Nathan on American TV tonight! by gojiro

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Nathan on American TV tonight!

POSTED BY: GOJIRO
UPDATED: Monday, November 15, 2004 05:19
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Thursday, November 11, 2004 5:36 AM

First I heard ABC was showing Saving Private Ryan tonight. Then I heard they weren't, because of the FCC. Now, apparently, they are.

So that means tonight at 8pm EST on ABC, we'll get to see Nathan Fillion on our TVs again -- albeit briefly.

For them as don't know, Nathan plays the "wrong" Private Ryan.

Set your VCRs and pop your popcorn. And be sure not to miss the first ten minutes -- it gives you a whole new respect for what those guys went through on D-Day. And an insight into what they are going through over in Iraq.

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 6:22 AM

GOJIRO

Apparently, I posted too

ing soon. I just saw this on CNN:

Quote:
In Ohio, WCPO-TV of Cincinnati and WSYX-TV of Columbus will not show the movie.

Since I live in Cincinnati, I guess I won't be watching Nathan tonight, after all.

Screw it. I'm going out today and buy the damn DVD. Stupid self-censoring hundan.

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:13 AM

ZOID

gojiro wrote:

Quote:
...And an insight into what they are going through over in Iraq.

Nah. The German Army knew how to fight; were well-equipped, trained and organized; and were almost properly entrenched to repel invaders. If Hitler (the crazy little sh*thouse rat) had not been fooled by the rubber dummy forces being built up across the Channel ('commanded' by Patton, whom the Germans feared even more than the Allied High Command did) and an accompanying disinformation campaign into believing that Calais was where the landing would take place, they might have been immovable in Normandy. For that matter, had Hitler not so badly bungled Germany's advanced aircraft R&D program for the previous 5 years, the Luftwaffe might have put up a large multiple of the 400 aircraft -- in jet fighters alone -- that they managed to deploy over the beachhead. Had the Wehrmacht received proper air support on D-Day, the entire European continent might be speaking German today.

For a better idea of what our forces in Iraq are experiencing, watch "Blackhawk Down". 'Who's a civilian and who's a combatant?' was a central problem for the soldiers in the film, and in the current situation. In "Saving Private Ryan", you could easily differentiate friend from foe, and the enemy soldier was courageous and honorable (in the main).

Still, everyone should see "SPR" on a yearly basis, although my preference would be on Memorial Day. And yes, the first scene's landing on the Normandy beaches was as close to verisimilitude as is likely to ever be achieved on film. My father and uncles who were still alive at the time the movie premiered, testified to the accuracy of its depiction of the carnage that accompanies an amphibious assault on an entrenched opponent. The amphibious assaults on Japanese-held beachheads tended to be at least as ghastly as those against their Axis allies.

Only one of my uncles served as a foot soldier in the ETO (exclusive of those who served in the USN and USAAC), and he reported having to leave the movie theatre with a bad case of the shakes. Some things should not have to be relived, fifty-some years downstream...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

Only 161 days, 11 hours, 56 minutes, and 32 seconds left until The BDM!

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 8:02 AM

NERVOUSPETE

Sorry for the blatant hijacking! But this being 11/11/04 Remembrance day and everything... (something that always makes me think most of all of the Somme and all the poppies, and the 60,000 British dead in one day's fighting)

What is surprising is that a considerable number of the Axis troops at Omaha were from Ost divisions - Russians and Poles pressed into service early in Hitler's eastern campaign and transferred to shore up the numbers on the Northern sea wall. They were badly motivated and trained, and a sargent stood behind them with a pistol to make sure they stayed at their posts. This doesn't affect the bravery of the US troops however, as the machine guns were presighted and aligned, and the mortars et al already zeroed. A murderous hail of fire that must have been hellish.

I think the film's opening sequence is the closest in accuracy we really want to get to what happened there, though obviously the effect on anyone who wasn't there - or went through a similar experience - will be greatly diminished.

(Annoyingly, the film never quite capitalises on the first half hour, and strays in to cliched, broadstroke territory. 'Band of Brothers' is a better overall testament', as is the harsh and lyrical 1955 British film 'The Cruel Sea' for the naval forces - a film I cannot over-rate)

Zoid: Bang on about the lack of support for the luftwaffe - an outfit designed for the planned short, sharp war that Hitler envisaged at first and fatally never modified for the strategic long haul - which meant that they had no strategic bombers like the Lancaster or Fortress, and the deadly jet fighter program was bungled too.

*Phew* eh?

Still always thought it a bit harsh over the quandry over whether to put the tanks in reserve or on the coast. Coast = get bombarded by naval fire, reserve = get bombed from air making way to front.

Cripes, this is some digression, eh?

I wish the 1941 Dieppe landings would get some recognition as well, as it was as hellish as Omaha with greater casualties - the Canadian landing forces were massacred for absolutely no gain. Over 5,000 in one morning.

And yes, Black Hawk Down will probably get you your best impression of fighting in Iraq - a good but flawed film.

Pete

P.S: Lost a grand-uncle in Normandy myself, holding one of the bridges later in the campaign. His head was blown off by a booby-trapped tank hatch. My grandmother was in Arnhem during Market garden as well, which she describes as hellish. Later on she was in a village nearby, when the Germans were retreating. A German lieutenant ordered all the men to dig anti-tank ditches - gave them it in writing - though it was an area of little strategic value and there was no point to it, and then fled in his jeep. Later some SS men came along and tried to take the men away for labour camps, but the men gave them the lieutenants name and said that he had told them to dig trenches, showing them the signed order. The SS men nodded and went on their way. The Dutch found out later that apparently this lieutenant had been giving out useless orders to men in every village he had passed through, saving them from being dragged off. Some villages he missed though, and they were'nt so lucky. He must have been trying to atone. My grandma has forgiven him.

P.P.S: Now back to your regular programming.

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 10:24 AM

CEPHME

(bringing this back to our normal silly level)

OOOHH! They should have known it was not the "right" Private Ryan, but rather Private Tightpants.

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 11:15 AM

RHYMEPHILE

Don't feel bad: 19 different ABC stations won't air the movie. Many of the big marktes will miss out on the film.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My office! Burgled! Plundered! Purloined! Ha ha ha...loins."

-- Phil Sebben, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 12:26 PM

GUILDSISTER

Quote:
Stupid self-censoring hundan.

Not at all. The censoring thing is just an excuse. A movie that age isn't going to draw high ratings for the local affiliates (ratings=$$$), so the television stations make more money by preempting the network and going local with their own movie that night. Instead of one short local commercial break per half hour in the network movie, the TV stations can have all the commercial breaks for themselves. The content quibbles give them the excuse to do so.

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 1:41 PM

GOJIRO

You are probably right, G-sis. Instead of SPR, we get to see (or boycott, in my case) "Thanksgiving Across America" with Naomi Judd and A Month of Sundays. Both are pablum.

Thanks, WCPO!

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:06 PM

ALIENZOOKEEPER

Y'all have helped me make up my mind-

I'm going to go buy that DVD tomorrow, if they have any on the shelves, and order it if they don't.

Blackhawk Down, too, I guess.

Watched 'We Were Soldiers' this weekend, that was not what I expected. Got it on tape, but will watch it again, soon.

The Iraq War i'm dancing about. on the whole. We seem to be killing an awful lot of hotheads (in Cairo, they're calling them 'contractors', not freedom fighters or holy warriors, which i hope is a good sign) from other parts of the ME, as well as Iraqis

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:28 PM

QUICKSAND

I'm in Dallas, and I thought to myself "I'll at least have it on, so whoever keeps track of these things will note that I watched it, showing there IS support for showing this on TV."

Except, it WASN'T ON HERE, EITHER. They showed "Hoosiers," cuz, y'know, that movie ALSO makes me think of World War II. (Hello, Veterans' Day?)

All you freakshows on the Right can rant all you want, but this movie depicts the horrors of war, and was CENSORED by people on your side, because they're too stupid to think that there might actually be some education in all this. Terrified, reactionary crap. What are they afraid of? Kids will see this and go beat up some Germans?

I didn't even like this movie-- contrived, melodramatic throughout, and double goes for the ending. But if you picket something like this, you are ANTI-FREE SPEECH. If you object to it, DON'T WATCH IT. If you decide I shouldn't see it either, I will fight you until my dying breath. And I'll win, too, because I learned war tactics from movies like this one.

Hmm, this is supposed to be a light-hearted board. Hmmm. Um.... hey, John Kerry, you have poofy hair!!

XOXO
Qs

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 10:04 PM

ZOID

Fellow Browncoats:

So sorry y'all didn't get a chance to see Nathan's cameo in SPR tonight. As I've said before, I live in a midwestern 'flyover state' (address withheld to minimize death threats). Think: the red part of the map on election day. Serious Bible belt; homemade anti-abortion billboards in the wheatfields alongside the interstate. What we native Houstonians refer to as 'spooky'.

But, then again, we did get SPR tonight, and y'all didn't. Weird, huh? It's like our station just decided to let us see this great movie, uncut and uncensored, even though this is a conservative area. They dropped the 'F' bomb at least three times a minute, interspersed with a plethora of other colorful turns of phrase (like, Burns', "She could see I had a h*rd*n the size of the Statue of Liberty"). And of course, all the bodies blown to hamburger, and the hand-to-hand death scene that haunted me for days after I first saw it, years ago.

The funny part is, I didn't remember it being that foul-mouthed. And after a while this evening, the profanity became as natural as a bunch of guys talking in unmixed company. It was shocking only because it was on broadcast TV.

As far as the movie being about the horrors of war, Spielberg made it as an homage to American veterans. We know what the horrors of war are. That's not what the movie is about. It's about the sacrifices made to keep our nation free. It's about human beings overcoming the frailties of their characters, and discovering the bravery they never knew they had. It's about those who fell in battle, and those who had to live the rest of their lives haunted by their memories.

But mostly, it's about the debt we as Americans owe to those who have served in our military. Captain Miller charges Ryan -- and us as well -- to "Earn it". We must earn the rewards they have sacrificed to give us. In the end, we must judge ourselves, as Ryan asked his wife at the memorial, "Tell me I've led a good life. Tell me I'm a good man." Tell me I've earned the right to call myself an American, that I am worthy of the blood spilled to keep me free and my family safe.

It's just a pity less conservative areas didn't get to see the film on ABC. Y'all are right. It does appear to be a case of censorship, but it doesn't appear to stem from the conservative side of the fence.

Critically,

zoid

P.S.
The movie wasn't too melodramatic, considering it was a movie. As in 'fiction'. As in 'Hollywood'. Now if we could just get someone to take as realistic a look at the Japanese occupation of Nanking. Good fun for the whole family! Just don't expect Sony Pictures to sign on...
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

Only 160 days, 21 hours, 14 minutes, and 29 seconds left until The BDM!

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Thursday, November 11, 2004 11:15 PM

KEEPWALKING

Other movies of intrest -
Enemy at the gate - like SPR very brutal opening, crossing the Volga under fire and the first mass charge, then sinks into sentamentality and melodrama. I guess a full 90 minutes of realistic slaughter will not be too successful at the box office.
The Big Red One - A new print is now out. The director, Sam Fuller, fought as an infantry man in WWII and landed on D-Day. The film includes a D-Day sequence. Shot under more restrictive censorship and a fraction of the budget it still bring home a sence of the horror and honour of the battle. The film uses a severed arm to show the passing time. The film cuts to it to show the still functioning wrist watch and water getting more bloody.

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Friday, November 12, 2004 1:51 AM

DEBIJI

Quote:
Originally posted by KeepWalking:
Other movies of intrest -

84 Charlie Mopic - Vietnam LRP goes bad.

from combat cameraman pov. Riveting, good characters, and features Brooks (who played Early). first time I saw Mr. Brooks, been a fan of him ever since.

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Friday, November 12, 2004 3:58 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

The CBS affiliate here in Richmond, VA did not carry Saving Private Ryan either, which was dissapointing to say the least. Instead they showed Home Alone. Veterans Day and they show ruttin' Home Alone instead of Saving Private Ryan?!?

I promptly turned off my set and popped in my DVD of SPR & watched it. Gorram CBS tv!

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Meet Up:
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Friday, November 12, 2004 6:42 AM

ZOID

BrownCoat1 wrote:

Quote:
The CBS affiliate here in Richmond, VA did not carry Saving Private Ryan either...

Ummm, you mean ABC, right? Maybe CBS didn't show SPR in your area because it was already being shown on ABC.

Don't be too hard on them...

v/r,
zed

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Friday, November 12, 2004 8:50 AM

ZOID

debiji:

I'll have to check out "84C MoPic". I've never heard of it; but if it's got our Mr. Brooks in it (in a significant role), it'll be worth checking out.

Other good movies:
"Gallipoli", early Mel Gibson flickering picture (so early in fact, that Mel isn't the main character), re: the horrors of amphibious assault and subsequent trench warfare in WW I. Specifically, the flower of Australian youth being thrown into a meat grinder in Turkey by inept and uncaring British (read: English) leadership. Rather a black eye for the British, wot? But after all, no one's perfect. On the other hand, I was watching a Biography Channel (yes, I have digital cable) piece on D-Day, and they reckoned the failure at Gallipoli taught lessons that made D-Day a success.

"Full Metal Jacket", beloved of FFFn, features AB in meaningful role. Most accurate depiction of Marine boot camp ever filmed. Yes, 'blanket parties' do (did?) occur, though more as a threat than reality. Full marks to R. Lee Ermey, former Marine drill sergeant. The rest of the movie, fanciful.

"Forrest Gump", military bits pretty accurate and well-realized, if fantastic by design. Especially liked Gary Sinise (Lieutenant Dan) as disillusioned vet. Long family tradition of dying in battle; very humorous. Matrilineal?

There's another one that I thought of last night as a very good example, which has now slipped my memory altogether. How exasperating! More later if I can think of it...

Bad examples, anyone?

Cinematically,

zoid

P.S.
You lose three things as you get older: Your hair, your eyesight, and I can't remember the fourth thing...

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Friday, November 12, 2004 12:21 PM

GUNRUNNER

Quote:
Originally posted by NervousPete:
Zoid: Bang on about the lack of support for the luftwaffe - an outfit designed for the planned short, sharp war that Hitler envisaged at first and fatally never modified for the strategic long haul - which meant that they had no strategic bombers like the Lancaster or Fortress, and the deadly jet fighter program was bungled too.

*Phew* eh?

The Luftwaffe command also needed to be told to share its 'toys'. The Luftwaffe refused to give control of A/Cs to the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), which caused the "Graf Zeppelin" (A German Aircraft Carrier) to sit uncompleted in its shipyard. Also they didn't provide the maritime recon for the U-Boats that they needed to find targets. And if the development of the Type XXI U-Boat (The first sub designed for all underwater operation and the only U-Boat with 6 bow torpedoes http://uboat.net/types/xxi.htm ) wasn’t delayed the war could have been quite different.

Other good films to see are:

Bravo Two Zero: Its about a British SAS (Special Air Service) team that its comprised behind Iraqi lines during the 1st Gulf War. They fight their way to Syria (70 km away) on foot and 3 of them are captured. The book is also a must read.

And

A Bridge Too Far: What’s arguably the greatest cast in movie history play the major players in the failed Allied invasion of the Netherlands. James Bond him self (Sean Connery) plays the British paratrooper commander whose forces are cut off from reinforcements for days and after holding out is ordered to withdraw when help arrives.

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Friday, November 12, 2004 12:38 PM

SERENITYVALLEY

The airing of this movie became a main topic today in one of my classes.

http://www.simple-assault.com/Firefly.htm

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Friday, November 12, 2004 2:36 PM

BIKISDAD

My favorite war movie, which was also fairly realistic given when it was made, was The Battle of Britain - "Never before have so many owed so much to so few". I'm American, but I developed a life-long love of Spitfires after watching that movie.

Apathy on the Rise. No One Cares.

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Monday, November 15, 2004 5:19 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:

BrownCoat1 wrote:
Quote:
The CBS affiliate here in Richmond, VA did not carry Saving Private Ryan either...

Ummm, you mean ABC, right? Maybe CBS didn't show SPR in your area because it was already being shown on ABC.

Don't be too hard on them...

v/r,
zed

Slip on my part. ABC is what I meant to say.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Meet Up:
http://firefly.meetup.com/9/boards/

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