Tag: Band of Brothers

Damian Lewis ROCKS Times Talks at Directors Guild Theater

source: Times Talks Program
source: Times Talks Program

Damian Lewis was the guest of celebrated Times Talks at Directors Guild Theater and had a great conversation with Cara Buckley, a New York Times culture reporter and the new Carpetbagger.

Well, on the day the UK votes to stay in or leave the European Union, a conversation with a British actor calls for a question about Brexit. And that was Buckley’s opening question. And, somehow, the conversation turned more political than I thought it would and I enjoyed it immensely. We all know celebrities tend to avoid from getting involved in political conversation probably because they do not want to lose fans. And I understand that. On the other hand, one may be an actor, a doctor, a teacher, or anything else, but first and foremost we are all citizens and we have responsibility to speak our minds about issues that we care about. And just THIS, I believe, makes an individual, regardless of who she or he is, and regardless you agree with her or him, a good citizen of the world. Thus, I applaud Cara Buckley for her hard-hitting questions and Damian Lewis for speaking his mind thoughtfully, knowledgeably and graciously. He was certainly in TOP form providing compelling arguments along with brilliant humor that cracked up the room one too many times!

Now, it is quite a task to turn a one hour and fifteen minute conversation into about 2500 words. But I have such delicious quotes from Damian and I would love to build the review around them. Plus I have a BIG surprise for you! I have been able to have an exclusive interview with Damian after the event which I proudly call “Fan Fun Talks.” Why not? You can see our interview with Damian at the end of this review.

Continue reading “Damian Lewis ROCKS Times Talks at Directors Guild Theater”

Throwback Thursday to D-Day’s 70th Anniversary on Utah Beach

source: HBO
source: HBO

One of the scenes that I find most memorable in Band of Brothers is in Episode 2: Day of Days which I reviewed for the 72nd Anniversary of D-Day here.

As I have already told you again and again and yet again, there is no way I can comprehend the mind set of a soldier who is on a boat approaching to the shores of Normandy or who is about to embark from an airplane with a parachute like Dick Winters. You may just wanna see the para-drop scene from Band of Brothers one more time below and good luck with comprehending it all.

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to D-Day’s 70th Anniversary on Utah Beach”

For the Anniversary of D-Day: Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Day of Days

Today is the anniversary of the D-Day landings.

On June 6, 1944, after successfully parachuting into Normandy, Dick Winters led an attack on a German artillery position at Brecourt Manor and he and his men disabled 4 German heavy guns that were threatening Allied forces coming from Utah Beach. Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service at Brecourt Manor.

This very medal and much more are on display at the Gettysburg Museum of History at the “Major Dick Winters Collection” honoring Winters.

realdickwinters5

Lancester Online quotes museum curator Erick Dorr: “Winters personifies the World War II combat leader. In my opinion those men literally saved the world. We need to honor that. We need to remember that.” We cannot agree more with Mr. Dorr. And, to remember D-Day and to honor all D-day heroes, we bring Band of Brothers Episode 2: Day of Days to life today on the blog.

source: denofgeek.com
source: denofgeek.com

As I already told you in an earlier Memorial Day post, there is no way I can comprehend the mind set of a soldier on a boat approaching the shores of Normandy or on an airplane about to make a jump into Normandy. What do these guys think? What thoughts go through their minds? Home? Family? Death? Or do they just try to get it all out of their minds and focus on getting the job done? How can one pull it off knowing his own death may arrive the moment he lands? Continue reading “For the Anniversary of D-Day: Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Day of Days”

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

damianlewisdickwinters2
source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

Trivia Tuesday: How did Damian Lewis transform into Dick Winters?

‘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 “Trivia Tuesday: How did Damian Lewis transform into Dick Winters?”