It's been awhile since i reviewed any movie hasn't it. That hardly means i haven't watched any ofcourse. Mr movie buff here lives, breathes and bleeds celluloid. Not that i'd subject myself to all manner of crap(ok, from time to time, a bit of crap is not too harmful to the system). I pride myself for being an individual of impeccable taste... i am sorry if it sounds a tad cockyor perhaps a tiny bit too self assured, but it's true...It is truth in its purest form if it is ever found possible for 'truth' to exist in various shades of integrity. Anyways i'll commit the following passage to reflect on a recent flick that i managed to catch at the theatres with a bunch of cunts i sometimes refer to as my friends, or as Dhino would like to put it, "aquaintances of convenience".
'Jarhead' is Sam Mendes' third feature length film following the supposedly overrated masterpiece(deliberately contrived contradiction) that is 'American beauty', a film even a movie connoisseur such as myself has unfortunately never seen, and the graphic novel inspired 'Road To Perdition'. 'Jarhead' has received mixed reviews from all quarters. The general opinion is that it's an accurate realistic portrayal of soldiers involved in the gulf war(which is a bit of a no-brainer since the movie's based on a book written by a gulf war veteran whose character's played by one half of the gay duo from 'Brokeback Mountain'). But the naysayers argue that the lack of action and intensity of the 'Full Metal Jacket' or 'Saving Private Ryan' variety is detrimental to a film that's superficially regarded a "war flick". Well, to begin with,'Jarhead' was never meant to be all out actioner in which audience get to gawk at iraqis getting blown to bits by 50 different 'Hollywood' inspired methods. As it was in the actual Gulf war, the ground troops hardly got any "action" anyway. The intention and main focus of the film was aimed at how the american soldiers coped with doing "nothing" during their extended stay in the desert waiting for the "action" that never came. A "war flick" which is in fact a character study with little or no action sequences will almost always be a disappointment to the masses. Having said that, i do not disagree that the film deserves some of the flak it gets. Apart from some great acting, snappy one liners which may or may not have been extracted from the original source material, beautiful cinemtography(almost a given in a Sam Mendes film) and exquisite soundtrack(a good soundtrack is almost always guranteed to raise a film's actual worth...it worked wonders for 'Lord of War'), 'Jarhead' can be a frustrating movie to sit through at certain junctures, and may be a tad too long drawn and dull for an average viewer who goes in without knowing what to expect.
On a side note, 'Jarhead', for better or worse has managed to inspire some members of the Clan to err... "jump on the bandwagon". 'Jar head" novel, 'Jar Head' soundtrack, 'Jar head' inspired msn nicks , and fookin hell, even 'Jar Head' inspired haircuts seem to be the current fad. So i suppose it's fair to say, the movie has managed to have some kind of effect on some of its viwers, disregarding the director's orginal intentions.... haw haw!
'Jarhead' is Sam Mendes' third feature length film following the supposedly overrated masterpiece(deliberately contrived contradiction) that is 'American beauty', a film even a movie connoisseur such as myself has unfortunately never seen, and the graphic novel inspired 'Road To Perdition'. 'Jarhead' has received mixed reviews from all quarters. The general opinion is that it's an accurate realistic portrayal of soldiers involved in the gulf war(which is a bit of a no-brainer since the movie's based on a book written by a gulf war veteran whose character's played by one half of the gay duo from 'Brokeback Mountain'). But the naysayers argue that the lack of action and intensity of the 'Full Metal Jacket' or 'Saving Private Ryan' variety is detrimental to a film that's superficially regarded a "war flick". Well, to begin with,'Jarhead' was never meant to be all out actioner in which audience get to gawk at iraqis getting blown to bits by 50 different 'Hollywood' inspired methods. As it was in the actual Gulf war, the ground troops hardly got any "action" anyway. The intention and main focus of the film was aimed at how the american soldiers coped with doing "nothing" during their extended stay in the desert waiting for the "action" that never came. A "war flick" which is in fact a character study with little or no action sequences will almost always be a disappointment to the masses. Having said that, i do not disagree that the film deserves some of the flak it gets. Apart from some great acting, snappy one liners which may or may not have been extracted from the original source material, beautiful cinemtography(almost a given in a Sam Mendes film) and exquisite soundtrack(a good soundtrack is almost always guranteed to raise a film's actual worth...it worked wonders for 'Lord of War'), 'Jarhead' can be a frustrating movie to sit through at certain junctures, and may be a tad too long drawn and dull for an average viewer who goes in without knowing what to expect.
On a side note, 'Jarhead', for better or worse has managed to inspire some members of the Clan to err... "jump on the bandwagon". 'Jar head" novel, 'Jar Head' soundtrack, 'Jar head' inspired msn nicks , and fookin hell, even 'Jar Head' inspired haircuts seem to be the current fad. So i suppose it's fair to say, the movie has managed to have some kind of effect on some of its viwers, disregarding the director's orginal intentions.... haw haw!
posted by DarknessO at 5:58 pm
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