The Odessa File

Over Christmas, I read:

The Odessa File (1972),

by Frederick Forsyth, the same author who wrote The Day of the Jackal. In The Odessa File, our hero is Peter Miller, a young German freelance reporter. He mainly works for picture magazines, and earns a good living doing so. He even drives a black Jaguar, which is his pride and joy.

One night, on a whim he follows an ambulance looking for a story. In the process he gets his hands on a journal written by a Jewish man who was in the Riga ghetto during WWII. The journal chronicles everything the man saw, including all the atrocities. Central to the journal is SS captain Eduard Roschmann, the commander of the ghetto, and when Miller finds out Roschmann is apparently both alive and free as a bird he sets out to take him down.

The Odessa File is written with Forsyth's usual smooth free flowing style. It never gets bogged down, even when laying down lots of information at once. A lesser author would have been info-dumping, but Forsyth is more than skilled enough to keep it going while never stumbling.

The subject matter is actually based on real facts. There was a real Odessa, which stands for Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, meaning: Organization of Former SS Members. Likewise, several SS officers like Roschmann, Glücks, and a man known only as Werwolf but is likely supposed to have been Hans-Adolf Prützmann were real people. Forsyth details how these men got out of Europe and down to Argentina, and these escape methods were actually used, so despite being a fictional novel, you can learn a thing or two from reading The Odessa File.

From beginning to end, The Odessa File was a real good read. The pacing is excellent, with no boring parts, and there was only one part that annoyed me. Mild Spoiler: At one point, Miller gets help in order to infiltrate Odessa, which takes some time, and then he promptly ruins it by insisting on driving his Jaguar, meaning that whole part was sort of a waste of time. Forsyth does weave it all together so that the story doesn't suffer in the least, but it bothered me that it happened at all.

The Odessa File was made into a movie in 1974 starring Jon Voight as Miller, but I haven't had time to watch it. I do know that the novel and the movie together made enough of a stir, that the real Roschmann was suddenly found dead in Argentina. It is speculated that Odessa killed him to quiet things down, but this is unverified.

So, do I recommend The Odessa File? If you haven't figured it out yet, then yes, absolutely. I hate the term 'unputdownable' but The Odessa File was close to that. If The Day of the Jackal gave me the impression that Frederick Forsyth was a master author, The Odessa File absolutely confirmed it.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week and a Happy New Year!

 

'Tis the Season

Hello and welcome to Eccentric Spheres.

The holidays are upon us, and fun as they are, sometimes we need a small break from the festivities. I still wanted to give you a laugh so I found some old (and I do mean old) but brilliant British comedy sketches. 

Hopefully you'll enjoy them and I wish you all a very Happy Holiday! Join me again next time for the last post of the year. Stay safe and have a great time!  

 

Argo

I just read:

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history (2012).

This book is written by Anthony Mendez and Matt Baglio and is a true account of the events.

Some backstory: in 1979, Iranian militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took the staff hostage, demanding the return of the Shah who had fled to the US after being ousted from power. In the chaos, the militants forgot about the US consulate, and six individuals managed to escape. Desperate, they took refuge with the British, until they too were in hot water, but luckily the six managed to find refuge with the Canadians.

Anthony 'Tony' Mendez, was in charge of the Office of Technical Services in the CIA, and was tasked with getting the six, called the House Guests, out of Iran safely. Together with an old friend from Hollywood who did prosthetics and masks for both Mission Impossible and The Planet of the Apes, Tony comes up with and executes a magnificent operation to rescue the House Guests.

This book, being co-written by Tony himself is a joy to read. The language flows well and you never get bogged down in unnecessary details, all without sacrificing depth or detail. You get an interesting glimpse into parts of the CIA in the 70's, as well as parts of Hollywood and the world in general.

Now, I'm not naive enough to blindly believe everything a veteran officer of the CIA says, just because he says it. That out of the way, I don't think too much was left out or changed. The case became big news in time, and Tony was even interviewed by Walter Cronkite some years later. It is a fact that Tony, for some reason changed the name of his Hollywood friend. Why, I don't know. After all, his effects credits are common knowledge.

So, do I recommend this book? Yes, absolutely. Not only is it well written and the content interesting, but with world events being what they are, it gives some background into why some things are the way they are. I generally dislike terms like page-turner, but in the case of Argo, it is true. I stayed awake too long, too many nights because the book was too hard to put down.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Cyberpunk 2077

Anyone who's read this blog for a while probably knows that I am a so called patient gamer. It's rare that I jump on a game on release day, though it happens. Instead I prefer to wait, and that usually pays off.

Today I want to talk about:

Cyberpunk 2077.

Created by CD Project Red, or CDPR, the makers of the Witcher games as well as the good folks who operate GOG, the best place to get older video games that actually work.

Cyberpunk 2077 (CP2077) is based on the old tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020, both written by Mike Pondsmith. This ensures that the story and lore are accurate, which is awesome.

CP2077 is a first person action RPG, where you play as V. You can't change the name, but you can change most other aspects of the character. Included in character generation is your life path; Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo. This life path explains your background and gives some insights and speech alternatives in the game, but don't have too much overall impact.

The game is basically split between two parts; the main story and everything else. You can run countless smaller gigs, race cars, fight in arenas etc. These smaller gigs pay well and can even unlock iconic weapons and grant you vehicles. Merely exploring Night City is extremely rewarding. CP2077 is ridiculously immersive and detailed, there is always something going on, and on this level alone, CP2077 blows every other game in this vein out of the water.

But lets look at the main story. As usual, I'm not spoiling anything, so bear with me. In V's quest for fame and riches, you go on a mission that turns everything on its head and sends V on a spectacular journey. The main story is emotional, epic, and awesome. It can be heartrending, it is sometimes really funny, but always pulse pounding. It is up there in the top five best stories I have played. But sure, it has a few flaws.

First off, I do think the game throws the Main Story at you too quickly. I would have liked to learn a bit about how the games plays, and figure out what kind of build I want before being thrown in to the deep end. I'd like to say so much more, but alas, spoilers.

Mechanically, CP2077 is great. It had a very rocky launch back in 2020, but since then CDPR has done a ton of work and taken a shaky game and turned it into a masterpiece. Again, there are some things I wish were different, but they are small stuff. My biggest pet peeve is the Journal, or quest log. Every time you exit a gig, it automatically activates whichever mission is next in the main quest, complete with waypoints on the minimap. If you want to do another gig, you have to go and manually change that every time and it is annoying. I also dislike how loud V's footsteps are. But hey if those are my biggest complaints, it's pretty damn good!

One thing that threw me off at first is the fact that CP2077 throws a lot at you in the beginning and it can be hard to try to remember it all. Hacking, fighting, blocking, stealth etc can set your head spinning, but the good news is that you don't actually need to use it all at once. In time you'll start using more and more elements, but until you do, you can get far by just shooting enemies in the face.

Building your character is a bit of a headache at first, but if you read the tooltips, it becomes easier in time. The game even has a free one time use re-spec, if you want to redo your talents. I will say that trying to be a jack-of-all-trades really makes you a master of none, and that is not a good idea.

What else can I say? The games is gorgeous, the voice acting is brilliant, and even the smallest side jobs are incredibly well written. The game can be quite raunchy, but there is a so called streamer mode, which if switched on, eliminates most of the sex, but not all!

I know I'm rambling a bit, but I'm trying to go though this enormous game in my head and remember everything I wanted to talk about. I guess I'll just wrap up and say that if you like well written stories, and cool action RPG's you owe it to yourself to play Cyberpunk 2077. There is a DLC, Phantom Liberty, but I haven't played it yet so I know nothing about it. Of all the games that I have played, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the few that have left a real mark on me.

Oh, and the soundtrack is spectacular!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Rome. All of it. Sort of.

Since my day to day is still a bit chaotic, and I haven't returned to my old routines, we are continuing with historical documentaries. 

I found The Complete History of Rome, Summarized. To he honest I haven't finished it as it is three hours long (and that's just a summary), but it is really good.

So without further ado, please enjoy this excellent summary of the historical behemoth that was the Roman Empire. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

Funny takes on scary things.

If you have ever watched a scary movie and thought; "why are they going in there?" or maybe said "no, don't go in the basement!"then this sketch is for you:

 

 

On the other hand, being chased by a merciless killer is terrifying, so what can be worse? Being ignored by the merciless killer, that's what!

 

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

BlueJay

I have something fun for you today. There are many Youtube channels dedicated to history, there are even many channels that do animated history, like the incredible Oversimplified that I have posted about before. This week we're looking at BlueJay who has a knack for both humor and odd facts, a great combo.

I chose three samples for you, How to Survive Victorian London, The Dumbest Russian Voyage Nobody Talks About and How to Become the Pirate King. 

Each video is both entertaining and funny. I hope you enjoy them, and if you do, check out the rest of his stuff.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

A history of scary films.

Today's entry is going to be short. I have a nasty head cold, so my powers concentration are severely limited.

Halloween has come and gone, but some people need more. What I have for you today is The Complete History of Horror Movies, hopefully you'll enjoy it, and maybe find something to watch you haven't seen.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

Worshippers of Cthulhu.

During Halloween this year, I chose to stream some horror demos on Twitch. One of these demos was:

Worshippers of Cthulhu.

This game is a city builder and cult simulator, set in the Cthulhu Mythos pioneered by H.P. Lovecraft.

Worshippers of Cthulhu is also in Early Access, meaning it is not complete, but you can still buy it. The developers Crazy Goat Games will probably add and/or change some things, so if you don't like that, wait until full release.

Now as I only played the demo, and I didn't have time to finish that, this is purely a first impression, not a review.

The game starts with you, the High Priest, and your small cult crashing your ship on the shores of what could be a part of R'lyeh, the home of Cthulhu itself, or an island somehow connected to R'lyeh. I'm not really sure.

First you have to direct your followers to gather basic materials and start building your settlement. A core mechanic is that your cultists won't work if they don't have a house, so building homes is important. Then they need food, and they need somewhere to store surplus materials. All these buildings need roads and access to the raw materials to farm and gather. So far it is a basic but very competent city builder. New buildings are red until placed in an appropriate area, then they turn green and you can confirm the build. Nothing new here, but I appreciate a developer who doesn't feel the need to reinvent the wheel just to be special. Having played a few city builders in my time, I felt right at home with the controls immediately. At first, I did miss the fact that you can turn the map, making it easier to place things behind large buildings, but it is there.

Then comes the cult part. In order to unlock new buildings, you have to give offerings to your god, which also eats up raw materials. You need to construct religious buildings to boost the fanaticism of your cultists, you can hold rituals and carve symbols into the flesh of your cult, allowing you to essentially re-roll their traits. Every cultist has one job they really like to do and will be better at. The challenge comes from having, say, three cultists who like gathering clams, but you only have need for two. Do you place the third in a job they won't be as capable in, or do you try to re-roll their abilities? That is up to you, you're the High Priest.

Later on, new jobs become available, you can summon horrors to attack ships and (I think) other settlements, I barely had time to get to the horror summoning part.

Besides all this, there are random events that pop up, allowing you to make a choice. Some choices have obvious consequences, others have unknown effects, that can be good or bad. I love these choices, that add so much, and allow you to affect your needs a little bit. If you're up to the ears in cultists, but need more faith, sacrificing some newcomers might be what you want, but if the situation is reversed, new cultist-citizens might be worth more.

I do wish you could rename the cultist-citizens as well as your settlement. This would be useful both for remembering who does what and because as a streamer, it's always good to rename things and people after viewers. That is not an issue for normal gamers though, just something I personally want.

As fist impressions go, Worshippers of Cthulhu is incredibly promising, with a great atmosphere. I had so much fun playing and I can't wait to get my hands on it for a proper playthrough. Worshippers of Cthulhu is a game worth keeping and eye or a tentacle on, if the Mythos and/or city builders are your thing!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Having seen a couple of clips on Youtube, I watched:

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024).

This movie claims to be based on true events from Winston Churchill's diaries, but that should be taken with a grain of salt.

Churchill is desperate to do something about the German U-boats, so he tasks Brigadier Gubbins (Cary Elwes), who together with Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox) recruits Major Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill). He is a rogue and constantly in trouble, but the ideal man for unconventional commando operations. March-Phillips puts together a team, and they go off to destroy an Italian tanker, the Duchessa d'Aosta, that is supplying the U-boat fleet with carbon-dioxide filters (they didn't use these in real life). The ship is in the Spanish controlled colony of Fernando Po in Africa. Lots of action ensues.

The event in question did happen, and is called Operation Postmaster. It is also true that several high ranking British officers were vehemently against commando warfare, seeing it as well, ungentlemanly. So far so good, but the movie has some problems. When I started watching, I had no idea that the director is non other than Guy Ritchie, who's movie The Gentlemen I recently reviewed with great pleasure. I thought The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare would be a serious war movie with some comedic elements, but it is in fact a pulp action movie with lots of comedic elements. The British commandos are total superhuman soldiers, hitting everything they shoot at even without really aiming. They are almost completely unfazed by the enormity of what they have to do. It gets a bit silly to be honest.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is so full of errors that I don't even want to try to list them all. Some are small issues like how their silenced STEN guns weren't developed until a few years later, that doesn't bother me, but uniforms are wrong (Gestapo officers in army general staff uniforms, military behavior is wrong (Sitting indoors wearing hats), essentially lots of small things that screamed at me when watching.

So what is good about The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare? Well, everything else. It is really nicely made, the action is great, most of the dialogue is good, although there are a few stinkers in this department. The music suits the movie perfectly. Once I understood what the movie is, I could relax and start enjoying myself. Guy Ritchie is best known for his British crime movies, and a war movie is a very different beast.

I couldn't help but compare The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare with SAS: Rogue Heroes, which is also about the birth of unconventional warfare. SAS is a mini series and could thus take it's time and show background issues, and political problems. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a two hour movie and it wastes too much time going in this direction with no payoff. It had been better if it had focused solely on the commandos instead.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes. You may get the impression that I didn't like it, but I complain because I liked it. Watch it as a pulp action comedy, and you will have a good time. Ignore all attempts at viewing it in a documentary light, and it works. I may even watch it again at some point.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The Highwaymen

I sat down and watched:

The Highwaymen (2019).

Mostly based on facts, this movie shows one part of the hunt for the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

With regular law enforcement unable to stop the trigger happy bandits, the governor of Texas, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates) empowers retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) to go on the hunt. He brings along his fellow retiree from the rangers, Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson). Together they head out to bring down the bloody couple.

The Highwaymen is a beautiful movie, lets get that straight. The cinematography and the shot composition is really nice. The acting is good, Costner and Harrelson are veterans who know what they are doing, no problem. The props department also did a great job, the movie looks like 1934, a great job in fact. They kept it as simple as possible and it works.

I love the fact that this movie isn't really about Bonnie and Clyde as such. Yes, they are the focus, but you only really see glimpses of them. Shots focus on feet, blurry outlines and long shots. The way they are talked about, from furious lawmen to adoring fans in the general population makes them seem bigger and more sinister than they were in reality. This is such a smart move and really gives the veteran rangers a tough enemy to hunt. It also removes all the romance from the couple and focuses on their grisly crimes. If you want that side, watch Bonnie and Clyde (1967) with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

Then there is the other side of the movie. The fact that both main actors are getting pretty old. This is natural and in fact, Costner was offered the role 10 years earlier but felt he was too young then. I can get behind that. But I also feel that the movie spends way too much time hammering home how old Hamer and Gault were. Too old to run down a kid, too old to climb a fence, too old for this and too tired for that. After a while it gets a bit boring, to be quite honest. Especially since after a point in the movie, the fact that they are basically too old and rusty is just ignored.

Some of the events were changed for some reason. Gault is shown to be unemployed and a bit down and out, which he wasn't when he went on the hunt. Other things are exactly as happened, including the fact that the scene where Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down, is shot on the same road where it happened for real. A scene where Hamer walks into a gun store and buys an arsenal that includes two Tommy guns and an automatic BAR is questioned, but you could actually do that in the 30's.

So, do I recommend this movie? Sure. The Highwaymen is good, but it is too long. At a little over two hours, I'd say it's about 30 minutes too long. Had it been tighter, I think it would have hit harder. As it is, it wanders about a bit too much and wastes time on things it doesn't have to. Overall I had a good time and the movie is absolutely worth watching at least once.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

What I have learned so far.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my No Hit Sniper Elite 5 challenge that I invented. This challenge has consumed me and I have played it as much as my stupid flu has allowed, so I want to share a couple of things I have learned.

I have started seeing the game with new eyes. Since it is so critical to eliminate enemies as safely as possible, I have noticed multiple places where you can in fact snipe soldiers without them being able to retaliate, like inside a cathedral. It has been a huge learning experience.

When enemies are alerted to your presence, they are either in Combat, Enemy Hunting, Investigating or Clear modes. Combat means they know where you are, they can probably see you and bullets are whizzing around. Enemy Hunting means they know you are (or were) nearby and are trying to find you. Investigating is them reacting to a noise or perhaps they saw a glimpse of you, either way they are mobile and alert. When Clear pops up, it means that no enemies are looking for you anymore. This could be because you killed them all, or that they can't be bothered chasing you any further. When Clear hits, they normally go straight back to their patrol area and resume doing what they were doing. But there is a catch. Some enemies won't move when Enemy Hunting is up. Instead they will freeze in place and cover an area. On rare occasions they have even remained so when Clear hits. What this boils down to is that when you are in hiding waiting for things to calm down, do not move just because Clear hits. This is a very dangerous time, since some enemies will travel a surprisingly long distance, and it will take a long time for them to return to where they were. This is when you turn a corner and come face to face with a well armed soldier with his finger on the trigger...

If you know an area is clear, it means you only think it is clear. If you think an area is clear, it isn't. I have lost count of how many times I've been so sure that there can be no remaining enemies in an area, only for some clueless twerp to come along, blissfully unaware that you have just killed a dozen of his friends and your day is ruined. Treat every area as unsafe at all times and the challenge will be a bit easier.

Another thing I have learned is to use more traps. Cut off areas and secure choke points with mines. Of course, you can only carry three mines so I've had to start using shu-mines. They are non lethal, but an unconscious enemy is still out. I also learned that the shu-mine can be set with a timer that makes a noise that lures enemies in. Super useful when you don't want to risk being shot.

Focus mode is your best friend and sometimes your worst enemy. Focus mode lets you see the outline of enemies through walls and is obviously incredibly useful. But it has a shorter range than you might think. Just because you scanned an area and found nothing, doesn't mean no one is there. Trust me...

Finally, use different ammo types. Sniping at a longer distance? Soft point bullets are your friend, as they cause bleeding. This will take out an enemy that you only managed to wing. Is it crucial that you take out an enemy wearing a helmet with the first shot? Armor piercing ammo to the rescue. It is worth the extra time it takes to reload, it really is.

Finally finally, you need to have all the patience. Mark all the targets. Wait for that one enemy to return rather than dealing with him later. When things go wrong (and they will) run away. Don't stick around to be a badass, run! The further away you can go, the safer you are.

As of writing this, I just managed to clear Mission 3 The Spy Academy. I can't believe how cocky I was when I came up with this idea, it has been so much harder than I thought, but at the same time so rewarding. I'm sure there are other games that could work with a similar challenge if you think your favorite games are getting stale.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

What is Warhammer 40.000?

The Warhammer 40.000 IP has seen quite a few successes lately, with the Space Marine 2 game being the latest. 

But what is Warhammer 40.000 or as it's also known, 40K? For those of you who didn't grow up with it as one of your favorite settings, I have the answer. Or rather the Youtuber/live streamer Bricky has the answer. He has a really funny and informative two part video called Every single faction explained as well as a good one that explains the timeline. Keep in mind that the 40K setting was created in the 1980's and has been expanded on, retconned and developed for about 40 years. Bricky's videos can only scratch the surface, but they are so worth watching. 

Faction Part 1

Faction Part 2

Timeline

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!  

Don't get hit.

I have on previous occasions written about the Sniper Elite games series, seeing as I'm a long term fan.

The latest game in the series, Sniper Elite 5 is perhaps my favorite in the main series, and I have played it a lot, so much in fact that I have the weapon master medal. Then I ran into the problem of wanting to play, but needing a challenge. There is of course Authentic difficulty, which I may yet try, but I came up with an alternative:

The No Damage Challenge.

These are my rules.

1. Difficulty is set to Sniper Elite.

2. All objectives must be completed on each map.

3. You can leave enemies alive, it's not a kill everything challenge.

4. If you have alternative starting locations unlocked, you can start maps anywhere.

5. You can use any and all weapons you own.

6. Collectibles are optional. Grab them if you like, but they don't count for the challenge.

7. The challenge only covers the main campaign, include DLC missions if you want.

8. It doesn't matter if you are seen, it's not a ghost challenge.

9. You can save the game in case the game crashes, but you can't save scum.

10. If you take even one point of damage from any source, you must start the entire campaign from the beginning.

The idea came to me after seeing a video about people who play all the Soulsborne games, i.e. Dark Souls, Bloodborne etc. without taking a single hit. That is of course a lot harder than Sniper Elite, but trust me, this challenge is not as easy as it seems.

I have previously completed multiple maps without taking any damage, but for some reason, this is really hard. With multiple attempts behind me, I still haven't passed the second map mission. One reason for this is obviously nerves. Knowing that the run can end at any time really ramps up the tension, which is of course what I wanted. Another reason is the inclusion of random elements in SE5. Traffic is a good example. What “should” be a clear area can suddenly have multiple enemies because a passing truck spotted a dead soldier, and now you're in real trouble.

All it takes is one enemy spotting you and shooting you for the whole thing to end. It's frustrating, but so much fun. And it really breathes new life into a familiar game.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Perspective and Psychology.

 Hello and welcome back for some more eccentricity!

I recently discovered a fascinating person called Rory Sutherland. This is how Wikipedia describes him: 

"Rory Sutherland is a British advertising executive. He is the vice chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather group of companies. He writes a fortnightly column in The Spectator and has written several books, including Alchemy: The Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense".

I want to link some videos about how we are manipulated by marketing, but also how we perceive the world around us. Things like how the key to McDonalds success is in being consistently not awful, how the biggest competitor to Coca-Cola is Redbull, despite its awful taste. How painkillers are more effective if the pills are red, and much much more. If you have any interest in such things, you need to hear what Rory has to say.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

 

 

6 Days

I recently watched the Netflix movie:

 

6 Days (2017)

This movie is all about the Iranian embassy siege in London in 1980. However, since I can't really recommend it, I needed a new plan. Suffice to say, 6 Days is not a bad movie, but it is poorly balanced. The story and characters are all over the place, and the story is a bit disjointed. It doesn't tell any lies as far as I know, but it leaves out a lot of details. It feels like a mini-series that has been cut down to a movie. Good actors, yes, and I don't feel like my time was wasted, but not as good as it could have been. Watch it if you want to.  

Instead, I want to give you an excellent two part documentary about the Iranian embassy siege by the Youtube channel Simple History.

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plEm4bv5ByQ

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XepH_iWdbeY

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

What if?

Occasionally I like to indulge in alternate history. One way of doing this is going to the Youtube channel: 

stakuyi  

Stakuyi is a complete history nerd, and one of his passions is playing the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron 4. This massive WWII game is incredibly multifaceted, allowing you to experiment with a large amount of scenarios, based on realistic if sometimes unlikely factors, since the game is extremely well made. 

 

As a sample of the fun to be had, I present:

 

What is Finland won the Winter War?

 

What is Switzerland actually did something? 

What if the Pope had super heavy tanks?

I'll embed the first video for your convenience, you can find more on your own if you want. But that's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

Laughter is good medicine.

 When times are hard, a good laugh does wonders. With that in mind, I present two of Sarah Millican's stand up shows. 

If you're not familiar with Sarah, she's a British comedian from the north of England. She has a knack for blending wholesome stories with some surprisingly spicy stuff, and she's always funny and charming.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

Chatterbox Full show

Home Bird Full Show

John le Carré

Lately, I've been reading a lot of John le Carré, the former intelligence officer and author of spy novels.

I read his first novel, Call for the Dead (1961).

This is the first time we meet George Smiley, the veteran case officer, who together with Special Branch inspector Mendel solve the apparent suicide of a Foreign Office diplomat.

Call for the Dead is crude by le Carré's standard, and the book feels more like Agatha Christie if she had written cold war spy novels. I don't mean this in an overly negative way, don't get me wrong. It's just that having read some of his other books, I know he can be smoother. Call for the Dead is well worth reading.

Next we have The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963). This is his third novel and it is a masterpiece. We meet Alec Leamas, the former station chief for West Berlin who goes on the hardest mission he's ever known. I don't want to talk more about the plot for fear of spoilers. From beginning to end, it is tense, sharp and kept me on edge until the brilliant finale. If you only want to read one cold war spy thriller in your life, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a good choice.

Last night I finished The Honourable Schoolboy (1977). This is the second book in the Karla trilogy that starts with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974) and ends with Smiley's People (1979). The first and third books were made into TV series starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, but the second book, The Honourable Schoolboy wasn't, and for purely economic reasons. Most of the book takes place all over south east Asia, like Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Laos. Much of the plot follows Jerry Westerby, a sports journalist and spy, as he chases down a mystery for Smiley. The rest deals with the tensions between Smiley's Circus (MI6), Whitehall and the CIA.

The Honourable Schoolboy is brilliantly written which is lucky because it clocks in at over 600 pages. I do think it's bloated and could have been pared down for a sleeker story. A lot of time is spent on background color, which le Carré does masterfully, but isn't really needed for the main plot. Overall, I liked The Honourable Schoolboy, and I'm glad I read it, just be aware that despite how well written it is, the last 200 pages or so were a slog to get through. It is also the weakest ending I have read from le Carré.

Overall John le Carré was a fantastic writer. He rarely does melodrama, in fact a lot of what happens is understated in a very British way. His first hand experience of intelligence work and espionage allowed him to craft stories that are absolutely believable. This isn't the over the top style of Ian Fleming, you won't meet James Bond anywhere. It's slow, methodical and even inevitable, and when action does happen it hits harder for its general absence. If you want proper cold war espionage, John le Carré is your man.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Gone in 60 Seconds

I have long held the opinion that the best car chase in movies is the one in Bullitt (1968), but some prefer the chase in:

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974).

Gone in 60 Seconds, not to be confused with its remake Gone is Sixty Seconds (2000), is the passion project of H. B. Halicki, who wrote, directed and starred in it. I do mean passion project because Halicki wasn't really a film maker, he was known as the car crash king.

This is the story in a nutshell: Maindrian Pace (Halicki), his sister Pumpkin Chase (Marion Busia) and her husband Eugene Chase own and operate an insurance investigation firm. They use this as a cover to steal cars and they are very good at this. One day, Maindrian accepts a commission from a South American drug lord for 48 cars ranging from muscle cars and sports cars to high end luxury cars. The drug lord pays 200k upfront with the same upon delivery, and some dire threats should they fail to deliver. The real problem is that they only have five days to do this.

One of the first things I noticed is that the dialogue is, well, not good. The interior scenes are also somewhat clumsy and the whole thing has the feel of a student movie made by someone who just started in film school. There is a real good reason for this though: most of the lines were improvised on the spot, and the poor editor had no idea why some scenes were shot, where anything was supposed to go in the final product and when he'd get which scenes. When he complained about the lack of a coherent script, H.B. Halicki said “That's the Dust Bowl. We went around it twice. There's your script”.

There are shots that have no business being where they are, and make zero sense to the ongoing action. It's amateur hour and it shows. This hap hazard way of making movies is tricky and can easily fall apart, and if it wasn't for the car chase, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't be remembered at all, never mind have its cult status.

So lets talk about the car chase. Maindrian needs the final car, a 1973 Ford Mustang, code named Eleanor. The cops receive a tip and are on scene as the car is stolen, prompting a 40 minute car chase, which is impressive, but when you remember that the entire movie is 97 minutes, it's even more audacious.

The car chase is the real star of the show, let's be honest here. Without it, Gone in 60 Seconds wouldn't have gained any attention, but this isn't a normal chase. It is absolutely insane. At one point they suffer a real accident, and Halicki's first question when regaining his consciousness was “Did we get the footage?”

Later, he jumps the Mustang 30 feet (9 meters) high and clears 128 feet (39 meters) over some cars, a great shot, but it cost him a compressed spine, which affected his walk for the rest of his days.

I couldn't help but notice how much Gone in 60 Seconds must have inspired the popular series of video games, Grand Theft Auto, as there are several scenes that show actions that I have done in those games, like using a Jerry can to burn a car, how the garage of luxury cars is presented and so on. There is more like this, but that sits in spoiler territory.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. The chase is spectacular, but the rest is completely forgettable. They do a good job showing how destructive a chase like this is on society, and how innocent people get hurt, but the editing and the flow is all over the place. At least the terrible wigs they wear are in-story disguises and aren't supposed to be the characters real hair. If you are curious, do give it a watch, otherwise just look up the actual chase, that is essentially what the movie is about.

Oh yes, is the chase better than Bullitt? No, not in my book. It is very good, but the length drags too much, and despite the stunt work, Bullitt retains the crown.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Duel

I finally, finally watched:

Duel (1971).

This movie is Steven Spielberg's first full movie. It was originally made for TV and clocked in at 70 minutes, but after his mega success with Jaws (1975), Universal studios asked him to add a couple of scenes, in order to pad out the run time to 90 minutes for a theatrical release.

Before Duel, Spielberg had only directed TV episodes and a few shorts. On that list we find one episode of Columbo, two episodes of Night Gallery and such. This was his first proper movie, but you really wouldn't think so.

Duel is based on a short story by Richard Matheson, and was inspired by a real life event he had with a reckless truck driver.

So what is Duel all about? Despite the name conjuring up images of sword fights at dawn, it is a road movie. The main character is David Mann (Dennis Weaver), a mild mannered, non confrontational salesman from California. One morning he sets out on a long drive in his red Plymouth Valiant to meet a client. On the road, he encounters a rusty, dusty gas truck, a 1965 Peterbilt 281. This old monstrosity drives slowly belching exhaust fumes behind it. Annoyed, David overtakes it, thinking no more about it. Seconds later, the truck thunders past him and resumes driving slowly. Frustrated, David drives past the truck again, and now it is on and David has to fight and drive for his life.

This back and forth is the closest thing we get to a motive for the unseen truck driver. We never see his face, and he and David never interact besides driving. The driver, who was stunt driver Carey Loftin, asked Spielberg what the motivation was and Spielberg answered: “You're a dirty, rotten, no-good son of a bitch”. Loftin replied “Kid, you hired the right man”.

Duel is a mix between a serial killer thriller and a monster movie. We see early shades of Jaws and Jurassic Park in the massive grimy truck. The way it shows up suddenly or waits ahead for David to approach is text book monster stuff, but there is nothing fantastic or supernatural here.

Spielberg does an amazing job switching between claustrophobic shots inside the car, and sweeping shots showing how desolate the area is in Southern California. Spielberg also borrowed a camera previously used in Bullitt (1968) that rode very close to the ground in order to raise the feeling of great velocity, while keeping everyone driving at safe speeds.

I could go on, and in fact retell the entire movie, as it can't be spoiled. The important part is the experience. As a story Duel is actually really thin. You need to be in the Plymouth with David and feel his panic as the giant malevolent truck roars up behind him. Like a roller coaster, you can talk about twists and turns, but until you do it yourself it is meaningless.

So, do I recommend this movie? Oh yes! If you like movies, watch Duel, it's as simple as that. It's no wonder Spielberg's career took off, with this movie as a launch pad. It's so simple, but so brilliantly done, down to the fact that you don't get anything on the driver besides a glimpse of a hand and his boots, because Spielberg wanted the truck to be the villain, and it works. If you've ever been in a car on the highway as a large truck speeds past, you know the feeling of being small and squishy. Now imagine that truck is trying to kill you...

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

SAS: Rogue Heroes

This week I watched the first and so far the only season of:

SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022).

SAS: Rogue Heroes is written and created by the prolific Steven Knight, the man behind Peaky Blinders, Shutter Island, Eastern Promises and much much more. He is also a co-creator of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? One can safely say that Knight knows what he's doing.

SAS: Rogue Heroes takes place in North Africa in 1941. Field Marshal Rommel is hammering the British who in turn don't get anything done. One man, Lieutenant David Stirling (Connor Swindells) has an idea. He has gone through the commando school and understands the value of asymmetrical warfare. He gets in touch with a couple of other officers, Lieutenant Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) and Lieutenant Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen) with the idea of creating a regiment that operates on its own, outside the normal chain of command.

As it happens, the chief of intelligence in Cairo, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke (Dominic West) has used a phantom regiment to lure away the Germans, that he calls SAS. The two ideas merge and a group of rough, hardened soldier set forth into the desert to blow up planes and make history.

The first season, with six episodes, was made in 2022, but the second season should air later this year, focusing on the European theater of war.

Visually SAS: Rogue Heroes is a real treat, it is simply gorgeous. The stark desert makes for a strong back drop to the action, the humor and the drama. I found nothing to complain about here.

The actors are superb from smaller side roles to the main characters, no one is pointless and nothing is meaningless. Despite being a story about war, there is character development, and lots of subtle details that really flesh out the characters in a wonderfully subtle way.

What really stands out is the music. When the officers are at the Empire Club, the band plays the swing hits of the time, like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. But, at certain points the music switches to AC/DC, Motörhead and more. At first this really threw me for a loop, but somehow it really works and allows the creators to make a point. A dangerous journey might start with AC/DC's Highway to Hell and during the complete destruction of a German airfield, they blast Motörhead's Overkill. As a fan of such music I was delighted. Even though it is a brave choice.

So, far so good but are there any drawbacks? Sure. Some of the story beats are really obvious. If a character thinks too much about his love back home, is it a surprise that he's not long for this world? Things like that, that should be shocking, but are pretty clearly telegraphed. Not a deal breaker by any means, but in a show this well made, one would hope they could have been more subtle with it.

So, do I recommend this show? Absolutely! If you have any interest in WWII you need to watch SAS: Rogue Heroes. It's not Band of Brothers good, but it comes very close, and I hope the second season is out soon!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The War Within pre-patch part 1.

The pre-patch for the next World of Warcraft expansion, The War Within (TWW) has started and it has been an interesting experience.

To start, the character screen has been changed significantly, with all characters showing up in one long list. Added to this is a section for four characters that when placed, show up around a campfire. You can arrange all your alts as you wish, but there is no sorting mechanism, so however you choose to arrange them, you need to do it manually.

There is a search function which is nice, as you can search for a class, but I hope Blizzard adds a sort by function as well. You can access the server list, but as far as I can tell, it only determines where new characters are placed.

A huge change is the new flying option. It can be found at the top of the screen where you see your mounts. Toggling it (5 second cast) switches your flying between the old system introduced in The Burning Crusade and the new dragon riding that was added in Dragonflight. All but one or two flying mounts are affected by this, allowing you to zoom along at incredible speeds on your favorite mounts. This flying style is unfortunately not chosen per individual mounts, but rather on the character itself. Oh, and it also affects the druid flying form, which is amazing.

The new warband bank, which will allow you to add items and some currencies into it so that any characters can withdraw them is implemented but it is currently disabled. Apparently there is a problem with it, and Blizzard is working to fix it.

What does work, however is the new transmog system. Through the years, many raid bosses have dropped tokens instead of gear. These tokens are grouped by classes and when a character of that class uses it, the token becomes a piece of armor. These tokens can now be mailed to any character you have on any server. Super useful! Armor that is specific to a single class is exempt from this and can only be learned if picked up by the correct class.

But it isn't all roses. As of now, currencies that are sent by mail can disappear, so wait before you do this. Likewise, many achievements have been reset, but Blizzard is aware and are investigating. I myself found that my progress for the Professor title which require 20 rare items found through archaeology has been reset to 1 from 18. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

The next step of the pre-patch, which is the fight against giant bosses that will let you amazing gear should launch this week. Overall this is really exciting, and I am looking forward to more fun in World of Warcraft.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The Day of the Jackal (novel)

Four years ago, I watched and wrote about The Day of the Jackal (1973), this week I finished the novel the movie is based on. I even re-watched the movie for good measure.

Written by Frederick Forsyth and published in 1971, this political thriller starts with factual events, namely the assassination attempts by the OAS against French President Charles de Gaulle. The OAS was a real group of ex colonial military personnel, who wanted to kill de Gaulle for giving Algeria its independence. They saw it as high treason after bleeding and dying for the colonies. So far so good.

Enter the rest of the book which is fictional. Realizing that their organization is riddled by informants and spies, and that any plans were leaked to French Intelligence as soon as they were formed, the leaders of the OAS hires a professional assassin, The Jackal. Being completely outside the entire OAS organization, the informers, and therefore the security mob were helpless to stop the assassin.

Enter police commissaire Lebel. This small but brilliant man is given almost limitless power to find and stop the Jackal, a job made harder by the fact that de Gaulle refuses to be careful. Being an old warhorse, he sees it as cowardice and weakness to increase security and cancel events just because someone might want to kill you.

The book is split into essentially two parts, the Jackal and his methods, and the police in France and the UK. We follow both investigations and the Jackal's preparations in excruciating detail. This is where the genius of Forsyth comes to play. A lesser author would have written a boring book that lumbers from scene to scene until you throw it away in disgust. Not Forsyth! The Day of the Jackal is never boring. We follow the Jackal as he steals passports, buys hair dye, flies to Copenhagen to buy Danish clothes for a disguise and it is all fascinating. I don't know how he did it, but he pulled it off.

I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I want to compare book and movie a bit.

Since I re-watched the movie in the middle of reading the book, I was in a good position to really compare the two, and they are super close. The things the movie leaves out are mostly superfluous details. In the book, the Jackal steals several passports for his disguises, but in the movie we see him steal only one. In the book the French security people have a meeting every evening, in the movie we see only a few. In essence, the movie leaves out nothing of value, and it is still almost two and a half hours long. It however leaves most scenes completely unchanged. Another good example is when the Jackal buys some false papers from a forger. In the book they meet in a bar and take a taxi to the forgers workshop, while in the movie they just meet up in the workshop, small things like that.

If you've seen the movie or intend to, but you are unsure if you should read the book first, there is no need. Unlike to many other film adaptations, The Day of the Jackal is extremely faithful to the source. The book is absolutely worth reading though, don't get me wrong. I absolutely recommend both, but you won't miss anything of value from just watching the movie.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Time to learn

I have been unable to find a good time to sit down and enjoy a movie, so I'm giving you a couple of documentaries.

The first one is on the Black Queen of France, Catherine De Medici, the Italian noblewoman who mothered three French kings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVPTJ1SkCU

The other is about the East German secret police, Stasi, and the Berlin Wall. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haxkWC6MgcQ

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

Being a British spy

I have previously posted about CIA disguise techniques, but today I have a retired MI6 agent talking about the craft, gadgets (or actually a lack of them), and the evolution of how espionage is handled. 

How real is James Bond?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5wjiAw1WI

Which Amazon gadgets would spies use?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJgLnNK78YI

I'm run off my feet this week so that is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

How to be a cultist.

Today we're doing a first impression of a game I have wanted for a while:

Cultist Simulator.

Like many other games on the market, like Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire, Cultist Simulator is easy to start but hard to master.

As the name suggests, Cultist Simulator is mostly about starting a cult in a vague 1920's London setting. The game has strong Lovecraft elements, but at 4.5 hours, I haven't seen anything overtly Lovecraftian. Cthulhu has not been mentioned for example.

The game takes place on a table and the story unfolds through verb boxes and cards. Verbs include Dream, Talk, Explore and Study. You can place cards into these verbs, for example you can place a person into Talk and something will happen. You can also put objects or idea cards into talk, which will have their own consequences. The boxes only accept certain cards and learning how it all works is quite satisfying.

Some Verb boxes appear suddenly and can demand specific cards in order to give you a benefit but they can also kill you. Many of my characters have died very suddenly.

Speaking of characters, the game always starts a new save with the Aspirant, but when that person dies, you get to choose a new person. I chose the Detective, and to my surprise and delight, the Detective actually investigated what my Aspirant had done. Likewise, my Doctor studied the case file of my recently deceased Medium. You can name the characters in the lower left corner and I suggest you do in order to recognize them when they appear in the story.

When you first start Cultist Simulator, the game will urge you to explore and experiment. This can be a bit frustrating as you have no idea what you're doing and are supposed to do. But this actually plays well into the central theme. Do you know how to start a cult? I don't, so it makes sense to have to feel your way forward.

Besides the Verbs and Cards there are four resources; Health, Passion, Reason and Money. Health is your life, and this can go down very fast depending on your choices and luck. Reason and Passion are used to fuel different events. Passion can help you create art, but is also used to recruit new people to your cause. If your only Passion card is tied up in painting and you need it for something else, then you are out of luck. Success and failure are all important story elements.

Money is central to it all. You may be a newly minted occultist with big dreams, but you still have to eat. You can earn money through going to work, but that takes time and has its own perils. There is a Verb box called Time, that is constantly ticking, and every time it completes a cycle, it automatically consumes one money. If you run out of money you starve, which consumes Health. If you are out of Health, you die.

This ticking clock brings me to your best friend, the Pause button. As soon as the games starts, PAUSE THE GAME! There is a lovely intro screen for you to read, but beneath it, time is ticking. Some jobs demote you if you don't go to work, even if you're just reading a text box. Pause, pause and pause again, until you know what happens without reading anything. Trust me and take your time or you will never get anywhere.

The reason I didn't pick up this game sooner was because I was intimidated. I love the theme but most screenshots show a full board of cards which look crazy complicated, but it isn't really. You start small and grow slowly with plenty of time to learn. The other reason was the timers. Usually I hate timers but with your lovely, shiny Pause button that is not an issue. Sure, I'm only at the 4.5 hour mark, but I'm learning more all the time and getting better. I look forward to playing more, and I really think this is a fantastic game. If anything I've said seems interesting, check it out! It's even on mobile, if that's your thing.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Get Shorty

This week is a rewatch. I decided to re-visit the comedy:

Get Shorty (1995).

We meet Chili Palmer (John Travolta), a loan shark from Miami. He is a movie lover that is getting sick of the whole gangster thing. He has to chase down Leo Devoe, a gambler with an outstanding debt, in order to satisfy his new boss Ray 'Bones' Barboni (Dennis Farina). Chili and Bones do not get along and Bones is looking for a good excuse to get rid of Chili. The chase for Leo goes to Las Vegas and from there to Los Angeles.

In LA, Chili has to call in a marker held against a director of cheesy movies, Harry Zim (Gene Hackman). The problem is that Harry is also in deep debt to Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), who is having trouble with Pablo Escobar. In the middle of all this chaos, Chili has the chance to ditch his gangster life and become a movie producer, as long as he can take care of all the outstanding business, all the players involved, as well as learn how Hollywood works.

There is a lot more to this story, but that synopsis is already confusing enough as it is. Get Shorty is not really a gangster movie, despite featuring a fair amount of criminals. At the heart it is a comedy about Hollywood. It points a finger at the criminal elements that surround the movie industry, it jokes with the vain, flaky and unreliable nature of movie stars, personified in Martin Weir (Danny DeVito) who eats breakfast at the same table every morning and always faces west so he can look at his own billboard. He also shows up to a lunch meeting, orders something for the whole table that no one wants and dips before the food arrives. According to author Elmore Leonard who wrote the book the movie is based on, the lunch scene is based on a real event featuring Dustin Hoffman.

Get Shorty is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and as is usual, it is lovely to watch. Not all of Sonnenfeld's movies have been hits, like Wild Wild West, though others have been, like Men in Black. Whether they were hits or not, his movies are visually great and Get Shorty is no exception.

But lets talk actors. Yes we have John Travolta, Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito, but we also have Rene Russo, James Gandolfini and in a small uncredited role, Bette Midler amongst others. It is a heavy cast, which can sometimes become problematic. If there were problems on set, you can't tell in the movie. It is wall to wall veterans and it works.

Funnily enough, Travolta didn't want the role of Chili Palmer, even though it was written for him, until Quentin Tarantino convinced him to take the role. Likewise, Gene Hackman turned down his role at first, citing that he didn't really do comedies. Sonnenfeld told him that's perfect and that Harry should be played completely straight anyway.

So, do I recommend this movie? Definitely. Get Shorty is a funny movie that doesn't try too hard to be funny, it just is. It is partially a comedy of errors and partially a fish out of water story. Chili Palmer is essentially the prototype for every “too cool for school” character Travolta ever played, but set against all the madness it really works. I do think Get Shorty is the kind of movie anyone can sit down and enjoy. Oh, and the soundtrack is great!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

Lisa and the Devil

I wanted to watch something so I blindly chose:

Lisa and the Devil (1973).

I was aware of this horror title but I knew nothing about this movie. Turns out it is co-written and directed by the legendary Mario Bava, who has appeared on this blog at least four times.

This is the story: Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) is on holiday in Toledo, Spain. There she sees a famous fresco called “The Devil takes the dead”, which disturbs her. The devil is portrayed as a leering, bald man and Lisa quickly wants to go somewhere else. Wandering away from the tourist group, she finds a small shop selling all kinds of things. The owner is apparently also a maker of mannequins and to her horror the owner is talking shop with a customer who is a dead ringer for the devil from the fresco. This is Leandro played by Telly Savalas. Lisa flees from the shop but gets lost and can't find the tour group.

Suddenly a well dressed man appears and talks to her as if they are old friends, calling her Elena. She flees again and encounters a wealthy couple and their chauffeur. She begs them for help and the husband, Francis, agrees to give her a ride. Soon the car breaks down outside an ancient villa and they are invited to stay the night. To Lisa's shock, the butler of the house is non other than Leandro! Soon people are killed, and the mystery deepens. Why do some people call her Elena? Why is Max, the son of the countess who owns the villa so in love with her? Is Leandro the devil himself, or just a butler with a very sardonic and macabre sense of humor? You'll have to watch it to find out.

Since this is a Mario Bava movie it came as no surprise to me that Lisa and the Devil is a gorgeous film. Shot after shot are beautiful and actually the best part of the movie. There can be no doubt that Bava was a master craftsman, and he proves it here yet again.

The actors range from very good to decent. Savalas, Sommer and Alida Valli (the countess) are excellent, while Alessio Orano (Max) and Eduardo Fajardo (Francis) are more hammy and less enjoyable.

Overall, Lisa and the Devil is a mixed bag for me. The story could have been a lot better, with the middle dragging surprisingly much. With the focus on the story being Lisa, I would have liked it if she would have done something besides run around in a state of panic and confusion as well as fainting a lot, but alas.

I'm not the kind of movie watcher who wants everything explained down to the last detail, but I find that Lisa and the Devil leaves a bit too much of the story a mystery. Watching it you can easily accept some things as fact but only by not asking any more questions.

On the other hand, the atmosphere is excellent and Telly Savalas steals every scene he's in. Fun fact: Savalas had just quit smoking, so he used suckers (or lollipops) as a substitute, so Leandro cheerfully sucks on the candy while “taking care of business”. This trait was something he moved over to his most famous role, the TV detective Kojak.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. If you are on a Bava completionist journey, then I think you're going to have a good time, but I fear most casual viewers are going to be bored. Lisa and the Devil is not a bad movie, but it could also be a lot better, though it has to be admitted that ending was surprisingly good considering the slow story.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Gentlemen

I first saw some clips on Youtube which peaked my interest, so I watched:

The Gentlemen (2019).

Directed, co-written and co-produced by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), this is a return to form for the British director.

Michael Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is the top producer of marijuana in Great Britain, and he's looking to sell up and retire. One evening on returning home, his number two man, Ray (Charlie Hunnam) finds reporter and scumbag Fletcher (Hugh Grant) in his house. Fletcher has an interesting story to tell, and wants 20 million pounds for what he knows and has in evidence. Thus begins an amazing and convoluted story about crime and manners.

I can't really say much more about the story without going head first into heavy spoiler territory, and that I won't do. The Gentlemen is a movie that has to be experienced first hand. It's worth noting that the movie is not told in pure chronological order, but as a story told by Fletcher, as far as he knows what is going on. It's not a case of an unreliable narrator, as that implies that the narrator lies, it's more a question of who knows what and how things really happened.

From a movie making standpoint, The Gentlemen is a masterpiece. The cinematography, the props, the actors, the dialogue, everything is perfect. I can genuinely say I wouldn't change a thing. Seeing as it is a Guy Ritchie movie, it's worth noting that The Gentlemen is nowhere near as funny as his previous crime movies. But this is not a negative. Instead of funny, it is witty. The dialogue is smart and eloquent which fits this story better than the dialogue in his previous movies.

As I sat there happily watching, it struck me that the plot in The Gentlemen is pretty chaotic, but in the end everything is solved, wrapped up and finished. This is not a small feat considering how many moving parts this story has. Again, a masterfully directed movie.

I want to return to the actors. Matthew McConaughey is amazing as he always is. Not a stand out performance, but great anyway.

Charlie Hunnam, perhaps best known as Jax in Sons of Anarchy, is superb, with his poise and soft spoken demeanor. He is threatening because he isn't yelling.

I can genuinely say I have never enjoyed Hugh Grant as much as I do in The Gentlemen. He is a scene stealer and I loved every minute of his sleazy presence.

Colin Farrell likewise runs away with every scene his Coach character is in. He trains fighters and combines humility with confidence is an amazing way.

So, do I recommend this movie? Of course I do. There isn't a bad thing I can say about it. If you have seen and liked Guy Ritchie's other crime movies, and you haven't seen The Gentlemen, do something about that as soon as possible. If you haven't seen them, The Gentlemen is not a bad place to start. I will absolutely have to re-watch this movie as soon as possible.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have great week!

 

The Real Deal.

Back in 1997 I saw Donnie Brasco in the movie theater.

This gangster movie features Johnny Depp as FBI agent Pistone who goes undercover in the Mafia as Donnie Brasco, and much longer than anyone should be undercover.. Other stars are Al Pacino, Michael Madsen and many more. It is a great movie and even then I knew it was based on a true story. 

Of course, "based on a true story" can mean different things depending on the film. Some follow the events closely while others keep a name or two as well as a few minor events before pulling the rest of the script from where the sun doesn't shine.

 

Today I have a documentary for you about the real events depicted in Donnie Brasco. What happened and what was fiction

 Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7YBiST_wcI 

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!