Fourteen years ago today, September 9, 2001, a documentary-like mini-series tribute to D-Day and to WWII, Band of Brothers, aired its two first episodes. Two days later that same year the world turned upside down. It was very difficult for any entertainment to be very entertaining in the days after September 11, 2001. If there were people who looked at ratings, advertising revenue, critical reviews and other such metrics to gauge the success of a series, chances are that they, like the rest of us, were distracted by other headlines. On this anniversary, I wanted to examine how Band of Brothers was perceived by critics, before and after September 11, 2001.
Category: Band of Brothers
Revisiting Dick Winters
A week or so short of the 14 year anniversary of the airing of the first episode of Band of Brothers, let’s revisit my second post on this blog, “Before Nicholas Brody, there was Dick Winters”. Seems the love for this series has never abated and in the months since I published this post, the remembrances of Damian Lewis as Dick Winters are still steady and strong. Enjoy!
Damian Lewis’ first role as an American was in the role of Dick Winters in Spielberg/Hanks’ Band of Brothers. (Fun fact: the title Band of Brothers is taken from Shakespeare, from Henry V’s speech to his troops: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother”)
Trivia Tuesday: How did Damian Lewis Become Dick Winters?
We talked about “American” Damian earlier here. From Dick Winters to Nicholas Brody, Damian Lewis gave us a wide portfolio of American characters all of whom we have fallen in love with. And now that he’s filming the NEW Showtime drama Billions in New York (Have you seen the first Billions teaser yet?) we cannot wait to meet Bobby Axelrod in January 2016 when Billions is supposed to hit TV Screens!
Now… Given that Damian Lewis is probably more well-known for the American characters he has brought to life, one just wonders about how this all started… which takes us to 1999, and in Damian’s own words to “auditions in damp Soho basements.” Continue reading “Trivia Tuesday: How did Damian Lewis Become Dick Winters?”
Billions News Amidst a Concordance of Damian Lewis
I don’t know about you all, but I am absolutely chomping at the bit for Billions to get to our screens. Damian Lewis? Back on cable TV? Not to get too technical or obvious, but really: Damian Lewis is going to be back on Showtime? All that implies? I can’t even.
So while we wait to see Billions wrapped up and ready for us, we’ve been following along on the filming and bits of behind the scenes we’ve been lucky to see.
Before getting to that, though, I’d like to talk a bit about the nature of obsession. (Apologies in advance for this post that is neither here nor there, but, in fact, is everywhere.)
Continue reading “Billions News Amidst a Concordance of Damian Lewis”
Anniversary of D-Day = Revisiting Band of Brothers
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces entered German-occupied France from the sea and the air with a mission to secure a 50 mile stretch of the Normandy coast. They succeeded in connecting all five beachheads in 6 days, precipitating the liberation of France from a five year occupation, and eventually driving the Nazis out of mainland Europe. That beginning of the end of WWII was D-Day. The nerve-wracking horror as well as the incredible courage of the men parachuting down to enemy occupied land was captured in all its brilliant unbelievable glory in Band of Brothers. And leading those men was Dick Winters, played by Damian Lewis.
Continue reading “Anniversary of D-Day = Revisiting Band of Brothers”