A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god. As per usual with films about Vietnam, there is a lot to unpack here. Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now begins with footage of bombs going off, destroying the landscape while the lyrics “This is the end, beautiful friend” plays, and that’s just where the … Continue reading 30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. At the start of The Deer Hunter, we hear a beautiful melody that sounds too content, too happy, and too sweet to possibly be the theme to a film about the horrors of the Vietnam War. However, the film … Continue reading 53. The Deer Hunter (1978)
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war. MASH is one of those films that was always on my list of “Films to watch”. I just never got around to it until now. A common occurrence, I have found, when I watch a film directed by Robert Altman … Continue reading 54. M*A*S*H (1970)
The 1973 film adaptation of Godspell is what I think a mild acid trip while reading the bible would be like. A retelling of the Gospel of St. Matthew, the film Godspell takes place in 1970s New York City. We start by watching John the Baptist walk across a bridge. We are then introduced to, who we will discover, are Jesus Christ’s disciples, going about … Continue reading Movie Musical Monday: Godspell (1973)
“A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.” I had never watched this film before and I was, in no way, prepared for what I was about to watch. This was one of those movies that I became more interested in the longer that I watched it. Right from the very beginning, … Continue reading 86. Platoon (1986)
