What Are You Watching

[slapout9]

We have threads on what we are reading,blogs,etc. us old folks still watch TV. So what are you watching?

Bill Maher show on HBO, link to newest episode which has USMC ret. General Anthony Zinni as one of the guest panelists.

http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?ACTION_DETAIL=DETAIL&FOCUS_ID=694051


Also there is a funny clip in there where he thanks the Socialist medicine countries of the UK and Canada for helping us fight 2 wars when nobody else would show up:D:D

[Valin]

We have threads on what we are reading,blogs,etc. us old folks still watch TV. So what are you watching?

As soon as i hookup my converter box I'll start waching.
Until then...the seventh season of "The Shield"

[Taiko]

Just starting on the Rome series (DvD). I have a soft spot for NCIS too, but mainly have the History channel on most of the time. I'll pass on Bill Maher :D

[slapout9]

How about Chinese Soldiers Dancing in the street by the 7-11:eek:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbWun4cLEwM&NR=1

[Schmedlap]

Some of my bookmarks...
-al-Jazeera English (http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/)
-Fareed Zakaria GPS (http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/)
-Mosaic - News form the Mideast (http://www.linktv.org/mosaic)
-This Week in Defense News (http://www.defensenewstv.com/)

[slapout9]

Some of my bookmarks...
-al-Jazeera English (http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/)
-Fareed Zakaria GPS (http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/)
-Mosaic - News form the Mideast (http://www.linktv.org/mosaic)
-This Week in Defense News (http://www.defensenewstv.com/)

Already watch Fareed, I will try the others.

[patmc]

In my dvd player, I always keep South Park and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Always great after a long day at work. If you have not seen the "Day Man" episode of Philadelphia, you have not truly lived.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0iKzrqblqQ Trying to explain the story behind this clip would not do it justice.

[slapout9]

I'm gonna be watching one thang and one thang only.:D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQhTVz5IjQ

by the worlds greatest living director.

[slapout9]

Tonight on the History-International ch. "The Crumbling of America" 7-9pm local time. Documentary on the crumbling infrastructure in America and what it will cost to fix it.

[Stan]

As soon as i hookup my converter box I'll start waching.
Until then...the seventh season of "The Shield"

I second that ! Chiklis does an excellent job of entertaining and in Estonia is affectionately referred to as Dirty Mackie (loosely translated).

[Tukhachevskii]

As a fan of the comic/graphic novel I had initally stayed away from the movie version fearing the inevitable "Americanisation" syndrome that most treatments get (the creators were British and infused Watchmen with that cynicial sarcasm we are taught from an early age). Having already denounced Danny Cannon as a traiter for his abysmal Judge Dredd I feared the worst. I should not have. It was brilliant. As film adaptations go this is got to be one of the best. Watch it if you can and then re-watch it again. Now I hope Hollywood does the same with Dune (i.e, respect the material and honour the narrative). Although, that said, I have always been a fan of the David Lynch version! I also hear that Amtrak Wars is doing the rounds...here's hoping.

[Tukhachevskii]

but I've really got "into" Israeli films recently. I can recommend, for what it's worth, the following.

Close to Home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_to_Home_(film)) (I think I have a soft spot for Naaama Schendar now;))

Waltz with Bashir (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_with_Bashir) Truly mind-blowing.

Beaufort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_(film)) (Not entirely succesful IMO although that could have a lot to do with nuances being lost in translation. The way I approached it was to view it as a study of Israel as such rather than aparticular action/mission/unit.)

[Granite_State]

Good thread. My latest was:

Four Lions. Very funny, and approached some more meaningful issues (martyrdom) before going back to the laughs.

Going to rewatch Restrepo, Taxi to the Dark Side, and maybe Battle of Algiers in the near future to decide their suitability as platoon PME.

[tequila]

Recently finished rewatching the best television ever filmed in the U.S. - The Wire. The lessons for COIN, organizational dysfunction, the futility of applying tactics without strategy, etc. are myriad and well done.

Also bought the Criterion version of Ride with the Devil, an unappreciated Ang Lee film about Confederate guerrillas in Missouri during the Civil War. This one has it all for COIN study - the process of radicalization, the effects of civilian deaths, the relative importance of personal ties and group identity in a civil war context, the empowerment of radical elements over moderates - all in a well done story.

[KenWats]

Recently finished rewatching the best television ever filmed in the U.S. - The Wire. The lessons for COIN, organizational dysfunction, the futility of applying tactics without strategy, etc. are myriad and well done.


The wife and I are working our way through this as well (just started season 4). I can definitely see what you're talking about. FWIW, my wife works in a prison and claims that she can't watch The Wire during the week because "it feels like I'm back at work". Don't think you can get more authentic then that. Possibly my favorite TV show.

Also, started watching The Killing on A&E. If police dramas are your thing, it's worth a look. First one of those where I'm not sure I really like either of the detectives (no Lenny Briscoes or "Bushy Top" McNulty's here). Some pretty heartbreaking scenes in it, but good stuff so far.

[stanleywinthrop]

Recently finished rewatching the best television ever filmed in the U.S. - The Wire. The lessons for COIN, organizational dysfunction, the futility of applying tactics without strategy, etc. are myriad and well done.

I do it with a shotgun, you do it with a briefcase; but it's all in the game baby.

[stuart31em]

Just starting on the Rome series (DvD). I have a soft spot for NCIS too, but mainly have the History channel on most of the time. I'll pass on Bill Maher :D

Also on the Rome series. :)

[Brianjvo]

Currently finishing the last 2 seasons of lost. Non stop. Addicting

[hunterr]

Glued to Mad Men
: x

[ganulv]

The Showtime series Homeland which premiered Sunday night has gotten a passel of reviews calling it the best new show of the 2011/12 television season. I watched the SFW online pre-release (http://youtu.be/za9hEyxHSBA) a couple of weekends ago and liked it so much I made it a point not to miss the unedited version Sunday.

There’s a nice trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqddY2sOk6U) that gives the gist and the excerpt below from the NPR review (http://www.npr.org/2011/09/30/140815526/want-good-tv-try-these-three-shows) does the same via text. If you count yourself as a fan of 24 and/or Band of Brothers, Homeland is executive produced by the pair who did the same for the former and stars the chap who played Richard Winters in the latter.* There are some did not do the research moments (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DidNotDoTheResearch), of course, but fewer than I expected given the genre.


One new show premiering Sunday, following Dexter on Showtime, has a narrative path all its own, one I’ve never seen before in a weekly TV series, and that’s saying something.

It’s called Homeland, and stars Claire Danes as Carrie Matheson, a CIA agent who becomes obsessed with Sgt. Nick Brody, an American POW located and rescued after years of brutal captivity in Iraq. Nick, played by Damian Lewis from Band of Brothers and NBC’s Life, is about to return home to a hero’s welcome. But Carrie, acting on a scrap of vague information, suspects Nick may have been turned while held prisoner, and is now a double agent for al-Qaida. Carrie takes her suspicions to one of her bosses—played by Mandy Patinkin, in a very welcome return to TV—but he’s not buying it.

If Carrie is right, she’s the real hero of this story. If not, Nick’s not only the victim—he’s the hero, too. For the first few episodes of Homeland, our loyalties are split, and we don’t know which character to root for, only that they’re both played by incredibly likable and sympathetic performers. And watching Carrie pursue Brody, without being certain of his true motives, puts a fascinating new twist on an otherwise familiar tale.

Eventually, we will discover the truth, and the series, and the drama, will continue from there. But for right now, Homeland is offering something unique to television. And when you’re talking about television, that’s a phrase you don’t hear very often.*For me, 24 is only worth watching from the peanut gallery to see the next implausibly stupid thing the writers create for Kim to do and the majority of the actors in Band of Brothers—Matthew Settle (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0786136/) being a notable exception—played the atmosphere rather than a character (i.e., they played ‘a guy from the ‘40s’ rather than a human being in a story occurring in the ‘40s). I don’t think BoB was bad by any measure, but count me as one of the few who finds The Pacific to be the vastly superior of the two. And no, I do not kick puppies.
http://youtu.be/xqddY2sOk6U?hd=1

[bourbon]

****Wrote the review before I logged on and saw ganulv's post****

Sunday night on Showtime was the premier of 'Homeland' by the producers of '24' and adapted from the Israeli series 'Hatufim (http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/31636/captive-audience/)' (Prisoners). The first episode is also available free online (http://www.sho.com/site/order/preview.do#/Homeland_s01_e01).

The series begins with a female CIA case officer receiving a death-bed tip from a source that an American POW has been turned as a double-agent by the terrorist mastermind Abu Nazir. Forward ten months later, a Marine Scout/Sniper – gone MIA eight years ago and presumed dead – is recovered after a raid on a terrorist safe house; now benched to an analysts desk at Langley, the CIA officer scrambles to reveal the double-agent and thwart Abu Nazir's plot.

This show has potential. It is also deliberately unsettling and very unlike '24' (http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/homeland-the-24-of-the-obama-era/246026/).

The CIA officer/analyst – played by Claire Danes – is a bipolar anti-heroine, consumed with Abu Nazir. She is manipulative, amoral, and generally unlikeable. The Marine – played by Damian Lewis – returns home to a world that has moved on without him and a wife that has been sleeping with his best friend. You feel sympathy for his situation, even though you know he has probably gone over to the other-side; like I said – unsettling.

[TDB]

Well we're now three episodes in to season two of Boardwalk Empire which is fantastic. Thoroughly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it.

[ganulv]

and each has been better than the last. Very good actors given the opportunity to act is a big part of why.

After having watched the show the coverage of Gilad Shalit’s release (http://youtu.be/lANhd-cGvF8) makes me cringe just a bit. Am I wrong to think that the guy might appreciate some space right now?

[The Cuyahoga Kid]

I think you all see where the template comes from :D

Interested in seeing where this thread leads.

Here's my line up from Friday.

Armadillo
The Battle of Algiers
Full Metal Jacket

In the queue

N/A

[carl]

Wind That Shakes the Barley
Behold A Pale Horse
Go Tell The Spartans
7 Samurai/Magnificent 7

[slapout9]

I think you all see where the template comes from :D




Let me see did you get the idea from here?:cool:
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=8130

[davidbfpo]

Ah, I can feel a thread merger is coming......

[Eden]

Last three:

Fort Apache
Kelly's Heros
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

By the way, does anybody else see The Walking Dead as a metaphor for counterinsurgency?

[Ken White]

However, wish I had. It's a great metaphor... :D

[The Cuyahoga Kid]

Let me see did you get the idea from here?:cool:
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=8130

Uh, actually (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=3192)

Didn't know we already had a thread for it.


Ah, I can feel a thread merger is coming......

:o

[Stan]

Ah, I can feel a thread merger is coming......

Say, you're not going to do that again this month, are you :D

BTW, we're still watching reruns of Baywatch and some Vampire Sierra here. By the time some fruit gets around to translating the show, it's 2 years old !

[Tukhachevskii]

Walking Dead (though this season was pretty tame, the last episode more than made up for it)
&
Game of Thrones
&
Storage Wars (think I have a thing for Brandi (http://www.aetv.com/storage-wars/pictures/#23-brandi-and-jarrod-locker):o!)

[davidbfpo]

At the recommendation of a Muslim community worker I watched 'Five Minarets in New York' or 'The Terrorist', a 2010 film which moves between Turkey and New York, USA, with Danny Glover as the best known actor and it is well worth watching.

It is fully available on:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrz3LPnIKE8&feature=related or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrz3LPnIKE8&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLD5427BE60D70A120

One plot summary:
Two Turkish anti-terrorist agents are sent to New York City on a mission to find and bring back the dangerous Islamic leader codenamed "Dajjal", believed to be hiding in there. Working with the FBI and NYPD, the agents orchestrate the arrest of Hadji Gumus, a well-respected Muslim scholar and family man who years before fled to the United States after being released from a Turkish prison, where he served time for murder. This tale love, friendship, peace and prejudices, takes us on a journey seeking to answer the question of whether innocence or guilt even matters to one who lusts for vengeance.

One urban gun battle reminded me of 'Kingdom', some of the scenery is excellent, the NYC scenes did jar at bit, but the theme of the good Muslim -v- the evil Muslim is brilliant. Notably the very short scene in a Turkish cellblock.

A mixture of reviews on:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686039/reviews

[slapout9]

Today is the 35th anniversary of the King's Death. Cable is running 24 Elvis movies, good Elvis music all day on some radio stations. And now for your listening pleasure and cultural enhancement here is a link to Elvis singing his famous "American Trilogy" very good sound and video quality. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9saX9cF248

[Bill Moore]

For Greater Glory is a very good movie that is historically accurate. The Cristeros War in Mexico in 1926-29 is a great case study for Small Wars.

I watched it on DVD, recommend you also watch the special features section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnPi5cXlVHo

http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/11654-movie-on-cristeros-war-exposes-mexican-govts-anti-christian-campaign


“¡Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long Live Christ the King.”) That was the rallying cry for millions of Mexicans during the second and third decades of the 20th century, as revolutionary governments, modeled after the Bolshevik regime in Russia, unleashed round after round of persecution and terror throughout Mexico. For Greater Glory, the newly released epic film starring Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria, provides a stirring introduction to the “Cristero War,” or “Cristiada” (1926-1929), a heroic chapter of Mexico’s history that, until now, has been almost virtually unknown in the United States (as well as in Mexico, where the government has suppressed true reports of the persecutions and all favorable mention of the Cristeros, who finally rose up to fight for religious liberty).

The wholesale raping, pillaging, destruction and desecration of churches, torture and murder of Catholic priests, closing of Catholic schools, the takeover of education by anti-Christian propagandists, and other outrages initiated by the regime of President Plutarco Elias Calles, ultimately drove the long-suffering Mexican people to take up arms against the dictatorial oppressor. Tens of thousands — mostly peasants — joined the Cristero army, led by Gen. Enrique Gorostieta (played by Andy Garcia in the movie). Although poorly armed and usually outnumbered, the Cristeros repeatedly inflicted decisive defeats upon Calles’ army. Unable to defeat the Cristeros militarily, Calles resorted to diplomatic treachery, suing for peace and promising to restore religious liberty. Hundreds of Cristero leaders who accepted his amnesty and laid down their arms were tortured and executed; thousands of Cristero supporters were hunted down and murdered.

[Bill Moore]

http://www.bluebellproductions.co.uk/pages/documentaries.html

I recommend watching the trailer, it sounds interesting, but I can't find the actual documentary. Has anyone seen it? Was it worth watching? Do you know where I can find it?


There was one crossing point from North Vietnam into Laos which truck drivers, carrying weapons to fight in the South, called Death Gate. This was part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, North Vietnam’s logistical supply line. Each driver to enter the Gate expected to die trying to traverse the Desert of Fire. This Gate was critical for victory as whoever won the battle here would know the other’s main weakness.

In this documentary we reveal previously classified information. We hear for the first time real life stories of covert operations by American Special Forces. We interview the North Vietnamese on how their clandestine tactics overcame intense bombing, which exceeded the equivalent of a dozen Hiroshima’s. We gain rare access to remote parts of Laos and discover secret roads, crashed American aircraft and hidden army camps. Along the way we interview Lao villagers about their war and hear their stories which have never been recorded.

After 10 years of research we explode the myth that the Americans were fighting a peasant army - how can we learn for the future when we have denied the past?

Here is a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/History-Ho-Chi-Minh-Trail/dp/9745240761/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362970283&sr=1-1&keywords=History+of+the+Ho+Chi+Minh+Trail%3A+The+R oad+to+Freedom

[Backwards Observer]

A couple of recent samurai films from Japan.

13 Assassins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Assassins) - wikipedia

13 Assassins Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgPC74-Tde8) - youtube

...

Rurouni Kenshin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin_(2012_film)) - wikipedia

Rurouni Kenshin Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc_JmcRxdx8) - youtube

Also worth checking out:

A Battle of Wits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Battle_of_Wits_(2006_film)) - wikipedia

[Bill Moore]

I watched this on a recent flight, and it was a truly beautiful and disturbing movie. Some in France criticized it because they claimed it humanized terrorists. First off terrorists do happen to be humans (the movie didn't do them any favors though), second and more important the movie demonstrated how absurd the views of the extremists actually are. It is in French and Arabic, with English subtitles. I think most readers of SWJ will enjoy it.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/a-movie-that-dares-to-humanize-jihadists-timbuktu