Saving Private Ryan

General Marshall: My Dear Mrs. Ryan, it’s with the most profound sense of joy that I write to inform you your son, Private James Ryan, is well and, at this very moment, on his way home from European battlefields. Reports from the front indicate James did his duty in combat with great courage and steadfast dedication even after he was informed of the tragic loss your family has suffered in this great campaign to rid the world of tyranny and oppression. I take great pleasure in joining the secretary of war, the men and women of the United States Army, and the citizens of a grateful nation in wishing you good health and many years of happiness with James at your side. Nothing, not even the safe return of a beloved son, can compensate you or the thousands of other American families who have suffered great loss in this tragic war. And I might share with you some words which have sustained me through long, dark nights of peril, loss and heartache. And I quote, “I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Abraham Lincoln.” Yours very sincerely and respectfully, George C. Marshall, General, Chief Of Staff. This is the whole part of the message said by George C. Marshall to Mrs. Ryan that I’ve taken from the movie. I find it very downhearted and think that it probably would give you some idea; the same idea I have, that war is absolutely good for nothing.

Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, basically shows the cruelty, loss, as well as the sacrifice taking place during the World War II through the eyes of Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), who was ordered to go save and bring back Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) home since he had already lost three brothers during the war and the government didn’t want his mother to suffer any more. (losing three sons is more than enough I believe!) Many of Captain Miller’s soldiers died during the journey and the captain himself died at the very end. Besides all the depressing parts, the movie itself is very interesting. Spielberg did really a great job by making it so realistic. It’s like you could feel all the gunshots running through you right at the same time as all the soldiers felt in the movie. The blood, the corpses, the gushing intestines all looked so real. I even jumped once when the German soldiers appeared and fired the M-16 at American soldiers. I remember I went to watch this movie by myself when it first came out in the theater years ago. How brave! LOL I was really petrified. Had never seen this kind of cruel-but-real movie before by that time. It’s really good, as worth spending almost 3-hour time watching. Watch it so you’d know that I’m not just babbling.

This part has nothing to do with the movie but I just feel like sharing it with you guys. LOL There’s also Vin Diesel starring in this movie, just so you know. Believe it or not, he’s nothing like in the movie XXX I have seen. He was someone far from the word “muscular”. Couldn’t recognize him myself but I just saw his name on the casting list. Hahaha

most sincere apology

dear a. cecil and all my lovely classmates,

i apologize for bloggin all my movie summary thingies so late. i seriously had hard times figurin out how to work it for weeks. when i was at the home page, thought i had to go sign in at "the old blogger" in stead of the new blogger google thing or whatever. anyways, i've succeeded posting almost all my movies now. you guys enjoy reading, analyzing, and criticiszing 'em, alright? one last thing, i havent got a chance to watch North and South yet as i've been preparin myself for midterm exam lately so i really have no time for it. therefore, you guys will still have to wait ok? lol gracias y adios!

Surviving X' Mas

Surviving X’ Mas is a very funny story of an eccentric millionaire named Drew (Ben Affleck), taking place in Chicago, Illinois. Drew had no family coz his father walked away when he was young and his mother died when he was 19 so he had nobody to spend his Christmas with. He couldn’t be with his girlfriend also because she wanted to be with her family instead. So he, then, rented the Valco family to spend his Christmas with for 250,000 dollars. The Valcos are Tom; father, Christine; mother, Brian; brother and the story got even more fun and sophisticated when Alicia; sister (Christina Applegate) arrived and didn’t want to play along. Drew also hired more crazy-people to play in this Christmas show of his. It somehow ended happily with Drew falling in love with Alicia and Tom getting back with Christine as they were about to get divorce. Wanna know how cute and hilarious the movie is… you guys gotta see it by yourself :P Merry X' Mas to you all!

Nevada Smith

Nevada Smith is a story about a boy named Max Sand (Steve McQueen) whose father was white and mother Kiowa Indian were terribly killed by three bandits when he was young. (Not that young actually, more like a teenager) Since he had nobody else left, he wanted to take revenge for his parents by hunting those three men and killing them all and what he got with him were only a gun, a horse and 8 bucks in his pocket. On the way to his success, Max did everything he possibly could to find those men. He was stolen his horse and his gun by three strangers. Later a guy named Jonas Cord, whom at first he was trying to rob (with an old, rusted short gun he found in the sand), saved his life by giving him food and teaching him how to shoot a gun. Once he killed the first murderer Jesse Coe, with help of a Kiowa girl named Neesa, he kinda threw himself into jail by attempting to rob a bank in New Orleans so he could meet the Kiowa Indians lived in this part. They all spoke perfectly American English as well.) Anyways, after already killed Bowdre while escaping from the jail in the swamp, Max went all the way back to the west (Nevada), where he changed his name as Nevada Smith, again to find the last murderer Tom Fitch and finished him there. He didn’t practically kill Fitch. He just shot him a couple of times and left him on the river bank so he could feel all the pains and torture his parents felt before they got killed and hung. What I also learn from this movie is that acting in the past kinda sucks. LOL It doesn’t really seem real or natural or whatever. But anyways, you guys should watch this movie I suggest and you’ll all like it.

Native Indians - Dances with Wolves

This great Indian movie is about the story of Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, who became a civil war hero and requested himself to go stay at the Fort Sedgewick where Indians were. He was first alone since there was nobody else in the area but later he made friends with the very friendly, harmonic and knowledgeable Sioux Indians. The hardest part was the communication as John (or all the whites) did not speak Sioux and the Sioux did not speak any English as they do today. But somehow they could communicate and understand each other practically through gestures and became good friends. Oh wait! There was a white woman named Christine, in Indian as Stands with a Fist, whose whole family was killed by the Pawnee Indians and was raised by the Sioux, who could still speak communicative and understandable English. She played a major role in helping both parties translating their languages and later married John, whom were called Dances with Wolves as the Sioux saw him dancing around the bonfire with a wolf (named Two Socks) beside him. John helped the Sioux killing the savage, uncivilized Pawnee who were coming to invade them by providing the army firearms. He then was called a traitor by the U.S. Army and while being sent to Fort Hays, he was rescued by the Sioux. All Americans were killed. (Hooray!) [Thirteen years later, their homes destroyed, their buffalo gone, the last band of free Sioux submitted to white authority at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The great horse culture of the plains was gone and the American frontier was soon to pass in to history.] This movie is really interesting and impressive and I recommend everyone to watch it. It’s even more interesting about how they are named. (Take for examples, Kicking Bird, Wind in His Hair, Smiles a Lot, Ten Bears, Two Socks, and Black Shawl) It has all of what the A. Cecil said about the Indians in class. I guarantee that you’ll be deeply touched by “Dances with Wolves” for sure. Thank you.

Western Expansion - Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp is a story dealing with the bond of Earp Brothers as well as the civil war within the states in the past. The movie first took place in Arkansas where all the Earps lived. It started with Wyatt (Kevin Costner) wanting to go to war following his two other brothers James and Virgil. He was stopped by his father who always told them that “Nothing counts so much as blood. The rests are just strangers.” While they were having breakfast at the table, the father mentioned to everyone about moving to California, where Wyatt could study law with his grandfather Judge Earp and that’s also where the movie went a little bit complicated coz not all wanted to move and they started going separate ways. Wyatt came back to Lamar and married a lady named Eurilla(?) who later died with typhoid together with Wyatt’s baby inside her womb. This is what drove him mad and turned himself to a drunkard and a horse thief. He was sent to jail and was bailed out by his father who told him to keep riding a horse until he was out of Arkansas coz if he got caught, he would definitely be hung coz that’s the punishment given to the horse thief back then. Later he met Bat (Bartholomew) and Ed Masterson who worked for him as skinners. Blah blah blah… This movie is very long itself and I’m not gonna make this blog as long so better cut this short. Wyatt was first appointed a Deputy of the town Dodge City, Kansas and later a Marshall in Tombstone, Arizona working together with his other three brothers Virgil, James, and Morgan as well as his friend Doc Holliday (Dennis Quaid). The movie ended when his brothers Morgan was killed and Virgil shot in the arm and of course, all the bad guys were killed. (Man, this is hard!)

Colonial - Pocahontas: The Legend

I was assigned to watch two Colonial movies and my second one is Pocahontas. It’s probably unnecessary for me to tell you about the story of Pocahontas again coz A.Cecil had already talked about it in class many times. (The British went to American. John Smith claimed that Pocahontas, the Indian girl, saved his life, later it was revealed that it was all a lie. Blah blah blah.) Personally I don’t like this movie very much. They made the movie so boring and unrealistic comparing to “Dances with Wolves.” In terms of communication, it shouldn’t been that very easy for both the British and the Indians to communicate coz none of them could speak the other’s language. (I know it’s just a movie but still. I spent time watching it!! lol Watch Dances with Wolves and you’ll know whatta heck I’m trying to say here.) In the end, I was surprised that Pocahontas didn’t board the ship and leave to England with John. (Teacher said that she did and later died of diseases at young age, right?) How come? Moreover, in the movie it was like John Smith and Pocahontas felt so deeply in love with each other and that annoyed me so badly, especially when I know that it was all false. You know what I mean? Anyways… nothing else to say. Thanks for reading this, quite crappy, blog. Peace!