Happy Heinkel

Hello friends:

One way of dealing with Covid fatigue for me has been returning to a teenage obsession with model airplanes.  May have ordered these (from Wheels and Wings in Toronto, excellent store) after watching the Battle of Britain recently.

I crowdsourced which one to build on Twitter through my @Marshalluigi account and the Heinkel got slightly more votes, so off I want.  The Italieri 1/72 kit is fairly simple, not a lot of complex parts, which is kind of a blessing after the recent Lysander kit.

 

Oddly the kit included crew figures but the instructions said don’t use them.  Instructions be damned, I said.

Another excuse to watch The Battle of Britain.  “Tomato Eins en Alle, Tomato Eins en Alle, noch zehn Minuten bis Ziel!"  

There is something sleek and rounded about the HE111 that is quite graceful.  While it looks terribly vulnerable in the film, an HE111 carried a LOT of machine guns, six in this model variant.

I dreaded painting the nose canopy but it turned out well enough if viewed at a distance.

I suppose a distant project might be making a handful of BoB 1/72nd models for a game TFL’s Bag the Hun, though I might just hang it from the ceiling as teenage me used to do.

Thanks for looking.  Blessings to your models,

MP+

Omaha Beach With Giant Bugs, Time Travel And Tom Cruise

And you thought Omaha Beach was a bad way to invade France ...

I’m not a great movie reviewer but I know what I like and I have to say that the new Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow worked for me on several levels. It’s hard to say anything about this film without giving the whole thing away.  As Richard Brody writes in The New Yorker, “Because the setup is the source of much of the movie’s pleasure, more or less any discussion of the story is a spoiler”.  So I’ll content myself with saying a few things about it that I enjoyed.

As an example of military SF, it worked for me.  The weapons, aircraft and powered exoskeletons worn by the infantry all seemed convincing because they point in the direction that western militaries seem to be moving in.   If you doubt me, check out US defence columnist Tom Ricks’ take on the film here.  There were lots of other military details that the film got right, like British Army uniforms.  And, as Ricks notes, it was refreshing to see an SF film where the high tech gadgets chew through batteries and ammo fairly quickly.

I liked the acting, and even though I’m not a great fan of Tom Cruise, I liked his character’s story arc from coward to hero.  His face in the first combat scene and in the last was a study in contrasts.  There was also some great chemistry between him and Emily Blunt, who played an SOF-type hardass with a sword that will make GW Space Marines want to see this film.  Ms. Blunt has certainly come a long way since Young Victoria.

While the story depends on time travel (it’s a lot like the film Groundhog Day in that respect), it’s done with a lot of humour and intelligent writing.  There were as many laughs as gasps in the audience last night.

While the film hasn’t being doing so well at the box office, the megamall cinema I was in last night was packed with young adults, so that Mdme. Padre were easily among the oldest folks there.  It struck me towards the end that a lot of young people, especially gamers, will relate to the film because of its relationship to the video game as an entertainment experience.  The Groundhog Day conceit of the film means that for Cruise’s character, each death is kind of like a reversion to a save state, and he can advance again trying to learn from his previous experience, just as a gamer can, until in the final scene of the film, there is no save state to fall back on, and life and death count.  Apparently this was the idea that the author of the manga on which the dilm is based, “All You Need Is Kill”, Hiroshi Sakarazaka, was getting at.  

“In his afterword to “All You Need is Kill”, Mr. Sakurazaka explains that he as thinking about video games while writing the novel.  “I reset the game hundreds of times”, he writes, until my special attack finally went off perfectly”.  In other words, video games are a type of time machine that allows players, if they put in the hours, to achieve victory.  Hence the movie’s clever tagline, “Live, Die, Repeat”, which, of course, echoes the faith that every film genre fan embraces: live, watch, repeat.

A couple of things got on my nerves slightly.  Why would an army take an officer charged with desertion and cowardice and stick him in a highly trained assault unit and equip him with expensive kit on the eve of a decisive operation?  Also, why is it that when aliens go up against homo sapiens, they always have a “big brain” bug thingy that controls the whole shooting match, so that all their vulnerability is concentrated into one big, convenient target for the final scene?

Otherwise, EoT is a good film to begin summer with, and one that will reward war gamers with an SF interest.  A final reason to see the film is that if you don’t like Tom Cruise, you can watch him get killed … over and over and over again.

MP

US Navy Versus Godzilla

 Heisenberg vs Godzilla
I confess that as a reward for my academic hardships this year, I am planning to take myself and Mdm. Padre to the new Godzilla movie.   We both have a fondness for vintage movies about giant beasties snacking on cities, and we are both fans of Bryan Cranston (who appears in Godzilla shouting a lot and with a full head of hair), so this should be a win win.
My eagerness to see this film was stoked today by learning, via the US Navy Times, that the movie was made with the cooperation and support of the US Navy.   Other science fiction films of late seem to have been US Mil sponsored, like the truly awful Battle Los Angeles (2011) was an extended recruiting commercial for the US Marine Corps, so I suppose the Navy felt that it needed equal time.   According to the Navy Times article, the US D0D took pains to make sure that their portrayal in this movie about a 600 foot monster is as accurate and possible, reflecting both Navy technology and Navy values.  Parts of the movie were shot on several USN ships, including the carriers Nimitz, Vinson and Reagan.  Perhaps this time the Navy will pick up the ball they evidently dropped with Battleship, a film one reviewer described as “breathtaking in its stupidity”.
The advantage of a flattering portrayal, a Navy spokesman said, is that Godzilla might encourage a new generation of recruits.   “Our hope is - the demographics for this audience are roughly 14-18 year old teenagers … they’re going to … say “You know, I never knew the Navy was such a sophisticated, professional organization; I really want to go explore it; they have some amazing UAV’s (unmanned aircraft) and technology and professionalism and honour and courage and valour; I never knew that, and maybe it’s something I want to do with my life."
Based on what I’ve already seen at a gaming convention this year, I predict that 2014 will be a big year for games and Kickstarters featuring giant monsters vs cities and humans.  I won’t get on that bandwagon, but I do regret that I no longer have my copy of that old SPI classic board game, The Creature that Ate Sheboygan.  They don’t make ‘em like that anymore … but they might start again.  
MP+

Last Three Days For The Caption Contest and Some Silly Film Recommendations

Good morning my lords and ladies:

Sadly, I have no pictures of my own of toy soldiers to show you, so I hope this image from yesterday's MOD UK news suffices.  The caption reads “courtesy of HQ London District who are gearing up for the Queen's Birthday Parade which will be held on Saturday, 14 June 2014, on Horse Guards Parade.”  I would be there but I’ve already promised Ms. Padre that we will be in Stratford (ON) watching a play on that day, it being our anniversary and all.

It has been very quiet here of late, I admit, and I hope you will pardon me on account of the Great Grad School Crunch.   In the last ten days I’ve churned out 8,000 words of highfalutin’ academic nonsense, which weighs in at two twenty page essays in double spaced 12 point type.   I’ve talked learnedly about interwar pacifism as a social movement within the United Church of Canada and about why Darren Aronofsky’s big budget film Noah is an example of a post-secular cultural product.  Yes, I know, riveting stuff.  I have until Easter Monday to complete and turn in my last paper of the term, on the history and significance of changes to Canadian Forces Chaplain cap badges as markers of religious and cultural identity.  Actually, that will be the fun one.  The pacifism paper was fun.  The Noah paper was a sheer bloody grind.

Mind you, I quite recommend the Noah film, because I’m not really sure what to make of it and I’d welcome your thoughts.  It seems designed to have something for believers and non-believers, and it is certainly an odd sort of biblical epic - more of an apocalyptic environmental fable, really, and I’m not sure it did the Icelandic Tourist Board any favours.   I must admit to being quite fond of The Watchers, a race of fallen angels who look like a cross between The Thing from the Fantastic Four, Peter Jackson’s Ents, and Michael Bey’s Transformers.  If you’re wondering how the ark got made, these guys provided the labour and the heavy lifting, apparently.

 

Speaking of films, I also recommend the Wes Anderson film, Grand Budapest Hotel.  Fans of the Interwar Period and Pulp and the 1930s in general may find it fun simply for the period atmosphere and for the slice of Central Europe (Zubrowka) that Anderson mostly invents.  Did you know that the paper read across the Zubrowkan Sudetenwaltz is The Trans-Alpine Yodel).   It’s also very funny with a terrific cast.

Finally, please note that if you haven’t entered the Mad Padre Wargames 100,000 page view competition, you have a few more days to do so.  All the instructions are here.  Stanley the Cat tells me he is quite impressed with the many captions submitted thus far.   Here you can see him pondering how he will cast his ballot while assisting me with my James Bond villain impression (“Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”).  He’s a thoughtful and talented chap, is young Stanley.  Now, my dear friend Edwin King has suggested that these blog competitions are  merely cynical attempts to drive up stats, and that may be true, even if it is a shockingly bleak view of the world.   

 Truth be told, I don’t put a lot of faith in stats, as I don’t really understand them, though they are interesting to follow.   I  noticed, for example, that my last post on an obscure German board game called Friedrich generated over 600 page views, when a typical post here is lucky to get 150.    I am sure it is all in the title and what people choose to click on during Google searches.   I leave that sort of thing to Stanley to figure out.   Anyway, you have until the end of Sunday to get your entries in, and on Monday, essay permitting, I’ll figure it all out with my fellow judges.

Speaking of Sunday, if Easter is something you observe, may I wish you a happy and blessed journey from the sorrow of the cross to the glory of the empty tomb, the great joy and mystery of our faith.  If that’s not your thing, may I wish you much chocolate.   Of course, if Easter is your thing, and you like chocolate too, well Hurrah!

Blessings,

MP+

Film Review: The Wind Rises

I don’t have a lot of expertise in film reviews, I just watch films and know what I like.   However, I saw one last night that I thought worth sharing here, since I know that some of you make model aircraft (Kinch and King and Stoesen, I’m looking at you fellows).
I think anyone who has made a model aircraft has a sense of the beauty of aircraft and of their design, even when we make a hash of the model and get glue all over everything.   The romance of early flight, the grace of aircraft designs, and history all come together in this film.  It’s also incredibly beautiful.   Have a look at this trailer.
The Wind Rises is about Jiro Horikshi, the aeronautical engineer who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter.  It’s a coming of age story,, a boy meets girl story, and a boy falls in love with aircraft story.    Believe it or not, it’s absolutely fascinating to watch the hero work a slide rule, scribble numbers, and then see his designs fly off the drafting table in a flurry of air and graceful lines.  
I’m not a great fan of Japanese anime, but I found this one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen.   The film is a rich blend of history, fantasy, and imagination.   The director is Hayao Miyazaki, who has had a long and honoured career and a long history of reflecting on Japanese history.  Miyazaki was taken by Horikishi once saying that he just wanted to design something beautiful, and one of themes of the movie is how design and technology is taken over for war and violence.   Certainly the Zero fighter was a beautiful creation - we see a flight of them at the end in a final dream sequence, sleek and deadly like sharks, but Jiro sees them with the knowledge that the war is lost, and the planes he designed and the pilots who flew them never came home.  The mixture of loss, naiveté and melancholy is quite powerful, but the film still celebrates the impetus to dream and reach for beauty.
There’s a link here on how The Wind Rises has caused some controversy.   Some people, particularly in Korea, think it romanticizes and celebrates Japan’s militaristic history, while conservatives in Japan think it’s unpatriotic.  See it for yourself and decide.  Take your significant other when you go, because it is a love story on several levels.  Even though there are long sequences with slide rules and talk about rivets, she’ll love it too.

The Mad Padre in the Header

You may have noticed that there is a second man of cloth on the header of this blog. The bellicose clergyman on the left is the Vicar from Jackboots on Whitehall, a British film of 2011 that has been described as Team America: World Police meets Inglorious Basterds. It's puppet mayhem an epic scale and filled in glorious Panzervision, not nearly as foul and malodorous as Team America though it is rather cheeky. Wargamers will enjoy the high quality of modelmaking and the endearing take on action figures. I quite enjoyed the gun toting Vicar, as you might imagine. A mad padre after my own heart.

I recommend it highly, if you can get a hold of it.