Reviews

Seen at the outdoor NewportFILM summer documentary series in RI last night. We tend to go to the series because it is a fun summer evening thing to do. The selected films can be a bit uneven - but that's usually offset by a soft evening out under the stars. So I'd also never consciously heard of the Avett brothers and wasn't expecting much either way.

What an EXCELLENT film. As record producer Rick Rubin says on screen at the outset - "Think of all the brother groups that eventually fall to infighting - these guys haven't". The film then explores through interview with principal characters their honest and hard work ethic and grounded family life that probably significantly contributes to this. Intimacies are shared briefly - except for bass player Bob Crawford's life threatening family health issues which had a significant effect on the band being able to operate while on tour. Other intimacies are hinted at but not deeply explored - just enough for you to see how it affected how the music developed over the years. Vignettes of how the brothers write a song, record and integrate with family life keep the whole thing moving along. As band members are recruited they introduce themselves to the time line and comment on what it is like to be in the band.

Technically the film is constructed around shooting in 2012-15 with archival footage before that and some later material added on the end. The increasing texture of the film demonstrates the increasing power of the band. Not with volume - but with the competence of the playing and quality of the material they are singing. An almost continuous soundtrack of full songs, not edited supports the story.

Near the end of the film the full on recording of "No Hard Feelings" shows the true cost of performing and the differences between the brothers. One compartmentalizes the session by the quality of the playing, the perfection of hitting every chord correctly and singing every note on tune. The other - completely emotionally drained and unable to continue to the next song without a significant time out.

As the movie then moves to a wrap from this high - the scene is a Madison Square Garden concert filmed after the bulk of the film - you see a changed band on stage - the style and dress is different and of course there is new material.

Of course the band will keep developing. But will it last?

Eleanor Coppola's directorial debut. A cute movie about a wife with blocked ears - skipping a plane ride and being driven up through France to Paris by her husband's business associate. "Watch out dear - he's a Frenchman....". The food and museums and attractions are a backdrop to a 'will they/wont they' tale. No particular morality explored - just a couple thrown together by circumstance.

The movie is in English - but French people speak French and you don't get subtitles. Which is kinda fun - because then you know how Diane Lane's character feels when she doesn't fully comprehend what is going on and how she is about to be (or not) swept along by events. If you DO speak French then it is (....spoiler....).

There is a set up at the end for the obvious follow up movie.....

Henry King's 1949 classic about faltering command during the early period of the 8th Army Air Force's missions against Germany from English bases during WWII.

The film opens with a flashback sequence as the squadron adjutant Harvey Stoval - played by Dean Jagger who won an Oscar for best supporting actor - buys the squadron mascot in a junk shop in post war London and revisits the remains of the airfield and his memories.

The film flashes back to a returning mission of B17's with damaged and shot up aircraft. In one of the most spectacular real effects filmed, stuntman Paul Mantz belly landed a real B17, wheels up on a field - plowing it through a tent and debris. The stunt was carefully prepared - the plane coming in with almost no fuel aboard to cause a post crash fire. The B17's were many and surplus in 1949. Can't imagine that being repeated in this day and age! The film moves to examine the command structure and the "bad luck" the bomb group is suffering. Gregory Peck - as Colonel Savage - is sent in to sort things out - replacing a popular - but ineffectual commander. Savage's brand of tough, no nonsense, no compromise, no favorites, command proves immensely unpopular with the crews whose morale is low and only gets lower.

Slowly Savage's demands produce unit cohesion and lower casualties and crews see there is a chance they might come home if they do it Savage's way. The first mission into Germany produces hidden unit indiscipline as everyone who can - stows away on B17's for the "Big One". This mission is actually portrayed using real WWII combat footage and no punches are pulled as B17's spiral in and fighters swarm all over the formations. The credits are at pains to point out - this real footage was shot by both sides in the conflict. The gritty black and white - emphasizing the mud and the cold and the generally poor conditions at the airfields in the UK this also allows the incorporation of this real wartime combat footage.

Ultimately - as the unit begins to produce results the strain begins to tell on Savage who suffers a complete collapse at the start of a mission. Such has been his ability to built a team that the mission proceeds without him and produces outstanding results.

2015 - The film is still used at the US Coastguard Academy as a study in command styles.

A miniseries adaption of Derek Robinson's book.

This is a work of fiction set against a historical timeline and so for the purists - you are going to hate the Sptifires in France (in the real war it was Hurricanes) and the wrong marks of Spitfires and Messerschmits used on the set - so set that aside before you even view this. For this 1988 production the special effects are pretty good and rather show up the sometimes overused clips taken from the 1969 Battle of Britain movie. But set that aside too because.....

What elevates this mini series are two key components:

The first - for Spitfire enthusiasts - are some of the flying sequences shot for this series. The pilots really had a good time and showed off their skills with some flair. Camera angles and careful lens selection can make a Spitfire look like it is flying among tree tops when the trees are in reality some distance from wings but you can's deny just how close to the ground some of these planes really are. When they fly in formation at a camera at almost zero feet you can see the planes bouncing around in each other's turbulence and ground effect and the pilots correcting and jinking to stay in formation. It is as close to being IN an airborne Spitfire as I am ever likely to get. There are also some wonderful shots of planes making the curved landing approaches required by Spitfires' long noses that you could not see over. Tail shots of three point tail dragger landings are quite spectacular too. Watch those unlocked tail wheels spin in the initial shock!

The second key part of this production - for those looking for the story - are the characters developing against the timeline and changing as the pressures of battle alter them all in different ways. Recent post war research has shown that the real make up of the RAF during the Battle of Britain had little to do with Univesity educated upper class so often portrayed. So this view is maybe closer to the pre-war squadron portrayed here - at least at the start of the series.

Important crunch issues of:

• the difficulties of aircraft recognition, - outdated tactics on the British side, - friendly fire in battle, - how horribly people really died in their planes when hit, - how you could be just plain unlucky if your plane faltered in the heat of the moment - and just how hard it was for the RAF pilots to learn and pass on experience as they often failed to make it home to tell

all make a showing as "Hornet Squadron" falls back from France to literally sit on the edge of the White Cliffs of Dover in the front line of those trying to fend off the marauding Luftwaffe.

For the less well developed characters there is a horrific reality - they never survived long enough to get into the story because they get shot down as soon as they appeared.

What sets this series aside - especially from big perspective movies like the Battle of Britain - is the close up portrayal of the reality of rapid aircraft and personnel turnover. By the end - the few old timers are "twitching" with stress and falling as they make mistakes or their luck runs out. If you have ever read the official history of the battle and read the too often used line - "Squadron sent north to rest and re-equip" this series brings home the horrific reality that lay behind that seemingly bland statement. There is absolutely no doubt that in the final moments of the series as the stragglers return - that is where this squadron is headed - what is left of it.

A good adaption of the original book and a worthy tribute to "the few".

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Available on DVD - the transfer comes in for some criticism - but you can't make better resolution for a DVD out of an older and lower resolution telecine tape. Set aside the slight fuzziness and watch the story.

The opening sequence shows a Spitfire in cloud and the radio is out. Struggling just to keep the plane upright the pilot literally stumbles into a German bomber which he takes a shot at.

Flash forward to 88 year old Geoffrey Wellum standing on a small pier telling it like it was. "Of course I remember what it was like - how could you forget" Flashback to May 1940 and reporting to the Adjutant: "My name is Mac - fought in the last mess - how EXACTLY old are you son?" "Almost 19 sir" "Exactly how old?" "18 years and 9 months sir" After a hellish night at the pub getting hazed with booze by the other squadron members the next morning finds 'Boy' Wellum performing cockpit drill with the fitters who strap him in and let him take a first flight in a Spitfire.

The adjutant and squadron leader watch the take off.

"God help us" The docudrama then follows Wellum - beautiful aerial footage cut with shots of the 88 year old Wellum describing how it felt.

With minimal training the squadron leader calls him in and announces "You are to report for ops at First Light" - knowing that unless Wellum is extremely lucky - he has just handed out a death sentence "If you could survive three weeks - you had a chance of making it to six or longer". Casualties are wiped off the chalk board without comment. Mac the adjutant writes a letter.

As ever - footage from the 1969 Battle of Britain movie is used for the mass aircraft scenes - but some digital remastering and new special effects give it some verisimilitude.

On his first op Wellum gets a German bomber but only just makes it home with the remains of his Spitfire after getting jumped when fixating on his target.

The constant strain of fighting through the summer of 1940 - smoking aircraft, the constant ring of the scramble bell, overturned chairs and chess pieces, his roommate slowly cracking under the strain are portrayed against the backdrop of period music.

Based on Wellum's own book - a very personal account of his feelings, fears and a desperate desire not to let anyone down.

So it is a throwback to a lot of other Bond movies - draws in a number of subtle threads from the original books and has an utterly unmemorable Bond Theme.

Opening - Mexico Day of the Dead sequence - AWESOME All my friends couldn't believe the helicopter was really being looped and rolled for the camera (it was) Slow scene setting thereafter Picks up well from the middle with a nice denouement at the end.

So how many throwbacks did YOU spot? My list so far: Accidentally demolishing the building as Bond shoots the bad guy in in Mexico - the staggered building collapse in Venice in Casino Royale The clinic on the mountain top - Piz Gloria from On Her Majesty's Secret Service Flying the Britten Norman Islander (BNI) down the firebreaks while chasing the bad guys in the car (a fabulous bit of flying I might add) - The bob sled chase from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

The fight on the train in North Africa - The fight on the train From Russia With Love BNI bursts through the haybarn - Car bursts through a haybarn in ?????? (It was such a re-use and SO obvious - but I don't remember which movie it was originally in) Bond and the girl being welcomed at the crater and given rooms and clothing to wear - same scene from Dr No.

Blowing up the crater - blowing up the crater from You Only Live Twice Car Chase in Rome - any number of Bond car chases. (They REALLY wrote off 10 Aston Martin's filming the sequence? - I believe it - those wet cobbles looked lethal).

Car chase in Rome - machine guns, bullet proof car etc - The original Aston Martin in Goldfinger Bond punching out of the Aston Martin - I suppose a slight nod to the ejection seat on Goldfinger.

anyone else?.......

A documentary about the formation of the Israeli Air Force in time to defend the fledgling nation as it declared independence.

Starting with two Piper Cubs flown in across the Mediterranean on overload fuel tanks for 11 hours to create supply aircraft.

In California C-46 and Constellations were purchased and smuggled out of America across the Atlantic by a circuitous route to create a transport command.

Luftwaffe Me 109's were cobbled together with parts obtained through Czechoslovakia and assembled in Tel Aviv and flown straight into combat without any flight testing. The irony of flying in Luftwaffe equipment was not lost on many of the volunteer Jewish American pilots many who had less than 30 mins cockpit familiarization before flying into combat.

The first combat ground attack by just four Me 109's stopped the Egyptian Army in its tracks as it started its invasion of Israel.

3 smuggled B-17's were used to bomb Cairo with the US commercial pilots bluffing their way into Egypt pretending to be TWA flights.

Ultimately the Israelis obtained Spitfires which led to the only known Spitfre/Spitfire combats with the Egyptian Air Force Spits.

With commentary by pilots who flew and with contemporary footage and photography. An interesting testament to the pilots who turned the tide in Israel's favor.

Want to know what a:

Sub-Prime Mortgage Mortgage Bond Credit Default Swap Collateralized debt obligation Synthetic Collateralized debt obligation

are?

Didn't think so.

But this fascinating movie shows how three different fund managers of varying levels of experience realized as early as 2005 that the housing market was a bubble about to burst and set out to profit from it when it did. As 2007 rolled into 2008 and people began to default on their mortgages - the fund managers begin to realize that they have actually bet on the economy failing and that this will lead to millions losing homes, jobs and savings.

The three funds ultimately made $2.5 BILLION but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the $5 TRILLION wiped out the economy.

Cleverly told by observation, characters talking directly to camera in plain English and short blocks of text - the movie recreates the heady days of 2005-7 and the eventual failure of the big banks. A far clearer understanding of what really happened emerges.

A surprisingly good movie from what threatened to be a dry subject.

Robert Redford plays author Bill Bryson as he and his friend Stephen Katz (played by Nick Nolte) walk the Appalachian trail. I've not read the book - I'm not awful keen on Bryson's stuff - but the movie is cute enough. Couple of old guys on the trail reflecting on life. It's a little uneven trying to tackle too many of the threads from the book.

The Journey Aging Humor Environmentalism/Science

If they had left out the "Environmentalism/Science" which comes across as oddly placed footnotes it would be a tighter movie.

Don't take it too seriously and it's OK - cute.

Now maybe you do and maybe you don't like Country Music and even if you do - the Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell may not be your taste.

But this movie / documentary about deciding to go on a last 115 date tour to say goodbye to his fans after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's is right on so many levels. Supported by his wife and backed on stage by his three kids he can still play the old songs and when he can glimpse reality through the fog makes some pretty poignant jokes at his own expense. Having finished his hit "Galveston" and taken the applause he starts the song again and the backing band hesitates. His daughter on keyboards behind him gently offers - "We just did that one Dad". For a moment he realizes what he has done and quips - "I ain't taught them how to follow me yet..." He got a Best Country Song Grammy this year for his very last studio song - "I'm Not Gonna Miss You". Opening line: "I'm still here but yet I'm gone" No sympathy vote here - it is a powerful number from the movie. Truly deserved a Grammy.

A biopic about Vinny "The Tasmanian Devil" Paz - a boxer who came back from a broken neck (sustained in a car crash) to fight again. His career total being 40 wins in 50 fights. Some fights and events are compressed to make the film work.

Set in the late 80's and filmed entirely on location in Rhode Island around his native town of Cranston - the film incorporates real TV footage of the period in the background as presenters and local stations cover his chances of fighting again. (Hilarious in some cases as the gray haired presenters are still with us now!) The film certainly demonstrates Paz's sheer guts and determination to train again while wearing his "halo" collar drilled into his skull to hold his neck straight while the vertebrae heal. (Years ago I had a staff member also wearing a halo collar while he recovered from a broken neck - this part is really well portrayed).

Living in Rhode Island I'm familiar with the area portrayed - the close up camera style and cars and housing all ring VERY true. Though I deny any familiarity with the "Foxy Lady" gentleman's club - also portrayed......

If you sat up for the "Thrilla in Manila" and the "Rumble in the Jungle" - then this movie shows boxing of the period in the lighter divisions. If boxing isn't your thing - you might want to give it a miss - the fights are particularly well staged.

Spoiler - ......and you thought when they were running the Marathon bombers down there was a little gunfight in the town of Watertown....... Think again - it was more like WWIII.

Excellent recreation from 4 hours before, thru the Marathon bombing and the following 100 hours. Mark Wahlberg "composites" for a lot of folks and shows up all over the place but it doesn't detract from the movie.

The ending with the real people portrayed giving their perspective - powerful stuff.

Wow! - 11 out of 10.