Saturday, May 26, 2018
Platoon
- Commentary: This movie was an obvious choice for my Oliver Stone movie section. Of course. And, it's a favorite of mine. I'm surprised I didn't own it before now. I'm not sure it's my favorite Vietnam film. I've seen several, for obvious reasons. The young men of my generation were drafted into fighting this war, many of whom I knew. I was coming-of-age during the protest of this war, so, in a sense, it's "my" war. I haven't seen every movie about the Vietnam war. There are a few I've missed that I still want to see. But, of all the Vietnam war movies I've seen and those I own, it's right up there at the top. What's my favorite? This may surprise you: Full Metal Jacket. It's such a favorite, in fact, that I thought I had a copy of it and just discovered that I don't. Well, I'll have to remedy that. In the meantime, Platoon is my third favorite Vietnam movie, the other (which vies with Full Metal Jacket for most favorite) being Jacob's Ladder. I know, I have strange tastes in Vietnam movies. So sue me.
Speaking of additional links, you might find Sense Memory: "Platoon Through a Veteran's Eyes" interesting. It's from the RogerEbert.com website. Roger Ebert wrote a review of this film, linked to the title of this post, but, years later, in 2016, a writer for Roger's website wrote a memoir of his experience viewing the film for the first time, as a veteran.
Update 9/29/19: Yet another military movie that highlights military gang behavior in an excruciating manner and more realistically, in some ways, than Full Metal Jacket, so, I believe it has earned a place in my "gang-movie" category.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Charlie Sheen Chris Taylor Tom Berenger Sgt. Barnes Willem Dafoe Sgt. Elias Keith David King Forest Whitaker Big Harold Francesco Quinn Rhah Kevin Dillon Bunny John C. McGinley Sgt. O'Neill Mark Moses Lt. Wolfe Johnny Depp Lerner Corey Glover Francis Reggie Johnson Junior
Also, as usual when I haven't linked it to the title of one of these posts, here's the Wikipedia write-up of the movie.
Release Date: 1986
Directed by Oliver Stone.
Labels: action1, coming-of-age1, drama4, forest-whitaker, gang-movie, historical2, oliver-stone, period2, war1, willem-dafoe
Talk Radio
- Commentary: I'll bet you've never heard of this movie. I saw it in 1988 when it was released theatrically and I've never forgotten it. It was an absolute must-have when I decided to beef up the Oliver Stone section of my movie collection. All the movies in this posting, in fact, were procured at the same time, for the same reason. This movie is strange and, yes, "haunting". It was the first movie I watched of the three when I received them, just to see if my memory of its impact on me was correct. It was.
Although you might think the movie would be dated 30 years later, it's not. American talk radio has not calmed since 1988. If anything, it's gotten more virulent, and now includes Canadian talk radio.
Although I'm labeling this movie a "period" movie, it wasn't meant to be that. It hit the theaters only four years after the assasination of Alan Berg, the talk radio host about which this story was written, so, obviously, no period inflection had to be invented during the production of this movie. It seems "period" now, though.
One more thing: I don't usually notice the juxtaposition of a musical score with a movie, especially if it's done well. In this movie it's done so well that it actually adds editorial comment, especially at the end. If you decide to watch this movie, watch, and listen, through the end credits.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Eric Bogosian Barry Alec Baldwin Dan Ellen Greene Ellen Leslie Hope Laura John C. McGinley Stu John Pankow Dietz Michael Wincott Kent Zach Grenier Sid Greenberg Anna Levine Basketball Game Woman Robert Trebor Jeffrey Fisher Linda Atkinson Sheila Fleming Allan Corduner Vince
Interested in the Wikipedia write-up? Here it is.
Release Date: 1988
Directed by Oliver Stone.
Labels: biography1, drama4, haunting1, historical2, oliver-stone, period2, political1
Evita
- Commentary: This is one of the musicals I watched when I was in deep consideration of La La Land [see my write-up for An American in Paris for a meticulous discussion about my ad hoc study of musicals in order to try to understand, well, something about my niece's, and, frankly, the world's overwhelming veneration of La La Land, which I have not bought and will not be buying, BTW]. Although I was surprised at how thoroughly Evita involved me, I was even more surprised at how many times, over the next few weeks prior to my purchasing it, I was recalling scenes from the movie. Many things about this movie engaged me: The caliber of the actors' performances; the interesting adaptation of this particular musical to film, which almost seemed more appropriate than a theater performance (although, I must confess, I have not seen a theater performance of this movie); the staging; the pathos; the cinematography. I could go on. Suffice it to say, finally, a few weeks ago, after checking it out of the library yet again, strictly for my own pleasure, I decided, yes, I'm adding this movie to my collection. Bravo, everyone involved in this production! Striking and, as one film critic, Zach Conner, put it, "... pretty damn fine ..."!
You will notice that I've labeled this, in addition to other designations, an "oliver-stone" movie. According to the Wikipedia write-up of this movie, Stone's involvement is convoluted, at best, but IMDB lists it as one of his writing credits.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Madonna Eva Perón Antonio Banderas Ché Jonathan Pryce Juan Perón Jimmy Nail Agustín Magaldi Victoria Sus Doña Juana Ibarguren Julian Littman Juancito Duarte Olga Merediz Bianca Duarte Laura Pallas Elisa Duarte Peter Polycarpou Domingo Mercante Andrea Corr Juan's Mistress Alan Parker Tormented Film Director Peter Hughes General Francisco Franco
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1996
Directed by Alan Parker.
Labels: drama4, historical2, jonathan-pryce, musical1, oliver-stone, period2, political2, spectacle1
