Samuel Fuller’s The Steel Helmet (1951) is one of the most honest, unflinching, in your face war films ever made. Set during the opening stages of the Korean War, the film follows a small squad of Americans who face off against an unseen enemy. Gene Evans makes his big screen debut as Sergeant Zack, a World War II veteran who finds himself in a new kind of war.

The film opens with a tight close-up shot of a steel helmet that has been punctured by a bullet. It’s shortly revealed to be Sgt. Zack who is the lone survivor of an enemy attack that has massacred his outfit. With his hands bound behind his back, Zack tries to free himself. A young South Korean boy (William Chun) comes to Zack’s aid and frees him. The boy is nicknamed “Short Round” by Zack who allows the kid to tag along with him until he can find another American outfit to join up with.

As Zack and Short Round are making their way through a wooded area Zack hears a noise and tells Short Round to “Eat rice”. They’ve come across another American, a medic who is also a survivor from an enemy attack. Corporal Thompson (James Edwards) joins up with Zack and Short Round. It is also revealed that Thompson is a World War II vet and his experiences during the last war mirror that of Fuller’s own combat diaries with the First Infantry Division.

Shortly after, Zack and the others encounter an American patrol led by the green, inexperienced Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie) who commands the quintessential, stereotypical squad from most war films. Fuller handpicked most of the actors that represented the different types of service men who were serving in Korea.

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Albeit a Sci-Fi classic, The War of the Worlds (1953) is a multi genre film. Based on H.G. Well’s classic novel about a Martian invasion of Earth, the film represents America’s fear of Bolshevik communism in the 1950s. The film opens with a narration sequence which tells the audience why the Martians began looking across the vast sea of space looking for a new world in order to colonize. Of all the planets that were examined by the Martians, Earth was the only suitable planet for their needs.

Screenwriter Barre Lyndon substitutes Well’s England for southern California where the opening stages of the invasion begin. Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) is a scientist who is called in to examine a meteorite that has made an unusual landing in the hills outside a small town. At the crash site, he meets a young woman who is familiar with his work. Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) and her pastor uncle invite Dr. Forester to stay with them for the time being while the meteorite cools off and can be examined.

Keeping an eye on the meteorite and insuring that it doesn’t start any more fires, three men discover that the meteorite is in fact a Martian ship that emerges from the crash site. The three men are quickly vaporized from the heat ray of the Martian war machine.

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Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is one of the greatest films ever made and a tie for my number one favorite film alongside Dr. Strangelove (1964). It is one of director David Lean’s most lasting legacies in Hollywood and a truly epic one-of-a-kind film. It was a film that was the inspiration to future filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, and George Lucas.

I first saw the film at the age of twelve when my father took me to the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City in 1989 for the film’s restored re-release. My father told me that it was his most favorite film and that I was very privileged to see it on the big screen. I will never forget when the lights dimmed and Maurice Jarre’s score played before the opening credits of the film. It was the first film that I can remember where my eyes were completely fixed to the screen in fear that if I turned away for a spilt second that I might miss a pivotal moment.

As I began rummaging through the popcorn bag, I looked over to my father who smiled and gave me a wink. My experience seeing the film on the big screen was like for so many others, a film, which made me want to become a director and it solidified my love of cinema from that moment forward.

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While the first half hour or so will keep you wondering where all the accolades came from, once the movie gets rolling (and when it does, you’ll know), it’s worth it.

The separation refers to Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami), an Iranian couple living in Tehran with their 11-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) and Nader’s senile father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). Simin wishes for Termeh to leave Iran and seek a better life elsewhere. Nader does not want to leave his father. At least those are the reasons they give, but it’s implied that both are merely using the family as an excuse for their own desires to stay or go. Their refusal to compromise leads to divorce proceedings, with Simin going to live with her parents and Nader left to care for his father by himself.

Unable to hold down a job and tend his father alone, Nader hires a young woman Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to help, though she doesn’t do a very good job. Her deeply held religious beliefs conflict with her duties, such as washing the father; she leaves for hours at a time to do personal errands; and she’s finally relieved from duty when Nader suspects her of stealing. And then something happens.

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The much-deserving winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture (in a precedent-making move, it was also nominated for Best Screenplay, the first time a foreign film has won a nomination outside the foreign category), A Separation is as far as can be from those facile Hollywood flicks in which not a single character behaves from any recognizable impulse or motivation. Although set in an Iranian culture that is in many ways truly foreign (for one thing, the judiciary system, in which much of this story is set, operates completely differently from anything I have seen; this is no Law & Order), the complex intent and heart of each character is absolutely clear, if at times mysterious.

The story is set around a marital rift—the Separation of the title—but it is in many ways the larger tale of an Iran separated by religion, class and privilege. An upper-middle class couple seek to separate because Simin (the beautiful Leila Hatami), the wife, wishes to leave Iran for better opportunities for their teenaged daughter Termeh (played with moving intelligence by Sarina Farhadi, writer/director Asghar Farhadi’s daughter). Her husband Nader (Peyman Moaadi) insists on staying in Tehran to care for his aged father, who suffers multiple health problems, including dementia.

Both characters and their motivations are fully sympathetic and diametrically opposed. Stuck at this impasse, Simin goes to live at her parents’ apartment. The family is split, and Termeh chooses to stay with her father and grandfather.

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I heard the Animated Shorts were better than the Live-Action Shorts, so why not check them out? I love animation, but, unfortunately, the selections were seldom my cup of whatever. The bulk (and by that I mean “all but two”) were computer-generated, which is something I don’t flat-out dislike but get really tired of. Animation presents so many possibilities, and yet most of these squander the opportunities. Why even bother if you just want to make it look like real life?

Likewise, many of the jokes come from a slight exaggeration of real-world physics. For example, in Nullarbor (not nominated, but on the program), one character’s car is destroyed. We see him sitting in the chassis. Pause. The motor comes crashing down. Full stop when it hits the ground. Next!

Similarly, many of the shorts are just ugly (but we’ll get to Mr. Morris Lessmore in a moment). Ugly can be great, but I don’t think it’s intentional, from the plodding dreariness of Dimanche to the utter banality of Mr. Morris. Only one short seems to make fun of that, and it’s not even nominated. But yap, yap, yap. Let’s move on.

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This week’s War Movie Monday pick is Universal Picture’s first ever Academy Award winning film for Best Picture and for Best Director (Lewis Milestone), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). The film stars Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Ben Alexander, and Slim Summerville.

All Quiet on the Western Front has been hailed as the greatest anti-war film of all time. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel of the same name, the film follows a group of young men who witness the horrors of World War I after being convinced by their schoolmaster that duty to one’s country and to shed blood in defense of the fatherland is a noble deed.

The small group of young men quickly gets their first dose of military life after they endure basic training at the hands of their drill instructor Himmelstoss (Wray) who is the World War I equivalent of what R. Lee Ermey was for Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. After just only a few short weeks of basic training, the young men are sent off to the front and are plunged head first into combat.

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Rumors are swirling that have the Academy a bit concerned. The rumor is that on Sunday, Sacha Baron Cohen will come to the Oscars and walk the red carpet. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but he will most likely come dressed as the title character from his upcoming Paramount comedy The Dictator.

Baron Cohen’s people have proposed the publicity stunt to the Academy members, but it seems everyone involved with the Oscars event is adamantly against it.  It makes sense that the Academy would be against it, as it could be perceived that it makes a mockery of Hollywood’s most prestigious event. It is rumored that Baron Cohen may sneak his character in either way.

The plan would be to come dressed as the dictator and then change into a tux and attend the Oscars. Even though he isn’t not scheduled to present an award, he would be welcome as part of the Paramount contingent. The studio has a Best Picture nominee in the Martin Scorsese-directed Hugo.

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You may not have the chance to see the Oscar-Nominated Live Shorts (or the Animated ones, for that matter), and you probably will not even see who wins at the ceremony.

Hell, you may not even know that there are Academy Awards for shorts. I forget from time to time myself. After all, who goes to see shorts anywhere outside of a film festival? Do they even exist outside of film festivals?

No matter. Honestly, as far as the Academy’s selections, you’re not missing too much this year. I have a bit of a beef with the Academy for overlooking the best short of last year (hell, one of the best movies of last year, Jon Goldman’s fantastic Diplomacy).

There’s some charming films, and the best part is that all five directors look very promising. Only two of the selections (Pentecost and Raju) feel constrained by the running time; the former stretches on too long and the latter needed more. Time Freak andThe Shore are comfortable and left me wanting more, and Tuba Atlantic is a pleasantly self-contained eccentricity that’s totally Norway. Totally.

Anywho, on to the films. I’m going to provide a quick, TV-Guide-style summary and then include my thoughts.

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This past week John Williams had his 80th birthday. One of the first thing he will do during his 80th year will be attending the Oscars later this month where the Maestro is nominated for 2 best score awards. Even at this age Williams is at the top of his game.

In honor of the most prolific film composer alive today I wanted to use my weekly film score soap box to celebrate the man who has provided the soundtrack to the imaginations of several generations.

Everyone knows about his contributions to Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, but how many people are aware that he wrote not one, but two classic themes for Lost in Space?

It was John Williams music that made me fall in love with film music. I can pinpoint it all the way back to a single moment in Jurassic Park when the helicopter approached Isla Nublar, the cue still gives me chills to this day, and nearly two decades later I still look to Mr. Williams as the inspiration for a life long passion.

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This week’s pick is yet another John Carpenter classic. Kurt Russell stars as the first ever action hero of the 1980s in Escape From New York (1981). After success with Halloween and the horror classic The Fog, Carpenter’s next project would be a unique blend of science fiction, action, noir and a western. The result is one of the finest multi genre classics of its time.

Set in a dystopian future (now the past) the United States’ crime rate rises to an astonishing four hundred percent in 1988. To combat the growing crime rate, the United States becomes a totalitarian police state and the great city of New York is turned into the one prison for the whole country. A fifty-foot containment wall is erected around all of Manhattan Island, all the bridges and waterways are mined, and the United States Police Force patrols the wall perimeter to insure no one escapes. Once you go inside the prison, you never come out.

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Last month we spent time reviewing the Golden Globe nominated film scores, at the time I had only listened to one of them going in so it was a nice way to start award season and catch up on some great scores. Now that the Oscar nominations have been released I was going to do the same thing, only I have already reviewed most of them

Thankfully I spaced out and didn’t review the second of John Williams two nominated scores yet, The Adventures of Tintin, so I can knock out the last of the major nominated scores and be all caught up in time for the big show next month. After this week I will move onto the two films with Oscar nominated songs to spice things up a bit.

The Adventures of Tintin is the second score from Williams this year and in tandem with War Horse showcases the Maestro’s range as a composer, even today. Based on the action/adventure films Williams has composed for in the past, Tintin  marks a bit of a departure as the music is not dominated by specific themes, it is more a collection of classic action music that sets the stage for the impressive animated film.

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