[Zardoz]

I don't think there's a better director working these days than Eastwood. I'm anxious to see his latest: 'Flags of Our Fathers' - Clint Eastwood's war drama grippingly tells the tale behind that photograph from Iwo Jima.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;Flags of Our Fathers" is a story of extremes. It's the story of great heroism on a tiny island, of a photograph taken in 1/400th of a second that wreaked havoc with the lives of everyone in it and influenced the course of a war.

It's also a very American tale, set 60 years ago but startlingly relevant today, which intertwines and often contrasts bravery and chicanery, idealism and disillusion, war and propaganda, truth and national security. This sad true story wrings you out emotionally because it's concerned with both the deaths of young men in battle and what happens when the needs of those who survive clash with what society expects and politics demands.

[Cynus]

Here's an article you'll find interesting connecting with Japanese naval losses in WWII with oil supplies and why the US met with no naval resistance whatsoever during the invasion of Iwo Jima.
http://energybulletin.net/18793.html

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gideon', '.')..As for Rah Rah movies about the U.S., I think I'm done with them.

[TommyJefferson]

Most TV listings have the five-star ratings system. I use them.

* not watchable
** barely watchable if I LOVE the subject matter
**.5 barely watchable if I really, really like the subject matter/genre
*** watchable
**** a good movie, regardless of subject/genre
***** must see

Ever notice how movies go up and down in the "star ratings". Highly promoted movies can appear with a *** rating, but over time decrease in rating. The opposite can also happen.

Movies I saw go UP in rating over time:
Blade Runner
Das Boot
Fargo
GoodFellas
Pulp Fiction

Movies I saw go DOWN in rating over time:
The Deer Hunter
The Empire Strikes Back
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List


Last night I watched the movie "Jarhead". It was rated ***. Bull. It was a crap movie. Three years from now it will be rated **.

[Cynus]

I think the all time king for movies that started out with mediocre reviews but is going to end up being considerd a classic is the Big Lebowski.

[lee]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cynus', 'I') think the all time king for movies that started out with mediocre reviews but is going to end up being considerd a classic is the Big Lebowski.

[TommyJefferson]

I like Clint Eastwood movies. He's a libertarian. His stories usually involve people making moral decisions to do the right thing, often in spite of, or in direct violation of government rules or established authority.

(eg.
Euthanasia vs. Catholic Church in Million Dollar Baby
Munny vs. Sheriff Bill in Unforgiven )

I bet I will like this new movie.

I get disgusted with media hype over "topical" movies. Jarhead reminded me of that. It was hyped as "hard-hitting", "pivotal", "a commentary on our times". Bull. It was a crap movie of re-hashed Vietnam "US soldier goes psycho" chestnuts ala Full Metal Jacket, Deer Hunter, Thin Red Line, et al.

[firestarter]

Clint's made a few obnoxious stinkers (Heratbreak Ridge comes to mind as one of them), but for the most part his body of work is up there with the best of them. As TJ said, Eastwood's libertarianism bleeds through in many of his films. Josey Wales, for example, wasn't exactly a paragon of PC conformism. My guess is that Flags is gonna be better than average fare. Nevertheless, I'll wait till I can get it from my local library for a buck.


(edit sp)