In this post-Memorial Day micro episode of the Substandard, we look at our favorite war movies (and no, Casualties of War is not one of them). We all love Patton and Black Hawk Down, but Sonny adds Inglourious Basterds to his list and ... Aliens?
Plus JVL and I recall the time actor and gunnery sergeant R. Lee Ermey visited the Weekly Standard office to talk about his work for the troops. But I couldn't resist and asked if we could discuss Full Metal Jacket and how he landed the role of a lifetime. "Sure!" said Ermey, who explained how he made the jump from on-set technical adviser to playing the role of the drill sergeant. (You've seen Ermey in lots of other films too, from Apocalypse Now to Leaving Las Vegas to Mississippi Burning and as the voice of Sarge in the Toy Story films.) As Ermey was leaving, I asked one last question, about the remake of Willard. Ermey plays a hot-tempered boss who in the end falls into a shaft full of rats. "Those were real rats," he said.