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War Machine

War Machine – What Makes a Successful Satire?

June 2, 2017 by Julie Levac Leave a Comment

Image result for war machine movie

War Machine is the newest Netflix original film from director David Michod, starring Brad Pitt, Topher Grace, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, and Scoot McNairy. David Michod is best known for directing Animal Kingdom, a 2010 crime story from Australia with a hit cast including Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, and Ben Mendelsohn.

Going into this movie, I knew that it was a satirical take on a nonfiction book about an army general but nothing about the true events surrounding this story. I’m generally intrigued by most true stories no matter how ‘off the beaten path’ they may be. Knowing that they actually happened, films based on true stories always hit me harder than others and I usually feel that I learned something in the process.

After watching War Machine, I wanted to do some research on the book it was based from in order to get more background context. Entitled “The Operators – The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan”, the book is written by Michael Hastings, a journalist at Rolling Stone who accompanied General Stanley McChrystal (the real life General that the film is based upon) to assist in gathering help with their war efforts. Michael Hastings was present when the team openly bashed the Obama administration and produced a piece about his time with General McChrystal, ultimately leading to McChrystal’s firing.

The first thing that stood out to me within the film was Brad Pitt. (No, not like that!) Pitt plays the role of General Glen McMahon, the character based on the real life General Stanley McChrystal. Throughout the film, Pitt has a large focus on physical acting in the way he walks, talks, runs, uses his hands, and moves his face. Initially, I appreciated the way he was playing this role. I typically have a lot of respect for the way he dives into his characters but it didn’t take long for me to think that it was very overdone.  Still, I suppose, this is where the satirical aspect of the film kicks in.

Image result for pitt and kingsley

The other obviously satirical character was President Karzai, played by Ben Kingsley, who was portrayed as a complete joke. Both General McMahon and President Karzai are downright caricatures – obvious exaggerations of who the real life inspirations would have been.

Besides McMahon and Karzai, all other characters seem completely normal and serious. I think this is where my confusion with this film began. I didn’t know where they were taking the film, nor what tone they were expecting the audience to take from it. There was a very blurry line between being a serious war film and a satire.

One interesting element is that they seem to be intentionally making (then) President Barack Obama look bad. The scene in front of the airplane made it seem like Obama only wanted a photo op with General McMahon and no actual face time as originally anticipated. I found this to be an interesting way to approach the addition of President Obama into the film. As mentioned above, the bashing of the Obama administration by McMahon and his team led to McMahon’s firing. They could have put Obama in a more positive light, but perhaps they wanted us to see the Obama that General McMahon saw in order to build that story line.

Image result for rj cyler war machine

In my opinion, the best part of this movie was RJ Cyler, who played Andy Moon. He was in most of my favourite scenes. I was immediately interested in him when he spoke up during General McMahon’s address to his new troops:

“…it seems to me that we’re all here with our guns and (expletive) trying to convince these people that deep down we’re actually really nice guys. And I don’t know how to do that, Sir, when every second one of them, or every third one of them, or every tenth one of them is trying to (expletive) kill me, Sir. Cause I’m a marine. Cause we’re marines. And it seems like now they’re handing out medals for heroically not being a marine, Sir. I’m confused, is what I’m trying to say, Sir.”

This scene was fantastic. I’m definitely looking forward to what RJ Cyler will do in the future.

This particular scene really got me thinking about the war efforts in Afghanistan. Certainly, the main focus of the war was to remove the Taliban from power in the wake of the devastating 9/11 attacks. During this scene, another marine was discussing what exactly they were doing there. He says “to protect the people from the enemy”. How interesting and simultaneously heartbreaking to think about how difficult and tragic this must have been. The marines had to determine who was a civilian and who was an enemy, not knowing whether someone may try to kill them or if they were innocent bystanders. On the flip side, think about strange troops invading your town and shooting at your family. To those locals, the troops are the enemy. I feel so contradictory about it all. I’m sure we all remember hearing about the war in Afghanistan on the news but were barely shaken by hearing about it because it didn’t directly affect us. This is almost a tragedy in and of itself.

Moving back to the cast, John Magaro and Topher Grace played the secondary roles of Cory Staggart and Matt Little respectively.  I really enjoyed their additions to the film and would have loved to see them in a few more scenes.

Image result for tilda swinton in war machine

An unexpected but welcomed addition to the cast was Tilda Swinton, who played a brief role as a German politician who burns General McMahon during a presentation where he is speaking. She did a phenomenal job with her accent and monologues, as you would expect from the always intriguing Ms. Swinton.

Cameron from Ferris Bueller shows up too! I’ll pay the guy enough respect to call him by his real name, Alan Ruck. Who, by the way, has three new projects in the works in the next year and a half!

One more random and very brief appearance is made in the last scene of the movie by none other than Russell Crowe. He plays Bob White, who replaces General McMahon after he gets fired. Interestingly, Russell Crowe is not credited. And his appearance seems to open the door for a possible second installment.

Soundtracks are a fascinating element to film and they can either make it or break it. The War Machine soundtrack was all over the place. Anything from hip hop to classical. Standard background score to Lady Gaga. This could be attributed to the satirical nature of the film, so it’s difficult for me to fault it but I spent a lot of time during the movie wondering what path they were going on with the music.

As a whole, I think this movie missed the mark. I must admit, my exposure to satirical film is not vast, and that could be a large reason why it wasn’t my favourite. Personally, I thought it was disjointed and confusing. I have spoken to some fans of satire that share my feelings on this film. However, some fans online are comparing this film to one of the great satires, “Dr. Strangelove” by Stanley Kubrick.

So this begs the question: What makes a successful satire? Are satires best when they’re more obvious or subtle? I have always assumed satires were more like comedies, and were just poking fun. Although this is sometimes the case, it’s interesting to see how subtle some satire can be, as I have undoubtedly learned from watching War Machine.

My bottom line – I recommend watching this movie if you have a deep appreciation for satire, as you will likely grasp this movie far better than I.  If you aren’t as much of a satire fan, I would pass on it.

Image result for war machine movie

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Afghanistan, Brad Pitt, david michod, Memorial Day, Michael Hastings, Netflix, President Barack Obama, RJ Cyler, Russell Crowe, satire, Stanley McChrystal, The Operators, Tilda Swinton, war film, War Machine

Captain America: Civil War — Conflict Breeds Catastrophe

May 5, 2016 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

#TeamCap FightsLet’s get the basic questions out of the way before we begin the review.

Is Captain America: Civil War any good?  You bet it is!
Is it a perfect film? 
Nope.
Is there lots of fighting? Oh yes. And then some.
How’s Spider Man?
Well . . . He needs some practice.
Does the film leave the door open for future movies?
I think you know the answer to that one.
So who wins the Civil War?
Uh . . . I’m not going to tell you that. Why are you asking me?

Feel better?  No? Okay, then let’s review the film (with minor spoilers, if that).

If you’ve been under a rock for the last few years, Marvel Studios has been building a comic book-based empire on the strength of The Avengers, Iron Man, and Captain America. Captain America: Civil War adds to and builds on the previous movies, offering moviegoers a rollicking, fast-paced thrill ride that may take more than one viewing to adequately enjoy.

The story begins with the Avengers attempting to ward off a potential crisis in Nigeria.  However, something goes awry and innocent lives are lost.  This seems to be a theme of past films (New York and Sokovia, for example), so the governments of the world have decided it’s time for those with superpowers to have limits. Thus, the Sokovia Accords are drafted, giving the Avengers a choice: submit to governmental control or retire.

Avengers at Headquarters

If you’re a fan of the comics, you know there will be disagreements as to what should be done. Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) feels that limits will only breed more limits and make their jobs more difficult. Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) says that without limitations, they’re “no better than the bad guys.” Both are stubborn and won’t budge on their positions, gathering various Avengers to their separate points of view. Your favorite characters are all here: Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johnasson), Vision (Paul Bettany), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Ant-Man (Paul Ruud), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and War Machine (Don Cheadle).  The addition of Black Panther/T’Challa (Chad Boseman) makes the situation more difficult (but man, is he an incredible character to watch on screen).

Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is dealing with a lot of things that spin the other part of the plot in motion. Captain America has a tie to him and this comes into play as the film advances to an inevitable clash held at the airport in Berlin. There’s lots of fighting, lots of gadgetry, and a few surprises along the way. But as Vision notes, “Conflict breeds catastrophe.” The question is whether the Avengers, Captain America, and Iron Man will figure this out before it’s too late.

Captain America Meets Spider-ManOh yeah, and there’s Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland).  He has a role in the fight in Berlin, but seems more in awe of the others than anything.  He’s also learning about his superpowers—with mixed results. One part of the film that irked me involved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei)—don’t go in expecting her to be old like in the comics. In fact, guys might even be smitten by her.

In the end, the themes of vengeance, love, family, and loyalty come into play, though I’ll leave it to you to figure out how and in what manner it happens. Suffice it to say that the words of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 mean something in Civil War.

The film is nearly 2 ½ hours long, but it doesn’t feel that way due to the hyperkinetic pacing by directors Anthony and Joe Russo. Fight sequences are everywhere, surprises abound, and details are peppered throughout that help drive the plot forward. I do wish the villain (played by Martin Freeman) had been fleshed out a little bit more, but that’s nitpicking when events are unfolding so rapidly. The music isn’t overpowering but adds little to the whole scheme of affairs.  You’re there for the action, so that’s what you’re going to get.

And you’re going to like it.

(PS – Stay for the credits, as there are not one but two additional scenes that will leave you talking on the way out of the theater.)

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Ant-Man, Anthony Mackie, Anthony Russo, Aunt May, Avengers, Berlin, Black Widow, Bucky Barnes, Captain America, Captain America: Civil War, Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Falcon, Family, Government, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Jeremy Renner, Joe Russo, Love, Loyalty, Marisa Tomei, Martin Freeman, New York, Nigeria, Paul Betteny, Paul Ruud, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlet Witch, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Sokovia, spider-man, tom holland, vengeance, Vision, War Machine, Winter Soldier

Netflix Continues To Punish The Competition

June 10, 2015 by Arnaldo Reyes Leave a Comment

netflixlogoWith the increasing amount of “cord cutters” (I am myself joining that fray real soon), the battle for scooping up that market is becoming a one-horse race recently. With its foray and concentration to original programming and a low affordable streaming rate, Netflix has blazed a trail that others are trying to keep up with. More notably, the returning Orange Is the New Black has received countless awards and allows viewers to binge watch a whole season without having to wait for drawn out episodes spanning over several months. House of Cards has also made its mark on the consumer and, just recently, Marvel TV teamed up with Netflix and released the already popular and acclaimed Daredevil series as part of Marvel’s growing cinematic universe.

pitt

It’s quite a lineup that Netflix has going for it but there is more to come. Original movie are set to follow their original series. They’ve recently reached a deal with Weinstein Co. for the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and now have announced an exclusive movie deal with Brad Pitt to make War Machine. They also have a pact with Adam Sandler for four original movies. Needless to say, their stock is at an all-time high. These plans are making Netflix the front runner in streaming media and one can clearly see more down the road.

Back on the “TV series” side, Netflix had already acquired the rights for Fuller House reuniting the cast of Full House and have now picked up the just recently cancelled Degrassi: Next Class, keeping the long-running Canadian teen drama alive. Also, there are reports that the creators of Top Gear are leaving BBC and reuniting for an exclusive new car show series for Netflix (I don’t care for rumors but this seems to be picking up steam).

jon bernthal the punisher

On top of that, Marvel fans can rejoice with the official announcement that Joe Bernthal (Walking Dead, Fury) has been cast as fan favorite Frank Castle aka The Punisher for season 2 of Daredevil. That leaves some credibility to rumors that Marvel and Netflix have plans for Blade and possibly Ghost Rider as well. Also, the next series in the Marvel/Netflix slate has gotten a name change dropping the “AKA” and strictly calling it Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Let’s not forget, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and a Defenders series are also already confirmed and in the mix.

Marvel's Jessica Jones

That is tons of news, and I’m sure I’ve probably missed some, so leave us some feedback and let us know what you are more excited about from Netflix. And leave us suggestions as well!

Filed Under: Current Events, Film, News, Television Tagged With: Brad Pitt, Degrassi: Next Class, Jessica Jones, Jon Bernthal, Netflix, The Punisher, War Machine

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