Band of Brothers: Episode 2, Day of Days (2001) - TV Episode Review

In the second episode of Band of Brothers, Day of Days, we are shown what Easy Company went through when they did their first jump into Normandy on June 6th. The whole episode is well done from beginning to end. There are a few bits that were slow but if it weren't for them it would have been wall to wall shooting and it wasn't always like that.

All of the actors that had a part in this episode did a phenomenal job portraying their respective characters.

Since I already shared how well I liked Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and all the others job in creating this exceptional series, I won't do so again. You'll just have to read the previous episodes review. What I will do is give you the scenes I liked over all the rest.

The first scene I liked was when Lieutenant Winters (Damian Lewis) hit the ground and realized he didn't have his weapon or some of his other equipment. Another paratrooper, Private John Hall (Andrew Scott), hits the ground near him. After introducing themselves to each other they realize that either one or both of them are in the wrong landing zone. Later they meet up with Carwood Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) and two paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne, further displaying that the paratroopers of several outfits are in the wrong landing zone.

Several minutes later, at least in the episode, Winters, Hall and Lipton have picked up Don Malarkey (Scott Grimes), Bill Guarnere (Frank John Hughes) and a few others. On their way to the rallying point the group comes across several German soldiers. Winters gives the order to wait for his command to fire, Guarnere disregards this order and fires when he wants to. He does this because before the jump he gets news that his brother had been killed at Monte Casino in Italy and he wants revenge.

The third scene I like is when Winters meets up with Buck Compton (Neal McDonough) at the rallying point and receives orders from Lt. Colonel Sink (Dale Dye) to take out a nest of German 105 heavy guns at Brécourt, a nearby French estate. The guns are aimed directly at Causeway #1 at Utah Beach and are inflicting heavy casualties. Winters gathers two squads, one led by himself, the other by Compton. The Battle of Brécourt Manor follows and Winters proves himself an excellent tactician, using a small force to take out a larger one in a heavily fortified position. During the fight, Popeye Wynn (Nicholas Aaron) is wounded and is forced to leave the battle. Winters himself destroys three of the guns, using TNT and German "potato masher" grenades on the guns' barrels. Private Hall is killed in the trenches by a booby trap. Several of the men prove their valor in battle and Winters plans to recommend them for commendations. Lt. Speirs (Matthew Settle) takes out the fourth gun himself and the platoon retreats.

I'm gonna give you a fourth favorite scene. It's a small scene but I think it is a very important scene. Right before they arrive at the rallying point, they come across several captured German officers, one of whom is part of the "volksdeutsche" effort; German-Americans who returned to their ancestral homeland to join the German army. Malarkey himself is quite astonished that the man he meets is from his home state of Oregon. After Malarkey rejoins his company, he sees 1st Lt. Speirs of D company pass by. Malarkey hears heavy gunfire as Speirs (apparently) executes the captured German soldiers.

The episode gets 10 stars out of 10. The story is very well portrayed. The acting is great and the action is awesome.

Band of Brothers: Episode 1, Currahee (2001) - TV Episode Review

Band of Brothers is one of those mini-series that will be watched for years to come. The whole series was wonderfully done. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and the rest of the Producers along with HBO created one of the most realistic WWII television shows, ever. If you think about it, though, if it weren't for Stephen E. Ambrose writing the book that would eventually become the series, we wouldn't have this series to watch.

Not only did they do a phenomenal job creating this series but the casting of each of the characters was perfect. David Schwimmer as Herbert M. Sobel was great. After seeing Scwimmer as Ross Gellar for 10 years on Friends as the older brother of Monica Gellar (Courtney Cox) who was a nice guy, sort of bumbling, it was a nice change to see him be an asshole.

The best part of this series is that at the beginning, or end as in the case of the last episode, the men the characters of this series are based off of are presented to the audience. Not until the final episode, however, does the audience know who each man is, but getting to see these men in later life is a remarkable addition to the series. Afterall, why shouldn't they be a part of the series that tell the story of their experiences in WWII.

Currahee is the first episode of The Band of Brothers series. The episode starts out with Easy Company waiting to head to France from England to begin their part of Operation D-Day. In this episode we meet the many different characters, well most of them anyway. The audience learns that Currahee is the mountain that Easy Company, part of the 506th Infantry, trained. Currahee is also the motto by which these men follow, a Cherokee word meaning "stand alone".

So as it has become customary for me to describe my favorite scenes I will do so now.

The first scene I liked is when Sobel has Easy Company run up Currahee after eating spaghetti for lunch. Many of the soldiers throw up along the way, but they continue to run up Currahee. As they do so, and the fact that none of his men fall out, Sobel realizes that they are running up Currahee to spite him.

The different training scenes are my second favorite scenes. The two best scenes are those that depict Sobel screwing up. The first scene is when the company is in textbook position for an ambush, Lt. Winters (Damian Lewis) pints out this fact and suggests staying in position, Sobel ignores the suggestion and has the company move out... right into an ambush. The second scene depicting Sobel's incompetence is when he, and some of his men, are on maneuvers and he becomes lost. It is the way he is spurred into action that is the best part. Not too long after this scene is when several of the non-commissioned officers of Easy Company attempt "mutiny" by refusing to follow Sobel into combat.

The last scene I like is when Joe Toye (Kirk Acevedo) lists off all the equipment that he has to carry. "Three day supply of K-rations, chocolate bars, Charms candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, entrenching tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my weapon, my .45, canteen, two cartons of smokes, Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, Gammon grenade, TNT, THIS bullshit, and a pair of nasty skivvies!" I like the fact that he is complaining about how much he is carrying, but either forgets of doesn't care that everyone else has the same or similar amount of equipment.

I give this episode 9 stars out of 10. There was no fighting in this episode, just training. For the most part it was still a pretty good episode.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) - Movie Review

Sequels have a hard time even equaling the success of their predecessor, but The Hunger Games: Catching Fire does give the first movie in this series a real run for supremacy. Why? The story just keeps building upon itself, with many twists and turns that keep the viewer kept off guard the way through. If you have read the books, you know what is going to happen, but bringing the book to life is what amazes me.

Suzanne Collins wrote an amazing book, that was turned into a first rate script by screenwriters Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt. The cast brings to life the characters that Suzanne Collins created for her dystopian world. Donald Sutherland plays President Snow very well in both movies, in many ways he is the perfect villain. Jennifer Lawrence does a wonderful job bring to life Katniss Everdeen, and has run the gamut of emotions in both movies; in every sense she is the perfect heroine.

Because this movie has only been in the theaters for approximately 3 days at the time of this writing I won't describe in detail big amounts of scenes. I would like to encourage you to watch the movie as soon as possible. I will give my rating now though of 10 stars out of 10; really just to get it out of the way.

I will tell you three things I liked about the film.

First, I liked the emotional roller coaster that each character had to travel over the course of this film. Each character, from Katniss, Peeta Malark (Josh Hutcherson), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) and Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) to Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), Snow, Johanna and Finnick (Sam Claflin). Taken as a whole the roller coaster of emotions makes sense, and they are a big part of the movie. Every scene invokes a different emotion and sometimes more than one at the same time.

Second, I will describe one scene because it has nothing to do with the plot of the movie. After all the tributes are introduced in the parade, Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch are making their way to the District 12 apartments, Johanna Mason from District 7, joins them in the elevator. Johanna is disgusted by the dress her stylist makes her wear and begins disrobing in front of the others. She asks Peeta to unzip her dress and then peels it off, leaving her naked. Katniss is visibly disturbed by this. Haymitch and Peeta give admiring glances. Don't worry, nothing is shown. It is a PG-13 movie after all. It's just the idea of Johanna Mason (Jenna Malone) disrobing is... exciting.

The third thing I liked was the graphics. The graphics in Catching Fire play a big part in the film and were excellently done. Since the graphics play a big part in this film I won't describe them, however, I will say that without them the whole series would probably be very boring.

The Hunger Games (2012) - Movie Review

The Hunger Games is one of the best movies of the last few years. Released a year and a half ago, The Hunger Games has grossed nearly $500 million; with a budget of $78 million. Suzanne Collins, with the help of Gary Ross and Billy Ray, wrote the screenplay for The Hunger Games using the book of the same name as a guide. The screenplay is as close to the book as possible given that the author is Suzanne Collins herself.

Suzanne Collins created an amazing story about a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capital. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part Entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Penem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. (The Hunger Games storyline, IMDB.com)

Since this movie is more than a year old I can safely describe my three favorite scenes and not feel guilty about giving away any surprises.

The first scene I liked was the when Katniss volunteered to take her sister's place as tribute. All the teens assemble in order to be selected as tribute. They are selected by lottery, with each having their names entered at least once, many several times. Katniss is worried that Prim, who is only 12, would not be able to survive the brutal combat. In order to save her sister when her name is called, Katniss volunteers to go in Prim's place. It is an emotional scene, as is the scene in which Katniss is saying goodbye to Gale, Prim and her mother.

The second scene I liked was actually the sequence of scenes that each district representatives are in training. It is here that Katniss and Peeta gain allies and support. My favorite part is when Katniss shoots an arrow in the direction of the judges. It is not well received.

My third favorite scene is when Katniss kills Marvel. Marvel, the male tribute from District 1, attacks Katniss and Rue. Katniss dodges Marvel's spear and shoots an arrow at Marvel killing him. Katniss turns to Rue and sees that the spear she dodged had instead impaled Rue through her chest. Rue dies in Katniss's arms. Katniss decides that to honor her friend and ally she would decorate Rue with wildflowers. Rue's family and the rest of District 11 appreciate the sentiment that Katniss showed. Upon seeing the last of his daughter before her body was taken away, Rue's father and many of the other men in District 11 start a riot.

I loved The Hunger Games. The graphics were amazing. The storyline was awesome. I could see how some of the things in the story could actually happen.

I would, however, suggest that before you watch any of the movies in The Hunger Games series, please read the books.

I give The Hunger Games 10 stars out of 10.

World War Z (2006) - Book Review

First, I'd like to say that there are many people out there for whom zombies just freak the hell out of. The images of the zombies in World War Z that Max Brooks describes are almost as an afterthought. Yes, without the zombies there would be no World War Z and they are an important part of the story, but they are a secondary character to the real story that makes up the novel that is World War Z.

World War Z was published by Max Brooks through Crown Publishing Group in September 2006. For those that don't know Max Brooks is Mel Brooks' son. Mel Brooks wrote, directed or starred (sometimes all three) in such films as Blazing Saddles, Robin Hood Men in Tights and Young Frankenstein, among others. Knowing the kind of stuff Max grew up with being raised one of the best parody or farce actors, it makes sense that Max would take something as horrible as the living dead and create one of the best novels, and now movies, in several years.

When I read this I kept going back in my mind to the Howard Zinn A People's History series. This is a series that teaches history from the ground up, in other words from the common person's point of view. For instance, one of the books is about the American Revolution. In this book, Howard Zinn doesn't tell the story of the American Revolution through John Adams, George Washington or any number of the other big names; no, instead the story is told by slaves, women (and I'm not talking about Abigail Adams), men who work in the field or on the docks. The story is told by the everyman, not the "celebrity" of the day.

It is this aspect of World War Z that I like. When you read World War Z you can imagine Max Brooks traveling all across the globe talking to survivors of the war. He begins by going to the source of the infection in China. The narrator finds out that the infection began in a small village when a boy and his father went "night fishing". What the boy and his father were doing was salvaging artifacts from a sunken town they had once lived to try to sell and make money. The father disappeared and the boy was bitten. The boy came back to his "new" village where he died and then reanimated. From there the epidemic began.

I liked the part where the narrator traveled to Antarctica in order to interview a man that helped create a vaccine for the virus that creates the zombie. Unfortunately, the vaccine is useless. The vaccine neither cures nor prevents people from being infected. Worse yet, people who think that they can be cured or an infection can be prevented go home and after they die they infect there entire family and eventually their neighborhood. The narrator only interviews this guy once, but later on in the book, close to the end, the new head of the SEC indicates that the new U.S. Government is in talks with the Holy Russian Empire to not renew the lease on the building this guy is staying in. If that happens and he returns to any part of reconquered Earth, he most assuredly will be executed on the spot.

Thee are stories of kids who grew up without parents, some right from the beginning others later on. There is a story of a woman who was four years old when the war began and she never really grew up, at least mentally. There is another story of a teenage girl that went north into Canada with her parents and nearly starved to death, with her parents.

A majority of the book is about the actual killing of the zombies. I know that sounds weird, the zombie is already dead. To eliminate a zombie you have to take out the brain or the brain-stem. Max Brooks talks about the weapons that were used at the beginning of the war, and also the ones that were developed during the war.

The narrator describes one scene in which a Chinese submarine captain decides to load as much supplies as possible, along with his crews family and leave China. The submarine is successful for quite a while. At one point they try to regain some sense of normalcy, but another Chinese sub attacks. The crew of the AWOL sub thinks they are being attacked because they left and stole the sub, but what is really happening is that China went through a civil war, as well as the Zombie War. The second sub was on the opposite side of the civil war.

If you like zombie movies and books, I recommend World War Z. If you like to read, just to read... I also recommend World War Z. I give this 9 stars out of 10, but unfortunately Shelfari.com only has a 5 Star System so I give it 4 Stars on there. World War Z was well written and I liked it very much. I can't wait to see the movie starring Brad Pitt, not that I am a particularly big fan of Brad Pitt, I just want to see the movie.