tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188682230427860654.post8367210731380336947..comments2023-06-17T09:29:25.717-04:00Comments on ECSTATIC: "Wings" dir. William A. Wellman, 1927J. Hedrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13528780351297581593noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188682230427860654.post-16911977251686919822012-06-08T13:31:21.313-04:002012-06-08T13:31:21.313-04:00Well, I kind of twisted that last line from a Stew...Well, I kind of twisted that last line from a Stewart Ewen quote into something that would work in this context, and just figured it was fair use appropriation. I will have to catch up with some of these recommendations. I have not seen Jarhead or War Requiem. Someday I might catch up with the Transformers films, but I saw most of the second one at a drive-in and I think it literally exploded some of my more lively and necessary brain cells, so hopefully you can understand why I'm a bit leery.J. Hedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13528780351297581593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188682230427860654.post-84705761039865764572012-06-08T00:46:34.600-04:002012-06-08T00:46:34.600-04:00Great last line and great overall analysis. I woul...Great last line and great overall analysis. I would add Sam Mendes' excellent Jarhead to the list of crucial war-pics-as-sociological-depictions. Lots of great stuff in that one, most especially a final firing off of the weapons as accumulated venting of built up, repressed aggression (I've never forgotten that scene and can't imagine I ever will). The oil fires recall the majestic, mythic ones in Herzog's Lessons of Darkness or Friedkin's Sorcerer. I also really like Jarman's War Requiem for providing a little humanist counter-balance to so much overwhelming emphasis on machismo. And, of course, any such list is incomplete without Michael Bay. These days he would be hard to top as producer of military advertisements. Their intensive and sustained, concentrated focus is what makes them most effective, I think, even more than the tech at their disposal and so wantonly on display. The hubristic end of Transformers 3 quite literally took my breath away.nathaniel drake carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12770228082154418103noreply@blogger.com