Don't Let Me Down!

JARHEAD - this was a really good movie. Better than Road to Perdition (Sam
Mendes' last film). Went along the same lines as American Beauty but
obviously different storyline. It took a closer look at what the troops
went through during Desert Storm and Shield. Now that I think about it,
the time span within the movie, actually felt like the timespan of the war
itself. I remember I was in 7th grade when this happened. Oh man....did I
just say that I remembered a war?? How old am I?? ANYHOO, this movie has
Jake Gyllenhal (from Donnie Darko, The Good Girl, and Proof -- all movies
that you should see), Jamie Foxx (Ray -- which I thought was
eh...okay.....NOT Academy Award winning -- sorry, no offense Mr.
Foxx...just didn't think it was your year), and Peter Sarsgaard (from
Kinsey and Garden State - 2 other ones that you should catch....not as
important though, but pretty good rents). There was a small stint by
Cooper (from American Beauty and Adaptation) but nothing to get crazy
about. This was based on a novel and used a lot of voice-overs to tell the
inner thoughts of the main character. That was used well because as a
screenwriter, you're taught to never use voice-overs unless it moves the
story forward -- in this case, it gave the viewer a way to get more indepth
with the main character. That makes good movies -- if you can grow an
attachment to the characters. Sam Mendes uses his classic styles of
silhouettes, vibrant colors through the use of light, and uses of slow
motion. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when they get bombed
for the first time since the announcement of entering Desert Storm and
Gyllenhal stands up, taking in the fact that they have just entered war.
Mind you, this is the first feel of enemy attack after waiting weeks of
doing nothing in the desert, growing anxiety and impatience, and being
completely bored with the constant training which felt utterly useless.
That scene goes into slow motion and Mendes does this close up on Jake
getting hit in the face with the grains of sand, using a voice-over to say
what is going on in his head, then fading out the sound of people yelling
at him, as he raises the sound of the sand hitting his face. Wow -- such a
good scene. Almost as good as Deniro's slow motion scene in Goodfellas
when he was about to kill Mory. And y'all thought some ghetto boy didn't
know cinema!! WH -WHAT?!?! Go see this movie - it won't change cinema but
that won't happen till I've completed my screenplay.

I also watched a good documentary this weekend, entitled - "My Architect."
It's about Lou Kahn - an architect that designed great buildings using
methods that were unique and against the grain of architectural "rules."
He designed the capital of Bengledesh, which many citizens consider him to
be famous for doing. You can truly see how much of a masterpiece it is
within the film -- but I'm sure it's only an 1/8th of the true beauty it
contains if you were to see it in person. Sort of how I grew up, always
seeing pictures of the Statue of Liberty in school and television - but
then seeing how huge and remarkable it is when you see it in person.
Unreal. However, Kahn's son - Nathaniel - is the writer/director of this
film and makes it even more insightful. He goes through his lifestyle -
interviewing people that were part of his life, both personally and
business oriented. Kahn was a workaholic, but also a nomad who traveled
all over the place. He went through 3 relationships with women, having
children with each. The only thing that I can tell you about this film
that would want to make you watch it is -- it's artistically inclined,
using a lot of great shots and good footage of the beauty of inanimant
objects. At first I thought, why would I want to watch a movie about an
architect...but when I watched it, it was just a really good film that was
greatly edited, directed, and written. One of the better documentaries
that I've seen of late.

and now.....i go .....