More for Memorial Day

Posted on May 27, 2010 at 8:00 am

A thoughtful commenter named Richard S. Webster added some superb suggestions to the list I published for Memorial Day, and I wanted to post them for families to have as they salute the courage and sacrifice of our armed forces.

1. “The Sands of Iwo Jima” This film both shows the sacrifice and hardship involved in war but also the personal toll it takes on the men.

2. “Bataan” War costs lives to win and this one does so in a hauntingly morose way.

3. “The Guns of Naverone” Perhaps the best behind the lines war film ever. The cast could never be duplicated.

4. “Battleground” Captures the suffering of the common soldier during the Battle of the Bulge.

5. “To Hell and Back” I love “Sergeant York” but Audie Murphy was even more extraordinary.

6. “From Here to Eternity” Captures the disorganization and problems the military had just prior to the onset of WW2.

7. “Flyboys” This extremely underrated WW1 film presents the American volunteer forces known as the Lafayette Escadrille who took to the skies early in WW1.

8. “We Were Soldiers” Despite many who will argue against this statement this is possibly the best Vietnam War film ever made. It certainly captures the feel of the early days of the war when America still had faith that we were doing the right thing.

9. “Midway” Realistically captures the most important naval battle in history…fought entirely in the air.

10. “The Court Marshall of Billy Mitchell” Your list has military court cases and here is one back at you but a better one and a real one. 16 years prior to WW2 Billy Mitchell realized what the Japanese plan of attack in the Pacific would be but nobody wanted to hear it…check this one out.

Movies to Salute Our Armed Forces

Posted on May 26, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Reposting from 2008:
In honor of Memorial Day, take a break from picnics and sales and share one of these great films about American soldiers, sailors, and Marines. And be sure to take time thank the military and veterans in your life for all they have done to keep us safe and free.
1. Sergeant York Gary Cooper won an Oscar for his portrayal of WWI hero Alvin York, the pacifist from the hills of Tennessee who carried out one of the most extraordinary missions in military history using lessons from his life on a farm. He captured 132 men by himself, still a record for a single soldier. In addition to the exciting story of his heroism in war, this is also the thoughtful story of his spiritual journey. He is a pacifist, opposed to fighting of any kind. By thinking of what he is doing as saving lives, he is able to find the inspiration and resolve for this historic achievement.

2. Saving Private Ryan Director Steven Spielberg salutes his father and the greatest generation with this story set in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. It frankly portrays the brutality and carnage of war and its wrenching losses, but it also portrays the honor, sacrifice, heroism, and meaning.
3. Mister Roberts There are battles — and heroes — of all kinds. Henry Fonda plays a Naval lieutenant assigned to a cargo ship during WWII who feels very far from the action. He learns that his defense of the crew against a petty and tyrannical captain (James Cagney), on behalf of “all the guys everywhere who sail from Tedium to Apathy…and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony,” is an important and meaningful contribution.
4. M*A*S*H Set during the Korean War but released in and very much a commentary on the Vietnam War, this is the story of surgeons stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The emphasis is on war’s essential absurdity — these are doctors whose job is to heal soldiers to they can be sent back into battle — and on the ways that different people respond to those situations, responses that often escalate the absurdity. See also “Captain Newman, M.D.,” with Gregory Peck as a sympathetic Army psychiatrist during WWII as well as the long-running television series this film inspired.
5. Glory The Civil War 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African American men, inspired his film. Led by abolitionist Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick), and based on his letters, this is a story of heart-breaking courage, as the men had to battle not only with the Confederacy but with the bigotry of most of the white officers on their own side.
6. The Longest Day An all-star cast shines in this sincere re-telling of the events of the invasion of Normandy D-Day, one of the transformational moments of WWII. Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film’s production were actual participants (from both sides) in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film.
7. Band of Brothers This 10-part miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg is based on the best-seller by Stephen Ambrose about the WWII experiences of E Company (“Easy Company”), the members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, United States Army 101st Airborne Division and one of its officers, Richard Winters (played by Damian Lewis), from basic training through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and the end of the war.
8. Patton George C. Scott won an Oscar for his portrayal of WWII General George S. Patton. The film also won six additional Oscars, including Best Picture. Its screenplay, co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, frankly portrays Patton’s mistakes and faults as well as his leadership in turning the tide of the war.
9. The Caine Mutiny/A Few Good Men These two movies, one set in WWII and one contemporary, both center on court martial trials with similar themes — what price do we pay for the luxury of feeling safe?
10. Gardens of Stone This underrated gem from Francis Ford Coppola about the “Old Guard,” the regiment responsible for the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery has beautiful performances from James Caan, James Earl Jones, and D.B. Sweeney and subtly but powerfully explores some of the deepest and most troubling questions about the price we pay — and the price we call on others to pay — for our freedoms.

The Best TV Moms

Posted on May 5, 2010 at 1:59 pm

I’ve written about great movie mothers before (more great movie moms here). The Wall Street Journal’s article on a return to the portrayal of parents as sensible and caring inspired me to celebrate Mother’s Day this year with some of my favorite television moms.

Marion Cunningham (Marion Ross) on “Happy Days” was always there with a wholesome snack and even more wholesome advice. “Mrs. C” was the only one allowed to call Fonzie by his real first name. Broadcast during a time of great change for women, the show was a reminder that the traditional role was also of great value and worthy of respect.

Clair Huxtable (Phylicia RashÄd) on “The Cosby Show” was the elegant and almost always unflappable successful attorney and mother of five, as bemused by her husband (far from unflappable) as by her children.

Carol Brady (Florence Henderson) on “The Brady Bunch” always seemed as sweetly unaware of the show’s cheesiness as she was of the possible problems that arise in blended families. She managed to cope with six children even through such catastrophes as a visit from Davy Jones and Jan’s weird wig.

Margaret Anderson (Jane Wyatt) on “Father Knows Best” was the quintessential 1950’s ideal of a mother and homemaker, always loving and supportive of her family. Often, she was the one who really knew best.

Julia Baker (Diahann Carroll) on “Julia” was a pioneer — a single working mother and the first in more than a decade with a black performer in the lead role. Julia was a

nurse whose husband had been killed in Vietnam. I still remember her job interview over the phone in the first episode. With some apprehension, she tells the doctor she is black and he jokingly asks if she has always been black or just decided to become black since it was so fashionable. When her son Corey met the white boy who would become his best friend, he said, “Your mom’s colored!” Corey replied, “Yeah, so am I,” and the boy said, “You are?” That set the tone for a series that was if not entirely frank about race at least more upfront about it than audiences were used to in 1968 and yet still comfortably sit-comy.

Marge Simpson (voice of Julie Kavner) on “The Simpsons” is the ever-good-humored center of the family. Her character is both inspired by and a gentle parody of 1950’s sit-com mothers. While craziness goes on all around her, she is almost always the moral center of the family, eternally devoted to her often-idiotic husband and naughty son.

Patty Chase (Bess Armstrong) in “My So-Called Life” supported the family economically as well as emotionally. In a series that focused on the adolescent struggles of the teen-age daughter (Claire Danes), Patty came across both as a strong, understanding believably conflicted woman. She understood the importance of allowing her daughter to be independent, even make her own mistakes, but when things went too far she did not hesitate to step in.

Lorelei Gilmore (Lauren Graham) on “The Gilmore Girls” was a teenager when her daughter Rory was born. Rory was a teenager when the show began, and part of its appeal was the close and understanding relationship between the two of them. For most of the series, the mother-daughter conflict was kicked up a generation as Lorelei connected with her estranged (and wealthy) parents to help pay for Rory’s tuition. The most adorable mother-daughter dialogue in television history was this show’s quippy, intensely culturally aware repartee.

Olivia Walton (Michael Learned) on “The Waltons” is based on the real-life mother of series creator Earl Hammer, Jr. Olivia combined resolve with patience in raising seven children during the Depression, and part of what made the show so heartwarming was her ability to engage with each person in the family in a way that was always completely present and loving.

Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) on “The Andy Griffith Show” is one of the best examples of indispensable mother-figures and mother-substitutes we love on television and in real life. When Sheriff Andy Taylor needed someone to help raise his son, Opie, he called in Aunt Bee, who arrives in the first episode and quickly becomes a part of the household. Other than a problem with her pickles, she is known for her excellent home cooking and other domestic skills and for her devotion to Andy and Opie.

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List: Librarians in Movies

Posted on April 12, 2010 at 8:00 am

Celebrate National Library Week! This year’s chairman is “Coraline” author Neil Gaiman. Visit your public library to take a look at what’s available in books, DVDs, and audio — and to thank your librarian. A special thank you shout-out from me to my favorite librarian, my sister Mary.

And check out some of these movies about libraries and librarians. Here’s my favorite:

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Five Movies about College Basketball

Posted on April 5, 2010 at 8:00 am

Now that most people’s NCAA brackets are blown up and they’re getting ready to enjoy the final game, it might be a good time to take another look at some fictional college basketball teams in the movies.
1. The Absent Minded Professor Fred MacMurray plays a college professor whose accidental invention of “flubber” (“flying rubber”) gives the school’s basketball team some extra bounce.
2. Tall Story Jane Fonda’s first movie has her co-starring with Anthony Perkins (before “Psycho”) in the story of a basketball star thrown off his game by the attentions of a determined young woman.
3. Glory Road This is the true story of coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas), who played the first all-black team in the NCAA in 1965 at Texas Western college (now University of Texas at El Paso). Lucas and Derek Luke as one of his players give beautiful performances in this stirring film.
4. Blue Chips stars Nick Nolte in a story of corruption in college recruiting, written by Ron Shelton of “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Bull Durham.”
5. “The Air Up There” A gentler college recruiting story has Kevin Bacon traveling to Africa to persuade the son of a tribal leader who has “the hang time of a helium balloon” to join his team.

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