My Favorite Movies

Apparently the 20th Century Fox version has missing footage, cutting out some of the onscreen deaths, which, if true, is a shame. The film itself is of course missing hours of filmed scenes which would make the film nearly unwatchable, but as a fan of the novel I'd like to see Fife actually say something. etc. etc.

This film takes James Jones' tale of the average American rifle company in the iconic battle of Gaudalcanal, and lay over it a gripping message about the natural conflict between good and evil within the human heart and permeating throughout our physical world. Malick combines his own thoughts and feelings with an already unflinching and raw depiction of warfare to create something magical.

A truly spiritual and moving tale of heroism, cowardice, greed and love. If you pay attention to the narratives instead of fidgeting in your seat, you'll come out of this film a winner.

Is the Zone the work of aliens, a living thing in and of itself, or an extension of God?

Three men attempt to figure this out as they venture into the heart of it to find The Room that is believed to grant wishes of any kind. Leading the hopeless on this quest is the Stalker's profession.

A burned out writer who once dreamed of changing humanity with his prose but now hates how his art is received and dreads his profession; a scientist who not only doesn't believe in anything, but doesn't even consider the question and intends to destroy the Zone to prevent the wrong kind of people from making wishes; and their guide, the Stalker, who fears and respects the Zone's many rules and intricacies and is constantly in conflict with his human cargo as he leads them to their destination.

The film makes heavy use of slow image and sound to let the viewer begin to feel every rock and tree on screen and become one with the Zone. There are no flashy montages but more natural long takes that give you a more human perspective. Through out the film, you never see any 'traps', and yet there's a constant fear and dread in the otherwise ordinary surroundings. The three characters' constant bickering and philosophizing is at first aimed at the mysteries of the Zone, but soon focuses on their entire lives, their purposes and futures, and it becomes clear what they may wish for though they never speak it.

They don't discover any true answers, but in the end they don't feel the need to ask.

Their final acts at The Room speak volumes on the potential they possess already, without any need for devine aid.
Stalker is a very spiritual film, but even as an Atheist I found it very aproachable and rewarding.

As an adaptation of King Lear, Kurosawa made many changes, partly to fit a story he wanted to tell, party to fit the setting of Feudal Japan, and some have said it is actually an improvement over the source material.

This is probably one of the most visually, musically and emotionally moving films I have ever seen and it's scope is beyond comparison. From the fine intricacies of the ruined forts of yester-wars where the mad lord, his jester and his only loyal servant Tango (whom he actually banished earlier) take refuge, to the sprawling 1000+ man Ashigaru and Samurai formations firing volleys of arquebuses and swarming through the fortress on horseback into the flaming keep, said battle sequence being completely silent except for a moving musical arrangement that brings far more emotion to the images of destruction than the sound effects and voices could dream to do. There is also a massive 4-way clan battle that results in ruin for naturally all the "good" characters, though that's a poor term to use in a scenario such as Ran's. The use of colour is especially brilliant in nearly every scene, not only with the colour-coding of the armies but in the costumes, sets, natural photography etc. Kurosawa does not throw away the opportunities of the newer medium.

A father who had united his lands with bloody viciousness makes the mistake of assuming his well taught sons will share his handed down power evenly and peacefully. This mistake is magnified a hundred times with the subtle pulling of strings by the ruling Son's wife, a daughter born of an empire that the aging lord completely wiped out. She wants revenge and her hatred ruins the empire anew. The performances of the Great Lord Hidetora and Lady Kaede are specially memorable.

In the end, the gods weep, for they can not stop Man's wretched nature, and Kurosawa shows us a more cynical side than previous films have displayed.

Eraserhead is a tale of Male horror in modern America. It's basic themes and subjects are along the lines of: -industrial decay and the suffocation of the modern city, -the fear of physical violence and crime, -the desire for significance and to be valued by others, -sexual frustration and stagnant relationships, -the fear of dominant women and/or motherly figures in a sexual context, -the fear of commitment and the entrapment of marriage and most especially, which forms the core of the film, the fear of fatherhood and/or fathering deformed or undesirable children. The film is not necessarily misogynist, but it is highly masculine in its perspective.

Eraserhead is noticeably surreal. You will see a great deal of imagery that will not make much immediate sense but it must be remembered that nothing is random or vacuous in Eraserhead. It is a film that must be felt first, and understood second. It appeals to the Id before the Ego and that requires a certain leap of faith from the audience.

Three very "pulp" modern noir stories about flawed characters redeeming themselves in a strange timeless Los Angeles are woven together in a non-linear roundabout. A hitman changes his ways when he interprets six point blank shots missing him as a miracle; a crooked boxer betrays a mob-boss but then rescues his life from a rapist pawnshop owner and his security guard friend; and a heroin addict who takes his boss's wife out on a harmless, non-romantic evening but has to save her life from an overdose when she mistakes his heroin for cocaine.

When you boil it down like that it sounds simple, aimless and edgy for edge's sake, yet the fluid, natural and pop-culture dripping dialogue and the perfectly timed pacing and camera work make Pulp Fiction a very appealing, if inherently hollow film that's simply "cool", no two ways around it. You'll be quoting it left right and center, or at least smiling when others do.

Platoon tells the tale of Chris Taylor, an aimless university student who feels guilty for being excluded from the draft. He drops out, enlists, and volunteers for the Infantry.

The film essentially gives us a newbie's perspective to the Vietnam war, giving Taylor a crash course where failure to pay attention can mean death in the bush. Everything is laid out before him and us: from the shakey relationship between 'Heads and Juicers, Draftees and Lifers; to the responsibility one has to the man next to him in combat.

We see the men grow tired of the jungle and its heat, angry at the Vietnamese villagers whose language grows ever more coarse to the ears as the weeks roll by and who aid the North Vietnamese Army behind their backs (sometimes without choice in the matter). We see tensions flare, innocence lost, and men take sides against each other.

Platoon is not so much about the war, but about how men dealt with it, and writer/director Oliver Stone, a veteran himself of the Vietnam War, has shared with us an important and powerful story.