"W" by Oliver Stone

[chance1]

saw it last night with my bf - i had little interest prior but he wanted to see it badly sooooooooo - i ended up liking it more than he

I had heard prior that it was supposed to be a fairly balanced portrayal of GWB - much like John Feinstein's book about Bobby Knight "A Season on the Brink" - and depending on the viewer/reader ............ u may have many interpretations

I beg to differ

The movie portrays GWB as a frat boy who did not excel in school, could not keep and was not interested in many jobs as a young man, who got by on his ability to BS/chat/etc

That his daddy much preferred Jeb who was the steadier of the 2 boys - that his daddy did not approve of him - that this relationship messed GWB up a bit - trying to get daddy's love/attention/approval

based on the portrayals in the movie, only Colin Powell came off well - and in the end he went along with GWB so perhaps not so well - but the best of the group

Dick Cheney came off as evil
Rumsfeld as a jerk
Rice as mindless
Tenet as weak
Rove as well u know

acting was pretty good - James Cromwell as Papa Bush was excellent and James Brolin was pretty damn convincing

in my mind the key moment was when they were counting up the "support" for the war and they were counting countries - and Morocco was gonna supply monkeys - forget what these monkeys could do but .............. u get the idea

Bush talking to Jacques Chirac was priceless

Scene early on where he runs for Congress - loses to a guy who calls him a carpetbagger and rich boy - good scene

GWB says after i will never get out christianed again

if u havent seen it i recommend it

here's the trailer

 

[vettehottie]

Thank you for the review, very interesting. I've sort of wanted to see this... may have to wait till it comes out on dvd.

Cheers

 

[jackoroe]

You really didn't expect Oliver Stone to be accurate or fair, did you? I wouldn't cross the street to see any of his garbage.

 

[Telstra]

prefer documentary rather than movie.

Did Oliver stone made nixon the movie as well ? that was sooo boring i went to sleep.

 

[chance1]

prefer documentary rather than movie.

Did Oliver stone made nixon the movie as well ? that was sooo boring i went to sleep.

agreed on doc vs. movie

saw a trailer for new nixon/frost interview movie

not sure who the director is - looks pretty damn good

frank langella as nixon - not sure who is frost

looks big budget and worth a look see

 

[Centexfarmer]

I'm looking forward to seeing Gus Van Sants new biopic, MILK:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW0lQrWn5VI[/ame]

It's supposed to be based on Randy Shilts' book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mayor-Castro-Street-Stonewall-Editions/dp/0312019009"]The Mayor of Castro Street[/ame].

Considering the recent passage of Prop 8 out in California, and the seemingly lack of knowledge of the history of our Gay collective equality, it's a movie that I'd rather spend more time revisting than another Oliver Stone perspective on the "truth."

I will watch "W," and I look forward to seeing it, but only after it's out on DVD.

Oh, and Josh Brolin plays City Supervisor Dan White in that movie, so we can get our Josh Brolin fix in that movie too.

And there's a reported sex scene between Sean Penn and James Franco.

 

[Centexfarmer]

But to be fair, if you want to get into "political" movies that are already out on DVD (so that you can actually have public displays of affection within the privacy of your living room) I'd suggest:

Lions and Lambs:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_V6ulwA0KE[/ame]

Honestly, it was kind of depressing, but not nearly as depressing as Syriana:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS3GFnSGOfk[/ame]

"W," IMO rates right up there with Roger Moore's last commentary of WTFE.

Cinema historians, may or may not, look back at the Bush Years to pick a flick that best defines which movie best portrays the final years of a failed administration, but honestly I look for the books that will eventually be made into movies to help us define what was really going on, and what happened.

Even Oliver Stone admitted that he wanted to portray Bush as a 2-Dimensional character, but discovered that he was much more complex than how we want to see him.

Well, we didn't realize how psychotic Nixon was until recently.

No matter how much/many wanted to vilify him.

Now, some are more sympathetic.

 

[construct]

I went to see W. several weeks ago. I found it quite uneven. I didn't find the story all that interesting, and I didn't find the characters all that compelling. The father/son conflict I found tiresome. I think the "blood for oil" explanation for Iraq is a little simplistic.

It was good to see Josh Brolin and Ellen Burstyn. I like both of them, and they turned in reasonably good performances. I also liked Richard Dreyfuss's performance. Overall, though, I say skip it.

This isn't really surprising from me. I'm not a fan of Oliver Stone. I generally avoid his movies, but I was invited by some friends, and I wanted an excuse to get out of the house. I got out of the house, and I've seen a movie that has provoked some discussion. So I guess I can't complain too much.