In July of 1972, US bombers were working to crush Quong Tri from above as the South Vietnamese embarked on what was to become a failed two-month effort to wrest control of the northern Binh Dinh province. Plus, Jane Fonda was in country.

Barbarella wore fatigues and boonie hats. She straddled Charlie’s anti-aircraft guns–the same kind that fired shots at those planes over Quong Tri. The Oscar-winner from Klute went from being Henry’s girl to being Hanoi Jane. She even took to the airwaves, with NVA assistance, to decry America’s military activity.

That happened about a week after the release of a Francine Parker documentary, FTA. FTA is an acronym with at least four potential meanings. It was “f*ck the army”, “free the army” and “Free Theater Association”.   It could also mean “freedom, travel and adventure” (perks touted by army recruiters at the time).

The documentary tracks a travelling anti-war road show featuring Jane Fonda and her Klute co-star, Donald Sutherland. This folk-singing, joke-telling collection of performers put on a series of shows near military installations and attracted a large number of soldiers–including many who were openly expressing their discontent with the war. American Independent Pictures distributed FTA. It had been in theaters for a week when Fonda’s controversial date with Charlie began to claim headlines.

AIP summarily pulled FTA from the theaters in the wake of the Fonda controversy. Some people say that AIP just didn’t want the hassles that would come by being associated with Fonda. Others claim that threats from increasingly unpopular White House were behind the decision.

Regardless of the reason, FTA disappeared from theaters. They didn’t just lock the prints away. Someone had them destroyed. FTA vanished. The only people to see the movie for years were those with bootleg copies.

Eventually, a complete print showed up somewhere, allowing for a 2009 DVD release.

OCTOBER 2010

Today, we’re stuck in another seemingly endless land war in Asia. Circumstances are radically different but just like then, there’s a large component of the population who’d like to see the combat end.

This time, though, Hollywood isn’t talking about it the way they did forty years ago. Sure, you’ll hear occasional comments from the best-known left-leaning creatives from time to time, but no one is bringing an anti-war vaudeville show to the towns near military bases.

After watching this documentary, I’m not sure that we’re missing much.

FTA consists of two different elements. The movie is a fifty-fifty split between interviews of US soldiers who felt a strong distaste for US activity in Vietnam and the group’s campy stage show.

The interviews are interesting. It’s amazing to see enlisted Marines decry violence in the name of imperialism and to express their doubts and disappointment. None of them says anything earth-shattering, but hearing from them provides the viewer with a clear glimpse of the period and the concerns of those who were charged with the responsibility to carry out an ultimately failed plan of attacks.

The unhappy soldiers and Marines aren’t necessarily spot-on in terms of their analysis, but they got the basics right about Vietnam. They saw the writing on the wall long before the last chopper pulled away from the embassy.

The other half of the movie, the part that documents the actual FTA touring show, is almost unwatchable. Fonda and Company wanted to create a counterpoint to the Bob Hope USO shows of the day. Instead, they did something that looks, sounds and feels a lot like something put together by a bad junior college theater class with a vaguely politically aware high school student serving as head writer.

The folksy songs are catchy, but in an irritating way. The jokes and jibes are delivered earnestly, but they’re dull and obvious. The skits won’t make you smile.

The hearts are in the right place. Whether you agree of disagree with the sentiments of FTA, you can tell that those involved felt like they were doing the right thing. They believed.

They just didn’t have a very good show.

Sutherland is the sole exception. If anyone comes out of FTA looking good, it’s Sutherland.  He has one inspired bit as a sportscaster announcing a firefight between US and NVA forces. He also brings some pathos to the affair with a reading from “Johnny Got His Gun”.

There’s a chance that earlier FTA shows may have been better than those from the Pacific Rim show featured in the movie. An interview with Fonda included on the DVD release reveals that the group originally featured Peter Boyle and Howard Hesseman.

They parted ways when Fonda decided to tackle the issue of the group’s racial composition, responding to a black/white cast imbalance. She says the cast changes helped FTA to connect with the black GIs. That may be true, but it’s too bad Hesseman and Boyle couldn’t still be a part of the act.

In terms of moviemaking, FTA is a very straightforward documentary. There’s no omniscient narration and no one really speaks over the footage. There are a few smart shots and the camera finds occasional artifacts that do a good job of underlining key points. Parker’s primary gift to viewers is a snapshot of a time that’s quite different than today.

I can’t imagine Sean Penn and Will.I.Am embarking on a tour outside of US military installations today. I can’t visualize them sitting down for rap sessions with soldiers or coming right out and making unmistakably strong statements about the Army and its policies. Today, the Dixie Chicks can lose half of a career by expressing disappointment in a President. Jane Fonda will always be Hanoi Jane to a large percentage of the population. Getting as loud and as straightforward as the FTA team is bad career mojo.

The DVD’s interview with Fonda circa 2009 is a must-watch. In it, she admits to a political immaturity in the early 70s and there are moments when you can tell that the beliefs of “the movement” that fueled FTA still move her.

Looking for a good “feel bad then feel good” movie? I know that sounds kinda wrong but you know what I mean…movies that are about the hard times in life…at the end of the day, despite the grimness of these movies, you tend to feel a glimmer of hope. This could be due to the fact that you know that somehow, some way, there will be a rainbow at the end of the road. Whatever the reason, I think that this would be a good time to watch one of these movies – and then celebrate your life afterwards.

The Grapes of Wrath
Definitely a good portrayal of how harsh life can be. This movie is actually a documentary cum poem based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name. If you have not read the novel (I can’t imagine why not!), the gist of the story is that a farming family from Oklahoma migrates to California to find work. The actors (Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell) are excellent and brings the novel to life. An old movie but very much relevant to today.

Cinderella Man
This movie is more recent and it certainly was a hit when it was released. The story is based on the life story of Jim Braddock, played by Russell Crowe, and how he struggled with the fact that he could not provide for his wife (Renee Zellweger) and children. He gets a chance to do so by fighting in the boxing ring. The movie is a good mix of emotions, sports, and relationships.

The Pursuit of Happyness
If you cannot appreciate this movie, then I don’t know what to do with you! Will Smith did a superb job playing the role of the lead character. Who can forget scenes wherein he and his son were living on the streets?

Year in and year out, when December comes and January is just around the corner, we see all sorts of lists. Countdowns, best games, best songs, best TV shows, and of course, best movies. Naturally, every agency, person, and web site has his own “best list.” Which to believe? I’d say go ahead and make your own best movies of 2008 list!

If you’re too lazy to do that on your own and you need some help, though, here is one very interesting list from a reputable source – CNN International’s list. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find some of your favorite movies of this year on this list.

1. The Dark Knight
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Hunger
4. Wall-E
5. Leonera
6. Gomorrah
7. Waltz with Bashir
8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
9. W.
10. Elite Squad
11. The Good, The Bad, The Weird
12. Il Divo
13. Cloverfield
14. The Wrestler
15. Happy Go Lucky
16. Linha De Passe
17. Man on Wire

I think that the beauty of this list is that it includes more than American movies. Truth be told, a large number of people are limited to what Hollywood churns out year after year. There are, however, countless other excellent films to be seen and experienced, which are created by people from the international scene. Perhaps it is time for you to try and see what they are about; expand your horizons so to speak? This list is a good place to start.

Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s will know who Cheech & Chong are as they helped bring stoner comedy to the bigger audience.

Before there was “Jurassic Park” there was “Dinosaurs!” starring Fred Savage. I kid you not. Before the instant Spielberg classic became the go-to film for dinosaur action, most little kids grew up with this stop-motion documentary featuring that generation’s favorite child actor. Though dated in pretty much every way you can imagine (factually, visually and musically), “Dinosaurs!” must have done something right, as they still show it at the dinosaur exibit of the Smithsonian.

Phillip (Fred Savage) has a problem: his school report is due tomorrow but he hasn’t a clue what to write about. After a bizarre musical dream sequence which was most likely the result of substance abuse, Phillip awakens to the answer: Dinosaurs! However, he doesn’t know anything about them except that they were big, scary and are all dead. But have no fear, Phillip is apparently a very special young boy who not only receives rock n roll visions but also has an omniscient narrator ready to explain everything to him and write him his report.

Growing up before 1994, this video was pretty much a staple of every dinosaur-hungry child’s diet. They saw it at least once, anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if it holds some sort of Blockbusters rental record of some kind. Personally, I had a copy on BetaMAX and wore it out into a pile of dust. Rewatching it recently, “Dinosaurs!” is a product of its time: seriously dated and hard to take seriously in this day and age of special effects epics such as “Jurassic Park” and factually accurate documentaries such as “Walking with Dinosaurs”. Never-the-less, whether current paleontological findings have rendered the science of this film completely without merit or not, it’s still one of the best sources of cheesy 80’s nostalgia you are ever likely to come across.

The film starts out with young Phillip having a dream sequence set to a cheesy rock song called “Mesozoic Mind”. Basically, an 80’s rock band made up of dinosaurs share the basics of a few of the more well-known species with the audience (Apatosaurus glided past, tall as any tree). Believe it or not, there’s an actual website dedicated to this song and you can even watch a video of it there. While so goofy and cheesy your brain may fossilize inside your skull, “Mesozoic Mind” is actually kind of catchy…in an “oh god I can’t get this god damn song outta my head!” sort of way.

Fred Savage’s magical journey through the mysterious history of dinosaurs is rather short and only really teaches you the basics about fossils and constantly stresses the fact that we know next to nothing about Dinosaurs (well, that’s how it was in 1987, anyway). Being probably the least visually exciting, this portion of the film is the bit most people tend not to remember. I recall finding the middle section boring and usually went to get a glass of Kool-Aid Purplesaurus Rex while it was playing.

The climax of the film is Phillip’s actual report on dinosaurs to the class. In reality, it’s a stop-motion sequence which was animated in 1980 by Will Vinton (the creator of the California Raisens) and then tacked on to the end of the movie for the 1987 release. The brightly colored and cartoonish claymation is fun to watch and likely the source of my unbridled love for all things stop-motion (sorry, Gumby). Here is where the movie mostly shows its age, not solely in the special effects but with the flat out inaccurate history lesson on dinosaurs. Granted, not all of it is misinformation, but paleontology has made so many leaps and bounds since 1980 that the information presented in the film is really obsolete. But who cares? Claymation is fun. And those purple triceratops moo like barnyard cows.

This movie isn’t so easy to find anymore, as most video stores that still have a VHS section likely threw their’s out from over-use some years ago. Still, if you’re ever at the Smithsonian you might want to take the time to sit and watch the thing. It’s so bad it’s good.

Grade: N (for “Nostalgia”)

The Legend of Boggy Creek is not for everyone, let me just get that out of the way. It’s very slow, very subtle and delivers its scares more in a “What was THAT!?”-fashion than with cheap jumps and loud noises.

The production values are low. VERY low. This was a TV-movie made back in the late 70’s, after all. But then, that’s half the charm of the film. The Legend of Boggy Creek is filmed in a documentary-style, on location in Fouke, Arkansas, and even having the dramatizations re-enacted by the actual witnesses of the events.

That’s both a good and bad thing, however. While having the genuine witnesses re-enact the sightings and struggles adds that extra ounce of credibility to the “True Story”, it also provides for moments of down-right painfully bad acting.

Before I get too ahead of myself, the basic plot of the movie is that back in the day, a strange “hairy man”, not unlike a sasquatch, was frequently seen prowling around the area of Fouke, Arkansas, traveling along the creeks riddled within the dense forests. The “Fouke Monster” murdered live stock, damaged property, harassed citizens and left bizarre 3-toed footprints wherever it went.

The low-budget, documentary-style of the films gives it a creepy, believable atmosphere. The best scares in the movie come from the brief glimpses you get of the dark, hairy monster, usually at a distance, shambling its way through the woods late at night. All you see is a large, black figure which is only vaguely human in appearance (but more often looks like Cousin It on steroids) and the imagery will strike a chord with anyone who has ever been walking through the woods late at night and thought they glimpsed “something” from the corner of their eye.

There is no gratuitous gore or overly grotesque monsters (you never even really “see” the monster at all), so it’s a horror movie that’s perfectly appropriate for children so long as they don’t suffer from ADD.

As I mentioned earlier, some of the yokels starring in the movie, actors or authentic, can get on your nerves rather quickly. To paraphrase one of the funnier moments:

Narrator: “Sir, living out here all alone in these woods, have you ever seen the Fouke Monster?”

Hermit: “Ya’ll take a gander ats them there bottles hangin’ frum dat tree over yonder? Dat’s mah bottle-tree, shore ‘nuff. I uses them bottles fer floats when ah sets mah fishin’ traps. Every day a big ole hawk comes a flyin’ ovah dem traps. Not shore whut ‘tis he’s lookin’ fer, buts I waves ta him anyways. Every day, yassir.”

Narrator: “Er, yes…but have you ever seen the Fouke Monster?”

Hermit: “TAIN’T NO SUCH THANG!!”

It’s either funny or annoying, depending on your point of view. But I suppose the major detractor of the film is their attempt at a “Climactic Ending”, dramatizing an encounter where the Fouke Monster supposedly invaded the home of some family and tried to kill everybody for no good reason. The segment just doesn’t gel with the rest of the film and watching a bunch of hillbillies wrestle with what’s most likely another hillbilly in a gorilla costume is just absurd.

Barring that ridiculous portion of the film, The Legend of Boggy Creek is one of the better “Bigfoot” movies out there and delivers its scares in a subtle yet effective manner. I wouldn’t recommend it for the focus-challenged, but for anyone who has ever been interested in American folklore and monsters of urban legend, it is a must-see.

It gets a C+. It would’ve scored a solid B if it weren’t for that last part of the movie.

Grade: C+