Gotta get this updated!

Been busy with work and school. Three quarters done with my graduate degree program and now with summer off time to get back to film and commenting on such.

Defiance

Saw this just after seeing Inglourious Basterds. Two films about Jews fighting back against the Nazis and their collaborators. IG is pure imagination whereas Ed Zwick's Defiance is based on a true story. I kept seeing this preview in theatres. It would show up before a feature, then disappear for a while, then months later show up again. I assumed they kept changing the release date and based on the final product I am guessing there may have been some issues. The film stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell as the Bielski brothers who end up being the saviors of 1200 Jews whom they hid and protected in the forests of Belorussia from 1941-1944. It really is an amazing story and the director, players and crew bring their A game to telling it but I kept finding myself slipping out of the film. Of course I kept tripping myself up with movie cliches as they appeared. Tuvia and Lilka lie in bed of their makeshift hut bathed in yellow light (not previously seen in the film) wrapped in each others arms. Lilka: "You saved my life." Tuvia: "No. You saved mine." Cliches aside, Craig is great as he always is and Schreiber is solid. Zwick and his screenwriter bring a lot of philosophy to the film which made it more than just an action film or true life tale. I was moved by the characters as they tried to work through what it was for a Jew to not only live, but to be free in a world that demanded your extermination. The discourse was a bit clunky, but at times claustrophobia set in even in the forest as they tried to work out how to stay civilized in the face of the barbarism playing out around them and the barbarians hunting them down.
Memorable moment: The final battle sequence - I was shocked they survived!

Inglourious Basterds

What's so wrong about a movie being solely derived from other movies? Nothing as far as I am concerned because the result can be pure entertainment. Quentin Tarantino's latest goes down easy even when it runs long in sections. I found myself immersed in this film from the opening sequence. Right away he merges a western with a WWII flick. The rancher, I mean French countryman, waits patiently as he sees the riders, I mean Nazi cars approach his homestead from a distance. The scene that then plays out introduces us to the jewel of the film: Christoph Waltz. From the start this is Waltz's film. He owns the screen and our attention in every scene he's in and we miss him when he's not there. His character Hans Landa is a master detective who now uses his powers of observation and deduction to hunt down Jews. So in addition to western and war flick, Tarantino throws in a police procedural and creates a new detective to rival Holmes and company. As if Waltz's performance wasn't enough, the film also has a fabulous turn by Michael Fassbender as the film critic turned military operative ala David Niven in Guns of Navarone. What was bizarre was that in this role he was a Kevin Kline clone, not sure if this was on purpose but for most of the film I was sure he must be Kline's progeny. Now wait a minute... what about Brad Pitt? Yea he's in the film and he does an interesting turn as the head of the Basterds but with so much charm oozing out of Landa and Hicox who cares? We need a prequel that shows Landa prior to 1941 and how he became the "Jew Hunter."
Memorable moment: The Lady in Red and Cat People sequence... so anachronistic and so perfect!

District 9

This film was like a breath of fresh air. New director/screenwriter and new actors all of whom have created a great twist on your basic apartheid/alien invasion/mockumentary/buddy flick. Neil Blomkamp wrote the script (with Terri Tatchell) and directed the film. The previews had me tantalized from the moment I first saw one. I could not wait to see this film. There was something about the rawness of the shots and the teasing of an alien flick in which the humans are the baddies. The full blown product did not disappoint. Blomkamp has a great eye and makes the most of his $30 million budget (10 times less than Transformers 2 cost apparently). The film intertwines a documentary about the events of a film we also see played out before us. At first I found this off putting trying to get my head around outsiders narrating what I was experiencing. Once I stopped fighting how I wanted these two threads play out and just accepted how they were designed, I was able to really enjoy the film for what it is and not for what I wanted it to be based on my American film going prejudices. Sharlto Copley is amazing as the main character Wikus Van Der Merwe. He plays Wikus as a bit of a bumbling, ladder climbing tool who is rather funny to watch at first. As his character slowly wakes up to the dark reality of his situation, Copley deftly shifts gears back and forth between denial, loneliness, confusion and anger. This man really knows how to act. This summer he and Christoph Waltz are making a very good case for casting non-American leads in US films. The two of them are far more talented than many US actors trying to obtain A-list lead status and can appeal to worldwide audiences which potentially means bigger international box office. District 9 is funny, violent and in the end sad and heartfelt. I have not stopped thinking about the film since I saw it a few weeks ago and I look forward to seeing it again.
Memorable moment: Wikus and the garbage rose.

Julie & Julia

Let me begin by saying I love the movie You've Got Mail. I never saw Sleepless In Seattle or When Harry Met Sally and I have no plans to. Who the fuck wants to see Billy Crystal in anything and that kid in Sleepless looks annoying. So know you have my history with Nora Ephron's famous romance pics. Though I suppose one could possibly argue that Silkwood is also an Ephron romance/thriller. For the record I liked Silkwood. Now to the punchline: Julie & Julia is no You've Got Mail. It tries but despite Amy Adams' best efforts to make Julie likable she is annoyingly selfish and shallow. Balancing her story against the rich and bon vivant lifestyle of Meryl Streep's Julia Child made me hate Julie and want to know more about Julia. Maybe that was the point? The Julia Child of this film was a woman who enjoyed both life and food and who jumped head first to be engaged with both. The Julie of this film is a woman seems disappointed by everything in life and can only get satisfaction from it when she boils it down to a checklist of things to to do. She equates success with completing a task and not with taking enjoyment out of the doing of the task or the savoring of the creation. I, like, Julia was disappointed in Julie but not in Amy Adams. She was fun to watch even though she had very little of a human being to work with. Now the real enjoyment of this film is Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. They are so wonderful together that I wanted a whole film for them in which they could explore the romance of Julia and Paul Child. Oh well c'est la vie! I shall be happy with half a film which I can string together to watch when it comes out on DVD.
Memorable moment: Julia practicing onion cutting at home.

Last Chance Harvey

Finally saw this film. I loved Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in Stranger Than Fiction even though they had very little screen time together. There was something about their chemistry that made me want the film to suddenly revolve around them. Last Chance Harvey should then be the film where the two of them fulfill what was hinted at in STF, but it didn't quite work for me. I really liked the film but the subplot points that bring them together kept interrupting the flow of the romance. The clunky subplot about Emma's Mom being nosy about her neighbor and Dustin's subplot of his job being jeopardy and him being left out of or having left his daughter's life were annoying and failed to simply be a backdrop to the romance. When the two of them were left to get to know each other and share screen time the film really came to life. I enjoyed the scenes as they walked around London especially on the South Bank. According to the extras on the DVD the two did a lot of improvisation which may be where my problem was.... they get to free form and create a lovely film inside another film that is heavily scripted and heavy handed. Hope I get to see them work together in another vehicle somewhere down the road.
Memorable moment: Harvey trying to take a shortcut through a zen garden.

Blow

It was sad to realize that this was Ted Demme's last dramatic film as I watched it for the second time. I had seen this film back in 2001 when it came out but it didn't resonate with me at that time. I missed alot of the nuances and and was focused mainly on the drug culture and the Pee Wee cameo. Blow tells the true life story of George Jung a drug trafficker who made millions running cocaine and lost all of it along with his family and his freedom. The screenplay by Nick Cassavetes and David McKenna is based on the book by Bruce Porter. Johnny Depp does an amazing job with the material portraying both sides of George. He is an ambitious bold drug runner and and an empathetic figure who just wants a nice family life. You really feel for the guy even as he makes very bad decisions. The film has a great flow as we go from sad childhood to summer lovin' in California to drug free for all to the Fall From Grace. Paul Reubens is great as the distributor and Bobcat Goldthwait has an amusing cameo. Humor is one of the surprising themes that runs through the film without undercutting the seriousness of the story. Ray Liotta and Rachel Griffiths are great as George's parents though as they age their makeup is a little distracting, but the performances are still powerful. The style of the film feels like a hybrid of a 70's film heavily dosed with Goodfellas. This actually works very well intended or not. I miss this style of adult dramatic film. This film reminded me how much I will miss Ted Demme, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella.
Memorable moment: Forty eight minutes in Johnny Depp makes a great face after being told to shut up.

Gomorra

The Little Theatre in ROC has uncomfortable seats. It borders on irritating watching a film here but on occasion it is the only game in town, so off I went to see Gomorrah. Damn if that film did not make me forget how painful it is to sit there or even that I needed to make a pit stop. The film was riveting from the start and even though I had some trouble following who was who and who hated who for whatever reason I was totally immersed. Matteo Garrone directed this story which tells five stories all involving the Camorra crime network in Naples. It is based on a book by Roberto Saviano. I was very struck by the opening sequence which takes place in a tanning salon. Garrone and his cinematographer, Marco Onorato, start right away with a camera style that is so intimate that the viewer becomes the third party in the room (or in this sequence in the tanning bed). They are able to sustain this perspective throughout the film to amazing effect. We are constantly at the shoulder or just over the shoulder of our various protagonists and anti-heroes. There is one chase sequence where we hover over the motorcycle stalking a car that redefines how film chases in terms of speed and perspective. The stories are all your basic mafia tales but the camera work and the actual filming within a large housing project change the tenor of the stories. The stories are now real and the outcomes vicious. I was fascinated by this housing complex. It is huge and multilayered with bridges and interiors reminiscent of a Marriott for crack addicts. Vast interiors join by bridges. In one camera shot the screen is filled with a wedding procession on a lower level while just one story up we see addicts buying doses. Each of the stories is compelling. The stakes are raised for each of the characters simply because of where they live and who they choose to do business with. Watching their choices play out through the various outcomes gives us a multilayered view of how influential a network of criminals can be in both a microcosm of society or big business.
Memorable moment: The two aspiring Scarfaces celebrating a heist to the sound of Italian pop music at the beach.

Quantum of Solace

I had heard rotten things about this Bond film, confusing plot and action sequences. But when it turned up in the library for free I figured some Daniel Craig eye candy was worth being annoyed through nonsense. Oh so wrong, it is a great film with awesome action and an entertaining story. Marc Forster can totally direct action sequences and he makes Bond a bit more human (at least for a guy who kills when needed). I loved how Forster let the camera drift back to a semi-non-consequential object in the middle of a big sequence. He kept giving it the same sense of place that he brought to Stranger Than Fiction. Ultimately isn’t that what the Bond stories are: stranger than fiction making Forster the right director for this material.
Memorable moment: That amazing table top computer.

Tropic Thunder

Did not expect this film to be funny. Thought it would be cringefully amusing, but no… it is actually funny and smart. Not as funny and smart as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead but definitely made in the same vein. I love that the film went to the lengths of filming some real war action sequences. They blew a lot of stuff up much to my enjoyment.
Memorable moment: Kirk’s analysis of Tugg’s “Simple Jack” character and why it failed.

Frozen River

Loved this first time effort from writer/director Courtney Hunt. Melissa Leo is amazing as Ray, the struggling Mom who just wants to get her kids a double wide trailer. She is thwarted by her gambling addict husband who runs off with the final payment before the film begins. The desperation of being so close to homeless and foodless fills this film. In one painful sequence we watch Ray sort through change just to make lunch money for her sons. Her dreams and her cash flow do not intersect so she starts smuggling people across the St Lawrence River in her car along with another struggling Mom. The performances by Melissa Leo and Misty Upham are terrific. Hunt deserves much praise for making this film on a shoestring. It is a quality piece of work lovingly filmed in the north country of New York State.
Memorable moment: Ray confronting Lila the first time.

Watchmen

It took so damn long that by the time we got it, most everything that wow’ed us had already showed up elsewhere. Hello Heroes, can you get an original story line? Oh well, loved what Zack Snyder did with 300 and yes he was the right guy for Watchmen. He brought it life with some minor tweaks and adjustments. Thought he caught the visual storytelling just right but the truth is once we hit linear storytelling (one image at a time) the comic form ceases to be and something powerful about this story is lost.
Memorable moment: Other than Dr. Manhattan swinging in the blue breeze, his palace on Mars.

Eastern Promises

This is a beautiful film. Being a Cronenberg, I expected violence and gore out the wazoo, but instead I got a thoughtful, romantic thriller with a great cast. There is violence and it is nasty but it does not dominate the film. It is the threat of violence that dominates and creates the suspense. I loved seeing Armin Mueller-Stahl as the Russian patriarch. He had an awesome blend of cuddly granddad and vicious mob boss. Watching him try to charm Naomi Watson was delicious. Viggo Mortenson is terrific. The entire picture kept me riveted and involve without being The History of Violence Part 2.
Memorable moment: Viggo being made.

Eagle Eye

So I just had to see what it was that was ordering Shia LaBoeuf around. I am a sucker for these BE AMAZED AT THE REVEAL films. They have no real story just a giant gotcha at the end but first we have to go through the hoops to get there. I was entertained throughout, some doozy action sequences, plenty of cheesy sentimental moments and then the REVEAL…… an AI that goes rogue and wants a do-over for the US system of government. Yawn. Action 1 Reveal 0.
Memorable moment: Shia being freed by an angry crane.

I was blown away by this film. It is so nuanced and yet so ambiguous that it is a treat I will get to enjoy over and over for years to come. I love Paul Thomas Anderson's films and was very excited to see that he was finally back with a film after many years. Living in tiny town I had to wait quite a while before it came to a theatre with stadium seats and decent sound. But it was worth the wait. Oh to have seen this at the AMC 25 on 42nd Street! I have seen Daniel Plainview characterized in some reviews of There Will Be Blood as he personification of evil. That misses the point of this story and especially the center-piece performance. Daniel Plainview is absolutely a self-centered, misanthropic liar who is blinded by his drive to draw out the earth's riches to build his wealth for a very specific purpose but he is not evil. Simplifying this character in this way does a disservice to both Daniel Day-Lewis' performance and the character he and Paul Thomas Anderson have crafted. Day-Lewis is so amazing as he embodies this man who has true moments of empathy with his son but who cannot control his desire to win any and every competition. Paul Dano is also amazing opposite Day-Lewis as the conniving would be preacher. This character comes off far more evil though they are each cut from the same cloth. There is so much in this film that I can't even begin to do it justice. The performances, the cinematography, the music, the story, the sunsets. I agree with the masterpiece verdict that is floating around.... it is an American masterpiece.
Memorable moment: I drink your milkshake!

The Island

How is it that this film is as amusing and absorbing as it is? I laughed and I gasped throughout this ode to running for your life. I want to believe it was made tongue in cheek but it was probably just Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson acting tongue in cheek while everyone else treated the material seriously. The action sequences are terrific and eye popping. The bar bell highway chase seen was just awesome. Sean Bean is fun and nasty as the scientist with the God complex. The story is somewhere between Blade Runner and Gattaca (not in quality just in plot points) as are some of the visuals. Michael Bay knows how to technically make the big action thriller, can't fault him there and I would only be a film snob if I did not admit this film is just fun. And I ain't no snob!
Memorable moment: Bar bells crushing cars!

Hot Fuzz

Finally saw this ode to cop/action films on DVD. Very funny and oh so stylishly done. When the film started out with cameos from Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan, Bill Nighy, and Cate Blanchett I realized I was in for a treat and it just kept getting better and better as more terrific actors were revealed. Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Billie Whitelaw, Paul Freeman, Kenneth Cranham, Stuart Wilson, Edward Woodward, David Threlfall. Fun, fun, fun! Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have put together a highly entertaining film which actually makes watching those other overblown action films much more entertaining. Loved watching Pegg and Nick Frost work off of each other as their characters discover and become their own inner action heroes. I am totally glossing over all the great themes and odes to other films that Pegg and Wright draw off of but that's what the DVD commentaries (all 5 of them) are for. Buy this film and have fun discovering the secrets of the village of Sanford. Now I need to get off my butt and get a copy of Shaun of the Dead.
Memorable moment: Paperwork action montages.

Walk Hard &Timeline Double Feature

No I did not actually see these two films on the same bill, but it wasn't until I saw Timeline that I understood what was wrong with Walk Hard. Well wrong is harsh, I mean to really say I finally understood why I didn't enjoy WH. The idea behind WH is hysterical... a film with no subtext whatsoever mocking out biopics like Ray and Walk the Line. It has a great comedic cast and terrific songs. Really, really good songs. But it is done in such a forced over the top manner that it didn't tickle my funny bone. It had some laughs and yes I wanted to be in on the joke but it was just too much and too forced. Then I saw Timeline. Now Richard Donner et al know how to make comedy gold out of no subtext. This film has such fine lines as "We've got 650 years of knowledge on these guys. If we put our heads together, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to get out of here and home in 20 minutes." and "So are you saying that they could be stuck back there forever?" and "We just step on that machine and wiz back to 1357? " Gold I tell you. The film is made so earnestly with tons of special effects, Caleb Deschanel's world class cinematography, and completely without subtext. The effect is pure entertainment. Walk Hard was forced, Timeline goes down like sugar. Funnier than the WH motion picture is the Fresh Air episode where John C. Reilly and Jake Kasdan discuss the film with Terry Gross. Terry laughs non-stop and the songs are very funny. The episode seems to prove the idea of the film is funnier than the film itself.
Memorable moment in Walk Hard: Dewey cutting his brother in half.
Memorable moment in Timeline: Gerard Butler taking his shirt off.

Leon

If for nothing else I love this film because of the stillness of the camera. What a relief from the Bochco/Bay shaky/flying camera work that has become so commonplace. Yes it has a role in some work but it is so overdone Dramamine should be sold at the movie concession stand. Luc Besson thankfully chose stillness to tell this action filled tale of a professional hit man and the child he first protects and then comes to love. But there is actually much to love beyond just the cinematography of thus film. Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman are all terrific. Each has carved such a distinct character in this piece and yet as they interact with each other they are perfectly synched. The love story between Leon and Mathilda could have been creepily unconventional, but Reno and Portman artfully portray the grown man and the 12 year old who are emotional peers due to the circumstances of their upbringings. And then there's Gary Oldman's Stansfield who is determined for business reasons to doom the romance. The film is shot in New York City, I am guessing in 1992 or 1993, due to the release date. The city looks especially cavernous and sunlit. It has the vague feel of a clean version of 1970s New York. I love how Besson and his cinematographer, Thierry Arbogast, captured the life and architecture of the city from this key transitional time for the City. At that time we were living in a city that still had lots of raw rough spots that gave an edge to daily life but money was starting to pour into the city via the financial services sectors, the sour economy of 1992 was turning around and the Tyrant Giuliani was on the verge of becoming the Mayor in order to tell us all how to behave. We were unknowingly about to enter NYC's most prosperous era and bear witness to its Disneyfication. Oh Christ I didn't realize till I saw this film how nostalgic I am for the early 1990s in the City. Besson has memorialized on film my ideal view of NYC while telling this story of his two cleaners.
Memorable moment: Mathilda's brother making a break for safety.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Outstanding all round! The marriage of Tim Burton and Stephen Sondheim seems so obvious to me now having seen the film, but it was visionary on the part of whoever put this deal together. I also never would have guessed that Burton could sustain a full blown musical translated to film. He did an exceptional job and created an immersive universe where these characters thrive, murder and sing. The only other version of Sweeney Todd I had seen was the George Hearn/Angela Lansbury one that shows up on PBS now and then. A great 2D version but now we have a 3D edition. The cast is all terrific, the design is dark and haunting and the musical production wonderful. The scene which really highlights all of this is the number "A Little Priest." Burton's camera swings in and out of the storefront and creates a fishbowl from where they imagine the passerbys as pies. Delightful and inventive! Timothy Spall is especially entertaining as Beadle Bamford. It's as if he peeled himself from the pages of a Dickens novel.
Memorable moment: "A Little Priest"

The Golden Compass

Entertaining while I was in the theatre but oh so empty in retrospect. Chris Weitz lost the meat and heart of the book and merely created a dazzling visual experience. Had high hopes considering the heart of About A Boy so maybe I am being unfair. Did enjoy the heartless Nicole Kidman as Lyra's Mom and didn't get enough Danial Craig as Dad. Loved seeing Tom Courtenay on the big screen again.
Memorable Moment: Armored polar bears fighting to the death. How could it not be!

Lions For Lambs

We live in interesting times. It was not until many years after the Vietnam War ended that popular films started to address the issues the war raised. When Three Kings was released in 1999 it seemed like an amazingly timely film even though Gulf War One had ended in 1991. Flash forward to the War On Terror (WOT). Now the production cycle has been sped up so much (or maybe the war has gone on way too long) we get to watch fictionalized films that ponder the war while soldiers are still in the field. Lions For Lambs follows it brethren (Syriana, The Kingdom, In the Valley of Elah, Grace Is Gone, Rendition, soon to be released Redacted). Note: though Syriana is not directly about the WOT it is about the real motivation for the war aka OIL. Lions For Lambs is a three-in-one political drama that made me think it might have been more effective as a stage play. We are told the stories of two idealistic soldiers in the field, their former professor who is trying to motivate a student who is content to coast through life and a Senator who is trying to re-recruit a journalist back into the patriotic job of writing propaganda in the place of news in order to start WOT Two against Iran. It's all quite ambitious and though it hits the mark here and there the message is diluted by trying to use such a wide canvas. The film was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, who also wrote The Kingdom, and directed by Robert Redford who also stars.
Memorable moment: Lt. Finch jumps from the helicopter to help his best friend.

No County for Old Men

I am bit perplexed by this film. Actually it's probably not the film but my reaction to it. Totally forgot the Coen brothers had made it so as I was watching I was curious about the director but only mildly so. It was sharp but not engaging The film's cinematography is very striking right from the get go and the opening narration points us to some seriousness to come. Then the film starts and we plod along. It was a nice plod, until Javier Bardem makes his way on screen and then the film goes into horror overdrive. Maybe that is where my problem is. He's creating a monster on film and everyone else is just mellow as can be. Maybe that's the point? Help me movie I need more exposition! I might watch this again in a few years to see if I have the same reaction. In the meantime the reason to see this film is Javier Bardem. Even with the flowbee haircut he is terrifying and I actually almost had to leave I was so freaked out by him. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are very good but they seem to be in a different story. Nice supporting performances from Woody Harrelson, Kelly MacDonald, Garret Dillahunt and Stephen Root. Dillahunt seems to be everywhere I look lately. I am plowing through Deadwood and he's all over that as well as Damages. He's a quirky actor and in "No Country" he plays the drawlin' goofy deputy. I was sure he was gonna die but no he lives to tell the tale. Update 1/17/08...This film has haunted me since I saw it last year so I tip my hat to the Coen's for making a lasting experience.
Memorable moment: Chigurh and the gas station owner.

Control

Though it starts in 1973, this film takes place in two worlds at once (an almost 1950's-like England and the dawn of the new music scene of the 1980's). It's not the story of a culture clash but more a story of a young man's journey into uncharted musical territory. He knows he wants something more than what his immediate world offers. He hears the call in the records he buys but not until he sees the Sex Pistols perform does he understand the power of that siren. In Control we see Ian Curtis trying to be the traditional 9-5 family man during the day and at night a newly evolving lead singer of a cutting edge band. I am not very familiar with Curtis or Joy Division (shamefully so), so as a blank slate I wasn't making comparisons between the real and the portrayed Curtis. That said, Sam Riley is engrossing as the cinematic Ian Curtis. He nicely moves the man from newbie singer to struggling icon. As his wife, Samantha Morton is terrific. The cinematography is striking throughout the film. The black & white canvas is used to great effect along with stark framing of shots. I loved seeing Ian and Debby huddling in less than half of the screen which was dominated by brick and street. In production choices this film is the antithesis of the colorful, hyper-real 24 Hour Party People which takes place in the same place and time. My only complaint was the sudden use of narration by Ian half way through the film. Up to then the director had simply used visuals, dialog, lyrics and music to offer an inner life (and quite effectively so). Other than that I found this film very compelling and engrossing.
Memorable moment: Debby confronts Ian about his affair.

Letters From Iwo Jima

Stunning, stunning, stunning. Clint Eastwood's vision of the Japanese side of the Battle of Iwo Jima is stunning and haunting. The quiet exposition of who these soldiers are, how they feel about what is happening to them and then what does happen is astonishing. The screenplay was written by a first time screen writer named Iris Yamashita with guidance from Paul Haggis. The two make a powerful combination. I have found Haggis' prior films tedious but he has found a nice damper in this writing partner. The result is a beautiful character study in the worst conditions. The cinematographer Tom Stern has described the film as "a noble journey to oblivion". His palette for the film is gray. The only color is found during past flashbacks and at present moments of destruction via fire and blood. Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Tsuyoshi Ihara give stand out performances among an amazing cast. This war film has some of the truest moments of horror that I ever seen in film without being exploitive. Eastwood is an exceptional master of the art of film.
Memorable moment: Kuribayashi tells Saigo he is an incredible soldier.