MOVIE REVIEW: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

Movies about the Holocaust are a cathartic experience for me; whether fact or fiction based, they always serve as a reminder to my sense of humanity and assessment of my moral compass when viewing from either perspective of the Nazis or the prisoners. It is painful to realize in the 70 years since the war began, that genocide is still a major world issue, but stories and accounts are the ray of hope that makes awareness and action possible. It is for that reason I welcomed The Boy in the Striped Pajamas with open arms, and despite minor historical liberties, manages to be an effective and powerful film with a slightly different message than those of us who are familiar with these films would expect.

In the early 1940s, young Bruno moves into the German countryside from Berlin with his affluent family after his father, a high-ranking officer in the SS, is comissioned to preside over a remote working camp. Restless from the isolation, Bruno wanders toward the camp boundaries and encounters Shmuel, a young Jewish boy the same age as him. The two bond over the bewilderment of their predicaments; their naivetee punctuated by their chance meeting occuring simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. As time passes on and the veil of secrecy from Nazi propaganda is slowly pulled away from the family's eyes, the boys also gradually become aware that the work camp is more harrowing than they expected; and tragedy looms in their wake.

In war, the first victims to suffer are generally children. We as global human society send minors to fight our battles, and brainwash those of elementary age with propaganda. The most heartbreaking thing of all is neither side, whether you're looking at the "enemy" or the "ally", typically fully understands why this is happening. That is why I felt this film struck that chord beautifully, and actually has a theme that resonates stronger with the loss of innocence as a result of the horrors of war. Sure, historical accuracies can be questioned, such as why Shmuel got away with survival in the camp for such a long period of time, but that isn't quite the film's main purpose. I was so drained after watching this film, I had to go straight to bed. But in the end, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas managed to exceed my expectations. On top of teriffic acting and a haunting score by James Horner, this is a film I will remember for a long time.

9/10

Peace,
- Jon

VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Wolfenstein 3D is commonly known around gamer circles as the grandfather of all first-person shooters. I happened to be well-aware of it's existence in my youth when my cousins acquired the shareware version on their Mac, and repetitively got in trouble with my parents for playing it, due to it's ultra-violence. Nearly 20 years later, in 2011, Wolf 3D is pretty tame by today's standards, but it still happens to be a lot of fun. Since it recently resurfaced on the PlayStation Network around the same time that the similarly-themed Inglourious Basterds was released, I found a copy online, and through running a program called "DosBox", managed to get this sick puppy gunning on Windows 7!

You play an American WWII POW, who has been captured by the Wermacht and brought to the infamous stronghold Castle Wolfenstein, in Nazi Germany. The object is to escape by blasting your way through legions of guards, enforcers, and even Der Führer, Hitler, himself! Along the way, you'll find secret areas containing treasure that you can collect for points, and ultimately extra lives, as you find your way to the exit and onto the next level. The game takes place over six episodes, each dealing with an evil plot that your protagonist must overthrow, in order to stop the Nazis.

Wolf 3D has definitely aged, there's no doubt about it. I'm sure many modern gamers may balk at the lack of "hand-holding" that this game does, in contrast to more recent digital fare. But I happen to appreciate it's simplicity; it's a great cooldown game after a long, hard day of dealing with the masses at work. Oh, what a guilty pleasure it is just to come home and plow down evil Nazis with a chaingun for about an hour or so, while my inner-Jew cackles at the morbid irony. The maze-like configuration of the levels can be frustrating at times, but it's surprisingly a great little way to exercise my spatial memory. While I wish there could be a little more variety to the game, it's fun enough to appreciate in it's simplicity.

7/10

Peace,
- Jon