Entertainment Binge

By Isaac White

I’m not feeling 100 percent this week. Somehow, I managed to get the sniffles, yet I’m here. I should be knighted or something. The heroics are reminiscent of the tales of Robin Hood or something. Maybe not that, but I tell you this, if I can write while being slightly congested, I deserve a medal. All of you who have been conversing with me weekly for a while will know I’m kidding, but I’m worried that someone just picked this up for the first time, and they think I’m serious.

Not that I don’t consider myself the hero of my own story. If you don’t advocate for yourself, who will ya know? I think I’m starting to enter the tangent territory, so I’ll wrap up my sunny intro there.

I have a few things to get to this week that I want to discuss. Viewing wise, anyhow. Oh oh oh. I almost forgot. You know I love it when feedback gets to me. Well, positive feedback, anyway. I don’t know how often I will tell you all that I like my ego to be massaged. It hasn’t happened in a while, but it did recently, and you know I want to share.

It was nothing major, really. I ran into one of my absolute favorite people in the world the other day. No, I’m not saying they’re one of my favorite people because he praised my writing. I’m telling you he’s one of my favorite people because he IS one of my favorite people. Of all time. It’s always a joy to see him.

He jumped right in to tell me how much he likes Entertainment Binge. We talked about The Devil and Daniel Webster, and it was awesome. This made me reflect on how I get the chance to speak with all of you every week and that sometimes your words as readers come back to me. And no matter what, good or bad, I do appreciate the feedback. But I must admit that hearing such high praise from this man was pretty darn cool. That’s another point on the tally sheet for “I’m a good guy.” I won’t print his name but I’m sure he’ll read this and thank you again, good sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar. By the way, he literally is a gentleman and a scholar, more than I can say for myself. Ha ha ha. But seriously, he’s incredible.

Just quickly about one movie. But I need some context, so give me a minute. I’m guessing that many of you watch movies and tv with your significant other, right? Well, so do I. My wife and I have things we watch together regularly. Yes, some of them are reality shows that you may not think would be on my viewing list. You would be mistaken in your assumption. I’m still not going to tell you what they are. If you guess correctly, I will confirm.

But that’s if you can catch me. I may look like a sasquatch but I’m fast. Please believe. Ok, I’m not fast but I’m deceptively quick. Ok, I’m not that either. If you see me, you can catch me. Happy?

One of my wife’s favorite films is Watership Down. She adores the book as well. I’m talking about the old 70s Watership Down movie. I know many of you reading probably studied the book in school at some point. I honestly can’t remember if I did. Truthfully though, high school was a long time ago for me now, 25 years or so since I set foot in those hallways. Geez that sounds bad, almost like the start of a movie. “I hadn’t trodden these halls since my last year of high school. It’s funny how time changes your perceptions of places and distorts your memories.” In my movie, the lead character speaks in the first person to the camera. How much fun is that?

The point is that I can’t remember the book, and I’d never watched the movie. My wife and I have been watching movies together for 20 years. Over those two decades (holy moly, I’m just aging the crap out myself today), she’s repeatedly told me that Watership Down is one of her favorite movies. I finally watched it with her, and I now understand why.

I’m not going into a full breakdown of the movie. I have too much I need to address. I will say that the story is lovely. There are many themes running through the film. I noticed that the film (and the book, I assume) speak much about social strata and social classes. That’s the thing that stuck out to me most.

Going back to when I wrote about The Devil and Daniel Webster, yes, I managed to bring back the movie that got me the praise I desperately seek. The movie has relevance today because the film covers themes of social inequities and inequalities. Some of you may not be interested in those things, and I respect that. I just happen to be somewhat of a seeker of fairness and I can’t stand how working-class people are trampled upon. The upper-class folks who push their way around are something I like to see addressed in movies and tv.

Watership Down does just that for me. Plus, I like the fact that these bunnies are scared many times yet persevere. The bonds of friendship are there, which I can always admire. I’ll summarize quickly. A rabbit named Fiver cautions the rabbits in his warren that something terrible is coming and they should leave.

Most think he’s nuts. A scant few don’t, and they join him on an adventure out of the warrant to someplace safe. The head man of the rabbits orders his guards to not allow any rabbits to leave. The group gathers around Fiver’s plans and eventually gets out. I won’t ruin it anymore. The movie is fantastic. I was surprised. Not that I liked it. At how MUCH I liked it. If you’ve not seen the film, give it a chance. It may be a little different but believe me, it’s worth the time.

Ok, I can only get to one more thing. I really need to tone down the splendors that are my words. I am still running out of room every week. And I thought I was doing better.

I have figured out that Guy Ritchie films are appointment events for me. I’m not sure the reason, but it dawned on me that I don’t give this man the praise he deserves. It’s as if I sometimes see his movies as one off’s and I’m not considering the totality of his work as a measure of greatness. Yes, I’m saying that Guy Ritchie is a great director. Disagree if you must, but the guy gives us great films.

That is the case with The Covenant, a 2023 film directed by Ritchie and starring Jake Gyllenhall as John Kinley, a U.S. Army Special Operations Sergeant. The film is a two-man star job. The man tasked with the incredibly tough job of lining up across from Gyllenhall on the screen is Dar Salim as Ahmed Abdullah Yousfi, an Afghani interpreter assigned to Kinley’s team, whose job is to root out Taliban explosives factories and deal with them accordingly. If you watch the movie, and I strongly suggest you do, you’ll see that how they deal with these folks is not dispute resolution, I assure you.

You see the basic premise here for the foundation of the story. I wouldn’t feel good about myself if I told you too much. The fact is that this is essentially a movie about two men. Men who waded into battle together for various reasons. Ahmed, as you will learn, has a burning hatred for the Taliban and works with the U.S. to exact vengeance against the terrible reign of the Taliban.

Kinley (Gyllenhall) heads a crew of elite soldiers. I have no idea what his motivations are regarding why he joined the Army. After reflecting on it, that’s one thing that intrigued me about this movie. There are many times in movies like this, films about war, soldiers, battle, etc. where the main character, or characters, give long monologues about their soldier origin story.

That didn’t happen here, and I like it. The motivation that really fuels this movie is Ahmed’s. Kinley is doing his job, but Ahmed is fighting a battle that Kinley is not. There is no in-your-face threat to Kinley and his family in America. Ahmed and his family are a different story altogether. You’ll see why.

So, this is a different take on the narrative you would normally see in an American war story. That’s probably because Ritchie isn’t American, so he’s giving us a room with a different view. It’s refreshing and I love that he’s championing the story of Afghan interpreters who receive nearly zero recognition for their efforts, even though what they did was incredibly dangerous.

This story of two men who face incredibly long odds (for one in particular, and it’s not Gyllenhall, you’ll see what I mean) for success. But we know the dedication to each other. We see the sentiment being mutual, which isn’t necessarily unique, but this scenario IS unique. For me, anyway. Trust me, this isn’t Saving Private Ryan. I love that movie, but this is not that sort of war film.

I also want to say that Gyllenhall has become one of my all-time favorite actors. He’s magnificent and that needs to be said. In this movie, however, Dar Salim, playing Ahmed, gives us the best performance. He is uniquely engaging. Mysterious at first. Seems arrogant. But he’s one dogged man. He’s dedicated to his battle mate. He’s even more devoted to his family. He’s one of the best characters I’ve ever seen in a war movie. That’s right. I said it. So watch this movie. It’s tremendous, you’ll be mesmerized by the beautiful shots and the story itself. Go ahead. Proceed to viewing.

Thank you for reading and until next week…..