Two of the best military documentaries since Jake Rademacher’s Brothers at War premiered at the G. I. Film festival last weekend to incredible audience enthusiasm.  David Scantling’s Patrol Base Jaker and Mitty Giffis Mirrer’s Gold Star Children captured viewers with two completely divergent looks at the War on Terror.  Patrol Base Jaker won the G. I. Film Festival’s coveted Best Documentary Feature Award telling the behind the scenes story of a successful counter insurgency mission that many in the liberal press don’t want to acknowledge.

This is NOT a propaganda piece – Jaker shows just how difficult the job of counterinsurgency is, and how successful and rewarding it can be. The 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment’s Regimental Combat Team 3, the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Combat Logistics Battalion 8 and the unit’s highly motivated civil affairs teams took over Patrol Base Jaker in the almost deserted Taliban controlled town of Nawa-l-Brakzayi in Helmand Province. The British unit that was relieved had been so under manned that they had to over depend on air support that sometimes killed and wounded local civilians.

Enter Jaker’s commanding officer Colonel William McCollough, a scholar-warrior of the best type who commands through example, intelligence and understanding. McCollough’s officers, NCO’s and enlisted personnel not only push back the Taliban from Nawa but implement a large number of successful civil affairs missions, ranging from rebuilding and resupplying local schools, clearing irrigation ditches and providing wheat seed to replace the poppies that help fund the Taliban. They also reinvigorate the abandoned market place, gradually getting the locals to bringing back almost 80 merchants and do their best to help reform the corrupt local governmental hierarchy and police. This is a film about gaining trust, one uneasy step at a time. (more…)

Beginning in June 2007, filmmaker Tim Hetherington and war correspondent Sebastian Junger embedded themselves with a U.S. Army platoon in the truly God-forsaken Korengal Valley of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. A companion piece to Junger’s new book War, Restrepo is their feature-length documentary centered on a fifteen-man outpost in one of the most remote and dangerous war zones on earth. 

Trailer is NSFW

Its cinema verité style, interspersed with commentary from soldiers interviewed after the deployment, puts you in the center of the action – and inaction – alongside a half dozen or so principal characters. It captures the chaos and the boredom, the courage and the fear, the tension and the playful abandon of their stretch in Outpost Restrepo, named after their young medic, a Korengal casualty.

In between IED attacks, firefights, digging in on a cliff-side, negotiating compensation with the villagers for a dead cow, mourning dead comrades, rooting out arms caches in the village, and general horsing around, these soldiers, painfully young but becoming men before our eyes, offer honest and revealing emotions about these experiences. One soldier says he can barely get his head around it all; he just hopes that “one day I’ll be able to process it differently.” (more…)

Meghan McCain at the Daily Beast:

“I asked my mother if she would come see ["Brothers"] with me, but she said she didn’t want to give any money to a movie in which the preview showed the soldier coming back home and waving a gun at his family in their driveway. I have to admit, the preview disturbed me as well, but decided to see the film anyway because I’m always curious about Hollywood’s take on our soldiers and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, many of these films typically portray our soldiers as deserters—Stop Loss is another classic example of this stereotyping—or complete whackjobs.

“In Brothers, not only does one of the Marines captured by the Taliban actually say that he “realized we shouldn’t be there,” but Maguire’s character beats a fellow soldier to death with a lead pipe. Sam then returns home to his family and goes AWOL trying to kill both his wife and his brother. I don’t care if every producer, director, and screenwriter in Hollywood is against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and presumably most are), what offends me is the portrayal of soldiers as cowards and lunatics—driven to such lengths that they come home and try to kill their families. Obviously, post-traumatic stress disorder has become more prevalent in the military and clearly this is a problem that needs to be seriously addressed. But I believe these films add to the damage when they portray soldiers as disloyal, unwilling to serve, and against the missions themselves. In my experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth. (more…)

A couple of years ago, a friend introduced me to John Ondrasik, aka Five For Fighting, and told me he was making a music video to help raise money for a military charity called Operation Home Front.  I knew, right away, that this was my kind of guy.  I remembered John from his performance at the Concert for New York City that benefited the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.  John performed “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” a song that went on to reach #1 on Billboard’s Hot AC chart.

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In 2008, John composed and recorded the song “Brothers in Arms” for Jake Rademacher’s award winning documentary, Brothers at War.  He is also the one responsible for putting together CD for the Troops which is currently in its third incarnation.

This last weekend, I went to see the The Blind Side and, as the credits rolled on this wonderfully uplifting film, I heard a very familiar voice and smiled.  It’s Five for Fighting’s single, “Chances”, that plays at the end of the film.  I decided to reconnect with John, ask him about his new album, Slice, about the tour and find out a little bit about what makes this guy tick.  He was kind enough to play along. (more…)

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

Produced and scripted by Mark Boal (who embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Baghdad), the year is 2004 and Iraq is a country under siege, thanks mainly to determined insurgents and roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that seem to be everywhere and frequently come with nearby triggermen lying in wait for the opportunity to do the most amount of damage, preferably to American servicemen and women.  Charged with the dangerous and technically complicated job of defusing these bombs is a three-man EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) team led by Staff Sergeant James (an excellent Jeremy Renner) and his squad mates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). (more…)

Day 4 started off with a visit from Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. The Governor has been pushing many Veteran’s benefit programs as Virginia has a large military presence. Gov. Kaine is also a cycling enthusiast and pledged to take part in next year’s event.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine talks to the media after speaking to the Wounded Warriors

The route to Williamsburg again took the riders through some of the greatest roads in Virginia. The 72-mile route had a couple of long climbs, something that the riders have not seen many of.

Williamsburg is part of the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which also includes Jamestown and Yorktown, is among the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Williamsburg is the original Capitol of Virginia dating back to 1698. Williamsburg was established in 1632. Prior to the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the area, which became Williamsburg, was largely wooded. (more…)

Note:  Part 1 of this 4 part interview can be found here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

J.R. Head:  I felt that one of the most important things about the film was that it allows the folks that are left behind, the friends and loved ones, to get a glimpse of a soldier’s everyday life.  I served during relative peacetime but, even for me, it was difficult to explain what my day was like to my girlfriend, to my family… They were always imagining something bad happening.  And, let’s face it, peacetime or wartime, sometimes bad stuff happens.  We train hard, there are accidents and sometimes people die but for the most part you’re just doing your job.  I felt like “Brothers at War” gives folks a good look at what really goes on and allows them to relax a little bit.  Y’know, there’s not, say, a mortar attack every five minutes. 

“Brothers at War” Director, Jake Rademacher:  It’s a great tool for a soldier to allow loved ones a window, a good look at what life is like for them during a deployment. (more…)

Note: Part 1 of this 4 part interview can be found here and Part 2, here.

J.R. Head: Changing gears, (Executive Producer) Gary Sinise said of this film, “Brothers at War celebrates the courage and integrity of the American Soldier and the American military family.  It is also a film about a man’s love and respect for his two brothers and his dedication to telling their story.  A great film that I am proud to be a part of.”   That’s got to feel good, coming from someone of Gary’s caliber.

“Brothers at War” Director, Jake Rademacher:  Yeah, it was funny.  I was invited to screen “Brothers at War” in Iraq for General Petraeus’ public affairs folks and a number of our warriors stationed over there.  Upon viewing the film, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Loretta Vandenberg, extremely moved by “Brothers at War” said, “You need to get this to Gary Sinise.  He’s a big supporter of the troops, you need to get him to present this film.  Call him when you get back to Los Angeles.”  I was like, “okay… do you have his phone number?” (more…)

Cpt. Isaac Rademacher — Jake Rademacher

Note: Part 1 of this 4 part interview can be found here.

J.R. Head:  Tell me about the time frame of the film.  ”Brothers at War” was shot in 2005?

“Brothers at War” Director, Jake Rademacher:  Isaac departs in 2004, I join him in August 2005, and events in Iraq and on the Home front go through 2006.

JRH:  So, that’s pre-“Surge”.  But one of the things I noticed from the film was the advancement that the Iraqi Army was making.  I was encouraged by the individual efforts of people like [Marine] Staff Sergeant Allier and others to– (more…)

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jake Rademacher, the director of the incredible Iraq War documentary, “Brothers at War.” What ensued was one of the more enjoyable evenings I’ve had in a while. Jake is an interesting fellow.  I’ve seen him interviewed before and it seems that, when cameras are involved, he’s a much more subdued character.  Sit down with him one on one and get a few cups of joe into him and all bets are off.  He’s smart, funny, extremely passionate about his film and its subject matter — and the man talks fast. Very fast.

Cpt. Isaac Rademacher — Jake Rademacher

After some initial pleasantries (actor talk, a little sports, our mutual respect for Gary Sinise, etc.), we got down to it.

By the way, if you want to get a true feeling of how the interview was for me, try to read it very quickly.

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J.R. Head:  First, let me say “Brothers at War” looks fantastic.  You’re an actor.  What was it like to make the transition to first-time director? (more…)

Brandon L. Millett has crunched the numbers and come up with a formula Hollywood doesn’t want to compute. Films featuring U.S. soldiers as the enemy don’t sell tickets. Period. So Millett decided to create the G.I. Film Festival, an annual event honoring movies that depict soldiers in a positive light.

The five-day festival, which kicks off its third year Wednesday (May 13) at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., just keeps growing as a result. This time around, the festival will feature 48 film screenings – up from 30 last year. “Brothers at War,” which won the festival’s prize last year for best documentary, got a theatrical distribution deal thanks to its festival appearance.

 
Stephen Baldwin, James McEachin, Brandon Millett, Gary Sinise – 2008 Festival

Oscar winner Robert Duvall will lend his star presence to the proceedings, along with Sen. Fred Thompson and Kelsey Grammer.

“We didn’t know how big it would get and how quickly it would grow. It took on a life of its own,” says Millett, Festival President. Millett pins the blame squarely on Gary Sinise, Hollywood’s hardest working actor on behalf of U.S. soldiers. (more…)

We’ve all noticed that coverage of the war in Iraq has dropped off over the last year or so.  Ever since it became an incontrovertible truth that the Bush Surge worked, The New York Times and MSNBC seem to have decided that there wasn’t much worth covering anymore.   Clearly, editors sitting in glass towers in New York City believe that “stories” like Korans being flushed down a toilet sell far more magazines than non-fiction accounts of hope and change in Iraq stemming from the hard work of our armed forces.  Now that things are going better in Iraq and controversies are more difficult to create, it doesn’t merit the “coverage” it once did. 

This phenomenon, while unfortunate, is not the most egregious failure of the mainstream media in covering the war in Iraq.  Focused as they were for the last five years on finding (or inventing from whole cloth) reasons to blast President Bush for anything that happened in Iraq, the reporters tasked with covering the conflict missed some of the most incredible acts of courage and sacrifice that have ever been performed.  Four soldiers, sailors, and marines have posthumously been awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of courage performed in Iraq, but few of us could name one of them.  (more…)

I recently saw “Brothers at War,” a powerful new documentary by Jake Rademacher. As I exited the theater I quickly put on my sunglasses. I’m sure it was just allergies…macho undercover FBI agents don’t cry…but my eyes were misting up. What really moved me were the deployment scenes. This documentary “got it.” I’m not sure Hollywood has captured the impact of a combat deployment on our military men and women and their loved ones. 

Since April is the “Month of the Military Child” maybe it’s time we all “got it.” Living in San Diego, the news often covers units returning from overseas deployments. We attend a church where several young families are in the military and my wife is active in a group called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)…no, we are long past the preschool stage but my wife is a “mentor” mom. Military families are represented in that group as well. As I’ve shared before, our Marine son, who is stationed on the East Coast, is deployed. Maybe because I was a Marine and our son is on active duty, we have taken an interest in families with deployed spouses.  (more…)

I wrote “Brothers in Arms” two hours after seeing Jake Rademacher’s “Brothers at War.” Gary Sinise had set up a screening for a few folks in town and I popped down not knowing what I was in for.

Much has been written about the merits of this film at Big Hollywood and I can only echo the sentiments. As someone who has spent time with our troops overseas, “Brothers at War,” is an honest window into the reality of our soldiers and their families. A view to often obscured and agendized by our culture.

I didn’t know Jake at the time and had no thought of writing anything that would appear in the movie. I was inspired by what I saw and the song wrote itself.

The final master, now the end title, is the piano/vocal I cut in my living room that evening, accompanied by a string arrangement we added after the fact. (more…)

The buzz is getting out regarding Jake Rademacher’s “Brothers at War.”  It’s a great film with a good heart that shows the patriotic values of a true American family.  Brothers held it’s world premiere screening in May of last year at the 2008 GI Film Festival where it won Best Feature Documentary, and this month it hits theaters nationwide.  Brothers is one of many great pro-soldier, patriotic films that screen at the GI Film Festival — the first and only film festival in the nation which honors men and women in uniform.

The 2009 GI Film Festival, to held in Washington, DC 13-17 May 2009, has a fantastic line-up. (more…)

It’s a little surprising to look back and realize I’ve been complaining whining pouting crying bitching moaning writing about the insidious effects of left-wing Hollywood on both our culture and the art form of film itself for a few years now. Watching conservatives catch up a bit in the political documentary department has been encouraging, but if someone were to ask, “What do you want?” My response would be, “Brothers at War.”

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As we’ve seen with John Ziegler’s important and well-made “Media Malpractice,” there’s a place and need for the political documentary, both on the left and right, but when it comes to the art of telling a story through film, that’s not the end game, it’s merely the opening kickoff. Though a documentary, “Brothers at War” is a reminder of what the goal line looks like. (more…)

As a Marine veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I care a great deal about how Americans perceive the war and those of us who served in it. It is no secret that Hollywood has exclusively produced films opposing the war, portraying us as criminals, mental-cases, victims, and simpletons. By and large these movies failed to attract audiences, even as they were praised by the anti-American European fraternities and their L.A. and New York groupies. The success of HBO’s “Taking Chance” demonstrates that Americans are in fact interested in the Iraq War, are willing to watch movies about it, and want to know more about those who fought against incredible odds and proved the naysayers wrong.

I was recently privileged to attend a pre-screening of a film that shows Americans exactly what we’ve been missing. “Brothers At War” dares to give viewers an honest and intimate look at a family that supports two brothers on the front lines, from the perspective of a sibling who decided not to serve in the military. Freshman filmmaker Jake Rademacher follows his brothers to Iraq to try and understand their commitment, and to see for himself what they experience when they deploy “over there” for so many months at a time. Throughout the film we witness the tensions between the brothers as they try to discover a way to communicate with each other despite the ideological divisions. There are moments of frustration, anger, and skepticism as they confront each other, and there are moments of love, tenderness, and genuine respect as they come to understand one another through these shared experiences. (more…)

With ”Brothers at War” set for release this Friday, over the course of the coming week Big Hollywood will feature a full review of the documentary along with an interview with the film’s creator, Jake Rademacher. I attended one of the advance screenings, and worried it would be nothing more than a right-wing response to Hollywood’s punishing series of anti-war films, “Brothers at War” ended up being one the most pleasant experiences of last year. Here’s a little of what I wrote at the time: (more…)