Jarhead (2005) February 6, 2006
Posted by Mark in : Movies, Cinema , add a commentI loved Full Metal Jacket, loved Platoon and a bunch of other war based movies so I was looking forward to Jarhead (2005) having seen the adverts and I got the opportunity to watch it on Saturday evening.
Jarhead is based on Anthony Swofford’s 2003 book Jarhead: A Soldier’s Story of Modern War and is brought to the screen by director Sam Mendes (or Mr Kate Winslet as I hear he liked to be known these days). Swofford’s book (which I haven’t had a chance to read) is all about the time the former Marine spent training and then in Iraq leading up to and during the first Gulf War.
The screen adaptation of the best-selling book stars current men of the moment Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford and Jamie Foxx as the staff Sergeant and also features a cameo from Chris Cooper (who also appears in American Beauty from Sam Mendes).
Initially the movie begins in a very familiar Full Metal Jacket style drill sergeant line up with the drill sergeant (the actor playing him has OBVIOUSLY studied Full Metal Jacket LOTS) picking on and belittling Swofford. Very quickly we see Swofford get selected for the very desirable sniper squad and the training that goes with it, the snipers are commanded by Staff Sgt. Sykes (played by Foxx) who is of course a badass but also quite an amusing guy and has a reasonably good rapport with the soldiers considering the circumstances. The training section of the movie is quite short and we soon see some news footage on a TV with news of Iraq invading Kuwait and from this point on the story movies to Iraq and follows the soldiers from the sniper squad around as they train, hydrate, play football, battle with their demons and try to amuse themselves in the dessert with very little to do.
That’s basically it, there isn’t really a huge plot, the movie is more about what life was like for the soldiers day to day in the months they spent in Iraq, especially from Swofford’s perspective and how it affected him, he also talks about his Vietnam veteran father and troubled family life while growing up. There are a few amusing bits and it’s interesting to see different takes on war situations but to be honest there was nothing in this movie that I hadn’t seen executed better previously. I wouldn’t say there was anything wrong with this movie, I just found it disappointing. I watched it with Vikki, who enjoyed it far more than me, but I should point out that she has never seen Platoon or Full Metal Jacket.. So that may be a good explanation. I can imagine that this would work better as a book, it would perhaps be more intimate, which is perhaps what is missing from the movie.
I found the movie was a little bit slow in places, with nothing really exciting going on and it felt as though scenes were missing. So I’m not sure if it’s been heavily edited or if it’s supposed to be disjointed, despite it’s two hour running time. I think I would have been bored if it had gone on much longer. On the plus side it does look very nice, the cinematography is superb and it looks very slick indeed with an excellent soundtrack.
I had read several mixed reviews of Jarhead prior to watching it with some people calling it fantastic and others calling it pointless, I think it was alright, it certainly wasn’t a bad movie and the acting from Gyllenhaal and particularly from Foxx was very good, I would say that Jamie Foxx was the best thing about the movie and is very convincing. Overall I would just say it was a bit disappointing and I didn’t feel as thing there was anything new here and quite a bit of plagiarism from Full Metal Jacket, only not so well executed. It was worth a watch but I wouldn’t need to watch it again, although I would now be very interested in reading the book, so I think I’ll add that to my Amazon wish-list.
March of the Penguins (2005) January 12, 2006
Posted by Mark in : Movies, Cinema , add a commentI finally managed to catch March of the Penguins this evening which I have been keen to see since I first heard the hype about it a few months back. In case you have been hiding out somewhere with no access to the outside world and haven’t heard about March of the Penguins, why not allow me to fill you in quickly.
It’s a documentary about the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica and documents the ordeal they have to go through during the annual mating season to successfully mate, nurture and protect their eggs throughout the gruelling winter conditions until they eggs have hatched and the young are old enough to look after themselves. The male and female both have to take shifts lasting up to four months at a time without food to stay with the egg/young while the other penguin walks (and occasionally belly slides, which despite my best efforts made me giggle like a schoolgirl every single time I witnessed it) over 70 miles to the ocean to eat, recuperate and bring back food for the young. This documentary shows you the entire process from the initial walk from ocean to breeding spot and then follows throughout the winter and the various hazards that occur through to the infants first steps and eventually going their own way and Morgan Freeman narrates throughout.
I always love watching documentaries, you only have to show me some mere cats and let me hear David Attenborough’s dulcet tones and I’m a happy man, so I didn’t really have any doubt in my mind that I would enjoy March of the Penguins. Morgan Freeman does an amicable job of narrating here, although I’m aware that this movie is originally narrated in French with English subtitles for those of us who don’t speak the lingo which from what I have heard puts quite a different slant on the movie as it’s approached differently which is something I would love to see for comparison. Maybe when the DVD is released it will have a alternative audio track/subtitles etc? Wait and see I guess.
It’s a pretty awe inspiring movie showing how much the penguins have to struggle and the lengths they have to go-to to protect their young and ensure their survival, I am just thankful that human mating despite it’s ups and downs doesn’t involve standing in -70 degree temperatures, with upto 100MPH winds without food for up to four months at a time *phew*.
I really enjoyed it and would love to catch it again in its original format.