7/30/2017 0 Comments Lemmings Jumping Off CliffsRemember all the Nightmare Fuel that A Song of Ice and Fire had? With Game of Thrones, it's now in live action. Season 1 The White Walkers, if not. Port Manteaux churns out silly new words when you feed it an idea or two. Enter a word (or two) above and you'll get back a bunch of portmanteaux created by jamming. These Easy-To-Make Pancakes Are Essential For Your Next Camping Trip. Pour, flip, and dig in. Low-budget scifi movies may have had their heyday during Roger Corman’s rise to B-movie greatness in the 1950s, but they’re still going strong today—proving. Recent Scifi Films That Didn't Need Big Budgets To Be Amazing. Low- budget scifi movies may have had their heyday during Roger Corman’s rise to B- movie greatness in the 1. Here are our favorites from the past few decades. Another Earth (2. Director Mike Cahill (I Origins) and star Brit Marling (The Sound of My Voice, Netflix’s The OA) co- wrote this tale of guilt, grief, and cosmic second chances. Marling plays a brilliant woman named Rhoda who makes a terrible, tragic mistake: causing a car accident that kills a woman and her unborn child, leaving the woman’s husband, John (William Mapother), physically and mentally devastated. Rhoda makes another terrible mistake when she first tries to set things right, seeking out John but failing to tell him who she really is. But possible redemption comes from an unlikely place: the “mirror Earth” that looms above—represented by a very simple but effective visual effect—where the people and places are identical to those on our planet, with the key difference being that certain crappy life decisions may never have transpired. John Dies at the End (2. This cult horror- scifi comedy from Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho- Tep, Phantasm) features quite a few outrageous special effects, as well as a cameo from Paul Giamatti, but it was still made for less than a million bucks. Based on David Wong’s novel, it’s about a pair of buddies who experience increasingly bizarre hallucinations and circumstances (alternate dimensions, aliens, etc.) when they encounter a new street drug that’s nicknamed “Soy Sauce.” Eventually, the fate of the world hangs in the balance—and along the way, there’s also an evil supercomputer, a heroic dog, and a monster that cobbles itself together from a freezer full of meat. Computer Chess (2. Filmed in black- and- white using period- appropriate video cameras, writer- director Andrew Bujalski’s offbeat and intricate study of a computer chess tournament is set in 1. It was actually made in 2. Authentic nerds (not Hollywood nerds) converge on a bland hotel to determine whose program will achieve chess supremacy, though the backstage dramas and micro- dramas outside the competition provide most of the real interest. Though Computer Chess is mostly an awkward comedy, it ventures into scifi when it begins to suggest that one team’s artificial intelligence software is way, way more self- aware than most anyone realizes or is willing to admit. The American Astronaut (2. Another black- and- white entry, The American Astronaut manages to meld the genres of scifi, Western, and musical. Writer- director Cory Mc. Abee, who once described his work as “Buck Rogers meets Roy Rogers,” also plays the title character—an intergalactic cowboy/rare- goods dealer who becomes entangled in a scheme to deliver a man to the all- female planet of Venus (but it gets way more complicated than that)—and his band, the Billy Nayer Show, provided the tunes. Unsurprisingly, the end result is something completely unique, enhanced by the film’s use of hand- painted, lo- fi special effects in most cases. Monsters (2. 01. 0)Before Gareth Edwards did Godzilla—and then achieved his lifelong dream of making a Star Wars movie with Rogue One—he worked as a digital effects artist and applied those skills to his first feature, Monsters. As the title suggests, it’s a monster movie, but it’s uniquely set in a world where humans and aliens have been co- existing on Earth for a number of years, and while the tension and fear may not have deflated, the novelty has. Strangers (real- life couple Scoot Mc. Nairy and Whitney Able) team up to re- enter the US from Mexico, but the trip is complicated by a border that has become exponentially more hostile. Edwards, who also wrote the film, did the cinematography, and did the production design, makes the most of a budget that’s just a tiny fraction of what he’d get for his future blockbusters. Robot & Frank (2. Lonely, technology- averse, and intermittently forgetful retiree Frank acquires a companion robot from his well- meaning son, and soon realizes his new sidekick would be the perfect partner in crime, literally. Robot & Frank is a poignant study of aging, but it also does an incredible job making a robot character (and it is a real, developed character) believably blend into its otherwise fairly typical indie- film landscape. A winning cast (most prominently Frank Langella as Frank and Peter Sarsgaard as the voice of the robot, though a different actor actually wears the suit) further elevates this inspired effort from first- time director Jake Schreier and first- time screenwriter Christopher D. Sleep Dealer (2. 00. In Alex Rivera’s thriller, it’s a future in which illegal immigration between Mexico and the US has been completely outlawed (thanks to a border wall..). However, since the US economy would collapse without a steady stream of people willing to work for nothing, would- be prospective citizens toil in grim factories where they’re physically plugged into virtual reality machines that control robots doing labor stateside. Within this uneasy mix, we meet a man who dreams of hacking into a massive corporation to restore water to his region; a woman who peddles uploaded memories; and a drone pilot who has a crisis of conscience. Sleep Dealer is obviously a politically- minded tale that’s really about globalization, but it also manages to be completely thrilling at the same time. Moon (2. 00. 9)At the very end of a three- year solo stint on the Moon, the man overseeing an automated mining facility (Sam Rockwell)—who has only his AI (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for companionship—realizes he’s not as alone as he once thought. He also starts to suspect that his corporate employers are not as benevolent as he once believed. Director Duncan Jones (Source Code, Warcraft) is working on another film set in the same universe as Moon, called Mute, which will also have scifi elements though it’ll be set on Earth this time; eventually, he hopes to do a third and make it a trilogy. The Signal (2. 01. College kids on a road trip take a detour to track down their nemesis, a mysterious hacker who lures them to an alien encounter, after which they’re whisked to an apparent government facility that’s experimenting with alien technology. Including them. Aside from its imaginative plot, which keeps you guessing until the end (and even then leaves you with a great “Huh?” image), it’s production design that evokes 2. A Space Odyssey and supporting turns by Laurence Fishburne and Lin Shaye that make The Signal especially memorable. Safety Not Guaranteed (2. Following in the footsteps of Gareth Edwards, director Colin Trevorrow made his feature debut with this budgeted- under- a- million indie before taking on Jurassic World and Star Wars: Episode IX. An intriguing magazine ad seeking a time travel companion (“this is not a joke”) piques the interest of a trio of Seattle journalists (Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson, and Karan Soni), who track down the man (Mark Duplass) to see if he’s a nutcase or the real deal—or, as it turns out, kinda both. The script (by Derek Connolly) was inspired by a real (but fake) ad that once ran in Backwoods Home Magazine, a fact which helps ground the film’s quirkiness—as do its performances (Plaza is perfect) and its portrayal of time travel as something ordinary people might explore for their own deeply personal reasons. And yes, there are Star Wars jokes. The One I Love (2. Yep, another one with Mark Duplass. Charlie Mc. Dowell’s debut feature—filmed mostly at co- star Ted Danson’s house—is about Ethan and Sophie (Duplass and Elisabeth Moss), a married couple who try to salvage their relationship by going on a weekend getaway. Things soon get very, very surreal when it becomes apparent that everything is not what it seems, especially not Ethan and Sophie, who become entangled in their very unconventional therapy session. Take Shelter (2. 01. In rural Ohio, construction worker and family man Curtis (Michael Shannon) becomes dangerously obsessed with building a storm shelter in his backyard. As the movie (written and directed by Jeff Nichols, who also made last year’s excellent Midnight Special with Shannon) progresses, it’s made clear that Curtis isn’t your run- of- the- mill doomsday prepper; he believes he’s receiving clues that a weather- borne apocalypse is nigh. But are these signs real, or just paranoid reverberations of a deeply troubled mind? Take Shelter waits until the very end for its big reveal, but it serves up a definitive answer. Primer (2. 00. 4)This is the gold standard of all independent, low- budget movies about time travel. Shane Carruth (who wrote, directed, edited, scored, produced, and co- stars) famously spent just $7,0. But Primer is so much more than something that can be reduced to “big ideas on a tiny budget.” As the movie progresses, the invention lurches from amazing discovery to destructive force, as timelines overlap and intersect and a wedge forms between the two friends. It gets confusing as hell, for both the audience and the characters—but you never lose the sense that Carruth knew exactly what wanted to do, every step of the way. Coherence (2. 01. A dinner party among friends (and a few frenemies) gets weird when a comet passes overhead and knocks out the power. When members of the group venture out to check on the neighborhood, they realize that the comet has opened doorways between parallel dimensions, each containing different versions of themselves, all attending their own dinner parties. Naturally, realities begin to crisscross, a situation that has particular appeal for Emily (Emily Baldoni), whose personal and professional lives are both on a downward spiral—in her reality, anyway. Filmed in director James Ward Byrkit’s own home, Coherence makes great use of improv and some simple but effective props (glow sticks, photographs, a ping pong paddle) to weave a thoroughly mind- bending “what if?” tale. GAVIN'S PARATROOPERS and ALL THE WORLD'S COMBAT AIRBORNE OPERATIONS. GAVIN'S PARATROOPERS : THE TYPE OF MEN. UPDATED 1 August 2. Actual Video clip of U. S. Army Paratroopers exiting a C- 1. B Starlifter. Actual Video clip of a C- 1. Hercules combat equipment jumpyoutube. THE RULE OF LGOPs. LGOP = Little Groups of Paratroopers). After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield. This effect is known as the rule of the LGOPs. This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed- off 1. American Paratroopers. They are well- trained, armed- to- the- teeth and lack serious adult supervision. They collectively remember the Commander's intent as . I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black- hearted devils are everywhere..! Gavin (played by Ryan O'Neil in the film A Bridge Too Far about the epic battle for Arnhem's bridge to enter Germany and end the war, called . Wedded to obsolete traditions? Who says we have to use silly, useless D & C to instill fighting discipline in Soldiers? Why not in the field like Gavin did? Learning SERE skills? The usmc didn't even put nametapes on its individual member BDUs (camies) until after the Gulf War TV coverage embarrassed them into it. How about this for 1. Mission- type orders not robotics. To win on the future, non- linear urbanized battlefield, where we had only just arrived within hours by AIR will require the Soldiership like that of Chamberlain and his men on Little Round top. These men must be able to communicate freely and truthfully without concern over their ego, peer status or career concerns. More recently, a relatively minor military power that defeated a great modern power- -the combined forces of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong- -operated in many respects more like a network than an institution; it even extended political- support networks abroad. In both cases, the Mongols and the Vietnamese, their defeated opponents were large institutions whose forces were designed to fight set- piece attritional battles. Most adversaries that the United States and its allies face in the realm of low- intensity conflict, such as international terrorists, guerrilla insurgents, drug smuggling cartels, ethnic factions, as well as racial and tribal gangs, are all organized like networks (although their leadership may be quite hierarchical). Perhaps a reason that military (and police) institutions have difficulty engaging in low- intensity conflicts is because they are not meant to be fought by institutions. The lesson: Institutions can be defeated by networks, and it may take networks to counter networks. The future may belong to whoever masters the network form. However, war is not just a lethal sporting contest among combatants, its about whose IDEAS will dominate, in the case of FREEDOM, in the end the truth has won out over communism. However, if the forces of freedom were more open- minded and . The men who fought in Vietnam need to know that their sacrifices did count- just ask the people of Thailand. But if we are to learn from our war there, we must not make excuses that the politicians . Crete was a costly victory for the Germans because of the . It was still a victory and proof deep Airborne operations can work in spite of no amphibious forces around to help. If you click on the hypelink above or here on Crete, you'll see the Royal Navy sank the amphibious forces that the Allied Commander defending the island thought were necessary to win. He was wrong. Years later, on Grenada the same thing happened, the enemy expected sea attack from marines, but instead, the Rangers and 8. Airborne came from long away and caught them by surprise. The invasion of Panama was a . Dien Bien Phu was a poorly selected firebase in the low ground, many other poorly defended positions have been over- ran that were established by ground and sea transport, also. In the Second Indo- China war, the U. S. Deep airdrops of combat power can work, its what you do afterwards on the ground that is the key. If you sit still, the enemy is likely to gain the initiative whether you walked, flew or motored there. After the Paratrooper lands he must be MORE MOBILE than any enemy and that can be done by speed- marching, solving the Soldier's load, human powered vehicles and airdropped armor. Army Air Service was doing . By the end of the war, we were combining arms as we would have to do again in WWII. Overhead, our planes gave close air support and bombed and strafed supply installations and troop columns in the rear of the German lines. French tanks manned by Americans supported the infantry assaults. The United States Army's first modern battle had begun. Putnam & Sons, NY. Thanks for showing me. Please keep me in mind for future areas of similar style. Although why anyone would want to jump out of a functional aircraft is still a mystery to me- . It is believed that Chinese acrobats used parachute- like devices as long ago as 1. The principle was recognized by several writers, and Leonardo da Vinci proposed the basic idea for parachutes in 1. Leonardo da Vinci sketched a man- sized parachute with a man in mind to be lowered by it, even though no one had ever flown. He visualized it as a tool to escape from tall buildings and structures in event of fire. The dimensions he calculated as necessary to safely land a person 3. A few years later other French aeronauts jumped from balloons. He made a number of exhibition jumps, including one of about 8,0. England in 1. 80. Cocking developed a parachute like an upside umbrella, he felt being upside down it would control oscillations ( to bad he didn't know about an apex hole) He demonstrated in 1. England suspended from a balloon named Nassau, and piloted by Charles Green, who cut him loose. It worked fine at first, but the stiffening tubes started to give way , then a hole developed in the canopy, then it collapsed (it was the first parachute fatality). Thomas Baldwin the younger brother got elected for the task, the brothers took the balloon to 5,0. The first successful descent from an airplane was made by Capt. Albert Berry of the United States Army in 1. In World War I, parachutes were used by observers to escape from captive balloons but were considered impractical for airplanes. Only in the last stage of the war were they finally used in aircraft. She had been jumping since she was fifteen years old. After that jump she was never seen again. The Generals report to the Army was great, but they ignored it, and later American pilots flew into combat without parachutes because the Generals thought they would abandon their planes at the very slightest chance of trouble, hence no parachutes. When it came time to depart the aircraft, they lifted the container from under the seat, stood on the seat and tossed the container over the side, then followed it, a little crude but it worked and all the other pilots envied them, especially since they had to ride theirs down in flames. Young. 1. 91. 8: Isolated French raids in WW I during which two- man demolition teams parachuted behind German lines to destroy communications. But Colonel Mitchell thought of others ways to use parachutes. To him goes the distinction of suggesting the first Airborne parachute assault forces. Army Air Corps during WWI even before they had chutes for American flyers! Pershing. . We could equip each man with a parachute, so when we desired to make a rear attack on the enemy, we could carry these men over the lines and drop them off at a prearranged strong point, fortify it, and we could supply them by aircraft with food and ammunition. Our low flying attack aviation would then cover every road in the vicinity, both day and night, so as to prevent the Germans falling on them before they could thoroughly organize the position. Then we could attack the Germans from the rear, aided by an attack from our Army from the front, and support the maneuver with our great Air Force. The idea came from the mind of a visionary who wouldn't live to see his ideas come into being. But he was proven right. The first use of Paratroops goes back to WWI when Italian officers landed behind Austrian lines for reconnaissance. Army Air Corps flew a field artillery battery complete with equipment to Panama as a demonstration of . Then, in maneuvers near Fort Du. Pont, Delaware, AAC Capt. Gliders had been towed 1,1. All pilots involved were women. The board was headed by Maj. Huffman, who sent letters to known jumpers in the country to demonstrate equipment and techniques that might be purchased by the government. He presented the first free- fall parachute, a concept that required the jumper to manually release the canopy with a rip cord instead of a static line. The Irvin model used a harness instead of a coat. The canopy was thirty two feet in diameter, with twenty four suspension lines. Instead of being extracted by a static line, the canopy was deployed by a pilot chute that sprang from the container when the jumper pulled the rip cord. Irvan proved them wrong by making a delayed- opening jump from 1,5. By 1. 92. 2 a parachute was a required part of the uniform of the military and airmail pilots, and the design remained unchanged for the next fifty years. The Initial collective drop was made at Cinisello Balsamo, near Milan, on 6 November 1. CA- 7. 3 troop carriers of the Regfa Aerornautica. The Italians used the Salvator static- line parachute and used no reserve, a policy decision that must have seemed mistaken to the unit's General Gutdoni as he fell to his death a year later, his Salvator streaming above htm m the dreaded . The Russians even had bombers and gliders to deliver tanks and . The French also started in 1. French were defeated before they could use them. They designed what was then called the T- 4 and was the first chute to have four risers so it could be steered. They also developed the reserve parachute, something only the U.
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