City of God and Other Brilliant Movies

City of God (2002) Portugese with English subtitles.

I had heard about this movie, but only here and there. No one looked me in the eye and said, "See this movie. See it or I can't be your friend anymore." And I don't really understand that. It's about a boy named Rocket growing up in the gangs of Cidade de Deus (City of God), and one of the other kids from the city Lil Dice, who later becomes Lil Ze -- the worst bad guy in the City of God, and possibly in movie history. He is a very, very bad guy. A gang war starts, Rocket gets a camera, and the movie captures it all so poetically. It's tragic and brilliant and the cinematography is breathtaking. MUST SEE. A+

Full Metal Jacket (1987)
WORSE STILL is that I only saw this movie for the first time a couple of months ago. How did that happen? I really don't understand how I missed seeing it. This is now my favorite Stanley Kubrick movie besides The Shining, and it's stunning to me how the same director could do arguably the best horror movie and also arguably the best war movie. How did he do it? I don't know.

Full Metal Jacket is a two-part affair, from the point of view of a Marine cadet named Joker (Matthew Modine). First we see the dehumanizing effects of training on the soldiers, specifically the tragic consequences for poor Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio). It's tragic, but it's also extremely funny. The drill sergeant is outrageous. The second half of the film takes place during the Tet offensive in Vietnam. For those of you who have seen this movie, I haven't really got any great pearls of wisdom about it. This review is just saying to my readers, please, please, don't be like me. Don't wait years and years to see this movie. Watch it now. Brilliant. MUST SEE. A+

We Were Soldiers (2002)
A good war flick, starring Mel Gibson. The scene where the soldiers' wives have to give the bad news letters to the other wives made me weepy. It's sentimental and misty-eyed, the opposite of Full Metal Jacket, and most would say not as good. But still an enjoyable and emminently watchable movie and I recommend it. I give it an A- because I like war movies and am a sentimentalist.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)
I saw this movie at the wrong time. I saw it after it won numerous awards and all my friends really talked it up. I had very high expectations, and it was a little disappointing to me, though I would say on the whole it's a great movie. I also have to disclaim that mutilation scenes really, really bother me, so the part with the hacked up body was not ok. Also, I found it really annoying that Mr. Scrawny Scottish Hotpants (James McAvoy) sort of barged into a very stupid situation, got in way over his head, and then expected everyone to bail him out. But I guess he didn't exactly get off scotsfree, so to speak. Haha. Anyway, yeah, it's a good movie and you should probably see it if you haven't, but don't be like me and expect it to be as good as Full Metal Jacket or City of God, because it isn't even close. B+

And hopefully that's enough movies to keep you out of trouble for awhile!