Hacksaw Ridge and Pitch Perfect 3

Before I dive into my thoughts and reviews, let me explain how I plan to organize this. Each movie, I'll tell you the year of release, rating, production company, director, and my rating on a 1-10 scale. Then, I'll include themes the movie highlights and possible trigger/content warnings. After that, I'll dive into my thoughts and opinions about the particular movie. If there is anything else you'd like me to add to my reviews, feel free to drop a line in the comments.


Hacksaw Ridge 
Release: November 4, 2016
Rating: R
Production Company: Summit Entertainment, Icon Pictures, Cross Creek Pictures
Director: Mel Gibson
My Rating: 7.5/10
Themes: War, Bravery, Standing on conviction, Strength of will, Masculinity, Pascifism, Conscientious Objectors
Content or Trigger Warnings: Gore, Violence, Death

Set in the Pacific Theatre of WWII, this true story about Seventh-Day Adventist Desmond Doss who enlisted in the military even as a conscientious objector hits all the usual notes as far as war movies are concerned. There is the alcoholic father, the tough as shit Sargent (played impeccably by Vince Vaughn), overcompensating brothers in arms with whom the protagonist has conflict, and the unlikely hero. Their stories play out predictably, but I don't think it matters. This isn't a movie to remake all war movies. This is a movie, at the core, about standing on principle and the hellishness of war - even if it is a justified one.

Doss, who is a real-life war hero probably more impressive than his fictionalization here, is the kind of hero that has such a strong character he almost seems unrealistic. But according to the tales, his portrayal in this movie is not far from the truth. Imagine how strong a person you have to be to repeatedly climb up a ridge and save the lives of your compatriots without so much as a knife to defend yourself. Imagine facing a Court Marshal over not holding a gun - in the army. And he did all of it because he felt the need to be of service without abandoning his principles. We should all be so lucky to have that strength of character.

But the man Desmond Doss has been written about extensively, so I'll tell you my impressions of the movie. It is well directed and edited. Andrew Garfield gives an endearing performance as Doss, and the supporting cast rounds out the picture nicely. It's gory, but it needs to be. War is hell. War is gory. It rips bodies apart and destroys lives. It's a movie I'd probably watch again, which is an endorsement, as there are few war movies I need to see more than once. I liked it. It was formulaic at times, which was noticeable but didn't destroy the viewing experience. All in all, I'd say I'm glad I finally got around to seeing this one.

*photo: property of Summit Entertainment and/or Icon Pictures



                                             Pitch Perfect 3
Release: December 22, 2017
Rating: PG-13
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Director: Trish Sie
My Rating: 3/10
Themes: Sisterhood, Friendship, Music, Singing, Life as a Grown-Up, Daddy Issues
Content or Trigger Warnings: Extreme Sachriney Sweetness. May cause tooth decay

So, we know going in this isn't going to be a great movie. The Pitch Perfect franchise is strictly guilty pleasure territory. Thankfully, this installment left the slut-shaming and fat jokes at the door. What it also left at the door was a reasonable plot, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Of the three Pitch Perfect films, this was probably the worst? It's hard to say. The music selection was lacking, the plot was thin, but it was also much less mean-spirited than Pitch Perfect 2, and at least it didn't repeat the same medley for the first third of the movie like Pitch Perfect 1. The basic premise is that, yet again, the Bellas don't want to say goodbye to Acapella and want to cling to those days of sisterhood and song. This time, they do so in the form of a USO tour that Aubrey's military dad gets them an invite to. The prize at the end of this short tour? The chance to open for DJ Khaled. Same formula as before, the underdog Bellas perform to the best of their abilities, only at the end of the day, the lesson is that the singing doesn't matter. The competition doesn't matter. These ladies are family. Awww. It's pretty sweet, even if it's trite.

It was fun, which is about as good as you can expect from a Pitch Perfect movie, but it just didn't have the same hits, the same musical knockouts, even the riff-off seemed like it was phoned in. While the end was a cute 'goodbye' to the franchise it was just okay. The best part was the lesson that women are better building each other up than tearing them down or competing. If you enjoy Pitch Perfect movies, you'll like this one fine. If you don't, you will really hate this one. That's about the gist.

*photo: property of  Universal Pictures.

Stay tuned for next week's reviews. No, I haven't decided which ones I'll be watching. It will be a surprise to all. :)