| Monday, December 11, 2006 |
| You Gotta Be Willing To Take The Hit |
Maybe it's because I'm still peeved that "Saving Private Ryan" lost to "Shakespeare in Love" for the Academy Awards' Best Picture back in 1998. Or maybe it's because I am absolutely sick of hate-America politics. I just caught this on the Drudge Report: "LA critics vote for Clint Eastwood's 'Letters From Iwo Jima'..."
Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" was the recent film about the Americans who planted Old Glory atop Mount Suribachi when they had won the battle for Iwo Jima. It wasn't terribly exciting as far as I've read [Full disclosure: I haven't seen the film]. "Letters from Iwo Jima" was filmed concurrently to "Flags" and follows battle from the Japanese soldiers' perspective. And, of course, film critics are frothing at the second picture.
In a poorly written article at FoxNews.com [Link], entertainment commentator Roger Friedman writes the following:
But what I think will make the difference for "Iwo Jima" is that it arrives just at the right time politically in this country. "Flags of Our Fathers" had a hard time finding an audience because people thought it was rah-rah patriotic. It wasn’t, but the marketing department had trouble communicating its sometimes ambiguous message.
"Iwo Jima" should be easy: War is hell. That’s it. And at the end of 2006, with soldiers coming home in body bags, this should be pretty simple to grasp. I'm sorry Mr. Friedman, but the fact that "Flags" wasn't "rah-rah patriotic" is the reason that the film had a hard time finding an audience. Want proof? Watch Clint Eastwood's "Iwo Jima" bomb at the box office, too.
The same critics that voted down "Saving Private Ryan" are now pulling for "Iwo Jima" for Best Picture. Something's amiss. And that something is Hollywood's contempt for America. Oh, how I am disgusted by it! The same people that benefit and profit from the opportunities afforded by living is this free nation are the very people that cry about it's uncultured people, the same people that destroy lives of statesmen with lies, and the same people that hate our victories -- hoping for defeat.
In other news: The movie "Rocky Balboa" now has me hooked. Sure, it's probably campy and a tad silly, but I was hooked with this quote from the newest trailer: ...But it ain't about how hard you hit... it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit. That's the kind of rah-rah for which we yearn -- keep on keepin' on. |
posted by Joe Napalm @ 9:54 AM   |
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