Reviews and More

Out of all the genres out there, I would say that war movies are my least favorite of all. I’d rather watch a bad horror movie than a good war movie. For example, I hated Black Hawk Down and thought Saving Private Ryan was boring — and those are two of the most highly praised war movies of recent years. If you want to go back even further, I didn’t even like Full Metal Jacket. I thought the first half of the movie (the boot camp part) was interesting, but once the soldiers went to Vietnam, I wanted to turn it off. So I was just as surprised as my husband was when I recently sat down to watch Letters from Iwo Jima with him.

I was interested in Letters from Iwo Jima not only because the film received excellent reviews (that didn’t stop me from hating the above-mentioned titles) but also because of the way in which the story was told. Despite being directed by Clint Eastwood, this movie portrayed the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese point of view, complete with a Japanese cast and Japanese dialogue.

Anyway, Letters from Iwo Jima stars Ken Watanabe as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, a military man who has spent time in the United States and speaks a bit of English, but who nevertheless accepts his current mission unquestioningly. He and his 20,000 troops are to defend Iwo Jima, a barren, desolate island, against an American force that numbers close to 77,000. When Kuribayashi hears that he won’t be getting any reinforcements, he realizes that he has essentially been sent on a suicide mission. His duty — and that of his men — is to die with honor.

While the general accepts that mandate without question, not all of his men do. We get the point of view of the “average grunt” by following Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) as he digs endless trenches with his fellow soldiers. Saigo was a baker before being forced to join the army against his will, and he often thinks of his wife and their unborn baby while he endures the drudgery of life on Iwo Jima. Saigo believes it’s foolish to simply give up and commit suicide; in his eyes, there’s nothing “honorable” about death, so he does what he has to in order to survive.

We already know the outcome of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese side, but Eastwood does a tremendous job of making the ending poignant and meaningful.

Overall, I thought Letters from Iwo Jima was an excellent film. It will appeal even to those who don’t like war movies in general (perhaps because the actual combat scenes were so limited). I give it 8.5 stars out of 10 and definitely recommend that you see it!

I had dinner with my friend Leigh a couple days ago, and we got to talking about our personal finances. Leigh mentioned that she’s going through a rather difficult period and is having trouble paying back a couple of secured loans that are coming due shortly. She wasn’t asking to borrow money from me or anything like that; she just wanted to know if I had any advice for her.

I was in a lot of debt when I was younger, so I knew exactly what Leigh was going through. The first thing I told her was to keep up with the payments no matter what. Getting hit with late fees or interest charges can really make debts mount up quickly, so it’s best to avoid those penalties at all costs. Next, I told Leigh to review her cash flow to determine exactly where she stands in terms of being able to make payments. Finally, I recommended that she check into consolidating her debts if she expects money to be tight for an extended period of time.

These strategies worked for me and helped me climb out of the financial abyss I was in right after college. Hopefully Leigh can get back on track soon too!

I just read that the MTV Video Music Awards will be held in Las Vegas this year (on September 9, to be exact). It seems that Vegas is becoming quite the hot spot for these huge events, so it’s not all that surprising to see MTV invade the place.

Apparently, the venue is not the only thing changing with the VMA. The format will be different also. The show will be held at the Palms Casino Resort, and instead of having a single stage, the VMA producers plan on using different suites and the rooftop club as well. Plus, the party will extend for three days instead of just one night.

I haven’t watched the VMA in several years because it’s pretty much always the same old thing. But I might have to tune in this year, given all the changes that are lined up. After all, something wild is bound to happen in VEGAS!!

I have a degree in Business Administration even though I’m not particularly interested in the subject. What I really wanted to learn about was film production and screenwriting, but I was a bit concerned at what my job prospects would be like after graduation. Nevertheless, I still hope to study film at some point, so when I saw that Collins College offers a Bachelor’s degree in that field, I started to think seriously about going back to school again.

Obviously, earning another Bachelor’s degree would take a tremendous amount of work, but I’m sure I’d be able to handle it. In fact, I think this is as good a time as any to go back to school. First of all, Collins College offers online classes, so I wouldn’t have to relocate or drastically change my lifestyle. Second, my son is in preschool now, which means I have six hours of “alone time” per day, and would be able to get all my homework and studying done then. And third, I’m making excellent money working from home, so I’d be able to afford tuition without taking out any extra loans.

I’m going to continue researching my options here, but I have to say that I’m really excited about the notion of taking classes again — this time in a subject that I actually like!