Posts tagged Terry Serpico
“The Men Who Stare at Goats” Surrealist Insanity
Nov 12th
Surrealist Insanity
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS is based on the 2005 nonfiction book by Jon Ronson, and it is a comedic look at real-life events about a top-secret branch of an experimental U.S. Army unit called the New Earth Battalion, which was created to change the way that wars are fought.
As the film says at one point, the Army was investigating how love and gentleness could win wars, and a notice at the beginning of the film says, “More of this is true than you would believe.”
Full disclosure: You might need to have served in the military in order to appreciate the full impact of this film. Otherwise, you might dismiss it as a fantasy instead of an honest account of just how cockeyed and wacky life can be in the military, even in the midst of a war.
In other words, young audiences today will probably not enjoy this film as much as older people who actually spent time in the military, as I did for three years back in the Sixties.
Most of the film takes place in 2003 in Iraq, but we also get flashbacks that show how the New Earth Battalion came to be and some of the training and experiences of recurring characters.
George Clooney plays Lyn Cassady, one of the Jedi Warriors, as they called themselves, and the most gifted psychic that another character who had served with Cassady had ever met.
That character tells Bob Wilton, a reporter played by Ewan McGregor, about the New Earth Battalion and says, “We were trying to kill animals with just our minds.”
That is where the title comes from, because in the early days the unit had a secret goat lab, and the men would try to kill a goat just by staring at it.
Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey also star in the film, and Wilton meets them all after he first meets Cassady in Kuwait and they travel into Iraq to accomplish Cassady’s secret mission.
CATCH-22, the 1961 novel by Joseph Heller that was made into a 1970 film, captured the surrealist insanity of World War II Army life during that war.
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS is the CATCH-22 of the war in Iraq, and as the film says, more of it is true than you would believe.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Men Who Stare at Goats – Movie Trailer
Nov 6th
Loosely adapted from a nonfiction book by Jon Ronson, Grant Heslov’s directorial debut The Men Who Stare at Goats begins as heartbroken reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) heads off to imbed himself with troops as the Iraq War starts, but Wilton can’t get himself into the country until he chances upon Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). It turns out Lyn spent decades as part of the New Earth Army — a platoon of men, led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), who lived a new-age lifestyle in an attempt to cultivate extrasensory perception that would allow the U.S. army to win wars nonviolently. Bill now has a secret mission in Iraq, and allows Bob to come along. As the duo gets into a series of misadventures, Lyn shares with Bob the colorful history of the New Earth Army and chronicles the nefarious machinations of Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), whose jealousy of Lyn’s remarkable skill brought an end to the group.
“Righteous Kill” You Talkin’ to My Little Friend?
Sep 17th
You Talkin’ to My Little Friend?
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
RIGHTEOUS KILL is a terrific film worth seeing for more reasons than two, and by “two,” of course, I mean Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
These two iconic actors are together again for the first time playing two veteran New York City police detectives named David Fisk and Thomas Cowan, but who go by the nicknames of “Turk” and “Rooster.”
They have been partners for 30 years, they are highly decorated, and as another police detective says about them, there is not an inch of daylight between them.
In fact, as one of them says to the other, “You’re my partner. You’re my role model. What am I going to do without a role model?”
However, before they can retire, Turk and Rooster investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have a connection with a case they solved years ago.
The victim is a suspected criminal whose body was found accompanied by a four-line poem that claims to justify the killing. And then the next thing they know, there are additional killings with additional poems, and they realize that they are looking for a serial killer, someone who is targeting criminals who have managed to escape being punished.
Eventually, Rooster and Turk are forced to team up with two other police detectives, and there is even more than one investigation going on.
Also, when it becomes clear that Turk has connections with most of the victims, the detectives have to face the possibility that the serial killer might actually be a policeman.
Now, don’t get distracted by the distractions, and there are plenty of distractions, just as there is lots of misdirection in the story. Stay focused on the actors and the acting, and pay attention to the details, because there is a terrific turnaround, and even when you think you know what has happened, you can’t imagine what is going to happen next.
In fact, see this wonderful film twice. See it once for the story and then see it a second time just for the acting and the actors. You will be glad you did.
And, of course, while you are watching De Niro and Pacino, you will keep being reminded of the previous films they have starred in.
RIGHTEOUS KILL cries out for someone to say, “You talkin’ to my little friend?”
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
