Bush Movie Director endorses Obama. What? Explain…

Oliver Stone and I have one thing in common. We are the only two directors to have made a film about a sitting Administration. Like still in Office. Perhaps gasping for breath, as the air outside grows thick with scorn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed W. It is both thought provoking and fun. Every voter should see it. As for my movie, read on and decide…

For six months after I had made DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS my agents could not get me a meeting.  “I’m not hiring the guy that made the Bush movie” was one comment. “I can’t forgive you for helping Bush get a second term!” was another.  My name became Leni Reifenstall on the list of cable movie directors, guilty of making TRIUMPH OF THE SWILL. This is ironic, given my life long leftist voting record.

When the then President of Showtime Jerry Offsay calls you late at night and asks you to take over a movie shooting in less than 2 weeks, you say yes. Even if not a word of the script may be changed; because that was the deal Showtime had to make when acquiring the project, even so, you say yes. You don’t step aside when a man who green lit 4 of your pictures comes to you with a problem.

The docudrama script was clearly intended to show how a well informed, articulate President took charge of Government and rallied the people in an unprecedented crisis. Each scene was factually based, but shaped to emphasize the President’s analytical powers and his off-the-cuff eloquence. We have never seen such a whip smart Bush before or since.

Despite the well researched depiction of real events, the underlying purpose of DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS was to polish the image of the President 14 months before the next election J Hoberman’s insightful review, linked here, identified the category of Propaganda tool: Stalinist “Father Of Our Nation” Myth Movie.

But I believe Propaganda is a two edged sword. It often reveals more about the Propagandists than they realize. With 20/20 hindsight, they might regret some of the hubris  liberally sprinkled throughout.

So, Rumsfeld actually said at a Pentagon breakfast on the morning of the attacks: “Something’s coming, something big…”

Bush actually said: “This will decidedly not be another Vietnam.”

Hmm, I wondered, as I read the script over and over: do they really want to be on record as saying some of these things? In a way, the film is like a Project for the New American Century Infomercial, as approved by Karl Rove. No left wing media filter this time, folks, this is the straight skinny, straight from Headquarters. I knew I was directing a film that would be vilified by all except right wing media, yet, with the passage of time, have historical value as an authentic example of Neo Con thought, styled as advocate docudrama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The invasion of Iraq started during the shoot. It was a little surreal to  enter my Toronto  hotel room after 14 hours of filming characters planning the Iraq war, then switch on CNN and watch those plans being carried out. Don’t they realize this will not be as easy as they claim, I wondered.

The cast, almost all Lefties, expressed similar disbelief, but like me, had a duty to honor the contract we signed to shoot the script as written. I encouraged each of them to find tone and quirks that could operate beneath the surface of the dialogue. I think Timothy Bottoms convincingly captured the Bush swagger. John Cunningham made the patronizing Rumsfeld a truly scary guy. I supported Greg Itzen’s smoothly conceited Ashcroft by shooting a key speech in low wide angle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karl Rove’s Machiavellian instincts are clearly visible in Alan Royal’s cunning interpretation. No disrespect to W.’s wonderful Thandie Newton, but I prefer Penny Johnson Jerald’s impersonation of Condi. Though in W. I must acknowledge that Thandie’s first appearance in angle, lighting and voice mimicry is a bulls eye, producing an audible gasp from the  audience I saw it with.

 

None of our subtle embellishments caused a stir among The Watchers back at Party HQ. My staging of a Bush cabinet meeting with the President striding back and forth along the table issuing assignments to his key lieutenants like a brigade commander was ruled a good choice, not ironic hyperbole. But adjustments were ordered from time to time. On day 2, I had allowed Bush to be too angry in a frustrated outburst on Air Force One. “Brian, the President would not lose control like that…” I had to re-shoot that close up on our last day. The eagle eyed will notice Timothy Bottoms has gained a little weight between wide shot and close up.

 

There was a monumental weight of responsibility on Timothy’s shoulders every day of the shoot, but he always carried out the brief with dedication and expertise On that last day the inner liberal Tim had to bust out. On the final take of the scene in the Marine One set, while the camera was still rolling, he jumped onto the window seat, pulled down his pants and mooned the world while uttering a derisive stream of Bushisms relating to international consensus, if my memory serves. The Watchers were evidently not Watching that last day, but I think those tapes have since been destroyed.

Sidebar:  During the shoot, and for months afterwards, my home phone would occasionally make clicking sounds during calls. A number of times during post, I would switch on my computer and find my email sorted in a random order. Make of that what you will.

 

 

Timothy Bottoms’ performance within the straight jacket of a role built from lego blocks of political exposition is nuanced and masterful. He deserved an Emmy nomination but politics often trumps professionalism in the awards game. Brolin’s W. is equally masterful in a broader style. And he will get an Oscar nomination.

 

The battle I most regret losing in the editing process was not being allowed to reflect the length of time Bush continued to read to the school children after receiving word of the crash into the second tower. I wanted to superimpose a title to that effect. The word came down from on high. Absolutely not. The issue was ultimately glossed over by a dissolve. Just about every scene in the film has an issue or spin that divides Left and Right. I hope that the perspective of the last 5 years gives the film a new flavor, a MONSTER’S BALL of ideologues, whose pronouncements now drip with dramatic irony. Erik Lindegaard’s recent article linked here - DC 9/11 is the new Reefer Madness!  - hits the nail on the head. So I wish my film a long and fruitful autopsy. Here’s my concept for the sequel:

I was, at the time of DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS, a political quietist. In Australia, where voting is compulsory - as it should be everywhere - I would see graffiti at election time: Don’t vote, it only encourages them. After the Labor government of Gough Whitlam was subverted in 1975 by a paper coup, much as the 2000 election was in America, I had come to the cynical belief that democracy was just political theatre, designed to make us feel we have a hand in how our lives are run, while in fact the major power blocks behind the scenes that fund the political candidates to put on this charade, do much as they please with the nation’s resources Political activism, while inwardly satisfying, was ultimately futile. And now, unpatriotic, as defined by our Rulers Who Know Best.

Why have I changed my mind? Two words. Barack Obama. Here’s an inspiring man with a clearly brilliant mind who could actually rally the country at a time of national crisis, and more importantly, keep it rallied. Obama showed he could come from nowhere, outfox Karl Rove’s dirty tricks (or Enhanced Election Techniques to reflect this Administration’s flair for Orwellian New Speak), and now be on the brink - we pray - of a two term Presidency that could staunch America’s wounds and transform the way government operates. Democracy works. Activism works. If we all participate.

GENRE MOVIES - the really smart ones are no longer in English…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A blue cheese hamburger in one hand, a microbrew ale in the other, a comfortable seat, and a big screen in front of me…does Cinema get any better than that? After my week of Fantastic Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse, my local multiplex pales by comparison.

Today’s post will conclude my observations on America’s biggest and best genre festival, but fond memories will linger; not just because I got to present a couple of my old films to appreciative audiences, but because the Alamo Drafthouse staff so obviously cared about proper presentation - like in focus with good sound all the time! - and quality food, quickly and unobtrusively served. I am used to film crews going that extra mile for quality during production, but I rarely see that same enthusiasm in exhibition, that all important retail end of the process. The major theatre circuits could learn a lot from Alamo Drafthouse. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At last, all over the world, indigenous film industries are embracing GENRE, and spicing up familiar tropes with their own cultural ingredients. What particularly distinguishes foreign language genre from its English language counterparts is the attention paid to the quirkiness of character. Take a look at this trailer for THE SUBSTITUTE, a Danish riff on MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN. There are no subtitles, but you get the idea.

The sweetly demented Paprika Steen is brilliant in the title role. Hollywood will come calling soon if they haven’t already. Matching her are some outstanding child actors playing a bunch of slackers and whiners, who cannot convince their parents that the substitute teacher is in fact the vanguard of an alien invasion. The movie is enormous fun, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, though you may not want to eat chicken for a few days. However, the US trailer chooses to play down the laughs in favor of a more traditional Sci-Fi horror approach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The US trailer chooses to expose a key surprise VFX shot, the first and more startling of the two VFX shots in a particular sequence. The Danish trailer only uses the second shot, the reverse angle. Its effect is thus more oblique. Those that see this trailer are less likely to anticipate the money shot when that sequence starts.  Please compare and contrast both trailers if you wish to comment. I’m interested in your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also from Denmark, is FIGHTER, a riff on THE NEW KARATE KID, which gave Hilary Swank her start. Here’s an extract. This movie will certainly put a spotlight on Semra Turan, a Danish martial arts champion, totally convincing in her first acting role. Where FIGHTER differs from other Kung Fu Girl Wants To Be Champion flics is the nature of the obstacles in her path. She is a Turko-Danish teenage Muslim with very conservative parents who forbid her to train alongside men, and want her to consent to an arranged marriage. The complexities of culture clash and family politics are powerfully realized, resulting in the social drama being as compelling as the many fight sequences.

The Karate Hellcat movie that everyone is waiting for is ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew’s latest - CHOCOLATE, for which his protégé Jeeja Vismistananda trained for five years. And it shows.

In Jackie Chan movies they run the painful accidents of the shoot in the end credits. Here the Thai trailer showcases them as an incentive to customers. The plot is borderline incomprehensible, particularly the first 20 minutes, and its use of autism as a gimmick is tasteless, but in a Muay Thai action picture, who cares? The final jaw dropping, bone breaking 20 minutes are worth the price of admission alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s great when a first time director really hits it out of the park. After award winning shorts, Na Hong-Jin demonstrates he is a major talent with THE CHASER, his riff on the chase the serial killer when nobody believes you genre. The trailer certainly covers its visceral thrills. But the movie offers much more depth of character as a hard boiled ex-cop rediscovers his humanity. It was the last of five movies I saw that day. It was utterly riveting for its entire 123 minutes.

Also from Korea was a spectacular nod to the Westerns of Sergio Leone entitled THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD that reworks Leone’s Civil War piece into 1940 war torn Manchuria. It’s a veritable banquet of Leone set pieces from all of his work. Even a bit of the Hong Kong-Leone derivative DRAGON INN is thrown in. But that dark quirky sense of humor that has distinguished so many recent Korean films elevates the picture way beyond mere homage to A Great One. Song Kang Ho - I loved him in THE HOST - does play Weird/Ugly the original Eli Wallach character with more layers and such gusto that he drives the movie. You can’t wait for him to be back on the screen. The trailer gives you some idea of the scale of the top notch action. No doubt you winced at the horse stunts. As did I. But I was pleased to find out in the end credits, they used animatronic horses for those shots.

 

 

If you like your GENRE a little more sophisticated/exotically flavored than the standard English language variety, then you will probably have as much fun at these movies as I did. In GENRE, as in life, character counts.         

Movie gossip! O.M.G.!

Message to Russell Crowe: please don’t gossip. As a frequent victim of gossip, you should know this.

“You know, I worked with Leonardo when he was 17 on ‘The Quick and the Dead [1995],’ ” says Crowe. “He was a virgin, and he’d talk about that constantly. So I’m hoping we have some time so he can fill in what’s happened in between, maybe show some photos, because I’m sure life’s different now.”

Although  this interview first surfaced a year ago, it clearly blindsided Leo at this recent Access Hollywood appearance.

Sure, it’s meant as a joke. NBD. Call me old fashioned, but I believe Secret Guy Stuff should remain between Guys. (But Girls can let us in on Secret Girrl Stuff anytime)

So why tell? Surely, Russell, you are not trying to imply that you have a bigger dick than Leo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, audiences, sparse though they were in 1992 for HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL, had a brief opportunity to see more of Russell Crowe than any other of his movies revealed.  (DVD Sales will now increase)  

Here’s Leo’s comment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loathe and abominate celebrity gossip media. At their core, those rumor rags, blogs, and trash TV shows cater to that base instinct - Envy, the inevitable counterpart to celebrity worship: You’ve got so much more than I have, I want to see you suffer.

Celebrity gossip is the twinkling tip of a toxic iceberg, that soils social discourse, promotes unkindness, and diverts attention from the serious issues of life.

 

 

 

50 years ago, Hollywood scandal sheets served only dedicated movie fans; now they are a cancer that can poison the value system of any elementary student with an iPhone. To end the scourge of gossip, we have to start with ourselves, every day. Even the exalted.

 

 

 

 

 

This week you can see alpha dog Russell Crowe deliver another riveting and nuanced performance, as does the former virgin (BTW, it was 18 for me too) Leonardo DiCaprio in BODY OF LIES, opening this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of all the recent studio movies dealing with US foreign policy, this one should take the most money at the box office. Smart script, big stars, taut direction, satisfying conclusion. The political rhetoric is organic, understated but effective. A thinking person’s thriller. Let’s hope it has a big opening weekend.

Intelligence surveillance also figures in the latest dark comedy of human ineptitude from the Coen Brothers, BURN AFTER READING. In fact, it makes an interesting companion piece to BODY OF LIES. 

Both depict an intelligence community out of touch and out of control. Both portray human communication as the dialogue of the deaf. Brad Pitt’s hilarious airhead demonstrates once again his flair for quirky character  -  he and Johnny Depp should do a buddy movie -  and did Frances McDormand, with eerie prescience, somehow channel Sarah Palin when devising the perky narcissism her character required? I guess I’m having a Twilight Zone moment.

Both movies are worth seeing on the big screen.

More Fantastic Fest Foreign genre films next time.

Upcoming Horror Movies…

More about the movies I saw at Fantastic Fest. Here’s bit of a Trailer Park (embedded in the many posters), that distills some of my Fantastic experiences that week into a few minutes. You will get a sense of how Horror has evolved over the last 50 years. From “Boo!” to “Rip your entrails out!” and how today the focus of interest, even identification, is more with the killer than the victim.

The Alamo Drafthouse was the perfect venue for SPINE -TINGLER, the William Castle story. Castle was an old school showman who forged an alliance with exhibitors to install the inter-active gimmicks that put queues round the block for his low budget scare pics like THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. He finally achieved a little peer recognition when he produced Polanski‘s ROSEMARY‘S BABY. It’s great to see his story told.

So, to ensure the optimum audience reaction, the Alamo Drafthouse team, as fellow showmen, replicated the TINGLER gimmick - Percepto! - by wiring up selected seats, to tingle the posterior of the occupant at specific moments. Unfortunately, due to a conflicting screening, I did not get to experience this electrical act of unusual friendliness, as TINGLER audiences had done in the late 50’s. But two generations later, the Fantastic Fest audience also screamed their glee just as loudly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This well illustrated documentary’s measured style was an interesting counterpoint to Mark Hartley’s express train rocumentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, which also screened at Fantastic Fest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both titles deal with Cinema, so are best viewed on the big screen, and both are destined for every film lover’s DVD library.

Genre always benefits from men behaving badly. SAUNA, DEAD GIRL, DONKEY PUNCH, ACOLYTES are splendid examples of the pitfalls of moral relativism, and the fate of men who break the 11th Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Assume.

 

I enjoyed the you never know who might be a serial killer twists and turns of ACOLYTES, which is stunningly shot against fresh Queensland locations. Director Jon Hewitt handles the suspense and violence set pieces with flair, and makes insightful observations on the twisted thinking of psychopaths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More feral youth bring themselves undone in DEAD GIRL. It’s clever piece of low budget film making, exploring the theme that necrophilia can be fun. It’s very disturbing, yet not handled in an exploitative way. But I was left wondering: Is today’s high school life really a breeding ground for sociopathy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think SAUNA must get the sustained creepy atmosphere Award, which really helped suck me in to its alternative universe. Check out the trailer.

This Scando-Chiller actually lowers the temperature in the room, in a good way. It’s Arthouse, but very engrossing, as it embroiders further on Bergman’s theme: life’s a bitch and then you die. But it seems you don’t go to Purgatory when you die; it’s already here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONKEY PUNCH - Very Bad Things on Raymond’s Luxury Yacht - is a remarkable piece of work for 24 days of shooting at sea, by day and by night. Director Olly Blackburn shot as much as possible in sequence to help the actors maintain consistency during long intense performances. Not to block-shoot, given the complex schedule, was a bold decision but it has entirely paid off. He brings searingly truthful performances out of a young cast, as they wrestle with deep moral conflict, some acting professionally for the first time. Because of its concern for character, DONKEY PUNCH has a greater reality level than many higher budget pick off the cast one by one suspense horror pieces. It’s snappily shot and the outcome is satisfying. Though I am now thoroughly scared of everyone under 25. And yachts. But I look forward to Olly’s next one. Another Brit film maker successfully launched.

ALIEN RAIDERS displays similar professional promise in the hands of first time director Ben Rock. I know the challenges of a 15 day shoot. He delivers a very solid job that hits all the beats. And it is good to see Matthew St. Patrick on the screen again. (He performed strongly in my TIDES OF WAR) Thanks to an excellent script, there are enough surprises and real human drama going on, so you don’t mind that the monster is largely suggested till the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggestion also reveals its power in THE BURROWERS, a classy horror western. (That genre hybrid has come a long way since its first incarnation -THE FIEND WHO WALKED THE WEST in 1958, starring Hugh O’Brien, who went on to become TV’S Wyatt Earp, and legendary producer Robert Evans in the title role.) Director JT Petty creates an authentic sense of the 1870’s not just in costumes and settings but in the racial divisions and social customs and conflicts that divide the characters. This makes their peril at the claws of TREMORS type ancient creatures all the more interesting. I loved the ironic ending.

I was sorry due to conflicting schedules to have missed Wicked Lake. Nothing like a dose of lesbian cannibalism to kick start the day.

Wicked Lake trailer here.

Next week my Fantastic Fest action favorites.