Left Coast Report

Oliver Stone 9/11 Movie Title: 'World Trade Center'

Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News Web site is reporting some new tidbits about Oliver Stone's 9/11 movie - including that the title of the film will be "World Trade Center." Here are some other details from the article:

Stone promises that this will be Nic Cage "like you've never seen him before." Cage plays 9/11 hero Sgt. John McLoughlin, who according to Stone is very 'John Wayne' in contrast with the other Port Authority officers he's trapped with.

The film takes place over the course of 24 hours.

Policemen, firemen, and Ground Zero neighbors stop by the set frequently to make sure that 'they're doing it right.'

The destruction of the towers is going to be shot on Hollywood soundstages, not in New York.
There wasn't much rewriting to be done on Andrea Berloff's script. Stone says the script came out of the blue and hit him "directly between the eyes."


Spielberg's 'Munich' Trailer

The trailer for Steven Spielberg¹s terror drama "Munich" is now available online. Due out on December 23, "Munich" will be Spielberg's recounting of Mossad retaliation operations against PLO terrorists who killed 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic Games.

The film has been the subject of considerable media debate over the past several months, due to concerns that Spielberg might temporize or muddle the question of moral equivalency with respect to PLO terrorists and the Mossad.

And that does appear to be what he's doing, at least in the trailer.
The trailer spends a lot of time with Mossad Agent Eric Bana looking soulfully off-camera, wondering whether he's losing his humanity.

Notably absent through most of the trailer are the terrorists themselves - who seem merely to be faceless, anonymous victims blown-up in apartments by Mossad agents.

There's something vaguely self-absorbed here about Spielberg's focusing on the moral qualms of the Mossad agents. The Mossad wasn't the problem here - the terrorists were the problem.

The "Munich" trailer delivers the vague impression that the Mossad agents themselves were acting like terrrorists in their hunting down of the Munich perpetrators. This kind of moral confusion is not exactly a helpful contribution to ongoing public debate about the War on Terror.


Another Suicide Bomber Movie

The Hollywood Reporter informed us this week that a new movie, soon to be produced, will be based on an article published in the June issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, depicting "a teenage Palestinian girl's arrest and conviction on charges of plotting a suicide bombing following her disastrous affair with a charismatic rebel leader who was locked in war with the Israeli military."
Wonderful! This new film will join "Paradise Now," "The War Within" and the forthcoming "American Dreamz" in the now fast-growing and entertaining genre of 'suicide bomber movie.'


Gay Cowboy Movie Sets Hearts Aflutter

Matt Drudge reported this week that industry insiders are already touting the Oscar potential of the new gay cowboy movie, "Brokeback Mountain."

Apparently there 'wasn't a dry eye in the house' at a recent screening at the Telluride Film Festival.

"Brokeback Mountain" joins films like "Alexander" and the forthcoming "Breakfast on Pluto" and "Transamerica" as films highlighting the homosexual experience.

"Brokeback Mountain" supposedly features nudity and explicit gay sex scenes between the two cowboys, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. New York Daily News critic Jack Mathews is quoted as saying that the film may be "too much for red-state audiences, but it gives the liberal-leaning Academy a great chance to stick its thumb in conservatives' eyes."

Great! That's just what an industry in economic free fall should be doing, isn't it? The question here is whether Mathews identified the real reason why these new films are being made, and all right now in the midst of ongoing debates about gay marriage. Are these films honest depictions of the homosexual experience, or merely political agitprop dressed-up as art?

Audiences, as ever, will have to decide.


The New James Bond Doesn't Like Guns

A recent article in the British press reveals that the new James Bond, actor Daniel Craig, apparently doesn't like guns. Here's Craig:

"I hate handguns. Handguns are used to shoot people and as long as they are around, people will shoot each other.

"That's a simple fact. I've seen a bullet wound and it was a mess. It was on a shoot and it scared me. Bullets have a nasty habit of finding their target and that's what¹s scary about them."
Nor does the 37-year-old share Bond¹s love of Martinis shaken and stirred.

"I love a Martini straight up. I don't think anybody makes a Martini stirred any more," he said.
All of this would seem to beg the question of why Craig is taking the role. Could it be that he's a typical money-grubbing, liberal entertainment industry hypocrite?


Aniston Pops Off About Pres. Bush

So Jennifer Aniston is now popping off about President Bush, perhaps as a means of distracting herself from some recent domestic problems of hers.
Ms. Aniston is quoted by MSNBC as saying:

"How about that indictment?! And why did it take so long to respond to the crisis in New Orleans? Everything is imploding. It all seems to lead back to our dear president."
It's conceivable that this is some sort of effort to win back her famous ex-husband, perhaps by way of left-leaning, public rhetorical flourishes. We doubt that'll be enough, though, given Angelina Jolie's aptitude for left-leaning, public rhetorical flourishes.