By the 1980's, the Soviet Union had become the clear-cut second-place superpower in the world, and it wasn't really close. Despite whatever supersoviet supporters wanted to believe, the Russians were fighting a losing battle and knew it. Hence detente, perestroika, glasnost, etc. This gave outside filmmakers an opportunity to poke fun at the gradual decline of the Soviet power. Check out the role of General Gogol in the Bond films he appeared in. In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Gogol is fairly menacing; while not making any really life-threatening actions, he is the highest-ranked KGB official. By the time he appears in A View To A Kill (1985), Gogol is content with awarding Bond with the Order of Lenin. C'mon, really? While I acknowledge that the entire Bond series is fictitious, I have a harder time believing that the overall sentiment of Soviet Russia was really THAT friendly, even in 1985. Otherwise, wouldn't the Cold War have ended then?
Needless to say, this would never have happened if the Cold War ends in 1985...unless it happens after Christmas Day.Okay, so back to Stripes. The build-up and training part of the movie (roughly 2/3 of it?) I thought was hilarious. Harold Ramis and Bill Murray are a riot together (not as good as Ghostbusters (what is?), but maybe better than Ghostbusters II (Roman numerals make anything look more badass)). It's not until the gents take their Military officers, who are both foxy females...in 1981, this seems hardly plausible, even for the sake of the plot of the movie. I mean, okay, two female officers. But both of them bombshells? C'mon! At LEAST give us more believable odds (one of two), leading to some more cheap laughs through a wingman scene...perhaps Ramis in a pre-Dr. Spengler moment?
Okay...so not everything is more badass with Roman numerals...Once they take the van for a romantic getaway, I sort of lost interest. Yes it was funny that the military's prize toy was a converted camper. No it was not enough to hold the movie together. Yes there was potential with Hulka running amok alone. No I did not love the last third of the movie. YES (yes, and more yes) I liked the ending montage with the newspaper headlines (sort of reminded me of Animal House (or the Simpsons)). That said, I just felt like it could have even gone a good twenty minutes longer if it meant that the escape-to-Czechoslovakia mess was avoided.
IN THIS MESS is where the parallels are drawn between Stripes and Bond. The Soviets are made to look ridiculous and, while tensions had calmed between the two superpowers, I'm not sure that that caricaturization of Soviet Russia translates to comedy. I dunno, maybe that's because I wasn't born until the 80s, and so poking fun at topical issues (Cold War) has always been funny. I mean, I got a kick out of Achmed the Dead Terrorist...so maybe that'll seem just as dated twenty years from now. Stripes came out in 1981, by the way, so close to 30 years later...I guess we'll see.
Platoon is simply the best war movie I have ever seen. Like The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, Platoon deals just as much with inner turmoil as it does with defeating the physical enemy, if not more so. It really seems to be a reflection on the way Vietnam was perceived compared to other U.S. military conflicts ("Are we doing the right thing?"), whereas other wars up to that point weren't really questioned en masse; the assumption was that soldiers fought for greater good of America. Oliver Stone really gets to the heart of the internal conflict of Charlie Sheen's character, as well as the struggle between Willem Dafoe, whose Sgt. Elias seemed to embody the "fight the evil for the glory of America" mentality, and Tom Berenger's character, who was too war-engulfed to recognize "the enemy" from anything around him, which may have become the sentiment of so many in the jungles of Southeast Asia. I thought it was a powerful film, and deserving of praise.
So other than that, the big news is that I got myself an interview! I'm not really nervous yet, as I've had a few things to deal with in the meantime. That said, the main thing that concerns me right at this very moment is my hair. I've been growing it out as a rally; as I've said, I'd grow it until I get a job. I wonder how long that will be and, in the interim, how my hair will be perceived by prospective employers. I get how first impressions work, and by meeting lots of people over the years, have made a few myself. I wonder whether a suit will detract from it or make it stand out more. I wonder how long it will grow to be, and- at this pace- how long it would take to grow it for Locks for Love. I mean, if I'm already a good portion of the way there (I just measured...and the front is about four and a half inches long), how long would it take to grow to the necessary length? And, can I do that? See, I've always had the reality of hair loss waiting in the wings, and so my desire to cut it short has dwindled, the logic being that if I'm going to lose it, I might as well savor it while it's here, right? Well, we shall see. But in the immediate future, I have a strong first impression to make, hair or not. I just hope that it won't be a hinderance.
By the way, saw Kings of Leon on Saturday night. They put on an incredibly tight live show. For those who are unfamiliar with the band, here's an example of their music. For those of you who are familiar, I suggest looking into seeing them live if you're a fan, since they sound much better live than they do on the radio (so if you like them on the radio, chances are you'll really enjoy the live act).
Alright, time to get back to work on my portfolio (makes me sound professional...)
Talk to each other.
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