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Discuss: Iraq War Movies and Their Box-Office Deaths
Filed under: New Releases », Universal », Box Office », Politics », War »
This weekend sees the release of Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss, about a soldier who returns from a grueling tour of duty in Iraq only to learn that he's being sent back for another one. The movie's not bad: very passionate, very angry, a bit didactic, and liberal to the core. (See our own Eric D. Snider's SXSW review here.) The "liberal" part is no surprise, at least not if you've been listening to the conservative pundits who have torn into Hollywood for what they see as anti-war propaganda masquerading as entertainment. Those same pundits like to gloat about Iraq War movies' perceived financial failure, holding up their box-office receipts as proof that the American people either aren't interested or aren't on the same page.
But have the Iraq War movies we've seen in the past couple of years actually performed all that poorly? And even if they have, does that have anything to do with public distaste for liberal Hollywood or its "propaganda"? Take a look at some numbers and share your thoughts after the jump.
An Early Look at the Venice Debuts
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Music & Musicals », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Newsstand », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie »
The Venice Film Festival may be in (rumored) financial trouble, and facing a possible challenge from an upstart fest in Rome but it nevertheless retains the power to draw the big names, both to its jury and its screens. Though its director insist the focus of this year's festival (which will run from August 30-September 9) will be on European films, the group of American projects expected to debut in Venice is pretty darn impressive. According to Variety, David Lynch's Inland Empire (once rumored to be bowing at Cannes) has been confirmed for the festival -- it'll be screening out of competition -- and Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia (YAY!), Woody Allen's Scoop (Have you seen the trailer? Yawn.), Home of the Brave, Children of Men, and World Trade Center are all assumed to be on the slate as well.In addition to the American products, Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute has been confirmed, and The Golden Door (an Italian film about Ellis Island) and Petites peurs partagées, the latest from the legendary Alain Resnais, are also likely to screen. The festival will also feature a tribute to Roberto Rossellini, who would have turned 100 this year; the tribute will include screenings of newly restored prints of his films (Open City, without flecks of white all over it? Holy awesome.)
Jackson leaves Iraq for the Home of the Brave
Filed under: Action », Drama », Independent », Casting », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
As Hollywood gradually becomes willing to take a serious look at the war in Iraq,
one of the first films to come off the assembly line will be producer-director Irwin
Winkler's Home of the Brave. (Though I would swear I've written about this movie before, I can't find any
sign of it in searches. Maybe I'm now dreaming about Cinematical posts.) The film, from a screenplay by Mark
Friedman, stars Samuel L. Jackson as one of three soldiers who
struggle with the adjustment to life back in the States after his return from the Middle East. Also in the cast are Jessica
Biel, Christina
Ricci, and Brian
Presley, while 50 Cent is also in negotiations to join up.Because the film's subject is seen as controversial, it took Winkler two years to line up financing for Brave, which will be made on a slim $12 million budget. The movie starts shooting in March in Morocco and Washington state.
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