Reviewing Movies

The hunt for Osama bin Laden is depicted post 9/11 until his eventual execution. Does anything justify our using the torture tactics of our enemies or for that matter does an obsession with revenge make us little better than that upon which we would wreak it? The torture scenes are graphic and much of the eventual revenge attack takes place at night in low light conditions that make it nearly impossible to see what is happening.

Envisions the adult Archie and the other characters from his comic strip returning to a Riverdale High Reunion. An OK B-movie.

A CBC Production

The losses sustained by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in WW#1 are blamed for causing the demise of Newfoundland as a Nation as an entire generation of its brightest and best were killed or injured in mind or body there. I’ve known that July First is a day of mourning in Newfoundland marking the Battle of Beaumount Hamel but this movie introduces one to the fact that the regiment were active at Gallipoli, where the ANZAC’s more famously fought, and at other venues after that July First debacle.

Two descendants of the soldiers visit the battle sites and tour the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried. They are joined by high school students who are similarly related, most little younger than their forebears when they signed up. I was unfamiliar with the Caribou as being a symbol of the regiment or Princess Anne as their present patron. The dismissive attitude British Generals had for colonial troops is common knowledge but the utter perfidy that sent hundreds of men to their deaths at Beaumont Hamel and at other engagements seems unforgivable.

We can share the disillusionment of the young men who set off on an adventure that ended in muddy stinking trenches running with their blood. No one wants to believe that their deaths were in vain so we honour their valour, bravery, and dedication plus the Victoria Cross won by one of their number.

A CBC Production

I’ve been to White River, Ontario where the orphaned bear cub that was to become mascot to a Canadian Veterinarian Regiment and inspiration for Winnie the Pooh was found. This movie using Canadian Actors highlights the caring relationship between the men and the bear cub they nurtured and protected from officialdom as they carried it aboard a train and smuggled it on a troop ship to England and beyond. The story has been much romanticized in the past but here we see the practical challenges involved in caring for an orphaned wild animal while on active duty caring for horses often ridden by ranking officers.

When the regiment disbanded the bear was donated to a London Zoo where it became a major attraction for children who hand fed it treats. One of the most poignant scenes in the entire movie sees the adult bear being led into a veteran’s hospital where she visits one of her former caretakers who lies in near catatonia from PTSD. One marvels at the producers who found at least two domesticated bears to star in this film. As the saying goes never act in a movie with children or animals, being hugged by a fully grown bear seems beyond the pale.