Films are not just a reflection of our society. They are a mode of communication that also provides direction on how the population should think about itself.

Regarding the War in Iraq, Hollywood has broken things down into two distinct camps.

1) Prior to The Surge, American Soldiers were ruthless, torturing barbarians unleashed by a corrupt and brutal Government (search for the film Redacted for the best example of this line of thinking).

2) Following The Surge in 2007, Hollywood couldn't portray soldiers as negatively since we were "winning" and the death toll was declining. Film makers quickly switched to presenting American vets returning from the battlefield. These veterans are all shown as despondent, confused, probable substance abusers and potential psychopaths. (such as In the Valley of Elah (2007) & The Torturer (2008)) No one escapes Iraq without PTSD.

While PTSD certainly exists and soldiers have come back with all manner of difficult problems to overcome, Hollywood seems compelled to only show the ugly side of their service. No films show heroic deeds. No films showing the men and women of valor doing their duty. Certainly no films showing the brutal nature of the enemy they were facing or the obscene and violent culture our service people were forced to confront.

Hollywood spent the first few years of the war undermining the troops. The war turns and things get better - do they go to spending their resources portraying soldiers as heroes who have served with honor? Nope. Since 2007 we have had a continual flow of messed-up, used-up, potential psychos/drunks suffering like rape victims with crew-cuts.

This film shows Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) who has just returned from IraqMontgomery suffers from the injuries he obtain from a IED and is simply waiting for his enlistment to run out. He is put to work on a Casualty Notification Team, even though he has no experience telling people their family member is dead. He is teamed with the more experienced Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson). Stone is, of course, a former drunk.

Montgomery falls for one of the widows, Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton). The widow Pitterson. Pitterson. Pitterson = pity = sympathy. Heck, why not just name the character Olive Branch and call it a day?

In short, they're all screwed up. Everyone's moral compass is broken. It's all misery and despondency back home.

The film itself is not half bad. There's good performances by Foster and Harrelson and they make for an interesting pairing. The issue here is that the film is thick with self-importance. Every moment seems loaded with a "this is heavy stuff" vibe that simply kills the production. Instead of simply being dramatic, the film want you to know its being dramatic and overplays its hand.

The other issue is that this is just another in the line of films that is essentially a slap in the face of our returning vets. If film makers would have spent any time at all presenting the war outside of an Abu Ghraib-esque light, movies like these would be easier to swallow. Given the string of Iraq War movies and what they are saying about our troops? This seems to be just another lump of agitprop against the military.



Related Reviews:
Ben Foster movies
30 Days of Night (2007)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Christianity Today
Meet in the Lobby



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Labels: Ben Foster, film, Jena Malone, movie review, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi, Woody Harrelson

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Labels: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, film, Kevin James, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, movie trailer, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows

This is a very strong trailer. It hits on all the right emotional chords without being too melodramatic. As somber as this is, the ad does a very good job of selling. The music is a nice touch.

The film itself? As is the case with any film about the military over the past forty years, it all depends on how seriously they take it. It is hard to imagine a film maker being irresponsible or clumsily political while dealing with this kind of topic - but would you really be surprised if they were?

This does look good, but it does strike me that with only a few exceptions like The Hurt Locker, film makers can only bring themselves to discuss our soldiers only by focusing on them after they come home, dead or alive (In the Valley of Elah, Home of the Brave, Cost of a Soul, Taking Chance, Grace Is Gone, Stop-Loss, The Lucky Ones, Brothers). No investigation on what our men and women are seeing "over there". No mention of the absolute depraved condition of the Muslim world or the struggling people looking for freedom. No discussion of if what we've been doing all this time has been worth it or why we've been doing it. We just get a line of films showing our men and women in uniform racked with guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder, maimed or dead.

By avoiding the war and the moral questions involved in its execution, film makers can continue to undermine our troops. The entertainment industry was comfortable painting our soldiers as barbarians while the Iraq War was at its height. Now, we're seeing that the industry has changed from attacking our men by slander to attacking them with sympathy. What we have is film makers holding up returning soldiers (the same that were maligned for years) and saying to the world "look at what we've done to these poor souls." Instead of identifying them as returning heroes, it seems Hollywood is more satisfied to cite them as pitiable victims.

It is a good thing to talk about our men and women in uniform and discuss the issues they are faced with. It is important that we give them the context they deserve and be very careful about reducing them to mere props.






Screenwriters: Oren Moverman (I'm Not There) and Alessandro Camon (The Bandit K.)
Director: Oren Moverman
Actors: Ben Foster (Hostage), Jena Malone (The Ruins), Woody Harrelson (2012), Steve Buscemi (Armageddon), Eamonn Walker (Cadillac Records) and Samantha Morton (Minority Report)

Labels: Ben Foster, Eamonn Walker, film, Jena Malone, movie trailer, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi, Woody Harrelson

The animation is impressive, not for its realism but for the use of depth perception to give a three-dimensional look. I kept finding myself enjoying the visual details of the film more than the predictable plot.

Teenager DJ is troubled by an ominous old house that stands across the street from his home. In this creaky, dark house lives Nebbercracker, a mean old man with wild eyes and a constant snarl on his face. DJ, his tubby pal Chowder along with their friend Jennifer confront their fear of the evil house that has been eating local residents. The trio eventually unravels the mystery of the cursed abode.

This is not a film for small children. The house and Nebbercracker are both effectively done, meaning they are way too scary for the youngsters. For the older kids this is a reasonable pick, although not a great one. It is an okay movie. For my money, if you’re going to spend time with this you may as well go to the trouble of watching something from Pixar.


Related Reviews:
Other animated movies
Kung-Fu Panda (2008)
Cars (2006)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
Creative Loafing
Film Jerk

Labels: Catherine O'Hara, film, Fred Willard, Jason Lee, Jon Heder, Kathleen Turner, Kevin James, Maggie Gyllenhaal, movie review, Steve Buscemi

Screenwriter: Hue Rhodes (Tower of Babel)
Director: Hue Rhodes (Practice)
Actors: Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), Sarah Silverman (The Way of the Gun), Romany Malco (The Love Guru), Peter Dinklage (In Bruges), Tim Blake Nelson (O'Brother Where Art Thou?) and John Cho (Star Trek)



* - I'm almost never wrong about these things.

Labels: film, John Cho, movie trailer, Peter Dinklage, Romany Malco, Sarah Silverman, Steve Buscemi, Tim Blake Nelson

Screenwriters: David P.I. James, Cormac Wibberley (National Treasure) and Marianne Wibberley (National Treasure: Book of Secrets)
Director: Hoyt Yeatman
Actors: Nicholas Cage (Raising Arizona), Penelope Cruz (Vanilla Sky), Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) and Will Arnett (Blades of Glory)

Labels: Bill Nighy, film, movie trailer, Nicholas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, Will Arnett

I found this to be nearly unwatchable. Granted, I never liked the story in the first place and I have a natural distaste for doughy, family movies. Many Christian critics love the film, but anytime you have a snotty kid in the lead and celebrities doing voice overs for two-dimensional, hollow, characters, it is too much for me to take. I do not recommend this movie, however if you like vacuous family fare that neither entertains or instructs, you have a movie to put on your must-see list.


Related Reviews:
Animated movies
The Incredibles (2004)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Creative Loafing
ReelViews

Labels: adaptation, animated, Cedric the Entertainer, Dakota Fanning, film, John Cleese, Julia Roberts, movie review, Sam Shepard, Steve Buscemi

A stylized bore. One of a number of Tarantino gangster-chic derivatives. A bunch of small time crooks find themselves on a hit list after botching a job. This is little more than an flimsy excuse for screenwriter Scott Rosenberg (Gone in Sixty Seconds) to display a gaggle of two-dimensional thugs (there's the family guy, the crazy guy, the old guy, etc.) getting whacked. Its Reservoir Dogs without the clever dialog and more sets. Other than a characteristically goofy but strangely interesting performance by Christopher Walken as a disabled crime boss, the movie really doesn't have too much going for it.


Related Reviews:
Christopher Walken Movies
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Suicide Kings (1997)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Rolling Stone
The Washington Post

Labels: Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Walkin, film, movie review, Steve Buscemi, William Forsythe

The average animated movie is soulless and disposable. This doesn't look like it's above average.




Screenwriter: Chris McKenna
Director: Anthony Leondis
Actors: John Cusack (Better Off Dead), Steve Buscemi (Monsters, Inc.), Christian Slater (Heathers), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show), and John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda)

Labels: Christian Slater, film, John Cleese, John Cusack, movie trailer, Steve Buscemi

Tarantino, for all of his foulness and violent imagery, does have talent. Its too bad he uses his incredible writing skills to make vapid, post-modern wastelands. This, his first film, was one of the most astounding introductions of a filmmaker in the last twenty years. Yes, it is violent and it is wall to wall cursing, but in its defense, it is one of the best written films of the 90's.

I don't like what Tarantino stands promotes. I believe most of his films are a shameful waste of talent and energy and serve the lower elements of the audience. For better or for worse, he is an important figure in the industry and he's going to be around for a while.

This film showed his promise, and he's spent the remainder of his career turning on that promise. With the gifts this man was given to use them on making vile and often cheesy flicks that celebrate the worst cinema has to offer - its like Pavarotti stooping to singing rap tunes or Steinbeck taking up writing missives for the Penthouse Forum. Tarantino, considering what his talents could create, to see the pap he's made, it's shameful. Then again, he's a sort of a touchstone for a whole generation of artists. Given the unbelievable technology and the wide freedoms of expression, more than any other generation could have dreamed of having, what do we get? Corporate rehash of forgotten classics. In a way, his continued obsession with retro nonsense and filth do make him the voice of our times.

Caution, the trailer does contain expletives.







Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
Director: Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown)
Actors: Harvey Keitel (Be Cool), Tim Roth (Rosencrantz and Guldenstern are Dead), Michael Madsen (Kill Bill Vol. 1), Chris Penn (True Romance), and Steve Buscemi (Monsters, Inc.)

Labels: film, Harvey Keitel, movie trailer, Quentin Tarantino, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth