What Is It Good For? War Movies in June

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This will be the first time I’ve done a monthly theme in June. I’m not exactly sure why that is, except that I’ve often done several themes in the first half of the year (Foreign Film February, Westerns in March, Awesome ’80s in January, etc.) and so when June rules around I’m guessing I’ve been a little burned out and wanted to have a month where I could watch whatever I wanted to.

Apparently, I feel rested this year, or maybe I just don’t want to watch anything…Anyway, this month’s theme is war movies.

I’m a peacenik. I abhor violence in every form. In real life, anyway. On the screen, I love me some violence. And what is more violent than war?

I never joined the military. I have pretty complicated feelings towards the military as an organization, but I have the utmost respect for those who choose to serve, especially those who put their lives on the line in war.

I don’t really care to get political in this intro. I imagine plenty of the films I’ll watch will be very political, so I’ll let them do the talking. Great war movies put you in the muck, allow you to experience the chaos, the heroism, and the horror of being there. Nothing can really replicate that experience, but a great movie probably gets you as close as you can without actually being at war. They are as close to it as I ever want to be anyway.

Someone once said that there is no true anti-war movie because the very nature of cinema makes war seem exciting. That’s probably true, but a good war movie definitely makes me more of a peacenik than I am naturally.

But it is also true that great war movies make me long for meaning in my own life. Having life distilled down to survival, to fighting for something meaningful, really makes you wonder how you’d behave. Or at least I wonder how I’d behave put into a situation like that. Like the ones I’ll be watching this month, and writing about.

Now Watching: The Wild Geese (1978)

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The Wild Geese (1978)
Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring: Richard Burton, Roger Moore, and Richard Harris

Synopsis: A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader, who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator, leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.

Rating: 1/10

Well, as yesterday goes to show, I’m really not cut out for this idea of posting several things per day. I just don’t have that much to say. Or maybe sometimes I’m just too tired. Or lazy. I’ll keep trying this week, but thus far, my numbers aren’t improving either. But I’m really not ready to give this site up, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

For now, I’m gonna keep writing when the spirit moves me.

I even forgot to mention that this month’s theme is War Movies in June.

The Wild Geese is a men assembled to do a mission movie in the vein of something like Where Eagles Dare or The Dirty Dozen. It has a great cast, but fails to be even a little bit interesting. It doesn’t help that the white mercenaries’ in Africa plot is steeped in colonialism and racism.

The film does acknowledge this somewhat with a brief scene in which the super-duper racist white guy has a five-minute chat with the sainted black politician (who is vaulted as this amazing human but is only given a handful of lines to speak) and changes his racist ways.

But honestly, you expect that sort of thing in this sort of film. What you don’t expect is action scenes that are poorly staged, poorly directed, and rather dull.

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII Blu-ray Review

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I’ve talked about these film noir sets from Kino Lorber on multiple occasions. I’m always surprised they keep making them. I’m always surprised there are that many film noirs to release. But I love them just the same. I hope they keep making them forever.

This set includes a mostly great spy thriller, a surprisingly thoughtful thriller with a mentally ill killer, and a really rather good remake of a Hitchcock film.

You can read my full review here.

The Package (1989) Blu-ray Reivew

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The Package was directed by Andrew Davis, who’d go on to direct one of my favorite films, The Fugitive, a few years later. It stars Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones, two of the best to ever do it. It should have been a great film. Instead, I found it rather disappointing. It isn’t so much a bad film as one that should have been better.

Oh well. You can read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.

Caliber 9 (1972) Blu-ray Review

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I’ve got a terrible sinus headache, and I’m utterly exhausted from work, but I’m dedicated to fulfilling my goal this week of posting multiple things per day. Luckily, I still have a backlog of things I’ve reviewed for Cinema Sentries and not posted here.

And here we go.

Caliber 9 is a terrific Italian Poliziotteschi that blends plenty of action with a hard-hitting political message. It’s from director Fernando Di Leo and he never lets you down. It also has Barbara Bouchet and if you know her you know it is worth watching.

You can read my full review over at Cinema Sentries.

Five Cool Things and George Wendt

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George Wendt, the actor most known for portraying Norm on Cheers, passed away a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely loved that show and especially that character.

I paid tribute to him and wrote about three Raymond Chandler adaptations, a Thin Man sequel, and the opening credits to a fun new show in my latest Five Cool Things article.

You can read all about it over at Cinema Sentries.

Watch A New Trailer For Stranger Things: Season 5

When Stranger Things first came out (back in 2016!) I was an immediate fan. It was such a wonderful amalgamation of all the things I loved growing up in the 1980s: Stephen King (or more importantly, movies based on Stephen King books), John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and a million other things. But it wasn’t just nostalgia-baiting either, the Duffer Brothers had created a wonderful story, one that was clearly influenced by all those things, but was also its own, new thing.

I’ve enjoyed the subsequent seasons, especially the addition of several new cast members, but I also have to admit that none of them have quite had the magic of the first one. If I’m being honest, I am ready for it to be over. This is especially true since it has taken them so long to make each season. Those kids aren’t kids anymore. Millie Bobby Brown is married, for Pete’s sake!

When I learned that Season 5, the final season, consisted of several movie-length episodes, I was a little irritated. I don’t need that much more Stranger Things. I hate it when TV shows act like movies.

But apparently, there are only going to be three episodes, so I can dig that. This teaser trailer is basically just an announcement of that fact. It mostly consists of clips from previous episodes and announces the dates of these three episodes/movies. There are a few new bits and I have to admit that it did get me excited.