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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
The setting must be the East Prussian lair from which the Nazis outlined and executed their murderous rampage upon the Government General of central Poland. Why on earth would anyone want to "go back there" over the Christmas holidays, of all times, particularly when the plot failed?
Because a movie about killing Hitler will give Jewish people something to do on Christmas Day?
Don't watch tv or movies.
So saith Noel Coward...
I think Tom Cruise is just about as beastly as we need to get!
I think the movie you mean starred James Mason in one of his usual tortured dark passionate hero roles (did you see Julius Caesar?) as the protagonist. The only reason I remember it is that I had (and still have) a huge crush on James Mason. Someone will come up with the title.
I dislike the man - I have no respect for his personal beliefs. BUT he is a decent acotor. I think you sir, have merged the actor and the person into one. This is a good solid movie and if the actore was in the tabloids for working with the homeless and with the poor in Africa, you would be praising his role in this movie .. but since you remember him jumping on Operas couch, you have this twisted perverse opinion of him as an ACTOR .. its sad. Hes a good actor and this is a "good" film - leave it at that or can you not seperate the two ?
Considering how Wil Smith spouted "useless eater" sociology on the Oprah show, I would say that the Germans concern for Scientology being too close to Nazism rings true.
How stupid can Wil Smith be to buy such nonsense and then spout it out on Oprah?
Scientology stupid, that's how stupid.
Actually, the story is about Hitler killing Von Stauffenberg, to be precise. I prefer movies like the Anne Frank story with Ben Kingsley as her father (made for TV, but better than most screen films), if you are going to focus on the Nazizeit. Even Schindler's List was a little creepy in terms of honoring participants in the war effort, and only the montage at the end with real life survivors and their descendants made it tolerable, at least to me.
You're right! To do this movie justice, it should have been done in German with English subtitles like The Longest Day, a film about D-Day, which used all German actors speaking in their native tongues. That would have shut Mr. Cruise out. A German accent could have possibly helped his credibility in this serious role which was a reach. But then I remember Billy Crudup's faltering French accent in Charlotte Gray, which he seemed to lose halfway through movie, and that just might be worse than no accent at all.
And I agree Cruise has limited emotional range and lacks subtlety. I saw Magnolia. But I liked him in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, so as I said previously, he needs to stick with Americana and play to his strength.
As to the lady who accuses many of us of pontificating. Hell yes. We are. But isn't what blogging is all about? I don't think you have to see the movie to have an opinion of Tom Cruise. I'll wait until it's on DVD at the library and rent it for $1.00.
One of the letters states that it is a pity the Germans did not make a movie about which won an Oscar), and several first-rate German actors. The movie is out in DVD - in German- and ought to be released at least with English subtitles.
I have not yet seen , however one gets the impression that the German movie hews more closely to reality. There was no scene, for instance, in which a pregnant Nina von Stauffenberg clutches her womb. The couple parted without her knowing about her husband's plans. She was arrested, though, and the children were taken from her to be given other names and adopted by other people. The war ended, and with it these atrocities.
Germans for a long time had a very divided attitude towards Stauffenberg and the conspirators of 20th July 1944. I remember the outcry that went up shortly after the war when a new military post was supposed to be named after Stauffenberg . Now, the opposite is true. Last year, Stauffenberg's 100th birthday was celebrated with reverence - new generations of Germans have grown up with entirely different values. Together with the circle around Sophie Scholl his figure is becoming emblematic for resistance , even in almost impossible circumstances.
I'm thinking no.
I'd prefer Puerto Ricans.
and, IMHO, it sucked, big time. It seemed reasonably accurate, but the lighting was impossibly 21st century, the lack of accent consistency (as in pick one) was extremely disconcerting. Also, even during WWII, things happened at a slower pace, and the film simply ignored that.
Also, Cruise was terrible. He has overacted in virtually everything for 20 years. His early stuff - All the Right Moves and Risky Business - showed real promise, but, then, we had Top Gun, The Color of Money and Cocktail where he basically chewed the scenery. Somehow, he got himself back on track with Rain Man (by far his best performance ever) and mostly with Born on the Fourth of July. Since then, he is the epitome of overacting. Nothing has changed here.
I say he can
He can act it up grand
Like a big fat ham...
about Klaus
www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Claus_Schenk_Graf_von_Stauffenberg
C'mon its just a movie. The producers could have given it a a little plot twist no one would've seen coming. I mean couldn't we all use a happy ending right about now?
Could we EVER!
As the lady said, "Aren't you a little short to be an imperial storm trooper?"
I would recommend Kurt Schussnigg of Austria. For those who don't know his story, and to the extent memory serves, Schussnigg succeeded a man named Dolfuss, who came to power around the time of Hitler and Mussolini, and likewise suspended parliament, etc. But the Austrians lived by their WWI treaty obligations and Dolfuss was not anti-semetic, at least compared to the Germans. Freud later recalled that while his family was not particularly religious, they prayed from time to time for the Austrian government, realizing that the Germans were comparatively much worse. Dolfuss was assassinated, and Schussnigg replaced him.
Schussnigg stood up to Hitler for a time to avoid the Anschluss, and even out-foxed the Germans by calling for a plebiscite on it, which he anticipated would vote for independence. Hitler threatened war; Schussnigg gave an impassioned national radio address declaring "bis zu dem Tod; Rot Weiss Rot" (together until death, red white red); he eventually relented to avoid bloodshed; then spent much time upon his arrest in a concentration camp, yet survived the war. He may have done some dishonorable things as well - I don't know - but he certainly had his high points. He was right wing and Germanic without being involved in any of the Nazi crimes.
Curiously, the movie Sound of Music makes a passing allusion to Schussnigg in the scenes where Von Trapp's ball features an Austrian flag and an Austrian design on his top coat. Schussnigg had banned all political insignias other than red/white/red; Von Trapp seems to have been a Schussnigg supporter (in real life, of course, he fled to America via Italy, and died shortly after the war).
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
