Movie Review- Monuments Men

Turning historical books into movies is down right dangerous. History nuts are bound to see the movie, and that is great for the box office returns, but not always great for us history nuts.  Usually two camps form when those of us who love history see movie trailers for histo-flicks. One camp is book first. The other, movie first.  Usually, I profess reading the book before seeing a movie, but there are some inherent risks with this approach. One risk is that the movie is better than the book (gasp!). The second is worst than the first; the movie takes a completely different direction than the book. Monuments Men is one of those movies.  Get this straight, it was a fair movie (I will save my remarks for later), but for those us (meaning me) who took the book first route, it was a bit painful.  

Movie Review: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

If you are anything like me, Nelson Mandela is sort of a blond spot in your historical knowledge. Well the entirety of Mandela's career is a blind spot. Sure...it is easy to see him as the white haired, leader of South Africa that most of us do, but how many of us know all that much about his early career?Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom takes you back to the early days of his career right through his election in 1994 as President of South Africa. This picture was well cast, directed, and produced.There seems to have been nothing spared in the way of authenticity to the time periods and places. More than anything though this movie is one of the first on Mandela that gives you a decent idea of the man; warts, and all. I think it is well suited for the classroom, or for simple enjoyment of a good story

Movie Review- Mitt

As we have talked about, Netflix is on fire. I decided to check out Netflix’s  documentary on Romney tonight and I am now more confused than I was when he was running.

Movie Review- 42

Robinson Won Rookie Of The Year in 1947

To be honest, I had my doubts about this movie.  When I saw its impending release way back when, my first reaction was it would go one of two ways.  One: yet another glorified rah-rah about someone was far but.  Hollywood would wash it clean of any facts or blow out of proportion a few of the more tasty morsels.  Two: An overly dramatic account of something that by nature was pretty dramatic.  After watching it, I concluded that it was neither. Reviewing 42 might best be done by breaking it down into a couple of different areas.  After all it is a film trying to big things.

Movie Review: Game Change

I recently re-watched Game Change staring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson. With more time on my hands, and a few more years away from the film, I cannot help but be glad the McCain/Palin ticket did not come out on top.

Those who would defend Palin would cite that she had just recently given birth, had a pregnant teen-age daughter, and a son shipping off to Iraq as distractions from the campaign. Those individually would cripple lesser people, but the hubris shown by Palin only compounded them. Most people understand politics to be a rough and tumble areana that is not for the faint of heart. All who enter the fray under even the best of circumstances are worn down. Palin was even warned about how hard it would be but she waved them off. Simply by denying how hard it would be was but the first of Palin's problems.