Film & Television

For Veterans Day, Favorite Films From The Frontlines

By Jared Bowen   |   Wednesday, November 10, 2010   2 comments.

A scene from Saving Private Ryan. Photo by Amblin Entertainment – © 1998

BEDFORD -- Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass. has a lot of what you might expect: Fighter jets, uniformed men and women bustling about and the requisite on-base hangout. At the back of Hansom’s MinuteMan Club sits 2nd. Lt. Patrick Gernert, who sits at a card table with two other servicemen, talking about their favorite war movies.
 
“Mine would probably be Forrest Gump,” says Gernert. “Even when he was miles from home he always thought about Jenny, and he always wanted to get back to her. He got bit in the butt, but he did definitely get home.”
 
Just like every football player has seen Rudy, and every filmmaker has studied Citizen Kane, for America’s men and women in uniform there are a go-to set of must-see movies that are often quoted, joked about and heavily relied on.

Must-See War Movies

Saving Private Ryan

Its first and last acts are among the most realistic and brutal depictions of war captured on film. In between is a timeless story of innocence facing the ultimate test.

Top Gun

One of a handful of movies granted full cooperation by U.S. Miltary, Top Gun defined heroics in the air for a generation with iconic star turns by Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.

Forrest Gump

On one hand the story of a simple fan living an extraordinary life. Dig deeper and follow the baby boom generation as it grows up through Elvis, Vietnam, and the age of disco, drugs, and disease.

Stripes

Classic Bill Murrary comedy. "Don't leave. The flowers will die."

Full Metal Jacket

Stanley Kubrick's mix of surrealism and dark humor follows a Vietnam platoon's evolution from boyhood to war machine.

Gladiator

When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.

“I mean, you can’t go wrong with Full Metal Jacket,” chimes Staff Sgt. Andre Edgardo Olaciregui-Perez, who normally craves the comedy stylings of Bill Murray and company. “Stripes is good, too. ‘The name’s Francis Sawyer.  If I catch any of you guys in my stuff, I kill ya.’”

Olaciregui-Perez then wades into the danger zone with his next pick, Tony Scott’s 1986 melodramatic ode to military machismo Top Gun. He sums it up in one word: "Lame.”
 
Tech Sgt Khaliliah Velez is a little kinder. “All I gotta say is Take My Breathe Away. Every time I hear that song, that movie pops into my head, and I liked it," Velez said. "Now, it’s not Air Force, but I like the movie.”
 
The one movie they all agree is paramount is the untouchable Saving Private Ryan. “This movie, straight from the entrance, the Battle of Normandy” says Gernert. “It’s like—wow—boom—bomb—you know all this stuff going on, everybody ducking down, you hear the splash of the water—splush. It’s just intense, really intense.”

For the group assembled at this card table, there are a variety of different missions under their collective belts -- some of which include long deployments. To them, there is a different set of go-to comfort movies: The ones that take them home, when home is many miles and months away.
 
“They kind of helped me get through my time there,” says Velez. “You know, reminded me of my family and of things that I like to do in the States that I wasn’t afforded in Iraq. The Devil Wears Prada, The Breakup, Failure to Launch, Underworld 2, you always gotta switch it up a little bit. Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift was one that was close to home because it reminded me of son because he loves cars. And then, The DaVinci Code, just to kill time. I fell asleep most of the time, you know, it’s a long movie.”
 
Sergeant Olaciregui Perez has a shorter list of comfort movies. ”I was in Kuwait in 2007 and 2009, and my two favorite movies of all time, that I’ve watched repeatedly over when I was deployed, were Cast Away and Gladiator.”
 
“Cast Away is really interesting cause you know, you have this guy that gets stranded, in the middle of nowhere and really has no hope. But because of his determination in wanting to go back to what was close to his heart, it kind of deals with the same thing as in deployment," Perez said. "You know, you’re ready to go back, but you understand that you have to do certain things at the location. It’s like a journey, or an adventure. That’s why Cast Away is close to me, I guess.”

As for Ridley Scott’s action-packed historical epic Gladiator -- that one is a little more obvious.
 
“Every guy, they all wanna be Russell Crowe in that movie,” says Perez. “You know, screaming out, ‘Are you not entertained?  Are you not entertained? Is this not what you want?’  You know, it’s just very thrilling—it’s amazing.”
 
It’s also an escape. So in wartime, amid the intensity, the brutality, the loneliness—it’s clear listening to these veterans that in the 21^st century, movies are an integral part of the war experience.
 
“I guess I would tell someone that’s in the military with me, you know, whatever makes you laugh, smile, cry, because we all have different tastes,” says Velez. “Whatever takes you to your happy place—just watch it.”

 

Boston Jewish Film Festival Celebrates Storytelling And Heritage

By Jared Bowen   |   Tuesday, November 2, 2010   3 comments.

The Boston Jewish Film Festival runs through Nov 14th at local theaters, including the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

2010 marks the 22^nd Anniversary of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, and in that time, its mission has kept consistent and clear.
 
“We began as a way to showcase films with Jewish themes from around the world, and we’ve pretty much stayed that way,” says Sara Rubin, artistic director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival.
 
“We focus on very contemporary films. Sometimes we push the envelope a little bit, if it’s a fiction film, but we want either the theme or the characters to the Jewish. We don’t really care about who directed the film, or who acts in it. And if it’s a documentary, most things from Israel are going to be fair game.”

Being steeped in the Jewish experience certainly hasn’t limited the appeal of this festival, especially for film lovers simply looking for good films that wouldn’t come to Boston otherwise. And for Boston’s Jewish community, says Sara, “I think that film festivals are a place where Jews who might be a little uncomfortable in a more organized setting—a synagogue for example—can come and be comfortable exploring their Jewishness.”
 
In terms of “place”, the “place” Sara refers to is the community that gets built each year through the festival, and continues year-round. The festival itself is housed in a number of venues, primarily the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline and the Museum of Fine Arts. Additionally, there are a number of screenings in the suburbs, including the West Newton Cinema and Arlington’s Capitol Theater.
 
One of the highlights of festival is the film Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story.

Sara explains, “It’s a wonderful, wonderful film, and what it does is touch upon something that has obviously struck a nerve.”
 
Directed by Peter Miller (who grew up in Lexington) and narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story confronts an old stereotype: That Jews are not athletic. It does this by exploring the historical connection between Jewish Americans and the nation's pasttime.
 
“It’s the puny Jew versus the strong athletic Jew,” says Sara. “I think that there are a couple of really strong characters that have resonated with audiences.  Certainly, Sandy Koufax by not playing on Yom Kippur, and Hank Greenberg who did the same. They’re both real giants, both physically… and um… sort of morally.”

Sara also recommends a couple of hidden gems, including one called The Socalled Movie, about a very quirky artist called Socalled. Who is he?
 
“Socalled’s real name is Josh Dolgin, and he’s from Montreal.  I’d say that he is kind of a ‘schlump,’ which is a Yiddish word for someone that’s sloppy.  He’s taken Klezmer music, which is an old music from Eastern Europe, and has added hip-hop music to it. He’s got quite the following among Klezmer and hip-hop types alike."
 
“We’ve shown more traditional Klezmer films, and this one is a little bit cutting edge. So I hope people will go, because they’ll see something different. That’s what we try to do with the Festival.”
 
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is underway all the way through November 14^th.
 

Moviola's "So Called" Review

Can You Endure This Horror Movie Marathon?

By Jared Bowen   |   Tuesday, October 26, 2010   3 comments.

From the left: Superfan Generoso Fierro, Mark Anastasio and Jesse Hassinger

It's an understatement to say that Mark Anastasio knows horror movies. His office at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, where he is the assistant program manager, is crammed with more movie posters and action figures than office supplies. This guy knows horror movies the way Ted Williams knew hitting and Stephen Hawking knows physics.

So what makes a great horror movie? To Anastasio, it's a pretty specific formula. “It has to be made from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. That’s step one," Anastasio says. "Step two is that either Tom Savini or Rob Bottin should have done the makeup effects and special effects for it. And step three is that it needs to have been directed by John Carpenter.”

This connoisure of cinematic gore is one of two men responsible for the lineup at the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon, a 12-hour sensory overload of live music, psychic readings, popcorn and — of course — plenty of blood and guts on the big screen. 

“It’s a really great endurance test for horror film fans,” says Anastasio. “Half the fun I have is going around at like 9 a.m., seeing what the status of the place is.  Seeing who’s still here… what the smells are like.  Our projectionist one year equated it to an actual crypt. It gets funky.”

The funk starts at the Coolidge Corner Theater this Saturday at midnight and it doesn’t stop until noon on Halloween Day. Hundreds of horror movie geeks, film buffs and curiosity seekers will pack into the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. Some will stay for a movie or two and maybe a laugh. A few will be in it to win it, enduring six feature films ranging from the campy to the terrifying.
 
If you’re hoping to hear a preview of all of the films that you can expect to see on the big screen, well... “I can definitely talk about two of them,” says program manager Jesse Hassinger. Jesse is a refugee of Los Angeles who fled back to Boston to become the Coolidge Theatre’s lead programmer. He shares Mark’s facial hair and his enthusiasm for this year’s line-up, especially Saturday night’s double-feature.

“This year there’s a movie called House, which is a 1977 Japanese film, that just got… well, I don’t know if 'rediscovered' is the right word… but ‘rediscovered’ by Janus Films. It’s a crazy, wild, insane movie that is equal parts Japanese pop and LSD trip.”
 
The second part of the double-feature is the 1980s horror classic Re-Animator, which isn’t just celebrating Halloween, but a birthday as well.

“This is the 25^th Anniversary year,” Jesse says. “It’s definitely a horror movie classic—HP Lovecraft influenced.  It has a great mix of humor and gore goes to extremes on both sides.”
 
So, which title is the bigger draw? The subtitled, LCD-trip Japanese Pop, or the Cult Classic celebrating it’s big 25?  According to Jesse, it’s neither.

“I think the biggest draw are the four films that we’re not advertising.”
 
Mark agrees, “The dawn hours… and maybe even close to 9AM… yeah, there’s gonna be shear brutality. I challenge you to come to this thing and stay until noon.  I’ll be there at noon the next day and if you’re there shaking my hand, you are a true horror movie fan.”
 
And if that’s still not enough for you, “We do have a ghost that’s rumored to live in the theater,” says Jesse. “So, maybe we will hear from that ghost this year."

Moviola's Halloween Must-Sees

These Amazing Shadows

Monday, December 24, 2012   0 comments.

Inspector Lewis Returns

Tuesday, July 3, 2012   0 comments.

'Found Memories' Revealed With Grace And Patience

Sunday, June 3, 2012   0 comments.

The minimalist Brazilian drama Found Memories has a running gag, a small chuckle that gradually morphs into something profound: Madalena (Sonia Guedes), an elderly baker in a remote hillside town, walks her fresh goods to the local coffee shop every morning, where she removes the rolls from her basket and stacks them in a cabinet to be sold. The shop owner, Antonio (Luiz Serra), barks at her to stack the bread his way. But every morning, Madalena ignores him.

We laugh first at the inherent silliness of their argument; how can the manner in which the bread is stacked possibly matter? By the third time Madalena opens that cabinet door, we think the film's got nowhere else to go. But by the fifth time she boxes out Antonio's frustrated glare — Guedes brings a uniquely enchanting stubbornness to her role — we see it's more than some lame joke. It's the one moment of defiance she exerts in her otherwise hollow day, and by gum she's going to keep on doing it until she dies.

In her first feature-length film, director Julia Murat has crafted an elegant still life, with all the poignancy and observation implied. It's true that Found Memories is slow, but it would be more accurate to say the movie operates at the natural speed of that town, a ruminative amble that somehow, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, keeps moving forward. Coupled with Lucio Bonelli's lush cinematography, which relies on natural light and uncluttered compositions, the pacing somehow feels right.

The movie is set in Jotuomba, a fictional impoverished rural community in Brazil's Vale do Paraiba hit hard by the decline in the coffee trade. Its inhabitants are all senior remnants from an earlier era. There's little in the way of youth or modern technology, and the suggestion is that once these citizens pass on, no one will be left to remember what happened there.

Drifter photographer Rita (Lisa Favero) is the story's de facto catalyst. She arrives in town looking for inspiration and crashes with Madalena, converting a wing of the house into a darkroom. Rita's fascinated by old things and old people, but in an impartial, detached way that still allows her to listen to 21st-century music on her iPod. The interplay of life and death in this forgotten town is a mere novelty to her, one she plans to file away in her photo album next to her other travels.

Rita is several generations younger than everyone she meets in town, a key detail that Murat, with co-writers Maria Clara Escobar and Felipe Sholl, subtly exploit. She's fascinated by Madalena's daily bread-baking routine, for instance, and the way the villagers file neatly into church on Sundays; she snaps pictures of everyday details everyone else long ago lost interest in.

Oddly, though Rita seems set up to act as a free spirit for the town, she's largely just as stately and reserved as the rest. She communicates chiefly through her camera, which makes it hard to understand how she could impart any emotion more significant than bemusement to the townsfolk. Yet Madalena still feels a connection, perhaps due to her own fondness for still images — she pulls out yellowing photos of her long-gone husband at night.

The feeling of twilight permeates Found Memories, which doesn't feel so much like a tale of discovery as it does a eulogy. (There's even a cemetery motif.) It's the difference between telling the story from Rita's point of view and telling it from Madalena's: A less confident filmmaker might have opted for the former, for fear the latter would be too depressing to ponder.

Even as it depicts a forgotten way of life, Found Memories is already on its way to becoming a relic itself, its glacial, meditative style an anachronism in the 21st century. The film finds its language in the rhythms of routine and the slow burn of deep realizations. Even as she seems to have lost her bearings, Madalena still traces abandoned railway tracks to the shop every morning at dawn, biding her time, bread basket in hand. (Recommended)

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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