Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Restrepo
But for the fact that Sebastian Junger and Ted Hetherington spent a year embedded with these troops their mission to Korangal Valley in Afghanistan would be just another in which troops were deployed to a location that was later abandoned without comment. The movie serves to put faces to the characters I read about in Junger’s book War. Faces that on screen appear in extreme close-up. Modern warfare is conducted at extreme distance with ammo that can cause injury and death even when it misses you. The enemy is an impersonal entity unless you are the one being shot at or you see him in the sights of your weapon. Soldiers don’t so much fight for a cause but in support of the members of their unit.
This movie is more about the warriors than the war they fought. We see close-ups of weapons being fired but get little sense of the enemy they are aiming at, probably true to the actual situation the troops faced. What is brought home to the viewer are the spartan conditions which the troops have to live in, the pallet of bottled water wrapped in netting was obviously heloed in as was everything else they use. New arrivals labour up steep slopes with heavy packs; cartons of cigarettes and a collapsible camp chair being prized items humped in at great personal cost.
This is one movie where the DVD supplements are more useful than the actual feature. The Deleted Scenes show us more than the actual movie itself. We also get to meet each of the soldiers and hear about their lives post-mission. Young men go to war, to this 60-year-old seeming boys. The individual who gets the most screen time looks barely out of his teens. Although the movie makes no comment about politics, military objectives or moral judgments there is no missing the message that lives were lost and ruined for an objective that was later abandoned. The effectiveness of the hearts and minds campaign was vividly demonstrated by the yawn of the elder who like his ancestors before him has heard it all before. Gungho whipper-snappers come and go but the people who live there have to endure. The Taliban own the territory and collaboration with the American infidels will result in retaliation.
Is the trauma inflicted on the men sent to these theatres of war worth the cost in lives lost, families orphaned, and lives forever traumatized? It seems clear that even the men who didn’t suffer physical wounds will need care of some kind for the remaining 60 years of their natural lives if they manage to survive the nightmares they brought home with them. If this movie does nothing else it makes dramatically clear the true cost of war. The armchair politicians and generals who send boys to war should have this as required viewing, but why should reality interfere with policy.
This movie is more about the warriors than the war they fought. We see close-ups of weapons being fired but get little sense of the enemy they are aiming at, probably true to the actual situation the troops faced. What is brought home to the viewer are the spartan conditions which the troops have to live in, the pallet of bottled water wrapped in netting was obviously heloed in as was everything else they use. New arrivals labour up steep slopes with heavy packs; cartons of cigarettes and a collapsible camp chair being prized items humped in at great personal cost.
This is one movie where the DVD supplements are more useful than the actual feature. The Deleted Scenes show us more than the actual movie itself. We also get to meet each of the soldiers and hear about their lives post-mission. Young men go to war, to this 60-year-old seeming boys. The individual who gets the most screen time looks barely out of his teens. Although the movie makes no comment about politics, military objectives or moral judgments there is no missing the message that lives were lost and ruined for an objective that was later abandoned. The effectiveness of the hearts and minds campaign was vividly demonstrated by the yawn of the elder who like his ancestors before him has heard it all before. Gungho whipper-snappers come and go but the people who live there have to endure. The Taliban own the territory and collaboration with the American infidels will result in retaliation.
Is the trauma inflicted on the men sent to these theatres of war worth the cost in lives lost, families orphaned, and lives forever traumatized? It seems clear that even the men who didn’t suffer physical wounds will need care of some kind for the remaining 60 years of their natural lives if they manage to survive the nightmares they brought home with them. If this movie does nothing else it makes dramatically clear the true cost of war. The armchair politicians and generals who send boys to war should have this as required viewing, but why should reality interfere with policy.
Unstoppable
Hollywood lacking in fresh ideas this is a riff on the Eric Roberts and Jon Voight vehicle Runaway Train. Here Morgan Freeman is the old pro days from being laid off and Chris Pine the rookie both on and off the screen. The pair who set the disaster in motion are so inept as to be caricatures were it not for the stories my rail traffic control friends have related.
Humans make mistakes but sending an 11,000,000 ton train loaded with explosive toxic materials hurtling down the main line at full throttle with no one on-board rates pretty high on the foul-up scale. We get the usual Corporate what will this do to stock values weaselling and precious time wasted attempting to minimize Corporate losses and bad public relations.
However the movie is about the interplay between Pine and Freeman. When we learn that Freeman has been given a 90-day termination notice it serves to explain his crusty treatment of newly arrived Pine serving his first day on the job as Conductor to Freeman’s Engineer--these days both ride in the cab.
After the rather slow initial scenes that serve to set up the disaster to come the movie is one extended adrenalin rush. We get to see rail cars turned to kindling and a few trackside obstacles pancaked. The one character I have so far ignored is the rail traffic controller played by Rosario Dawson who co-ordinates the rescue attempt and runs interference between our heroes and the Corporate weasels. At the end of the movie we get a where are they now summation in support of the supposition that these events actually happened. The final rescue event which stops the train is rather anti-climactic after the hour we’ve just been through. Such high-concept movies require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief and one needs a great deal of it here to sustain the notion that these trains are really hurtling along at 70 miles-per-hour.
Humans make mistakes but sending an 11,000,000 ton train loaded with explosive toxic materials hurtling down the main line at full throttle with no one on-board rates pretty high on the foul-up scale. We get the usual Corporate what will this do to stock values weaselling and precious time wasted attempting to minimize Corporate losses and bad public relations.
However the movie is about the interplay between Pine and Freeman. When we learn that Freeman has been given a 90-day termination notice it serves to explain his crusty treatment of newly arrived Pine serving his first day on the job as Conductor to Freeman’s Engineer--these days both ride in the cab.
After the rather slow initial scenes that serve to set up the disaster to come the movie is one extended adrenalin rush. We get to see rail cars turned to kindling and a few trackside obstacles pancaked. The one character I have so far ignored is the rail traffic controller played by Rosario Dawson who co-ordinates the rescue attempt and runs interference between our heroes and the Corporate weasels. At the end of the movie we get a where are they now summation in support of the supposition that these events actually happened. The final rescue event which stops the train is rather anti-climactic after the hour we’ve just been through. Such high-concept movies require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief and one needs a great deal of it here to sustain the notion that these trains are really hurtling along at 70 miles-per-hour.
Twilight: Eclipse
Watched because I’ve actually been to Forks and read the books. The cynical could say the movie’s raison d’être is to show off Taylor Lautner’s taut abs and bulging bis and pecs and that it certainly does for as Robert Pattison quips he barely ever wears a shirt even during the snow scenes. That our Bella forms the apex of a love triangle involving two mythical creatures, a vampire and a werewolf, stretches credibility. If you can accept that scenario then vampires who can walk in daylight and werewolves that transform at will should be no problem. As with most other book to screen transfers many pot-lines get truncated, the majority of the screen time is devoted to Bella and her suitors. Her father Charlie gets the usual taciturn one-liners. Until the final showdown the other characters remain pretty much on the periphery. The final scenes serve to set us up for the next outing.
Southland
This is a police procedural with a large ensemble cast of actors some of whom have been around for decades on and off the big screen.
Shawn Hatosy Alpha Dog, Borstal Boy
C. Thomas Howell E.T., The Outsiders
Tom Everett Scot That Thing You Do,
Michael McGrady The Thin Red Line
Michael Cudlitz Band of Brothers--Bull Randleman
Ben McKenzie The pouty kid from the OC
It repeats the now successful formula of combining police work with scenes from the officers’ private lives. Once again we are shown the ropes by the device of having a rookie, here McKenzie paired with an experienced Officer, Cudlitz.
These officers manage to get their jobs done despite their personal problems, foibles, and demons. The story-lines serve to put a human face on law enforcement with an emphasis on police service; as when the vice squad officer tells the perp with a baby in the rear seat to get out of there rather than make the arrest or the detective who goes that extra mile behind the scenes to ensure a questionable mother gets to keep her one-year-old.
Set in Los Angeles our rookie friend was born with a silver spoon in his mouth in Beverley Hills and has a high profile lawyer father who abandoned his family. Rookie and trainer exchange child abuse stories. We get treated to the usual number of car and foot chase scenes and a certain amount of gunfire including a memorable pilot episode event in which Ben demonstrates his shooting prowess and a later one in which he applies a sleeper hold.
What sets this show apart from the many others of its genre I could name is its emphasis on the people who commit crime and the people who combat it. Legalize and investigative process is kept to a minimum. We spend little time with lawyers and no time in court nor is there much emphasis put on punishment. What we do get is a sense of the frustrations facing officers due to budget restraints. The 20-year back up of DNA tests, the difficulty getting someone into a witness protection program, the inequalities in the service provided high-end neighbourhoods versus slums.
Shawn Hatosy Alpha Dog, Borstal Boy
C. Thomas Howell E.T., The Outsiders
Tom Everett Scot That Thing You Do,
Michael McGrady The Thin Red Line
Michael Cudlitz Band of Brothers--Bull Randleman
Ben McKenzie The pouty kid from the OC
It repeats the now successful formula of combining police work with scenes from the officers’ private lives. Once again we are shown the ropes by the device of having a rookie, here McKenzie paired with an experienced Officer, Cudlitz.
These officers manage to get their jobs done despite their personal problems, foibles, and demons. The story-lines serve to put a human face on law enforcement with an emphasis on police service; as when the vice squad officer tells the perp with a baby in the rear seat to get out of there rather than make the arrest or the detective who goes that extra mile behind the scenes to ensure a questionable mother gets to keep her one-year-old.
Set in Los Angeles our rookie friend was born with a silver spoon in his mouth in Beverley Hills and has a high profile lawyer father who abandoned his family. Rookie and trainer exchange child abuse stories. We get treated to the usual number of car and foot chase scenes and a certain amount of gunfire including a memorable pilot episode event in which Ben demonstrates his shooting prowess and a later one in which he applies a sleeper hold.
What sets this show apart from the many others of its genre I could name is its emphasis on the people who commit crime and the people who combat it. Legalize and investigative process is kept to a minimum. We spend little time with lawyers and no time in court nor is there much emphasis put on punishment. What we do get is a sense of the frustrations facing officers due to budget restraints. The 20-year back up of DNA tests, the difficulty getting someone into a witness protection program, the inequalities in the service provided high-end neighbourhoods versus slums.
October Road--Season Two
There’s something poignant about watching a TV Series on DVD that failed to make it on air. This one lasted for two seasons before failing to get renewed. Poignant is an appropriate word to describe a storyline about a group of thirty something childhood friends who refuse to grow up, make commitments, or set goals and take on responsibilities.
It is said that a author should write what he knows but Nick Garrett ran off to New York for ten years to write a book based on the people he grew up with in a small New England Town. Going home it is also said is impossible. Returning after 10 years to the girl you left behind you and people who recognized themselves in print is quite another matter. One should not be surprised if people have moved on even if you haven’t.
Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus. Men are little boys with hairy chests; women are a mystery. If the scenario sounds somewhat like the movie Beautiful Girls the co-creator wrote that script and created this series in part based on his home town’s reaction to its depiction in that movie. Sully’s Bar echoes the spiritual home of gang in the movie and there are many of the same characters right down to a Rosie O'Donnell look-a-like and a landscaper who gets the s--t kicked out of him. Nick the writer subs for Timothy Hutton the piano bar player.
As season two winds down the gang are confronted with the death of a classmate the shock serving to force the ‘boys’ to grow up. Since the series ended with many plot-lines including the long-running mystery as to who fathered Hannah Daniels son Sam left unanswered a 10-minute epilogue called Roads End: the Final Chapter was shot and added as a supplement to Season Two on DVD.
It is said that a author should write what he knows but Nick Garrett ran off to New York for ten years to write a book based on the people he grew up with in a small New England Town. Going home it is also said is impossible. Returning after 10 years to the girl you left behind you and people who recognized themselves in print is quite another matter. One should not be surprised if people have moved on even if you haven’t.
Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus. Men are little boys with hairy chests; women are a mystery. If the scenario sounds somewhat like the movie Beautiful Girls the co-creator wrote that script and created this series in part based on his home town’s reaction to its depiction in that movie. Sully’s Bar echoes the spiritual home of gang in the movie and there are many of the same characters right down to a Rosie O'Donnell look-a-like and a landscaper who gets the s--t kicked out of him. Nick the writer subs for Timothy Hutton the piano bar player.
As season two winds down the gang are confronted with the death of a classmate the shock serving to force the ‘boys’ to grow up. Since the series ended with many plot-lines including the long-running mystery as to who fathered Hannah Daniels son Sam left unanswered a 10-minute epilogue called Roads End: the Final Chapter was shot and added as a supplement to Season Two on DVD.
