A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Pros:  Great cast; well-written screenplay; lots of action in third act Cons:  Unflinching look at war's violence, but not as graphic as modern war films The Dirty Dozen (1967) All art, as writer-director Nicholas Meyer ( The Seven Percent Solution, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ) has observed in several of his Star Trek- related audio commentaries for home video, is a reflection of the time in which its conceived.  One can, for instance, look at a painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and one by Pablo Picasso and tell right away that one was done in the 17th Century and that the other was created in the 20th. As such, movies – no matter what genre they may fit in – tend to reflect the social, cultural and political environments of the times in which they are made.  Not only in simple terms of cinematic techniques and casts – a film such as  Casablanca is clearly identified as a 1940s-era film because it’s in black-and-white, it sta...

The Movie Originally released on January 25, 1970, director Robert Altman’s “MASH” is an antiwar black comedy set in the 4077 th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. It was adapted from Richard Hooker’s “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors” by Ring Lardner, Jr. and though it was set in South Korea, the film’s sardonic and irreverent tone was really a commentary about the then-ongoing Vietnam War. “MASH” was both a commercial and critical success; it earned five Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing) and won one (Best Adapted Screenplay). It also spun off three television situation comedies – “M*A*S*H,” “Trapper John, MD,” and “AfterMASH.” Starring Donald Southerland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, Elliott Gould as Capt. “Trapper John” McIntyre, Tom Skerritt as Capt. Duke Forrest, Sally Kellerman as Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, and Robert Duvall as Maj. Frank Burn...