June 8 is World Oceans Day

Saving the Worlds Oceans 

June 8th is World Oceans Day. More than 70 percent of the globe is covered by the ocean and half the world's human population lives within minutes of the coastline. Rich with resources and potential, our oceans have long been thought of as both infinite and indestructible. But they are not. 

Overfishing, climate change, pollution, acidification, dead zones, irresponsible tourism and more have put the world's ocean and marine life at great risk. Increasingly, we face the real possibility of seas without edible fish; an acidic, plastic-filled ocean in which nothing can survive except jellyfish; rising sea levels and mass extinction of fish and mammals. Yet if we take action now, this grim future can be avoided. 

We all have the ability to affect our oceans, for better or for worse, no matter where we live. Together we have the power to protect the Ocean. Do your bit today. Learn more at World Oceans Day and SaveMyOceans.

13 Great War Movies That You Probably Never Saw

Probably The Greatest War Movies of All Time

Its been quite some time since I wrote a post on Cinema and what better Cinema than exhilarating war movies. Instead of the usual Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Killing Fields or Saving Private Ryan types, what you'll find here is a refined list of select war movies outside the media and public radar that are truly great and one of the finest in all war filmdom. Believe the WebSnacker, they are all good as gold. 

The Big Red One (Sam Fuller/1980) – Ranked one of the 500 greatest movies of all time by Empire magazine, this is a tough, unsentimental World War II film from ace drama veteran Sam Fuller apparently based on his own experiences. Lee Marvin is excellent as the battle-weary commander of a squad of young soldiers, leading them through a variety of wartime situations – some funny, some frightening, some sad – all quite powerful and moving. With Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Robert Carradine, Kelly Ward and Bobby DiCiccio. An extended version - The Big Red One: The Reconstruction was released at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. 


The Battle of Algiers (Gilo Pontecorvo/1965) – Not screened in France for 5 years after its release, this landmark guerrilla warfare movie is a fine example of Italian neorealism cinema with a great score by Ennio Morricone. Based on actual events of the Algerian war (1954-62), this is an intelligent, restrained and straight forward account of the Algerian revolt, which nearly toppled the entire French government and resulted in an almost successful assassination plot against President DeGaulle. This fascinating Italian-Algerian production was filmed in black and white pseudo-documentary newsreel style presenting the landmark revolt from the point-of-view of those involved in the fighting – an angle rarely seen elsewhere. In French starring Jean Martin and Saadi Yacef.


The Boys in Company C (Sidney J Furie/1978) – 1978 was the year of Vietnam War films and this glossy but tough little, Golden Globe nominated movie directed by Sidney J. Furie (Ipcress File, Entity) went largely overlooked by the American public. The main appeal is a good, solid cast of then unknowns including Stan Shaw (so memorable in the Great Santini), R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) and Andrew Stevens. A group of young marines move from the torture of boot camp to the terror of war in a way that is funny, action-packed and at times, harrowing. The Boys in Company C is the first in Furie's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 2001's Under Heavy Fire and 2006's The Veteran, both starring with Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) 


Cross Of Iron (Sam Peckinpah/1977) – Peckinpah’s (Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs) idea of a WWII film was to focus on the German Army on the Russian front thereby blurring any ‘who are the good guys’ distinctions. His antagonists are an aristocratic monster of a captain (Maxmilian Schell) who wants the titular medal at whatever cost and the tough but compassionate sergeant (a very, effective James Coburn) who simply wants to his boys alive. Long and episodic, the highlights are the battle scenes, which are frequent, brutal and extremely disorienting – like real combat itself. Based on the book - Willing Flesh by Willi Heinrich With James Mason and David Warner.


49th Parallel (Michael Powell/1941)- Not exactly a full blown war movie but undoubtedly the greatest WWII-era thriller, beating out all of Hitchcock’s and Fritz Lang’s best efforts at the game of suspense. Laurence Olivier, Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey are among the stars but the real attraction is a tense, convincing script (which deservedly received an Oscar) and superb direction. When a Nazi U-boat is sunk in Hudson Bay, Canada; 6 survivors try and make their way to freedom in the still—neutral United States. Photography by Frederick Young (Lawrence of Arabia) and the film's editor was a then little-known David Lean (A Passage to India).


Go Tell The Spartans (Ted Post/1978) – Who would have thought the best picture about the Vietnam before Platoon would be a small-scale film from a journeyman director. Burt Lancaster heads a group of military advisers who realizes he’s involved in a no-win situation in this cult anti-war classic based on Daniel Ford's 1967 novel - Incident at Muc Wa. The constant refrain of “it’s their war” and the 1964 setting lend the film both poignancy and bitterness. Unlike typical Hollywood action war dramas, you know there is no happy ending, not then, not now. The final images of an American walking through a cemetery saying “I’m going home” are all too appropriate. 


Hamburger Hill (John Irvin/1987) – A brilliant retelling of the Battle of Hamburger Hill chronicling the U.S. Army's assault on a heavily fortified but strategically insignificant hill during the Vietnam War. Starring Dylan McDermott (his debut), Courtney B Vance, Don Cheadle, Steven Weber and Michael Boatman, this intense movie beautifully captures the utter pointlessness of warfare. Directed by John Irvin (Dogs of War, Raw Deal) and written by James Carabatsos (Heartbreak Ridge).



 

Kanal (Andrej Wajda/1956) – Polish resistance fighters flee the Nazis by struggling through the labyrinth of Warsaw’s sewers in this tense, hellish vision of futility. Winner of the special jury prize at the 1957 Cannes Film festival, Oscar winner Andrej Wajda’s masterpiece is one of those rare films that hit you in the gut, the heart and the brain. Kanał was the second film in Wajda's War trilogy, preceded by the superb A Generation and followed by Ashes and Diamonds. In Polish.




 

Kelly’s Heroes (Brian Hutton/1970) – A ragtag group of soldiers headed by Clint Eastwood shangai some tanks and head behind enemy lines in search of a cache of German gold. Clint Eastwood squints and scowls in the lead at hammy co-stars Donald Sutherland (as a doped-up, laid back hippie in uniform), Telly Savalas and Don Rickles. A big-budget, wide screen version of WWII sitcoms like Hogan’s Heroes, this is popcorn action with slapdash charm directed by Brian G.Hutton, the same guy who gave us the 1968 hit - Where Eagles Dare also starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. Harry Dean Stanton also co-stars. You can hear the "Tiger Tank" from the movie's soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Pork Chop Hill (Lewis Milestone/1959) – Very similar to Hamburger Hill, a Korean anti-war picture based on the best selling book by SLA Marshall and directed by the Academy award winning Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front, Ocean's 11, Of Mice and Men, Mutiny on the Bounty). A brutal film that almost entirely centers on an infantry assault on the eponymous hill depicting the bitter struggle for supremacy between the US Army and the Communist (Chinese and Korean) forces at the end of the Korean War. This film adds the element of psychology to the standard battle scenes – the US men are not only bombarded by Korean artillery but also by loudspeakers positioned on the hill. Gregory Peck (Omen) heads a tough, realistic cast that includes Rip Torn, George Peppard, Martin Landau and Robert Blake.

Tora! Tora! Tora! (Richard Fleischer/Toshiro Masuda/Kinji fakasaku/1970) – This is a war action thriller starring Jason Robards, Joseph Cotton and Martin Balsam guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Date: December, 1941, Place: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The U.S. naval base is about to be bombed and we know it. But the directors weave the story and action so expertly, continuously building tension that we’re captive to its spell of intrigue and bomb fire. A massive hit in Japan but a flop in the US. Oscar Winner for Best Special Effects with 4 more nominations. This is what Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor should have really been. 


The Train (John Frankenheimer/1964) – A visually stunning, thought-provoking and ultimately heartbreaking thriller based on the book - Le Front De L'Art by Rose Valland . With the Third Reich crumbling, Col. Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) is ordered to gather the spoils of a French art museum and ship them by (you guessed it) a train to Germany. The Resistance finds out and begs railway inspector Labiche (Burt Lancaster) to intercept the train and get the paintings back. But will he risk the lives of his men for the sake of preserving art – is any masterpiece worth more than a human life? The action scenes are spectacular and the performances are strong. A great film.


Zulu (Cy Endfield/1964) – Forget that Michael Caine made his first starring appearance in this thriller, forget that Stanley Baker gave an excellent portrayal as a Royal Engineers officer faced with a battle against titanic odds – this is a must see for its insights into contemporary South Africa. This brilliant account of the Battle of Roarke’s Drift, in which a few dozen poorly armed British soldiers defended a tiny mission against an army of 4000 determined Zulu warriors, has tension that builds slowly and inexorably during the first hour. Director Endfield sets up a situation in which there are no heroes or saints and even the noblest of action are ambiguous. A provocative historical thriller that inspired the equally good 1979 prequel - Zulu Dawn starring Peter O’Toole and Burt Lancaster. 

FireFighting a Global Warming Duel

For those of you who are unaware, I am actively involved in an Environmental and Health NGO – Green Coalition Network. Part of my participation involves reading voluminous environmental reports related to climate change, global warming, sustainability, pollution, public health, etcetera, etc - submitted by various organizations that is later compiled and summarized for content syndication worldwide. Being an avid green activist, I would be a hypocrite if I criticized the reports I read every week, discounted their theories or disputed their findings.

But after 4 years of almost significant participation, I am still wondering where this is leading to? Daily news continues to roll in with regard to global warming and weather change especially but international and national policymakers remain unsure of both its veracity and consequences. Information that supports the theories of eco-alarmists and environmental skeptics alike seem to pepper the airwaves, while news of bush fires in Australia and devastating floods in India only aggravate the issue. To add to the barrage, I recently read that an internationally funded Weather satellite has just been tasked to exclusively study the melting of ice that sits atop the North Pole, allowing researchers to watch the movement of ice in great detail for the first time (yes, apparently first time). And the borders of Italy and Switzerland have to to reworked due to the melting icepeaks!

This issue that the human industrial presence was causing an unprecedented rise in global temperatures sparked a lively discussion among 2 of my close friends who are also involved in this area but in diametrically opposite fields. One is a researcher at a Greencetric NGO that actively hunts environmental violations by corporates and fights it out in courts while the other is a lawyer who coincidentally represents these corporate baddies. I played the firefighter albeit with a green bias and got to hear interesting arguments.

For my attorney pal, he dismissed the alarmist point of view and argued that nature needs to be harnessed. With regard to ice melting at the poles and the Italian-Swiss borders, he felt we could gather scientific data before jumping to political conclusions. Just because a wacky global warming activist misrepresents scant satellite information for her own visionary schemes, he felt there was no reason to go off half-cocked and ban the global internal combustion engine.

He complained that there were too many people who wanted social change at all costs, such as those who released urban bred animals to certain death in the forests rather than use them to warm our bodies or fill our stomachs, those who would rather leave millions starve for water than let build a dam and those who preach about poverty alleviation, govt negligence but themselves don’t pay the tax. Hmmm!

Even if the ice was indeed melting at the poles, he argued that we needed to avoid the divisive rhetoric of the eco-radicals in dealing with it, if we need to deal with it at all. After all, he felt there has been far more damage to forests from Mother Nature’s rains and floods than harvesting by loggers would ever cause. And responsible loggers replant with a constructive purpose; nature still needs to be harnessed. Mother Nature doesn’t think, and often environmentalists and global warming worrywarts don’t take time for that either. He stated both needed to be challenged when they run amuck.

After my lawyer pal was through downing almost a full bottle of Smirnoff, my eco-warrior buddy made his case for caution in our overconsumption and overcopulating ways.

Mother Nature, as you say, “needs to be harnessed” because we as a species have this mistaken notion that our running amuck is a “natural” Progression. If we hadn’t been so arrogant as to think plopping down 7 billion people on this planet wouldn’t have adverse effects on the climate, ecology, etc. then we’d understand that losing 200,000 acres of forest to wild fires isn’t that big a deal – or wasn’t till we reduced our forests to such a small tiny mass. We’d rather believe that this planet can get along fine with very limited populations of all species except our own.

Sure, the ecosystem is very large and not all effects are felt immediately; however, the belief that our present course of action won’t result in the destabilization of said system and the destruction of the planet as we know it - is the same stupidity and lack foresight and judgement which resulted in so many our children being born deformed due to their parents either exposed or/ of drinking contaminated water and food. He added that everyone wanted to believe that if it looks good two years down the road, then there are no worries… but as we all now know, that’s a big mistake and too big a gamble to risk this planet.

After hearing this loud verbal duel, I was left with enough food for thought of my own that I couldn’t declare a verdict nor present my personal view to this hugely gigantic issue. Mankind I realized needed a much bigger, collective and gargantuan firefighter for this burning problem and I was just a small fry. Really small indeed.