where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, January 23rd, 2012
show: 11:50 a.m. ( Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee )
costs: $5.75 Ticket + $4.00 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavor ) Coke + $1.00 3.1 oz Cupcake Bites ( bought at the Dollar Tree Store & smuggled-in ) + $9.40 lunch @ Tin Tin Chinese Buffet in Vacaville, CA ( + $1.60 Tip ) = $21.75
auditorium: 4
seat: 2nd row, 6th column
synopsis/overview: At a critical time when whites still held the deep-seated belief that the colored races, especially the black, were all inferior to them, a group of black American pilots in an experimental pilot program at the Tuskegee Institute prove their detractors wrong as they fly in the face of Racism, itself, and prove their mettle and fighting skills for all the whole world to see. Based on a true story.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Flying Fortress Bombers; 2.) "Another P-40 from Uncle Sam's junkyard"; 3.) Train; 4.) "You're home now"; 5.) Black Jesus"; 6.) Newspaper article; 7.) "We will not go away"; 8.) Italian For Beginners; 9.) Couch; 10.) "Experience is a cruel teacher"; 11.) "Are you afraid"; 12.) "You get us that mission, we will light-up the boards"; 13.) Operation Shingle; 14.) Beach; 15.) "Bogeys in-bound"; 16.) "First Negro to shoot down a Gerry"; 17.) "Five minutes"; 18.) German airbase; 19.) "My God. Those pilots are Africans"; 20.) "We don't care"; 21.) "I'd rather be dead than on the ground"; 22.) Archive film of Flying Fortress Bombers under attack; 23.) Arrogant; 24.) "That's Black Jesus. I'm telling you"; 25.) "I love you"; 26.) Officers Club; 27.) "I've come bearing gifts"; 28.) "Everything is a fight"; 29.) "Ten to one"; 30.) Distinctive; 31.) "He's colored"; 32.) "Forget the prize. Save the lives"; 33.) "I'm gonna show him the last trick I learned"; 34.) Captured; 35.) "Your calls have been a little off lately"; 36.) Short cut; 37.) German destroyer; 38.) "You've been drinking"; 39.) Stalag; 40.) German destroyer movie reel; 41.) Deal; 42.) "Come and join us"; 43.) "Jet pursuit fighters"; 44.) Negro; 45.) "Time to think"; 46.) Woods; 47.) Berlin Offensive; 48.) "You want me to stay"; 49.) Dog tags; 50.) Self-pity; 51.) "We're going the distance"; 52.) "Yes, sir"; 53.) German jet fighter planes; 54.) "I think I did get myself killed"; 55.) Jockey Club Whiskey; 56.) Bad news; and 57.) "So, you'll no longer call me, "Junior."
audience reaction: The audience enjoyed it. And a number of people gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending. But since the audience was predominantly black, this movie crowd's positive reaction might be on the biased side.
recommendation: It's a good enough movie. And I would recommend it to those of you who are World War Two history buffs.
spoiler alert! The opening scene has an unbelievably unnatural and unconvincing dialogue between the Flying Fortress Bomber pilot and co-pilot. It sounded like either the script was poorly written or the two "actors" couldn't deliver their individual lines well enough, or both! Did the German pilots actually say, "Mayday," when they were in distress? Because it seems odd to me if they did use this phonetic rendering of the French word, "M'aidez." In the scene wherein the Tuskegee pilots were chasing after a German pilot, the villagers down below acted oblivious to the aerial spectacle which was happening directly above them. It only made sense to attack the train from the front. In the fly-by after the German airbase was strafed, the pilot was close enough to be recognized that it should have been easy for any German to shoot at him with a pistol or a rifle; but nobody bothered to shoot at him. Why? The archive film of the Flying Fortress Bomber formation under enemy attack was filmed from the front--this would only make sense if the film shown was from a captured German fighter plane! But there was no indication that this was the case. In my American History class, the World War Two films that my class watched of American planes under enemy attack were filmed from below, from above or from behind. And the few scenes showing the American planes from the side and from the front were mostly those taken from captured enemy planes. The Berlin Offensive strategic map looks exactly like the Operation Shingle strategic map! All those bullet holes in the plane's canopy yet no audible wind noise!
fyi: The Bomber Flight Jackets that the American pilots used in Europe during World War Two had a European map printed on the inside so if a pilot got shot down, he could find his way back to a friendly territory.
I didn't know that the Germans were actually able to employ fighter jets in WWII. Which makes me wonder if the Germans would have been able to turn the tide of war in their favor had it dragged on for at least another year, what with their impressive advances in war weaponry and in war technology.
I know of this black World War Two veteran who saw action in Germany. He respected the Germans' resourcefulness in converting internal combustion engine vehicles into steam engine vehicles.
Hey, maybe that's what we need these days: Steam engine vehicles! Why not? If it works, it works! Forget about Hybrids and Electric cars. And, as an added side benefit, you can probably barbecue, too, as you drive! "Honey, I'm home! Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? I'll give you a hint: The same kind of dinner that we've been having every night ever since I bought this car."
As I mentioned in my blog on CAPTAIN AMERICA, in WWII, my father joined the US Army. And he was assigned to the 51st Division in Milk Company "C"--I don't know if this makes any sense to any of you WWII historians out there, but I'm just writing it down the way my father told it to me. He said that most of the American soldiers that he was with were from Texas. There were blacks, too, but they were relegated to construction, maintenance, latrine and kitchen duties. And my dad said that whenever they would come under Japanese attack, the blacks would run for cover BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T GIVEN WEAPONS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WITH! This was probably just an isolated case--what with the Texans "running the show", so to speak--and not at all standard WWII US Army regulation.
Because, from what I learned in my American History Class, some blacks fought bravely and even became war heroes. But, unfortunately, when they returned to the States, they were once again subjected to Racial Prejudice to the point that some of them even became victims of Lynch Mobs.
Likewise, German-Jew World War One veterans who defended their German Motherland became victims of the Holocaust in World War Two!
It is appalling to behold to what extent countries subject their innocent citizens to! World War II was indeed a very sad and deplorable chapter in modern human history.
word of advice: War veterans deserve all the respect that they can get.
Don't drink and fly.
tidbits: The box office clerk gave me a senior citizen's discount instead of just an Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee price. Heck, I'm not that old yet! So, even though she saved me money on the price of admission, I was not flattered at all.
I decided to go to Vacaville to eat lunch at Tin Tin Chinese Buffet just to celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. Gong Hay Fat Choy!
On my way to Vacaville, CA, a BMW with two license plates ( a European license plate covered-up by an American license plate ) passed me by. I took two pictures of it for just in case. It's the dark blue car on the left lane.
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