For movie geeks, 1998 is still remembered as the year that Harvey Weinstein’s lobbying and schmoozing led to the underdog “Shakespeare in Love” beating “Saving Private Ryan.” In writing this series, I’ve realized how much Oscar snubs, wins, and losses affect the consensus perception of certain movies.

In other words, had Weinstein’s movie been snubbed altogether, I think people would remember it more fondly than they do. If I recall correctly, no one was complaining much that the movie was nominated, but the win immediately changed the perception of the movie.

I loved a lot of movies released in 1998, but only one of them was nominated for Best Picture. It’s a very tough year for me to pick a favorite. The nominees:

“Shakespeare in Love” – Only saw it once, and I liked it. Costume dramas really ain’t my thing, but costume comedies? Well, that’s…wait, I don’t like them much either. But I guess this one’s alright.

“Elizabeth” – See above. Never seen it.

“Life is Beautiful” – Roberto Benigni winning Best Actor for this remains one of the great whiffs in Academy history.

“Saving Private Ryan” - The invasion sequence alone remains worth the price of admission.

“The Thin Red Line” – For my money, this is a pretentious mess. I’ve got a buddy who says it’s his favorite movie. I say he’ s trying to seem smart. But what do I know? I’m the guy who would have nominated…

“There’s Something About Mary” - Stalker? Big time.

“The Big Lebowski” - Am I wrong? Am I wrong? No, you’re not wrong, Walter, you’re just an assh*le.

“Out of Sight” - You don’t have an extra clip I can use, do you?

“Rushmore” - Never in my wildest imagination did I ever dream I would have sons like this.

“Saving Private Ryan” - The Statue of Liberty is kaput. That’s disconcerting.

This is really an absolute squeaker. Why? Partially, it’s because I love all of these movies so much. But mostly, it’s because I’m stupid. (more…)

Let’s be clear – the upper echelons of Hollywood are dominated by weirdos, losers and mutations.  I’m not judging – I live in LA, so naturally some of my best friends are weirdos, losers and mutations.  I’m simply pointing out a fact.  Most of the normal, hardworking, all-American folks in Hollywood are crew – and they showed it with their heartfelt booing of Michael Moore when he removed the muffin from his pie-hole just long enough to run down our country during the 2003 Oscar ceremony. 

But these great Americans are generally not members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and they don’t get to vote for who takes home the Oscar.  People like Sean Penn do.  And Tim Robbins.   And tranny vomit recipient Susan Sarandon.  

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These are the kind of folks who make up the majority of Oscar voters, so it’s no wonder that the Academy Awards show is so often a festival of nitwittery that leaves normal Americans scratching their heads wondering, “Um, what the hell was that?” 

Oscar has more than its share of astonishing failures, of crazy-uncle-locked-in-the-attic nods that the Academy sorely regretted about the time the after-party coke bowls ran dry.  The terrible Oscar choices listed here are only from the last few decades since the sting of choosing How Green Is My Valley over Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon has presumably faded since 1941– well, for some of us.  Oh, and you won’t find Marisa Tomei on this list – she rocks.  Deal with that, haters. 

So, in no particular order of insanity, here are Oscar’s 10 biggest recent screw-ups: ]

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Until Saving Private Ryan, the 1963 film The Victors was what I considered the best war movie ever. Although some have pegged this as an anti-war film, I believe it is more descriptive of a movie that proves that war is hell. The Victors is different from other military films in that it emphasizes the civilian victims of WWII in France, Italy and Germany. Sadly, the New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther was not impressed. His negative review probably killed the box office but he didn’t take into consideration the fact that this film was not meant for those who loved war films. I certainly didn’t and appreciated the film because it was not overrun with battle scenes, although I would hardly describe it as a woman’s cup of tea.

I can never hear Frank Sinatra’s version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” without  hearing it as the music playing in the background while a WWII deserter was executed on Christmas Eve before battle weary soldiers watching stoically.

The film is episodic and loaded with cameos of great European actresses like Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Melina Mercouri, Elke Sommer, and Senta Berger in memorable and poignant vignettes. I had a mini crush on Albert Finney whom I had just seen in Tom Jones but he doesn’t appear until the end of  The Victors and portrays a drunken Russian soldier in Berlin confronting George Hamilton one of the main American characters. George Peppard, Eli Wallach, Vince Edwards, Jim Mitchum, and Peter Fonda round out the excellent cast. (more…)

Veterans Day, unlike almost any other holiday in America, is broadly celebrated and deeply revered throughout the country. In DC, it is marked by ceremonies at national cemeteries, in the heartland by parades and special church services, and in Hollywood by movies that have forever captured, and accurately depicted, the bravery of our men and women in uniform.

One such movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” is as priceless as it is ageless. And to me, the most valuable part of this great movie lies in the opening scenes, where Allied Forces land at Normandy under heavy German machine-gun fire, and succeed in their mission against seeming insurmountable odds.

In real life, the D-Day landing at Normandy (June 6, 1944) cost America roughly 2400 lives. That’s right, 2400 combat deaths in one day, at one location. The Americans who poured onto that beach, determined to break through the German forces, were scared and strained by the certainty that an enemy bullet or artillery shell could end their earthly lives at any second. Yet they did their duty, and in addition to the 2400 Killed in Action (KIA) there were untold thousands more wounded in action, and others lost to POW status and MIA (missing in action) status.

Like no other war movie I’ve seen, “Saving Private Ryan” puts the horror of all this before the viewer’s eyes by presenting battle scenes in a way that show the harsh realities of war. (more…)

Hopefully my two-cents about the films in this five-part series will help if you are looking for a way to honor those veterans, living and dead, who deserve to be remembered today, June 25th, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. Perhaps it is time Hollywood revisit the subject of this war anew. The question is, would anyone pay to see such films today? 

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Regardless, I wish to extend my gratitude to all those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who served in the Korean War. Please know that your memory does live on … in our hearts if not in our theatres.

Below is the only film in this series produced within the last four decades, and that it is not from Hollywood but rather Korea itself underscores the meaning of “the forgotten war.” It may be forgotten to the American people, but as Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood Of War aptly reveals, it is still very much a part of the Korean psyche.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood Of War (2004): Seen through the melancholy eyes of an aged South Korean army veteran Jin-seok Lee, the story is one large flashback that begins profiling Jin-seok’s once happy and industrious family living in Seoul on the eve of war. The Brotherhood Of War follows two very dissimilar brothers in the family, Jin-tae Lee, the quick-fisted, street-smart older brother played with riveting power by Dong-gun Jang, and a teen-aged Jin-seok, the younger, frailer more bookish of the two played with equal conviction by Bin Won. Though they are quite different, their affection for each other runs very deep.  (more…)

Seeing “Saving Private Ryan” again is enough to make one forgive star Tom Hanks’ ill-conceived comments regarding racism and World War II.

The 1998 film, just released on Blu-ray for the first time, stands as one of director Steven Spielberg’s towering achievements – no small praise given his iconic resume. Hanks gives a bravura performance as the head of a gifted ensemble, a Captain whose leadership pushes a rag-tag group to save a very special soldier.

The film’s first 20-odd minutes remain the most brutal depiction of World War II combat ever committed to film. It’s enough to make a grown man weep watching young men march straight into gunfire, many of them shredded before they even step foot on Omaha Beach.

Spielberg goes a bit overboard here, reveling in the kind of gore that would make “Saw” fans blush to hammer home the hellish conditions.

We see much of the chaos through the eyes of Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) – the deafening bomb blasts, the need to restore some semblance of order and the fear welling up as the earth shakes below them. (more…)

So, when it came time for our little girl to watch her first grown-up movie, I was torn between Saving Private Ryan and a film I have loved since I was a kid, Godzilla, King of the Monsters.  Now, Private Ryan teaches important, practical lessons that every American should learn, like how to maneuver your infantry company across a beachhead under fire to wipe out a Nazi crew-served weapons bunker. On the other hand, Godzilla has a hideous dragon with radioactive breath.  Tough call, but we decided to save Private Ryan for when she’s six – better late than never.

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What is the enduring fascination with a 55-year old flick that stars a fake Japanese reptile stomping Toyko into matchsticks?  The first thing is that Godzilla is a truly entertaining movie.  Actually, it’s two movies.  The version most Americans have seen on TV is the 1956 re-cut version of the 98-minute original Japanese movie, Gojira.  Some American producers decided it could make them a bundle, but it needed a bit of familiarization before the American audience would accept it.  They hired a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr to film some awkward footage as American reporter “Steve Martin,” cut out a lot of draggy filler, and shipped the slimmed down 80-minute final product to drive-ins all over the fruited plain. (more…)

I have always been a fan of so-called B movies. I’m not sure I like that description because it implies that B movies are not as important as A movies, not as serious, not as good. Well, I’m not so sure about that. Of the B movies that I love, my favorites are, without a doubt, the science fiction monster movies. Yes, those wonderful creations conceived of by some of the most colorful characters in Hollywood and beyond. Studios like AIP, Toho, Daiei, Hammer and Universal are synonymous with creatures that crawl, creep and are able to stamp a city flat.

Names like Ray Harryhausen, George Pal, Bernard Herrmann and H.G. Wells come to mind. As do those of Ken Toby, Less Tremayne, Paul Frees and Whit Bissell. Each of these names, plus thousands and thousands of others, can immediately conjure up a favorite film, a scene or even just a great line or look that impressed us as kids and perhaps continues to do so.

When I think about those elements that I love in my favorite sci-fi monster movies, my mind can easily dwell for hours on the creatures themselves, the settings, the art direction, the machinery and technology and everything in between. I never grow tired of that stuff. But I also love, with equal passion the characters that people the story. They are really what it’s all about. So, indulge me as I invite you to take a little trip through my memory, recalling some character moments that stand out for me in the B genre of scifi monster movies. (more…)

You’re not using the Almighty’s name in vain when you mean it. So everybody all together now: God Damn the Shaky-Cam.   

Was it Spielberg with “Saving Private Ryan” who started the shaky-cam phenomenon or was it “NYPD Blue?” Whatever. My suggestion is that we build a time machine to locate and eradicate the host virus. Not through violence, through a plea to their humanity (unless it’s Paul Greengrass — we’ll ring his doorbell and run) and DVD examples of what their monster will become.  Then we’ll go back to 1941 where you can drop me off in front of Barbara Stanwyck’s house.

Maybe, possibly, inside the jittery mess that is “Gamer,” there sits an ‘80’s style actioner — an unpretentious time killer with an interesting premise,  lots of action and a little gratuitous nudity to get you through a slimmer than slim story. There’s just no way to tell because you can’t see anything, and the epileptic camera is only part of the problem. The cinematography’s completely washed out and every time you get any kind of fix on what’s happening a wavy, electronic-transmission effect is added for no reason other than to add it. (more…)

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing a man who has helped bring to life some of my favorite films, series and projects. Captain Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.) has enjoyed an incredible career in Hollywood as an actor, a writer and as the most recognizable military/technical advisor in the industry. He recently worked as the Senior Military Advisor on HBO’s upcoming World War II miniseries “The Pacific” (currently in post-production) and is preparing to direct his first feature, “No Better Place to Die.”

J.R. Head: Thanks so much, Dale, for taking the time to talk with me.

Dale Dye: You’re most welcome. It’s a pleasure to be anywhere talking about the business we love these days. Hopefully, things will loosen up a bit, we’ll all go to work and I won’t have time for this in the near future.

JRH: Well, I’m glad I caught you when I did. First, let me say that I’ve enjoyed so many of the projects you’ve worked on.

DD: That means a lot coming from a guy with a military background. The reason I work so hard at it is to ensure guys like you and millions of others who served get a fair shake from Hollywood. (more…)

I just cannot get behind this Star Trek rebirth.  The whole thing is just so unrealistic.  Not the warp speed or phasers or beaming about the universe – those are at least remotely plausible.  I am talking about the fact that the starship Enterprise is composed entirely of officers and yet it still seems to function.  Where are the non-commissioned officers (NCO), the petty officers and sergeants who actually make any military organization run?  No, I can suspend disbelief over Klingons and tribbles, and I actively support the notion of green alien hotties.  But the idea of a functioning military unit without sergeants is just a wormhole too far.

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Hollywood movies often focus on the commanders, the captains and colonels, but they have also managed to highlight some great sergeants as well.  When you are picking out DVDs for next weekend, remember that May 16th is Armed Forces Day and consider a few selections that show the sergeant in all his gruff and grumbling glory. 

If you have never experienced the joy of going through basic training and do not plan to, your first stop should be Full Metal Jacket, with R. Lee Ermey’s legendary portrayal of a Marine drill instructor who must have missed out on the block of instruction on sensitivity.  I saw this in the theater about a week before I reported to Basic.  That was a poor idea. (more…)