Movie of the Week: Black Hawk Down

   

 

    Movie of the Week (5/26/13-6/1/13): Seeing as it is Memorial Day tomorrow I couldn't think of a better movie than one of my favorite war movies, Black Hawk Down. What we see in Black Hawk Down is the reason we celebrate the holiday of Memorial Day. The movie focuses on 123 U.S. Army Rangers sent into Somalia to recover two lieutenants of a very dangerous Somali warlord. The mission then turns into a deadly firefight when two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down. The mission then diverts itself into a rescue mission that lasts much longer than any of them anticipated.
    This well made war film is powered by a great cast from veteran actors to newer rookie actors, at the time, and they all truly did a great job. We have Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewan Bremner, Sam Shepard, Ron Eldard, Ioan Gruffudd, Tom Guiry, Jeremy Piven, Tom Hardy, Matthew Mardsen Orlando Bloom, and Jason Isaacs. Was that enough for you? Yes, this was a great cast and what a wonderful job they did in their reactions and emotions. I bet that most of you did not know that Tom Hardy was in this movie, well he was, and I bet that most of you didn't know that "Smalls" from The Sandlot was in this either, well Tom Guiry was and he sure has grown up.
    As great as the cast was we also have to look at the technical aspects of the film that made it even better to set on a couch and watch for two hours and twenty minutes. First, it sounds great and in a war movie like this one that needs to be high on the list. The sound mixing and editing were both very well done, all the sounds around the soldiers mixes in well. The editing also is top notch, which is why it won Best Editing at the Oscars, because the amount of time they switch back and forth between the characters is amazing along with catching every other detail on screen in doing that, also great pacing with the help of the editing. One final aspect is the cinematography, which again is great because the film captures you visually and it looks great on the screen.       
    Well I have to talk about the films director Ridley Scott, who got nominated for Best Director at the Oscars which was his second in a row. Well to keep it simple, he did a fantastic job. We can easily tell that he wanted to show us the horror of war, and this mission, which is not very well known to most people. People who know about it only know about it from the movie, Ridley Scott took a book and brought it to the screen the best way he knew how. He gave it to us as realistic and as suspenseful as possible, he also gave us scenes that might bring a tear to our eyes, which is just fine because that was his point.
    Black Hawk Down compares to some of the greatest war movies ever, one in particular Saving Private Ryan, which is probably the best of all time. I believe it is one of the best because it is a modern showing of war and not just World War II and it gets it right, but without a doubt it is the best modern war film. With its heart breaking story, fantastic cast, wonderful editing, great sound editing and mixing, moving score, and perfect direction, Black Hawk Down is the perfect Memorial Day movie because it shows what our soldiers go through when they put on that United States uniform. The emotional ending will more than likely make you shed a tear for the ones we have lost throughout the years.                                                                                                       4/4 Stars

The Use of History in Django Unchained

    I'm sure many of you have seen the hit movie Django Unchained, which was released at the end of last year. I'm also sure that if you've seen it you know that Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed it, and even had a small role in it. Of course Tarantino is a great filmmaker and I'm not going to say anything to take that away from him because I too love his movies. However, when it comes to history in his movies he is not the man to ask, I mean, just look at Inglourious Basterds, we all know that Hitler did not die that way. But, that movie was just for fun and a little alternate history for us, so I'll let that one slide, mainly because, again, I loved the movie. But, his latest movie, Django Unchained, was not alternate history, it was a movie set in a real time during the United States' history and should have used real facts and objects. So, here we go, all of the historical facts Django Unchained got wrong, well most of them anyway. Warning, this might contain spoilers!
    First things first, Tarantino got something wrong right off the bat. In the opening scene, after the credits, it reads "1858 two years before the Civil War." Well, I think most of us know that the Civil War began in 1861 and not 1860, so that would be three years before. Also, in that scene are lanterns hanging off of shotguns, that style of lantern was not around until the 1890's.
    Next, there is a scene that appears to depict an early going of the KKK. You might remember the scene from all of the comedic lines, which was funny. But, the KKK was not established until 1865 and did not start causing trouble until 1866. However, there was a predecessor group called The Regulators, who did wear hoods to seal their identity. But, this group was more of a religious powered group who claimed to be taking law into their own hands. So, as depicted in the movie, they would not have gone after the main characters because what the main characters did was justified, in their eyes.
    The next area to look at would be the depiction of beer and cigarettes. In the movie we see two things that are wrong with how beer is served. First is the tap, one of our main characters uses it, but the tap was not invented or used until the early 1900's. The next depiction of beer is the bottle that it is served in. The bottle appears to be the traditional bottle, that is still in use today, with an easy screw off cap. That style of bottle and the easy screw off cap were not invented until the mid 1870's. We also see several characters smoking cigarettes, although smoking has been around for a long time, that kind of cigarette was not massed produced in America until the late 1880's. Up until then they were hand rolled. Also, Leonardo DiCaprio's character is seen smoking using a cigarette holder, which was not used in America until the mid 1910's and was mainly used by women.
    Another thing I caught, was a replica bust of Nefertiti, who was the wife of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. They lived around the 14th century B.C., so the original bust is around 3,000 years old and was not discovered until 1912. So, naturally there would not be any replicas of it in 1859, which is the year the movie, after it goes through the winter scenes, takes place.
    Finally, I've saved the best for last, the weapons. First, all rifles used in the movie were lever action, which is wrong, they would have used either the cap and ball mechanism or possibly still the Flintlock mechanism. The lever action was not invented until 1860, although an earlier style was invented in 1848, but was not used because it was very unreliable. Second, dynamite is used on a couple occasions during the movie, mainly during the climax, well dynamite was not invented until 1867. Next, is the Derringer pistols that our two main characters use, the small gun that pops out of their sleeves. They are very interesting and fun weapons to use. Although there were Derringer's with a cap and ball mechanism in that time, the style they used was not introduced until 1866, which was a .41 Rimfire mechanism.
    There were three other rifles that were used in the film that were not around yet. The first one was the lever action Henry Rifle, which was the gun with the brass receiver, it wasn't invented until 1860 and not put into production until 1862, its production was halted in 1866. The next rifle was the Winchester Model 1873, at least that is what they looked like, or they could have been the 1866 Model, either way they were not around in 1858 or 1859. The final rifle would be the Sharps rifle that our two main characters use to kill a bounty. Even though it has the right firing mechanism the style is wrong, the style of that gun is that of the Sharps Model 1874 Buffalo Rifle. It could fire one shot and is very accurate, but it is too big of a one shot rifle, not musket, to be around at that time.
    Now, I know I pointed out all of these historical inaccuracies with the movie. Although they did get the right looking pistols, which appear to be either the Army or the Navy Colt 1851 Model which were .50 caliber pistols. That does not mean it is not a good movie because it definitely wasn't.. As a matter of fact, I loved the movie, it was very entertaining, well written, directed, and had a wonderful cast. It is still worth the watch. Just don't use it as your history lesson! 
     
     

Movie of the Week: Das Boot

   

 

    Movie of the Week (5/19/13-5/25/13): There have been several movies made about submarines and the troubles the crew goes through. But, there is not a submarine movie like Das Boot, which is German for The Boat. This movie centers around U-96, a U-boat, during World War II and is a German film, but don't let that discourage you because it did get nominated for six Oscars in 1983. Although the film was released in 1981 in Germany, it wasn't released in the U.S. until 1982, which made it eligible for the 1983 Oscars.
    As I said, this film follows a U-boat in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, more specifically 1942. The Crew's mission is to try and stop all naval shipping by the British, by stopping that usually meant destroy. But, soon things begin to go south and the U-boat is then becoming the hunted causing them to take fire from depth charges causing damage and having to dive deeper to avoid damage thus causing more damage. I know, it's a never ending circle, but we also get to learn about each character as well and what they go through, so it is part history, part action/adventure, and a part drama film.
    I did say that this is a German film, so we have ourselves a German director in Wolfgang Peterson, which I'm sure many of you know some of his American movies. He has directed the remake Poseidon, Troy, The Perfect Storm, Air Force One, and the Clint Eastwood hit In the Line of Fire. So, he is well known all over in the film industry and is a great director. This movie is probably his best because he keeps us on the edge of our seats the whole film. He gives the film this claustrophobic feel that makes the depth charge scenes even more intense. He also makes the best use of the cameras because of the tight space to film in, so we have some long camera shots in the more dramatic scenes, which gives the movie a more emotional feel to it.
    When it comes to the cast, well you probably will not know one person because they are all German. Although they were unknown actors and still are mostly today here in America, they still did a fantastic job. As they feel that their lives are in danger we feel for them because of what is expressed to us either in the drama or in the action sequences. So, a great job by the cast. However, there's one actor that some might recognize and he is Jurgen Prochnow, who plays the captain of the U-boat. He has been in films such as Air Force One, Judge Dredd, and Beverly Hills Cop II. But, he will be the only actor that most people would more than likely recognize. With the German actors, the film is in German, so you'll have to read subtitles the entire film as well.
    Of course a film of this size has great editing and a wonderful suspenseful score to add to the gut wrenching scenes. But, the thing about this movie is that there is more than one version out there. The first version is the theatrical version, which is two and half hours long. The second version is The Director's Cut coming in at three hours and twenty-nine minutes, and the third version is really a miniseries released to T.V. with a four hour and fifty-three minute running time. Now of course the theatrical version is the version that got nominated for the Oscars, but you lose so much character development in it, although there are plenty of action and suspenseful scenes. The Director's Cut is the version with just the right amount of character development and suspenseful scenes. The Original Uncut Version, the miniseries, is the version that you want if you want to dig in as deep as you can into the minds of the characters. My advise is to watch the Director's Cut, it might be long, but it is the perfect mix of drama and suspense. This movie is a fantastic historic epic, with great drama, suspense, and direction, and if you are not sweating by the time it is over, well then something is wrong with you!                                                                                                             4/4 Stars  
 

Movie of the Week: Deep Impact

   

 

    Movie of the Week (5/12/13-5/18/13): I'm sure most of you have seen Michael Bay's blockbuster film Armageddon, which of course is about an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. But if I had to guess, I would have to say, again, that most of you probably have not seen Deep Impact. This movie came out in the same year as Armageddon and has the same basic idea about it. However, Deep Impact is not a pure action movie like Armageddon, this film is much more dramatic and in certain aspects can be better than Armageddon.
    Deep Impact is a story about an asteroid flying through space with Earth in its path. Now, that might make most of you say that it is the exact same thing as that other asteroid movie. Well, not exactly, the great thing about Deep Impact is that it digs deeper into the drama and the characters. It is not just about astronauts flying to the asteroid to destroy it, it also shows how people on Earth deal with this devastating news once they hear about it. This film gives us several characters to follow, most of which never meet in the film and we get to watch them cope with this event.
    The cast here is pretty good, there are some known and a few unknown actors, first we have Morgan Freeman as the President of the United States trying to help his nation stay calm and get through the event. Then we have Tea Leoni, who plays a journalist who at first is tracking another story but stumbles onto the asteroid story that was hidden and then reports the news about it. We also have Elijah Wood, who plays a teenager that helped discover the asteroid and then is forced to make several life altering decisions as the movie goes on. Finally, we have Robert Duvall who plays the head astronaut in the space shuttle, named The Messiah, that is sent into space to destroy the oncoming asteroid.
    There is also Vanessa Redgrave, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, and Leelee Sobieski, who all play great supporting roles to the main characters that adds to the drama. I personally believe that the script for this film was very good because it does a great job at connecting the characters together in some way. The cast overall does a fantastic job and we like the movie for them not for the asteroid like we do in Armageddon. Again, this film is mainly focused on the characters on Earth, although there is plenty screen time of the asteroid and astronauts, because the writers want to show how people on Earth would deal with this kind of situation and they show it in just about every way possible.
    Now, I keep saying that this is a drama and although it mainly is, it is also Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg, so you can expect some good special effects. We get this with the space shots and in another important, and emotional, scene that I'm not going to get into because it might spoil some things, but you'll know it when it happens. We also have good direction from Mimi Leder, who is now mainly a T.V. director, but when she did this she knew what she was doing and brought a good movie together. Finally, what is an emotional movie without an emotional score, which is just what we get from legendary composer James Horner who wrote a beautiful score to go with the emotional scenes. Now, this movie does have its flaws of course and I'm not saying it is a better overall film than Armageddon, just different and in a good way. Leder and Spielberg give us a very emotional film told from mainly people on Earth with some scenes that might bring a tear to your eye.                                                                                                             3/4 Stars.   

           

Movie of the Week: Pale Rider

   

 

    Movie of the Week (5/5/13-5/11/13): As we all know Clint Eastwood has made many westerns for our entertainment and we do miss him making them. But, Pale Rider just might be one of his most over looked and underrated ones. The film follows a man named "Preacher," played by Eastwood, who rides into a mining town in California. The townspeople are about to be forced off of their land by a mining company who wants the land for its resources. "Preacher" then begins to defend them, but he also has a little secret of his own.

    As we watch the movie we are given several clues to who this "Preacher" man might be because the townspeople do not know either. He begins looking for somebody who he wants and then we see several scars made by bullets on his back in an area that would more than likely have killed him. When High Plains Drifter came out Eastwood played with our minds about the supernatural and it looks like he did it again in Pale Rider.
    In the climax, which is of course a brilliant shootout, we are introduced to a character that we again really don't know, he is an older man. He brings his posse, sent by the mining company to take care of this "Preacher" man, and it turns out that this man knows "Preacher." Near the end (this sentence contains spoilers if you haven't seen it yet) the man recognizes "Preacher" during a very well shot scene, but we do not know from what or when and he himself looks very surprised. So, that leaves us the question, is "Preacher" a ghost?
    Well, I'll leave it up to you to make your own conclusion because that is what Eastwood wants from the audience. Even though we don't know every detail about the past of the "Preacher" does not mean this is a bad movie because it definitely is not. Being a western naturally it is beautifully shot in the mountains with snow covered valleys. Eastwood's direction is also very good because it gives us that old style feel, very slow but still draws you in, he would use the same style again a few years later with Unforgiven.
    When is comes to the cast there is not many here that are known, the only one would probably be Chris Penn, but regardless they all do a great job. The plot might seem simple, possibly a revenge story, but it has a few other elements like love and greed to go with it that help the flow of the film. This movie builds up to a great shootout, like many western do, at the end, but unlike other westerns we don't exactly know why "Preacher" wants to kill this one man, but we really don't need to. What is great about this kind of movie is that it is up to the viewer to decide why this happened and who this man really is. This is a very good underrated western from Clint Eastwood and one of my favorites of his, you might have questions at the end still, but it's okay, just enjoy it for what it is.                                                                                                           3.5/4 Stars.