Saw Jarhead this eve. Opening nite. Hoorah! Trailers. Recommended. Disappointed it wasn't shown on the big screen at the Big Newport. (Some Chicken Little flick was being screened.) Theater packed. What interested me most, beyond the storyline, was that the crew consisted of many people who can work on any project they desire .. .. such as (the stylistic) director Sam Mendes, who won the Oscar for American Beauty .. and editor Walter Murch, who edited Apocalypse Now (my favorite film). Indeed, scenes from Apocalypse Now are found in Jarhead. And of course, Jamie Foxx, who won the Oscar for Best Actor last year (in Ray). ••• continued ••• Maybe the filmmakers were trying to flex their collective creative muscle to create another War classic, such as Apocalyse Now, or Deer Hunter (both films are mentioned in JarHead) .. since certain War classics live on forever, defining an era in American history. Most surprising was the (excellent) soundtrack. Many tracks had a head-nodding groove that helped you "get into" the movie. Lots of humor. I laughed pretty hard. So it's worth seeing, if for no other reason than observing what can be done by a group of artists at the top of their craft. Based on the book by Anthony Swafford, who went to the Iowa Writer's school, supposedly the best writing school in the country. UC Irvine here in SoCal also has a good program. I applied there some years ago. They take 6 students per semester. 200 apply. I did not get accepted. My next-door neighbor (Robin) graduated from their Poetry program. Film portrays a different perspective of life-as-a-marine than anyone might imagine. Moving. Certainly well done. Hoorah! For more info, here is a Google search pre-configured for the query: jarhead film movie review swafford Related entries found here: Nuclear-grade hazing ... and ... |
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