Tag: Iraq War

Veterans Day double-feature that faces PTSD in the 21st century

Jeff Mitchell

In honor of our veterans, AHFW recommends two sobering films that may have slipped past you in the theatres.  These pictures cope with post-traumatic stress disorder in the 21st century, and they are both available on Amazon Prime. “Thank You for Your Service” (2017) – Three young Iraq War veterans and friends return home to Kansas, but realize that they carried invisible, cerebral scars back from the Middle East.  Director Jason Hall and actors Miles Teller, Beulah Koale, and Joe Cole raise PSTD awareness in 2017 with their grounded, heartbreaking…

‘Megan Leavey’ inspires in real life and on-screen

Jeff Mitchell

“Megan Leavey” (2017) – “You don’t really connect with people very well.” No, Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) does not easily connect with people, and she cannot find her footing in the game of life either.  Working a dead-end job in the small community of Valley Cottage, NY and feeling frustrated by her overbearing, unsupportive mom (Edie Falco), this young woman is reaching her limit.  She needs a change, and faster than you can say “forward march”, Megan joins the United States Marine Corps (USMC).  After an eye-opening basic training stint,…

Taylor-Johnson and Cena cannot rest against ‘The Wall’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Wall” – What images immediately come to mind when you read the words, “war movie”?  Human history unfortunately can provide thousands of examples in which people become mired in mass conflict and attempt to kill one another, and the big screens sometimes masterfully recapture those horrific struggles. For me, three films immediately pop into my brain. Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) illustrates the murderous spectacle of war via the Allied invasion of Normandy.  Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” (1957) depicts the brutality of war, when French soldiers scurry…