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.

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For Your Netflix Queue Holidays Lists War
Movies to Salute Our Armed Forces

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.
saving%20private%20ryan.jpg
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.
cain.jpg9. The Caine Mutiny/A Few Good Menyou-cant-handle-the-truth.jpg 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.

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For Your Netflix Queue Holidays Lists Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Rediscovered Classic War

Beaufort

Posted on March 28, 2008 at 8:01 am

A-
Lowest Recommended Age: High School
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Profanity: Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking, smoking
Violence/ Scariness: Graphic and intense battle violence, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues: A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters: March 28, 2008

‘Beaufort,” the first Israeli movie nominated for the best foreign film Oscar in 24 years, is a meditation on the tragic ironies that soldiers face while ending an 18-year occupation of a medieval fortress in Lebanon. Despite their valor, the soldiers’ mission increasingly seems like an exercise in futility. They might as well be waiting for Godot.
Even though the Israelis are leaving, Hezbollah forces are becoming more aggressive and trying to make the evacuation look like a retreat. Meanwhile, far away, generals and politicians issue orders that seem clueless or callous or both, when they even remember Beaufort at all.Beaufortposter.jpg
Built during the Crusades of the 12th century, Beaufort (“Beautiful Fort”) has been fought over off and on ever since. We are told in opening text that raising the Israeli flag over Beaufort in 1982 had enormous political and cultural symbolism. But 18 years later, as the movie begins, it is not at all clear what leaving the fortress will symbolize. Are the Israelis leaving in triumph, having accomplished their goals? Or is it surrender? The soldiers are trying simultaneously to protect themselves, fight the enemy and leave with dignity, with some sense that the time they spent and the lives they lost meant something and made a difference.

(more…)

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Based on a true story Drama Movies -- format War
James C. Strouse of “Grace is Gone”

James C. Strouse of “Grace is Gone”

Posted on January 30, 2008 at 8:00 am

“Grace is Gone” is the story of a father who cannot bear to tell his daughters that their mother has been killed in Iraq, so he takes them on a road trip to a theme park called Enchanted Garden. It was written and directed by James C. Strouse, who spoke to me about making the film.

Copyright 2007 Plum Pictures


You worked with two of my favorite actors on this film, John Cusack, who played Stanley and Alessandro Nivola, who played his brother.


John wanted to try something different. It was written pretty specifically, you could see it on the page that was buttoned down and quiet, slightly repressed, and he was excited to try that. I had a backstory for him and put him in touch with a couple of people including a man who lost his wife and has three kids. John was ready to do and came up with a lot of the performance on his own.

Alessandro is just phenomenal. That was one of the last roles we cast and as soon as he read the script he said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” He’s so smart. It’s great to meet an actor who not only understands their part but the larger story as well. It’s kind of a luxury, when they understand the micro and macro at the same time. From the first take, I had very little to say because he just got it so clearly. Like his character, he was a breath of fresh air, a fun presence. The girls just instantly were smitten with him. I loved his film Junebug and I poached as many people as I could from that film, not just Alessandro but also the editor, screened the movie for Junebug’s director Phil Morrison to get his comments.

How did you come to use Clint Eastwood to compose your score?

That was Harvey Weinstein’s idea. After he bought it at Sundance, he told me Clint Eastwood would be a good choice to redo the music. We had music, honestly a very good score. I don’t know that we needed to replace it, but when Clint Eastwood said, “I would like to work with this; I can do something musically that will make this film a more emotional experience,” he was one of the few people I basically would change my mind for. When am I going to get a chance like this ever again?


Tell me about the research you did for this script.

I had finished the script and done research through the library, going on line, reading newspaper articles about the life of deployed families. There is a book called Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Familiesby Karen M. Pavlicin, a how-to manual for dads and moms and how to deal with raising kids alone, the reality of having a spouse who is deployed, a tough, very specific life situation. It was really informative. I sent the script to her and we started talking and she gave me a couple of comments and put me in touch with women — I mostly talked to women. They were amazingly generous with information. Karen lost her husband but not in combat. It was colon cancer. And she took her son to Disney World. So things did resonate with these families; it did seem like I was on to something. The idea of the watch with the timer that goes off at the same time so the child knows the parent is thinking about her, I found in an online article. There was also a mother who kept buying her kids pets, so many interesting sad stories, so particular to the family’s personalities, eye-opening, heartbreaking. This is a situation that has precedent. To think about the reality of it was overwhelming at times.

Copyright 2006 Plum Pictures


Middle school is unquestionably one of the toughest times in anyone’s life. Why did you choose to make one of the daughters 12 years old and how did you work with 12-year-old Shélan O’Keefe to give such an open and vulnerable performance as Heidi?

That stage of life is dramatically one of the most fraught with all sorts of complications and emerging consciousness. I loved putting that against this uncommunicative, closed-off man. Heidi is bursting with confusion and emotion and her father is trying to bury it as much as he can. Children are tapped into their imaginations in a way that makes acting very easy for them if they have the talent and the willingness. They already like to pretend. The biggest challenge with the girls was just getting them comfortable and creating an environment where they weren’t noticing the cameras and getting them comfortable in their own skin. When John read with Shélan, he said “We’ve got to her in the movie because she’s got the face. She’s the hardest to lie to.” In auditions, there were other girls who delivered the lines better, but what was amazing about Shélan was how great a listener she was. What she was doing when she wasn’t talking was really subtle, always small. She would never overdo it, an amazing instinct to have.

I watched the film on Veteran’s Day. I like the way it was respectful of all opinions on the war but mostly respectful of the soldiers and their families.

That was one of the most important things in making the film. There was a long learning process in writing it. I had no specific agenda when I started writing, but I would never make Stanley a mouthpiece for a dramatic idea or to criticize the administration because it didn’t feel true and wasn’t dramatically interesting. We’re witnessing this family’s grief, and if we get the movie right the people will be witnessing truth, as close as we could come to it, to capture something true. You get away from the truth when you start politicizing the story. I like writers where you come away with an experience, a shared truth about life and living that’s not reduced to a point, it just feels mysterious. I like stories that are led by their characters.

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Interview

The Hunting Party

Posted on January 22, 2008 at 8:00 am

Crazy times require crazy tactics. And so just because the UN can’t seem to find Bosnia’s most notorious war criminal does not mean that a gonzo journalist shouldn’t track him down for an interview.
Based on a 2002 Esquire Magazine story called What I Did on My Summer Vacation by Scott Anderson, the movie starts off with a snarky advisory: “Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true.” The snark deepens to anger and outrage but performances of great sensitivity and heart keep it from getting shrill.
Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) is a television war correspondent equally strung out from the madness of war and from the lack of interest in the stories he sends back home. He has spent his entire career living on adrenaline and alcohol, chasing stories all over the world about people trying to wipe each other out. One night during a live broadcast on network television he had a meltdown, and since then he has been relegated to scrambling for freelance piecework for any global television service he can get to pay him enough to cover his bar tab. But the market for his stories is getting smaller and the bar tab is getting larger.
The network anchorman arrives (James Brolin, sleek and satisfied as a Siamese cat), accompanied by his cameraman (Terrence Howard as Duck), formerly Simon’s closest colleague, and Benjamin (“The Squid and the Whale’s” Jesse Eisenberg), a young kid just out of school whose father is a network executive.

(more…)

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Action/Adventure Based on a true story War
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