Movies, marathons, quests…yada yada yada…

Next up on the never-ending film trek was 1986’s Platoon. This classic was mindblowingly awesome. Super-mega-ultra amazing. What changed this time around? Despite my extreme admiration for this Oliver Stone film, I just didn’t want to write about it. ARRRGG!

Even as I sit here, I feel myself stewing. There’s nothing that can be said about Platoon that hasn’t been said before. You’ve seen, you’ve heard, you know. And its subject is really no laughing matter. Hell, I loved this movie so much that it made me completely forget all of the obvious and cheesy Charlie Sheen jokes I wanted to make. The Vietnam War was full of death, destruction and terribleness, so it seems insensitive to belabor the topic or play coy here.

This is definitely a Film Quest first: I hadn’t really watched a movie, thus far, and blatantly just didn’t want to write about it. Even as I sat down to write this, I didn’t think I’d write about not wanting to write. But still, it seems I can’t ignore the fact. I have been expecting to not like certain films, but even then, sometimes writing can be the most fun when you’re tearing something to pieces. Here, I cherished this one, yet I feel hesitant to dissect it. Maybe the quest is taking its toll on me after all. It’s one thing to sit on the couch and watch a two-hour movie, but it’s another to look yourself in the mirror every morning and be like: “Goddammit, I have to write about it today.” Have to = way different than want to, and that can really make all the difference in this experience.

I’m not sick of watching Best Pictures…though writing about movies that are decades old sometimes seems less than rewarding. I always knew I’d hit a wall at some point, but I thought I’d hit a wall on the watching side, not the writing one.

Oh, yeah. Willem Dafoe is a GENIUS and I hope to watch this movie at least 12 more times before I die.