A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Fighting soldiers from the sky. Fearless men who jump and die. Men who mean just what they say. The brave men of the Green Beret. -- Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, "The Ballad of the Green Beret." Since the mid-1950s, a time when the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union was at its coldest and the threat of a third world war seemed to loom behind every crisis, the United States Army has deployed very highly trained commando/special warfare teams to Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and other regions to assist and train local military forces and to fight against conventional and irregular forces (such as communist guerrillas in Southeast Asia and Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere). And ever since President John F. Kennedy authorized the various Special Forces Groups to adopt a previously frowned-upon bit of headgear, the Army's SF troops have been popularly known by the nickname "Green Berets,"

Pros:  Simple but powerful lyrics, fine performance by the Piano Man Cons:  None...this is a gem of a cover! There is nothing that I wouldn't do To make you feel my love. One of the nicest surprises when I bought my Billy Joel: The Complete Hits Collection 1973-1997 Limited Edition was a trio of covers that closed the Volume III: 1985-1997 disc; I'm not much of a listener of rock or country, thus I'd never heard Hey, Girl, Light as a Breeze, or To Make You Feel My Love . I've also never paid much attention to Bob Dylan's music; I was too young in the 1960s to have heard him when he was popular and bewildering listeners with his folk-rock anthem The Times, They Are-a Changin' , and when I did hear it as a college student in the mid-1980s, I was not only bewildered by the lyrics, but I wasn't too thrilled by Dylan's nasal voice. With that in mind, when I looked at the booklet of lyrics and saw the songwriter credit under To Make You

Pros:  Harrison Ford returns (one last time) to the Ryanverse. Cons:  The novel was too complex to adapt fully, and it shows. What can I say about 1994's Clear and Present Danger?  The third film in the Jack Ryan series (and the last one to star Harrison Ford) deals with America's war on drugs and also the abuse of power in high places. As in Clancy's original novel, the plot hinges on one crucial question: how far can a President go to achieve a laudable goal, even if the means cross moral, legal and international boundaries? As in the novel of the same name, the interception of an American-flagged yacht in the Caribbean results in the arrest of two Colombian sicarios (hit men) who have murdered the American owner (along with his entire family). The resulting FBI-CIA investigation reveals that Peter Hardin, the late yacht owner and personal friend of the U.S. President (Donald Moffat), had extensive ties to the Cali drug cartel. Hardin, as Jack Ryan (For

Pros:  One of the best, if not THE best, scores ever written for film Cons:  The confounded Slimline package! OVERTURE: With the unexpected success of  Star Wars  and its Academy Award-winning score, director George Lucas and composer John Williams were confronted by the question posed to most artists when their creations earn nearly-legendary status: How can you top  this ? After all,  Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope  (as the first film in the classic Trilogy would soon be renamed) was, in the late 1970s, the top-grossing film of all time, having edged out Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster  Jaws  in total earnings by the end of 1978. Many fans (including this writer) had seen it at least three or four times at the theaters. (There are many people that saw it dozens of times, even hundreds...and this was before the VCR Revolution of the 1980s took hold!) Kids, and some adults, bought dozens of Kenner's "action figures." Novelizations and pu

Pros:  Nice rendition of the TIE Bomber, packaging, comes with figure Cons:  Hard to find, has small parts that can choke toddlers TIE Bomber:   Using the standard TIE fighter as a starting point, Imperial engineers designed a dedicated craft to deliver explosive payloads through bombardment. Showing its TIE roots, the TIE bomber's fuselage is bracketed by a pair of solar gather panels. For its increased power requirements, the bomber boasts elongated panels with greater surface areas than the standard starfighter.  –  Star Wars  Databank entry at www.starwars.com Since 1978, when Kenner Toys (now Hasbro) released the first vehicles that were designed for the then-revolutionary 3.75-inch scaled “action figures” based on the characters from George Lucas’  Star Wars  saga, children and adult collectors have seen various toys based on the basic TIE (Twin Ion Engine) fighter and follow-on variants, including three versions of the basic TIE, two variants of Darth Vader’s

(C) 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation It's been over 40 years since George Lucas ( THX 1138, American Graffiti ) first shared Star Wars with millions of awestruck moviegoers in the late spring of 1977. Both the director and the studio executives at 20th Century Fox thought they'd have a modestly successful sci-fi fantasy film with "just okay" box office receipts. Instead, bucking their logic and lowered expectations, Star Wars became not only the biggest hit of its time, but it also launched both a multi-movie series and a huge merchandising/multimedia "empire" that made millions for the shy, unassuming USC film school graduate from Modesto, California. Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ) begins with one of the most stunning opening scenes in movie history: After the 20th Century Fox Fanfare and a moment of silence for the "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" card, the Star Wars logo appears with t