So I'm trying to get back into things at the moment. To do this, I was thinking that some sort of little project that could keep me occupied would be a good start, so I've decided on a theme. Right now, we're coming out of the Christmas break, and that is often a time associated with joy, happiness, and peace. So naturally what better choice than to focus on the exact opposite, which would be war? Over the course of the week, I will be randomly picking out a selection of war films from my collection. Each day I'll be discussing a different film related to a different conflict.
In order to better add a level of simultaneous suspense and uncertainty. I am incorporating a system in how I choose which movies I'll be covering. For each day, I'll be covering a different time period. I have a definite schedule for which days correspond to each era, but the actual war film will be selected at random each day. This means that even I have no idea what films we'll be hearing about. All I can do is provide a list of the theme for each day. Here is the full schedule for the week:
Tuesday: World War I
Wednesday: World War II
Thursday: Vietnam
Friday: Modern Warfare
For each day, the films will be randomly selected from my collection. In that sense, even I don't know for sure what each one is going to be other than the basic timeframe it will cover. I've already picked out my World War I film, but I don't know what will be covered for World War II, Vietnam, or Modern Warfare just yet. Feel free to let me know what you think of my choices in the comments, or to recommend any war films based on the above categories. I can't promise I'll be able to take your recommendations for this challenge, but it might give me some things to keep an eye out for.
I recently watched Full Metal Jacket again. Still holds up.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very interesting film, and I'm sure you'll be pleased to know it's a possible candidate for Thursday although I'll admit that while the second half isn't bad, the first is definitely much stronger.
DeleteSounds intriguing-just watched The Longest Day which I prefer over Saving Ryan's Privates
ReplyDeleteI still haven't seen The Longest Day, though the theme song is pretty catchy.
DeleteExcellent idea. For WWII, there are tons of films, as you know. A pair of recent films which were filmed to be companion pieces would be a great fit: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. If you're just looking for a singular film, Saving Private Ryan is my fave. A wild card for you, if you don't mind a WWII that doesn't focus on combat at all, is A Soldier's Story. A very young Denzel Washington is among the cast and it's more murder mystery than anything else, but it is unmistakably WWII.
ReplyDeleteLots of great stuff for Vietnam, too. Apocalypse Now might be the quintessential film on the subject. Of course, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and The Deer Hunter are all excellent.
As for modern warfare, Black Hawk Down would be a good one. So would The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, The Messenger (another non-combat flick). I didn't care much for American Sniper, but lots of people do so there's that.
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Well, I'm not totally sure what I'm going to be doing for World War II yet, but I've certainly got a lot to choose from in my collection alone. Saving Private Ryan is a great one of course. Just the opening battle scene alone makes that movie worth watching. The still I used in this post is from The Thin Red Line, another interesting war film although much more abstract.
DeleteVietnam certainly has some good stuff as well. Apocalypse Now is perhaps one of my favourite Vietnam War films, though I did already write a fairly extensive essay on it back in June. Personally, I preferred that to Platoon, but that was years ago that I saw it so another viewing might not be a bad idea.
Modern Warfare will be a tricky choice, but I do have some good ones. Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, and Jarhead would all be good choices. I haven't seen The Messenger, but I actually didn't mind American Sniper.