Monthly Archives: October 2018

Outlaw King a Scottish Tale From the History Books

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Co-written and directed by David Mackenzie, Outlaw King follows Robert the Bruce, played by Chris Pine. His life is transformed from defeated noble to a king to an outlaw as he struggles to reclaim medieval Scotland from occupation. Ambushed and reduced to a handful of supporters, Robert resolves himself to strike back against King Edward of England’s mighty army.

Robert is among the Scottish nobles who submitted to the occupying English King, Edward, played by Stephen Dillane.  A marriage is arranged between Robert and Elizabeth de Burgh, played by Florence Pugh, a daughter of Edward’s ally.

An unnerving peace seems the only way forward which Robert and his family reluctantly accept. His relationship with his wife is feisty as they get to know each other. But crippling taxes, relentless force, men and boys being coerced under obligations of the feudal system to fight for King Edward only strengthen the rising rebellious emotions amongst the Scots.

Major events trigger a change in the overall climate of Scotland. The death of the family patriarch Bruce Senior, played by James Cosmo, news of the brutal demise of former rebel leader William Wallace, and finally the murder of Robert’s rival John Comyn, played by Callan Mulvey.

With the help of the Scottish Church – including Bishop Lamberton, played by Paul Blair, Robert resolves to become king and try to unify a divided country – many of whom do not want more war and are opposed to him because of their own blood ties.

If you know your Scottish history, you know the outcome of the story. I can give you a hint, though, it is one of the greatest comeback stories in history. “…I couldn’t shake the feeling that the period between 1304 and 1307 was where the most extreme things were happening – and this is what we have focused on. We conflated some characters and events in the interests of drama and time, but we have broadly been very faithful to the recorded history or this timeframe,” explained Mackenzie.

The Netflix produced movie will hopefully turn out to be a movie worth watching. So much of Scotland’s yesteryear events are page turners in historical books.

Scottish director Mackenzie whose body of work includes Hell or High Water and Young Adam is an excellent choice for this epic movie. Here are a couple of clips from Outlaw King. Nothing like the trailer but poignant in terms of key points in the movie’s storyline.

 

“Dust 2 Glory” SCORE Baja 1000 Desert Race

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Dana Brown helmed the documentary Dust 2 Glory, as an incredible comprehensive journey of the SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. The desert race takes place in Mexico on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most celebrated off-road races in the world. Contestants come from all over the world to compete, but predominantly they come from the US. The importance of this race is because it is the final round of a four-race annual series.

Brown is well-known for his Dust to Glory documentary in 2005. The first to capture the landscape of motor sports in a documentary and present the best of off-road racing challenges.

Dust 2 Glory grabbed my heart at the beginning of the movie. I never saw the first documentary, so seeing the off-roading experience in Brown’s second documentary sparked my interest in this kind of world.  Otherwise, I would never have known about it.

The display of the race captured my interest from a standpoint of being in the racer’s shoes.  The movie educated me on the race itself. I discovered the race takes place on the Baja California Peninsula since 1967.

SCORE Baja 1000 is the finale of a round of four-race annual series. The people who take part push themselves to the limit and beyond. They are skilled and dedicated drivers, and I felt as if I was riding right along with them in the race. I cheered for them, and I felt their torment with each defeat.

Brown doesn’t just make a movie about extreme sports, he immerses the audience, so they are a part of the extreme sport with all the passion and glory.

The Blu-ray special featurettes seem limited but worth a look, which includes “Bruce Brown’s Last Interview” and “Dana Brown’s Interview.”

I wanted to share footage with you, but the distributors or producers block the footage given by the promotional company. With that, if anyone is into racing, they will like this movie.