Film Review 2 - Full Metal Jacket

Stanley Kubrick must have thought he struck gold with the release of this film because everything about Full Metal Jacket is superb. It focuses on the marines as they go from training camp to the war in Vietnam. This film is packed with memorable performances and fantastic dialogue that has been recited countless times amongst friends, on television shows or other films as some sort of a tribute. In fact a line of dialogue even features in a famous Nelly Furtado song, but whether she's actually watched this film or not is another question.

Full Metal Jacket has a unique structure that is executed brilliantly with the story split into two parts. The first part is about the training camp and the progression the recruits make under the intense regime carried out by Sergeant Hartman. The film is introduced to the main character, Private Joker who becomes squad leader after a confrontation with Hartman that proves he has the guts to stand up for himself. His role of squad leader also involves assisting the most incompetent recruit, Private Pyle.

Private Pyle becomes the centre of attention for the majority of this section of the film as Hartman constantly ridicules him for his slow grasp of the easiest tasks. When Hartman finds a doughnut in Private Pyle's locker, he punishes the rest of the platoon for every mistake after, which results in the whole squad brutally making Pyle regret this. After that, Pyle goes on a downward spiral of insanity and motivates him to become one of the more advanced recruits, which doesn't stop his worrying mentality. By the end of training, they all graduate, but Pyle has unfinished business and in a dramatic and one of the most breathtaking film scenes ever, he guns down Hartman and himself with Joker witnessing it all and shaking him to his very core.

The film then turns to the Vietnam war where Joker is a war journalist for 'Stars and Stripes' as they follow recruits to report on the war itself. They encounter the Vietnamese public, most notably a prostitute where the film's most recoginised dialogue comes from. Joker also meets up with Private Cowboy, who features in the training camp. Joker and his photographer, Rafterman join Cowboy and his fellow recruits and get a bigger insight into the action. This takes them into South Hue where a Sniper slaughters the majority of this small crew, including Cowboy. They eventually find the culprit, a Vietnamese woman stranded in a torn building, completely frenzied and Rafterman brings her down. Joker then kills her to relieve her from her pain despite the damage she inflicted on his friends. The recruits then carry on through the war with the main unit and the film closes with them chanting in honour of Mickey Mouse.

Clearly this film has entertainment that only stops at the end credits, but what makes this film great is the sensational performance for the role of Hartman, (R. Lee Ermey) delivering some comical outbursts with his recruits amongst even more amusing marching chants and the equally impressive performance for the role of Private Pyle, (Vincent D'Onofrio) who everyone can feel sympathy for and can worry about with his increase in anger that explodes in extraordinary fashion. However these performances should not overshadow the role of Private Joker, (Matthew Modine) which provides a subtle contrast in humour and shock much like the overall feel for the film itself.

However one criticism I do find with this is the transition between the training camp and the war, which seems too quick when many films would provide some breathing space after a dramtic climax, like the one at the training camp. However that is one slight error in a film that is remarkable for it's story, characters and the theme and proves why Stanley Kubrick is so highly regarded as a top director. Nobody else could devise this film with a better contrast of emotion which makes Full Metal Jacket exciting from start to finish.

Album Review 2 - (What's The Story?) Morning Glory by Oasis

What makes a lot of bands fade away from a promising start is that they produce a debut album that is so good that they find it immensely tough to come up with a follow-up album that emulates their initial success. It certainly must have felt like a difficult task for Oasis after releasing Definitely Maybe, arguably one of the finest debut albums to grace the world of music. However their second album makes it seem like there was no doubt that Oasis were going to be up there amongst the greatest British bands of all time. Most of the credit going to Noel Gallagher for crafting some fantastic songs to make this album equally as impressive as their first.

It doesn't start as such a memorable album with the mundane 'Hello' but it gets going with the catchy 'Roll With It' which is the first on the album to demonstrate Noel Gallagher's ingenious lyrics. This is followed by the classic 'Wonderwall' which is so unique in comparison to the rest of the tracks that makes it stand out as the one the general public will always remember Oasis for and rightly so. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is once again another memorable Oasis song that is perhaps the most guaranteed to be sung at karaoke, though personally I don't think even the best of those performers could even touch the superb vocals of Noel Gallagher, which almost "outsheeeiiiinnnneess" his younger brother Liam with the brilliant voice he executes for the previous song.

This album then goes into a slight meltdown with some disappointing tracks, starting off with 'Hey Now' and the less said about that the better. However during this weak part of the album, the first of two untitled tracks, leads into the highlight of the album, 'Some Might Say' which despite hitting the top of the U.K charts in 1995, is still not remembered like 'Wonderwall' but is devised with more fine lyrics accompanied by sweet and subtle guitar sounds from Noel Gallagher, bringing back the moments which lit up Definitely Maybe. The slight meltdown returns with 'Cast No Shadow' which sadly is more reminiscent of a barbershop quartet and the disappointment continues with 'She's Electric' though it does have some catchy and comical lyrics to make it somewhat radio-friendly.

The album finishes off in style with Oasis showing more touches of Definitely Maybe with 'Morning Glory' which is a treat for any guitar fans and this goes into the second untitled track that slides fittingly into 'Champagne Supernova' which has class written all over it in terms of structure, lyrics and instrumental backing. This last song is easily worth every one of those seven and a half minutes and makes you wish it wasn't the end of a beautifully constructed album.

This album stands out as one of the great album's of the 1990's, which Oasis should cherish as it just about overshadowed the headlines the band were making outside of music at the time. The classic singles released from this album also provided an unforgettable MTV Unplugged performance from Oasis again to overshadow more headlines involving Liam Gallagher's boycott of the show.

(What's The Story?) Morning Glory is a really fine piece of work that has more tracks of high quality than the majority of greatest hits albums from other bands. With exception to a select few British bands from the 1990's, it will take some time before the U.K hears another follow-up album from a band that will be regarded as high as Oasis.