THE BAD NEWS BEARS & 5 MORE MOVIES THAT ARE SECRETLY ABOUT VIETNAM

I wrote a piece at IFC.com, originally titled "Holy shit, six movies I hadn't realized are totally about VIETNAM." They changed the title, but it's still pretty good. You can read it here. It's "smart", in a Cracked.com sort of way. 

Interestingly (well, interesting to no one but me) -- my college thesis was about Vietnam in popular memory, so this essay was a return to that. I barely graduated college because of my non-traditional thesis-lecture-show. So writing this essay about Vietnam movies felt very Rambo; but instead of returning to Vietnam I was going back to the treacherous landscape of media studies. "Do I get to win this time?" 

Lastly: I would make a case that GHOSTBUSTERS is about Reagan not dealing with the ghosts of Viet Nam. But I don't want to risk "ruining" someone's childhood with that theory. 

RELATED: 

My STAR WARS personal essay. (Don't worry, I don't argue that STAR WARS is the first pro-war film since John Wayne's THE GREEN BERETS.) 

The RICHARD NIXON figures of my youth

Kid Pitches a Sequel to THE SHINING

Kids learn various bits of pop-culture, including references to the R-rated world of grown-up movies. On the playground my 7-year-old learned about THE SHINING. (Which he immediately recognized from a TREEHOUSE OF HORROR parody.) Anyway, my boy has an idea for sequel (I guess his friend didn't tell him about DOCTOR SLEEP.) 

Ripoff, Homage or Coincidence: OFFICE SPACE edition

Stephen Root's performance as Milton Wadkins -- is it Ernie Kovacs Percy Dovetonsils (which, may have been a parody of author Truman Capote?)

See for yourself and decide:




Office Space- Milton Scenes from Team Crystal on Vimeo.

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RELATED:

When twitter asks, I imagine it being said as Bill Lumbergh.