5/22/2006

12 Responses to “A True Story of How Hollywood Can Turn Anything Into Maudlin Crap”

1. Too true. It’s on the cusp of parody.

   Allah (4ba106) — 5/22/2006 @ 9:22 pm

   
   

2. The trailer wasn’t bad.

   Maudlin, sure, but look at the WW2 flicks (produced before and after the war). They varied in realism and quality to say the least.

   I believe that filmmakers will naturally begin to produce work on the single most tragic yet heroic day in your country’s history in decades.

   Why wouldn’t they?

   Oliver Stone is brilliant at his craft of actual movie production and often way off base with the truth. The trailer, for sure, is very dramatic yet except for having background music (a movie staple for decades) it doesn’t appear exactly inaccurate.

   It’s theatre; it’s not real. It’s art. It is an interpretation.

   If the rest of the movie at least treats the subject matter seriously, I’ll be satisfied. Personally, I liked the trailer. There will be worse movies and better movies produced about this day, I suspect, and artists writing, moviemaking, drawing, and singing songs about it is as natural as it has been for any dramatic day in history and emotional human story.

   Chris from Victoria, BC (9824e6) — 5/22/2006 @ 10:04 pm

   
   

3. Yes, it’s art. It’s an interpretation. One that’s a cliched, maudlin, tired piece of Hollywood crap.

   CraigC (1acec7) — 5/22/2006 @ 10:10 pm

   
   

4. I just watched the trailer again. It sent a chill through my body and almost provoked tears.

   Oliver Stone knows his art and this is good. I will rephrase something: I’m not sure if I “liked” the trailer. I feel it was very powerful and well done and hints at an important story brilliantly told.

   Decent ordinary people woke up that day and did not know what lied ahead and so many of them rose to the challenge and their beloved family suffered.

   There’s much more there, yet I can’t watch it without thinking it is one of the best trailers made.

   I understand being leary of Oliver Stone’s politics and his conspiracy theories. This, however, may be different.

   There was nothing in the trailer to suggest otherwise.

   Do I think it was perfect? No, for example the scene where Cage’s character requests volunteers. Did anything like this happen? I have no idea. It doesn’t usually. Usually people just go about their jobs, orders are given and obeyed, iniative is taken, individual doubt and cowardice raises its head, fear is overcome, immense bravery occurs.

   These were the type of people who responded. But maybe something like that scene happened that day: It is, in any event, a classic American film formula, which was used, accurately or otherwise, in many great war movies.

   And that’s what this is.

   Chris from Victoria, BC (9824e6) — 5/22/2006 @ 10:15 pm

   
   

5. It sent a chill through my body and almost provoked tears.

   Me too. But my chill and tears resulted from the thought that this garbage might actually do better than United 93.

   Patterico (50c3cd) — 5/22/2006 @ 10:23 pm

   
   

6. I think worrying about whether one film or another does better in its box office take when both strive to tell the story of an important historical event and the tragedy — and courage — that affected individual people’s lives that day is inexplicable, frankly.

   I’m sure your feelings are heartfelt.

   World War 2 was another example of a war, which had far more casualties in your country and mine and caused enormous heartache to countless people. But what value is there in fearing that some WW2 movies telling the story of that struggle, peoples’ stories, or merely the strategy, tactics, and history do better than others based on a trailer?

   Let’s wait ’til the movie comes out.

   Chris from Victoria, BC (9824e6) — 5/22/2006 @ 10:32 pm

   
   

7. I was really driven by the trailor but later realised that everything that shines is not gold. It was too hard to believe the truth that it almost provoked tears out of me.

   dave (61d04a) — 5/23/2006 @ 4:34 am

   
   

8. Stone has produced some really well done propaganda over the years. I think he’s a lot better liar than say, Michael Moore.

   Perhaps this movie won’t qualify as that. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

   Movies are fantasy depictions of events anyway. I think more disturbing than the tripe that comes out in movies nowadays is the seriousness with which people treat it.

   Dwilkers (a1687a) — 5/23/2006 @ 5:24 am

   
   

9. Oscar written all over it!!!

   Steve M. (04157c) — 5/23/2006 @ 8:00 pm

   
   

10. I’m curious at the end of the trailer it says something to the effect that People saw evil that day, 2 people saw something else. I wonder what that “something else” is? Maybe a Bush conspiricy? I wouldn’t put it past Stone to make a far left wing Bush is evil movie.

    Capitalist Infidel (2f6027) — 5/24/2006 @ 12:41 am

    
    

11. Motto of the blog?
    Dont go on the trailors, watch the movie! ):

    chan (5cee78) — 5/24/2006 @ 11:33 pm

    
    

12. All they can do in hollywood these days is to rewrite and re do old classics and load them up with left-wing antiamerican propegaganda no wonder hollywood is losing fans

    krazy kagu (f674df) — 8/27/2006 @ 12:34 pm