Via Slate:
… The movie is based on Robert Edsel’s book of the same name about the efforts of seven of the so-called “Monuments Men” (formally, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program), an Allied force of about 400 men and women tasked with locating and protecting cultural treasures threatened by the Nazi regime. In short, these Ivy League art professors, museum curators, and art historians, often without formal supervision, braved the trenches of World War II to ensure the survival of Europe’s cultural history. After learning about this, George Clooney had the same thought any sane person would: Sounds like a movie….
Clooney and Goodman and Damon and Blanchett? Not a big fan of war movies, but I may have to pay for this one. Might even read the book, while we’re waiting.
What’s on the agenda for the evening, in entertainment options or otherwise?
skeptical
How about this from wapo
If money = free speech, then…
David Koch
daily beast describes Nate Silver as “controversial, yet eerily prophetic”.
How was Nate “controversial”?
And what is “eerily prophetic” about linear regression analysis?
realbtl
I’m going to finish removing the stupid leather fringe thingies from the hand levers of my new-to-me motorcycle. Why people enjoy having their forearms whipped as they ride along is a puzzler to me. However I figure my 9 yo grandson might like them on his bicycle.
mai naem
I like WWII movies. They usually tend to be very black and white and it’s obvious who the good guys were.
The movie I’m looking forward to is The Butler. I heard a long interview with the author of the book. I remember reading the original article in the WP during the inauguration and didn’t even realize it had been turned into a book. He just came across as he really respected the subjects and got into writing the book.
Chris
Good to know there’s still a market for movies about fighting Nazis to protect priceless relics. Though I doubt anything in the movie will be cooler than Harrison Ford taking on a German panzer with nothing but a horse, a bullwhip and a six-shooter.
In the same vein, I recommend “Pimpernel Smith” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Pimpernel%22_Smith), a 1941 British movie in which the main character is an archaeologist using the appearance of legitimate digs in Europe as a cover for rescuing political prisoners. Used to be on Netflix, but sadly, no longer.
askew
This looks great. I am a huge Clooney fan, so I’ll be there opening weekend.
mai naem – The Butler looks good as well. It has gotten some raves from people who have seen sneak peeks.
This is shaping up to be a great year for movies with African-American leading actors. We’ve got Fruitvale Station, The Butler, the Mandela movie and 12 Years a Slave. Nice change of pace from the usual Oscar vehicles being almost all-white casts.
gogol's wife
The subject of Nazis and art treasures could not be better treated than in The Train with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield.
the Conster
I just love George Clooney – wish he would run for president. Why not? He’s a much better actor than Ronald fucking Reagan.
Also, am almost through with the first week of my new job. I chose wisely.
NCSteve
The trenches of World War II? They hid the art in latrines?
Elizabelle
Two items:
First: Congress may have departed DC, but we got goats. Who are actually working to improve the situation.
Go Eco-Goats, cleaning up Congressional Cemetery.
Congressional: final resting place of Civil War photographer Mathew Brady, J. Edgar Hoover, and his pal, Clyde Tolson. Among others, the notorious, unmemorable and just plain dead.
Interesting fundraising item: 25% of Congressional’s budget for upkeep comes from a members-only dog-walking group. http://www.cemeterydogs.org
NotMax
@gogol’s wife
Or better lampooned than in ‘allo, ‘allo.
The Train is quite a scintillating ride.
Elizabelle
Second: “Fallen Disney Princesses.”
Life after the fairy tale.
I think Pocohontas comments here, under a different name.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
Oh, now that I see you, what did Inouye do that makes him a ghoul? I saw your comment in a previous thread and I was wondering what was behind that. I have no agenda, just curiosity.
David Koch
@askew: don’t forget the jackie robinson movie, 42. also too, 5 african americans were awarded the medal of freedom today.
Omnes Omnibus
@NCSteve: Caves are holes. Latrines are holes. Tomato, ToMAHto.
Elizabelle
@askew:
Saw Fruitvale Station, and look forward to “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
The WaPost story was terrific; very affecting.
Glad to see some good movies in the offing, along with tentpoles and the usual garbage.
The Pale Scot
@Chris: They seek him here, they seek him there, they seek that damn Pimpernel everywhere.
Jay C
@NotMax:
Really: if Clooney, Damon & Co.* manage to turn up the Fallen Madonna With Big Boobies by Van Klomp: now THAT will a movie!!
*I’m assuming that Cate Blanchett’s character is an invention for the flick: AFAICR, all the “Monuments Men” were, in fact, men: but then, who can complain about anything that gets Cate Blanchett on the screen???
Spaghetti Lee
That sounds like a very George Clooney kind of project. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
NotMax
@gogol’s wife
He relished telling the story about a ring he wore on a chain around his neck, being especially detailed about how he acquired it in WW2.
Shortest version: He came across the corpse of an anonymous French woman and cut it off her finger as a keepsake.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
EWW. I didn’t know that. I always liked him . . .
Spaghetti Lee
@Elizabelle:
I swear I’ve seen that Jasmine picture before, like 4-5 years ago, even. Don’t remember the others, though. Are they all new?
But, ya know…taking shots at the Disney Princess image is very fish-in-a-barrel, if I’m being honest. Disney’s been taking shots at their own image for quite some time now.
tulip
askew have you seen Fruitvale Station? Elizabeth, what did you think of it?
About to go see the Wolverine, some mindless fun (hopefully)… but I do love me some Hugh Jackman. So if the movie does suck… meh.
Spaghetti Lee
@tulip:
It was better than I expected, but I don’t exactly have high standards. More like Jason Bourne or something than the Avengers.
Jay C
@David Koch:
By being right about stuff counter to Republicans’ expectations.
In the Beltway Village, that’s enough to raise eyebrows right there….
NotMax
@gogol’s wife
The ewww factor was the reason I didn’t originally go into detail.
However, having personally heard him recount the story – several times – during his campaigns, I can attest to it.
raven
I’m reading “The Guns of Last Light” by Rick Atkinson. It’s about the war in Europe from D-Day to the end. I heard an interview with him and he was asked why, since there are thousands of books about WWII already, there was a need for another one. He simply said “we haven’t scratched the surface of the information that exists”. Like everything else of his that I have read he does a great job of telling a story. He doesn’t pull punches about the stupidity, ineptitude, cowardice, of all sides and he paints a vivid picture the war from the ground up. The only problem is that this is the last of the trilogy and now I have to go backwards!
Raenelle
This has been a consistent theme of US foreign policy—preserving cultural heritage. Remember when we invaded Iraq and so much care was given to protecting that country’s priceless cultural artifacts?
burnspbesq
Not that it’s going to make me (or probably anyone else around here) any more or less likely to watch, but apparently Drudge is reporting that Megyn Kelly is replacing Hannity if Faux News’ primetime lineup.
Mustang Bobby
Us old gaffers are remembering where we were 39 years ago tonight as we gathered around the TV to watch Richard Nixon announce his resignation.
As Jimmy Breslin put it, the good guys finally won. Well, at least we thought we did. Good times.
JPL
@NotMax: As the saying goes, you can’t take it with you but ewww, nonetheless.
The Moar You Know
Wrong war, Slate. Wasn’t no damn trenches in World War II. That was World War I.
Mike in NC
We just watched on Netflix “The Rape of Europa”, an excellent documentary about the Nazi plundering of art across the continent. Much of it is still held at a US Army Historical Foundation warehouse located in the DC area. Fascinating.
Jane2
@Mike in NC: I have to watch that. Was it explained why the US hasn’t returned it?
Violet
Thanks to everyone who posted to me in the Open Thread last night. I’m doing a bit better today. Figuring out that it was probably a gut-mediated issue with the antibiotics affecting my serotonin has helped somewhat because it doesn’t seem as scary if I know what’s happening. I’ve informed everyone around me and have a reasonable support system in place, so I think I’ll be okay.
raven
@The Moar You Know: really?
Roger Moore
@Mustang Bobby:
Won the battle, but not the war.
DCLaw1
Make sure Cole sees this: http://deadspin.com/why-your-team-sucks-2013-pittsburgh-steelers-1065343296
/ Fellow Steelers Fan
Roger Moore
@The Moar You Know:
Sure there were trenches in WWII. There weren’t the same kind of massive, static trench systems there were in WWI, but there were plenty of trenches, and people fought out of them.
David Koch
@burnspbesq: it’s a trick. She’ll take his slot, and in short order it will be announced that he’ll take gretta’s spot. they’re just trying to soften the sexist war on women move of kicking out an old woman in favor of a young sex pot.
black onion
This is all I really have to add.
Brian Williams Raps Young MC’s Bust a Move
http://youtu.be/QbM-xf_ACYI
Haydnseek
@raven: When time allows, take a look at “Valley of Death. The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America Into the Vietnam War” by Ted Morgan. Detailed yet very readable. This doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves, and this just might be the definitive account. Easy for me to recommend another work when you’re knee deep, but there ya go!
mai naem
@gogol’s wife:
Daniel Inouye – http://www.badassoftheweek.com/inouye.html
I think its funny that the GOP describe Dems are wussy wimps and, yet, elected Dems include some awesomely brave soldiers.
Omnes Omnibus
@Haydnseek: Better than Bernard Fall’s Hell in a Very Small Place?
Roger Moore
@mai naem:
And the Republicans include more than their fair share of chickenhawk draft dodgers like the Deserting Coward. It makes more sense when you realize that the Republicans think toughness is about talking tough, not necessarily about acting tough.
Haydnseek
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m not familiar with this. Thanks for the heads up, it just went on my (ever increasing) list. I’m high on the Ted Morgan book because it deals with events that were critically important. Not surprising that it was underreported, even by the French. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that Dien Bien Phu might as well have been another planet at the time. As far as America was concerned, Vietnam wasn’t a “thing” until years later
lojasmo
@Violet:
Missed that. Feel better. If you’re on antibiotics, please drink (and do other things with…google it) Keifer, or yogurt. Preferably you should use keifer.
Also, vitamin D, preferably dietary, is always a good thing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Haydnseek: Fall’s work is amazing. I highly recommend Street without Joy.
Haydnseek
@Omnes Omnibus: Street without Joy is incredible. I loaned my copy to a friend, who promptly fell off the face of the earth. Not to worry, used copies are easy to come by. I need to re-read it.
Mike in NC
@raven: I smell another Pulitzer. I had an electronic preview and had to buy it online to finish it.
schrodinger's cat
The last two Matt Damon movies I saw were pretentious yawn fests
The Good Shepherd : The most boring spy movie ever
and Syriana.
@Omnes Omnibus: How was the meetup? Any meetup photos?
Mike in NC
@Jane2: Lawyers. as always.
furlyfly
Just can’t stomach Damon movies anymore since he came out as a firebagger. Also, slapstick and ww2?? Sorry but not into hogans heros version of that war.
I’m sure the ball juice crowd will love it though.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: Meet-up was cool. People were nice. Cole is a really big man. Someone took a group photo – unfortunately I wasn’t able to duck out of it so the camera may have broken. If it didn’t I assume the pic will get posted at some point.
askew
@Jay C:
She is actually playing a real life person named Rose Antonia Maria Valland. According to Wikipedia, she was a French art historian, a member of the French Resistance, a captain in the French military, and one of the most decorated women in French history. She secretly recorded details of the Nazi plundering of National French and private Jewish owned art from France.
daverave
Packing for a three night backpack on the Yosemite north boundary up above 10,000 feet. It will be chilly but there will be Perseids as there almost always are on my birthday ;-)
Mike in NC
@mai naem: We took a family vacation to DC about 1971-72 and saw Senator Inouye in the gallery speaking against funding the worthless B-1 bomber, which Jimmy Carter canceled but of course Saint Ronald Reagan supported and spent hundreds of billions to build. Imbecile chickenhawks all.
Omnes Omnibus
@daverave: Sounds fun. Have a happy birthday.
Suffern ACE
@David Koch: this “I’m going to pretend math is witchcraft” liberal artsy point of view is a big reason why we are doomed as a culture. Maths is too hard!!!!
NotMax
Come to think of it, Is Paris Burning? also dealt with the saving of cultural sites and items.
mellowjohn
“Not a big fan of war movies…”
actually, i think this might qualify as a post-war movie.
Another Holocene Human
@Suffern ACE: I used to think so, but then I left academia and stopped reading The Atlantic.
Jay C
@Haydnseek:
“Even” by the French? This wasn’t just by chance: the French liked – and always have liked – wherever possible, to keep their colonial wars on the downlow: there’s a reason why they used the Foreign Legion to fight them as much as possible. And when they went bad, like the disastrous shitshow at Dien Bien Phu, they just, in true Gallic style, shrugged and moved on. And in the case of Vietnam, leaving it to the US to “clean up”.
Hell, even when colonial/anti-colonial protest turned bloody right in the middle of Paris, it was covered up for decades.
I am not a kook
@furlyfly: How deeply do you have to research each movie for firebaggerism? Does IMDB contain this info? Does every speaking part have to pass the purity test? What about caterers?
Anne Laurie
@daverave: Happy birthday, in advance — and wish on a fallling star for me!
daverave
@Omnes Omnibus:
It will be FUN if my old people parts hold out. I give a lot of weight to my Super Wife and she only occasionally complains.
Jay C
@askew:
Oops, my bad! Yep, Rose Valland definitely belongs in the movie: even if being portrayed by Cate Blanchett is a bit of glossing-up….
Obviously, looks aren’t everything
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay C: I bet few of the art historians looked like Clooney either.
TrishB
@askew: Thank you for that info. I was going to reply, as I had read the book, but you saved me the time. S. Lane Faison was professor emeritus by the time I met him him at a reception for prospective majors at the college art museum . It was fascinating to me as a 19 year old, who had been told repeatedly to never, ever touch anything in a museum to hear and watch him lovingly discuss the details of an ancient bas-relief while running his hands over it to point out details for emphasis. Then, someone told me he was the person to recover it and donate it to the museum and who he was. He died in 2006, and this href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/obituaries/14faison.html" rel="nofollow" has a picture that is almost exact to how I remember him. Of course, he was more not quite that as old in 198mumble, but everyone over 60 looked ancient to me when I was 19. The bow tie and the twinkle in the eye were special, as was the fact that he kept coming to functions to get more stupid teenagers excited about art history. I hope he is portrayed in the movie, but obviously can’t know what will be elided. Does Bill Murray have a character name yet?
Haydnseek
@Jay C: I use the term “even by the French” simply because the loss of a major part of their empire would concern them more than anyone else. (Well, except for the Vietnamese.) It sounds like you’re very interested, not to mention well informed, on this topic. I highly recommend Morgan’s book, I think you would really enjoy it.
I am not a kook
Burglars have more decency than anyone else in the news this week:
http://boingboing.net/2013/08/08/crooks-rip-off-nonprofit-rape.html#more-248368
TheMightyTrowel
@Raenelle: That wasn’t white people’s cultural heritage. I really want to like this trailer, but there’s a whole element (and Iraq is a big part of that) that rings false. When it comes to heritage, some (european) is more valuable than others (non european) and American’s and Brits have done a heck of a lot of damage. Also, I am so damn fed up with the hollywood thing of “You know what makes a compelling movie? White men saving EVERYONE”. Fuck that shit.
PurpleGirl
My complex is doing repairs and upgrades to the power plant. Last week they were able to rent a generator truck to take over basic electrical power needs. The first day went well and residents kept down their overnight power use. Unfortunately, on the second day, the generator experienced trouble and the work had to be called off that night.
We weren’t able to find another generator truck we could rent and so, tonight, we are turning off all power so the power plant staff can complete the repairs/upgrade. I will soon be turning everything off and going to bed. I’ve put batteries in the radio/CD player, and I checked which flashlight I can read by. Now if the humidity would just end….
See everybody tomorrow.
I am not a kook
@TheMightyTrowel: You’re an archeologist, right? I’m almost afraid to ask (the destruction and looting of Iraqi artifacts really affected me) but has there been any review of the damage done to archeological sites in Iraq during the war and occupation? I remember seeing pictures of tracked vehicles parked in the middle of fucking Niniveh…
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
@Mike in NC: I love that documentary and read the book it was based on. I’ve also read Edsel’s books. I hope the upcoming movie is really good, because I definitely want to see it.
NotMax
@I am not a kook
That reminded me of this attempt at preservation, from my old blog from back in 2007.
You might find the snippet cited about Pakistani archeology sites (last item on this entry) of some passing interest as well.
TheMightyTrowel
@I am not a kook: It’s a whole subdiscipline – the archaeology of conflict and heritage in conflict areas is a major research field and it’s the most depressing thing you will ever read or study.
mclaren
@David Koch:
Using logic and facts is now “controversial.” Remember, opinions differ about earth’s shape. Does the sun shine at night? Explore the controversy! Did Satan bury those fossils paleontologists have found in ancient sediments? Teach the controversy!
mclaren
@I am not a kook:
You have to wonder if at some point Eric Holder and Barak Obama and his Joint Chiefs of Staff will leave a note saying “Here are the amendments 1 and 5 and 6 and 8 and 14 we tore out of the constitution. We didn’t know what we were doing. Sorry. Here they are back.”
NotMax
Didn’t Hannity announce several months back that plans were underway for him leaving his TV slot in order to concentrate more on his radio show?
NotMax
#823 – wrong thread. Ignore
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Roger Moore: Talk loudly and carry a toothpick. That’s how to be a real man!