I've been on a movie binge lately. Saw two this weekend.

Jarhead (2005)

I love war movies and this is my kind of war movie. No Rambo stuff here, this movie is about the misery and insanity of war. This movie is about all the myths of the army. The brutality. The stupidity. The boredom. The fear. This movie makes me feel a little better about not enlisting back in 1989; I dont think the Marine Corp would have agreed with me. And when a movie makes me feel that way, I feel good about its authenticity.

The reason I liked this movie is because I liked the insights and observations by Mr. Swofford. This movie/book tells the story of a Gulf War that is anything but heroic.

I was really impressed with the scenes from the desert, especially the burning oil fields and the "rain" of crude oil. Those scenes were as surreal as any footage from Apocalypse Now. I have a new respect for the vets who said they got Gulf War Sickness - what a #$% mess.

I liked the observation that "each war is different and each war is the same". The Gulf War was certainly nothing like Vietnam. Vietnam was largely about infantry fighting while the Gulf War was clearly all about technology: planes, missiles and tanks. 6 months in the desert; 4 days of war and never firing a shot. Very different from my dad and his brother's experience in Vietnam. Then again the current Gulf War is totally different once again. I dare say the marine snipers today have a lot more to do than they did back in 1991.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1952)

A total reversal from Jarhead, I've been watching classic movies that I have never actually saw. The first one was Seven Samurai (which was terrific) and the second one was TDTESS. I love old movies because they are a history lesson, a time capsule of life at that time.

1952 America? WW2 had just ended. The Cold War was raging. People were obsessed with the bomb and Commies. Everyone drank, a lot. Everyone dressed well. Suit and tie with a hat, sir. People were very formal with each other. There was respect for authority, in a pre-Vietnam, pre-Watergate kind of way.

The other thing I really noticed in this movie was that people were thin. Everyone was thin and a lot of them look downright scrawny. People in movies today are either fat/obese or totally muscular. The difference is quite apparent.

50 years and so much has changed. At least on the surface.