December 4, 2008
Full Metal Jacket (1988)
Should I see it?
Yes.
Personally, this is my favorite Stanley Kubrick film. By Kubrick’s standards, this is a brief, focused film. We follow the path of Private Joker from his time at bootcamp through to his first confirmed kill in the depths of The Vietnam War. Joker (Matthew Modine) becomes a combat report but is far too belligerent for that position. He is sent into the field to fight but finds he is too imaginative to be a grunt. He is a man who slowly learns that the absurd world he inhabits is at once ridiculous while also deadly serious.The film is actually two films in one. We have the opening section at boot camp and the second section in Vietnam. The transition between these two worlds is abrupt and jarring. This may have been intentional on Kubrick’s part but regardless, he develops two independent worlds in this film and allows each to mature on screen to their fullest extent.
Looking beyond the brilliant direction by Kubrick, we are given some great performances in this film. No discussion of this film is complete with a nod to R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. Hartman. Ermey’s amazing performance as the screaming drill sergeant that is hilarious as well as ominous. He will make you laugh just before he kicks your teeth in. Ermey’s Hartman is the quintessential drill sergeant and gives the stereotype a new life and dimension. Another notable and career founding performance is Vincent D'Onofrio’s Private Pyle. Pyle’s descent into madness at the hands of others is a hard watch. D’Onofrio manages both sides of this complex character with masterful control. Ermey’s and D’Onofrio’s performances make this film a must see. The rest of the cast is hardly standing around doing nothing. Modine as Joker, Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother, Arliss Howard as Cowboy and Kevyn Major Howard as the over enthusiastic Rafterman, each of these men give memorable performances. This is one of the best war films made and one of the better acted films in decades.
Then there’s that whole “Me love you long time” thing…I’ll just move on to the next review.
Related Reviews:
Vietnam War movies
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Platoon (1986)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Combustible Celluloid
Siskel & Ebert
Labels: film, Mattew Modine, movie review, Stanley Kubrick, Vietnam, war
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM
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July 16, 2008
Platoon (1986)
Should I see it?
Yes.
Yes.
Important when it was released, it was considered to be the first "serious" market friendly film made about the Vietnam War (The Deer Hunter was a bit too serious for most audiences). This led a renaissance of war films in the late 1980's. With Vietnam being turned into some sick cartoon by Missing in Action and Rambo: First Blood Part II, this movie corrected the record to a certain degree by taking the experience with some gravity. Ironically, writer/director Oliver Stonehad written the original screenplay, following his own tour in the war, to counter the light treatment he saw the film get in John Wayne's The Green Berets. Stone still shoehorns every possible experience, stereotype and myth into his masterwork and is manipulative in his own way. Stone's overreaching style is evidenced here but unlike his later films JFK, Nixon, Natural Born Killers and The Doors, his personal stamp doesn't get in the way of narrative.
Stone knows how to handle drama. The war is seen through the eyes of young Private Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who volunteered for service. Taylor finds himself having to choose sides in a platoon splintered in two. One half follows the cruel but effective Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), the other half follows the more laid back, but just as effective Sergeant Gordin (Willem Dafoe). The performances of Berenger and Dafoe are worth the price of admission alone. Stone carefully crafts the conflict between the two halves of the platoon to show the two aspects of the war from his perspective and stands a brilliant piece of screenwriting.
One of the best war films ever released, this is one of the films everyone should see at least once.
Obviously, this being a war film, violence, rape and cursing abound. If you're a sensitive audience member, you probably want to shy away.
Related Reviews:
Vietnam War movies
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Film Freak Central
Celluloid Heroes
Labels: Charlie Sheen, film, Forest Whitaker, movie review, Oliver Stone, Tom Berenger, Vietnam, war, Willem Dafoe
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 12:00 PM
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May 20, 2008
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Should I see it?
No.
No.
Interesting moments and a good performance help this aimless movie but ultimately it is still rather dry and toneless. Christian Bale (Batman Begins) portrays Dieter, a US fighter pilot who is shot down and taken prisoner in a jungle POW camp in Vietnam. Bale is as intense as ever and gives a notable performance. His supporting cast Steve Zahn (Sahara) and Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan) both seem like they're mimicking someone else's performance. Each has a character who has been wallowing in a dank prisoner camp for years and have lost hope. Both actors can't muster believable performances showing the psychological strain of their characters. The off kilter performances combined with Werner Herzog's emotionless directing saps this movie of any feeling of depth or meaning.
At its heart, this is a traditional prisoner of war movie and there are no surprises or original angles. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded from years of watching movies and seeing a dozen movies just like this one, but yeah, I get it - POW camps in Asia and the Pacific are horrible places. Beyond showing us how hard life is in a POW camp, Herzog has nothing else to say. These men are in one of the most intense psychological pressure cookers imaginable and Herzog fails to show it. This is like leading us to the shore of the ocean and explaining the water is cold but then failing to explain the beauty and danger of the ecosystem under the waves. There's a whole world there and its not interesting enough to him to show it. The resolution of the film comes predictably and without any great sense of triumph.
I understand that as a film geek I'm supposed to cheer any time Herzog (Grizzly Man) gets anything on film. The slavish clamoring to applaud this particular film is misguided. I advise you to skip this film and find something else to watch. POW films are depressing and hard to see. If the director is going to ask us to watch people being tortured and our heroic servicemen suffer, they better make absolutely certain their film is top notch - not a listless bore like this one.
Related Reviews:
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Aguirre: The Wraith of God (1972)
Grizzly Man (2005)
Other Critic's Reviews:
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At its heart, this is a traditional prisoner of war movie and there are no surprises or original angles. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded from years of watching movies and seeing a dozen movies just like this one, but yeah, I get it - POW camps in Asia and the Pacific are horrible places. Beyond showing us how hard life is in a POW camp, Herzog has nothing else to say. These men are in one of the most intense psychological pressure cookers imaginable and Herzog fails to show it. This is like leading us to the shore of the ocean and explaining the water is cold but then failing to explain the beauty and danger of the ecosystem under the waves. There's a whole world there and its not interesting enough to him to show it. The resolution of the film comes predictably and without any great sense of triumph.
I understand that as a film geek I'm supposed to cheer any time Herzog (Grizzly Man) gets anything on film. The slavish clamoring to applaud this particular film is misguided. I advise you to skip this film and find something else to watch. POW films are depressing and hard to see. If the director is going to ask us to watch people being tortured and our heroic servicemen suffer, they better make absolutely certain their film is top notch - not a listless bore like this one.
Related Reviews:
Werner Herzog movies
Aguirre: The Wraith of God (1972)
Grizzly Man (2005)
Other Critic's Reviews:
DVD Verdict
Monsters & Critics
Labels: Christian Bale, film, movie review, Steve Zahn, Vietnam, Werner Herzog
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 7:59 AM
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January 27, 2008
First Blood (1982)
Should I see it?
No.
Its a guy movie - in other words: it's stupid, useless, brute and bloody. While it was well received when it was released, time, not to mention the ridiculous sequels, has not been kind to this flick. Its only saving grace is that out of all of the Rambo movies, this is the "serious" one. Which is like saying, this pile of garbage stinks least.No.
Related Reviews:
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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Rambo III (1988)
Other Critic's Reviews:
The Z Review
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Labels: film, movie review, Rambo, revenge, Richard Crenna, shoot em up, Sylvester Stallone, Vietnam
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:20 PM
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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Should I see it?
Of course not.
Sylvester Stallone runs around in the jungle glistening in baby oil while he slaughters an untold number of faceless Vietnamese looking extras. Providing a level of needless violence that is more unintentionally funny than thrilling, this follow up to First Blood shows that the words "good" and "successful" don't necessarily go together. If you haven't seen this, don't - if you have, then you hopefully know better than to watch it again.
Related Reviews:
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First Blood (1982)
Rambo III (1988)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Blogcritics (Matt Paprocki)
The Movie Hamlet
Popcorn Pictures Reviews
Related Reviews:
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Rambo III (1988)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Blogcritics (Matt Paprocki)
The Movie Hamlet
Popcorn Pictures Reviews
Labels: film, movie review, Rambo, revenge, Richard Crenna, shoot em up, Sylvester Stallone, Vietnam
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:20 PM
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Rambo III (1988)
Should I see it?
Nope.
Nope.
The answer to all of you who sat through Rambo: First Blood Part II and asked "How could this get any worse". I'd write more of a review but that pretty much sums it up - it's actually dumber than its predecessor.
Related Reviews:
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First Blood (1982)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Reviews:
Qwipster's Movie Reviews
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Labels: film, movie review, Rambo, revenge, Richard Crenna, Sylvester Stallone, Vietnam
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:19 PM
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January 24, 2008
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Should I see it?
Yes.
Yes.
Short Review: Incoherent ramblings were never so interesting
I mean every word I’ve written. This is a bad movie. On the other hand I also love this movie.
Honestly looking at this film, one has to admit that it is indeed a horrible wreck. It lacks a basic structure and it suffers from numerous flaws. The film also offers some of the most striking moments from its generation of American cinema and is one of the rare moments where the parts are greater than the whole.
For the uninitiated, Coppola’s view of Vietnam is widely considered to be one of the greatest war movies. It is a reworking of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness takes place in Vietnam. Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) is assigned to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has gone insane and is waging his own war in Cambodia. Willard takes a U.S. Navy boat up the winding river to Kurtz’s last known location. Following Willard on his trip we experience the violent and surreal world of Vietnam. The film became famous not only for its stark expression of war but also for the legendary behind-the-scenes mishaps. From Sheen’s heart attack to Coppola’s near mental breakdown, the making of the film is often more interesting than the piece it produced (for more on this I suggest watching Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse which is a chronicle of the film’s creation).
Willard’s Homeric journey is handled in episodic fashion with each of his stops on the river being a separate piece of the collective whole. This leads to a mixed bag of scenes where some work and others simply fall flat. This disjointed storytelling saps the coherency from the piece but adds an element of uncertainty which works to enhance the chaotic hell Willard finds himself in. When this approach works it works brilliantly and makes the film worth every second. The problems settle in when the film has to resolve itself.
The final act when Willard confronts Kurtz is a ridiculous piece of film making. Marlon Brando in all of his bloated, mumbling glory is a laughable disaster. Coppola, unable to control the actor allowed the man to ramble whatever came to his crooked mind instead of his scripted lines. The result is long segments of a man who looks like the devil’s version of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man slurring nonsense in the dark. On top of this we are asked to struggle through a cameo of Dennis Hopper as a frantic photojournalist who is a John the Baptist to Marlon’s doughy anti-Christ.
This is not a film for everyone, although I haven’t met a guy who doesn’t absolutely love the Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall) air cavalry/Flight of the Valkyries scene. Non-film geeks will probably end up looking at their watches during the final half hour. The trip up the river before the fat man sings offers some of the most exhilarating film work from the seventies and is worth the effort. If you haven’t seen this film, there’s no better day than today to give it a shot.
Click on the evil Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to view the trailer
Related Reviews:
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Other critic's reviews:
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Labels: film, Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, movie review, Robert Duvall, Vietnam, war
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 7:35 AM
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May 1, 2007
Movie Trailer: Rambo III
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:20 PM
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Movie Trailer: Rambo: First Blood Part II
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:20 PM
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Movie Trailer: Apocalypse Now
This is the trailer for the "Redeux" version of the film
Labels: Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, movie trailer, Robert Duvall, Vietnam
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 7:41 AM
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