Company K is the story of a group of Marines during World War I, based on the novel of the same name by William March.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, what might make for a good book (which I've not read) doesn't necessarily translate well to the screen. In the film, the fictional Delaney (Ari Fliakos) is the main character. Well, I think. He's supposed to represent March, aka. Campbell in this semi-autobiographical work.

The movie starts off wonderfully, with Delaney writing his novel, discussing parts of it with his wife, and the narration with (presumably) quotes from March's novel making a bold statement.

Um. Why did I even bother? Seriously.

Delta Farce is a supposed comedy from the "masterminds" behind the Blue Collar Comedy(cough) tour folks. Namely Larry "The Cable Guy", Bill Engvall, and that skinny annoying guy whose name I can't remember (DJ Qualls, had to look it up.)

In it these three idiot hillbillies somehow are part of the Army reserves. Explain that one to me, especially how their "reserve center" is more like a clubhouse.... Anyway, they actually get called up and wind up airdropped on accident into Mexico (how they ended up in Mexico on the way to Iraq is another mystery!)

And the hilarity ensues. Or at least its supposed to, I think.

Man, I really wish I hadn't stumbled upon this 30 minutes late on cable.  Because all of what I saw was some of the best, yet emotionally difficult to watch, film I've seen in a while.

Downfall (or "Der Untergang", which translates to "the conditions".. ? eh? at least according to google it does) is a bleak, depressing, claustrophobic look at final days of Adolf Hitler and those who surrounded him during his final few days in Berlin.

The film is also entirely in German (being a German produced film, I guess you have to expect that...) which lends a lot to the "authenticity" of the picture.  My German is nicht sehr gut so I was having to read most everything, which proved to be only slightly distracting. 

What struck me most about Downfall, was the almost sympathetic portrayal of Adolf Hitler, masterfully done by Bruno Ganz.  I say "almost" because even though Hitler is shown to have a somewhat more human side here, the madness still overshadows any goodness the man might've had.  Ganz' depiction of the all-at-once paranoid, delusional, meglomanical, just-plain-nuckin-futz Hitler is just brilliant.  From the anger and crazy rants we've come to know and, well, to the hunched over, slow walking, palsied-hand "poor old man" that nobody really thinks of.

Of course it really doesn't matter in the end.  I don't think I'm spoiling too much to say that Hitler's (and Braun's) suicide isn't really the end of the story here.  What's even more disturbing is the portrayal of Hitler's cult-like followers, such as the Goebbels' family.  Probably the most disturbing scene of the picture (well the parts that I saw) was Mrs. Goebbels poisoning her children, only to calmly sit down to a game of solitaire.

It's also obvious just how insane the man was, as is evident by the delusional orders he continues to give, despite the encroaching Russian forces.  This madness is also clear in the faces of his Generals as he rants on, with some of them obviously fed up with the insanity.  The rest clinging to some vain hope of der Fuhrer pulling them out of their situation.

Of course that's not the only story.  Also of importance is the somewhat connected side story of Hitler's secretary, Traudi Junge (played by Alexandra Maria Lara.)  She eventually escapes the death and madness, and eventually goes on to write one of the books this film is based upon.

There was also the brief and disconnected story of a young boy caught up in the fighting, but I must've missed something important there, as it really didn't make much sense in the bigger picture.  Other than to say he leaves the city with Junge in the end.  I wasn't sure if he was supposed to be a Hitler Youth, one of the ultra-young conscripts of the German Army or just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If I can catch the first 30 minutes of this I will definitely do it.  Based on the remaining 126 minutes (yeah its kind of long) I rate Downfall right up there with the best films I've seen.

It's also nice to see such a dark and depressing film end on somewhat of a bright and optimistic note, as the boy pulls a bicycle out of the ruins of a bombed out bridge, and he and Junge ride off to an uncertain, but less depressing, future.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, Der Untergang, Downfall, Adolf Hitler, World War II 2, Germany, Russia, Traudi Junge, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz

Enemy at the Gates is a dark, bleak, ultimately depressing look at one of the major bloodbaths of World War II, namely the siege of Stalingrad. More to the point, its about the battle between two snipers. Not that it improves the overall tone of the picture or anything.

Right from the get-go, you know how the rest of the film is going to be. As the Russian soldiers are herded onto the trains toward Stalingrad, and they are basically dumped into the thick of it, facing the German bullets on one side, or their own if they attempt retreat. So who's side are we supposed to be on, here, anyway?

Flags of Our Fathers is the story of three men who were honored (I guess you could call it that) for their part in raising (one of) the flags over Iwo Jima in 1945.

However it portrays this "honor" as that of being used as marketing pawns in the name of selling more war bonds. Additionally it portrays two of the three in a somewhat questionable light. I don't know if director Clint Eastwood did this on purpose or if it was just a reflection of the facts that were known to him and his staff, and having not read the book this was based off of, I can't say for sure.

What I can say is I watched this movie and felt sort of, well, ticked off during most of it. Mostly because of the way these men were being portrayed. You have Rene, the guy who seems to be eating up all the fame and glory, at least thats how it seemed. Then there's Ira Hayes, the native american who spends most of the "tour" drunk. Reflections of the facts? Again, I don't know, but it was just unsettling and maddening.

Yes, I understand why. They did not see themselves as the heroes they were made out to be, they felt others deserved more credit than themselves. I guess that in itself makes up for it somewhat. The whole message (which is an excellent one we all should take to heart) seems to get lost in the negative portrayals.

The battle scenes are filmed spectacularly, and the continuity from one shot to the next, from airplane cockpit, to beach, to battleship is truly amazing. Although I still say they went way overboard with the color desaturation. These scenes nearly look black and white they've been toned out so much. The grit and fear comes through painfully spectacular.

On top of that the way the battle scenes are cut in between the scenes of the "war bond tour" can get confusing. There are a few times you wonder exactly what the timeline you're looking at is. Which came first, where are we now, what the hell is going on... you get my drift.

Is this a good movie? Yes, and no. I'm not going to put it on par with the likes of Saving Private Ryan, or anything like that. Even though I think that's what they were shooting for. I think the intentions were good, to create a Private Ryan-like memorial film for the men who fought and died in the Pacific. And I'll give points for effort, but the whole thing just doesn't fit together.

I also wonder if there isn't some other message Mr. Eastwood was going for, that of the commercialism and exploitation of those we would call "heroes."

There's a lot to think about here, and there are a lot of moving moments that make this a worthwhile couple of hours, but keep in mind the message and try not to get as ticked off as I did! Focus on the honor they pay to "Doc" and you'll come away a lot more un-angry.

Like I said I have not read the book by the same name, maybe I should. It may shed a different light on things. I'd be interested in any comments any readers may have on this, what your thoughts are.

Before the US officially got involved in "The Big One,"  several volunteers headed off to France to learn the newly created art of military aviation.  Flyboys follows the adventures of some of them, most notably Blaine Rawlings (James Franco.)

Now, I'd made some comments previously about this film, when all I had to go off of were the previews.  Quite honestly they made this film look just ridiculous.  I'm happy to say that it isn't so, and that I actually, and surprisingly, liked this movie, a lot.

I'd almost say that this film could have been made in the 40's or 50's.  It just has that same, I don't know, quality to it.  There's really no harsh language to speak of, no horribly graphic violence (but just enough to garner it a PG-13), has the obligatory love story side plot which doesn't get in the way of the main story, and provides enough action to really keep you on the edge of your chair!

Yeah, yeah, I know... there was a lot of "artistic license" taken when it comes down to the actual dogfight scenes.  But put in context those outlandish scenes from the trailers really aren't so bad, especially the plane-through-the-exploding-zeppelin bit.  If you look at it from the perspective I'm talking about (your classic "action/adventure" type war movie) I think its perfectly forgivable.

Franco's role as the "hero" was well played, as was Capt. Thenault (Jean Reno) and Lucienne (Jennifer Decker), but the broody veteran Cassidy (Martin Henderson) got a little tiresome.  The rest of the guys were just along for the ride....

But (you knew that was coming) there were a couple of minor issues I had with it, first the absolutely in-your-face racial bit.  Must we turn everything into a statement?  I'll say though that once it was "out of the way" it resolved itself gracefully, and didn't factor into things later on.

The soundtrack was very good, but unfortunately a few bars of the main theme sounded exactly like the main theme from "Saving Private Ryan", which for me at least, was a bit distracting.  YMMV.

Then there's the "Afterwards, so and so did this and that" subtitle ending.  I hate that.  Just let us imagine what happened to these guys.

Flyboys is an action filled movie that pays appropriate tribute to the pioneers of military aviation, and even if it gets a little unrealistic, just sit back and enjoy it. Its a fresh change from the current crop of hardcore, blood and guts, f-this and f-that war movies.

Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, flyboys, 2006, james franco, jean reno, jennifer decker, martin henderson, world war i, military aviation, france

I can hear the groans now.  "No!! Not another submarine movie!!!"

But that's what we've got today.  In Enemy Hands takes us once again beneath the Atlantic during World War II.  This time, however, things are a little more complicated than kill-or-be-killed.

To be fair, In Enemy Hands starts off in typical sub-movie fashion, and for the most part follows through.  The goodbyes, the typical arguments between crew members, the distrust of the rookie captain, etc. etc.....

That is, until the USS Swordfish gets torpedoed, and the crew has to abandon ship.  Right into the hands of the awaiting U-429 and her crew.  What the Germans don't realize, and the Americans have only just discovered, is that they've been infected with a rather nasty strain of meningitis, and its highly contagious.