Pajamas Media

137 Comments

DavidN:

I think that the Jamie Foxx vehicle The Kingdom did alright, also. It isn’t about the war in Iraq, again, it’s about the War on Terror. It’s also not completely positive: it has an annoying cultural relativism thread running through it that’s insulting, to say the least. But Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman are all portrayed positively. They’re not racist, they don’t kill innocents, they’re not vicious and they don’t do things that are illegal. There’s also, interestingly, a positive performance, and a good one, by (I believe) an Egyptian actor named Ashraf Barhom, who plays a Saudi policeman who’s supposed to chaperone the four Americans, FBI agents investigating a bombing in his country. Anyway, the picture has a lot of suspense in it, a very good edge-of-your-seat ending chase sequence, and well-done characters. Cooper is especially effective. I would recommend it.

Jul 20, 2008 - 1:46 am Mark Poling:

Hollywood is trying to sell whale oil to a market that has found kerosene.

Tough times ahead.

Jul 20, 2008 - 1:49 am Jose A. Garcia:

I am in Iraq right now.

Will there ever be an American Made film about the heroes in this war? So many guys & a few gals have done some great things. Do most Americans know about the Female National Guard Soldier that won a Silver Star for almost single handedly destroying a terrorist ambush. The little buggers were filming their “success” just before she put their lights out.

There are DOZENS of unknown stories of heroics performed by some of us, from four years back to today.

Where are the wealthy pro Americans? Make a movie using no-name actors, pick a dozen heroes and tell their story. Bollywood can make movies cheap, why can’t we?

There are real heroes, not doing drugs, killing dogs, etc.

Jul 20, 2008 - 3:28 am TomJW:

Glad to hear the clowns are failing.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:22 am Eric Dondero:

Jose, we true Americans know and understand your sacrifices. And we are deeply, deeply appreciative for them.

We don’t need the a******s in Hollywood to convey them to us. We’ve all got internet access, and can go on sites like PJ Media, Vets for Freedom, and other sites, to read about your heroic ventures.

Thank you again. You and your fellow Soldiers are heros!

Eric Dondero, USN Vet
Publisher, Libertarian Republican blog

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:39 am mjk:

I want to see a movie based on Michael Yon’s work. I want to see a movie about the Six Day War (Not exactly the Iraq war, but a war against terrorist states). I want to see a movie about the men and women who have gave their lives in Iraq without some kind of spin or ideals of what it should be.

But that’s never going to happen.

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:46 am Good Ole Charlie:

Speaking of Michael Yon, how about a movie based on Gates of Fire? When the essay appeared,one commentator remarked that Central Casting sent John Wayne over to play the RSM (I forget his name). A natural.
However, like the MSM, Hollywood is becoming more irrelevant as each day passes. You can’t preach - even to the choir - and expect to make serious money.
There is a quote attributed to Sam Goldwyn,the classic (successful) producer of Hollywood’s own Golden Age:

“If you want to send them a message, call Western Union.”

Still true today.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:22 am AJ:

Jose:

THANK YOU for your service. Real Americans know about your heroism and dedication, but Hollywood (and the liberal elite) does not consider themselves part of America. They have the best lives but are insecure and ungrateful. No worries, as you’re a brave man and the lord knows that. Most in Hollywood will have a lot of explaining to do when they meet their maker, even if they fancy themselves as atheists. Horrible people, unworthy of great Americans like you.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:26 am Broadsword:

Ah…Hollywood. I have heard of them. They “…used to be big.”

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:27 am cowgirl:

Hollywood losing the War in Iraq. Oh let me get out my little hankie and cry for them. Hollywood has been losing money for years and continues to lose money because they make movies that Americans don’t want to see. If they don’t understand the concept of supply and demand, then they lose money. It is simple as that. The story lines suck, save Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Denzel Washington, there are no talented actors and actresses available. Don’t believe me - go watch Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, etc, etc, - any movie made before the 1960’s and compare that film to the crap that comes out of Hollywood today.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:31 am LionRor:

Jose, ditto what Eric Dondero said - you and your fellow soldiers are my heros, and I’ll always be in your debt for your outstanding performance.

Hollywood phonies haven’t even earned the right to even lick your boots!

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:38 am LionRor:

Jose, ditto what Eric Dondero said - you and your fellow soldiers are my heros, and I’ll always be in your debt for your outstanding performance.

Hollywood phonies haven’t even earned the right to lick your boots!

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:39 am James:

As a war veteran myself, I am sickened by all of these military bashing movies Hollywood has been spewing out month after month. Hollywood should be thankful for the military because it’s because of our sacrafice that makes it even possible for them to have the freedom to do what they do.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:45 am syn:

“Where are the wealthy pro Americans? Make a movie using no-name actors, pick a dozen heroes and tell their story. Bollywood can make movies cheap, why can’t we?”

Jose A Garcia, you are my greatest hero and I am your biggest fan; this goes to everyone you serve along side.

That said I think the biggest problem is not in making the movie, the problem is distribution (print and press) For example, the new Batman (sequel 4058) will be shown in every theater across the nation for a gazillion weeks plus garnering all available press(advertising) of every newspaper, tv, radio, bus and billboard ads to be bought.

Block busters are only block busters becasue they take up all the space. The only reason why Batman (sequael 4058) is perceived as a masterpiece is because everything else is crap.

Besides which, as David Mamet observed sometime ago, Hollywood is basically a dead beast killed by its very own eye-candy; Hollywood is no longer capable of writing character representing who you really are.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:52 am Steve McCullough:

Name one good movie about the Vietnam war.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:56 am Eric Dondero:

You know mjk, in large part we have only ourselves to blame. Libertarians and Conservatives shy away from Hollywood. We are too busy working as Stock Brokers, and 401K Managers that we don’t have any interest in pursuing careers in the Movie Business. The Leftists do. And they flood that medium, just like Education.

We need to start sending Conservs and Liberts to Film School.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:00 am Kafir:

Jose, thank you for your service to our country. There is a movie, or perhaps it’s a documentary, called something like “Brothers in Arms.” Two of the brothers are in Iraq and the third is the documentarian. They cannot find a distributor. That’s really what this article is about: the conspiracy to never publicize anything positive about Iraq.

I read about the female Silver Star winner. I would love to see that dramatized. I have also read SSgt David Bellavia’s “House to House” and would eagerly plop down $9 to see it on the big screen.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:02 am WJ:

My view is that the Hollywood execs who greenlighted these poor performing movies had a different reason than making money as their primary reason. They wanted to prove their anti-American views to the rest of the Hollywood “elite”.

Consider it an investment in keeping the “talent” happy for future movies that have a chance at making money. (”Mr. Cusack, we made Grace is Gone and it only brought it $1M gross. I think your current anti-Bush script is great, but instead why don’t we do this one about space aliens…”)

On the money front, possibly they were hoping to get near break-even on DVD rentals and foreign box office. Lions for Lambs did $63M worldwide (75% outside the US) and Rendition did $27M worldwide (65% outside the US) (source is boxofficemojo.com).

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:02 am Becky:

I have been saying this for years. If someone made a movie about one of the million heroic stories that have occurred in the war on terror, they would break box office records and make millions. I want to see a movie that shows America as the good guy (which we are) fighting against bad guys and tyrants. Hollywood isn’t ready to face the hard fact that they are wrong about this war and that most of America understands that victory over enemies is a good thing.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:32 am Jennifer:

Don’t hold your breath.

So far as I know, “Green Berets” was the only Vietnam War movie to take a positive approach toward our troops. And Hollywood has had over 40 years to do another positive movie about Vietnam, but I’m not sure they ever will.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:32 am kabud:

Jose A. Garcia:
respect to you and American soldiers!

it is a shame that hollysh*t people are serving just the enemy needs but not our Country

Also we have a big problem with our government inability to provide proper explanation to the nation of what is going on in the ME and Iraq

Nation has no idea((

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:33 am keithacita:

maybe they should try a patriotic movie not one the is communist inspired

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:41 am Bonnie_:

Thank you, Jose, for your service. You are fighting barbarians to keep them from our throats, and America appreciates and honors you. A tiny fringe of the left has control of Hollywood and the media, but they are small. Noisy, but small.

I’ve heard that “The Dark Knight” is an allegorical fight against Al-Queda, with Batman standing for America’s troops and leaders and the Joker as the terrorist. I’m going to try and catch this one at the box office.

And if I want to remember our troops and know what they’re fighting, I can always slip a copy of “The Lord of the Rings” in the DVD player.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:44 am Ed:

What happened to the Hollywood of the 1940’s that was pro-American and actually helped the country win WWII?????

The people that run Hollywood today are anti-American scum and deserve to fail. In fact some of those Hollywood dolts, like Sean Penn and Johnny Cusak should be brought up on sedition charges.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:54 am NahnCee:

I liked The Kingdom, too, although I hear and understand the comment about “annoying relativism”. I also thought one of the big draws of Ironman was that it was actually showing the bad guys as being Arab jihadists, and was showing a light on something that Americans have always been proud of: our inventiveness.

I wonder if that’s why movies based on comic books are popular because *those* hero’s must, in and of themselves, be pro-American because that’s the way they were initially written.

Somewhere on the internet (Mudville Gazette?) I read a comment that all Hollywood has to do to film and release a hugely successful “Iraq movie” is (1) make the American soldiers good guys, (2) make the Arab terrorists bad guys, and (3) have the good guys beat the bad guys.

You’d think the progressive liberals in Hollywood could find a story or two like that emanating from America’s adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan the past seven years, but maybe they’re too busy talking to their agents and brokers about how much money they’ve lost to pay attention.

(Bruce Willis was supposed to be interested in filming some of Yon’s reportage. That would be a project I’d be very interested in seeing completed.)

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:55 am ddc:

Jose A. Garcia,

You are absolutely right! One movie that sticks in my mind, “Black Hawk Down.” There, at least the unbelievable bravery and loyality (to each other) came through and in that way the viewer truly gets to see what you men and women deal with.

Film goers dislike being preached and each new War Film to open recently has been an exercise in anti-war propoganda. Not that there is anything wrong with that but there are other truths to consider of which Hollywood is blatantly ignoring. The American people are not stupid and are calling bullsh1t on them by staying away from these films enmass.

We truly would much rather see Iraq from your eyes and hear YOUR stories.
Please stay safe.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:02 am Sandra M:

WaPO is quoted as saying: “The only things less popular than the war itself are dramatic films and television shows about the conflict.”

I agree about the film part, but TV? Saturday night, I watched reruns of NCIS and THE UNIT (a superb series about Delta Force written by one of America’s greatest playwrights, David Mamet, who recently came out as a FORMER liberal.

On the 4th of July weekend, NCIS had a marathon opposite ratings behemoth LAW AND ORDER. Don Belesario, who brings us NCIS also brought us JAG (still in reruns) and MAGNUM P.I. Interestingly, years and years ago, Tom Clancy and Tom Selleck wanted to make a MAGNUM P.I. movie but Universal Studios wasn’t interested. Obviously, it’s not just THIS war that Hollywood opposes.

Americans LOVE heroic movies. This generation of Hollywood moviemakers doesn’t want to make them. The American public, individual by individual, has decided to boycott anti-American, anti-military films. Interesting isn’t it?

I’ve revisited many of my favorite war films of late. John Wayne’s THE GREEN BERETS was the only Vietnam war film made during the Vietnam war. Perhaps it takes a bit of time.

I loved 300 which is about the Spartans vs. a humongous army of Persians (Iranians), which has many analogies to our current cowardly congressional situation.

And I was also pleasantly surprised by CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, which had Democrat rather than liberal propaganda. Both book and film are rather anti-Republican which is not quite the same thing. The film does, after all, deal with Texas Democrats who are usually to the right of Rockefeller Republicans.

Years ago, an apolitical (I think) but brilliant young film maker, made a deal with the crazies in Hollywood that he would work with any studio that allowed him to make his films at home in Austin, Texas. He got his deal. Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY, SPY KIDS, DESPERADO) has small, skilled non-union crews and makes his films for a fraction of what they would cost in Hollywood. Rodriguez even wrote a book on how to make films cheaply called REBEL WITHOUT A CREW. And his DVDs have as special features, his “10 minute film school.”

And such a film could be made for very little money, even with famous actors if everyone took money on the back end. From profits, rather than salary up front. Bruce Willis has done this many times. He would be the first actor I’d approach.

Once such a film made large profits, you’d have a George Lucas type situation on your hands, with an independent studio that could make other such films.

I firmly believe that the American public is hungry for films about our heroes and heroines. And no, I hadn’t heard about the female National Guard solider who won a Silver Star for almost single handedly destroying a terrorist ambush. With all the nonsense about Britney, et al the Fox News Channel covers, you would think they would have made this young woman a star.

And I wonder has David Mamet read Michael Yon’s dispatches? Wouldn’t that be a great team?

More heroes, please.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:16 am heidi:

The hollyweirds will never figure out that they turn-off and piss-off 50% of their clientele when they make these kinds of movies. When they come out and endorse a certain candidate.
They are so stupid.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:29 am John the Libertarian:

The spate of anti-war films all came out at roughly the same time. That’s because of the lemming effect in a risk-aversive industry. Polls showed most Americans were against the war, hence many producers with a proclivity of same decided to try and capitalize. Never trust polls.

Conservatives on the other hand, and conservative filmmakers I have spoken to, feel it a disservice to make any type of war movie, for or against, until the conflict has been resolved. There are brave young men and women fighting valiantly over there. Let’s give them the courtesy of not trying to capitalize on their struggle and paint them with broad strokes and getting it wrong. Good films depend on heavy research - that’s why all the Iraq war films fail miserably. You can’t have deep research until the conflict is over. That said, Michael Yon’s efforts go a long way in beginning this research effort on solid ground.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:38 am David Bueche:

The Path to 9/11 was a great, although lonely, example of what Hollywood could be doing.

I also think the initial success of 24 - although it appears to have lost its way - shows the market for pro-American, anti - terror film and TV.

Look at all the WWII veneration, look at the clearly drawn morality in many comic themed or fantasy movies.

People want to see good people vanquish evil. If Al Quaeda in Iraq isn’t evil - I don’t know what is.

Sadly, most liberals in Hollywood are too wedded to their orthodoxy to take advantage of this market.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:43 am jenna:

Mr. Garcia and the rest of the troops:

Stand tall and stay strong; the rest of the country is aware of your heroism. The common people know, because you are us. All branches of the mainstream media try to brainwash us and denegrate you because neither fit into the ideology they would like to foist upon us. We all can never let that happen. Semper Fidelis.

It would be nice if they would even permit a factual rendition of the Iraq War/War on Terror — it doesn’t even have to be eye-candy good guy/bad guy, just a thoughtful dramatic rendition of the facts at hand, which speak for themselves. I’d love to see Bruce Willis’ rendition of Michael Yon. I’d bet it would do great at the box office too.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:44 am Expert:

Hollywood is so far to the left they will cut off their nose to spite their face. They will lose money on movies just to prove their point. They’re more anti-America, then they are money worshipping andd the movies are the proof. It’ts not over, the anti-Iraq movies will keep coming.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:45 am Dave in Pa.:

“What’s most worrisome is that Hollywood, the industry that stands to most profit from giving the public what it wants, appears to be even less interested.”

Worrisome, but hardly surprising. Another example of Hollywood left-wing bias and animosity is the history around Mel Gibson’s smash hit “The Passion of the Christ” from a few years back.

Gibson couldn’t get any studio in Hollywood interested in this film. He finally went out on a limb, putting up most of his personal fortune, the necessary $25 million from his own money and produced it himself. The distribution company likewise went out on a limb, spending about the same amount in it’s advertising and distribution.

For their efforts, Gibson and the distributors had a global smash hit on their hands. In just the US market, it took in about $670 million, ending up the second biggest smash of that year. Global ticket sales, DVDs, etc. eventually took it up to around a billion dollars in gross revenue! From a combined $50 million investment!

Here’s the kicker: The production president of Paramount was asked later if he and Paramount would consider making similar Christian or Jewish-themed movies. His answer was a definite NO! “I wouldn’t even know how to make a movie like that” he condescendingly responded!

So, here’s the President of one of the major Hollywood studios indicating not only a lack of interest in making movies on a demonstrably extremely popular and profitable theme…but willfully ignoring Hollywood’s own very profitable history of 1950’s, 1960’s Biblical themed movies.

Imagine a President of one of the Big Three carmakers cheerfully refusing to make pickup trucks, or convertibles, as he despised them himself and saying he wouldn’t even know how to manufacture one! How long would he last before the Board of that company ousted him??? Of course, that wouldn’t happen in Hollywood, as Presidents AND Boards hold the same antagonistic bigoted views against Judaism and Christianity.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:49 am Sandra M:

Distribution of a pro-American film. Think wider. Mel Gibson, huge star that he is could not get anyone in Hollywood to distribute THE PASSION. Mel got creative and approached the mega-churches and made so much money that Hollywood immediately re-released every Jesus movie they’d ever made. I lasted 5 minutes with the Scorcese film which I found insulting to Christians — and I’m no longer a Christian.

Kafir: Don’t tell me that there’s a pro-Iraq movie out there, but you don’t quite know the title or whether it’s a documentary or a drama. If you don’t know those basic facts, you’re not part of the solution. Find out and then, we can ask Netflix, Amazon and other venues to carry it.

And the new BATMAN movie is a mega-blockbuster BECAUSE it comes in with a reputation built on BATMAN BEGINS, as well as the earlier Tim Burton films. They’re spending huge amounts BECAUSE the word of mouth is so good as are the reviews. Don’t confuse cause with effect. Even I want to see the new BATMAN although am willing to wait till it gets to Netflix to do so.

I go to the movies only to make a point. I went to see Branagh’s HAMLET, and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at a theatre so that they’d make more Shakespeare films since it seems they only pay attention to the movie-going crowd not the DVD buyers. If a pro-Iraq war film were made and distributed in theatres, I’d suggest having a discussion and get together after the film. It would be a good way for those of us who live in enemy territory (the San Francisco bay area) to find each other.

What would it take for a pro-Iraq war film to become a hit? Positive reviews by conservative and libertarian bloggers. Interesting trailers on YouTube, etc. Not to mention the fact that all of us have email lists. Produce an exciting movie and people will not only tell their friends, they’ll email them as I did after I saw 300 and CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:51 am BillyH:

There is another low budget independent film called FORGOTTEN HEROES. This film was made twenty years ago and the DVD is now being sold on the internet. The filmmaker was blackballed for the pro Vietnam content and suing a Hollywood distributor. I read about this guy Marino and what he has been up against. I recently bought the DVD and the film isn’t a bad little picture. He shows the Vietnam era soldiers as heros, not baby killers. The website is http://www.forgottenheroesthemovie.com there is also a site on my space which has a bunch of reviews. This is a good little film for conservatives to support. The producers are donating $5.00 from each sale to some disabled Memorial. At least this filmmaker Marino is putting his money where his mouth is.

FORGOTTEN HEROES also stars WILLIAM SMITH

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:51 am newton:

It’s “elephant in the living room” time, guys!

No one in Hollywood dares to say why they don’t make war or terrorism films with our troops or Americans as the good guys. As long as their necks are held on collars and leashes by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and their Politically Correct supporters, those Hollywood films will fail spectacularly.

Which one was the last film to portray Islamofascists as terrorists? That’s right: “True Lies”. And that was filmed in ‘93, light years before 9/11. Remember what happened when the film version of “The Sum of All Fears” was released? Even Tom Clancy was disgusted by it. Have you seen any other Tom Clancy-novel films since then? We all know the answer.

Political Correctness has taken over Hollywood, telling Americans that they’re despicable human beings. And Americans will respond in kind, telling them the truth in their faces: for Hollywood, it’s “garbage in, garbage out.” Who wants to watch garbage rot?

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:55 am Sandra M:

24 did not lose its way. Organized Muslim groups leaned heavily to get the series away from stories about Jihadists.

We are daily sending so much oil money to the Saudis that we can expect much more of this kind of thing from CAIR and other groups.

The Saudis now own part of Newscorp (Fox News Channel) although I haven’t seen any editorial effect so far.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:58 am Stacy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV-EVHthMlY

Jul 20, 2008 - 10:19 am NahnCee:

Back in the day, the Hollywood artists were held under fairly strict rein by the Beancounters Back East, who very definitely *did* care about money being made and lost.

Even if artistes like Spielberg, Penn, Robbins and Sarandon don’t care if their current flick tanks and doesn’t make a dime, you’d think the money men would start to get a clue, and be asking for different scripts before approving them.

Who funds these anti-American mega-disasters, any way? Saudi Arabia?

Jul 20, 2008 - 10:40 am kat-missouri:

And no, I hadn’t heard about the female National Guard solider who won a Silver Star for almost single handedly destroying a terrorist ambush. With all the nonsense about Britney, et al the Fox News Channel covers, you would think they would have made this young woman a star.

And I wonder has David Mamet read Michael Yon’s dispatches? Wouldn’t that be a great team?

Raven 42 (Even sounds like a good movie). Sgt Leigh Ann Hester. Though, it wasn’t exactly “almost single handed”. More like an entire MP unit with men, women, people of all ethnicities. But Hester and Sgt Nein both received a silver star for charging the entrenchments and clearing it out with machine guns and grenades. they saved an entire column with just their little band. Out numbered 3 to 1 I believe.

Jul 20, 2008 - 10:44 am Sean:

The story behind THE PASSION is not what you all think. It is true Mel had the script of THE PASSION and being a major star he has output deals with the major studios. It is his job to submit projects for the studios to fund. ALl these stars have a first and last refusal deal. Once whatever they submit is refuse then they can go anywhere for a distribution deal. THE PASSION script was too hot for any of these gutless studios to fund, so Mel having a net worth at the time of around 400 million, he decided to fund the production himself for 30 million. He broke the first unwritten rule in Hollywood. You all have to remember that Mel Gibson is not only an actor who owns a production company but he owns his own distribution company called Icon Releasing. He always HAD distribution on THE PASSION. On all his deals he gets all foreign rights to distribute through his own company. He gets to a co-distribution deal with the studio that has control over the US theatrical. Mel’s company distributes in all markets except the US theatrical. Once he completed THE PASSION he was at the time under a deal with 20th Century for distribution. He HAD distribution for THE PASSION. It was the standard deal, first and last refusal. The studio was delaying it’s decision because Mel was being attack by the JDL, the Hollywood left , the media and everything including the kitchen sink. This kind of publicity, even Mel said he couldn’t have paid for. For one year Mel was attacked while he was editing and selling blocks of tickets to christian groups. This marketing was a stroke of genius. Once 20th Century refused to distribute the film, Mel being a distributor, now was a free agent. So throughout this entire process he had distribution, he was just waiting for the studio to make up it’s mind. So what Mel did, was he broke another unwritten commandment in Hollywood. He decided to fund the P&A (prints and advertising cost) himself.

He set up a deal which is common in Hollywood for independents to make a deal with a smaller US distributor that handles theatrical. He set up what is called a ‘renter distributorship’ now since Mel’s company Icon had been laying the groundwork of this massive to sell blocks of tickets to Christian groups and the response from conservatives from all over America he was basically in profit before opening night. He hired New Market films and I bet they got 10% of the profits if they were lucky. Mel paid for everything, when the money started coming in, it went into Mel’s company first to pay off his distribution cost, then he paid himself back his production cost, this total was about 60 million before he and his ‘renter distributorship deal was paid for his services. Over 600 million dollars went into Mel’s bank account. Hollywood hates Mel, not for his remarks against the jews or his portrayal, it was because he made so much money and NO ONE in Hollywood got a piece, he never paid these people a tribute. Mel became bullet proof in Hollywood. He is now a billionaire and he can make and distribute anything he wants. I remember reading how the executives of Disney vowed that they would never work with Mel again because of his anti-semitism remarks. His next film was funded and distributed by Disney right after THE PASSION. These Hollywood people will say one thing in public but when it comes to the Almighty buck they will work with anyone that is a vast money maker no matter what his or her views are.

I know a few film bookers that made money from booking THE PASSION and they told me that Mel instigated most of the anti Passion publicity to protect his investment. Remember, in Hollywood nothing happens by accident, everything is planned, packaged and marketed.

The only other filmmaker to do this was George Lucas, Hollywood never attacked him like they did Mel Gibson who is considered an ultra conservative in Hollywood. Lucas was a conservative but he was so far up north doing his own thing, Hollywood couldn’t stop him or hurt him. Lucas was out of the Hollywood circles which he himself despised until that latest Star Wars. He came out against President Bush and Hollywood forgave Lucas of his crimes of spending his own money on his own films for over twenty five years.

What you read in the papers and see on the news is all a game. Hollywood is about BIG money and who gets his cut, think of it as the mob getting protecting money. Mel never paid his tribute. That is why his film was ignored at the Oscars, he has been shunned by Hollywood. His drunken road incident didn’t help him either, but one has to think that Mel isn’t as stupid as some people think. Did he know what he was saying to raise some hell in the press? These people love being in the press good PR is the same as bad PR. When you have a billion dollars in the Bank, you don’t need an Oscar from your peers, or the media to love you.

Only major corporations make a billions in profit from the work of thousands of people. Mel is one guy who’s combined net worth is a billion, who has done this with one film? Lucas did it with three films and his merchandizing. The combination of having a billion dollars plus interest in a bank account and Mel being a wild Irishman who likes to drink, is a deadly combination on a night road in Malibu.

Thank God he isn’t Errol Flynn!

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:17 am tyrone:

Democrats and the left by nature derive pleasure in attacking their apposition even if its anti American and supports our enemies views.Clinton wars were portrayed as noble in movies in black hawk down marines were courageous and Nobel.Bosnian war a pilot who was shot down was a hero.In Bush Sr Gulf war America was murderous in highway of death and marines where thief’s in 3 kings. in Nam we all know the leftist themes.Stallone Rambo movies where successful because finally a vietnam vet was a hero but Hollywood hated it as they did Red Dawn.Stallone and Schwarzenegger are republicans so their pro american movies were hits.Pro American movies will never win Oscars but they will make the most money.

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:30 am beemerduc:

there are conservative and libertarian film makers out there. look up the liberty film festival. there will be another liberty film festival this fall. support it if you want our side to be shown in films.
also, there’s a big-name comedy coming out that mocks the jihadis and leftist simpletons. you’ll hear about it in a month or two.

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:47 am Grace:

Has anyone seen “The Kite Runner?”. Not exactly pertaining to the War on Terror but depicts a pre 9/11 Afghanistan and displays the Taliban in all its despicable horror. Mr. Garcia, thank you for your service and sacrifice.

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:55 am B.A.Hokom:

One of the most primary instincts which we are taught in the United States from day one is…”never give up”; “don’t quit”. Tapping into that kind of ‘natural’ branding will always be a winner, and those war films that project it are each a case-in-point. This generation of Hollywood is still running with the Viet Nam defeatism John Kerry used to gain office so long ago. The tide will always change with every “bottom line”, don’t worry Hollywood will either gamble on a loosing theme or bring in smarter people; in any case it always comes down to money, just ask Mr. Moore.

Best Regards

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:55 am Dane:

“Name one good movie about the Vietnam war.”

Two come to mind:

The Green Berets
We Were Soldiers

Today’s Hollywood directors don’t seem to realize that it’s possible to make a film that has an antiwar message without insulting the audience and those serving in the military, and I think that (more than the antiwar message itself) is why people are choosing not to watch them. I think Kelly’s Heroes is a perfect example of the right way to do it.

Jul 20, 2008 - 12:00 pm mwl:

One movie I’d like to see is the story of the Anbar Awakening. Americans need to see how Anbar Sunnis who had been shooting at us became our allies. It could show our troops and the residents of Anbar in a positive light, while showing AQI to be the animals that they are (were?).

Jul 20, 2008 - 12:11 pm Jim:

If they simply made a movie about our heroes that had good writing and one bonafide star they would make money

Jul 20, 2008 - 12:14 pm RAH:

The anti war bias in the Hollywood films have been box office flops. But the video game “Gears of War sold millions at $50 per game in a week. The videogamers know their market and it is pro US kill the enemies type. The video game market is bigger than Hollywood. Soon you may see video game companies buy the studios.

Jul 20, 2008 - 12:29 pm Matt:

I think part of the problem is that Hollywood is no longer just making films for the US. A big part of their income comes from overseas and they are willing to pander to the overseas crowd. Look at the last super man movie that could not not say that Super Man stood for Truth Justice and the American way. Also, last year they were talking about a new G I Joe film, but the new Joe Team was going to be some multi national group based in Brussels. The people planning the movie actually said that a film about G I Joe as it was traditionally told would not see overseas at this time.

Matt

Jul 20, 2008 - 12:48 pm Dave II:

“What’s most worrisome is that Hollywood, the industry that stands to most profit from giving the public what it wants, appears to be even less interested.”

Well, that’s the problem…and behind it is the fact they either don’t know what we want (which would be
near impossible given the flops they’ve produced) or worse, there’s just NO ONE willing to step up and take the risk of looking “patriotic” (more like “idiotic” in their world view) and risk ridicule, blistering criticism, and finally their career with pushing such a project…and that goes straight all the way to the top at the STUDIOS themselves.

While some movies HAVE managed to squeeze through (United 93 for instance) anything with an IRAQ theme SUPPORTING the effort in any way is doomed to be seen as coming out of “right-field” so to speak.

I’m afraid this is not going to change anytime soon. Maybe in a few years we may see Iraq themed movies showing the incredible changes there and the thriving and prosperous people…but an acknowledgement that this was because of our troops efforts or because of Bush’s decisions is near impossible to hope for.

Jul 20, 2008 - 2:06 pm pappy:

re:Dane…platoon and full metal jacket were two pretty good nam movies, even if an actor or two weren’t my favorites. the storyline and effects were done well. the worst movie i ever seen was an army story with sean penn in it, can’t rebember the title. it’s better that way.

Jul 20, 2008 - 2:24 pm AST:

I go to the movies to be entertained, and if being instilled with pride in my country and the great things it has accomplished comes with that, I’d now with that. However, I refuse to pay for a two hour lecture from some Hollywood celebrity about how bad wars are or other leftist propaganda, especially when its couched in didactic, crude rhetoric and disgusting and defamatory depictions of our troops.

I don’t know why any American who thinks this is a good country would find such drivel entertaining, regardless of his politics. Of course, there are some Anti-American American, but you can’t make much addressing them with big budget movies. Better stick to print media.

Jul 20, 2008 - 2:39 pm bill:

here is another pro military movie over looked , “Tears of the Sun”, Staring Bruce Willis

Jul 20, 2008 - 3:09 pm Bleepless:

One pro-American and anti-Communist movie is “Red Dawn,” which takes place in Communist-conquered Colorado.

Jul 20, 2008 - 3:46 pm Sgt. Mom:

Good lord, do I get any credit for writing about this four years ago!
Here, at the Daily Brief (www.ncobrief.com), from July, 2004 -
http://www.ncobrief.com/index.php/archives/memo-john-wayne-is-dead-and-arnie-has-a-day-job/
And yeah, Hollywood has conducted themselves since I wrote this ‘in the manner that we have come to expect from them.’
Which phrase is supposedly the one used by old-line military commanders in writing next-of-kin letters about personnel who managed to get themselves killed in ususually stupid ways. Seems fitting, in this context, actually.

Jul 20, 2008 - 3:46 pm Letalis Maximus, Esq.:

My ex, and the mother of my daughter, did a year in the Green Zone. My best friend’s brother-in-law is in Iraq right now. Every serving American soldier who reads these comments should take heart, and be confident, that the majority of Americans support them and their work. 40 years ago, they talked about the so-called “Silent Majority.” Well, thanks to the internet we have to be silent no more. And we can’t be ignored.

Keep up the good work. You are all heros to me.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:09 pm JayDee:

The rule of thumb for Hollywood movies is that break-even comes at somewhere between two and three times negative costs. By that standard, Vantage Point wouldn’t be a major success, but it would have turned a comfortable little profit.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:11 pm fred:

Jennifer and Steve,

I can name an outstanding movie about the Vietnam War, but Mel Gibson made it. But, before you watch the movie please read the book by Joe Galloway and Ret. General Hal Moore. “We Were Soldiers Once, And Young.” The movie’s name is “We Were Soldiers.” I own the DVD and have watched the movie three times. As one who served in the Army shortly after we left the Republic of Vietnam, I got to know the veterans of that war. It still rankles to this day to see our cause and our military mocked as they have been.

The reason why so many Americans refuse to pay to watch the anti-American films about Iraq is not hard to guess. Most of us here on this thread know why. If the script writers and producers cannot grasp this, then they really do live in an echo chamber.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:23 pm maurice:

Remember David Mamet’s conversion. He’s the liberal who wrote “The Unit” (CBS) until it was cancelled.

If he can change sides, others can see the light, too.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:25 pm schnargley:

Last year, after watching several Hollywood Goebellian attempts at Anti-Americanism, in both TV and film, where they inevitably depicted the antagonists as the US government, I was ready to give up all movies. I reached my limit with a movie called, “Shooter” (with Mark Wahlberg.) True to their addled worldview, which they foster on the public much more dogmatically than any televangelist, the US government was once again portaryed as the evil entity, as the conservative Republicans plotted to kill a black presidential candidate (hint, hint, children!)As if that was not enough, I was ready to hurl whirrled peas when they revealed that the evil, Republican terror base was located, where else? - Lynchburg, VA!(hint, hint little malleable halfwits!)That was it. I vowed since last year never to support the Hollywood entertainment industry with a single dollar more of my family’s money.

Oh, we do see movies - we buy everything, including TV shows, bootleg.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:31 pm Mister Snitch!:

Don’t know how you could have missed this, but the message in the megahit The Dark Knight is spelled out thusly: ‘A hero is someone who is willing to be unfairly hated, because that is what people need.’ In the film, Batman does what it takes - including wiretapping - to stop a terrorist who is destroying a city.

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:34 pm Don:

The old media isn’t attracting the 18-36 year olds, who’ve swarm Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on all major gaming platforms for their entertainment. It is the good guys, Americans and Brits, taking on the terrorists. Just in 2007 they bought up 7 million units at $50+ a pop. And it still on the best selling lists this year. Hollywood is quickly becoming the Oldsmobile division of the entertainment industry. When the bean counters get a look at the return on investment, the money is going to move to where the money is and is going to be in the future. This isn’t Hollywood PC

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xrUchGucJvU

One or two more generations of computer/console technology and who’s going to need Hollywood?

Jul 20, 2008 - 4:38 pm Craig:

Many valid points in this post, but one stands out as a flyer: What on earth is “conservative” about Ben Stein’s dishonest hit piece? Your numbers indicate it bombed, but just didn’t leave as big a crater as the “anti-war” films.

I say it bombed for exactly the same reason: It was a lie.

And there’s nothing “conservative” about being a flat-earther, nor sandbagging your interviewees.

Other than that, excellent post.

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:25 pm NahnCee:

I’m afraid this is not going to change anytime soon. Maybe in a few years we may see Iraq themed movies showing the incredible changes there and the thriving and prosperous people…but an acknowledgement that this was because of our troops efforts or because of Bush’s decisions is near impossible to hope for.

That’s fine. I’m willing to wait quite a few more years until Hollywood goes into the same sort of irreversible decline into bankruptcy as our nation’s newspapers and television news media have. I’m doing alright so far watching Pixar cartoons and have absoluely no intention watching (and spending money on) progressive liberal dreck simply because I’m lectured that I should.

Unfortunately the studios will be the ones hit as the whole system goes belly-up and the stars who led the charge will be fat, happy and rich in their gated communities in Malibu. Too bad Streisand and her treasonous ilk are out of our reach, and can’t be forced to relocate to more convivial environs in India where they can pursue their craft in Bollywood.

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:28 pm buddy larsen:

Arts & Letters Daily has two good essays on this topic — both in the right-hand column, scroll down a couple pageviews. One of them is about powerful 70s-90s film critic (and champion of the anti-heroic, which as we see has degenerated into anti-America) Pauline Kael’s realization at the end of her life that “When we championed trash culture we had no idea it would become the only culture.”

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:29 pm Tonto (USA):

I don’t know. When you talk to a returning soldier or marine, if you can get them to talk about it, they say that the terrs in Iraq are very inept troops. Like they have two left feet, no brains and one hand. They’re almost ashamed at how easy it is to whack and stack these mooks when the come into hard contact with them. The mooks demonstrate some real “arms ignorance” with high tech stuff. Maybe the oughta go back to swords and jambiyas.

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:31 pm Tonto (USA):

“Apocalypse Now” was a very good flick. Every single thing I saw in that movie was the truth. Ask a vet, they’ll tell you.

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:34 pm Chuck Simmins:

Raven 42 was a Kentuck NG unit, military police. The leader, Tim Nein, was upgraded from the Silver Star to the DSC. Another sgt, Jason Mike, was upgraded from Bronze Star with V to Silver Star. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester received the first Silver Star given to a woman since WWII. The other half dozen troops got Bronze Stars or ArComs with V’s.

http://northshorejournal.org/in-the-service-of-their-country-raven-42

You will also be interested in the 19 yr old girl from Texas who got a Silver Star in Afghanistan, Monica Linn Brown.

http://northshorejournal.org/texas-medic-wins-silver-star-2nd-woman-to-do-so

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:37 pm Benson:

For years, Hollywood came under attack for making sexy, violent or shocking films, and the producers always said they were just giving the public what the public wanted. “We don’t have a message, we have entertainment, and we don’t tell people what to think or what to like.” They got rich doing that, and now…they stand revealed as hypocrites. They are ignoring a good market and, at heavy cost to their pocketbooks, preaching to the electorate.

Does this mean that they have always been preaching to the electorate, glorifying crime, violence, drug use and mayhem?

Perhaps the movie makers never were neutral purveyors of entertainment that the public wanted, but deliberate creators of popular trends and tastes. If so, then the public has been led around in circles by people who are not wily businessmen, but immoral Pied Pipers.

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:55 pm furious_a:

Our intervention in Somalia wasn’t very popular, either. Blackhawk Down premiered eight years after actual events to a solid box office. We’re five years into Iraq, seven in Afghanistan, and Hollywood can’t replicate Blackhawk Down’s success?

What is Hollywood, if nothing but derivative?

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:59 pm monkeyfan:

Why Hollywood has forgotten how to make American movies? They have pretty much reached a consensus.

…It’s a Triumph of Tim Robbins’ Will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gH8rS_epQE

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:02 pm Fen:

The last decent film that fairly portrayed our troops was “Tears of the Sun”.

And Sharia can’t come for Hollywood fast enough. I’m tired of protecting these weasels and getting stabbed in the back. Seeing them suplicate themselves before Islam would be a treat. Their despair would be delicious.

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:05 pm Don Meaker:

We are still waiting for the movie on how the US won the cold war.

If any producer reads this, a good starting place for that story would be Robert Gates’ (current Sec Def)book that shows that Ronald Reagan couldn’t have said “Evil Empire” without Jimmy Carter pointing out the lack of basic human rights in the Soviet Union.

We need to tell the story of how we won. Michael Yon’s blog has enough for 20 movies.

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:08 pm william bob:

In Deja Vu, the Denzel Washington film the terrorist is a character based on Timothy McVeigh. In a further subliminal slam the actor who plays him is Jim Caviezel, the Christ figure in Passion of the Christ. So just remember: the people you have to watch out for are not jihadists but decorated Christian veterans…..I think the review of Vantage Point is too charitable. I could not figure out exactly who the terrorists were or what they represented. One of them was a secret service agent. I had the idea that in an earlier rewrite the plot point was that it was a right wing plot to assasinate the President and thus provide the pretext for invading an Arab country. If anyone understood the motivations and goals of the plotters, please get a job as an analyst for the CIA.

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:08 pm Richard:

To Jose in Iraq and all other members of our military, I repeat what many here have already posted. You have my utmost respect and I always point you out to my oldest son who is 6 as bigger heroes than the ones in the cartoons he watches.

Many months ago I downloaded the trailer for Vantage Point to my PS3 and from what I saw was very interested in seeing the movie. It looked exciting and I like some of the actors (Quaid and Whitaker). When it finally arrived at the local Block Buster I was not disappointed. While I had some problems with the action scenes (I’m a stickler for plausibility), overall I liked the show. It wasn’t preachy and the bad guys were bad and the good guys were good. The only real problem I had was in the DVD filler where one of the actors described the movie as “heroic” and “courageous”. But then again, I guess that just added to my overall sense of today’s actors.

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:14 pm Mike:

This is a tad OT, in a way, but for a suggestion at the intersection of both the movie business and the leftism usually manifested by the artistic community (e.g., Hollywood) and other social elites, the wellspring of which is the academy, check out http://www.indoctrinate-u.com/.

I went to a screening of this documentary and it was great. The director is basically just a regular guy who put the thing together on a relatively small scale with a partner or two. He was going around the country giving screenings.

This is an important cultural documentary - IMO maybe the most important in many years - because it shines a light on the dynamics of the generative source of the leftism that is pushed on us in all aspects of current American society. If regular Americans understood that academia is the source of this scourge - and they’re footing the bill for it - then that would go a long way toward solving the problem.

I was hoping to see a bigger distributor pick it up but as far as I can tell nothing like that has happened so far. So where’s Mel or Lucas or the like when you need them, anyway?

Jul 20, 2008 - 6:35 pm Frank:

The best two Vietnam movies are Hamburger Hill and We Were Soldiers. Best fiction book is The 13th Valley by John DelVecchio

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:10 pm Waller:

Funny about “The Green Berets”. Every time I read a book about the worst movies ever made, they always list TGB. Of course all these books are written by Hollyweird liberals.

What was wrong with the movie? Technical flaws? Bad acting? Poor sets? Nooooo. It was too “unrealistic”. This coming from an industry that specializes in being unrealistic. These critics couldn’t even stand one movie not toeing the anti-war mandate.

I think 35 years after the fact, people remember four Vietnam movies.

Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
The Green Berets

The rest are forgotten. Who doesn’t remember what “Puff the Magic Dragon” [AC-47 gunship] was, and where did we learn about it? From The Green Berets, of course.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:18 pm fred:

Loved that scene in “The Green Berets” where Puff the Magic Dragon mows down a Communist battalion. The best scene of all was when their female Vietnamese spy lures the Communist general into a compromising position, and makes sure he’s vulnerable enough to be captured. Payback was a bitch for that guy, as he had killed her father.

Jul 20, 2008 - 7:42 pm Waller:

What’s not to love? The Green Berets had it all - including tears. Who didn’t get choked up when the Vietnamese boy goes running from chopper to chopper desperately crying “Pe-ter-son, Pe-ter-SON…!”?

And of course, “The Ballad of the Green Berets” theme song is a classic!!!

Great movie!

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:00 pm John Moore:

pappy… This Nam vet demanded his money back after FMJ. It was anti-American propaganda. Platoon was nowhere near reality. Apocalypse Now was a pretty neat movie, but had little to do with Vietnam.

The Green Berets (John Wayne), Hamburger Hill (Clint Eastwood) and “We Were Soldiers” (Mel Gibson) were the only Vietnam movies that didn’t have anti-American themes. What a coincidence that the leads were all pro-American actors!

From my little experience with Hollywood types, I would guess that they really believe that it is their duty to instruct us in the reality that only they know. They are an ignorant, loud bunch of fools - rich fools.

I don’t go to the movies any more. After they come out, if they don’t turn out to be America-bashing, I might watch them on PPV (a whole lot cheaper than the movies). Occasionally I’ll watch an America-basher, if I can get it for free, just to see what the latest PC line is.

But Hollywood’s propaganda has turned me off over the years. And they really “jumped the shark” when they changed the villains in Clancy’s “The Sum of All Fears” from middle eastern terrorists to local right wingers.

Oh, and it’s been 20 years since the Iron Curtain crumbled. Why don’t we see movies about the horrors of the USSR - now thoroughly documented?

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:18 pm Big Daddy:

Ed:

What happened to the Hollywood of the 1940’s that was pro-American and actually helped the country win WWII?????

The people that run Hollywood today are anti-American scum and deserve to fail. In fact some of those Hollywood dolts, like Sean Penn and Johnny Cusak should be brought up on sedition charges.

Hate to tell you Ed - Hollyweird hated the UK and FDR until 6/23/41 - thats when they got the news that Hitler attacked their master Joe Stalin the day before - Sean Penn’s pappy Leo Penn was the leader of the Hollywood Communist party and very pro-Hitler (thats right a PRO-HITLER JEW) until operation Barbarossa (like Father like Son?)

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:23 pm Mike Kelley:

Modern Hollywood should probably stick with movies about old comic book characters, because fluff is all they are capable of now. None of the recent films will be remembered for long. In fact, I’ve forgotten them already.

Jul 20, 2008 - 8:28 pm D.K. Bateman:

Waller :

Don’t forget the viet Classic ” Siege at Firebase Gloria ” , starring Gunny Lee Ermy . of couse you can’t find it on Amazon … liberal conspiracy .. what about the seal team in Afghanistan , the officer who was awarded the Medal, that would be a great movie.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:02 pm fred:

Wow. I didn’t know that Sean Penn is a Red Diaper Baby. It all fits.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:04 pm AnnieB:

Time wounds all heels.

Rignt now YouTube is proving that anyone with talent and a few friends and a PC can make a decent 9 minute film. And WILL. For FREE!!
Do that10-12 times in a row and it’s a movie. (And by the time the new producers are ready, the bandwidth will be there for them. If not YouTube, then wherever. Maybe by download.)

Soon enough Hollywierd will be as passing a feature as the New York Slimes.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:21 pm kabud:

there is a right winger in hollywood: Vincent Gallo
much respect

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:28 pm Waller:

D. K.

Don’t think I ever heard of “Siege at Firebase Gloria”. I’d like to check it out. R. Lee Ermy was the reason FMJ was worth watching. I thoroughly enjoyed “Mail Call” on History Channel.

Only saw Platoon once. Didn’t think much of it. I was really disgusted after I found out they had re-written “Heart of Darkness” as an anti-Vietnam movie. Never read the book, but it’s premise sounded much better than Marlon ‘Jabba the Hut’ Brando’s ham acting version. That’s a movie that seems hokier every time you watch it. “The horror. The horror.” Seems silly now.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:41 pm Bart:

Surprised nobody mentioned this:

http://www.outsidethewire.com/

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:45 pm Pat:

The recent crop of antiwar films all failed at the box office because they were terrible movies. They were leftist political screeds: smug, arrogant, condescending, and tedious. Americans do not go to movie theaters to be lectured and scolded. They go to be entertained, and these films entirely failed to do that.

Jul 20, 2008 - 9:56 pm silencer:

Why is it that everywhere in the world the illegal invasion of Iraq by American forces is called “an invasion” yet in America it is called “the war in Iraq”.
What war? Did you give anyone terms of war? Did you offer surrender? No.

There IS no war. The USA is the aggressor.
Try and remember that will you, cause there are 6 billion people that DO know the difference.

Jul 20, 2008 - 10:58 pm tyree:

Interesting: I didn’t got to see “Vantage Point” because It looked like it would be another Hollywood anti-American film. I will have to catch it on DVD. If they would do a film which exposes why Congresses ratings are so low, they would probably make a fortune.

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:20 pm Bruce Lagasse:

A variant on the theme of admirable good guys and hateful villains occurs in the TV movie “Raid on Entebbe”, a semi-documentary of the Israeli commando raid on Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976 to free the hundred or more Jewish hostages being held by Palestinian-allied kidnappers. No moral ambiguity there - terrorists fully prepared to murder Jewish civilians unless Israel released a shitload of convicted arab jailbirds to a hero’s welcome in Libya (or some such place). You won’t be able to keep a dry eye at the final scene showing the freed hostages running across the tarmac at Tel Aviv airport to the arms of their waiting relatives. Among other things, it featured leading actors such as Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Robert Loggia, Martin Balsam, Stephen Macht, Horst Buchholz (as a terrorist), and Yaphet Kotto (as Idi Amin). And as icing on the cake, on what day did it occur? The Fourth of July.

Jul 20, 2008 - 11:42 pm robotech master:

Silencer:

In war you invade… your understand of english must be pretty poor not to understand that… As for the US being the aggressor your point? Iraq attacked US forces dozens of times before the 2nd war started… aggressor is a matter of your narrow view. As for the rest of the world… who cares. I’m not going to lose sleep because all the petty dictators of the world spew propaganda about how evil the US is… they did everyday before the war, they will do it everyday after the war, and as long as they can. People like you would be worried what hitler would think if he was denied the right to kill millions of jews by the US…(just a hint he likely would be pretty pissed off).

Jul 21, 2008 - 12:22 am huxley:

Mamet’s Spartan (2004) starring Val Kilmer is an underrated, largely unknown film portraying the members of military special forces positively and a corrupt Ted Kennedy-esque presidential administration, not positively at all.

From Spartan, Mamet went to create The Unit using the same Delta Force consultant, Eric Haney, that he worked with in Spartan.

It got mixed reviews and I’m not sure how well it did at the box office, but it didn’t bomb like the recent anti-war movies.

Spartan is a treat to watch if you’re looking for favorable movie about the military from Hollywood. Curiously, John Kerry’s daughter plays a bit role in the film.

Jul 21, 2008 - 12:26 am Peg C.:

We watched “Vantage Point” and liked it, but agree the plot and terrorists’ motives were obscure or undefined. I can’t even buy the Secret Service being infiltrated by terrorists. The acting was good. It didn’t totally suck, which is the best Hollywood can usually hope for.

“United 93″ (docudrama) was outstanding, in my opinion. It was a very fair portrayal of what happened that day. When it comes to positive portrayals of our military, other than “Transformers” (the enemy were alien machines - no controversy there), which I really enjoyed, there isn’t much. By the way, we are huge fans of both “N.C.I.S.” and “The Unit.” I googled The Unit and apparently it is not cancelled but renewed. I know a lot of fans of both shows, many of them liberals. I don’t know anyone who has seen any of the U.S.-bashing lefty movies. No one wants to see garbage!

Every one of you in the military and all of you vets (I’m married to a Vietnam vet, myself): Thank you for your service! We absolutely do appreciate all you do for us.

Jul 21, 2008 - 12:45 am Danny:

Hi,

DavidN, i enjoyed the Kingdom too but just a quick correction - Ashraf Barhom is actually Israeli - an Israeli Arab - which depending on your politics might make him Egyptian ;-)….

I think another of the things people forget about these war films is that they simply aren’t any good. I started watching Lions for Lambs on a very long flight and it was simply rubbish. Look at Iron Man which was also anti-war(ish), it made money because it was an enjoyable film.

Jul 21, 2008 - 1:02 am Lea:

If Hollywood would ever get with the program and do a pro American Iraqi war or afghanistan war movie or a We Won the Cold War movie (awesome idea and ridiculous it hasn’t been done) they would make a mint.

The first movie I rented after 911 was Delta Force, with Chuck Norris. It was the only movie I could think of (True lies is too campy).

Jul 21, 2008 - 4:27 am ollie:

Rambo IV - I think that made the point - though the rest of Hollywood did not get it…

Sylvester Stallone and a few others can and will make such films…

It takes time and a lot of elbow grease to get past the Hollywood censors.

Jul 21, 2008 - 6:32 am John:

One reason Hollywood makes the anti-American themed movies is because they make a killing overseas. Also when you look at the actors of yesteryear some of them where actually in World War II and some where war heroes. There are very few movies my family sees now and it looks like there will be less in the future.

Jul 21, 2008 - 6:37 am fred:

Fine, if Hollyweird wants to have a global marketing strategy and make movies for the sh*theads overseas, then let ‘em. Different companies and producers, when the Iraq theater of the war against Islamic jihad is over, will produce films and documentaries about OIF and then our campaign against the insurgency.

One silver lining about Hollyweird’s betrayal of America: once again it is American films that make the most money in Europe. And making anti-American films for Europeons hits the jackpot. The film industry in the E.U. and U.K. must be extremely uncompetitive to not even be able to funnel the populace’s America hatred into movies that make money.

Jul 21, 2008 - 7:10 am LarryD:

Matt: I think part of the problem is that Hollywood is no longer just making films for the US. A big part of their income comes from overseas and they are willing to pander to the overseas crowd.

I’ve seen that rationalization before, but it doesn’t hold up. Movies that do well in the US usually do well overseas, and the moves that do poorly in the US usually do poorly overseas as well.

Danny: I think another of the things people forget about these war films is that they simply aren’t any good.

Yeah, when they get on a “message” film, the writers and directors seem to forget everything they know about film making.

Jul 21, 2008 - 7:52 am B. G.:

The “blame the audience” game is getting tiresome. Movies about the Iraq War have tanked consistently, and Hollywood accuses we ignorant rubes who live in fly-over country for being too stupid to follow along. We just can’t understand deep concepts, can we? It’s the same game with Obama - he says something stupid or innacurate (or both), and then we’re blamed for misunderstanding what he said, and not intuitively getting what his intended message was. Huh?

Jul 21, 2008 - 8:22 am Bugs:

Hollywood simply has nothing new or important to say in the debate over the war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, or about the WoT in general. We, the “stupid American voters,” are plugged into the Internet; we get our news and views hotter than hot off the press, and we now participate in a constant, evolving discussion via news comments, independent reporting, online videos and blogs. By the time Hollywood lurches into the forum, its “cutting edge” criticisms already seem blunt through over-use - by us. Of course producers, directors and actors have the right to make their statements in whatever medium they favor; they just shouldn’t try to convince us that what they have to say is important.

Jul 21, 2008 - 8:31 am HRPKathy:

Who wants to go to a movie where “I hate you” is in every line spoken?

That’s why Americans don’t go to these movies. It’s just that simple.

Hollyweird doesn’t live in America, they live in drug-induced delusions of grandeur, with over-inflated ideas of their importance to the world.

That’s also why they no longer care if we agree with them - in their imitation of life, they are morally our superiors. They assuage their narcissistic guilt over the absence of personal morality by turning values upside down conflating social morality with false values. Fidelity, patriotism, loyalty, integrity, honesty, and fairness are not Hollywood values. Anti-Americanism, self-loathing, and navel-gazing are all prized character attributes there. It proves you are a ‘thinker’ hollywood-style. You are also a thinker if you repeat over and over again what everybody around you is also saying.

Ronald Coleman played in an old black and white movie years ago about an actor who could no longer discern whether he was on stage or not and began murdering (the character he was portraying at the time was a murderer). He got stuck ‘in character’. That’s the Hollywood malaise writ large. They ‘writ’ everything large.

Hollywood has done so many seedy films, they are stuck on seedy.

When the San Andreas finally gives way and half of California crumbles into the Pacific, who will grieve? I know. The polar bears.

The rest of us will feel like the boil on our national backside just got lanced.

Jul 21, 2008 - 8:36 am Cletus:

Ben Steins expelled is guilty of such intellectual dishonesty it’s appalling. The only reason it grossed so much is because big church groups got together and went and saw it (like they did when POTC came out).

But anyway, I’d still rather watch expelled than any of that anti-war filth that the liberal 1337 keep vomiting forth

Jul 21, 2008 - 10:21 am Ciscokid:

Vote with the remote and also by boycotting the directors, actors, producers and film companies who’re pedaling this anti-American garbage. Take the movie Flags of Our Fathers. Ryan Phillippe’s (also was in Stop-Loss) line- “so much for not leaving anyone behind”, because a Marine waving at a plane fell overboard. Point was made the Navy convoy couldn’t stop as you watched the doomed Marine being passed in the water by the following ships. Why was this scene necessary other than to discredit our American militaries pledge of “no man left behind”? How many American soldiers have “actually” died keeping this promise now and in the past? I’m taking names and will never watch another Clint Eastwood movie or anything with Ryan Phillippe in it. Other Hollywood stars are on this list and reading other comments on this thread many already know who they are. Enough – they don’t need my money and I’m not wasting my time.

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:11 am virgil xenophon:

Additional little known/remembered very good Vietnam-themed movies with either a pro US or basically neutral stance:(1) “31CharlieMopic” about a signal corps camera unit attached to a unit seeing heavy action;(2) “Platoon Leader,” a very realistic take on the company/platoon level action;(3) “BAT 51″ starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover (for once not in an anti-us mode)true story from book of same name about a downed USAF RB-66 ELINT–electronics intelligence–senior Lt.Col Navigator(Call sign BAT51) with nuclear secrets in his head, and the all-out attempts to rescue him;(4) “Night of the Intruder,” based on book by a Navy A-6 Intruder pilot with (once again) Danny Glover in supporting role as a senior officer.

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:20 am Sandra M:

On patriotic holidays, since I don’t like brass bands, parades or fireworks much, I sometimes watch a double feature of LAST OF THE MOHICANS and Mel Gibson’s THE PATRIOT. Film one is almost the backstory of Gibson’s character in film 2.

We could also make an analogy from THE PATRIOT about how a change in strategy (guerrilla warfare vs. fighting the Brits head on) turned things around during the Revolutionary war. I almost never buy “merchandising” products around a film but did buy a large magazine style book about the making of THE PATRIOT, the one film the Smithsonian Institute helped out with. And more credit to them for doing so. There were also mentions of the real-life hero Gibson’s character was based on. Worth buying if you find it somewhere.

This 4th of July, I watched 1776. Another film which I always enjoy watching is MIDWAY. We won that battle, outnumbered 4 to 1, only six months after Pearl Harbor. Amazing.

There is one great film about a great General: PATTON. But if I could I would excise one lie from the film. That’s when one solider says to another: “Yeah, our blood, his guts.” Not true (read Hanson’s THE SOUL OF BATTLE about both Patton and Sherman) soldiers serving with these generals knew they had a better chance of returning to their loved ones than by fighting under anyone else.

I saw VANTAGE POINT this weekend and the Rashomon gimmick and very fancy camera work hid the fact that we never found out WHO plotted the assassination or WHY. What a waste of fine performances and terrific camera work. Story matters. Plot matters. When will Hollyweird learn?

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:25 am Colonel Spotteswoode:

“Team America: World Police” was patriotic and pro War on Terror. Mostly.

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:28 am virgil xenophon:

CORRECTION: That’s “84″ Charlie MOPIC

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:31 am james jones:

THE ONLY HOLLYWOOD WINS IS COUPLES UNMARRIED HAVING BASTARD CHILDREN

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:48 am james jones:

WHO CARES I TELL IT LIKE I SEE IT VERY ARE FOR CHILDREN TO SEE WITH OUT A BLIND FOLD

Jul 21, 2008 - 11:59 am ramsis:

for all the flak president Bush received over his mission accomplished moment I think Hollywood is having many of their own. By refusing to acknowledge the reality on the ground they just appear ridiculous as they hemorage money in an attempt to influence an election.

Jul 21, 2008 - 12:42 pm NahnCee:

james jones - you must have difficulty seeing anything at all, or you’d notice you have your CapsLock key on.

Jul 21, 2008 - 12:47 pm Waller:

The problem with Hollywood recently is that not only are their movies anti-war, they’re anti-military as well. Don’t they read the bumper stickers? Even people who don’t support the war, support the troups.

Hollyweird either doesn’t have people who know anything about military operations or they intentionally don’t get it right. The military is always a bunch of bumbling bureaucrats. There’s always a sadistic commander who doesn’t care about his men. There’s always a handful of bloodthirsty soldiers eager to kill anything. The good guy is always in a moral quandry. He’s always screwed by his comrades for not being a member of the pack. Etc. Etc.

The missions are never planned out. They always just tell the soldiers to go into suicide situations, then threaten a bullet in the head if they refuse.

It’s all predictable. This is what Hollyweird wants the army to be like. I think most people except the extreme lefties understand how wrong they get it. If you are going to attack an institution, you should understand how it works. I think the audience picks up that Hollywood hasn’t a clue how the military works, and that turns them off.

Jul 21, 2008 - 2:58 pm Galinar:

I was waiting for someone else to make this point - as soon as BO wins the elction, war in Iraq (which we will continue winning) suddenly becomes extremely popular with Hollywood.
Young, articulate A/A commander-in-chief - how many movies you can built on this! Just wait and see.

Jul 21, 2008 - 4:02 pm Donna:

“Forrest Gump” is not about Vietnam per se; it’s basically about boomers. I remember the anti-war hippies in the film were portrayed as being jerks who berated Gump when he was in uniform. That’s pretty close to the truth, but I was startled to see it in a Hollywood flick. The film is also unusual in showing Gump heroically rescuing the Gary Sinese character. Most Vietnam movies are loath to admit that anybody in the US military did anything heroic over there.

I recall being absolutely shattered when I saw “The Deerhunter” back in 1978 or so, but it hasn’t held up well. I found myself thinking how improbable the storyline was, including the famous Russian roulette scene. Who, in any war, would be stupid enough to hand a POW a loaded revolver? And extra bullets? And who would survive longer than a few days (if that) playing Russian roulette for money? How on earth did the DeNiro character manage to get back into Vietnam just in time for the fall of Saigon? The very idea that 3 best friends from the same town would end up in the same platoon and would captured at the same time and held in the same place struck me as unbelievable.

Funny, a Vietnam vet once told me he started meeting phony ‘Nam vets for the first time in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s. “They didn’t know anything about the military at all, but they had seen ‘Apocalypse Now’ a bunch of times.”

Jose Garcia: Thank you for your service.

Jul 21, 2008 - 6:15 pm Donna:

BTW, are there any movies about the Korean War besides M*A*S*H? M*A*S*H, released in 1970, was really an anti-war movie about Vietnam.

I have heard Vietnam vets say they were “forgotten.” With all due respect, they may have been despised by some, and neglected, but they haven’t been forgotten. I think the Korean War vets were the forgotten ones.

Of course, considering what Hollywood did with Vietnam and what it’s doing now with Iraq, the Korean War vets might be lucky!

Jul 21, 2008 - 6:32 pm marymcl:

Donna ~ The plot of the Oresteia is pretty improbable, too (nobody’s family is that messed up in so many generations) but the Agamemnon is still a powerful play. I too was shattered - perfect choice of word - by The Deer Hunter, so much so that I’ve been unable to watch it ever since, though I recently bought the DVD. Everything you say about the unlikelihood of story is true, but it’s not a documentary, it’s a tragedy. Things are compressed and magnified and blown out of proportion in order to engage the audience emotionally.

Strange as it may sound, I think too much has been made, then and now, about the Russian roulette. What made that movie for me is the way the three main characters and their friends were recognizable as a group. They were like the guys I grew up with. I can’t say that about any of the other Vietnam movies I’ve seen. Christopher Walken gives one of the great film performances of this generation as well.

And the last scene, where everyone’s sitting around the table after the funeral and someone starts singing God Bless America is extraordinary and deeply moving.

Jose Garcia (and all those with you) Godspeed and safe home

Jul 21, 2008 - 7:25 pm kabud:

i recently discovered Hitchcock’s TOPAZ
and was quite impressed

i recommend it to everyone

recently some kremlin official made a statement that in case of American deployment of anti missile systems in Europe kremlin will deploy `something` in Cuba

so TOPAZ has become even more interesting

Also CUBAN theme is played in news, popculture:

in TOPAZ you may have that rear occasion to see real ugly and bloody castro regime

cuban heroic underground and even more:

TOPAZ in the movie is a name of a of the spy ring in the highest french political elite that worked for kremlin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topaz_(1969_film)

one may imagine that multiple failures of today’s USA policies regarding ME or Russia or defence
may actually have the same explanation and are not a product of `stupidity` of policy makers or just pure mistakes

very entertaining and informational movie

Jul 21, 2008 - 9:15 pm Pete:

How about “We Were Soldiers, Once”. I know there is a theme about how badly the families of the dead were treated, but, otherwise, I thought it well done.

Jul 22, 2008 - 11:46 am Pete:

Oops. I see it was already mentioned.

Jul 22, 2008 - 11:48 am NahnCee:

“From Russia with Love” is a very entertaining and informational movie about the cold war and the USSR and its policies and tactics.

Jul 22, 2008 - 3:33 pm heather:

this is not a war movie, but it stars Mel Gibson: “Hamlet.” I have watched it, and the Olivier version, and believe me, Gibson is miles better. I admit, Olivier has a gorgeous voice, but his Hamlet prances around in a depressing gloom; and let us pass over Jean Simmons’ Ophelia in silence. Gibson’s Hamlet, on the other hand, is an killer and a spoiler, a great character. Bonham-Carter’s Ophelia made me want to cry.

Mel Gibson has been discounted in every way, long before Passion, or his drunken tirade in Malibu.

Jul 22, 2008 - 7:58 pm kevin:

the only good movie about the vietnam war was the deer hunter, a movie about friendship more than anything. the best movie ever made if i might say.

Jul 22, 2008 - 11:48 pm Bugs:

I actually have to amend my previous comment. Believe it or not, The Dark Knight may be the most powerful movie about terrorism to come out since the WoT began. The script touches on many of the moral - even existential - challenges we’re dealing with these days. It asks how people who value human life, law and order, individual rights and freedom can fight an enemy who seems to value none of those things - who, in fact, recognizes no rules at all in his war against civilization. It shows how such an enemy, through terror, can manipulate us into doing anything he wants, including violating our own principles so that we risk becoming “just as bad” as he is. It also presents leaders who are forced to respond to his plots when there seem to be no “right” or “good” or “correct” choices open to them. And it shows ordinary people refusing to be manipulated - even at the cost of their own lives. The ending is messy, not triumphal, not even making the best of a bad situation. More like the characters living with the choices they’ve made and vowing to fight on.

OK, it’s comic book characters in costumes beating each other up. Not usually my thing. But I found it to be a surprisingly mature and accurate philosophical depiction of our current world. I noticed something similar in Iron Man as it dealt with the unintended consequences of selling arms (or information, or anything powerful) in a global economy. Compared to these “superhero” films, Hollywood’s “serious” WoT-related offerings have been more or less emotional anti-war blurts. The Dark Knight’s writers, in contrast, that it’s not as simple as being for or against. Sometimes you don’t have a choice.

Jul 23, 2008 - 9:26 am Bugs:

Sorry, that comment was more about the WoT than the war in Iraq - unless you consider Iraq to be a campaign in the WoT, which I kind of do.

Jul 23, 2008 - 9:37 am Dave DeLuca:

I am always checking out pro Veteran, pro troop sites and I came across a site by an independent filmmaker name Jack Marino. Donna you mentioned in your post about how the vietnam vets consider themselves ‘forgotten’. Well this guy have made a small low budget independent film called FORGOTTEN HEROES and he made it twenty years ago. I recently bought his DVD and he sent me a small press release telling how he was blackballed in Hollywood. His film is the only pro Vietnam film out there because he made it in 1988 and finished it in 1990. Long before Mel’s film. This film is a freaking little gem of a film. It is has a powerful message and a heartfelt tribute to all of our Vietnam vets.

Now to top if off this guy Marino has posted a letter he has received from the President of the United States thanking him for his work on FORGOTTEN HEROES and the film can’t find a release. Marino is selling his film, himself through his web site at

http://www.forgottenheroesthemovie.com.

Talk about tenacity and persistence this guy is relentless. He even mentioned that certain conservative film festivals won’t play his pro Vietnam veteran film in their festival. This guy is fighting both the anti-military crowd in Hollywood and those that say they support our veterans in the conservative community in Los Angeles. The kicker is now he has a letter from President Bush validating his film and praising his son who is serving in Iraq. Talk about out flanking all his distractors.

His film has a great little story, it was his first time as a director and the cast is all unknown but for William Smith, (Falconetti, Born Losers, Red Dawn) as the defecting General in Vietnam. Marino made a WWII style film in Vietnam and there are NO F-words in this action war drama. Unbelievable!!!

IF all you here who support our veterans, especially our Vietnam veterans and don’t want to see Vets portrayed as baby killers, then FORGOTTEN HEROES is the small indie film for you. I loved the the film, you can tell he had nothing to work with and this guy just refused to give up and say die.

He even has a quote from a retired General thanking the Vietnam vets and welcoming them home and this General was a platoon leader in vietnam in 1966. I am going to help this guy get the word out to everyone on these blogs. I put my money where my mouth was and bought his film to show him support for sticking by this film against all the odds against him.

He also is donating 25% of his gross sales to the THE AMERICAN VETERANS DISABLED FOR LIFE MEMORIAL FUND. So $5.00 from each DVD sale if going to help our vets from all of our wars for freedom.

We all sit here and blog up a storm about that there are no films out there that support the troops and vets. Well I happen to stumble on to this site http://www.forgottenheroesthemovie.com and we have one hell of a fighter out there and all he wants is for us to buy his DVD so all of the Vietnam vets will know, that there is a film that says. THANK YOU and WELCOME HOME BROTHERS.

Check it out, the letter from the President is awesome!

Jul 30, 2008 - 2:57 pm

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