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Reviews
Masters of the Air (2024)
Swing and a miss!
I was a huge fan of Band of Brothers and have watched a lot of films and shows on WWII. The first episode was not easy to get through. The first 10 minutes had me ready to turn it off, it was that mediocre. It barely got much better. My wife isn't into the genre like I am, and checked out pretty quickly, which is a good gauge of overall quality. If I was Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg, I would not want my name associated with this production based on the first episode alone. It's probably OK if your aren't into the historical aspect and reality of the subject, and aren't expecting a Band of Bothers quality, but even when I saw we weren't getting that very quickly in and dropped my expectations, it still was hard to get though.
The CGI is heavily relied upon and looks like a video game half the time (and not in a good, modern way). Acting isn't compelling at all-I was hoping the characters all are planes that went down, and soon. The editing and story is pretty amateur. Historical context is spoon fed in the least creative ways. The title sequence appears to give away the entire arc, especially if you're going into this with historical knowledge.
It all comes off like a budget Band of Brothers. I was ready to call it quits on the series not long after the first scene, but after the first episode, I'm OK not watching another. That is saying a lot for me. I give stuff a chance, and especially anything on the topic of WWII. My grandfather was B-24 aircrew during the war, and I've been very fascinated with this element of the war since I grew up with his stories.
I was excited for this series, but it's a huge swing and miss.
Chasing Ice (2012)
Where Science and Art Meet
Excellent film. Solid science and art. Thorough and beautifully made. Saw it at the Big Sky Film Festival, with the director Jeff Orlowski doing a Q and A following. Very inspiring work by photographer Jim Balog--the human subject of the film. It's a wonderful thing when a person of strong science background becomes an artist and visa versa. Science is rarely beautiful to those that are not intimately involved with it, so when a person of Balog's background attempts to tell its story to a wide audience (with the help of a film maker and technical experts), it comes together magnificently with beauty and the gravity of what it really is about. A must see for EVERYONE.