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This funny mess feels like a bunch of actor-centric comedy sketches strung together. Some of those sketches work much better than others. The weaker sketches often feel like stale leftovers from a 2001 episode of SNL. And like it happens on SNL from time to time, the guest hosts steal all the scenes from the regulars.

Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan, TRISTRAM SHANDY) is making the big-budget war picture “Tropic Thunder” in Vietnam. The troubled production stars action superstar and questionable actor Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller, ZOOLANDER). The rest of the cast includes: the award-winning method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr., IRON MAN), who has undergone a controversial skin operation to play a black soldier; drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy; rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson, ROLL BOUNCE); and skinny, smart newcomer Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel, KNOCKED UP). The production is a mess and the producers are not happy. So along with Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte, AFFLICTION), the veteran who wrote the novel the film is based on, and pyrotechnics expert Cody (Danny McBride, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS), Cockburn takes his actors into the jungle to film gorilla-style, until they stumble upon the hideout of drug dealers.

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Back in 1999 when I first saw ads and trailers for THREE KINGS, I wasn’t expecting something so smart and fresh. It seemed like a simple heist story, but it turned out to be so much more. For me it was the film that firmly positioned George Clooney in my mind as a movie star. Having not seen FLIRTING WITH DISASTER at that time, it was my first experience with the work of director/writer David O. Russell, who was able to perfectly balance between the action, the humor and the meat of the story, while establishing a unique visual style.

Set after the ceasefire of the first Persian Gulf War, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg, BOOGIE NIGHTS) discovers a map hidden in the butt of an Iraqi soldier, which leads to a bunker where millions of dollars of stolen Kuwaiti gold bullion is being hidden. While Troy plans with no-nonsense Chief Elgin (Ice Cube, BOYZ N THE HOOD) and ignorant hick Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze, director of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) on how to get the gold, Archie Gates (Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) hears rumors about the map. He is a sergeant major from special-forces who is about to retire and has long ago stopped caring. Outranking the others, he forces himself into their plans, which if they get caught, they could be court martialed for. As one might expect, their plans don’t work out perfectly, getting caught in between Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi rebel forces.

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Almost 10 years after bursting onto the feature film scene with BOYS DON’T CRY, Kimberly Peirce returns with an Iraq War drama that survives some plot contrivances with very well observed complex characters. As the title suggests, the film deals with the military policy of stop-loss, where soldiers can be reassigned to duty after their term of service is up. Nearly 81,000 Iraq War soldiers have been stop-lossed, which is viewed by some as a backdoor draft that pushes our stretched military too far.

Personalizing this idea, we meet a group of soldiers in Iraq. Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe, CRASH) is the strong leader of the men, who is determined to do his duty to the best of his ability. Sgt. Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum, STEP UP) is a tough soldier with a pretty girl named Michelle (Abbie Cornish, CANDY) back home. Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, BRICK) is a troubled soldier who drowns his sorrow in liquor. Rico Rodriguez (Victor Rasuk, RAISING VICTOR VARGAS) is a trash-talking private who finds the positive in every situation. After an ambush in Iraq that kills some of their squad and severely injures others, the men get a break back home in Texas. Brandon and Steve have finished their tours and look forward to starting their civilian life, however, the horrors of war have made the transition difficult. Then Brandon is stop-lossed. He strongly objects and ends up AWOL, fleeing to Washington D.C. to plead his case to a senator he knows.

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Recently I wrote about PULP FICTION, which I called the most influential film since its debut in 1994. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is second. Steven Spielberg’s ode to the soldiers of World War II brought a level of realistic violence to mainstream media that hadn’t been seen previously. BRAVEHEART had been bloody, but not like RYAN. The opening Normandy invasion sequence changed the way battle sequences have been filmed since. Gritty and brutal reality has become paramount in depicting the true nature of warfare. Many films have since copied the look with its faded colors and streaks of light across the screen, but none have matched its impact. But the visceral blood and gore isn’t to shock per se, but to transport an audience into the reality of warfare where training and luck save lives, rarely does heroics.

The film begins with an old man visiting a cemetery where he flashes back to the landing on Omaha Beach. The hand of Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks, PHILADELPHIA) shakes as the boats approach the shore. Pitted against dug-in Germans, the savage slaughter begins the second the gates of transport boats open. Dozens upon dozens of soldiers die before even hitting the sand. The carnage is real with dazed soldiers searching the beach for missing limbs. As we watch Miller and his men try to advance up the beach, who lives and who dies seems based on who was in the right place at the wrong time. Upon succeeding at Omaha, Capt. Miller is given his new orders. The military has discovered that three of the four brothers of the Ryan family of Iowa have all recently died in battle and in an effort to save more heartache to their mother, Miller and his men will be sent to bring the youngest son James Ryan (Matt Damon, GOOD WILL HUNTING) home.

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Since Oscar-winning best picture FORREST GUMP was released, Robert Zemeckis’ film has easily moved into the pop culture consciousness. How many lines can you quote from this film? Who hasn’t done one Forrest Gump impression in their lives? Some scenes now gain a humor that wasn’t original there just because of the number of times they have been parodied. Having seen the film several times over the years and hearing varying impressions, I’m struck by how chameleon-like the themes are depending on the angle one wants to look at it. From destiny versus freewill to optimism versus pessimism to conforming versus rebellion, what does the film mean to you?

Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks, PHILADELPHIA) is a slow man, but he’s never let that get in the way of life. His mother (Sally Field, NORMA RAE) always said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Ever since the first day of school, Forrest has been friends with Jenny (Robin Wright Penn, THE PRINCESS BRIDE). Their lives couldn’t be more different. Forrest’s mother is supportive and kind, while Jenny’s father is an abusive drunk. Despite having a twisted spine as a child, Forrest grows up to be a lightning runner, which allows him to attend the University of Alabama on a football scholarship. During the course of his life, he will become a witness to school integration, a Vietnam War hero, a international ping-pong champion, a shrimp boat captain, a millionaire businessman, a gardener at his hometown high school, and an inspirational guru. Jenny’s life course will traverse many of the more revolutionary and shady elements of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

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Mixing the difficulties unique to Vietnam vets with the adjustment problems of all returning soldiers, Hal Ashby’s touching drama contrasts the pro-war and the anti-war sentiments by presenting two soldiers connected by their love for the same woman. Ashby isn’t a director that is common to the average filmgoer, but during the 1970s he made some of the decade’s best, including this film, HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, BOUND FOR GLORY and BEING THERE. Without flash, he patiently develops his core characters, allowing emotions to build and accumulate into poignant and powerful reactions. This is one of those films that goes along at a steady pace then reaches a moment where it grabs you by the throat and propels you to another level.

Capt. Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern, FAMILY PLOT) has finally received his mission in Vietnam. With his departure, his wife Sally (Jane Fonda, KLUTE) is on her own for the first time. Inspired by her husband’s best friend’s girlfriend Vi (Penelope Milford, HEATHERS), she volunteers at the VA hospital, where she meets Luke Martin (Jon Voight, MIDNIGHT COWBOY), a paraplegic vet who was once the captain of Sally’s high school football team. Confined to the hospital, using canes to propel his wheeled bed around the narrow halls, Luke’s disposition is less than pleasant. Vi’s brother Bill (Robert Carradine, REVENGE OF THE NERDS) is in the hospital for mental reasons; the horrors of war have left him emotionally incapable with dealing with life. Other soldiers complain that they’ve just been forgotten; not given the basic information they need to handle life as a disabled person. Sally feels for the plight of the soldiers and truly wants to help, but the “real” world doesn’t want to think about the wounded men unless it’s one of their relatives. As Luke slowly comes out of his depression, Sally and he strike up a friendship that soon turns romantic. So what will happen when Bob returns home after the war doesn’t turn out like he imagined?

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Winner of seven Oscars, William Wyler’s touching and honest drama about returning soldiers is as relevant today as it was when it was released more than 60 years ago. While there are no stories of war objectors spitting on returning vets from WWII, the Great Generation’s fighters didn’t have it easy either. This intimate tale chronicles the adjustments three very different men have to make in their civilian lives because of their experiences at war. They cover the economic spectrum, which makes adjusting to their normal lives more difficult or easier in interesting and ironic ways depending on the situation. Brought to life by a first-rate cast, there is a reason this film placed #37 on the AFI’s Top 100 American Films list twice; it’s a timeless classic.

Based on MacKinlay Kantor’s novel, which was adapted by Robert E. Sherwood, winner of Best Screenplay, the story begins as three soldiers, strangers at the time, board a transport plane to get back home to Boone City. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews, LAURA) was a captain pilot during the war, but back home he worked as a soda jerk. A lower rank than Fred, Al Stephenson (Fredric March, 1931’s DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE) is an older man with a family, who as a civilian lives in a swank apartment and works at the bank. Homer Parrish (Harold Russell, PAYBACK) is a sailor, who after losing both hands now uses hooks. He worries that his girl Wilma (Cathy O’Donnell, BEN-HUR) will think differently of him when she sees him.

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While Marvel Comics considers Iron Man one of their premiere characters, no one would put him in the same league with Spider-Man, or DC Comics icons Batman or Superman. Well, that might change. Though the character is 45 years old, today seems a perfect moment to reintroduce him to a new generation. Director Jon Favreau has done for Iron Man what Sam Raimi did for Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan did for Batman. Given great actors and a well-written script, IRON MAN is a big piece of popcorn entertainment with a real movie underneath.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., CHAPLIN) is the head of Stark Industries, the world’s largest and most profitable weapons manufacturer. He’s a playboy drunk, who happens to be an engineering genius. If it were not for his dedicated assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), his life would be in shambles. His best friend Colonel Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard, HUSTLE & FLOW) tries to look out for Tony, but Tony has a way of messing things up. Then, while on a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan, Tony is taken prisoner by the terrorist Raza (Faran Tahir, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR), who demands that Stark build him a version of his latest missile. Aided by the doctor Yinsen (Shaun Toub, CRASH), Stark builds a powerful robotic suit, a walking fortress that allows them to escape. Upon his return to the States, Stark rethinks his purpose in life, rededicating his life to protecting the innocent from the weapons that he has been building. This new founded humanitarian motivation worries his longtime partner Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges, THE BIG LEBOWSKI), who fears that peace is less profitable than war.

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Director Steven Soderbergh tries to capture the look and feel of dramas from the Golden Age of cinema. In this CASABLANCA like picture, star George Clooney further makes his claim as the heir to classic Hollywood actors, this time channeling Humphrey Bogart without making us forget his similarities to Cary Grant. Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for playing Hollywood royalty Katharine Hepburn, fits smoothly into the 1940s mode in a Marlene Dietrich like turn. While THE GOOD GERMAN plays like a film from the past, the story dips into sex and language that is a staple of modern cinema. This mix of the old and the new almost makes the film worth seeing on its own.

American officer Jake Geismer (Clooney, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY) returns to Germany at the last moments of World War II as the country is being divided up between the Americans and the Russians. His driver Tully (Tobey Maguire, THE ICE STORM) is a slimy soldier looking to make a profit out of the chaos. Tully is trying to find a way to sneak his prostitute girlfriend Lena Brandt (Blanchett, ELIZABETH) out of the country. Turns out, she was the former girl of Jake when he was stationed in Germany before the war. For mysterious reasons, she has become a target of both the Russians and the Americans.

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Filled with the best of life and the worst of life, this haunting drama deals with they way people view the world versus how it really is. Some have a rosy colored view out of naiveté and others use it out of survival. Director Alan J. Pakula (ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN) adapts William Styron’s novel, which is virtually a three-character story that unfolds with one unsettling discovery upon another, only increasing our captivation with the lives of the flawed characters. My memory of this film always focuses on Sophie “big shocking choice,” but upon another viewing I was gripped more with the smaller choices, even frivolous choices, that all the characters must make.

Stingo (Peter MacNicol, PORKY’S) is a young man who has left his Southern home to move to the Northern Sodom, as New York City is called by his father. He has saved a bit of money so that he can work on his great novel. At his apartment in Brooklyn, he meets the bohemian couple Sophie (Meryl Streep, ADAPTED) and Nathan (Kevin Kline, A FISH CALLED WANDA). Sophie is a survivor of Auschwitz and Nathan is her passionate lover, who saved her life when she was suffering from anemia. Their love is volatile; Stingo’s introduction to them is Nathan screaming at Sophie in the hall that he needs her like he needs anthrax. Stingo’s friendship with the duo will change the way he looks at the world, breaking down his naïve expectations.

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