Movies

RECENT POSTS

March 29, 2011 | 2:41 PM | By

New Friday Night Flicks for Military Movie Lovers – What’s Your Favorite?

Rebecca Bollwitt/Flickr

Lou Diamond Phillips

Do you find yourself most Friday nights, remote in hand, wondering why there’s nothing good to watch on TV? Well, the Military Channel has a brand, spankin’ new program (starting this Friday) aimed at entertaining the troops, and anyone who loves movies about the troops. It’s called “An Officer and a Movie,” and Lou Diamond Phillips will be the host, according to a press release.

Military Channel president Henry Schleiff says:

“Lou Diamond Phillips is well known for his many feature films including the military movie Courage Under Fire and, as the son of a Navy officer, he is the perfect choice to interview some of the U.S. military’s most distinguished leaders. The discussions within “An Officer and a Movie” bring an entirely new and even more realistic dimension to some of the greatest war movies of our time — from The Dirty Dozen to The Great Santini to Hart’s War — and provide valuable new information exclusively for our audience of military history buffs.”

Variety magazine reports that a military officer will join Phillips each week to discuss the movie.

It sounds like so far, “An Officer and a Movie” will stick to movie dramas, but the best military movie I’ve seen of late is the documentary Restrepo, which I blogged about last month. My two favorite movies of all time (“The English Patient” and “Doctor Zhivago“) aren’t exactly military pictures, but they both take place during wartime.

What’s your favorite military movie? Which flick would you like to see featured on “An Officer and a Movie”?

FILED UNDER: Life in the Military, Veterans, War, an officer and a movie, lou diamond phllips, military channel, Movies
September 14, 2010 | 10:47 AM | By

New Film Documents Trauma of Iraq War Veterans

US Army in Baghdad

The U.S. Army/Flickr

US Army in Baghdad

A new documentary being shown at the Venice Film Festival explores the trauma of three U.S. war veterans who served in Iraq and how the military handled their cases, according to the Associated Press. “Ward 54,” so named for the psychiatric wing of the U.S. military’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, also deals with the rise in military suicides following Iraq duty.

The film opens with the case of Army Sgt. Kristofer Goldsmith, whose job was to photograph Iraqi war victims to identify them. Goldsmith recounts how serving his country had always been his life’s dream, but it turned into a nightmare when told he would be deployed again to Iraq.

“For over a year I knew something inside me wasn’t right. I was drinking close to a gallon of vodka every weekend and starting fights,” Goldsmith told AP. When told he had to go back to Iraq for duty, Goldsmith recalled: “I said I can’t go back to Iraq. I wasn’t afraid of Iraq, but knew I couldn’t return.” He said his colonel gave him three choices: “‘Suck it up and go back, go AWOL and live your life as a felon, or kill yourself.’” He attempted suicide on Memorial Day 2007. “I was absolutely disgusted with the treatment from the military when I was trying to get help,” he said.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Life in the Military, Veterans, War, Congress, Movies, PTSD, Suicide, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
September 2, 2010 | 12:39 PM | By

The Real Story of Army Ranger and NFL Star Pat Tillman

Pat Tillman

Avinashkunnath/Flickr

Pat Tillman

Reviews for “The Tillman Story,” which opens in San Diego theaters tomorrow (Sept. 3), are in, and they are mostly raves. Rolling Stone calls it “a triumphant success” while Men’s Journal calls it “nothing short of masterful.” I included one negative review for equal time, but it was hard to find.

“The Tillman Story” is the highly anticipated account of the life, and death, of Pat Tillman, who quit the National Football League during the height of his professional football career in the wake of 9/11 to join the Army Rangers, turning down a multimillion-dollar contract from the Arizona Cardinals. After his death, he received a Silver Star for valor.

However, the filmmakers argue and show convincing evidence that the military concocted a bogus account of his death, saying he’d saved the lives of fellow soldiers during a mountain ambush by the Taliban during his second tour of Afghanistan. Eventually, thanks to the persistence of Tillman’s strong-willed, courageous family, who demanded to know the truth, the cover-up was exposed and the real story came out.

Tillman was actually the tragic victim of so-called friendly fire. He was killed accidentally by his own unit. But given Tillman’s celebrity status as an NFL star, a fictional account of his death during a fierce firefight with the Taliban was created and used by the government presumably to avoid an inquiry and to elicit support for the war. Tillman, who was 27, remains an American hero to those who knew him.

Here’s a list of five reviews:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Spouses & Families, War, Army, Families, In the News, Movies, Pat Tillman
August 26, 2010 | 11:47 AM | By

Best War Movie You’ve Never Seen

Best Years of Our Lives

Best Years of Our Lives

We’re going to be talking regularly here about how the military and war are depicted in films and books. I want your input on this, and would like to start by saying that there is one movie that was made more than 60 years ago you may not have seen or even heard of that I highly recommend: “The Best Years of Our Lives.”

“The Best Years of Our Lives” is both stunningly ahead of its time and timeless. It addresses something few war movies did in those days: the aftermath. Coming home. Its standout performance was from an actual amputee, Harold Russell.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Life in the Military, War, Movies, PTSD, World War II