Platoon (1986) #86

For the first time it's a film I actually saw in the theatre when it was released.  If this was the twenty-fifth or seventy-third entry that would be unusual I guess.  But since it's really only the third I've blogged about, it's probably not worth mentioning.  You're not going to get those 15 seconds back you spent reading that.  Sorry.

Oliver Stone's second movie about Vietnam might be the best film he's made to date.  You can't really count the first Vietnam film since it was a short made during film school.  Platoon is a fine piece of film making and I assert was a major component in the healing of the wounds produced by Vietnam.  When Platoon was released the Vietnam War was just over ten years past.  The fall of Saigon was in April of 1975.  The US involvement was largely over at that point and an interesting side note is that the oil crisis of late 1973 meant the South Vietnamese couldn't make use of the advantage they held in aircraft and armor.  Since the oil crisis was brought about by an embargo because the US chose to resupply Israel during the Yom Kippur War, one could say the attack by Syria and Egypt on Israel caused the fall of Saigon.  Sort of...

I digress.  The movie did help to start the healing however.  I clearly remember interviews with Vietnam veterans regarding the movie and the dialog and change in perspective since there was at least some nobility to the grunts.  Charlie Sheen is the "child" of the two fathers one good, Elias (Willem Dafoe) and one bad, Barnes (Tom Berenger).  The movie portrays the struggle of the men in the platoon between the two factions.  I wasn't in Vietnam nor have I seen any shots fired in anger (well, except around the dinner table during holidays and the shots are verbal), but the combat scenes were touted as very realistic and veterans were cautioned to take someone with them when seeing the film.

Remember the time.  Ten years since the national insanity that Vietnam brought on.   The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was only completed a few years earlier (1982).  I'm not aware of any feature length movies about Vietnam that portrayed any of the combatants in a positive light released before this.  Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Full Metal Jacket (1987) or even Casualties of War (1987) all followed Platoon.  Platoon set the stage for a dialog that I would argue allowed the public to heal from some of Vietnam.

Purely on the merit of the film...well the writing is good and the performances are good.  Look for a very young Johnny Depp. Re-watching the movie it doesn't surprise me much that it dropped on the list from 83 to 86, which might mean it's in danger of being removed in the future.  I mean it is a good movie and perhaps even a great movie.  But for my money it's on the list more for the significance of its time and its material more than its quality as a movie.  It's worth watching but I'm not going to add it to the list of movies I would like to see again in the next few years.

The General (1926/1927) #18

Notice the year of release.  IMDB says 1926, as does Wikipedia in its main article. Then Wikipedia cites 1927 in a reference from the article on Buster Keaton and the AFI list says 1927.  Since I wasn't alive I guess I'll never know for sure!

But I do know Buster Keaton was a genius!  Keaton co-wrote and co-directed the film, and starred in it as well.  It's a gem and it made its debut on the on the tenth anniversary AFI list at number eighteen.  Remarkable that it wasn't on the first list and yet debuted so highly on the second.

"He had two loves.  His engine, AND --"

Keaton plays the engineer of the "General" for a railroad in Marietta GA during the Civil War.  When Fort Sumter is fired upon Keaton (Johnnie Gray) rushes to be the first in line to enlist.  Sadly he is rejected because he's more valuable to the South in his current capacity.  This greatly distresses his second love Annabelle Lee who considers him a coward.

His redemption occurs when the Union Army steals the General and Johnnie travels across enemy lines to rescue not only the General but also Annabelle.

"In the enemy's country - hopelessly lost, helplessly cold and horribly hungry."

"The Great Stone Face" is remarkable.  Throughout the movie he expresses confusion, joy, sadness and surprise with incredible subtlety.  With those huge eyes and a blink or two he can express a remarkable amount of emotion.  I'm not sure anyone else even comes close on the deadpan scale.

Keaton was a master of physical comedy and does a wonderful job of scampering over the train or climbing in and out of windows or any other number of sight gags.  Watch for him making a perfect throw with a chunk of firewood to try and knock the cannon's aim away from him.  I have no idea what it's called but he does a great hopping on one leg as he rounds corners or changes direction much like Charlie Chaplin.  Or perhaps Charlie Chaplin does it much like Buster Keaton?  I guess it has to be Keaton like Chaplin since Buster was six years the junior to Charlie.

Very enjoyable seventy-five minutes or so!

The Wizard of Oz (1939) #10

The Wizard of Oz is the first movie I selected from the list and it's at least a little appropriate.  My wife swears her youngest daughter watched it on VHS once a day for a few years.  The ball n' chain also says she can remember very clearly running out of the room screaming when the monkeys flew in to drag Dorothy away.

I've got to be honest.  I don't like musicals much.  The genre never made much sense to me even when I was a kid and thought there was no way anyone could just make up songs like that!  The Wizard of Oz is part of our culture however.  Oddly I don't think I ever watched it when I was a kid.  It's possible I did but regardless, it's part of the shared experience I think.  You can make reference to a cowardly lion and almost anyone will know what you're talking about.  "We're not in Kansas anymore" is a phrase I have used when leading raids in WoW for pete's sake.  Guild members in their teens will still know what the heck I'm talking about.

There's a chant that the guards of the Wicked Witch of the West sing while the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion are watching during their rescue attempt of Dorothy and Toto.  It's the same chant that's heard in O Brother, Where Art Thou? has when the KKK is about to string up a black guitar player.   This is another example of how the the movie has become part of our culture and should be on the AFI list.

The transition from black and white to colour, and the belief of some that it was the first feature live action colour film, adds to this cultural significance.  We should note it wasn't even close to the first live action colour film.   Aside from dyed films or films painted frame by frame there were colour films all the way back to 1912 using Kinemacolor.  There are also Technicolor films dating back to the early 20's.

No doubt it should be in the top 100 but the top 10?  Not so sure.  A great film and I think Bert Lahr was absolutely fabulous!  The history and stories about the film are also very interesting.  From the Munchkins being rowdy to the allergic reaction of Buddy Ebson to the aluminum make-up that was originally powder rather than paste.  The Munchkin stories are myth and in part due to a movie Under the Rainbow staring Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher.  The movie depicted a Culver City hotel that has some Munchkins as guests during filming.

Only 99 more to go!

The Blog: It's Live!

I've talked about writing a blog forever.  Usually this involved visions of
high-minded ideas about sharing profound thoughts with hundreds of loyal
followers.  Well, I’ve given up on waiting for those profound thoughts to fill
up blank pages, and instead I’m going to focus on something simple.  Just one
word:   Movies.

Recently my dad and I were talking on the phone and he mentioned the AFI
(American Film Institute)'s top 100 movies of all time.  Thanks to the wonders
of the internet, I checked out the list and was impressed.  Originally published
in 1997, they even updated it ten years later to reflect newer films.  What I
like about the list, though, is the conversation it starts.   The discussion
about which movies should be there.   Why a film is or isn't there.    Whether
the AFI favors musicals or ignores foreign films.  And so forth.   The only
issue I have with the list is that it’s ranked from 1 to 100, as if you could
really say that Casablanca is a better film than Star Wars.  Is it really valid
to say that Citizen Kane is a BETTER movie than The Godfather?  Well, perhaps
it’s valid but it’s simply misleading to say any of these films are any better
than another.  It’s about as valid as saying, "Ford is better than Chevrolet
because Dodge made the Hemi" In my opinion, the list should have just been
alphabetical.  You can’t go wrong with the alphabet.

As I read through the list of films, I noticed that it was difficult to say for
sure which ones I’d seen or not seen.  Some were very memorable and I’m sure
I’ve seen them.   Saving Private Ryan?  Yep, I own the DVD and have watched it
and re-watched it.  Rocky?  Standard TBS fare; seen it many times.  The
Philadephia Story?  Uh.. hmm.. yea I’ve heard of it, I’ve probably seen it..
maybe.  American Graffiti? Yea, I’m sure I’ve seen it but I barely remember
it.   My checklist turned into a messy chickenscratch of "yes", "probably",
"maybe", "saw some of it", and "think I’ve seen it all but never straight
through".  In my almost-50 years I’ve seen most of these movies but I was
actually pretty surprised at how many I couldn’t clearly recall much about.

So my mission was clear.  Watch all 100 movies.  And hey, while I’m at it, why
not blog about it?

Before getting started, I had to make a rather stressful decision about the
order to watch the movies in.  Should I try to watch them in ascending or
descending order?  Stick with the trusty alphabetical approach? Should I go by
genre or year produced? Seen/not seen?  Decisions, decisions.  Finally I decided
to just go with my mood swings and pick a random movie each day. Not sure I’ll be able to keep up a pace of one movie per day, but I’ve set that goal to maintain some level of focus.  

In final preparation for my journey, I’ve typed the list into a spreadsheet and stocked up on popcorn.  The lazyboy awaits!