BEFORE: I also watched the Emmys this weekend, a week late but at least I got through it. Except for "The Voice" and "The Colbert Report", I don't think I watch any Emmy-winning shows. It seems that the list of "quality" shows I'm NOT watching has grown larger than the list of shows that I do watch. "Breaking Bad", "Veep", "The Big Bang Theory", "Homeland", "Mad Men", "Modern Family", "Nurse Jackie", "Game of Thrones", "Louie", "Girls", "The Newsroom", "House of Cards", "Boardwalk Empire", "Downton Abbey", "Dexter" and so on... This is supposedly the new Golden Age of TV, and I'm more or less sitting it out while I catch up on classic movies. Perhaps in a few years I'll have to go back and watch all this TV I'm currently avoiding.
Oh, I have my shows, don't get me wrong. "Survivor", "CSI", "Law & Order: SVU", "Shark Tank", "Wipeout", "Cupcake Wars", "Iron Chef", "Top Chef", "MasterChef", "Hell's Kitchen", "Kitchen Nightmares", "Bar Rescue", "Chopped", "The Amazing Race", "Mythbusters", "Parks & Recreation", the Fox Sunday animated line-up and daily doses of "Jeopardy!", "The Daily Show" and "Late Show with David Letterman" - that all keeps me pretty busy, and the deal I made with the networks was that I wasn't going to take on any new shows until they started cancelling some stuff. They complied, so I'm willing to take on ONE new show - "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and we'll see how that goes.
Linking from "The Man from the Alamo", Dennis Weaver had a bit part in that, and he was also in the 1967 film "Gentle Giant" with Rance Howard (father of Ron + Clint) who appears in tonight's film.
THE PLOT: Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
AFTER: It's sort of another history lesson tonight, where I have to admit that I don't recall much of whatever I learned about the Alamo in history class - other than I'm supposed to remember the Alamo, and that's not much help if I can't recall the details, now is it? So, it's a chance for me to research the battle on Wikipedia and go over the details. This is sort of an all-star moment in Texas history - with Col. Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett among the famous players.
Hmm, it seems soldiers WERE given the chance to leave the Alamo, so I stand corrected. Details as to how many men took up the offer to leave are quite sketchy, plus there were numerous couriers coming and going, so some lucky soldiers were sent out with dispatches, and Sam Houston didn't let them return. History is written by the winners, after all.
I'm sort of reminded of "United 93" - no one can really know all the conversations that took place at the Alamo, the details of what it was like living under the siege, expecting an imminent attack. This is where the filmmakers obviously have some leeway, so adding little details like Davy Crockett playing the fiddle in counter-melody to the Mexican army's band are apocryphal, but I appreciated them anyway.
This film didn't seem to do very well at the box office, and I can only speculate that people go to see films to be uplifted, to see stories of success, and that's not really what the Alamo is about, since all of the defenders of the mission were killed in battle, or executed shortly thereafter. (Oh, sorry - SPOILER ALERT!) The importance of the loss at the Alamo came later - the ensuing rush to join the Texas army to defeat Mexico. For this reason, the film wisely does not end when the Alamo falls (because that would be a bummer), but shows the Mexican army splitting into three parts to trap Sam Houston's army, and when Houston's army finally arrived (to be fair, news traveled slower those days, plus the guy was busy trying to form a government) he rallied his men with "Remember the Alamo!" and won the Battle of San Jacinto in just 18 minutes. Sic semper tyrannus, Santa Anna.
Also starring Dennis Quaid (last seen in "American Dreamz"), Billy Bob Thornton (last seen in "U Turn"), Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson (last seen in "Prometheus"), Emilio Echevarria, Jordi Molla, with a cameo from Emily Deschanel.
RATING: 5 out of 10 cannonballs
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