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Gee, almost nothing to say...
Nov. 20th, 2002 07:43 pmAfter yesterday, I feel a bit "posted out."
I got up early and finished checking the translation assignment before sending it back, and then went to the store, did the usual stuff, and ended up back home around 1 pm, whereupon I resumed the paper chase.
Some days, it's just that simple.
* * * I sent back A Walk in the Sun today. It's actually a pretty good film. I can't tell, however, if the things I don't remember are the result of a faulty memory, or the editor leaving a lot of film on the cutting room floor when preparing the flick for television back when I was a kid.
I vividly remember the scene where this soldier almost throws a tantrum in order to be allowed to go up to to top of the sand dune that lies between his position and the landing beach and see what's going on. As in all good war flicks, the soldier pays for his tantrum by getting in the way of an enemy plane's guns as it strafes the beach. What did not penetrate my juvenile brain at the time I first saw the film was that the actor playing the unluckly soldier was Sterling Holloway, who is perhaps best known for being the "voice" of many Disney animated characters.
The whole initial sequence, where the soldiers are shown inside of landing craft, and "the lieutenant" gets hit as they approach the beach, seems to me to have been omitted from the film I saw as a kid.
I also remember the climax, where the platoon is faced with having to deal with "the farmhouse" which was at the end of their "walk in the Italian sun."
I was mildly surprised to recognize actors such as Lloyd Bridges and Huntz Hall in the film; I didn't "see" them back when. I also didn't recall the musings of the private who keeps composing letters home out loud.
Far a war movie, there really wasn't a lot of blood and guts. In fact, a lot of the "action" takes place out of our sight. For example, the violence on the beach was shown with clouds of smoke over that sand dune I spoke of earlier. Later on, the platoon leader sends his "bazooka" men out front to deal with enemy tanks that might possibly be coming down the road. That group does encounter tanks, and all we know of that combat is the noise of explosions and the return of a smaller group of men, who report having killed two tanks and the loss of some of their number.
The film presented infantry combat in a fairly believable manner (long periods of quiet interspersed with several tens of seconds of sheer terror), which allowed characters to be presented in more depth than, say in Saving Private Ryan. In the end, I'm glad I had the opportunity to see the movie once more.
Cheers...
I got up early and finished checking the translation assignment before sending it back, and then went to the store, did the usual stuff, and ended up back home around 1 pm, whereupon I resumed the paper chase.
Some days, it's just that simple.
I vividly remember the scene where this soldier almost throws a tantrum in order to be allowed to go up to to top of the sand dune that lies between his position and the landing beach and see what's going on. As in all good war flicks, the soldier pays for his tantrum by getting in the way of an enemy plane's guns as it strafes the beach. What did not penetrate my juvenile brain at the time I first saw the film was that the actor playing the unluckly soldier was Sterling Holloway, who is perhaps best known for being the "voice" of many Disney animated characters.
The whole initial sequence, where the soldiers are shown inside of landing craft, and "the lieutenant" gets hit as they approach the beach, seems to me to have been omitted from the film I saw as a kid.
I also remember the climax, where the platoon is faced with having to deal with "the farmhouse" which was at the end of their "walk in the Italian sun."
I was mildly surprised to recognize actors such as Lloyd Bridges and Huntz Hall in the film; I didn't "see" them back when. I also didn't recall the musings of the private who keeps composing letters home out loud.
Far a war movie, there really wasn't a lot of blood and guts. In fact, a lot of the "action" takes place out of our sight. For example, the violence on the beach was shown with clouds of smoke over that sand dune I spoke of earlier. Later on, the platoon leader sends his "bazooka" men out front to deal with enemy tanks that might possibly be coming down the road. That group does encounter tanks, and all we know of that combat is the noise of explosions and the return of a smaller group of men, who report having killed two tanks and the loss of some of their number.
The film presented infantry combat in a fairly believable manner (long periods of quiet interspersed with several tens of seconds of sheer terror), which allowed characters to be presented in more depth than, say in Saving Private Ryan. In the end, I'm glad I had the opportunity to see the movie once more.
Cheers...
