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Watch, Watched, Watching: Strange Times


Ramsay B.

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23 hours ago, DMC said:

Spielberg indeed has quite the extensive CV.  But his big budget movies - from Jaws to ET to Indiana to Jurassic Park - are all kinda meh to me.  I love Saving Private Ryan, but it's pretty standard fare as a war film.  

For me it's the best war movie I have seen since Platoon and Glory. This was the only movie where I actually cried in a theater, hell maybe only time I cried that entire year. That damn scene where he is old in the cemetery  and is crying on his knees asking his wife if he has been a good man...gets me every damn time.

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4 minutes ago, dbunting said:

For me it's the best war movie I have seen since Platoon and Glory.

Well, I prefer Thin Red Line which came out five months after SPR, but yes, I favor SPR over Platoon and maybe over Glory (which I haven't seen in a very long time).  I just meant it's pretty much your standard war movie.  Executed at an expert level in basically all facets, but still.  And compared to the two I was emphasizing - Munich and Amistad - I prefer each to it.

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9 minutes ago, dbunting said:

That damn scene where he is old in the cemetery  and is crying on his knees asking his wife if he has been a good man...gets me every damn time.

Oh, sorry for the double post, but this reminded of something.  I always chuckle at thinking when Old James asks his wife if he's led a good life ("earned this") in Arlington his wife would respond:  "James, for the last time, you didn't even fight in World War II.  Your just confused sweetheart"  That'd be an awesome ending.

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4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

A bit of spurious article no? I think Waterworld already is a cult classic. Most of Costner's crazy nineties films are

Well, I for one, not being much interested in cultish things of any sort, had no idea that it was.

We saw it once, when it came out, and we liked it.  Not great but it was a terrific film to go see in sweltering, sweating NYC in July.

But then we love Dances With Wolves -- which film I have watched many times -- and do think is very good. But then, Michael Blake, the author of the (really badly written) novel which was really the first draft script, was a very good friend (he died some years back of Parkinson's), and he and Costner were good friends and roommates.  The moves that Costner's character makes when 'taming' his wolf, are exactly the same moves that Blake always made with his dogs.  Dogs adored Blake -- he was a dog whisperer, Costner said.

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32 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Make sure to give Apocalypse Now its due.

Apocalypse Now is one of my top five favorite movies of all time overall, let alone war movies.  But it preceded the films discussed.

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8 minutes ago, DMC said:

Apocalypse Now is one of my top five favorite movies of all time overall, let alone war movies.  But it preceded the films discussed.

I'm not sure what my favorite war film is, in part because there can be some ambiguity as to what counts. And I still need to see so many older films that long predate AN.

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3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

And I still need to see so many older films that long predate AN.

Well, it depends on one's definition of war films and what qualified.  Patton was earlier, but I'd definitely say AN is superior.  Paths of Glory is pretty great.  Can't think of any other one's I'd say are even competition, but again, that's because I wouldn't really describe certain films like Dr. Strangelove as "war movies."

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5 minutes ago, DMC said:

Well, it depends on one's definition of war films and what qualified.  Patton was earlier, but I'd definitely say AN is superior.  Paths of Glory is pretty great.  Can't think of any other one's I'd say are even competition, but again, that's because I wouldn't really describe certain films like Dr. Strangelove as "war movies."

Perfect example. The entire film takes place during a war and it plays a major role in driving the plot, but is it actually a war movie? Not specifically. There's a new thread about Raiders of the Lost Ark. Again, a film which has a plot largely driven by war, but I don't think many people ever see it as a war film. 

A tricky example for me is Inglorious Bastards. The entire film takes place in the context of a war, and the war is a key in basically every scene, but it doesn't really feel like a war movie. At least I rarely if ever hear it brought up as an all-time great war movie, but it is a great film none the less.

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10 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

A tricky example for me is Inglorious Bastards. The entire film takes place in the context of a war, and the war is a key in basically every scene, but it doesn't really feel like a war movie. At least I rarely if ever hear it brought up as an all-time great war movie, but it is a great film none the less.

Yeah IB is kinda tricky...I think I would qualify it as a war film, although your objections are fair.  And terms of recent films, one obvious oversight in this discussion is Dunkirk.  I think it's better than SPR, Thin Red Line, Platoon, and Glory.  And certainly should be defined as a war movie.

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Actually Strangelove is about trying to prevent a war, and then just giving up and sending the bombers.   Raiders take place in 1936, before the war, but both sides know war is inevitable and are trying to gain advantage by gaining the Ark before the war starts.    

 

Actually giving up is wrong choice of words, the Americans realized they couldn't recall the last bomber so decided they had to go all in.

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Full Metal Jacket and The Bridge On the River Kwai are good ones I haven't seen mentioned. I only watched the later to understand a recurring reference to it on The Wire, but it was really good. 

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13 minutes ago, DMC said:

Yeah IB is kinda tricky...I think I would qualify it as a war film, although your objections are fair.  And terms of recent films, one obvious oversight in this discussion is Dunkirk.  I think it's better than SPR, Thin Red Line, Platoon, and Glory.  And certainly should be defined as a war movie.

And I wouldn't say you were wrong. I just don't know what the correct answer is, if there even is one. However, you can expand the scope of the genre and then it gets really interesting. The definition of war allows for a lot more than we normally think. Could Gangs of New York be seen as a war movie? Not in the sense that a war is also happening at the time of the film's setting, and that it is discussed as well as what service means, but because several gangs are organizing to battle each other. That still constitutes a war, at least to some.

38 minutes ago, Leofric said:

Actually Strangelove is about trying to prevent a war, and then just giving up and sending the bombers.   Raiders take place in 1936, before the war, but both sides know war is inevitable and are trying to gain advantage by gaining the Ark before the war starts.    

 

Actually giving up is wrong choice of words, the Americans realized they couldn't recall the last bomber so decided they had to go all in.

Preventing a war doesn't mean a movie isn't a war film. 

War films and Christmas movies, the hardest things to figure out (Die hard is a Christmas movie, stop debating it!!!!!).

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

And I wouldn't say you were wrong. I just don't know what the correct answer is, if there even is one. However, you can expand the scope of the genre and then it gets really interesting. The definition of war allows for a lot more than we normally think. Could Gangs of New York be seen as a war movie? Not in the sense that a war is also happening at the time of the film's setting, and that it is discussed as well as what service means, but because several gangs are organizing to battle each other. That still constitutes a war, at least to some.

Preventing a war doesn't mean a movie isn't a war film. 

War films and Christmas movies, the hardest things to figure out (Die hard is a Christmas movie, stop debating it!!!!!).

I think my point was you said the whole movie takes place during a war, when the actual war is only the last 5 minutes of nuclear explosions.  

And Die Hard is a Christmas Movie.   The whole thing is about McClane traveling to the west coast to be with his family for the Holidays, just like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but with more guns and less pillows.

 

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11 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Not a movie, but Band of Brothers will probably always hold the top spot for me. 

Band of Brothers is excellent, and has one of the most heart breaking scenes ever. Though a limited run series and not a movie, it has a place at the table in this conversation.

7 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Full Metal Jacket and The Bridge On the River Kwai are good ones I haven't seen mentioned. I only watched the later to understand a recurring reference to it on The Wire, but it was really good. 

FMJ is such a tricky film in my eyes. The first half is stunning, even if not for the right reasons. The second half is a bit of a let down.

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6 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Could Gangs of New York be seen as a war movie? Not in the sense that a war is also happening at the time of the film's setting, and that it is discussed as well as what service means, but because several gangs are organizing to battle each other. That still constitutes a war, at least to some.

Wait I thought we were talking about good war movies? 

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2 hours ago, dbunting said:

For me it's the best war movie I have seen since Platoon and Glory. 

I just watched Glory not too long ago, such a great film. For war movies, I've got a spot in my heart for The Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes from watching them with my dad growing up.

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2 minutes ago, Leofric said:

I think my point was you said the whole movie takes place during a war, when the actual war is only the last 5 minutes of nuclear explosions.  

Wars don't happen in five minutes. The premise iirc starts with the world being on the brink of war and nobody can figure out what's really going on (I haven't seen the film in a long time).

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And Die Hard is a Christmas Movie.   The whole thing is about McClane traveling to the west coast to be with his family for the Holidays, just like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but with more guns and less pillows.

A lot of people disagree. Idk why, but they do.

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