childhood apartment. and now, LaGuardia's a mile away and has become something of a showplace.
WaPo just scorch-panned MOTA for some of the same reasons given by you and Tom.
I just sent that review to my "knowledgeable folks" email list. She even took the time to read the book so she could review it with knowledge.
I watched the two episodes this morning over at my neighbor's since he subscribes to
Apple. Here's my review:
I hate being the guy who told you so, but Masters of the Air is so bad it makes The Pacific look worthwhile. I went over this morning and watched the first two episodes with my neighbor who is also in Duh Biz and subscribes to Apple TV. I should say forced myself to watch as I sat there, both a knowledgeable World War II historian with a current best-seller about 8th Air Force and as a knowledgeable screenwriter and watched them swing and miss at every damn point. I can't believe two guys as talented as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks could make this many mistakes in one show.
As an historian, allow me to say that the script typist (calling him a screenwriter is something I cannot bring myself to do) managed to write the Mythology rather than the History. And as a reader of the book (three times) I know the Actual History was there to be used, explained so well that even a moron like this guy, who obviously doesn't know the pointed end goes in front, could get enough material to get it right. And I am sure he was doing what the Tom & Steve Show wanted, since he didn't get fired.
As to the acting, I was reminded once again why I don't think there are 10 male actors in Hollywood under 40 who deserve to be called such. As both an aviation photographer and someone who has flown around in old airplanes, the CGI wasn't quite as awful as "Red Tails," but it it was a close race to the finish line.
We screenwriters have a rule about criticism: one bad review is one person's opinion; two bad reviews might be a coincidence; three bad reviews are a damn fact. The show has scored 3.3 out of 7 over at the IMDb. That's a whole bunch more than three bad reviews.
I really really really wish I was writing to tell you all I had been wrong about this overcooked turkey.
The first season of the Twelve O'Clock High show is good. But then the same thing happened that would happen on every other show where Don Bellisario was involved as a producer (this was his first) - the second and subsequent seasons go awful (like Baa Baa Blacksheep) with all sorts of stupid ideas driving the plots. I spoke with guys who wrote both shows (12 O Clock and Blacksheep) and the good writers all quit when the orders came down for plots starting with developing the second seasons.
Organizing junk drawer works