{"id":17466,"date":"2026-08-01T20:28:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=17466"},"modified":"2026-08-01T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T00:29:08","slug":"july-media-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2026\/08\/01\/july-media-7\/","title":{"rendered":"July Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is not as heavy as I thought it would be a few weeks ago. I didn\u2019t watch nearly as many movies on our flights to\/from Europe as I expected to. I had tickets to see The Odyssey<\/em> last week, but a family snafu nixed that. Finally, I was lazy last week. I had a couple other movies lined up to watch but got sidetracked several evenings and never got around to them. We did watch five episodes of a series Friday night, but I\u2019ll hold that for my August entry.<\/p>\n

\n

Travel Movies<\/h3>\n

Britain And The Blitz<\/a>
\nEach of our London tours touched on areas that were affected by The Blitz, so I added this for the flight home. The most interesting part was how it showed that there was a lot of resentment for Churchill and the government in the parts of London that were most devastated. And even after 40 years of colorized film, my brain is never sure what to think about the practice. I don\u2019t know if it helped or hurt the story this footage told that it had been updated to \u201cpretend\u201d color.<\/p>\n

A-<\/p>\n

Dead Man\u2019s Wire<\/a>
\nBefore we left I found a list of good movies on Netflix and this, which I had never heard of, was on it. Strange I had never heard of it because it details the 1977 episode in Indianapolis when Tony Kiritsis took a mortgage banker hostage and held him for multiple days, ending the saga with a live press conference. The entire time Kiritsis had a sawed-off shotgun held to the banker\u2019s head, with a dead man wire running from the banker\u2019s neck to the trigger then back to Kiritsis\u2019 body. If any law enforcement officers tried to take him out, he would take the banker out with him. Fascinating story.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t understand why this movie got such positive reviews. I found it strange. Strange performances, strange choices by director Gus Van Sant, strange accents by several of the actors (I\u2019ve said this many times, the Midwest twang is very different from a southern accent. But you would think this movie took place in Birmingham not Indy, based on a couple actors.). Worse, when I read up on the actual event when we got home, I found one of the most interesting characters – a cool, Black radio DJ who played jazz – was actually a white news broadcaster who was most assuredly nowhere near as cool as his altered movie persona.<\/p>\n

B-<\/p>\n

Gone Girl<\/a>
\nThis was also on that list, and worthy of a re-watch. One of the genuinely great mind fucks of recent(-ish) movie history. Weird how Rosamund Pike didn\u2019t become a huge star after this, although she\u2019s never stopped working.<\/p>\n

A<\/p>\n

Also I\u2019ll note that while we rarely had the TV on in Europe, the first thing I saw when I turned our TV in London on was On Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service<\/em>. That was cool. Monday morning I turned on the TV and the first show I flipped by was a re-run of Cheers<\/em> from the Rebecca years, which seemed super random. Watching Wimbledon and World Cup coverage in England was also very interesting.<\/p>\n

\n

Movies, Shows, Etc.<\/h3>\n

Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds<\/a>
\nI was in-between shows before we traveled and not wanting to start something new or devote myself to an entire movie, so selected this. The visuals are spectacular and it was interesting to learn how the Thunderbirds train and operate. But the manufactured drama of their training – one pilot allegedly can\u2019t master a part of his routine, a flaw which caused a deadly crash a few years earlier, but he suddenly nails it on their qualifying flight then they perform it better than anyone before them – was predictable for this kind of program.<\/p>\n

B+<\/p>\n

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That\u2019s The Weight Of The World)<\/a>
\nThis follows the standard music documentary format: group struggles, becomes famous, begins to have issues, breaks apart, comes back together later in life for a new, successful phase. So nothing ground-breaking here. But the music is magnificent, which is really all that matters. As we were watching, and the band got into some more of its \u201cinteresting\u201d phases, S looked at me and said, \u201cThe Seventies were an interesting time.\u201d Well put.<\/p>\n

A-<\/p>\n

The Martian<\/a>
\nNot sure why I waited 11 years to finally watch this. I read the book right when the movie came out, so while I remember I really liked it, I can\u2019t make great comparisons. The movie seemed a little cheesier and more Hollywood than the book, which tracks. I don\u2019t recall thinking this when I read the book, but while watching the movie I wondered if it wasn\u2019t just an updated, futuristic take on Apollo 13<\/em>. Regardless, it was fun and entertaining.<\/p>\n

B+<\/p>\n

\n

Something I Did Not Watch (Much)<\/h3>\n

With this being a shorter entry, I can throw this tidbit in I should have included in a sports entry.<\/p>\n

While I watched the first week of the Tour de France, after that I mostly ignored it. Several reasons for that. Of course, spending a week in Europe where we were on our feet and away from TVs all day meant I could not watch. The World Cup was often on during the day, too.<\/p>\n

Bigger, though, was that this year Tadej Pogacar was more dominant than ever, taking control of the race early, even when he didn\u2019t have the lead. It was obvious by the middle of the first week that Jonas Vingegaard had no answer for Pogacar\u2019s breakaways in the mountains. By the time we returned home, Pogacar already had a seemingly insurmountable lead. Without having the habit of a couple weeks of watching in place, I never turned it back on. When Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour later that week, that confirmed I had made a good choice to mostly skip the race this year.<\/p>\n

Pogacar has established himself as one of the greatest riders in the history of the race. But he\u2019s also rendered it not very interesting to watch. Maybe next year he\u2019ll regress to the pack a bit, or get a virus right in June that saps some of his strength and makes it a compelling way to spend my July mornings again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is not as heavy as I thought it would be a few weeks ago. I didn\u2019t watch nearly as many movies on our flights to\/from Europe as I expected to. I had tickets to see The Odyssey last week, but a family snafu nixed that. Finally, I was lazy last week. I had a couple other movies lined up to watch but got sidetracked several evenings and never got around to them. We did watch five episodes of a series Friday night, but I\u2019ll hold that for my August entry. Travel Movies Britain And The Blitz Each of our London tours touched on areas that were affected by The Blitz, so I added this for the flight home. The most interesting part was how it showed that there was a lot of resentment for Churchill and the government in the parts of London that were most devastated. And even after 40 years of colorized film, my brain is never sure what to think about the practice. I don\u2019t know if it helped or hurt the story this footage told that it had been updated to \u201cpretend\u201d color. A- Dead Man\u2019s Wire Before we left I found a list of good movies on Netflix and this, which I had never heard of, was on it. Strange I had never heard of it because it details the 1977 episode in Indianapolis when Tony Kiritsis took a mortgage banker hostage and held him for multiple days, ending the saga with a live press conference. The entire time Kiritsis had a sawed-off shotgun held to the banker\u2019s head, with a dead man wire running from the banker\u2019s neck to the trigger then back to Kiritsis\u2019 body. If any law enforcement officers tried to take him out, he would take the banker out with him. Fascinating story. I didn\u2019t understand why this movie got such positive reviews. I found it strange. Strange performances, strange choices by director Gus Van Sant, strange accents by several of the actors (I\u2019ve said this many times, the Midwest twang is very different from a southern accent. But you would think this movie took place in Birmingham not Indy, based on a couple actors.). Worse, when I read up on the actual event when we got home, I found one of the most interesting characters – a cool, Black radio DJ who played jazz – was actually a white news broadcaster who was most assuredly nowhere near as cool as his altered movie persona. B- Gone Girl This was also on that list, and worthy of a re-watch. One of the genuinely great mind fucks of recent(-ish) movie history. Weird how Rosamund Pike didn\u2019t become a huge star after this, although she\u2019s never stopped working. A Also I\u2019ll note that while we rarely had the TV on in Europe, the first thing I saw when I turned our TV in London on was On Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service. That was cool. Monday morning I turned on the TV and the first show I flipped by was a re-run of Cheers from the Rebecca years, which seemed super random. Watching Wimbledon and World Cup coverage in England was also very interesting. Movies, Shows, Etc. Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds I was in-between shows before we traveled and not wanting to start something new or devote myself to an entire movie, so selected this. The visuals are spectacular and it was interesting to learn how the Thunderbirds train and operate. But the manufactured drama of their training – one pilot allegedly can\u2019t master a part of his routine, a flaw which caused a deadly crash a few years earlier, but he suddenly nails it on their qualifying flight then they perform it better than anyone before them – was predictable for this kind of program. B+ Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That\u2019s The Weight Of The World) This follows the standard music documentary format: group struggles, becomes famous, begins to have issues, breaks apart, comes back together later in life for a new, successful phase. So nothing ground-breaking here. But the music is magnificent, which is really all that matters. As we were watching, and the band got into some more of its \u201cinteresting\u201d phases, S looked at me and said, \u201cThe Seventies were an interesting time.\u201d Well put. A- The Martian Not sure why I waited 11 years to finally watch this. I read the book right when the movie came out, so while I remember I really liked it, I can\u2019t make great comparisons. The movie seemed a little cheesier and more Hollywood than the book, which tracks. I don\u2019t recall thinking this when I read the book, but while watching the movie I wondered if it wasn\u2019t just an updated, futuristic take on Apollo 13. Regardless, it was fun and entertaining. B+ Something I Did Not Watch (Much) With this being a shorter entry, I can throw this tidbit in I should have included in a sports entry. While I watched the first week of the Tour de France, after that I mostly ignored it. Several reasons for that. Of course, spending a week in Europe where we were on our feet and away from TVs all day meant I could not watch. The World Cup was often on during the day, too. Bigger, though, was that this year Tadej Pogacar was more dominant than ever, taking control of the race early, even when he didn\u2019t have the lead. It was obvious by the middle of the first week that Jonas Vingegaard had no answer for Pogacar\u2019s breakaways in the mountains. By the time we returned home, Pogacar already had a seemingly insurmountable lead. Without having the habit of a couple weeks of watching in place, I never turned it back on. When Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour later that week, that confirmed I had made a good choice to mostly skip the race this year. Pogacar has established himself as one of the greatest riders in the history of the race. But he\u2019s also rendered it not very interesting to watch. Maybe next year he\u2019ll regress to the pack a bit, or get a virus right in June that saps some of his strength and makes it a compelling way to spend my July mornings again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-17466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-media","tag-movies","tag-tv"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17466"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17468,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466\/revisions\/17468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}