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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > The Lounge > Non-Civil War Books, Movies, Music, etc. > Oliver Stone's New Film "W." |
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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > The Lounge > Non-Civil War Books, Movies, Music, etc. > Oliver Stone's New Film "W." |
| Moderated by: javal1 | Page: 1 2   |
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| Oliver Stone's New Film "W." | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 12:30 am |
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1st Post |
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CleburneFan Member 
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Just saw Oliver Stone's new film "W." We saw it at 11:40AM in a theater that can easily hold about 700 people but only baout 30 showed up. Of course, it was very early. What is more interesting perhaps that most of the audience were males of about 30 to 45 years old. Only two of us were women! I hadn't realized that this would be a movie of greater interest to men. Since mid-summer we had been seeing trailers of "W." They made the movie look really funny and I fully believed it would be a spoof of George Bush. Turns out, it was anything but a spoof. In fact, I didn't see anything particularly funny. What caught my interest right away was the amazing resemblance Josh Brolin has to George W. Bush and Richard Dreyfus has to Dick Cheney. Thandie Newton had a reasonable resemblance to Condaleeza Rice. Jeffrey Wright was a very convincing Colin Powell. Toby Jones was a pretty good Karl Rove, but I kept recalling Jones as an even more convincing Truman Capote in "Infamous." The movie consists of many flashbacks and juxtapositions of time, so one has to stay alert to be oriented to the time being shown. But the main impression I am left with in the film is that I did not go expecting a sympathetic picture of George Bush, but I did begin to feel sorry for him because of his father's attitude toward him as a definite inferior to brother Jeb Bush. Jebbie is a PHD, on whom the elder Bush had laid his hopes and dreams. In fact, Stone made it seem that W.'s main driving motivation was to somehow earn his father's respect, but no matter how much he achieved he could not get out of Jeb's shadow. After the movie Hubby and I talked about our impressions. We felt that George H. W. Bush was shown as a very unlikeable character, driven by ambition and the furtherance of the prestige of the Bush family name with an eye toward history. Barbara Bush is not shown in a flattering light either. We also felt that Stone shows Cheney, so ably played by Richard Dreyfus, to be a true charlatan in his ambition to secure the lion's share of the world's oil for the US. Colin Powell, who struggled against Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Rice and Wolfowitz was out-maneuvered by them. As it turned out, however, Powell seemed the best of the bunch at predicting what eventually did happen. Strangely, the movie shows Rice to be rather passive and not a major player in the scenario that unfolded in the White House during the early Bush years. Josh Brolin really does an incredible job of playing George Bush. The last two years have been very big years for Brolin who has emerged as a compelling actor. (I wonder if he could play John Bell Hood or maybe even Longstreet!) Somehow I wish Oliver Stone had waited longer to make this film, because I would like a little more of the perspective time brings to history. We still don't really know all the implications of eight years of the Bush administration or how it will blend into or contrast with the next administration. I'm not sure why Stone was such a hurry. Maybe he can do a Part Two in about ten years when W.'s place in history is somewhat clearer. This movie is certainly worthwhile seeing if you have any interest in the Bush family or the Bush administration and the movers and shakers in it.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 01:27 am |
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2nd Post |
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Johan Steele Life NRA,SUVCW # 48,Legion 352 
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Oliver Stone... a movie about an American guaranteed to put the American in the worst light possible. I've depised him since Platoon; he's never done a movie to change my mind. I rather doubt this movie will change my mind.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 01:37 am |
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3rd Post |
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Crazy Delawares Member 
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I'm with you, Johann. I'm not interested in anything OS puts out there.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 01:51 am |
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4th Post |
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The Iron Duke Member 
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Alexander was undoubtably one of the worst historical films I've ever seen.
____________________ "Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill |
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 01:53 am |
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5th Post |
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ole Member 
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Oliver Stone, an older, more petite version of Michael Moore.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 02:02 am |
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6th Post |
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Texas Defender Member 
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Moores the pity. 
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 02:07 am |
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7th Post |
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javal1 Grumpy Geezer 
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Haven't seen the movie - and won't. But those who are saying it potrays Bush in the worst possible light are, according to all the reviews I've read, probably wrong. I've actually heard quite a few say that (echoing some of Cleburne's post) they sort of pitied him after seeing it. I can think of many film-makers that could make a realistic potrayal and can guarantee you that pity wouldn't be one of the words used after seeing it. Agree with everyone regarding Stone though. I consider him a thief of good ideas. He takes subjects that could or should be made into serious, thought-provoking movies and turns them into fictionalized trash.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 04:37 am |
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8th Post |
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Johan Steele Life NRA,SUVCW # 48,Legion 352
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Javal... Ahmen.
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| You have chosen to ignore JDC Duncan. click Here to view this post |
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 03:52 pm |
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11th Post |
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Johan Steele Life NRA,SUVCW # 48,Legion 352
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Duncan... Stone has a long track record. Name 1 movie he's done that treats the military w/ any sympathy or for that matter puts the US in a positive light. CNN = anti US propoganda. Fox News = editorials.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 07:54 pm |
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13th Post |
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Johan Steele Life NRA,SUVCW # 48,Legion 352
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JDC Duncan wrote: Platoon in no way treats the "military" w/ sympathy No, it doesn't; it accuses them of all kinds of things that never happened and it does everything possible to paint the US soldier in the worst possible light.
Excuse me? Are you calling me a fascist? If so I bloody well want an explanation and an apology. I would consider a lack of such a mortal insult and will reply in kind.
All garbage; I agree. I'm proud of my country & my family. Oliver Stone is not and IMO has done everything in his power to harm them. Last edited on Sat Oct 18th, 2008 07:59 pm by Johan Steele |
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18th, 2008 10:58 pm |
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14th Post |
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Mr Hess53 Member 
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JFK was a fascinating piece of cinematic trash Too bad so many people believed Stone's storyline
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 12:02 am |
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15th Post |
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The Iron Duke Member
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The American government can't even balance a budget. How they could pull off Garrison's rediculous conspiracy theory is beyond me.
____________________ "Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill |
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 01:47 am |
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16th Post |
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Texas Defender Member
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The Iron Duke- I'm sure that that evil Karl Rove was mixed up in it somehow. After all, he was almost 13 by the time JFK was shot.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 04:21 am |
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17th Post |
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Crazy Delawares Member
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I get what Stone does. I just don't like it. Just like a book that one person likes and another doesn't.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 04:51 am |
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18th Post |
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Captain Crow Progressive Southerner 
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Stone=leftist propagandist with delusions of intellectual grandeur. Fox News= usually balanced reporting, varying degrees of right leaning editorials CNN, MSNBC, HNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR etc= varying degrees of imbalanced reporting, left leaning philosophy underpinning and influencing their choice of items worth covering and the way they are interpreted. no one = networks interested in propagating a truly balanced and centrist point of view. the U.S. needs less polarization and more centrist representation...but the big two are never going to allow anyone else into the process because there's too much money and power at stake.... so I believe I will pass on "W" Although I am proud to live in a country where such a movie can be produced and shown without fear of government reprisals. Thanks to the wonderful men and women of the United States armed forces for preserving our freedom.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 02:30 pm |
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19th Post |
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javal1 Grumpy Geezer
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Once again I've had to delete a post. It seems we've degraded to the point where we can't even talk about a movie without hurling personal insults. If you want to talk about the specific movie "W" or it's Director, fine. Otherwise, don't post. And by all means stop posting crap you know is over the line knowing that when I get here I'm going to have to wade through it and delete it. I'm a moderator, not a baby-sitter.
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