Full Metal Jacket and Two Lovers

Busy weekend for movie watching and canoeing.

Full Metal Jacket was disappointing. I was expected Vietnam during wartime to be sweatier and messier than it looked in this film. Everything looked so staged. Shouldn't war look more chaotic? Where was the jungle? There were almost no trees in this movie!

Take the scene where the whore approaches the two Marine journalists, the infamous "me so horny" scene. Where is everyone? Asian cities are crammed with people most of the time. So if it's supposed to be 5:00 AM, say so. Explain why it looks like a ghost town.
Were the Thai extras so expensive? The whole movie is like that. There is no crowding, ever.

There have been so many Vietnam War movies. I have seen most of them and this was one of the least interesting. I though Kubric was infallible but this film is quite mediocre. The best scenes in the movie take place in boot camp.

Defiance was almost as disappointing as FMJ. How fucking dumb is it to make actors use those phony accents? Either have then speak Russian, Yiddish or English without some bogus, clumsy accent please. They sound like morons! No more of this "vat did ju say?" bullshit. Perhaps a European production would have been better because they tend to avoid such nonsense. Maybe this was a remake for American audiences. The movie was pretty OK otherwise. It's a great story.

Two Lovers was really good. Joaquin Phoenix was exceptional. He was so deep into his character. I hope he is not really giving up acting. That would be a shame.