What Movies Are You Watching Lately

[The Ernesto]

I agree. My brother was a field journalist with UPI Saigon office knew and worked with a lot of those guys including Joe Galloway. He was aboard one of those helicopters taking off from the roof in that famous picture taken during the fall of Saigon. I was a helicopter crew chief and served in I Corps during the battle for Hue .It was such a surreal experience I often read accounts just to assure myself it wasn't just a weird dream.

Wow. That is pretty amazing.

 

[Van Veen]

Wife never saw it. I think I saw the redux when it first came out, so this was my first time with the original cut. A disturbing film with a few weak moments. Took a while to recognize baby Larry Fishburne.

My wife was watching Cheers right before it. Led to a bizarre dream involving the Cheers crew becoming a crack commando unit after the bar got blown up by C4. (The C4 probably came from BlacKkKlansman, which I saw a few days ago.)

Probably should have watched Cheers after Apocalypse to cleanse the palate. Lesson learned.

 

[Blake Stitched Blues]

^ I want to like Apocalypse Now but just can't. I find the nightmarish surrealism of it to be more grating than disturbing. Platoon was always my favourite of the 'Nam movies.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

This is one of the most powerful films I have seen this year. The scrip, cast, cinematography and direction come together to provide an eye opening insight in to the multiple conflicts which are tearing the Middle East apart. Clearly a nominee for best foreign film at the Oscars I just wonder if its politics will exclude it from the prize. Highly recommended.

 

[Van Veen]

^ I want to like Apocalypse Now but just can't. I find the nightmarish surrealism of it to be more grating than disturbing. Platoon was always my favourite of the 'Nam movies.

I agree with you to some extent. Apocalypse Now isn't a "war movie" as much as a drama set during a war. If you come into it expecting a war movie (which I did), there is a lot that comes across as caricature... a lot of WTF moments in the plot.

 

[Numbernine]

The storyline of Apocalypse Now is a re rendering of Conrads Heart of Darkness rather than a story based on the experiences of actual participants like Platoon and FMJ.Different critters.
edit: or what VV said

 

[Joffrey]

Watched this tonight. Amazingly uncomfortable scenes. I really hope I never have to be in the room with Jodie Foster's character at any point in my life. The others were pretty miserable but tolerable.

 

[Van Veen]

I watched the Hearts of Darkness documentary on Apocalypse Now (before an episode of Cheers). I’m glad I saw the film without knowing much about the production process since it was epic enough to taint your judgment.

Barry Lyndon has the same problem. If you watch these films knowing nothing about them, it’s easier to see the flaws. The “making of,” the backstories, and the film school critiques all color your judgment.

 

[Journeyman]

I watched the Hearts of Darkness documentary on Apocalypse Now (before an episode of Cheers). I’m glad I saw the film without knowing much about the production process since it was epic enough to taint your judgment.

I saw Apocalypse Now when I was 18 or 19 - it had just been re-released into a few cinemas around the same time as the Hearts of Darkness documentary. I didn't know much about it, except that it was loosely based on Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and was set during the Vietnam War.

I went to see it in a very large, ornate cinema with a huge screen and large, comfortable, velvet-upholstered chairs.

Holy heck - I was stunned. The whole movie seemed to go past in a flash, from the initial scene in the hotel room ("Saigon. **** - I was still only in Saigon"), to the journey upriver (being briefed beforehand by a young Harrison Ford), the encounter with Lt-Col Kilgore ("Charlie don't surf/I love the smell of napalm in the morning"), the rather psychedelic episode with the Playboy Bunnies concert at the military base, the eventual encounter with Kurtz ("You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill") and the slaughter of the water buffalo.

 

[lefty]

I saw the title- and credit-free non-explosion original release in 1979. It was mind blowing.

At the time people were either fans of Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter. Rarely both. I was definitely on the AN side and it took me years to appreciate what a masterpiece the Cimino's film is.

lefty

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

Another documentary worth catching as it relates to AN is Front Line about the life of Australian journalist Neil Davis which covers his time in Cambodia and Vietnam in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The book One Crowded Hour by Tim Bowden is also a worthwhile read.

 

[Blake Stitched Blues]

 

[Van Veen]

I need to watch Ken Burns’ Vietnam. Have to coordinate with my wife since she wants to watch it, and we haven’t finished Civil War yet.

 

[Van Veen]

Caught the 2001 remaster on the last day (and last showing) possible around here.

This movie still leaves me thinking “WTF?” Every time I watch it I catch something new and wonder if it’s intentional symbolism or if I’m just being a pretentious twat.

 

[ballmouse]

You're not alone; I can't stand 2001 either.