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Definite- LEE good movies

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  • Member since
    September 2012
Definite- LEE good movies
Posted by GMorrison on Friday, July 15, 2016 8:56 PM

We just finished up our Independence Day movie festival.

First was "1776". "Saint Elsewhere" fans will certainly enjoy the great William Daniels. In all ways a very fine movie.

Next, the "John Adams" series. Be sure to find the "making of" part, if you are interested, and more interestingly, the feature about David McCullough.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Saturday, July 16, 2016 6:00 AM

I 2nd you on the John Adams series,I just love Paul Giamatti as an actor.

I would recommend Jeff Daniels in "The Crossing "

And I have enjoyed the AMC original series "Turn-Washington's Spies.

  • Member since
    July 2013
  • From: Chicago area
Posted by modelmaker66 on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 11:37 PM

1776 is a classic in our house! Went to Philly when i was a kid with the family and saw Independance Hall, Franklin's home, liberty bell. Was so cool when I was 10 around the bicentennial! I love all those great historical US movies!  

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Green Bay, WI USA
Posted by echolmberg on Thursday, July 28, 2016 7:44 AM

I think it was last year that my kids and I watched "Sons of Liberty".  I can't say how accurate it is.  That period of the U.S.'s history is something I'm just starting to get into so I'm not exactly sure how much of the show was fact vs fiction.  But it did capture my two girls' (ages 9 and 13) attention.  They're studying that part of history in school so the timing of it was pretty good.

I remember several years ago I happened to catch the last half hour or so of "The Crossing" with Jeff Daniels.  I really enjoyed what little I saw and I need to someday rent/buy/stream it somehow so I can see it in its entirety.

Eric

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Thursday, July 28, 2016 9:26 AM

I just wound up 33 years of teaching the American Revolution on the college level. That doesn't make me an expert, but I do know something about the subject.

Movies have to do things differently than scholarly books, because movies have to get people to watch them. So it isn't reasonable to judge movies as genuine works of history.

Having gotten that caveat out of the way, i do have some personal opinions about Revolutionary War movies.

I really like "John Adams." It got the story pretty close to right, and featured some really fine acting. I thought Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney had the Adamses nailed perfectly. (Trivia: did you know that Mr. Giamatti's father was Bart Giamatti - the Commissioner of Baseball who threw Pete Rose out of the game?) And David Morse did the best job I've seen with the impossible role of George Washington.

I like "The Crossing." I thought Jeff Davis did well as Washington, and the battle scene was fine. I did think the interpretation of Henry Knox was a bit over the top, though. I bought a DVD copy in the gift shop at Mt. Vernon. It contains a line that I don't think was in the one aired on A&E. Let's see how much of it the electronic censor lets me quote. Washington says to Knox: "Henry, get your fat ass in here, and don't swing your balls or you'll capsize the boat." [Well, I guess that one got by. Moderators - please don't ban me.] I think it was an ad lib; the actor playing Nathanael Greene practically chokes with laughter. Great line, but it somehow just doesn't seem like the sort of thing the father of our country would say.

I have to say I thought "Sons of Liberty" was utter garbage. The narrative had big mistakes in it, and the depictions of the historical figures - especially the anti-revolutionaries - were downright offensive. And the Battle of Bunker Hill was one of the silliest renditions of a battle that I've ever seen. (Did anybody else notice that there wasn't any hill?)

I like the narrative in "1776" - especially the treatment of the slavery issue. I do think the depiction of Richard Henry Lee as a buffoon is pretty awful - and I didn't care much for the music.

A movie that rarely gets mentioned in this context is "The Devil's Disciple," which is based on a play by George Bernard Shaw. You haven't lived till you've watched Sir Laurence Olivier play General Burgoyne. The last line is classc: "General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, and history told lies as usual. But the rest of this story is fiction. You can safely believe every word."

What can follow a line like that?

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Thursday, July 28, 2016 9:46 AM

Interesting. jtilley - what's your opinion on the HBO series, Turn: Washington's Spies. I had debated whether or not to check out Series 1 at the library.

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Thursday, July 28, 2016 10:01 AM

I bought "Turn" on DVD recently. I haven't had a chance to watch much of it yet, but so far it looks excellent.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Thursday, July 28, 2016 10:21 AM

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Interesting. jtilley - what's your opinion on the HBO series, Turn: Washington's Spies. I had debated whether or not to check out Series 1 at the library.

 

I can't vouch for the authenticity of it,but very entertaining.I'm enjoying it.I like Simco,and Rogers,again I think they are loosely based on real people.

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