Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Saving Mr. Banks (2013) directed by John Lee Hancock

Walt Disney spent twenty years trying to get the film rights to P. L. Travers's Mary Poppins novels. This movie focuses on Travers, who is in a tricky situation. Royalties have been drying up, so she could use the money. But she truly dreads the Disney-fication of her beloved Mary Poppins. She doesn't want animation or any silly prancing and dancing about. She decides to go to Los Angeles to work on the script and reassure herself that they won't mess it up. She meets with Walt and starts working with the script writer and two song writers. Things do not go well. She hasn't signed the rights away yet, so they have to do everything they can to convince her. A clash of cultures and personalities ensues.

Intercut with the Hollywood story is Travers's childhood memories from living in Australia, where her family struggles under her father's depression and alcoholism. She as a child is blissfully unaware of the problems because the father is a bit of a dreamer and story teller. He calls his daughter a princess and makes up fantastic tales about people turned into animals and such. Her childhood explains a lot about her attitudes and desires. Emma Thompson gives a great performance as the adult Travers and the rest of the cast is good too.

The movie is a great dramatic story with a satisfying narrative conclusion. My only difficulty is the conclusion that I drew afterwards--I suspect much of the movie is a fabrication for dramatic effect. As a historically-based film, I consider this more like Shadow of the Vampire than Patton.

Book Review: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1952 by Mike Mignola et al.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1952 story by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Alex Maleev, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Clem Robins

After twenty-one years in print, we finally get the story of Hellboy's first mission with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense! Hellboy came onto the Earth in 1944 when summoned by a bunch of Nazis who were desperate for some way to win the war. Eight years later, Hellboy is fully grown and is cooling his heels on an Army base where the B.P.R.D. is stationed. Professor Bruttenholm, head of the organization and foster-father to Hellboy, sends four agents to Brazil to investigate strange murders in a small, remote village. He wants Hellboy to go along. The agents have various reactions from excitement to trepidation. Will they just have to babysit him? Things turn out to be a lot more dangerous and complicated, making an exciting story.

The art is grittier and more subdued Mignola's work high contrast work. The story is interesting with some nice twists and foreshadowing of things to come both in this story and in other Hellboy stories.

This is definitely worth reading for Hellboy fans!

I read this in individual issues but the trade paperback is coming in August!

Airborne and Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville, NC--Part II

Continuing our exploration of the Airborne and Special Operations Museum...

The permanent exhibits go through the history of the airborne units from World War II to the present. They show off the gear and even have a mocked up French street for visitors to walk down.

An early display

WWII map of airborne operations (click to enlarge)

War bonds guy

Iron Mike lookalike

L on the French street

J takes cover

Displays show various uniforms, equipment, and weapons they used.

Uniforms

Weapons and gear

A well-armed soldier

The CG-4A Waco Glider saw a lot of action in World War II, delivering soldiers, supplies, and even vehicles!

CG-4A glider with jeep

More of the glider

Not everything came by gliders, of course. This 105 mm howitzer is bundled up for a parachute drop. The platform includes special materials that will crush on landing, softening the impact.

Parachute-able howitzer

The UH-1 or Huey helicopter was developed in the early 1960s and was a standard transport for the airborne troops in Vietnam.

Huey

Another display shows various standard rifles, including an M79 grenade launcher, am M16 rifle, and an M60 machine gun.

Vietnam-era rifles

Black Tiger insignia from Vietnam on a helmet

Tanks and other defenses from the 1990s are also on display.

Tank from early 1990s

Weaponized jeep

Scouting intel

Spider hole

We enjoyed visiting the museum!

Daddy and N the airborne ranger

Airborne and Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville, NC--Part I

The Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was a stop on our way home from Florida last Christmas. It's finally getting a blog post!

Airborne and Special Operations Museum

The building has a large statue out front called Iron Mike. Weighing over a ton and a half, he depicts a World War II paratrooper who has just landed. The statue was originally erected at Fort Bragg when the statue was built in the early 1960s. It was replaced with a bronze replica and eventually moved to this museum. Starting last year (2014), a "Mike to Mike" half marathon runs from the museum statue to the Fort's statue.

Iron Mike

The rocks underneath the statue are from the Curahee Mountain, part of the grounds at Camp Toccoa where the first paratroopers were trained. The soldiers ran "three miles up, three miles down" the mountain as part of their training. "Curahee," the Native American word for "stand alone," is now the motto of the 506th Infantry Regiment.

The lobby has two fully-deployed parachutes on display. The round one is a World War II-era T-5 chute; the square one is a modern MC-4 chute. They represent both the history and the continual modernization of the airborne forces.

The lobby

WWII T-5 chute

Modern MC-4 chute

When we visited, the temporary exhibit displayed information and items from the Battle of Mogadishu, a 1993 raid that was supposed to be a "smash and grab" but turned into a fourteen hour firefight. The center of the exhibit is the rotor from the Super 61 helicopter that was shot down during the mission, killing the two pilots and injuring other crew members.

Rotor from Super 61

Arms dealer

Two paratroopers

More of the museum in the next post!

Movie Review: The Book of Life (2014)

The Book of Life (2014) directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez

A school trip to the museum for a set of misfits leads them to a special exhibit on the Mexican Day of the Dead (November 2). Part of the exhibit is The Book of Life, which tells stories (both true and false) from Mexican history. One story is about a town where two boys are in love with the same girl. One boy, Manolo, is the son of a bullfighter but he wants to be a troubadour; the other boy, Joaquin, is the son of a soldier and can't wait to become one. Two warring spirits from the afterlife, La Muerte (leader of the Realm of the Remembered) and Xibalba (leader of the Realm of the Forgotten), bet on which boy will win the girl's hand. Xibalba is a bit of a cheater and gives the future soldier a medal that will keep him from harm, so you know his career will go well. Manolo has a tough time in his career--even though he has great skills in the ring, he doesn't kill the bull and would rather play with the mariachi band. The girl goes off to school in Europe, giving the boys time to grow up and make something of themselves. When she gets back, the action takes off.

While the early plot is a fairly standard one, the execution is amazing. The movie has a lot of Mexican culture and myths. The animation style follows the flamboyantly exuberant Day of the Dead celebrations. It's gorgeous to look at and I found myself drinking in the background images because they are so detailed. The humor and characters are engaging. The movie is visually inventive and original and enjoyable. It's a fun movie for kids.

Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai by Stan Sakai

 Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai writing and art by Stan Sakai

Miyamoto Usagi is a traveling warrior (the "Yojimbo" part of the title). He's wandering through a dark forest when he comes upon some monsters and ghosts from Japanese folklore (the "Yokai" part of the title). After an initial run-in with a fox-fire, Usagi finds a beautiful, well-dressed woman who is crying. Her daughter has been kidnapped by one of the spirits and taken deeper into the woods. This particular night is a sort of Halloween, when all the spirits get together to cause trouble for the living. Usagi promises to find the girl and return her. He soon discovers that this night is extra-special--the Yokai want to use the girl to raise a terrible demon who will bring about the end of the world! His adventure leads him into many fights with the Yokai as he joins an old friend, Sasuke the Demon Queller (just the sort of person he needs on a night like this), to save the world.

This story is a twenty-fifth anniversary special edition of Usagi Yojimbo, so it is in full color and is a stand-alone story. I haven't read any other stories but I had an easy time following and enjoying this story. The monsters are interesting in their bizarre and quirky way (much like the monsters in Hellboy stories). The action and humor are well-executed. The art is watercolor, which is unusual for graphic novels but suits the story, giving it enough other-worldliness to make it fascinating and unique. I am definitely curious to read more adventures of this character.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars

 Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars directed by Paddy Russell

Tom Baker is the first Doctor I ever saw, so naturally he is my favorite. Aside from my personal preference, he is also acknowledged as one of the best Doctors, embodying the comedic and dramatic elements of the character well. He's quick-witted, quirky, and captivating. His scarf is the most iconic element of the series aside from the TARDIS itself. Finding a DVD with a full adventure featuring Tom Baker in the library, I knew I had to get it.

The story starts in Egypt, where an archeologist breaks into a pyramid's burial chamber. He uncovers a wall on which an eye starts glowing. His Egyptian helpers leave in terror but the oh-so-smart British archeologist keeps going, where he gets blasted by some crazy light. Cut to the Doctor and Sarah Jane, who are coming back to Earth. They land at UNIT's headquarters, but they get there in 1911 before UNIT even exists. The priory is owned by, you guessed it, the archeologist, who is not there. But a wacky Egyptian servant is there and has legal papers that let him both store the tomb's finds and hide them from any visitors. The servant clearly believes in the Egyptian gods and that one of them, Sutekh the Destroyer, is about to rise again. Sutekh is actually one of the Osirians, an alien race with god-like powers. He was imprisoned in a pyramid on Earth because he was destroying every planet he came to. Naturally the Doctor does not want Sutekh released and does his best to stop Sutekh's servants.

This set of four episodes was originally broadcast in 1975 but it holds up surprisingly well. The performances and writing are top-notch, creating an exciting story. The monster henchmen (robot mummies) are effectively odd and menacing. The effects aren't super-wobbly like in other early Doctor Who shows, though some of them are very simple (the TARDIS flying in space and another object "floating" in the air are very obviously wire work).

Highly recommended if you want to dip your toes into earlier Doctor Who shows.

N.B. I watched this as part of the fiftieth anniversary "Doctors Revisited" set that includes an nice special feature talking about the Tom Baker years, including new interviews with Baker.