Band of Brothers

"I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said "Grandpa, were you a hero in a war?" and Grandpa said "No. But I served in a company of heroes." "

Title: Band of Brothers
Year of Release: 2001
Creators: Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman
Genre: War/Drama/History
Rating: 10/10

Band of Brothers is about Easy Company of the 101st US Airbourne division as they fight their way through the war. Each episode focusing usually on a different person in particular or a different aspect.

This is probably the most human and most realistic war film/miniseries I have ever seen. Everything from the characters in this, to the fighting to the portrayal of Germans feel so real and it's almost as if it's teaching you about World War II. It's a great portrayal of how the War was for those who were affected by the war, especially the soldiers. It makes a big deal of developing the characters, even if only for 30 minutes, just for them to be killed or badly wounded which is really affective. Though the Germans are commonly seen as bad during World War II, it doesn't show them as bloodthirsty savages, which is what separates this from other War set films or shows, which have a tendency to show the Germans quite biased, sure there was a lot of bad German Nazi's, but not everyone was, and it makes a strong point of this in one episode. After walking across a group of German prisoners of war, one of the American soldiers asks a rhetorical question as a joke to one of the Germans, "Where you from?", the German replies in English to their surprise of a location somewhere in America (I can't quite remember it) the soldier is shocked. They begin talking and it turns out the German soldier's parents told him to return to the Fatherland, Germany, to fight for them as requested by Germany. This German soldier not only lived there, but was born there, in America, his fate.. obviously not too bright.

You hear about the terror of war, and how it takes a toll on soldiers not just physically, but mentally, this does a great job showing this aspect of war perfectly. During the Battle of the Bulge, mainly in episode six, is where this is shown in quite detail. It's a very sad episode and probably the best episode. All the soldiers are frozen, they cannot light a fire, because if they do, they will become targeted by the Germans, that are not too far away from them, because they are located in a forest, during winter, so, there is snow everywhere. Fighting breaks out randomly, each time men die, some you don't know, but some of them are characters you will like, I'm sure. The soldiers are greatly affected by what happened in Bastogne, which is also shown in a later episode, the resentment for replacements, or even a man who missed this horrific time which dramatically changed each of the soldiers.

Each episode opens with several old men who fought in World War II, they talk about their experiences, which relate to the episode that follows. These guys are really sad to watch because you can see it on their faces that they struggle to talk about the tough times, and that they lost good friends to the war. So their words not only sets the mood but gives a feel of authenticity to each episode, particularly the last one, you'll see.

The acting from everyone was perfect. Well, minus Simon Pegg's poor American accent, which I think I'll let slide since he has a tiny role. It makes me sad that not everyone in this show were instantly launched into successful films or a successful show, or anything along those lines. But, you will find that a lot of the people in this show look quite familiar. David Schwimmer (Ross from Friends) plays a role in this film, Donnie Walhberg (Sixth Sense, Saw II) and Damien Lewis (Life). With some other people playing certain roles you may recognise, like James McAvoy, he has a small role, but it's always interesting seeing someone before their prime, especially when they did better in this. As I said, the acting was amazing, and the men weren't required to just put on a sad face when they were sad, and an angry face when they were fighting, they had to show a wide range of emotion because you really see these men develop over time, as friends die in some gruesome and sad ways, it takes affect. No one was a let down, which isn't common, usually there is at least one.

For those who are researching World War II (the fighting in Europe only) or your just interested in that topic, this is definitely what you should watch. It covers a lot of the most important parts of the war, D-day, Battle of the Bulge, the Holocaust and the affects of war, among more things it will be a great help, though, it is dramatized, it gets the point across and stays true. If you liked Saving Private Ryan, you will definitely enjoy this as they are quite similar, though, this is better, more realistic and is full of people, and with no "characters". This is quite a violent show, I must admit at times I couldn't watch as just the thought of the agony is quite overwhelming. A must see show, probably the best thing I have seen that was made directly for television. A true modern masterpiece. I look forward to the next project by the guys who created this that focuses on the Pacific side of WWII.

The Departed

"When I was growing up, they would say you could become cops or criminals. But what I'm saying is this. When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"

Title: The Departed
Year of Release: 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Crime/Drama
Rating: 8.5/10

The Departed centers around a complicated situation, two police officers recruit Billy Costigan to be an undercover police officer for Frank Costello's crew, those two police officers are the only two who know Billy is even a cop, they do reasonably extreme measures to make sure he is not made out, which leads him to being very undercover. To make matters more complicated, Costello has a mole, who desperately searches to find out who the rat is, all the while helping Costello avoid the police.

For those of you who don't know, this is a remake of a Hong Kong film, called Infernal Affairs. Not often does typical Hollywood remakes do good on the originals they remake, quite often they get everything wrong, and fail in almost every aspect, or they try to make an exact replica, just in English for the mass illiterate people who refuse to read their own language, because it takes just that little bit of brain power too much. That being said, this does not fail at all, in fact it stays very faithful to the original, and makes slight improvements here and there. This is probably one of the only (or at least of the very few) remakes that actually surpasses the original. Maybe it's because I saw Infernal Affairs after The Departed, but I just found Departed more exciting, and generally more interesting. When watching Departed I can't wait to see what was going to come next (in every viewing, not just the first or second), whereas Infernal, it just felt sluggish or something to me, though, it is not bad, far from it. I'm just saying, this, unlike most remakes, surpasses the original. But who is really surprised, Scorsese and a great cast cannot fail!

Leonardo DiCaprio, he's one of the best young actors of today, I know he tried desperately to break out of the "Teen Sensation" (or whatever you call it) where all the girls loved him, not because of his acting ability but because of his looks, and time and time again he has said he wanted to lose that image, here you don't see Jack (from Titanic), DiCaprio does a fantastic job with his character. Costigan is easily the best character in this film, he is also, quite dynamic, as made clear early on in the film. He has no problem being a criminal, basically his entire family were criminals (who at sometime knew Costello too), he says that when he is standing next to a mass murderer he doesn't even shake, not a bit. What is obvious though, is he is petrified of being found out for being a cop, it takes a affects him quite deeply which causes him to see a psychiatrist, who gives him Valium. DiCaprio does a great job showing how emotionally difficult it is to be undercover, and makes you dread the thought of being in his shoes.

Jack Nicholson who plays Frank Costello honestly did a decent job, but, at times, he could of done better I think. To me, his character was too much a character, when I felt he should of been a person. Don't get me wrong, Nicholson did an absolutely great job, just at times he wasn't shining too bright, in comparison to some of the other actors in the film. Matt Damon plays Colin (the rat), and he also does a pretty good job, though, the accent became annoying at times, I don't know if that is how people from Boston talk, if that was a bad attempt on his behalf, regardless, it was just annoying, nothing that really effected anything though. Mark Wahlberg plays Dignam (one of the two cops who knows Costigan is a cop) and he does a great job, his character seems to be a bit of prick at times, but it adds something to him, it shows he has experience, not just as a cop, but with working with undercover cops, Costigan is obviously not his first, and it seems death falls on him lightly, almost as if it doesn't bother him much at all.

This is such a good film, one I remember being very excited to see, and I have never been let down by it, with each viewing, this film has got better and better. With a relatively complicated story, and heaps of clever moments throughout. It's constantly exciting and I assure you, it will never bore you, especially with the ending that literally had my jaw on the floor, an ending that doesn't seem to have been done very much. With great performances, great music, great writing and a very interesting story this makes for one of Scorsese's finest films, one I highly recommend for fans of the genre.

Gran Torino

"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's me."

Title: Gran Torino
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Drama/Crime/Thriller
Rating: 6.5/10

After the death of his wife a Korean War Veteran gets mixed up in his next-door neighbors problems after one of his neighbors tries and fails to steal his 1972 Gran Torino. He then begins to help teach this boy to be a man, and to grow up.

Throughout this film, it seems as if Clint wants to overcome racism and/or stereotypes but fails miserably. This was obviously from practically the first 10-20 minutes. He establishes the goodies and the baddies pretty quick, full of cliche characters that seem to come from a film set in a high school. The Asian men who are apart of a small gang don't come across at authentic but just feel likes shit-stirring school bullies. Because Walt (Clint's character) is a bit of a racist guy, there seemed to be a push to show development of some sort, or to show how racist he is, and how he can improve or something along those lines, from having all sorts of ethnicities throughout the film, which to me, felt a little to pushy, forced and fake. The stereotypical characters in this film were all a pain in the ass, the "wigger" who quickly backs down, doesn't stand his ground and thinks of himself as a "homey" or something along those lines. Because of the films tone, and ambitions when the African American characters are briefly shown in this film they seem incredibly out of place, seeing as the area Walt is in is apparently full of non-Americans, so his neighbors suggests at least. They also fit a painful stereotype, they bully a girl, and make all sorts of sexual remarks while scaring off her boyfriend, which wouldn't be so much a problem if it made sense and went together well somehow, but it didn't. It would of helped also if the actors were better than they were, those guys were transparent as hell.

The acting from everyone other than Clint was mediocre at best, and trust me, that's being very kind. Bee Vang who plays Thao Vang Lor is a fine example of some of the bad acting in this film, he lacked any real emotion which was required by his character. In some scenes he yells a few things, because he is obviously quite upset, those were probably the some of the most painful to watch scenes of the film, not because it was sad, because it wasn't, Vang's acting brought it down a lot and had me cringing and even looking away from some scenes, it honestly looked as if he had an invisible script in his hand that he was reading from because he felt so robotic, the same goes for Ahney Her, who plays Vang's sister. Clint as usual though, held his own, and delivered a decent performance, not his best, but good enough.

One thing that annoys me a lot in films is when there is a lack of real development, this suffers from that problem. Things just seem to change, as if it's a video game, you do something wrong, your told the correct way to do it, and then you've learned all you need to know, or something along those lines (probably a bad a analogy) . It was very annoying because they would literally say for something to be done, which would usually begin development in that area, but once it was said and out in the open it was settled, and boom, character development aspect completed just like that.

Though I have got these problems, I still did enjoy this film. For those who saw the trailer thinking "Badass Clint's still got it" you won't be let down. Clint is without a doubt proven he has what it takes to kick some ass just like the ol' days. His character is not just "badass", or cool, he is scary. He is a fierce character without a doubt, one that is easily likable and could have easily started a trend of sayings and cult related things if it weren't for the mediocrity that drowns this film.

Simply put, Gran Torino is alright, you will be enjoyed, but not amazed, your jaw will not be in the floor, and you probably won't left feeling like you've seen a masterpiece as you would with Million Dollar Baby or Letters from Iwo Jima. Clint proves he is still one tough son-of-a-bitch, and he makes for one badass character, the whole finger gun thing is pretty cool, I must say. If you plan on seeing this film for multiple layers expected from this, you will probably be let down, but if you expect to simply be entertained and see Clint be kickass, I'm sure you'll at least be entertained.

JCVD

"I still ask myself today what I've done on this earth, nothing! I've done nothing!"

Well there has been a lot of buzz going around lately that Jean-Claude Van Damme's new film, JCVD is actually good. Which surprised the hell out of me, I read up on what it was about and became interested and from the trailer it was obvious it was going to be something special.

Title: JCVD
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Genre: Drama/Crime
Rating: 7.5/10

JCVD is about Jean-Claude Van Damme, no, it is not a documentary. Though JCVD is fictional, Jean-Claude plays his brutal self. Losing his daughter, his wife, money, and making movies he knows are terrible and still even losing some of those.. to Steven Seagal. JCVD returns to his homeland because he needs money to pay his lawyer when he gets mixed up in a robbery.

Now I had read some reviews that this as a film altogether is average, but Van Damme's performance was not. That is what sold me, I wanted to see Van Damme act for the first time in his career, as a kid I loved all of his movies, from Bloodsport, Universal Soldier, Hard Target and even Street Fighter. Though I have out grown him and realise his lack of talent in these movies I have always wanted to see him be a serious film, one where he acts, so this film appealed to me. There is no doubt about it, Van Damme delivers his best performance ever in this film. One scene, probably the most talked about scene of this film where Van Damme talks honestly into the camera, about life. Though it may just be apart of the script, it really becomes obvious that is Van Damme. It really makes you feel sad for Van Damme at how.. quite pathetic he has become. I'm sure there is not a single person who can deny the fact Van Damme did a very good job with his performance in this film, and definitely makes me hope to god he gets the chance to be in some serious films, though, sadly I don't see that happening.

There is definitely a boat load of inspiration from Dog Day Afternoon, just the whole they are both focusing around a robbery, but there are also the screaming fans, and even a character that resembles Sal (who was played by John Cazale). This film alone, isn't the best film, we all know that. It does occasional give an unauthentic feel during some scenes which seem to try to feel intense and realistic but just come off amateur.

That being said, this film is very entertaining, it has a bit of humor in it, and a fantastic performance from Van Damme, which is the reason why anyone would see it. It's an exciting film that opens with a great scene which has Van Damme doing an action sequence with no cuts which shows Van Damme struggling to go on, this scene among some others show his disinterest for the movies he is now in. Don't expect a great film because I'm sure there are people out there who won't like it, but if you put your critical eye away and watch this for what it is, Jean-Claude Van Damme's first real film. I really enjoyed this film. A film any real JCVD fan should see.

The Godfather (vs. Citizen Kane)

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

Title: The Godfather: Part I.
Year of Release: 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Genre: Drama/Crime
Rating: 10/10

The Godfather follows the entire Corleone family, both as an actual family, and as the crime syndicate. Mainly following Don Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael. Michael is a hero who fought in World War II and has recently returned, and has been awarded a medal. He doesn't appear to want to be apart of the family business in any way. After an attempt on Vito's life, a war breaks out, and a lot of things change.

There is a lot of speculation that this quite possibly is the greatest film of all time, and it's easily very understandable why from only the first minute. To be honest, I think this is the great film of all time, though, it is not quite my favourite film. Another film that is generally considered the best is Citizen Kane, and here's is a practically irrelevant reason why I think nowadays, The Godfather is superior. Sure Citizen Kane was a film that did a lot for the way films are made today and without it, it's probable some of your favourite films would not be what they are. Sure, the acting is phenomenal and everything is perfect, almost. What I feel is that, nowadays, the fact Citizen Kane did what it did is more something that is respected but not acknowledged because it's just a known fact, and I'm tired of acknowledging it. It's around 60 years since Citizen Kane came out and it still a great film, no doubt about it, but, it just does not have the same, feeling it would have many years ago, the feeling that, everything is new, everything is original and everything is perfect. It's less relevant today, and though it has barely aged, the Godfather remains un-aged, it has not even aged the slightest. The Godfather has a very strong deep feeling and generally good morale. Sure, killing is bad, and it is not entirely shown as that bad. But, it brings across a strong sense of family importance. After viewing it again, I have finally realise how strong and important this was in the Godfather, of course I knew it was there, and I knew it was important in the film, just not that important. The Godfather is also a very realistic film, it doesn't create a great set of characters, but instead, a great set of people.

Also, I think the acting in The Godfather is superior than the acting in Citizen Kane. All the actors in this film portrayed a role they do not imitate or even sort of resemble in any of their other films, you may see resemblances between certain characters Pacino has played in his past, but you won't find anything like Michael Corleone, it's the same with Vito (Marlon Brand), Santino (James Caan) and Tom Hulger (Robert Duvall), they are original and have remained original, even it was made and released now instead of thirty-six years ago. When you see Citizen Kane, I'm sure your jaw will drop, but you will find resemblances, only slight ones, between Orson Welles character Charles Foster Kane in some of his other films, which may seem irrelevant, but it's important to me.

Sure, people will go on and discuss the technicalities of Citizen Kane which may or may not make Citizen Kane better, but that's half my point. With the Godfather, you don't need technical aspects to see this film is a true masterpiece, one you can easily see as the best. I'm not saying that technical aspects like lighting, directing, or any sort of method of presentation (or whatever), are unimportant and not present in The Godfather, they are there, and they can easily be discussed, but I don't think it is necessary, especially if you have seen both. I feel Citizen Kane nowadays relies on what it was, and what it did, whereas The Godfather still to this day shows you what it is still, and what still makes it great. Maybe I need to see Citizen Kane more, I've only seen it twice thus far, and I've see The Godfather plenty more times, but anyway, that's just me. I'll stop with the Citizen Kane vs Godfather thing now, but I feel I've covered a lot of what I loved about The Godfather.

As I said, Family is an important part of this film. The relationships are very well described and developed in this film. Vito Corleone definitely makes it heard that family is very important to him, and he loves his children, especially Michael who chose not to be apart of the family business. This is especially in his reaction to the news of Michael's actions following the attempted murder of his father. There is a very strong relationship between Michael and his father, also a strong a relationship with each of his brothers, his sister and Tom, his step-brother. Constantly through the film it reminds you about family and your "duty" to them.

If you haven't seen this film, don't expect anything like you've seen before, especially when it comes to the mafia, it is not like GoodFellas, it is something entirely different. It's full of real people, and real situations with real consequences, all the while remaining completely fictional. This is definitely a film everyone should see in their lifetime no matter who you are.

Memento

"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the colour of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts."

This was the third time I had seen this film, the first, I really enjoyed, the second time I didn't pay too much attention so nothing changed, but this time, I enjoyed the film so much more, because over time my mind had become distorted because even though I thought I remembered what happened and whatnot, I was wrong, which made this film so much more enjoyable.

Title: Memento
Year of Release: 2000
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama
Rating: 9/10

Leonard is in the search for a man he thinks raped and murdered his wife. The same man also left Leonard with a major problem, Leonard has short-term memory loss and every so often he will just forget what he is doing and forget the people he has recently met. Leonard uses photos and notes to find the man that caused all this.

This is a film you definitely need to pay attention to, leave for ten minutes and you may find yourself lost. This film is quite different to others in the way it is shown. Instead of following in a chronological order which is easy to follow, this goes in reverse. Each colour scene is before the one you just saw, there are also black and white scenes which are in chronological order though. This definitely made the film sometimes difficult to follow and confusing, but that adds to the overall enjoyment of the film. It doesn't just improve the film by making it more confusing, it makes it better for reasons I can't really say other than it helps in terms of the characters and makes for one hell of a climax.

One thing I noticed which was much more present this time round was that it is more dramatic than I originally thought. You get a great understanding for Leonard's feeling, his anger, his frustration and his disorientation. Guy Pearce does a great job in performing some very great scenes which gives the film a level of tragedy and sadness which is constantly accompanied by the well-suited and fantastic score. You really get a good understanding of the way he lives, thinks and feels, with some of the great dialogue, where he says simple things about his wife, how he remembers her.

Leonard, before all this happened, worked for an insurance company. His job was where he had to investigate certain claims which would be of a decent amount of money, and if he could find a reason which would stop the insurance company from having to pay the claim. This leads to the great addition of the story about Sammy, this story is something you have to pay attention to, it may seem like a side story that isn't really relevant, but it is, it coincides with Leonard's story very well and adds more to his character, I guess, it adds depth, helps you understand more about his problem.

I find it is so easy to spoil things about this film by making a simple comment, so I'm pretty sure I haven't spoiled a thing. This is probably Nolan's best film, very closely followed by The Dark Knight, it has that fantastic Nolan feel that you get from his other films like The Prestige and Following. A definite must see for fans of Nolan's other films, and if your just interested in a great mystery film, looking to be a bit confused.