TV/Movies Megathread

[Barrister]

I can believe it. I find it really weird how the Nigerian Civil War didn't become a Cold War proxy - I assume the Americans were just too busy with Vietnam.

I don't think that was the reason. The US almost never got seriously involved in Africa in the Cold War. The regimes were too unstable and the stakes too low. Defending Europe was always a priority, the Pacific and Korea a priority, and Latin America was a core interest. Africa was always the lowest priority.  For the Soviets, OTOH, Africa presented opportunities precisely because US interest was low, and because their economic constraints were not as disabling in African conflicts, where they could materially move the dial by flooding the zone with small arms and a few "advisors"

My first sense of that strategic reality came in the mid-80s as a kid playing Chris Crawford's Balance of Power. it was tempting to get involved in Africa because of all the opportunities to meddle cheaply, but as the US I just found myself losing prestige because it made no sense to escalate.  Crawford really captured something there with a relatively simply game design by modern standards. (A few years ago I grabbed a copy of the game off an abandonware site as my original Mac copy is long gone. I had forgotten what a PITA the interface was.  That's a game I'd love to see a modern touch up for, but I'm not holding my breath.)

I loved Balance of Power.

UP until this point though.  I played a game just for kicks where I went full isolationist as the US.  I pulled all support from everyone, everywhere.  My score went through the absolute roof even as the Soviets expanded their influence everywhere in a massive fashion.

I guess maybe it was just a bug (these were the days before online patches - I think I was playing on an Apple II), but maybe just the designer was secretly a neo-isolationist.

As for US influence in Africa - US was certainly involved in Egypt (but I guess the comment was sub-saharan Africa).  US was very hesitant to get involved in apartheid South Africa, intervened at least slightly in Angola (although that was after the Cubans literally sent troops) but I guess fair point it was never a big priority.

[Admiral Yi]

How did the US intervene at all in Angola?  I've only read about South African involvement.

[Admiral Yi]

Our first and only beef was over that exactly.

[crazy canuck]

How did the US intervene at all in Angola?  I've only read about South African involvement.

Through the CIA

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP88-01314R000100660020-1.pdf

[The Minsky Moment]

I guess maybe it was just a bug (these were the days before online patches - I think I was playing on an Apple II), but maybe just the designer was secretly a neo-isolationist.

He published very detailed design documents, including one in book form that is still available on the net.  Not a neo-isolationist, as his sample game involved a reasonably aggressive US, starting with sending troops to bolster regimes in the Philippines and Panama.

Game was originally designed for Mac, so it may be a bug; there is also some amount of RNG at work where a country can flip even if you are supporting it strongly (just as IRL).

[Syt]

Mythic Quest S4 is coming next week. After the lackluster S3 (and the show, besides a few exceptions, wasn't super-great to begin with) I'm actually surprised. At the same time Apple seems to be just quietly doing their thing. Where others cancel shows after a season even though there was a solid fanbase but apparently not big enough Apple just quietly plows forward.

(And tbh, we all know shows that had rocky first or first and second seasons before blowing up - something that is rarely allowed in streaming anymore - immediate success or GTFO. Unless you have Amazon/Apple money, I guess. Let alone syndication not being as big a factor as it used to be.)

[celedhring]

Mythic Quest has the occasional gem - though the fact that the one flashback episode they do every season, which doesn't feature any of the regular cast, is almost always the best of the season says a lot 

[Syt]

Mythic Quest has the occasional gem - though the fact that the one flashback episode they do every season, which doesn't feature any of the regular cast, is almost always the best of the season says a lot 

And the one in S3 wasn't that great. (Not to mention the leaving of F Murry Abraham who was a delight)

[Barrister]

How did the US intervene at all in Angola?  I've only read about South African involvement.

US gave material support to Jonas Savimbi's UNITA movement during the 1980s - precisely to counter the perceived communist influence.

[Syt]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. That was really fun and captured the feel of a pretty chaotic campaign.

[Admiral Yi]

Celery, got a totally random question for you.  Any college movies where the townies are the BAD guys?

[celedhring]

Celery, got a totally random question for you.  Any college movies where the townies are the BAD guys?

Hardly a genre I'm particularly versed in 

I'm drawing a blank. All the ones I can think of the locals are pretty much just background figures, really. Certainly not the "bad guys" besides the usual "protagonists get wasted and have an humorous confrontation at a bar" scenes.

College/high-school life movies are so uniquely tied into American culture that I find hard to care much for them except the few classics. Others maybe can help.

[HVC]

Do 80s ski movies count? Aren't all the townies in those dicks? That was a genre, wasn't it?

[crazy canuck]

Footloose

[The Minsky Moment]

Are blood sucking vampires dicks?
Then the Lost Boys