Miracle at St. Anna

[melissacarter]

Had the pleasure of seeing Miracle at St. Anna on opening night.

True to New Jersey's lack-of-culture, the theater was sparsely populated for a film this good on it's premier night. My bf and I were so concerned that the house would be sold out we purchased tickets in advance only to find maybe 30-40 viewers sharing the balcony with us.

While not a huge Spike Lee fan I have to say the film drew me in quickly. I'm not terribly knowledgable in WW2 history but it's my understanding this is a fairly accurate story of an all-black army division fighting the Nazis in Tuscany.

Throughout the movie there is a building sexual tension between the very beautiful Italian Valentina Cervi and the American black soldiers fighting to protect the villager's lives. It was kinda like Jungle Fever meets Saving Private Ryan.

It was a very moving film, very touching. I laughed, I cried, I let my bf suck my tits. I give it a solid B+.

[Caramel]

Hey, Melissa. Fancy meeting you here. I do want to see it however, I might need a date sucking on my newly budding breasts or something else to watch a 2 1/2 hour film. Spike Lee films hit like a frieght train when he first began much the same way Prince did with his music. They both did their own production and midway into their careers, had more downs than ups before the peaked again post Y2K. The reviews of Miracle at St. Anna are great and I love your taste, so I might take my s.o. to see it with me, a transsexual who happens to be white and knows that I'm not trying to expose her to the "Black Experience." For instance, there were a lot of great things about the film "The Great Debators" and it was very inspirational. I wouldn't tell people to run out and see it though because I thought most of it was corny and downright doofy. What I like about Spike's last few films was that they were made in the same spirit of films by one of Lee's idols like Martin Scorcese where the focus was on a particular nationality, in Scorcese's realm, Italian American, but for everyone to enjoy. Like you, I just admire great work by great directors, producers and actors like the late, great Paul Newman. If I do manage to get through Miracle at St. Anna in the theater with no distractions, I'll reccomend it too! Now I'm really thinking about seeing it this weekend, even if there's no sucking of anything involved to help me get through the close to three big-screen hours.

Had the pleasure of seeing Miracle at St. Anna on opening night.

True to New Jersey's lack-of-culture, the theater was sparsely populated for a film this good on it's premier night. My bf and I were so concerned that the house would be sold out we purchased tickets in advance only to find maybe 30-40 viewers sharing the balcony with us.

While not a huge Spike Lee fan I have to say the film drew me in quickly. I'm not terribly knowledgable in WW2 history but it's my understanding this is a fairly accurate story of an all-black army division fighting the Nazis in Tuscany.

Throughout the movie there is a building sexual tension between the very beautiful Italian Valentina Cervi and the American black soldiers fighting to protect the villager's lives. It was kinda like Jungle Fever meets Saving Private Ryan.

It was a very moving film, very touching. I laughed, I cried, I let my bf suck my tits. I give it a solid B+.

[SarahG]

Someone needs to do the story of the 369th in Argonne.

[Caramel]

I could see a movie made about this regiment who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and if presented a Cannes, it might be really successful, but who might make it?

Someone needs to do the story of the 369th in Argonne.

[melissacarter]

Hey, Melissa. Fancy meeting you here.

Hello, my lovely Caramel. Yes I reccomend it, I wasn't kidding that I cried and I think you will too.

[SarahG]

I could see a movie made about this regiment who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and if presented a Cannes, it might be really successful, but who might make it?

Someone needs to do the story of the 369th in Argonne.

Most people don't know the story, let alone the specifics but that unit went through a lot over there, Argonne saw some very intense fighting.

This unit, because it was black, actually fought for two militaries, to see combat (we wanted them to basically be cooks and supplyline infrastructure) they had to first fight for the French because we didn't want them- then after that they fought for the American military. Its hard to picture an all-black American unit being given french uniforms to fight for the French, just because our military didn't want to legitimize their rights movement by "making them heroes"

On broad terms it was the American units, including this one & the marines- that single handedly stopped the '18 offensive and drove the Germans back. Without them Europe would have been lost, Germany's plan took a while- but it was working. Every year 1 nation on the Allied side left the war, either due to social unrest, or defeat. When the American declaration came England's credit line with the United States was weeks from collapsing, and the Germans were just one push away from taking Paris. There was no stalemate, that is a misconception generated by period propaganda.

Of all the allied casualties, something around 75% were from German ordnance- meaning you can add up all killed from hand to hand combat, rifles, machine guns, gas, landmines- and still not come up with half the Allied casualties. Whole Allied units before the American involvement simply disappeared because the Germans had them so outgunned, despite being an outnumbered force. Usually the Allied units couldn't even see the German units that were shelling them, the French 75s were pretty much worthless without a line of sight.

So this unit, and others- went into the forest against a superior sized, armed, trained, and experienced force- stopped it, and chased it back into beyond the pre-offensive lines.

There is a very large cemetery near Argonne today, it has scores of dead Americans but you'd be hard-pressed to find an American who could point to it on a map. With our public schooling system, I am not surprised.

[TomSelis]

There's a few battles that all black units fought in and made a significant contribution in WWII. There were even some black americans that fought in the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.

[Caramel]

I always trust your good taste, Melissa. I'm going to see Miracle at an actual movie theater with popcorn, an original concept for me since I usually see most new releases online from knowing people online in low places. I listen to friends like you before "professional critics." For example, I was expecting "Righteous Kill" to be horrible. My alltime favorite films are The Godfather I and II, the only movies in which the sequel was as good as the original. Some critic blasted it because DeNiro and Pacino looked old, the story line wasn't impactful enough and based their performances on past films of their careers. I had such low expections that I didn't figure out the conclusion miles ahead like I usually do. Sure, these are not the best films of their careers but it was still better than most pictures out there. A lot of folks got their panties in a bunch saying that Miracle At St.Anna wasn't promoted well enough by the studio and that's why it only made $3 million this weekend. I saw more advertising for this movie than most released this summer but didn't recognize the stars in and just saw the same old clip over and over. Other critics say it's a great film but no one wants to see a film about war right now, thus the small opening turnout.

"Stop Loss" was a great film but was not a box office hit. Maybe it's just a bad time for movies right now with this current economic crunch, but I'm going to go see Miracle anyway. Now that Wachovia has flipped out and the DOW has hit a record low, I might sneak in a bag of Cheetos and bottled water with my date instead of buttered popcorn and large sodas. Ironic that we thought writer's strike was so awful. We've got our good writers back now but so many people might not be able to enjoy their work because we're so worried about "luxuries" like seeing a good flick.

Hey, Melissa. Fancy meeting you here.

Hello, my lovely Caramel. Yes I reccomend it, I wasn't kidding that I cried and I think you will too.

[albeha]

Ciao, I live near Sant'Anna di Stazzema, sad place, all the 560 people of the village was killed by SS in the 12 agosto 44, maily women old and children, you can find pics searching.

[Caramel]

The Tuskeegee Airmen weren't exactly a "dream team" either in their time and didn't get much recognition until the mid 1990's . They weren't a favored topic at my private school, Beaver Country Day in Chestnut Hill, MA either (I still get picked on to this day about the doofy name).

Racial issues make so called 'elitists' uncomfortable. Threads like this make people uncomfortable from all walks of life. Hell, they even make me uncomfortable because these are topics I usually only feel free to discuss in forums, both straight and transgendered where people don't get attacked for pointing out racially motivated problems. To bring things up to date a bit if I can, the progress in race relations in the to regions you've mentioned have improved markedly because of sacrifices our military and theirs have made before many of us were even conceived. I have a middle-aged Black female friend who's been in Germany visiting her military family in Germany for the past three weeks. She loves her home here in the States but doesn't want to come home just yet because of the way she's respectfully treated there. Another Black couple I know visited Paris for one week and stayed a month.

It's hard to pinpoint how much impact Black soldiers have made in other countries, but guess what. I know that when I'm completely financially secure and ready to travel the world, I'll be treated with more respect than I wouldn't have received if our Black, White, Asian and Hispanic soldiers hadn't paved an easier path for me to explore there. I'm not going to see Miracle At St. Anna because it's a Black soldier story but because it's an American story to be proud of. The way anything, especially current movies can be captured in DVD quality, I might even just grab it off the Net and send a donation to Spike Lee's foundation for five times the admission fee to support the film being made. I want to see more great stories like this about people who gave up their lives to protect people like me. I'd love to see more insipring war films by Native Americans also. I don't know one personally but some of their blood is racing through my veins as my great-granmother was Choctaw from North Carolina and I get a kick out on old photo of her smoking a 'peace pipe.'

It doesn't take a genius for anyone of another background to understand why Black folks get so excited when something great happens to represent them. Everyone knows that the African American native language is English, whether it be Snoop Dizzle Fizzle or Harvard Obamanise. Blacks didn't had the chance to display their love for America on a well-recognized scale until the Civil War, led on by the spirit of such as people like Hilary mentioned when she said in a memorable speech, "Keep on moving. Don't turn back, keep on moving."

It's too bad that Miracle At St. Anna only earned $3 million this weekend and might be on DVD by the time you're reading this message. But those who really want to see it, will see it. Everyone who needs to perhaps see it to open their minds won't see it but that's to be expected. How many Americans know that the AIG bailout proposition was rejected by the House today? How many know what 'House' that is? How many are registered to vote? How many know that Wachovia had a collapse or that WaMu fizzled or that the DOW reached an all-time point low today?

Current events are actually esoteric to the mainstream these days. i hope people will get to important films these days but my worry is that they won't even make it to the polls to vote. I don't even care who they vote for. It's sad that so many people don't know what's going on with the wars we're already involved in and the ones we face, let alone films being made about them and of those of the past.

I could see a movie made about this regiment who was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and if presented a Cannes, it might be really successful, but who might make it?

Someone needs to do the story of the 369th in Argonne.

Most people don't know the story, let alone the specifics but that unit went through a lot over there, Argonne saw some very intense fighting.

This unit, because it was black, actually fought for two militaries, to see combat (we wanted them to basically be cooks and supplyline infrastructure) they had to first fight for the French because we didn't want them- then after that they fought for the American military. Its hard to picture an all-black American unit being given french uniforms to fight for the French, just because our military didn't want to legitimize their rights movement by "making them heroes"

On broad terms it was the American units, including this one & the marines- that single handedly stopped the '18 offensive and drove the Germans back. Without them Europe would have been lost, Germany's plan took a while- but it was working. Every year 1 nation on the Allied side left the war, either due to social unrest, or defeat. When the American declaration came England's credit line with the United States was weeks from collapsing, and the Germans were just one push away from taking Paris. There was no stalemate, that is a misconception generated by period propaganda.

Of all the allied casualties, something around 75% were from German ordnance- meaning you can add up all killed from hand to hand combat, rifles, machine guns, gas, landmines- and still not come up with half the Allied casualties. Whole Allied units before the American involvement simply disappeared because the Germans had them so outgunned, despite being an outnumbered force. Usually the Allied units couldn't even see the German units that were shelling them, the French 75s were pretty much worthless without a line of sight.

So this unit, and others- went into the forest against a superior sized, armed, trained, and experienced force- stopped it, and chased it back into beyond the pre-offensive lines.

There is a very large cemetery near Argonne today, it has scores of dead Americans but you'd be hard-pressed to find an American who could point to it on a map. With our public schooling system, I am not surprised.