Full Metal Jacket (1987) ‘Review’

My friend from work, Nick, gave me a collection of Stanley Kubrick films: One that I will review by next week, and Full Metal Jacket, a Vietnam War film that I have heard a lot about, but have never seen. Although after watching it, I have heard a lot of it. I feel like this is one of the most quoted films I have seen, from R. Lee Ermey’s insulting rants to many of the monologues that are spoken during it. FMJ was one of those movies that, as I was watching it, I was really thinking about what it all meant. I took the time period into consideration, remembered what I learned about the Vietnam War during history and broadcasting classes, and really listened and dissected what I was hearing. It turned out to be a movie that I regretted not watching sooner, because of how much I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed it on a number of different levels as well.

The first ten minutes was a lot of fun to watch. While I understood the intensity and reasons for all the shouting going on, R. Lee Ermey’s Gny. Sgt. Hartman was really excellent. The insults, rants, and ways he said things really got me hooked. And again, while it wasn’t meant to be funny or anything, some of them elicited a chuckle. And then the intensity really ramped up in a big way. There is a certain part where the movie goes from watching some new recruits try to hack it in boot camp, to something far more deep. The movie almost feels like two separate films: Boot camp, and the war itself. But everything is linked together nicely, and Kubrick’s direction and (Oscar-nominated) screenplay really make you understand what is happening in some of the character’s heads. One line in particular really encapsulated the theme of the film, and you can see it on the poster above. I won’t explicitly say it here, in case you want to figure it out for yourself, but it, to me, was apparent. This one all-encompassing thought shows itself throughout the ending moments, and was a goosebump-inducing ride. The final monologue, combined with the visual and aural images really bring everything together, and I highly recommend you check this out so you can see what I mean. If you have seen FMJ, then maybe you already know what I am talking about.

The movie is a bit depressing, and I believe it takes a good look at what the troops thought about the situation they were in. It took a hard look at just what was going on during the war, which did not always go well. Actually, it rarely went well, as they even mentioned that legendary anchor Walter Cronkite called it “an unwinnable war”. There are some disturbing images, but I think it was an accurate portrayal. One of the men in master control even said that the boot camp scenes were completely accurate to the conditions they were in. This is only the second Kubrick film I have watched, the first being Dr. Strangelove. Like I said, I will watch another one soon, but I know I want to see some others like A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But next time I’ll watch The Shining so look out for that.

Argo (2012) ‘Review’

It has been a few days since I watched Argo so I will try to remember everything I thought about it, but suffice it to say that I thought it was as good as people were saying it was. And no, I didn’t have preconceived notions about it because of that either. There are several movies that people have told me were amazing before I watched it and I ended up being disappointed, Avatar and Nightmare Before Christmas to name two. While watching Argo, I could see how well it was directed and the fact that Ben Affleck got snubbed is indeed head-scratching. But when I look at the other nominees for Best Director, I can see that there is some tight competition. Argo combines a wealth of good acting, a great screenplay, and some tense moments to make this a heart-pounding ride– much like Zero Dark Thirty, even though I knew the outcome would be positive, I still had that sinking feeling that something would go wrong, and Argo kept me on the edge of my seat.

I think Ben Affleck will go down as a better director than an actor, even in this movie. He was good, but I guess when I watch him I can’t help but think about all the crap he has done too (Daredevil). But seriously, his film about the Iran Hostage Crisis was directed very well and the montage during the end credits is a testament to that. It shows pictures of the real life people along with the Hollywood stars portraying them, and whether it was his choice or it was a designer or something (because I don’t have any proof as to say who did) but the shots were selected for historical accuracy, and seeing the photos side-by-side is remarkable. Affleck did a good job showing the fear and worry from the actors, especially during the climactic escape from Iran.

The premise was fun though, and there were a lot of laughs too, especially from Best Supporting Actor nominee Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine). He is just one actor in a list of great ones that appear in this film (I personally got a laugh from hearing Tate Donovan, voice of Hercules from the Disney film, as one of the escapees.) But while Affleck won’t win Best Director for this film, I am sure he will have more chances if he keeps it up and continues to wow audiences. The screenplay is nominated and that could very well win too.

And after seeing all nine Best Picture nominations, I can tell how close of a race it could be. There are some obvious bets, but I think the Oscars could be interesting. Before I saw all of the films, I was sure Lincoln would run away with a lot. But after watching all the films, I would hope that is not the case.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ‘Review’

I remember where I was when I heard that the USA got Osama Bin Laden. I was at home watching TV when my brother Matt came into the room and said “We got him. We got Osama.” And I remember I was very happy– what a great American moment. And I wondered how they did it. If it was anything like the tactical raid presented in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, it was very exciting and suspenseful to watch. I knew that the Americans were going to win but seeing it carried out was very cool to see. At the beginning of the movie, the director says via text “The events in this movie are based on first-hand accounts”, so I suppose I will have to take their word for it. The presentation in this movie was very interesting, suspenseful (again), and it takes a good look at everything that went into the ten-year search for him, at least that is the time spanned during the movie. Seeing the people involved and what they were going through (again, based on ‘first-hand’ accounts’) really added another dimension and made this movie one of the more enjoyable of the films that were nominated.

The big story in ZDT is the performance of Lead Actress Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, The Help). She plays Maya, a CIA operative that takes one of the leads in order to find “UBL”, as he is referred to in the movie (“U” being Usama, as it is sometimes spelled). During the movie I couldn’t help but notice the unwavering determination and confidence that Chastain shows during pretty much every scene. At first she looks very nervous because her character is so young, but it quickly changes once she gets in deep into her mission. As she declares at one point in the film when someone asks what else has she done with her life: “I haven’t done anything else.” This is her sole mission, her one purpose, and anytime that a failure is present she will not let it happen. It gets to the point where she is yelling at her boss to get things done, and she will not take “no” for an answer. Her performance must have taken a lot of energy, because if I know anything from acting in plays or taking classes, holding a motivation and mood that long gets exhausting. But she does it flawlessly, and is a front-runner for the Best Actress award.

The rest of the movie is like a detective story; a friend of mine likened it to The Zodiac (the good one with Jake Gyllenhaal). To me, the movie worked well when it showed the people involved, and it made me think of how Bigelow was good at doing that with Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. In that sense, these two movies are similar, although in ZDT, there is more time spent away from Chastain, especially during the climax when she the raid is happening. 

I believe ZDT has a good chance to win Best Picture, but I think the race is going to be close. In any case, this movie had quite a bit of “AMURICA” going on, and was definitely less depressing than The Hurt Locker, which I think makes it more accessible. Chastain is very good, and co-star Jason Clarke (as Dan) was very enjoyable as well.

There is some torture going on in this movie during the first act so that might not be for everyone. After that it becomes a suspenseful ride to see what will happen next. At least I could take solace in the fact that I knew that, just like at Zero Dark Thirty on May 2, 2011, we got him.