Platoon: 20th Anniversary Edition
May 30, 2006
While Platoon (1986) was certainly not the first film about the Vietnam War, it was one of the first to focus on the average foot soldier in an honest and authentic way. Oliver Stone’s film really put you in the jungle with these guys as only someone...
Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut
May 23, 2006
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) was Ridley Scott’s costly epic about the Crusades that promptly flopped at the box office in North America. Clearly, the studio and Scott were hoping for another zeitgeist galvanizing response to this film like with Gladiator...
Casualties of War: Extended Cut
April 25, 2006
Casualties of War (1989) came out towards the end of the trend of Vietnam War movies in the 1980s after the likes of Oliver Stone, Stanley Rubric and others had tried their hand at it. By the time Brian De Palma’s film came out the public had grown...
The Twelve Chairs
April 18, 2006
Born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, Mel Brooks got his start as a stand-up comedian working the resorts circuit in the Catskills. A few years later, he was working as a television writer on various shows for Sid Caesar alongside future comedy legends,...
Jarhead: Collector’s Edition
March 12, 2006
Anticipation was high for Jarhead (2005), the cinematic adaptation of Anthony Swifford’s book of the same name about his experiences as a U.S. foot soldier in the first Persian Gulf War. The reaction to the movie was underwhelming to say the least as...
Good Morning Vietnam: Special Edition
February 27, 2006
Good Morning Vietnam (1987) is one of Robin Williams’ earliest forays into drama. While The World According to Garp (1982) is arguably his first attempt to be taken seriously and blend his comedic sensibilities with drama, Good Morning maintains a much...
Zone Troopers
February 2, 2006
As the commercial and critical failure of Cowboys & Aliens (2010) demonstrated, it is difficult to successfully blend two disparate genres. You need to have just the right mix – something that the mega-budget studio film didn’t get right. Maybe...
Gunner Palace
January 30, 2006
The longer that the United States is mired in the occupation of Iraq the more the situation there draws the inevitable comparisons to the Vietnam War. Our troops are trying to maintain a tenuous peace but are having a tough time against insurgents that...
A Very Long Engagement
January 19, 2006
After the phenomenal success of Amélie (2001), Jean-Pierre Jeunet could have played it safe. Instead, he parlayed that success into an ambitious romantic tale set against the backdrop of World War I. A Very Long Engagement (2004) reunites Jeunet with...
Stripes: Extended Cut
January 14, 2006
A general rule of film should be “that anything with Bill Murray in is worth a look.” That’s what Stripes brings; a comedy classic, from the early eighties, given the special edition treatment, starring Bill Murray, that is worth a look. A million...
