Saving Private Ryan – 4/5 stars

Earn this

After his three other brothers are killed storming the beaches of Normandy, an order from the Chief of Staff is sent to bring Private Ryan (Matt Damon) home. This task is given to Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad, including Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Private Reiben (Edward Burns), Private Jackson (Barry Pepper), Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Private Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and Wade the Medic (Giovanni Ribisi), who must go behind enemy lines to find and retrieve him.

Well, I got another classic checked off my list. I’m sure that most of you have already seen this movie. Somehow, I haven’t, at least completely, so I’m glad I finally watched it for Memorial Day. One upside of quarantine is by not going to the theater, I’m getting to watch a lot more older movies I’ve wanted to check out for a while. Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) and was released July 24, 1998. I thought for it having come out 22 years ago, it still held up and was a great story. It had a runtime of 2h 49min, but I thought both the beginning and ending were very well done in showing what the war was actually like.

While it may not be my favorite war movie, I thought it was really well done in illustrating the horror and chaos that happened storming the beaches of Normandy. This is a famous event that I haven’t really seen done before in another war movie, and I’m not sure how it could be better illustrated than here.

It was cool seeing a lot of familiar faces, and I thought all of the actors performed their roles well, specifically with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in mind.

(Spoilers)

I really liked the ending and how Hanks’ team sacrificed themselves to hold the bridge and save Ryan. I liked how, as he was dying, Hanks’ character told Damon’s to “earn this,” and to live a good life to honor their sacrifice. I thought this was a great movie for Memorial Day because it felt like he was also talking to me, and telling  me to honor the sacrifice of all soldiers who died fighting for the freedoms I probably take for granted every day.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie and would rate it 4/5 stars. I thought it was all around well done and still holds up nearly 22 years after its release in showing the chaos and horror of war. Some other war movies I liked, like 1917 and Fury, I thought did a better job showing the men’s states of mind throughout war, while this movie really shined in showing the chaos and bloodshed of battle and the storming of the beaches of Normandy, which is something I’ve never really seen done before.

Django Unchained – 5/5 stars

The “D” is silent

In 1858, as he is being transported in shackles, the slave Django (Jamie Foxx) is recruited by Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a German bounty hunter, to help identify a target. In return, he helps Django track down his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), whom he was separated from for trying to run away together.

Django Unchained was released Christmas Day 2012, and was directed by Quentin Tarantino. Along with the actors mentioned above, it features Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and Walton Goggins. I thought all the actors played their parts really well. DiCaprio did a good job playing the ruthless, slightly crazy plantation owner, and Jackson fit the role of the elderly, sassy head house slave.

Overall, I really enjoyed Django Unchained. It was a great revenge story with great action, shootouts, humor, and even custom songs for each character. Django is, in my opinion, the best modern Western movie. While I’m not the biggest Tarantino fan, I thought he did a great job covering the controversial topic of slavery and creating an immersive time piece. Although the use of the “n” word and the treatment of slaves was very jarring at first, I got used to it and recognized that this was probably pretty similar to how it really was in the South back in 1858. Because of this, I really liked Dr. Schultz’s character because he treated Django with respect, he trained him on how to shoot and become a bounty hunter, and most of all, because he helped Django rescue his wife from a Monsieur Candie, the cruel plantation owner. While most of the time he is a gentle, soft spoken character, I would not recommend insisting on a handshake after getting the best of him.

I rated this movie 5/5 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t think of a single thing I would change about it. It’s a little long, with a runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes, but it told a complete, well-rounded story. It’s currently available on Netflix and I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Memento – 4/5 stars

You see, I have this condition…

Leonard Shelby(Guy Pierce), an ex-insurance investigator, is tracking down John G., the man who raped and murdered his wife. The only problem is that he was in an accident that stopped him from being able to make new memories. To combat his short-term memory loss, he gets tattoos for the important things and takes Polaroid photos and writes notes on the bottom for the people he meets, the place he is staying and even the car he drives.

Memento was released May 25, 2001 and was directed by Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception, Dunkirk). Alongside Guy Pierce, it stars Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) and Joe Pantoliano (Also The Matrix, and Bad Boys). 

 I have been wanting to watch Memento for a while because it’s on my “100 Movie Bucket List” scratch-off poster, but also because it is one of Christopher Nolan’s earlier films and I’ve heard good things about it. Memento is essentially a story told in reverse, and this is done so the audience is viewing the movie as the protagonist would, not knowing what happened before or who the characters are and whether or not they can be trusted. I thought this was done really well and that the storytelling aspect of the film was super unique. The film interwove the chronological ending of the film with the chronological beginning and used color or black and white to differentiate between them. The first scene of the movie is actually the ending and the last chronological scene of the film, and each following scene tells what happened that led up to the previous one. The color scenes were in reverse chronological order and from Leonard’s perspective, and each of these scenes were interwoven with black and white scenes of the actual beginning in normal chronological order. 

So, basically, we are seeing two stories, and for the duration of the film, trying to piece how they fit together. The way this was done was pure genius.

Overall, I liked the movie and would rate it 4/5 stars. It wasn’t my favorite Nolan flick, but I liked how, as with most of his films, you have to really pay attention and think, yet the ending is still a completely unexpected mind bender. If you’re a fan of Interstellar or Inception, but haven’t seen this one yet, consider checking it out. It’s currently available to stream for free on IMDbTV with ads.