Trump's New Chief Of Staff "Won't Suffer Idiots And Fools"
posted by Winston Smith at
12:05 PM
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Previous Posts
- Does Being Rich Wreck Your Soul?
- Browder's Testimony To Senate Judiciary Committee:...
- George Will, National Treasure
- Towards Thee I Roll, Thou All-Destroying But Uncon...
- Stuff Allegedly Authoritative Sources of Informati...
- Priebus Out As Chief Of Staff
- Is The Trump Presidency "Effectively Over"?
- Nazi Pug Trial Starts Today
- Bill Kristol: Trump Is a Jackass
- GOP Is Dismasted In Latest (And Final?) ACA Repeal...
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
7 Comments:
OT, but have you seen Dunkirk? Thought it might be your kind of thing. It's certainly mine: if a movie has Spitfires in it, it could be terrible and I probably wouldn't know.
You damn straight I've seen Dunkirk! Saw it in IMAX over t' C'ville.
Couldn't agree more about the Spitfire. I was super psyched to see so many great air combat scenes with it. I'm enough of a nerd to have been a *bit* skeptical about the loadout--Hardy shot a LOT of rounds...but I *think* Dunkirk-era Spits still had the A wing and the eight .303s...and I *think* they had more ammo than the later models with the Hispanos... So I'll give it to 'em...
That movie just wrung me out though.
According to my in-depth research*, the first squadron-wide replacements of the A-wing by the B-wing with the Hispanos wasn't until June 1940. So over Dunkirk it would have been the eight .303s, which apparently had 300 rounds each. (The Hispano drum magazines held only 60 rounds each!) I don't know whether the number of rounds Farrier (Hardy) was depicted as firing would be more than (8 x) 300.
Yeah it totally wrung me out too. I didn't even see it at an IMAX, and not even in 70mm. I think I'll try and see it again at an IMAX, since that was clearly the medium Nolan primarily had in mind. But even knowing what's coming, I imagine it'll be pretty gruelling.
I thought Mark Rylance was just awesome, and the last scene with Hardy on the beach was fantastic. The whole film has stayed with me more than any I've seen for quite a while.
*Wikipedia
This says 17-18 seconds--quite a lot as those things went:
https://www.quora.com/How-long-do-a-Spitfires-guns-keep-firing-during-battle
Dunno how long Hardy's character was actually firing...I just know I was nervous about it by pretty early on...
Agreed about of what you wrote. Hardy's always good--and actors have to be extremely good or extremely bad before I can tell. He didn't even say that much. Also agreed about Rylance. And the [spoiler alert] final scene really was great. No dramatic death...nor heroic escape...probably facing five years of slave labor.
The scene of the burning spit did puzzle me a bit, b/c it looked like up front there was just the propeller shaft...but where'd the engine go? Not to quibble. Maybe there's an explanation anyway.
So the three elements of the story were set on land (earth), sea (water) and in the air. The movie ends with fire. Coincidence? I don't think so!
There was something about the image of the burning plane that was just so apt, as well as, and perhaps because, ambiguous: defeat, infernal suffering, war as self-harm... but also defiance -- after all, Farrier torches it to prevent it falling into enemy hands, as per s. o. p. But it also went beyond anything it could be thought of as 'standing for'; and that non-paraphraseable component seems to be an important part of what makes for Art.
On a more prosaic note, I'd be really surprised if Farrier's bursts added up to anything close to 17 seconds.
Not five years of slave labor though. Slave labor (and working to death) was reserved for subhumans (Slavs, able-bodied Jews etc). Fellow-aryans were treated relatively humanely.
>"So the three elements of the story were set on land (earth), sea (water) and in the air. The movie ends with fire. Coincidence? I don't think so!"
Sounds suspiciously like feelm studies hoo-ha...
I was curious the other day about the fate of those captured at Dunkirk, and what I read was that they *were* typically used as slave labor in farms and factories.
The first thing I ever learned about combat in World War II came from a video game: Aces Over Europe.
I can attest, based on my personal experience as a top notch WWII flight simulation pilot: 300 rounds apiece is not enough AT ALL. Those few seconds go by alarmingly fast in combat, especially if you like to hose down your nemeses Hollywood-style...
And you have no ammunition count indicator! None!
And then you're left playing a most unfun game.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home