“W.” — Hit or miss for Oliver Stone?

Katie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:54:54 +0000

I caught a screening of “W.” this past weekend.
And in my opinion, it was kinda boring, but still significant.
I’m glad I saw the movie, especially because it humanizes a person/politician/president so many people just don’t understand. And, to point out the obvious, the release of “W.” certainly came at an interesting time, not only because it’s a few weeks before a huge election, but because it’s about a president still in office — bold move, Oliver Stone.
My least favorite part of the movie was the confusing then-and-now flashback order and the abundance of dialogue (yawn).
But beyond all that …
Stone has historically been viewed as a hit-or-miss filmmaker. And he’s been known to stretch the truth: While wildly popular, Stone’s 1991 effort, “The Doors,” just made Yahoo’s list of 10 Most Biographically Inaccurate Movies. Factually, I don’t know how accurate Stone’s portrayal of Bush is. Surely, Josh Brolin’s character is a composite of what we the people know about our president, which certainly isn’t much, and almost none of it positive.
Still, the movie isn’t an attack on Bush (at least if you ask me) — which wouldn’t help any of us at this point, anyway. It basically portrays Bush as an eternal kid with an inferiority complex going along with the interests of his handlers — be those interests selfish or not — in launching a war on Iraq. Brolin’s Bush is a middle-aged teenager with a chip on his shoulder, just trying to prove a point to his dad.
My favorite part of the movie, by far, was Elizabeth Banks, who plays Laura Bush. She brings life to a woman who says little and seems to do less. Following in a close second were Richard Dreyfuss (Dick Cheney) and Thandie Newton (Condoleeza Rice), who were both just incredibly creepy, cronie-like and — for better or worse — dead on.
Is any of this factually accurate? I have no idea. But it’s certainly believable.
You can watch the trailer here.

Pop Bites for 9/12

Katie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:20:13 +0000

1. New York Post film critic Lou Lumenick laid a smack down on Roger Ebert at the Toronto film fest. Is anyone else feeling oddly protective over lil’ Ebert right now?

2. Veep candidate Sarah Palin saw her 19-year-old son, Track, off to Iraq. “I believe in the cause, and I hope and pray we have a worthy cause,” Palin told People magazine in June.

3. And while we’re talking about the G.O.P., have a look at Cindy McCain’s $300,000 convention outfit. I have to admit that I think Cindy is already so much more fun to watch than Laura Bush (whose paltry $4,000-ish outfit pales in comparison, and literally). It’s not exactly a great way for Mrs. McCain to connect with the public at large, but hey, at least the color of that Oscar de la Renta suit looks smashing on her.

4. It seems like Angelina Jolie filmed the 1920′s period thriller The Changeling years ago, but the first trailer is only just now hitting the Web. It looks awesome (John Malkovich is in it!) and opens on Oct. 31.

5. Barack Obama will making waves on SNL this weekend, along with uber-Olympian Michael Phelps.

just another journoblog » movies

“W.” — Hit or miss for Oliver Stone?

Pop Bites for 9/12