Today’s film is a
war movie with a scene that happens on January 31. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
FULL METAL
JACKET
A group of marine recruits
arrive at Parris Island and are placed under the command of Sgt. Hartman. One
recruit, nicknammed “Gomer Pyle” fails at training, eventually kills Hartman
and commits suicide. One of the recruits “Joker” is sent to Vietnam as a
reporter for Stars and Stripes, where on January 31, 1968 [53:38 to 57:54], the
Vietcong launch the Tet offensive. Joker joins a squad commanded by “Cowboy” a
former fellow recruit in the Battle of Hue. After a sniper kills several members
of the squad, the sniper, a teenage girl is wounded. Joker shoots her in a mercy
killing.
Fire in the Streets by Eric Hammel (Contemporary
Books, Chicago, 1991) at pages 34-35 gives the date the attack was
launched
Director - Stanley Kubrick
Producer - Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay - Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr and Gustav
Hasford
Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Adapted
Screenplay Oscar
Released – June 17, 1987
Runtime – 1 hour 56 minutes
Starring -
Matthew Modine as Private/Corporal/Sergeant James T.
"Joker" Davis
Vincent D'Onofrio as Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle"
Lawrence
R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
Arliss Howard as Private/Sergeant Robert "Cowboy"
Evans
Adam Baldwin as Sergeant "Animal Mother"
Dorian Harewood as Corporal "Eightball"
Kevyn Major Howard as Private First Class
"Rafterman"
Ed O'Ross as Lieutenant Walter J. "Touchdown"
Schinoski
Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on
January 30. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
BLOODY SUNDAY
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association, led by a non-sectarian Protestant parliamentarian Ivan Cooper
plans a peaceful march in LondonDerry for civil rights on January 30, 1972
[2:45 to 1:34:35] , while the government has banned all marches. The British government brings in the Army,
which plans if shooting starts to shoot back.
Cooper insists on marching in order to maintain his credibility in the
civil rights movement. He communicates through the police that he does not want
a confrontation, but the army ignores this statement. The march begins.
However, British troops appear atop the wall separating Protestant and Catholic
areas. Then at a point where the march is supposed to turn right, some of the
crowd turns left. This brings them up
against an army barricade. Cooper tries to get the marchers turned around, but
then the army opens up with water cannon. Some youths start throwing stones,
while the army responds with tear gas. Then the army opens fire hitting 2
people. This infuriates the crowd.
Cooper and his cohorts address the marchers. The army moves forward to
arrest the stone throwers. The army starts using live ammo, killing twelve and
wounding 14. The army immediately
claims its men were fired on. All is chaos at the hospital with relatives of
the dead and wounded rubbing elbows with the army. Army troops plant nail bombs
on a body. In exactly the opposite effect that the Army’s action was supposed
to have, dozens of men join the IRA. Cooper is stunned by what has happened. He
makes a speech condemning the army’s action.
A powerful film. This film shows
that the violence only begot more violence that lasted for 25 years. Uses almost a documentary style.
The Troubles: Ireland’s Ordeal
1966-1996 and the Search for Peace by Tim Pat Coogan
(Roberts Rinehart Publishers,
Boulder, CO, 1996) at page 134 and the film at 2:50 give the date of the march
Today’s movie is a war film with a scene that happens on
January 29. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE HEROES OF DESERT STORM
Iraq invades and terrorizes Kuwait. In the USA Marine
aviator Guy Hunter has just moved with his family to Camp Pendleton,
California. American military members and reservists react to the invasion as
the American government and the United Nations try to decide how to react. Due
to the activation of American forces Ben Pennington does not get to say goodbye
to his father and brother, Lt. Phoebe Jeter does not get to see her dying
grandmother, Daniel Maldonado will miss the birth of his child and Gary
Buckholz has to get married in rushed ceremony. A large number of American forces are moved to the Middle East.
The bombing campaign begins. Ben Pennington is involved in a mission to destroy
Iraqi radar sites. Stealth bombers and battleships attack the Iraqi positions.
Capt. Steve Tate is conflicted after he shoots down an Iraqi jet. Back in
Pennsylvania, Beverly Clark is dismayed to be activated and other families
suffer through the separation. US pilot
Devon Jones is shot down over Iraq, but he is rescued by Ben Pennington.
Guy Hunter is shot down and captured, while starving Iraqi soldiers surrender
at the border. The Iraqis torture the prisoners they have captured. On January
29, 1991 [50:09 to 53:08] the Iraqis attack Khafji and Marine corp medic Crumes
goes forward to treat the wounded. After Iraq starts firing SCUD missiles, Lt.
Jeter’s battery saves Gary Budkholz’s base, but learns that her grandmother has
died. The Iraqis blow up oil wells and the invasion begins. Beverly Clark is
killed in an Iraqi SCUD strike on a base in Dhahran. Two marines prevent the
destruction of an Iraqi ammo dump. Beverly’s family learns of her death. An
Iraqi convoy of fleeing vehicles is wiped out, resulting in the “Highway of
Death.” With the war over the troops return home to cheers and hugs.
A docudrama war film. Combines
actual footage with filmed sequences. In tone it is almost a propaganda film.
Released only seven months after the events it portrays.
Desert Victory: The War for
Kuwait by Norman Friedman ( Naval Institute Press,
Annapolis, MD, 1991) at page 198
gives the date of the start of the battle.
Today’s movie is a disaster drama with a scene that happened
on January 28. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
CHALLENGER
The Challenger crew, Dick Scobee, Christa McAullife, Ron McNair, Elison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Greg Jarvis and
Judith Resnick rehearse their in-flight broadcast. We then flashback to when
Christa McAullife was selected as a teacher in space winner. Dick Scobee
practices shuttle landings. Morton Thiokol engineers say they can’t do accurate
tests with the booster rockets in a horizontal position. Ron McNair teaches
karate. MT engineer Roger Boisjoly knows the O-rings could fail during a
launch. Scobee meets Christa. NASA has a meeting about O-ring erosion at
launch. Christa meets the rest of the crew. The commander and pilot work the
simulator and practice post launch abort scenarios. Concerns are raised again
about the O-rings. Julie Reznick and Christa McAullife become friends.
Onizuka’s is wife is angry with him for always coming home late, leading to
tension, while Mike Smith and wife have a very close relationship. Corporate
politics at MT hamper the search for a solution to the O-ring problem. Ron
McNair shows his son around the shuttle simulator and Scobee flies Christa on
g-force acclimation flights. Christa misses her family and Greg Jarvis is added
to the flight. The crew practice underwater and Christa upsets the NASA liaison
by always being late for meetings. The crew has a press conference. Morton
Thiokol says they have no data about O-ring performance at low temps and say
the shuttle shouldn’t launch when there are extremely low temperatures on
launch day. NASA is upset at this as they think this recommendation is based on
no data. MT bows to NASA pressure and says launch. There is a hard freeze at the launch site. The crew boards Challenger on
January 28, 1986 and the engines fire. [2:02:09 to 2:18:26]
A sentimentalized biopic of the crew. Doesn’t really get
into their characters. Does show the bureaucracy that contributed to the
disaster.
Air and Space Disasters of the World by Xavier
Waterkeyn (New Holland Publishers, London, 2007) at pages 228 – 229 gives the
date of the launch
Awards – The film won the Outstanding Sound Editing Emmy. It
was also nominated for the Outstanding Sound Mixing Emmy at the 42nd
Primetime Emmy Awards.
Producers - George Englund, Jr., Courtney Pledger and Debbie
Robbins
Today’s movie is a biographical drama waith a scene that
happens on January 27. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
PETER THE GREAT
In 1682 Peter’s half-sister Sophia tries to use the
Strelsi, a powerful military group to murder both Peter and his half–brother
Ivan, so she can become ruler of Russia, by claiming Peter’s mother, Natalia
wants to kill Ivan, and make Peter sole ruler. This plot fails, but Sofia is
made regent instead of Natalia. Peter and Ivan are both crowned as Tsars of
Russia. Later, Sophia pushes a plan to attack Azov, a fortress that controls
access to the Black Sea that belongs to the Turks. Peter becomes interested in
all things western. His mother finds a
bride for him and they are married on January 27, 1689. [1:08:15 to
1:18:46] He and his wife don’t get
along and he takes a mistress, Anna Mons from among the foreign colony. Peter
exposes the fact that Sophia’s attack on Azov was totally crushed, instead of being
the victory she proclaimed. Peter survives an assassination attempt and becomes
a father to Alexis. Sophia tries to get rid of Peter again, but the troops
remain loyal to him, and she is exiled. The church claims he’s possessed by the
devil. Peter’s mother dies. He builds a
fleet and uses it to attack and capture Azov. Peter and his wife don’t get
along at all. Due to opposition to his policies, Peter sets up the secret
police. He goes on a tour of Western Europe and selects a wife for Alexis.
People opposed to Peter try to use his son Alexis against him. Sophia and
Peter’s wife form a conspiracy against Peter. They convince Alexis that Peter
intends for his illegitimate daughter with Anna Mons to become Czarina. Peter
returns and stops the attempted coup.
Alexis marries Charlotte, while Peter divorces his wife. He wants
everyone to adopt European customs and clothing. Peter’s meeting with Charles
XII of Sweden ends in failure and war begins. Peter arouses opposition by
expropriating church bells for use in making cannon. Peter is defeated at Narva
by Charles XII due to Russian traitors informing the Swedes of his plans. The
war continues, with the Russians adopting a scorched earth policy until they
finally crush the Swedes at Poltava. Alexis and his mistress flee to Vienna
when his involvement in the anti-Peter plot is exposed. Peter sends agents who
persuade him to return to Russia. Alexis renounces his right to the throne. He
is extensively interrogated about the plot. Alexis is executed for treason.
An interesting and surprisingly
well done historical drama about a man and an era that are little known in this
country. The acting, sets and costumes are fantastic. It is even mostly
historically accurate.
Peter the Great: A Biography by Lindsey Hughes (Yale
University Press, London, 2002) at page 63 gives the date of his marriage
Producer - Marvin J. Chomsky
Director - Marvin J. Chomsky and Lawrence Schiller
Screenplay - Edward Anhalt
Running Time - 6 hours 11 minutes
Released - February 2, 1986
Awards: The film won the
Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a
Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore), and Outstanding Costumes for a
Miniseries, Movie or a Special Emmys. It was also nominated for the Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Redgrave), Outstanding
Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special and Outstanding Sound Editing for
a Miniseries or a Special Emmys at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Today’s movie is a crime drama with
a scene that happens on January 26. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
DRAGNET
Sgt. Joe Friday
returns early from vacation and is corralled into going to work as part of a
security detail for a visiting Soviet official. He is pulled off of this to
work on a case involving three missing girls. His partner Bill Gannon is
getting ready to go on forced medical retirement due to ulcers. An interview with the brother of one of the
missing girls turns up the fact that she was a member of a “Lonely Hearts”
dating club. They go to the club. When
the address “J. Johnson” gave turns out to be a fake, they get police artists
to draw sketches of the suspect. The sketch from the brother’s description
doesn’t match the one given by the dating club owner, Mrs. Kruger. The next day
January 26, 1968 [31:58 to 1:23:55] Joe tries to get a child molester to
confess. Then a body is found that
matches the sketch given by the girl’s brother. They track the dead man to a
hotel and the name Charles LeBorg. They go to the house he called from the
hotel and find the dead man’s brother. They get a lead on where the dead man
had dinner with someone last night. At the restaurant they get a description of
the two men he dined with and their car.
They turn out to be ex-cons, who are arrested by Friday and Gannon. Then
another girl Betty Mason is reported missing after the time when LeBorg was
killed so he can’t be the one kidnapping girls. At Betty Mason’s apartment they
find a receipt for the two candy bar wrappers that were in the apartment. The
store where they were purchased gives them a lead to a trailer park, but they
find the suspect left the park only twenty minutes ago. The suspect is tracked
and trapped in a dead end. He parks the trailer on the edge of a cliff in a
driving rain storm. He holds the police at bay by threatening to push the
trailer with the missing girl over the edge. Friday goes around, climbs the
cliff from below, beats up the suspect and stops the trailer from going over
the edge. After his arrest the suspect, Don Negler tells them where his tool
box is located. Inside are photos of the kidnapped girls in bondage. Negler confesses to the murders. Gannon
takes his forced medical retirement. However eight months later, Gannon has
gotten rid of his ulcers and rejoins the force.
A decent police procedural. Fans
of the sixties TV show will especially enjoy this. It is a time capsule view of
another era in police procedure.
Today’s movie is a
drama with a scene that happens on January 25. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE LAST KING OF
SCOTLAND
On January 25, 1971 [03:11 to 07:21] Dr. Garrigan
arrives in Uganda on the day of Idi Amin’s coup to work in a missionary clinic.
Garrigan later meets Amin and becomes his personal physician. Garrigan becomes
an advisor to Amin, but closes his eyes to the brutality of Amin’s regieme.
Garrigan has an affair with one of Amin’s wives, Kay and Amin replaces Garrigans British passport wih a Ugandan
one. Garrigan refuses the price of
British Foreign Office aid to get out of the country – kill Amin. Kay becomes pregnant with Garrigan’s child,
but after he can’t meet her for an abortion, she is arrested and killed. When
Palestinians fly a hijacked Air France plane into Entebbe, Garrigan tries to
kill Amin, but the plot is discovered and he is tortured. A Ugandan collegue
enables Garrigan to escape when the non-Israeli passengers are released, at the
cost of his own life.
The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget byAndrew Rice (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2009) at page 89 gives the
date of the coup
Director - Kevin MacDonald
Producers - Charles Steel, Lisa Bryer and Andrea Calderwood
Screenplay - Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock
Awards - The film won the Best Actor Oscar(Whitaker)
Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that
happens on January 24. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe
fighter pilot is shot down over Britain and taken prisoner. He resists all
attempts to extract information from him and is sent to a camp. He makes an
escape attempt but is defeated more by the English weather than by the British
army. He is transferred to another camp. Here he is involved in digging a
tunnel. Werra pretends to be a Dutch
pilot as part of a plan to steal an airplane. He almost succeeds. After this he
is sent to Canada. While traveling by train to the camp on January 24, 1941[1:27:25 to 1:35:05] Werra jumped
from the train. After almost freezing to death he managed to reach and cross
the St. Lawrence river into the neutral United States. Werra returned to
Germany and the Luftwaffe, but was shot down and killed
An interesting story about a little explored area of World
War II history.
Top Secret Tales of World War II by William Breuer
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
New York, 2000) at page 108 gives the date he leaped from
the train
Producers - Julian Wintle and Earl St. John
Director - Roy Ward Baker
Screenplay - Howard Clewes
Runtime – 1 hour 51 minutes
Released - December
2, 1957
Starring -
Hardy Krüger as Franz von Werra
Michael Goodliffe as RAF interrogator Captain Henderson Bell
Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on
January 23. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
KRAMER VS KRAMER
Ted Kramer is a hard-working ad
executive who has just landed a big account after months of effort. When he
comes home his wife tells him she is leaving him and their son Billy and
departs. After a lot of adjustment both Ted and Billy adjust to their new
situation. Ted befriends his neighbor
Margaret Phelps, a divorced mom who had advised Joanna to leave Ted if
she was not happy. Billy gets hurt in an accident on the jungle gym and Ted
carries him through Manhattan’s streets to the hospital. After 15 months Joanna
returns and wants custody of Billy, but Ted fights her. Ted gets fired because he had spent too much
time focused on Billy and not work, but he gets a new, albeit lower paying job
within 24 hours. After a court hearing
that shows Joanna is a flake she still wins custody and Ted, to spare Billy
further trauma doesn’t appeal. On January 23rd when Joanna is supposed to have her first
visitation with Billy, she shows up, says she knows Billy’s home is with Ted
and leaves without taking him. [1:38:13 to 1:42:34]
A sad movie about the problems caused by divorce.
Date of visitation given in film at 1:34:47-48
Producers - Richard Fischoff and Stanley R. Jaffe
Director - Robert Benton
Awards – The movie won the Best
Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hoffman), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best
Supporting Actress (Streep) Oscars. It was also nominated for the Best Supporting
Actor (Henry), Best Supporting Actress (Alexander), Best Film Editing and Best
Cinematography Oscars at the 52nd Academy Awards.
Today’s film is a war movie with a scene that happens on January 22. Watch it tonight and
enjoy.
RED TAILS
The 332nd Fighter
group made up of African-American pilots and flying antiquated P-40 fighters is
only allowed to carry out ground attack missions against the German supply
lines and they wonder if the results they achieve are worth the sacrifices they
make. Their commander Col. Bullard is in Washington, fighting attempts to have
the unit disbanded. They get a break when they are ordered to provide air cover
for the Anzio landings a/k/a Operation Shingle. On January 22, 1944 [30:32 to 44:35] they cover the Anzio
landings. After "Lightning" Little is almost shot down, they follow a
damaged German plane back to its base and destroy the airfield. However,
“Junior" Gannon is partially blinded as a result of injuries sustained in
the attack. The unit is transferred to provide close bomber support. Instead of enduring racial insults,
Lightning engages in a bar room brawl. The squadron gets brand new P-51 Mustang
fighter planes. On their first bomber support mission, no bombers are shot
down, but Junior is. Lightning had smooth talked the medical officer into
clearing Junior to fly, in spite of his poor vision. Returning from the mission
Lightning and Deke Watkins strafe a destroyer, heavily damaging it. However,
Deke is hit and barely survives a crash landing back at base and is sent home
on a medical discharge. Junior is sent to a POW camp. Lightning, who had often
been insubordinate to his commander, Capt. "Easy" Julian makes a deal
with him. If Julian will give up the alcohol he had been using to ease his
self-doubt, Lighting will obey him from now on. Lightning proposes to his
Italian girlfriend Sophia. Junior escapes from the POW camp. Sophia accepts
Lightning’s proposal. The unit is informed that Junior was killed in the
escape. The unit is supposed to cover the first bomber raid to Berlin only part
way, but when the unit that was to relieve them does not show they follow them
all the way there. They are attacked by Me 262 jets. Lightning saves Easy, but
is shot down and killed. Sophia is devastated by Lightning’s death. Junior
returns to the unit having actually managed to escape. The squadron is awarded
a Presidential Unit Citation.
A good movie. The aerial combat
scenes are very well done. The personal interaction scenes at the base create
believable, likeable characters
A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II by Gerhard
L. Weinberg (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1994) at page 661 gives date
of Anzio landing.
Producers - Rick McCallum, Chas.
Floyd Johnson and George Lucas
Director -Anthony Hemingway
Screenplay - John Ridley and
Aaron McGruder
Runtime – 2 hours 1minute
Released – January 20, 2012
Cast - Terrence Howard as Col.
A.J. Bullard ,Nate Parker as Capt. Martin "Easy" Julian
Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Major
Emanuel Stance, Ne-Yo as 2nd Lt. Andrew "Smokey" Salem
David Oyelowo as 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little,
Marcus T. Paulk as "Deke" Watkins
Tristan Wilds as 2nd Lt. Ray "Ray Gun" or
"Junior" Gannon, Daniela Ruah as Sofia
Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that
happens on January 21. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
CURTIN
John Curtin becomes Prime
Minister of Australia. He is friends with Tatsuo Kawai, the Ambassador from
Japan, who opposes his countries militarist plans. The Australian military tell
him the counties armed forces are positioned to promote British interests and
not Australian security. Tatsuo hints a
war may be starting very soon. After
the Japanese attack, Curtin delivers the Australian declaration of war to
Tatsuo. It is a blow when the HMS Repulse
and Prince of Wales are sunk by the Japanese. At the request of the
military Curtin asks that MacArthur be appointed Supreme Commander in
Australia. Curtin is incensed when it is proposed that a council to run the
Pacific War be set up in London. He pushes for a closer alliance with the USA.
On January 21, 1942 [ 26:16 to 28:35] Curtin is angered when he learns of
Churchill’s plans to abandon Singapore. Curtin backs up his military and forces
the British to send the two Australian divisions returning from the Middle East
directly to Australia. The argument about
this aggravates his poor health and he eventually is hospitalized for severe
gastritis. The entire country is shocked when the Japanese bomb the city of
Darwin. Churchill tries to divert the Australian troops to Burma anyway, but
Curtin has the ships sail to Australia without escort or air cover. He disappears for nine hours and his staff
fears that Curtin has fallen off the wagon, but he hasn’t. He obsesses over the safety of the troops
and is overjoyed when they reach Perth.
MacArthur is appointed Supreme Commander.
A very good biopic. As an
American I didn’t know very much about Curtin. After seeing this film I can see
why some Australians consider him to be their greatest Prime Minister.
Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on
January 20. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE HAWAIIANS
Black
Sheep Whip Hoxworth returns to Hawaii and staffs his sugarcane plantation with
Chinese indentured laborers, including Mun Ki and his concubine Nyuk Tsin. He
wants to eventually return to China with his children, while Nyuk does not.
Whip steals pineapples from French Guinea and starts raising them in Hawaii.
Whip marries Purity, who is descended from Hawaiian royalty, but due to
inbreeding, she eventually goes insane.
When Mun Ki contracts leprosy, Nyuk goes with him to the leper colony.When she
returns to civilization after his death, she finds her children are prospering.
Then plague breaks out in Chinatown. On January 20, 1900 [2:04:09 to 2:09:42]
Chinatown is set on fire to contain the disease, but Nyuk and her oldest son
Asia figure out a way to convert this disaster to their advantage. Then Whip’s
son wants to marry Nyuk’s daughter.
Hawaii by James Mitchner (Random House, New York,
1959) at pages 590-591 give the date of the fire
Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on
January 19. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
JANE EYRE
Orphan Jane Eyre
lives with her aunt, Mrs. Reed who doesn’t like her. Her mother’s brother Mr.
Reed died when Jane was three. Jane is physically and emotionally abused by her
aunt and cousins. Finally she is sent to Lowood Girls school on January 19,
18__ [Ep. 1 20:03 to 20:35]which is a charity school. She is abused by the director Mr. Brocklehurst, whose family
lives in luxury, while the students starve and freeze. Her best friend Helen
dies of ‘consumption’. Conditions at the school improve and eight years later
Jane is teaching there. She advertises for a governess position and gets one
reply, from Mrs. Fairfax at Thornfield Hall to care for Adele Varens, a young
French girl. She arrives there and likes the child. One day out walking she
encounters a horseman and he is thrown and slightly injured. Upon her return
she learns that the rider was Mr. Rochester, the owner of Thornfield. Jane
teaches Adele(who we learn is Mr. Rochester’s daughter with his former
mistress, a French opera singer, who abandoned the girl) to play the piano,
sketch and dance. Mr. Rochester and Jane become attracted to each other.
Strange laughter is heard in the halls and one night Mr. Rochester’s bed
catches on fire and would have killed him if Jane had not raised the alarm. A
house party arrives including the woman Mr. Rochester is supposedly interested
in marrying. A Mr. Mason arrives to stay and is stabbed by an unknown person.
Jane gets a letter saying her aunt is dying. She goes to see her. Her aunt
refuses her efforts at reconciliation, but gives Jane a letter she had withheld
from John Eyre, her father’s brother saying he wanted Jane to live with him.
The aunt replied that Jane had died. When her aunt dies Jane returns to
Thornfield. Adele leaves for school and Mr. Rochester proposes. However, the
wedding is stopped by the sudden appearance of the recovered Mr. Mason, who
reveals that Mr. Rochester is already married to his now insane sister, who is
kept locked up in a room at Thornfield and is responsible for the mysterious
happenings there. Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go away with him and live
together. Jane refuses and leaves. There is a second fire and Mr. Rochester is injured.
Jane wanders for a while and gets sick, but ends up at the home of the Rivers,
who nurse her back to health. Jane learns that her uncle John Eyre has left her
his entire fortune. . Eventually Mr. Rivers proposes to her, but she refuses.
She travels back to Thornfield, which is a ruin. She learns the first Mrs. Rochester died in the fire. Mr. Rochester was partially blinded in the
fire and fears she will reject him due to this. She convinces him she still
loves him and they become engaged He
eventually recovers some of his sight. .
One of the classic novels. A
great dramatic romance. This version is
well paced and has good cinematography.
Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that
happens on January 18. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE LOST PRINCE
A Christmastime, 1908 Prince John, son of George, the Prince of Wales attends a
party with his grandfather, Edward VIII. Later, in the spring he meets
visitors, his cousins, the Russian
Imperial family. John’s nanny, Lala is
devoted to John and his brother George. John has epilepsy and is kept from
public view. Edward VII dies and the Prince of Wales becomes George V. On the
day of the funeral John meets emperor Wilhelm II and has a fit. John seems to not be very bright and is sent
off to live in the country with Lala in total isolation. One day John slips
away and walks up to a tea party with the King and the prime Minister and
embarrasses them. John likes to work in the garden. John is finally recalled to
London where George helps him observe a royal banquet. The Queen has a run in
with a suffragette and John meets with his parents. That day, left by his
father, who is distracted by news of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination,
John chases his father’s pet parrot over the palace and has another fit which
is observed by the Queen and George.
John is again sent away from London to a rather small, rustic house.
George is sent to the naval academy. John sees his mother and grandmother. The
Queen is insulted on a visit to a military hospital since she is German by
birth. The King is pressured to change the families surname to Windsor. John
has more fits. The king angrily rebuffs George’s attempt to get out of the
navy. The King works to have the invitation to the Russian Imperial family to
live in exile withdrawn and is then shocked when they are shot. John gives a
recital for his parents. John dies with only Lala and George in attendance on
January 18, 1919. Lala seems to be more broken up than the Queen. At his
funeral all the servants who attended John show up to pay their respects.
A story that is in turn funny and sad. It is tragic in that
John was ignored for the most part by his family. (Although I must say in their
defense, the way John was treated was not much worse than the way all children
of upper class families were treated at the turn of the last century) But, as George
says John was the only one of the royal family who got to act how he wanted.
King George V by Harold Nicholson. Constable and Co.,
Ltd. London c. 1952 p.
Director - Stephen Poliakoff
Screenplay - Stephen Poliakoff
Awards - Won Emmy for outstanding miniseries.
Running Time - 3
hours
Released - January
19, 2003
Starring -
Daniel Williams as
Prince John (younger)
Matthew James Thomas as Prince John (older)
Brock Everitt-Elwick as Prince George, Duke of Kent
(younger)
Today’s movie is an action adventure film with a scene that
happens on January 17. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE FOUR FEATHERS
Harry Faversham a newly commissioned British
officer celebrates his engagement to Ethne. It is announced that the regiment
is being sent to Sudan to rescue “Chinese” Gordon. Harry has serious doubts about the ethicality of
the war and resigns his commission. His father, three friends, Edward, Jack and
Trench and his fiancé all disown him, with Ethne and three friends sending him
the white feather of cowardice. When he learns the regiment has come under
attack, Harry journeys to the Sudan alone and becomes allied with Abou Fatma,
an Arab. They discover the fortress of Abu Klea to which the regiment is
marching has been overrun by the enemy. Harry sends Abou to warn the regiment,
but they disregard him and march onwards. On January 17, 1885 [1:08:16 to
1:19:54], the regiment is attacked and has to form a defensive square. Edward
Castleton, who had given Harry a feather is killed in this battle. Harry saves
Jack’s life after he is blinded during the battle and gets him transported back
to England, where Jack becomes engaged to Ethne. Harry rescues Trench from the
prison where he was placed after being captured and returns with Trench to
England. When Jack learns it was Harry who saved him, he releases Ethne from
their engagement. Ethne reclaims her
feather and Harry as her fiancée.
Director - Shekhar Kapur
Producers - Paul Feldsher, Robert
Jaffe, Stanley R. Jaffe and Marty Katz
Screenplay - Mark Pellington,
Bruce Joel Rubin, Greg Brooker, Michael Schiffer, Risa Bramon Garcia and
Hossein Amini
Today’s movie is an espionage drama with a scene that
happens on January 16. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN
Boyce goes to work at a defense contractor
and after reading a misrouted coomunique dealing with a CIA plot to remove the
Australian Prime Minsiter decides to sell classified material to the USSR. Hie
friend, drug addict Andrew Lee agrees to handle the actual delivery of info the
Soviets. Lee wants to build up an espionage business for cash, while Boyce
wants to get out of espionage all together. The Soivits no longer want to deal
with Lee due his increasingly drug fueled erratic behavior. Lee tosses a note
over the fence at the Soviet embassy in Mexico and is arrested and accused of
murder. Under torture he admits to being a spy and is offered a choice return
to the USA or go to the USSR he reurns to America to be arrested, On January
16, 1977 [1:58:09 to 2:03:51] Christopher Boyce is arrested for espionage and
interrogated by the FBI
The Falcon and the Snowman
by Robert Lindsey (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1979) at pages 249-260 gives
the date of his arrest and confession
Today’s film is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January
15. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
BECOMING JANE
Jane
Austen is the unmarried daughter of a poor clergyman who wants to be a writer.
Barrister Tom LeFroy offends her by falling asleep while Jane is reading her
work. Tom overcomes this poor first impression and they fall in love. However,
Tom’s uncle Judge Langlois refuses to agree to their marriage, due to the
poverty of Jane’s family. Tom rejects Jane and becomes engaged to someone else,
with Jane following suit and accepting a suitor she had rejected earlier, due
to lack of affection. Tom later returns and begs Jane to elope with him.On
January 15, 1796 [1:32:14 to 1:46:17] Jane starts to elope with Tom LeFroy, but
changes her mind when she learns that his family is dependent on the money
Judge Langlois gives him and their marriage would reduce his entire family to
poverty, which she feels in the loing run would destroy their happiness. Jane
returns home, but ends her engagement. Twenty years later Jane, now an
established author meets Tom again. He named his daughter Jane, after her.
Jane Austen’s Letters ed. by Deirdre Le Faye (Oxford
University Press, New York, 1995) at pages 3-4 gives the date of their last
meeting
Director - Julian Jarrold
Producers - Graham Broadbent,
Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae
Screenplay - Kevin Hood and Sarah
Williams
Released – March 9, 2007
Runtime – 2 hours
Starring -
Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen
James McAvoy as Thomas
"Tom" Lefroy
Julie Walters as Mrs Austen
James Cromwell as Reverend George
Austen
Maggie Smith as Lady Gresham
Lucy Cohu as Eliza, Comtesse de
Feullide
Laurence Fox as Mr Wisley
Joe Anderson as Henry Austen
Ian Richardson as Lord Chief
Judge Langlois of London
Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that
happens on January 14. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
GEORGE WALLACE
In 1972 Governor George Wallace
of Alabama, who’s running for the Democratic presidential nomination travels to
Laurel, Maryland and is paralyzed in an assassination attempt. Back in 1955
Wallace was “Big” Jim Folsom’s successful gubernatorial campaign manager.
Folsom is a liberal on race matters and Wallace is his political heir. In 1958 Wallace runs an economically
progressive campaign, but the KKK supports the other more racist candidate and
he loses and to top it off his wife, Lurleen, wants to leave him. We flash
forward to Wallace’s inauguration as governor on January 14, 1963 where he
says, “Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever”. [1:01:17
to 1:14:20] Wallace became the pro-segregation candidate and convinced his wife
to stay. He calls out state troopers against demonstrations led by Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham. Wallace tells the US Attorney General “Bobbie”
Kennedy that he will oppose the integration of the University of Alabama and makes
his infamous ‘stand in the doorway’.
His speech at Harvard University causes a riot. Wallace thinks the Sixth
St. church bombing was caused by civil rights agitators, not the KKK. He calls
out the troopers to stop marchers at the Raymond Pettus Bridge. His wife gets
cancer. Wallace asks for a constitutional amendment so he can run again, but
this is refused, so his wife runs for governor and wins, but dies in office. In
1970 he meets Cornelia Spivey whom he marries and Wallace is elected governor
again. After he is paralyzed Wallace and his wife argue and later divorce.
However, being shot causes him to have a change of heart and revert back to his
earlier views on race. Wallace tries to apologize to “Big” Jim Folsom, whom he
had spurned, but is refused. He does go to the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church, the biggest African-American
church in Montgomery, and apologizes.
A good although somewhat
sanitized biopic of this controversial figure.
Carry Me Home by Diane
McWhorter (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001) at page 311 gives the date of
his inauguration.
Awards - The film won the
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (Sinise), Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Winningham) and Outstanding
Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Frankenheimer) Emmys.
It was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
(Jolie), Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding
Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Makeup for a
Miniseries, Movie or a Special and Outstanding Miniseries at the 50th
Primetime Emmy Awards.
Today’s film is a disaster movie that happens on January 13.
Watch it tonight and enjoy.
FLIGHT 90: DISASTER ON THE POTOMAC
On January 13, 1982 we are
introduced the people whose lives will intersect on Air Florida Flight 90 from
Washington, D.C. to Tampa. Marilyn Nichols, a stewardess has just learned she
is pregnant. Priscilla Tirado and her husband Jose are flying to take up a new
job. Nikki Felch is going to a trip with her boss, Joe Stiley to Alabama, but
her boyfriend David Frank wants to get married. Bert Hamilton is going on a
business trip to Florida, but would rather stay with his wife and son. Roger
Olian is a maintenance man at a mental hospital, married to Ginger, who works
in the Naval Recruitment Office. Arland
Williams is flying to Florida to close a bank for the Federal Reserve. Marilyn,
Flight attendant Kelly Duncan and the plane leave Florida and fly to
Washington. They land in Washington in a blinding snowstorm. After the
passengers boarded the plane they had to sit for 50 minutes. This caused ice to
accumulate on the plane. Most passengers ignore the stewardesses safety talk.
The de-icing that was done was done improperly. The pilots seemed unconcerned about ice on the wings. When the
plane tries to take off, ice on the sensors causes the pilots to have a false
idea of their speed. The plane only gets to 352 feet altitude before it stalls.
The plane hits the 14th Street Bridge and crashes into the Potomac
River. Bert Hamilton, Joe Stiley, Nikki
Felch, Priscilla Tirado, Kelly Duncan and Arland Williams make it out of the
plane and cling to a piece of wreckage in the freezing river. Roger Olain, who
was on the bridge plunges into the river to try to help. Meanwhile, friends and
relatives learn about the crash. Donald Usher and Melvin Windsor take off in
their helicopter. Olain gets close enough to shout encouragement to the
survivors. The helicopter rescues Bert Hamilton. When it returns Arland
Williams passes the rescue line to Kelly Duncan. They pull Olain out of the
river. Each time when offered the rope, Williams passed it on to Joe, Nikki and
Priscilla. Joe is pulled to shore, but a stranger, Lenny Skutnik has to jump in
and pull Priscilla to shore. By the time Nikki is rescued, Arland has slipped
beneath the water. The survivors start
to come to terms with what happened. [the entire film]
A pretty good docudrama. The film shows what caused the
disaster and how the rescue happened. Gives credit to the self-sacrifice of
Arland Williams.
Air and Space
Disasters of the World by Xavier Waterkeyn (New Holland Publishers, London,
2007) at page 127 and the movie at 00:20 give the date of the crash.
Today’s movie is a sports drama
with a scene that happens on January 12. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
COACH CARTER
Ken Carter becomes the boys
basketball coach at his former high school which was and is majority
African-American and low income. The players on the Richmond Oilers are
arrogant and disdainful. Carter forces them to sign contracts, agreeing to
among other things to keep a 2.3 GPA. Carter’s own son transfers to the school.
Carter works his players very hard, and they win their first game. Cruz, a
player who had refused to sign the contract begs to be allowed back on the team
and Carter lets him. The principal and some parents think Carter is being too
hard on the players. Kenyon Stone who is now being looked at by scouts from
some junior colleges has to deal with the fact that his girlfriend’s pregnancy
no longer fits into his potential plans for the future. The team wins an
invitational tournament, but after the team sneaks out to a party and Carter
discovers the team has not achieved the GPA goal in the contract, he padlocks
the gym, canceling practices and games. Many parents are outraged and the
school board votes 4-2 to end the lockout on January 12, 1999 [ 1:47:55 to
1:48:22]. Carter had said he would quit if the board voted to end the lockout,
but relents when he learns the players have decided on their own initiative to
meet the GPA goal before they play again. Kenyon’s girlfriend gets an abortion
while he gets a scholarship. The team does improve their grades and they end up
in the state playoffs. They don’t win, but many of the players get basketball
scholarship, something that would have been unimaginable at the start off the
season.
A good sports film. This is one of the better basketball
films. Jackson is very good. Some details of the story were changed for
‘artistic’ reasons.
Today’s movie is a biographical
drama with a scene that happens on January 11. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
A SONG TO REMEMBER
Frederic Chopin is a piano
prodigy and Polish patriot. He becomes involved in the secret underground
anti-Russian Polish resistance, while his piano teacher wants him to move to
Paris. After Frederic insults the Russian governor, he has to flee and move to
Paris. After arriving in Paris, Frederic begins performing and meets the great
pianist Franz Liszt and female author George Sand. Frederic is very upset to learn that two of his friends in Poland
were arrested and executed for helping him escape. George Sands arranges a performance where in a darkened room
everyone thinks they are listening to Liszt, but it is actually Chopin playing.
Frederic and George go on a holiday to Majorca, where he writes many
outstanding works. Frederic and his teacher Józef Elsner become estranged. Even
though he is ill, and in spite of the opposition of George Sand, Frederic goes
on a concert tour of Europe. On January 11, 18__ he plays in Berlin.[1:42:17 to
1:42:36] The money he earns is used to pay bribes to get imprisoned Polish
patriots out of prison. The strain of
the tour causes Frederic’s health to collapse and he dies.
An almost completely fictional
biography having very little to do with Chopin’s real life. It is an
entertaining story however. If you regard it as entertainment and not history
it is a very enjoyable film.
