Month: September 2016

The Silent Storm Makes Landfall: Slow. Heavy. Intense.

We have been waiting for The Silent Storm to make its landfall in the US since its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival about two years ago. Now that it is finally out for streaming on Amazon and iTunes and on DVD on Netflix, I am happy to report I have seen the movie twice and LOVED it.

source: neon-films.co.uk
Left to Right: Damian Lewis, Andrea Riseborough, Barbara Broccoli, Corinna McFarlane, Ross Anderson and Nicky Bentham at BFI London Film Festival, October 14, 2014, source: neon-films.co.uk

The Silent Storm is slow. It is heavy. It is intense. And, lucky me, that is exactly how I like my movies. So the movie, with powerful performances by two seasoned actors (Damian Lewis and Andrea Riseborough) and a brilliant new comer (Ross Anderson) coupled with the stunning island scenery and psalms sung a capella speaks to me just right. And here is my take on the movie, without any major spoilers, studying Damian’s character more than anything else. Continue reading “The Silent Storm Makes Landfall: Slow. Heavy. Intense.”

Throwback Thursday: Vanity Fair Photoshoot 2015

Ah, the Vanity Fair British Invasion shoot: where do I even start with this sweet highlight of 2015? Stunning shots of the many actors who have crossed the pond and made it big on screens in the US. The pages in the magazine were lovely, but the video and short film accompanying the shoot was to die for.

Damian Lewis
source: screenshot from Vanity Fair shoot

 

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Vanity Fair Photoshoot 2015”

The Question, Part 3: Razor Blade and Parking Lot

Last we left our star-crossed duo, Brody and Carrie were standing outside a church and there was rain. Now, we’re continuing trying to get an answer for the question: Was it love?

Till this point in Homeland, we already know enough about Carrie Mathison to know that she uses sex, the same way she uses wine and music, as an escape from the restlessness, the constant spinning in her head. She wears a wedding ring when she goes out so there’s no confusion by either party about what the sex is about. Just sex, nothing more. We know she’s had a life full of risk-taking. We know she dated Estes and broke up his marriage. All of these tidbits of her back story are meant to establish the fact that Carrie believes in her soul that a life of coupledom, marriage, and children is not in her future. She can’t even dream about it, because of her illness, because of her job, or because she finds herself incapable of doing the work a real relationship would require, or withstanding the inevitable boredom of it. So she uses men for sex. And she uses sex for control. And then she gets back to work. It’s an arithmetic that’s worked brilliantly for her.

With Brody, it’s different. She’s working. But she’s also attracted to him. And it’s all very confusing and also quite intoxicating.

Is it obsession? Yes, okay. The magnet pull of a self-destructive force? Sure. But it’s real. Palpable, relentless, and necessary.
Continue reading “The Question, Part 3: Razor Blade and Parking Lot”

Band of Brothers at 15: Damian Lewis at Boot Camp

‘It’s very authentic, dripping in sincerity, there’s nothing sensational about it. It had a docu-drama feel to it which people responded to. — Damian Lewis on Band of Brothers

bandofbrothers

We earlier blogged about how a 29-year old British actor Damian Lewis got cast to play all-American WWII hero Dick Winters as well as the deft and the charisma with which Damian Lewis came to immortalize Dick Winters on small screen. However, we still have a black box between the casting and the shoot: How did Damian Lewis TRANSFORM into Dick Winters?

DLDW

Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks: “Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Ha! The boot camp… It is, in fact, what FILLS the black box I’ve been talking about… The Transformation, quoting Damian himself, from “a rice pudding” to a “celery stalk” 🙂

Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 15: Damian Lewis at Boot Camp”

Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 9 Why We Fight

By the end of the World War II, it is estimated that 6 million Jews and another 5 million people (consisting of Gypsies, Poles, Homosexuals, Soviet PoWs and the mentally and physically disabled) were murdered by the Nazis.

During World War two many Nazi Camps were liberated. A fair number of the camps were liberated during April 1945, as World War II approached its end. The sheer number of camps is staggering and horrifying. Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 15: Episode 9 Why We Fight”