Friday, January 10, 2020

Balloon Watch: The Aeronauts (2019)



Watched:  01/02/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

This movie never states that it's based on real events - but once it's underway, it's very specific to the point where I finally had to check to see if the character portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in the film existed.  Spoiler - He did!

But.  Half of this movie is real and half is made up, and I am just, honestly, confused why they made this choice - except that I basically get the decision from an optics, casting and audience standpoint.  The film swaps out one of the two people who made the real-life trip with a fictional female balloon pilot (Felicity Jones) who is overcoming serious and dramatic baggage tied to ballooning.  All of which is made up.  Even as she performs feats to save their lives that the real pilot was forced to do.  But here, it's someone else.

But, again, the scientist in the film was real and really did go up in a balloon, but with a less-surprising male balloonist.

I honestly have no idea what I just watched, is what I guess I'm saying.  I've read articles that are more reflective of my "yes, I understand why they did it, but..." perspective, and others that are really surprisingly blase about "facts" and "what occurred" and seem to think that's some old fashioned thinking and casually suggest if you are questioning the choice, you are both racist and sexist.

Look - I get that "based on a true story" movies change facts all the time, combine people into single characters, etc... - and, honestly, it's part of why I often avoid Hollywood's interpretation of history.  But they generally don't swap out one of two main characters with a completely fictional person.

So - I have no idea what I just watched.  It was okay.  But I tend to think history is hard enough to get a grip on without making up fictional characters in their lives as seemingly major players.  So, next time you ask me if I've seen a movie based on a true story and I kinda shrug and say "nope".  You now know why.

I watched this just before Togo, which was also based on true events and changed quite a bit, but the basic facts were generally adhered to. 


PODCAST: "Trading Places" (1983) - The Holidays Will Never End, w/ MRSHL and Ryan


Watched:  01/04/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown
Decade:  1980's

The holidays never end here at The Signal Watch! We've got one more PodCast for you as we discuss "Trading Places" (1983), a movie about class, race, and power of hoping your audience knows a whole lot about the commodities market (we do not). Join us as we discuss a movie that's both dated and ageless. Oh, and it takes place at Christmas, sort of.



Music:
Overture - Mozart, The Marriage Of Figaro

Holidays 2019



Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Signal Television Watch - 2019



This isn't a comprehensive list of what I watched in 2019.  Like the movies list, it doesn't include all the partially watched Hallmark movies.  It also doesn't include local and global news (some of us still watch the news).  It doesn't include Seinfeld and The Nanny reruns.  Nor shows I watched part of and gave up on.  I may have even missed entire series in here.  I don't really track TV watching or I'd probably have to have a moment of self-reflection.  It doesn't include the hours and hours and hours of baseball, soccer, volleyball, and football I'll watch in a given year (with hundreds of hours of baseball to account for as I probably watched 60-70 games last year.  Go Cubs!).

But when I sat down to think about what I'd watched, this was what came to mind:

Monday, January 6, 2020

101 Years Gone - Theodore Roosevelt


"The old lion is dead."
- cable from Archie Roosevelt to his brothers serving in Europe, 01/06/1919

Theodore Roosevelt passed on January 6, 1919.  He was only 60 years old.

The passing of the famously active and robust Roosevelt could be attributed to a few things.  That bullet he famously took before he gave a speech actually did harm him and left him with ailments that worsened over time.  His tour of the Amazon had left him with malaria and took much of the wind from his sails.  The man of action who had made his reputation in the Spanish-American War, and who believed the manliest thing one could do was go fight in a war, took a post-presidential tour of Europe which forewarned him of the coming conflict and the scale at which is would occur.  When the US finally entered the fray, he encouraged his sons to enlist.  When he and Edith lost Quentin Roosevelt in air-to-air combat in July of 1918, it's said TR began to slide.

TR died before he could once again run for president, which he was, of course, considering.  And which I think would have altered his legacy, win or lose.  We never really saw a feeble TR, and the memory of the uncompromising figure TR was becoming as he aged is mostly forgotten, mixed with the blustery figure of his younger days.  Still, he'd surprised the world at every turn since his youth, so who is to say what an octogenarian Roosevelt might have looked like?

The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and he'd defied death since his childhood as an asthmatic prone to long spells of sickness, been shot at, survived disease and exotic and dangerous adventuring.  Blinded in one eye while boxing (during middle age) and regularly found ways to engage with life in ways I can scarcely imagine.  At only 60, his life and legacy produced more door-stop-heavy books than most anyone in US History. 

If all of us are contradictions, this is one more area where TR lived larger than life.  And I won't dwell on it here - but he did leave a fascinating legacy and history in the multitudes he contained.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

PODCAST: "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker" (2019) - SimonUK and Ryan blab on about Episode IX



SimonUK and Ryan were already standing around the kitchen talking about "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", so they turned on a microphone and recorded themselves. What follows is a semi-incoherent conversation by two 40-something guys pondering the final installment of a decades-spanning storyline.



Music:
Fanfare and Prologue - John Williams, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker OST
Ewok Celebration - Meco, some 45 I had a as a kid


SimonUK Playlist"




Saturday, January 4, 2020

Signal Watch 2019 Subjective Opinion Movie Awards - 2019! (The Mellies!)


We've already shared the breakdown of all the movies we watched last year, so now it's time to talk about some of our favorite things and to drag some movies we maybe didn't like all that much.

We don't just talk about movies that came out in 2019, we try to talk about all the "new to me" movies we saw, and maybe a special selection or three of movies we'd seen before, but which deserve special mention.

The Mellies are nominated by and voted upon by the only opinion that matters:  mine.  They are also not reflective of the panoply of films released in any given year - because I may watch a lot of movies, but I don't have that kind of time.  And, honestly, I'm just not that interested in a whole lot of what comes out.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Signal Watch: Movies By the Numbers - 2019 edition


Well, 2019 was certainly a year that we mostly lived through.  As years go, I'm not giving it very high marks, but I did watch a lot of movies.  Which, boys and girls, is not so much an achievement as a thing which occurred.

In 2019, I watched 204 movies (click that link to see the spreadsheet).  This is likely a lifetime high, and I don't really know how or why that happened, because 204 is a good 20 more movies than last year.

I also wrote a post or recorded a podcast for, I think, every movie I watched in 2019.

This 204 number includes movies I saw more than once.  Example:  I saw Avengers: Endgame three times this year, so it is counted thrice.

The figure does not include partially watched films, half-watched Hallmark Christmas movies, or matter that I watched on TV that some people might consider a film, but I happen to not consider a film.

As always, I may have missed a movie or two.  It happens.  The data is accumulated from the blog - so if I forgot to post on a movie, it is not reflected here.  Also, dates watched on a movie reflect the date upon which I completed a movie, as I watch many movies broken up over 2-3 viewings.

Now, into the nitty-gritty.

Dog Watch: Togo (2019)


Watched:  01/03/2020
Format:  Disney+
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

Disney Watch: Frozen II (2019)



Watched:  12/30/2019
Format:  Alamo Slaughter Lane
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  2010's

Not to be overly dramatic, but after seeing Frozen II (2019) the first time, I knew I'd need to watch it again before I'd do my usual posting.

The reviews were kind of lukewarm, so going in, I had my expectations set for "it'll be okay", and so... when the movie ended and I was having all the reactions I deeply *want* to have after seeing a movie, I'll admit that I kinda-sorta didn't trust my own reaction and figured it would fade after a day of thinking about (or forgetting about) the movie. 

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Documentary Watch: Ernie and Joe - Crisis Cops (2019)



Watched:  12/31/2019
Format:  HBO Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

A while back our own PaulT - who does many things in the film and TV industry - worked on a documentary called Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops (2019).  I believe he was a/ the sound mixer on the film, which - in documentary land - is no small feat.  Especially when you're talking police situations, moving cars, and open classrooms.  So, hats off to Paul.

The movie is currently streaming on HBO, and, if you get a chance, give it some time.  The movie follows two police officers from the San Antonio Police Department's Mental Health Unit at work and in their lives.