The Democratic National Convention is over, and all the ecstatic party members have left Denver to go back to their zombie-esque lives (Bob Hope said it, not me). But after four days of celebrating what it means to be a Democrat, some may not wish to settle down and calmly wait out the next two months until Obama’s (possible) win, let alone the next five months waiting for the candidate to (possibly) be sworn in as President, participating in the normal non-specifically-Democratic, non-self-congratulatory activities that most of us are content with.
So, one thing excited Democrats can do is watch movies that will continue to inspire and encourage their beliefs and politics. As Karina already wrote, The American Presidentis one movie that just barely may allow Obama fans to relive his DNC speech. Also, beginning yesterday, the Oscar-nominated documentary No End in Sight will be available in full on YouTube through till Election Day. Of course, there’s always other anti-war and anti-Bush docs for free viewing online, at such sites as SnagFilms and FreeDocumentaries.org.
And since there are so many docs out there that can make a Democrat giddy with the want for change, I’ve decided to limit today’s list to fictions and dramatizations, because they are more about feelings than facts, and that’s all you really need for political inspiration these days. As usual, I’m leaving out a lot of picks, both obvious and obscure, so feel free to tell us what movie make you feel most proud to be a Democrat.
I’m not expecting to learn anything from Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic, W., but it’s possible that I will. After watching this clip depicting the first encounter of the future President (played by Josh Brolin) and the future First Lady (Elizabeth Banks), I’ve already learned something I didn’t previously know: that Laura was a Democrat, one who even campaigned for ‘68 Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, before meeting the conservative, Barry Goldwater-reading man of her dreams at a backyard barbecue.
Surprisingly, Stone’s portrayal of how George and Laura met is accurate. At least, it is if Wikipedia is to be believed. And I guess that only guarantees me that the setting is correct. The dialogue is probably only based on speculation. Not that I mind. I still love Stone’s The Doors and have no problem with the romantic fabrication of how Jim Morrison and Pam Courson meet in the film, and as a Doors fan, I know how ridiculously false it is.
At a panel on progressive media (and specifically Chris Moore’s film based on Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States, Josh Brolin commented on his arrest earlier this summer at a bar near the set of W, in which he plays the title role.
“I was arrested, and it was basically because I was standing up for someone, speaking out on something I thought was wrong. And what happens when you speak out? You go to jail.”
Driving past Inesco Field again today, I noticed that there are actually TWO billboards for Oliver Stone’s W across the street from where Barack Obama will give his big speech this week. One facing traffic from each direction.
I’ll upload some more photos to flickr later, including documentation of Gloria Alred, caught in a mob of Hillary supporters chanting references to the Dixie Chicks. But now, off to a screening of the Lee Atwater doc that infanously premiered at LAFF a couple of months back…
It seems appropriate to follow yesterday’s footage of Oliver Stone’s W.with the international trailer for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon. Both films are about leading candidates for worst U.S. President of all time (well, after we discount Harding, Buchanan, Jackson, Pierce and a number of others). And each has a subject that apparently inspired the year’s biggest blockbuster, The Dark Knight.
Weeks ago, in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal, mystery author Andrew Klavan basically stated that Batman is George W. Bush in the comic book adaptation. Today, Gabe at Videogum jokingly wrote, “just from watching this trailer, I learned that Richard Nixon was the inspiration for Batman’s voice in the Dark Knight.” Now, the question is, will either of these comparisons help their respective films ride the success of TDK? Oh, and how does Entertainment Weekly’s caricature of McCain as Batman figure in?
After watching the trailer for Oliver Stone’s W. a few weeks ago, I had the impression that the George W. Bush biopic wasn’t going to be an impersonation fest. Of course, we only really got to hear James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, and he didn’t seem to be bothering to sound like anything other than himself — not that I was expecting him to do Dana Carvey doing the senior Bush, but a bit of a change in voice, in order to make me not feel I’m watching the junior Bush getting yelled at by L.A. Confidential’s Captain Smith, would have been appreciated.
Fortunately, as we can now see in some new behind the scenes footage courtesy of Access Hollywood, Josh Brolin is making an effort to sound like the man he’s portraying. Maybe it’s not so perfect that he’s mistakable for the real deal when you listen to the audio alone, but at least he doesn’t just sound like Josh Brolin, either. The video also gives us additional glimpses of Toby Jones as Karl Rove and Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush. The latter can be seen studying actual footage of the President (and likely the First Lady) and practicing mannerisms, and thankfully providing a tiny bit of playfulness to an otherwise too-serious looking set.
Now, when do we get to hear Banks speak? And, for that matter, when do I get my anticipated impersonations of Condi, Colin, Karl, Don and Dick?
The Obama Movie: so inevitable, it’s as if it is already among us. You know that Will Smith will play Obama and that Oliver Stone will write and direct. John Williams and Quincy Jones will tag-team the musical score, a soulful, all-American gumbo that samples gospel, Aaron Copland and snap music. Kerry Washington will essay Michelle Obama.
No, Steven Spielberg will direct, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Obama, same composers. Twelve Nobel, Pulitzer and Oscar winners write the screenplay. Special afro effects by Industrial Light and Magic. Spielberg intercuts between Barack cumming and Blackwater snipers pinned down in Mosul.
Today Lionsgate releases Midnight Meat Train––by all indications a cousin to the studio’s, um, classic fare like Saw and Hostel, but actually starring some name actors, like Bradley Cooperin just a hundred-something theaters, with no reviews. According to Grady Hendrix, it’s part of the studio’s effort to essentially slap the R-rated horror fans responsible for a decade’s worth of success in the face.
I had MSNBC on for a while in the background while I was working yesterday, and they were giving what seemed like an inordinate amount of attention to the trailer, released over the weekend, for Oliver Stone’s W. Most of the talking heads were just mocking the trailer and Stone, but gossip reporter Courtney Hazlett had an interesting observation. Noting that Stone is pushing his crew through a (probably ill-advised) grueling seven month production and post-production schedule, Hazlett predicted that crowds might come out just to see a finished product produced under such duress. With a gleam in her eye, she said, “It could be a hot mess!”
Leaving the wildly off-base assumption that moviegoers actually care about the conditions under which a film is produced aside, it’s interesting to see W’s rush to release as a selling point, especialy since so many bloggers are, in the wake of the trailer release, saying the exact opposite.
If you still haven’t had enough goodies from Comic-Con, feel free to check out the bootlegged clip of the new traiiler for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Personally, I’m ready to move on, and so here’s a look at another superhero story: Oliver Stone’s W. Or, as I like to call it, U.S.-President Origins: George W. Bush.
It looks a little more serious than I anticipated. For all we’ve read and heard about the campiness of the script, the thing is now at least being marketed as a drama about a clash between father and son. Even the roll call of characters (captioned as such, rather than crediting the players) makes each part look less like caricatures than I’d expected.
Today Lionsgate releases 
