TheMiracleOfSt.Anna Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Late August was the last time we mentioned George Lucas' Red Tails, but considering the Star Wars director has been wanting to make the film for decades, less than a year between reports is not too bad. Plus, the new AP story about the film's preproduction couldn't come at a better time. People are currently talking about Spike Lee's upcoming African Americans in WWII film, Miracle of St. Anna, and Red Tails also focuses on blacks fighting in the war. Specifically it deals with the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corp., otherwise known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of pilots, bombardiers and navigators.

The AP story mostly features quotes from Tuskegee vets, who share their memories and their hopes for what the film will show. But there's also some minor updates courtesy of producer Rick McCallum, who's reportedly now scouting locations in the Czech Republic and Italy. He says that Lucas is hoping to begin shooting later this year or early 2009 and that the script by John Ridley (Three Kings) "balances difficult and painful issues with what is, at its heart, the story of men with a dream to fly and serve their country." So, apparently the script is finished, yet it's still unclear who will be directing Red Tails; the AP story almost seems to assume that Lucas will be holding the reigns himself.

After the whole Spike Lee vs. Clint Eastwood kerfuffle, it's great to finally see a glimpse of Lee's new World War II movie, Miracle at St. Anna. The trailer for the film has just shown up on Yahoo! and it looks just as great as I'd hoped it would. Of course, it's difficult to tell the quality of a war movie based on its trailer -- war movies from Hollywood typically all look the same at the marketing stage -- but I have a strong feeling this will at the very least be one of the more interesting war movies we've seen in some time. Coming from the unique perspective of Lee, we're hopefully bound for some things we haven't even seen before.

I like that the trailer begins in a bank that kinda resembles the one from Lee's previous feature, Inside Man. And that it takes a moment to reveal that it's a war movie. I guess now that we see Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role more clearly (he's not even listed on the film's IMDb page), it seems as though St. Anna may involve more of a present story than I had expected. Perhaps his interview with the main character, Hector (Laz Alonso), will be interwoven with the story, like the interrogation sequences of Inside Man? Nah, Lee would never repeat himself so blatantly, would he?

The Miracle of St. Anna marches into theaters September 26.