The Steel Helmet

Movies to See Right Now

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LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

OUT NOW

  • The brilliantly original Chinese neo-noir Long Day’s Journey into Night is a Must See.
  • The Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace is, at once, the recovery of a lost film, the document of an extraordinary live recording and an immersive, spiritual experience.
  • Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen are pleasantly entertaining in the improbable Beauty-and-the-Beast romantic comedy Long Shot.
  • In The Chaperone, Downton Abbey’s writer Julian Fellowes and star Elizabeth McGovern reunite for a pleasing character study of self-discovery in 1921 America – it’s deeper than it first appears to be.
  • Ramen Shop is a lightly-rooted dramedy about a Singaporean-Japanese family’s reconciliation. There’s also a metaphorical foodie angle.
  • The bio-documentary An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy is available from PBS.

ON VIDEO

This Memorial Day weekend, I’m recommending that you binge OJ: Made in America., the  eight-hour ESPN documentary series.  It made my list of Best Movies of 2016.  The trailer is on the film’s homepage. You can watch the entire movie on ESPNWatch and on some other streaming platforms such as iTunes and Hulu.

Elisabeth Moss’ powerhouse performance as a monstrously narcissistic and drug-deranged rock star Her Smell is the acting tour de force of 2019. The movie could have been a great one if shorter, but Moss makes it worthwhile watch nonetheless. Her Smell is out of theaters, but it’s already streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play, an available on DVD from Redbox. 

And I just caught up to the hypnotically compelling Burning.  This 2 hour, 28 minute slow burn begins as a character study, evolves into a romance and then a mystery, and finally packs a powerful punch with a thriller climax. It’s a superb achievement for director and co-writer Chang-dong Lee. You can stream Burning from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

ON TV

On May 27, Turner Classic Movies brings us two particularly authentic war films, both set in the Korean War. In Men in War (1957), an infantry lieutenant (Robert Ryan) must lead his platoon out of a desperate situation. He encounters a cynical and insubordinate sergeant (Aldo Ray) loyally driving a jeep with his PTSD-addled colonel (Robert Keith). In conflict with each other, they must navigate through enemy units to safety. Director Anthony Mann is known for exploring the psychology of edgy characters, and that’s the case with Men in War.

The Steel Helmet (1951) is a gritty classic by the great writer-director Sam Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war. Gene Evans, a favorite of the two Sams (Fuller and Peckinpah), is especially good as the sergeant. American war movies of the period tended toward to idealize the war effort, but Fuller relished making war movies with no “recruitment flavor”. Although the Korean War had only been going on for a few months when Fuller wrote the screenplay, he was able to capture the feelings of futility that later pervaded American attitudes about the Korean War.

For something completely different, there’s Slap Shot (1977) on TCM on May 29. Paul Newman plays the dissolute player-coach of a failing minor league hockey team in a failing Rust Belt mill town. Things look hopeless until the Hanson brothers show up – three kids who look like nerds and play like goons. Very funny and a great performance by Newman.

Paul Newman (center) in SLAP SHOT

 

SLAP SHOT

Movies to See Right Now

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Andrew Garfield in HACKSAW RIDGE
Andrew Garfield in HACKSAW RIDGE

It’s Memorial Day weekend.  Scroll down for my recommendations of current and classic movies on video and television that honor military service.

Recommended movies to see in theaters this week:

  • Opening this weekend, The Commune, looks like comedy of errors, but it’s a family drama with a searing performance by Trine Dyrholm.
  • The Lost City of Z, a thoughtful and beautifully cinematic revival of the adventure epic genre.
  • In Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, writer-director Joseph Cedar and his star Richard Gere combine to create the unforgettable character of Norman Oppenheimer, a Jewish Willy Loman who finally gets his chance to sit with the Movers and Shakers. This may be Gere’s best movie performance ever.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is last year’s Oscar-winning Hacksaw Ridge, about American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who single-handedly rescued 75 fellow soldiers at the Battle of Okinawa and became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can rent Hacksaw Ridge on DVD from Netflix and Redbox or stream it from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play and DirecTV. If you’re going to see one war movie this year, make it this one.

Yesterday I wrote about Turner Classic Movies’ uncommon slate of thoughtful Korean War movies airing Saturday, including Men in War, The Steel Helmet, The Rack and The Hook.

On Sunday May 28, TCM will present the definitive Pearl Harbor movie, Tora! Tora! Tora! from 1970. Featuring great American and Japanese casts, Tora! Tora! Tora! tells the story from both American and Japanese perspectives. It’s a suspenseful minute-by-minute countdown. Tora! Tora! Tora! is one of the very best movies ever made about a well-known historical event.  And on Monday, May 29, TCM will broadcast the fine WW II submarine warfare movie The Enemy Below, which I wrote about last month (scroll down.

TORA! TORA! TORA!
TORA! TORA! TORA!

coming up on TV: a Korean War movie sampler

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Gene Evans in THE STEEL HELMET
Gene Evans in THE STEEL HELMET

Turner Classic Movies usually serves up war movies on the Memorial Day weekend, and, on May 27, TCM will present an uncommon slate of Korean War movies.  Most of the featured films were made between 1951 and 1957 – more or less contemporaneously with the conflict.  If you want to survey this subgenre, here’s your chance.

The best two are:

  • Men in War (1957): An infantry lieutenant (Robert Ryan) must lead his platoon out of a desperate situation, and he encounters a cynical and insubordinate sergeant (Aldo Ray) loyally driving a jeep with his PTSD-addled colonel (Robert Keith). In conflict with each other, they must navigate through enemy units to safety. Director Anthony Mann is known for exploring the psychology of edgy characters, and that’s the case with Men in War.
  • The Steel Helmet (1951) is a gritty classic by the great writer-director Sam Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war. Gene Evans, a favorite of the two Sams (Fuller and Peckinpah), is especially good as the sergeant. American war movies of the period tended toward to idealize the war effort, but Fuller relished making war movies with no “recruitment flavor”.  Although the Korean War had only been going on for a few months when Fuller wrote the screenplay, he was able to capture the feelings of futility that later pervaded American attitudes about the Korean War.

And these two are unusually thoughtful “message” films:

  • The Rack (1956):  A returning US army captain (Paul Newman) is court-martialed for collaborating with the enemy while a POW.  He was tortured, and The Rack explores what can be realistically expected of a prisoner under duress.  It’s a pretty good movie, and Wendell Corey and Walter Pidgeon co-star.
  • The Hook (1963):  A small unit of GIs is ordered to kill a North Korean prisoner, and this stagey screenplay explores the morality of following – or resisting – orders that violate civilized standards.  Kirk Douglas gives one of his testosterone-laden performances.

On the same day, TCM is also airing One Minute to Zero (1952), Target Zero (1955) and Battle Hymn (1957).

This time around, TCM is not showing the three most well-known Korean War movies:   The Manchurian Candidate, Pork Chop Hill and M*A*S*H.   The precursor to M*A*S*H*, of course, was  Battle Circus, a 1953 Humphrey Bogart film about a camp full of rowdy army surgeons.

And here’s a curiosity among Korean War movies: War Hunt,  a 1962 film about a rookie (Robert Redford) joining a Korean War unit as a new replacement with John Saxon as the platoon’s psycho killer.  Along with Redford, Sidney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola are in the cast, making War Hunt the only film with three Oscar-winning directors as actors.   Don’t blink, or you’ll miss Coppola as an uncredited convoy truck driver.

Robert Keith and Aldo Ray in MEN IN WAR
Robert Keith and Aldo Ray in MEN IN WAR

Movies to See Right Now

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Domhnall Gleeson in EX MACHINA
Domhnall Gleeson in EX MACHINA

The one MUST SEE in theaters is the intensely thoughtful Ex Machina.  I really like the thoughtful and authentic dramedy I’ll See You in My Dreams, and it opens more widely next week.   Far from the Madding Crowd, is a satisfying choice for those looking for a bodice ripper.  If you’re looking for a scare, try the inventive and non-gory horror gem It Follows.  Don’t bother with Slow West, a failed Western that never gets into rhythm.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the role of character actor Richard Jenkins’ career – The Visitor. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play ad Xbox Video.

Turner Classic Movies always programs a war movie marathon on Memorial Day weekend. I recommend two of the very best Korean War movies – both airing on May 24:

The Steel Helmet (1951) is a gritty classic by the great writer-director Sam Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war. Gene Evans, a favorite of the two Sams (Fuller and Peckinpah), is especially good as the sergeant. American war movies of the period tended toward to idealize the war effort, but Fuller relished making war movies with no “recruitment flavor”. Although the Korean War had only been going on for a few months when Fuller wrote the screenplay, he was able to capture the feelings of futility that later pervaded American attitudes about the Korean War.

Men in War (1957): An infantry lieutenant (Robert Ryan) must lead his platoon out of a desperate situation and encounters a cynical and insubordinate sergeant (Aldo Ray) loyally driving a jeep with his PTSD-addled colonel (Robert Keith). In conflict with each other, they must navigate through enemy units to safety. Director Anthony Mann is known for exploring the psychology of edgy characters, and that’s the case with Men in War.

Gene Evans in The Steel Helmet

Movies to See Right Now

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IDA
IDA

My pick for the best movie of the year so far is openly more widely this week – the Polish drama Ida, about a novice nun who is stunned to learn that her biological parents were Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Superbly photographed in black and white, each shot is exquisitely composed. Watching shot after shot in Ida is like walking through a museum gazing at masterpiece paintings one after the other.

IDA
IDA

Fading Gigolo, a wonderfully sweet romantic comedy written, directed and starring John Tuturro is a crowd-pleaser. The raucous comedy Neighbors is a pleasant enough diversion. Locke is a drama with a gimmick that works. In the documentary Finding Vivian Maier, we go on journey to discover why one of the great 20th Century photographers kept her own work a secret. Like all Wes Anderson movies, The Grand Budapest Hotel is wry and imaginative, but it’s not one of his most engaging.

My DVD Stream of the Week is the highly original Her, one of my Best Movies of 2013.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means it’s time for Turner Classic Movies to unleash a war movie marathon.  On May 24, you can see two classic Korean War films: The Steel Helmet (1951) and The Men of the Fighting Lady (1954).

Gene Evans in The Steel Helmet

This Week’s Movies to See Right Now

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Catherine DeNeuve has heard it one too many times in Potiche

Potiche opens this week, and this delightful French farce of feminist self-discovery is the funniest movie in over a year, and another showcase for Catherine DeNeuve (as if she needs one).  The Music Never Stopped is a crowd-pleaser, especially for Baby Boomers.   Certified Copy is a well-acted puzzler of an art film.

The best holdovers in theaters now are the combo thriller/love story The Adjustment Bureau and  the fun and unpretentious comedy Cedar Rapids.  Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy, which is also now playing on HBO Signature as Cinco Dias Sin Nora (Five Days Without Nora).

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I haven’t yet seen Jane Eyre.  You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Fair Game. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Frankenstein and the great Sam Fuller war film The Steel Helmet on TCM.

Coming Up on TV: A Great Sam Fuller War Film

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On April 2, Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting the 1951 Korean War movie The Steel Helmet. It’s a gritty classic by the great writer-director Sam Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war.   Gene Evans, a favorite of the two Sams  (Fuller and Peckinpah), is especially good as the sergeant.

TCM’s Korean War Marathon

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On June 24 and 25, TCM is showing fourteen straight Korean War movies: The Steel Helmet (1951),  Men In War (1951) , Men Of The Fighting Lady (1954), I Want You (1951), Battle Circus (1953),  Tank Battalion (1958), Mission Over Korea (1953), Battle Taxi (1955), The Bamboo Prison (1955), All the Young Men (1960), Take the High Ground! (1953), Time Limit (1957), The Rack (1956) and  Hell in Korea (1956).

If you’re gonna watch just one, I recommend The Steel Helmet, a gritty classic by the great Sam Fuller, a WWII combat vet who brooked no sentimentality about war.  Fuller and Peckinpah favorite Gene Evans is especially good as the sergeant.

This time, TCM is not showing the three most well-known Korean War movies:   Manchurian Candidate, Pork Chop Hill and M*A*S*H.

Earlier this year, TCM broadcast War Hunt,  a 1962 film about Robert Redford joining a Korean War unit as a new replacement with John Saxon as the platoon’s psycho killer.  Along with Redford, Sidney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola are in the cast, making War Hunt the only film with three Oscar-winning directors as actors.   Don’t blink, or you’ll miss for Coppola as an uncredited convoy truck driver.

This week's Movies To See

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Gene Evans in Sam Fuller's The Steel Helmet

 

Click here for this week’s recommendations.  Scroll down this blog to watch trailers.  My top recommendations are Toy Story 3, The Secrets in their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos), Micmacs and Iron Man 2. You can still find The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in theaters.

My top picks on DVD is The Deep End. Last week’s pick, Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains and The Messenger are also good choices on DVD.

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Steel Helmet are on TV.