Film Reviews - what have you seen lately, what did you think?

Detroitgator

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Yeah..... but it ISNT the history channel. They are always going to insist on a cavalry charge w everyone shooting from the hip and assault rifles with neverending ammunition.
Last thing I'll say on this one, and again, I'd tell everyone to go see the movie if they aren't going to try to learn otherwise. As I said, I saw it with a group I was invited by, but I'll go see it alone sometime this week. Also again, Legion of Brothers is done well, but not a Hollywood movie. Nutsch and Amerine are both in the documentary as themselves.

This was a really important story to tell... not just the true story of ODA 595, but the true story of Dostum and the Afghans involved, and the story of Qala i Jangi. Hollywood has been trying to hijack this story and get it made for over a decade, and by lying, changing stories and names to avoid IP and payment issues, by flat out misleading families, and finally after Hollywood found the right formula with American Sniper, Jerry and crew got to work. In doing so, they made some modern Magnificent Seven remake, not the story.

We can say it's just Hollywood, but because of the woman in this picture (and who her husband was) and what she was put through, I have a harder time doing it. It's the same reason I want to put a brick through my TV every time I try (I've never made it through end to end) watch Zero Dark Thirty and see what they did with the character "Jessica" vs who she was in real life. It really pisses me off... two stars on a real wall.
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Swamp Donkey

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I knew they cutout the real names but I thought it was to protect people....
 

Detroitgator

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I knew they cutout the real names but I thought it was to protect people....
It was about money and lawsuits. They kept Mullholland's and Bowers' names because they didn't have to dance around any potential money/IP issues. They also stayed just far enough away from most things truthful just long enough to also avoid any money/IP issues/lawsuits. It was a big deal and all the players on the true story side, from the team (that are still living/families of dead), to the author, to journos directly involved/first to report on the actual story from location... were all willing to cooperate. Even Dostum. Dostum offered to provide them full security to film on location in Afghanistan and he was willing to provide 5,000 horses... with riders, so they could do the charges like they actually happened. Hell, they could have at least CGI'd a mass of horses a la the Lord of the Rings movies to make it look right. ;)
 

Swamp Donkey

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Is the book ok or did it get hollyweirded also?
 

Detroitgator

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Is the book ok or did it get hollyweirded also?
Yes, the book is well researched and sticks with the Army (which is fine and completely understandable given when it was written).

The “companion” book about NALT (OGA side of 595 story) is First In by Gary Schroen himself. I’ve mentioned Billy Waugh before and Gary took Billy in with him that September when Billy was 71 years old. The ODA guys and their story are awesome, but when you look at the kind of guys that were on that NALT team, you just hope that enough ODA types will make the crossover to be the 71 year Old in the field 30 years from now.
 
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TLB

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The Number 23 (2007)

Jim Carrey in something of a fantasy-thriller. If I recall correctly, people were generally impressed with his ability to carry this serious role as opposed to his usual goof ball roles. I would say he pulled it off fairly well and give him a 7-8/10 on his performance but there is something about his look that is inescapable where you are waiting for him to crack a smile and reveal he has been goofing.

General plot is that his wife gets a book for him, upon getting a first look at it he reads the front and back covers:
Front: The Number 23. A Novel of Obsession by Topsy Kretts.
Back: A heart wrenching odyssey into paranoia. One of the most horrifying metamorphoses ever told. Beware the dog next door.

Somehow the wife got the whole story in the five minutes skimming it in the bookstore before he arrived and is unphased by what she read. He starts reading and it triggers a level of obsession in him as he learns of the author's fixation on all things related to the number 23. The film itself alternates between the reality of him, his wife, and their son versus the book's characters of Detective Fingerling (Jim Carrey) and Fabrizia the sexy but self serving thrill addicted lover (Virginia Madsen, also his wife), and a few others. Imagery and characters are different enough that you never confuse the reality with the book, but there is a reason they are using the same actors as his obsession grows and he begins thinking and feeling like Fingerling and it effects his real world. Storyline drives to a point of Fingerling going mad and murdering someone, meanwhile Sparrow (Carrey's real world persona) is becoming overwhelmed with connections to the number 23 and believing the author was describing real events, confessing to a murder that is unsolved. Ultimately, finding the true killer feels to be the point of the film, but it goes for another 20 minutes or so trying to find justice, and brings in a few fast plot/character twists in the end to patch it together in a way that feels rushed, incomplete, and somewhat half-assed and unnecessary.

General opinion gives points for significant boobs in multiple scenes...and by significant, I mean porn worthy in appearance. Were they harmed? Well, we see a woman's body after being stabbed...but we aren't directly shown where she was stabbed...so I'll say no. The good - imagery, acting (during the reveal, Carrey does very, very well portraying the madness), the concept (crazed author infecting others with the obsession by his writings). The bad - fast pace and shoddy wrap up at the back 45min lets you down, given the build up. The really bad - IMDB trivia is littered with people making all kinds of in-movie connections to the number 23, which could have been intentional or not by the film makers, but the fans went overboard to the point of being outright wrong (fabricating things) or reaching preposterously far to make a connection. Overall 6.5/10, avoid IMDB.
 

TLB

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Legion of Brothers

Disclaimer for those not aware - I've never served, but my father did 4yrs non-combat '69-'73 and his father was career Army Corp of Engineers (Korea, Vietnam, perhaps WW2 though I don't know his age at the time). Nor have I seen the theater movie of 12 Strong for any sense of comparison. I'm watching this cold, with little knowledge of what went on and who did what.

Ok, yeah, not a Hollywood movie in any sense - definitely more documentary, but in a very personal way in my opinion. A lot of documentaries come across as "here is what happened" whereas this was about 40% "here is what happened" and 60% "these are the people involved and how it effected them" with heavy emphasis not on what was done but what and how the soldiers were dealing with it all both during and after. That Amarine fella, with the comment of "everyone I've commanded has died, what does that say about me?" was a very heavy thing to deal with. Lots of heaviness in the back half of the film.

Imagery was good - lot of use of maps, with superimposed lighting to give you a feel of battles; some live battle footage (didn't seem like anything was staged...just real filming?), and a lot of documentary type shots of the men today living as they do (gatherings, remembering, visiting families of fallen friends - or in the case of some, travelling back and trying to come to terms with what was done). Story line was good in that it gets you into the pre-fight mindset with the 595 team, then their early work in Afghanistan; then it ties in with 575 and 574 (apologies if I am mis-remembering the unit numbers) and how each of them played a role. I understand bringing in Balduc and his Colonel that are dealing with the bombing near the end of the film, but it felt almost like I'd been reading a 50 chapter novel on SF and found 5 chapters added to the end about HQ that effected SF but were really just an add on to give the book a point for closure (perhaps 'ending' is more appropriate given that many involved didn't actually get 'closure').

All in all, a really good film giving you a sense of the soldiers as human beings, and the reality of what they were doing at the time as well as what they are dealing with now. Something not often found in Hollywood nor in most documentaries.

==========

Questions:
1. What is a 2,000 lb. J-DAM?
2. What was the significance of the reversed American flag insignia on Amarine's uniform above the SF shoulder patch?
 

Swamp Donkey

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==========

Questions:
1. What is a 2,000 lb. J-DAM?
2. What was the significance of the reversed American flag insignia on Amarine's uniform above the SF shoulder patch?
1. A big bomb
2. the correct patch for the right arm. the stars always go to the front.
 
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Detroitgator

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Legion of Brothers

Disclaimer for those not aware - I've never served, but my father did 4yrs non-combat '69-'73 and his father was career Army Corp of Engineers (Korea, Vietnam, perhaps WW2 though I don't know his age at the time). Nor have I seen the theater movie of 12 Strong for any sense of comparison. I'm watching this cold, with little knowledge of what went on and who did what.

Ok, yeah, not a Hollywood movie in any sense - definitely more documentary, but in a very personal way in my opinion. A lot of documentaries come across as "here is what happened" whereas this was about 40% "here is what happened" and 60% "these are the people involved and how it effected them" with heavy emphasis not on what was done but what and how the soldiers were dealing with it all both during and after. That Amarine fella, with the comment of "everyone I've commanded has died, what does that say about me?" was a very heavy thing to deal with. Lots of heaviness in the back half of the film.

Imagery was good - lot of use of maps, with superimposed lighting to give you a feel of battles; some live battle footage (didn't seem like anything was staged...just real filming?), and a lot of documentary type shots of the men today living as they do (gatherings, remembering, visiting families of fallen friends - or in the case of some, travelling back and trying to come to terms with what was done). Story line was good in that it gets you into the pre-fight mindset with the 595 team, then their early work in Afghanistan; then it ties in with 575 and 574 (apologies if I am mis-remembering the unit numbers) and how each of them played a role. I understand bringing in Balduc and his Colonel that are dealing with the bombing near the end of the film, but it felt almost like I'd been reading a 50 chapter novel on SF and found 5 chapters added to the end about HQ that effected SF but were really just an add on to give the book a point for closure (perhaps 'ending' is more appropriate given that many involved didn't actually get 'closure').

All in all, a really good film giving you a sense of the soldiers as human beings, and the reality of what they were doing at the time as well as what they are dealing with now. Something not often found in Hollywood nor in most documentaries.

==========

Questions:
1. What is a 2,000 lb. J-DAM?
2. What was the significance of the reversed American flag insignia on Amarine's uniform above the SF shoulder patch?
Jason is a friend of mine. We are the same Year Group and went to some schools together. He also got hosed (actually ruined until exonerated) by the previous administrations FBI and Dept of the Army political appointees
 

gingerlover

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Two for you.

Table 19 - caught this late an a movie channel and gave it a try. Was actually descent. Anna Kendrick was set to be the bridesmaid at a wedding, but the brides brother dumps her two weeks before. She gets stuck at the table of people they didn’t care about. The others are a socially awkward kid (played by the kid who was flash in the last Spider-Man), the uncle fresh out of prison, the childhood nanny and a dysfunctional married couple (Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson). They start out not liking each other but all bond after sharing their lives struggles and make lasting relationships. Marketed as a comedy, but more drama. Has just enough laughs to keep it even. 7/10.

Snatched - another one in cable. Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn. This had one moment that made me laugh. Schumer’s stick is no longer funny and Hawn has Botoxed herself so much she’s becoming unrecognizable. Stay away in my opinion. 2/10.
 

gingerlover

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Logan lucky - the redneck oceans 11 movie. Channing Tatum and Adam driver are down on their luck brothers with personal problems in both their lives in West Virginia. Tatum is a out of work construction worker with a leg injury and Driver is a Iraq vet who lost an arm on tour. They decide to rob the Charlotte motor speedway on a race day. They recruit their sister, a jailed safe cracker (Daniel Craig) and his two brothers along with a few secret partners along the way.

Not as funny as I thought, but a good mix of funny and real world problems. The plot is well thought out for a movie and has a nice ending that could lead to a sequel.

Katie Holmes is Tatum’s x wife and plays a hot trophy wife and his sister is Elvis’s grand daughter who is a smoke show. No boobs however.

7/10. This is a good movie. Don’t come expecting non stop laughs, but is a good heist movie.
 

TLB

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Monster (2003)

Aileen Wuornos story with Charliz Theron as the lead and Christina Ricci as the girlfriend. I like to think of Theron as attractive, but she gained 30lbs for this role and had some fake teeth in, all of which made her look a lot like the real Wuornos and she was physically very unattractive...hard life of hooking can do that. However, I have to admit, Theron gave a great performance in the role, I understand why she won awards for it. Ricci's character was wholly fictional, as the real life girlfriend is very protective of her identity and would have sued the film makers - but Ricci does a good job and brings what's needed to drive Theron as Wuornos. Very much a film about the person, picks up where she is an adult and meets Ricci, then follows their relationship and how it leads to Wuornos turning from hooker to killer. They sprinkle in moments where she talks about her youth and how she became what she is, but she never really apologizes - more or less 'this is what I am'. Not too violent (few killings are gun shots, and the first killing was retaliation on a john that had her bound up for rape and was going to kill her). I don't know how much is based in fact, but it seems the real Wournos provided more info to this than she did in other efforts to get her story. I wanted to see this, having grown up in FL and known some things about it at the time. Bottom line, a good film if you are interested in the subject but not a great film on it's own. There are some Theron boobs during a lesbo scene with Ricci, but it's brief and kinda meh. Overall 6/10.
 

CaseyGator

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Ok, I’ll give it a whirl.

Mr. Right: Anna Kendrick is an average girl who catches her boyfriend cheating on her. Shortly thereafter she meets a quirky guy (Sam Rockwell - who I love), who sweeps her off her feet...he just happens to be an assassin and is being chased by the agency who trained him. She then has to decide if she can overlook this one small detail about this otherwise perfect guy. A comedy/action movie with great dialogue and appearances by Tim Roth and RZA. No boobs, but an 8/10 in my book.
 

Detroitgator

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Ok, I’ll give it a whirl.

Mr. Right: Anna Kendrick is an average girl who catches her boyfriend cheating on her. Shortly thereafter she meets a quirky guy (Sam Rockwell - who I love), who sweeps her off her feet...he just happens to be an assassin and is being chased by the agency who trained him. She then has to decide if she can overlook this one small detail about this otherwise perfect guy. A comedy/action movie with great dialogue and appearances by Tim Roth and RZA. No boobs, but an 8/10 in my book.
She’s great in pretty much everything she does.
 

Detroitgator

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I was disappointed she didn’t have more screen time in The Accountant
Yeah, me too, but they weren’t co-equal roles in either movie I mentioned. The Accountant was really good if you’ve ever dealt with someone on the autistic/aspergers spectrum
 

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