Turn: America's First Spy Ring looks hella interesting

Saw the commercial for this new show just now and my interest is definitely piqued. I mean, how many TV shows set during the Revolutionary War are there?



From AMC's website:

Based on the book Washington’s Spies written by Alexander Rose, Turn is set in the summer of 1778 and tells the story of New York farmer Abe Woodhull, who bands together with a group of childhood friends to form The Culper Ring, an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America’s fight for independence. Turn, from AMC Studios, is written by showrunner Craig Silverstein (Nikita) and executive produced by Barry Josephson (Bones, Enchanted) from Josephson Entertainment. The series stars Jamie Bell as Abraham Woodhull, Kevin McNally as Judge Richard Woodhull, Burn Gorman as Major Hewlett, Angus MacFadyen as Robert Rogers, JJ Feild as Major John Andre, Seth Numrich as Ben Talmadge, Daniel Henshall as Caleb, and Heather Lind as Anna Strong.

I think the only thing I've seen Jamie Bell in was that movie Jumper with Hayden Christiansen (aka Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), but he's been in a bunch of other movies. I've never heard of any of the other actors, but then again, how many people had heard of the casts of Mad Men or The Walking Dead before those shows came along? Here's to hoping this doesn't flop like Rubicon did. AMC has had a pretty good track record thus far, so I'm optimistic.

Iron Maiden - The Trooper

The Trooper, of course, is based on the famous Charge of the Light Brigade, which itself was forever immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his epic poem. Amazing how an absolute clusterf*ck like that gets turned into some sort of celebrated event, yet Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War is infamous as a huge blunder and isn't immortalized.

I just wonder if any wargamers have played this during a Victorian era game? If not, then I am terribly disappointed in all of you. :P

Awesome video: USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia

So apparently back in like 1991, a TV movie came out that focused on the first battle between ironclad warships called Ironclads. The battle scene itself is quite good.



This is my favorite era of naval warfare, the transition from wind-powered, wooden hulled warships to steam-powered, metal hulled warships. I should do some posts about that.

Damn, Lincoln looks like a good movie

Tommy Lee Jones looks weird with that hair, but any movie with him in it tends to be good. Daniel Day-Lewis might be the greatest living actor today and certainly one of the greatest ever. The movie won't focus on Lincoln's entire life or presidency, but the last months of his life. Who knows, if the movie is a big enough success, maybe Spielberg will make prequels covering the rest of Lincoln's life.