Search
Search results
Darren (1599 KP) rated Jarhead (2005) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
Story: Jarhead starts as we meet Anthony Swofford (Gyllenhaal) who joined the marines, it isn’t long before he gets taken by Staff Sgt Sykes (Foxx) to the US Marine Sniper division going through the training regime meeting his spotter Alan Troy (Sarsgaard).
When war breaks out the marines are set to the middle east, where they must adapt to the desert condition before going into to conflict, this will test their psychical shape and their mental health as the waiting is just part of the sniper’s game.
Thoughts on Jarhead
Characters – Anthony Swofford who wrote the book the film is based on, we see how he joined the military out of college and struggled at first through the training regime. Anthony soon discovered he was ready for this life as a sniper, but his time in the gulf sees him start to lose his mind. Alan Troy becomes the best friend of Anthony’s and his spotter, he seems to be the most level-headed marine in the unit. Staff Sgt Sykes is the one running the sniper unit, he demands respect and isn’t afraid to put the marines in their place.
Performances – Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic in the leading role, he shows everyone how he can play the calm soldier, the crazed soldier and the broken man through the scenes of the film which only increase what he is dealing with. Peter Sarsgaard give us a brilliant supporting performance which shows how the fear can be kept inside a calm outer layer. Jamie Foxx brings us the energy of a career military man.
Story – The story follows the experiences of one soldier that joins the marines before being put in the sniper division when war breaks out, he must adapt to life in the desert during the waiting game before the conflict. This story does show us just how difficult adapting to war can be for the soldiers and just how the war can be fought without needing to fire a weapon. It shows us just how the mindset can change over a set amount of time which will see the soldiers make decisions they wouldn’t normally consider making. This does focus on the idea that the main soldier Anthony never truly feels like he was part of the war followed by the effects of returning back from war can have on the soldiers who have returned.
Biopic/War – This film follows Anthony’s experience with war, it shows how war isn’t everything he was planning and how his mindset wasn’t in the right place for parts of his experience. The war side of the film shows us just how different war has become over the years, where the ground soldiers are not as required as once before.
Settings – The film has some wonderful uses of settings with the march sequence showing us just how open the area in question will be for the soldiers.
Scene of the Movie – Returning home.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slow start.
Final Thoughts – This is a fascinating look at the modern war effort, how the biggest problem is now waiting for the war to begin rather than the fighting.
Overall: Modern war time.
When war breaks out the marines are set to the middle east, where they must adapt to the desert condition before going into to conflict, this will test their psychical shape and their mental health as the waiting is just part of the sniper’s game.
Thoughts on Jarhead
Characters – Anthony Swofford who wrote the book the film is based on, we see how he joined the military out of college and struggled at first through the training regime. Anthony soon discovered he was ready for this life as a sniper, but his time in the gulf sees him start to lose his mind. Alan Troy becomes the best friend of Anthony’s and his spotter, he seems to be the most level-headed marine in the unit. Staff Sgt Sykes is the one running the sniper unit, he demands respect and isn’t afraid to put the marines in their place.
Performances – Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic in the leading role, he shows everyone how he can play the calm soldier, the crazed soldier and the broken man through the scenes of the film which only increase what he is dealing with. Peter Sarsgaard give us a brilliant supporting performance which shows how the fear can be kept inside a calm outer layer. Jamie Foxx brings us the energy of a career military man.
Story – The story follows the experiences of one soldier that joins the marines before being put in the sniper division when war breaks out, he must adapt to life in the desert during the waiting game before the conflict. This story does show us just how difficult adapting to war can be for the soldiers and just how the war can be fought without needing to fire a weapon. It shows us just how the mindset can change over a set amount of time which will see the soldiers make decisions they wouldn’t normally consider making. This does focus on the idea that the main soldier Anthony never truly feels like he was part of the war followed by the effects of returning back from war can have on the soldiers who have returned.
Biopic/War – This film follows Anthony’s experience with war, it shows how war isn’t everything he was planning and how his mindset wasn’t in the right place for parts of his experience. The war side of the film shows us just how different war has become over the years, where the ground soldiers are not as required as once before.
Settings – The film has some wonderful uses of settings with the march sequence showing us just how open the area in question will be for the soldiers.
Scene of the Movie – Returning home.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Slow start.
Final Thoughts – This is a fascinating look at the modern war effort, how the biggest problem is now waiting for the war to begin rather than the fighting.
Overall: Modern war time.
Thinking Trademarks, Symbols and Logotypes: Design by Thinking
Book
This volume profiles 150 trademarks, symbols and logotypes from around the world giving examples in...
The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance
Book
TODAY'S LEADERS KNOW THAT SPEED and agility are the keys to any company's success, and yet many are...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction in Books
Nov 8, 2019
For someone who was as prolific at writing novels as Terry Pratchett he didn't write much in the way of short stories. As he himself comments in this collection of his work this is because 'they cost blood' to write and he wondered how others such as Neil Gaiman could write so many short stories. This is all the more surprising given his grounding in journalism, something that demands producing a story withing a set number of words.
The basis for this seems to be that the nugget of an idea behind a Pratchett book was rarely simple enough to be encapsulated neatly in the short story form; his characters and ideas took time to develop and that's before the addition of the amusing footnotes and his skill at producing pastiche, parody and satire of many different things without the narrative stumbling or swerving.
This collection shows that although relatively few in number, the Pratchett short story was just as fine as could be expected. Sometimes they could be a little rushed to get to the point before the end (best seen in his tale of a gnome from the country that finds other gnomes in a department store - the story that was later rewritten fully as Truckers)
This is also a somewhat eclectic mix. There is the first story that he was paid for about the devil wanting to promote hell, which he wrote at school but it is clear that he already had the flair for writing even then. A few science fiction stories including the prescient and dark #ifdefDEBUG "world/enough" "time" about someone retreating to a virtual reality world. There is the story that formed the first ideas that would eventually become The Long Earth and of course some Diskworld shorts and related notes.
Taken together they show that over a long span of time Pratchett was coming up with great ideas. There is a little uneveness but part of this is due to his writing style being different between Diskworld and his more science fiction based stories (something that confused a lot of Diskworld readers when they read The Long Earth, but goes back even to The Dark Side of the Sun and Strata both of which are very different to Diskworld in tone.
To this end the editors have been wise to have the Diskworld stories as the second half with the 'other' stories at the beginning. This avoids the tone changing too much between stories.
This sounds like it might be for the Pratchett 'completist', like one of those greatest hits albums that comes out with just one or two rare tracks, but really this is a great collection of short stories by any measure. A couple of these are fairly well known - Troll Bridge and Theatre of Cruelty - but there is nothing gratuitous here. And of course there are plenty of laughs and subtle takes on society and humanity.
The basis for this seems to be that the nugget of an idea behind a Pratchett book was rarely simple enough to be encapsulated neatly in the short story form; his characters and ideas took time to develop and that's before the addition of the amusing footnotes and his skill at producing pastiche, parody and satire of many different things without the narrative stumbling or swerving.
This collection shows that although relatively few in number, the Pratchett short story was just as fine as could be expected. Sometimes they could be a little rushed to get to the point before the end (best seen in his tale of a gnome from the country that finds other gnomes in a department store - the story that was later rewritten fully as Truckers)
This is also a somewhat eclectic mix. There is the first story that he was paid for about the devil wanting to promote hell, which he wrote at school but it is clear that he already had the flair for writing even then. A few science fiction stories including the prescient and dark #ifdefDEBUG "world/enough" "time" about someone retreating to a virtual reality world. There is the story that formed the first ideas that would eventually become The Long Earth and of course some Diskworld shorts and related notes.
Taken together they show that over a long span of time Pratchett was coming up with great ideas. There is a little uneveness but part of this is due to his writing style being different between Diskworld and his more science fiction based stories (something that confused a lot of Diskworld readers when they read The Long Earth, but goes back even to The Dark Side of the Sun and Strata both of which are very different to Diskworld in tone.
To this end the editors have been wise to have the Diskworld stories as the second half with the 'other' stories at the beginning. This avoids the tone changing too much between stories.
This sounds like it might be for the Pratchett 'completist', like one of those greatest hits albums that comes out with just one or two rare tracks, but really this is a great collection of short stories by any measure. A couple of these are fairly well known - Troll Bridge and Theatre of Cruelty - but there is nothing gratuitous here. And of course there are plenty of laughs and subtle takes on society and humanity.
Complete Babylonian Beginner to Intermediate Course: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Babylonian, with Original Texts
Book
Is this the right book for me? Do you want to engage with Babylonian culture and literature in the...
Buenos Aires - Travel Guide & Offline Map
Travel and Lifestyle
App
The Buenos Aires City Guide from tripwolf contains everything you could possibly need for your trip:...
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Games
10.0
Rate It
App
=============================== “This is a must have addition to your digital board game...
Sign Docs - Best Digital Signature & Business Document Manager App for iPad
Productivity and Business
App
##### Special discounted price for a limited time ##### ✓ Featured in iTunes 'New & Noteworthy'...
RBC Rewards
Lifestyle and Shopping
App
EARN. SHOP. TRAVEL. With the RBC Rewards® app*, you can do more with your RBC Rewards points on the...
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated 11 Missed Calls in Books
Jun 5, 2019
11 Missed Calls by is a cleverly told story written from several points of view, with two different timelines. We see what happens before Debbie disappears leaving her two young children behind, we also see her grownup children Anna and Robert 30 years later, as they are still struggling to come to terms with the reason their mother would just walk away from them whilst they’re away on holiday in Tenerife. During this time, Anna has become increasingly worried that there is something her family is not telling her, and she begins to do some digging around and finds a private detective to help her.
Is their mother dead, or is there another reason she walked out of their lives for good? Would you forgive your mother if she did that to YOU?
OMG! If you love books about dysfunctional families and all the drama that attracts, you should really enjoy this one. Honestly, if you think your family were crazy, try this one; They’ll suddenly look like saints and you’ll feel so much better about your life for reading this!
Carpenter captured both Debbie’s and Anna’s characters (and what they each went through), very well. I totally did not see that ending coming and I was convinced I had all the answers, right up until the very end. I also got really involved for Anna’s plight for answers, and felt for how lonely she was when she finds her husband’s love letter from another woman, which ingeniously added another twist to this family drama. Despite the holiday in Spain’s Canary Islands, this book has a very British feel to it, which stands to reason as both the author and setting are based in the north of England and it can be quite grim (weather-wise) up North! Overall this was an entertaining read, rife with family secrets, lies and surprises!
And a touch of bad weather, too.
Is their mother dead, or is there another reason she walked out of their lives for good? Would you forgive your mother if she did that to YOU?
OMG! If you love books about dysfunctional families and all the drama that attracts, you should really enjoy this one. Honestly, if you think your family were crazy, try this one; They’ll suddenly look like saints and you’ll feel so much better about your life for reading this!
Carpenter captured both Debbie’s and Anna’s characters (and what they each went through), very well. I totally did not see that ending coming and I was convinced I had all the answers, right up until the very end. I also got really involved for Anna’s plight for answers, and felt for how lonely she was when she finds her husband’s love letter from another woman, which ingeniously added another twist to this family drama. Despite the holiday in Spain’s Canary Islands, this book has a very British feel to it, which stands to reason as both the author and setting are based in the north of England and it can be quite grim (weather-wise) up North! Overall this was an entertaining read, rife with family secrets, lies and surprises!
And a touch of bad weather, too.