On the heels of the premiere of its broadly celebrated, global hit series Masters of the Air, Apple TV+ streams The Bloody Hundredth.
Mark Herzog and Laurent Bouzereaua directed the new documentary honoring the real-life heroes of the 100th Bomb Group.
Produced by Playtone-Amblin and narrated by Tom Hanks, the documentary streams when Masters of the Air airs its finale. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman executive produced The Bloody Hundredth.
Airmen risk their lives with the 100th Bomb group, a brotherhood forged by loss, courage and triumph.
Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name and scripted by John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group, known as “Bloody Hundredth.” The men conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.
Masters of the Air portrays the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich.
Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.
Set in war-torn Afghanistan in 2018, Guy Richie directs The Covenant. The film follows U.S. Army Special Forces Sergeant John Kinley, played by Gyllenhaal. Kinley leads an elite unit tasked with finding Taliban munitions. “He has been deployed numerous times and has a tremendous amount of experience. He has relied on many different Afghan interpreters and has found himself in many different situations,” says Gyllenhaal. “His unit is constantly under threat and in very dangerous situations, and at the beginning of the movie, he seems to be striking out over and over. He’s going through a lot of red tape and is struggling to find any munition sites.”
On a mission with a new interpreter, Ahmed, Dar Salim, after an I.E.D. kills his regular interpreter. Kinley’s unit is all but wiped out by Taliban fighters when they raid an abandoned mine to house explosives.
Only Kinley and Ahmed manage to escape the attack, the pair stranded in Taliban territory with dozens of armed men after them. Ahmed carried John, who had been shot and seriously wounded, to safety through the desert and over a mountain.
But that’s only half the battle.
The Taliban forced Ahmed and his family into hiding, putting a heavy price on his head as Kinley returned home to the U.S.
Feeling an overwhelming sense of obligation to get Ahmed the visas the U.S. government promised his family, Kinley finds himself mired in bureaucracy and red tape. With his wife’s blessing, he returns to Afghanistan to find Ahmed and his family and bring them back to the U.S.
Guy Ritchie also directed Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin, had always wanted to make a war film. “It’s probably my favorite genre of movies, but we couldn’t find a story that appealed for a long time,” he says.
Ironically, while developing another war movie, Ritchie watched several documentaries about the conflict, and one about interpreters and what they go through struck a chord. “I’d heard various anecdotes about Afghanistan that all sounded, in equal measure, horrifying and inspiring,” says Ritchie. “That was the genesis of the idea that you could see humanity in this traumatized environment, and it still managed to express itself. And this was an amalgam of the different stories, documentaries, anecdotes that I was aware of. And, obviously, the story of one man’s selflessness for another was what I found inspiring about the premise.”
“He thought it was an important story to tell and thought he could tell it through his lens,” says producer John Friedberg, “so he came up with this idea.” Gyllenhaal’s character in The Covenant is on his last tour of duty, trying to make a difference in Afghanistan but also desperate to get home to his wife and family in Santa Clarita, CA. “He represents the boots on the ground, the practical reality of the disparity between how we think things work at an administrative level and how they work at a practical level,” says Ritchie. “He is a good, old-fashioned classical, decent, brave soldier who’s loyal to his country and loyal to his men.”
“What I loved about John Kinley is he’s a good man,” says Gyllenhaal. “Over the past number of years, I’ve tended to move towards characters people would define as ‘complex’ in how they walk the line between good and bad. I don’t know if I fully believe in that. I think we are all very complex, very fascinating human beings put in many different trying circumstances. To me, John Kinley is a character who, through those trials, pulls out morality and humanity, despite himself.”
Directed by Jalmari Helander, Sisu takes place during the final desperate days of WWII in northern Finland. A solitary prospector, played by Jorma Tommila, crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat. The Nazis steal his gold and soon discover they have just tangled with no ordinary miner.
There is no direct translation for the Finnish word “Sisu,” but this legendary ex-commando embodies what Sisu means. He’s a white-knuckled form of courage and incredible determination in the face of overwhelming odds.
And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-person death squad goes to outrageous lengths to get his gold back.
He will if it means killing every Nazi in his path.
Directed by M.J. Bassett, Rogue is about Samantha O’Hara, played by Megan Fox. She’s a battle-hardened mercenary. As a team leader, O’Hara guides a squad of soldiers on a difficult mission. The rescue hostages from their captors in remote Africa.
But as the mission goes not as planned and the team is stranded, O’Hara’s squad faces a bloody, brutal encounter with a gang of rebels, added to the situation is the horde of ravenous, enraged lions they encounter.
The rest of the cast include Megan Fox, Philip Winchester, Jessica Sutton, Calli Taylor, Brandon Auret, Adam Deacon, and Sisanda Henna.
Rightfully written and directed by Terence Malick, The Hidden Life follows the life of Franz Jägerstätter, which the Catholic church beautified in 2007, as a conscientious objector to World War II and Hilter.
Winner of Cannes 2019 François Chalais Award, Terrence Malick, masterfully guides August Diehl, who plays Jägerstätter, an Austrian. Known as a rambunctious young man and womanizer, Franz leaves the small town where he grew up to work in the salt mines.
He returns three years later, riding a motorcycle and a devout Catholic. He marries Franziska, played by Valerie Pachner, whose religious faith is almost as powerful as Franz.
Franz denounces Hilter and WW II, resulting in the small town cauterizing him. He continues tending farm alongside his wife and children.
Eventually, the Nazis sent him to prison for his religious faith and denouncing Hilter and the war, saying he could not be both Catholic and Nazi. They executed him in 1943, and Franz becomes a martyr and beatified by the Catholic church.
I invite you to take a look at Malick’s movie, The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Pen, and Jessica Chastain. He uses similar angles and tender moments to tell the story of a young boy growing up with an angelic mother and a spiteful father.
The trailer shows Malick’s talent for serene and pastoral countrysides of quiet long and buoyant moments of love and joy. Only Malick can tell the story of Jägerstätter’s tragic end to a blissful life taken by a strong belief and devotion to God.
The red carpet interviews at TIFF discuss Malick’s direction and the area where they filmed the farmhouse. The Jägerstätters lived in St. Radegund, a small village of 500 people in Upper Austria, near Salzburg and the German border. In the same province, where Hitler was born and spent his early youth–not far from Berchtesgaden, his mountain retreat during his years as head of the German state.
He arrives home, but the consequences of him being a conscientious objector will be a sad and frightful ending. The camera work and acting drive the scene forward with Malick’s direction.
The next two clips are Malick’s signature work, narrative with telling their story through his wife’s letters.
Co-written and directed by Sam Mendes 1917, it is an epic drama during the most intense period of World War I. Krysty Wilson-Cairns co-wrote the screenplay with Mendes. They focused on the story based on his singular vision of telling the story of two young British soldiers, Schofield, played by George MacKay, and Blake, played by Dean-Charles Chapman, who are given a seemingly impossible mission. That is what you see happening in the first trailer with Colin Firth as a British commander giving their task.
In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message to stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s brother among them.
When I first saw the title, I thought the movie was about the 1917 revolution in Russia. Any world history fan will tell you that was a significant point. So, it bears in mind that a lot happened in Europe that year.
The movie also stars Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty and directed two James Bond movies, Skyfall and Spectre.
Mendes takes filmmaking to a new level with continuous shots and storytelling through the countryside without using the exact locations. The featurette shows incredible production value.
After watching the featurette, I view the second trailer differently. The cinematography stands out as one character in the movie.
Three more movie clips are below, and watch the camera keeps rolling; They shot everything in one long take.
The extended featurette sets us up for a rocket ride of a movie.
Two more clips show how the scenes in the movie are continuously one shot.
The following trailer proves we will not get bored watching this movie.
Co-written and directed by Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit brings humor and pathos to his World War II satire. The story follows a lonely German boy named Jojo, played by Roman Griffin Davis.
Jojo’s view of the world is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother, played by Scarlett Johansson, is hiding a young Jewish girl, played by Thomasin McKenzie, in their attic.
Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, played by the director – Waititi, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.
Waititi is best known for directing Thor: Ragnarok and Hunt for Wilderpeople. Christine Leunens co-wrote the screenplay with Waititi.
Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson also star in the movie.
The second trailer is funny. I know it’s not a good idea to joke about the Nazis and the Holocaust, but it is entertaining and hilarious.
The movie clip shows how much Davis and Johansson look alike, mother and son.
The following clip shows the ultra-silliness of the movie. Davis is so charming as the boy with an active imagination.
The following clip might be blocked, but it is funny, and I hope you can see it.
I like the following clip because it is so funny with great timing.
The featurette is thorough and discusses all aspects of the movie.
The movie looks like a lot of fun to watch. I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback about the comedy.
The following two featurettes are about Editing and Production Design. They are for those who love to learn more about the film and its production value. Watching the featurette on editing, you can see how much Griffin looks like Johansson.
In the next featurette, I love how they explain the use of colors and the camera. It is such a gorgeous-looking film.
Directed by Roland Emmerich, Midway focuses on the historic Battle of Midway as a critical part of the Pacific Theater during World War II. The movie shows the clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy, which marked a pivotal turning point during WWII. The film is streaming on Amazon.
Wes Tooke wrote the story based on the real-life events of heroic feats. The leaders and soldiers used their wits, instincts, courage, and bravery to overcome the odds and defeat the Japanese.
Some of the top brass in the movie are Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, played by
Luke Evans, Edwin Layton, played by Patrick Wilson, Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, played by Dennis Quad, and Admiral Chester Nimitz, played by Woody Harrelson. The rest of the cast includes Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Etsushi Toyokawa, Tadanobu Asano, Luke Kleintank, Jun Kunimura, Darren Criss, Keean Johnson, Alexander Ludwig, and Mandy Moore.
Emmerich directing credits are rich with grandiose movies like The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. Tooke writing credits include episodic TV shows like Colony and Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
The next trailer tells more about the story. Historically, the story is impressive. Doolittle and his crew perform an unbelievable mission.
Directed by Matthew Heineman, A Private War is a true story based on Marie Colvin, played by Rosamund Pike, life as a war correspondent. Some consider her one of the best war journalists of our time.
I watched the movie on DVD and amazed at how much Pike looked and sounded like Colvin. We hear Colvin talk at the beginning and see her at the end of the movie. The comparison is easy.
It is not a positive story, but about a foreign news correspondent who truthfully reported the atrocities of war in the middle east. Her life was not a healthy life or a happy life, but she lived how she wanted to live, dangerously, reporting about the victims of war.
I encourage you to see the movie or, at least, look at the trailer and movie clips within this article. I hope you come to understand this woman’s crazy plight.
The movie follows Colvin as Pike plays her as an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado.
After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy, played by Jamie Dornan of Fifty Shades movies.
They embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
Heineman is a celebrated Oscar-nominated and Emmy winning documentary filmmaker and A Private War is his feature debut.
The movie clip “I Gotta Go Back” is intense.
The movie clips show different points in Colvin’s life and the toll it took from her well-being.
“It has been a deeply personal journey sharing the extraordinary story of Marie Colvin in A Private War,” stated filmmaker Matthew Heineman. “We are so thrilled to be able to finish the film in time to premiere at TIFF and honored to share with the audiences there.”
Watch the trailer, and easily you will see the documentary style of Heineman. It should be noted that Heineman and actress Charlize Theron are among the producers of this movie.