Video: Upcoming Hollywood film smears the troops and promotes desertion
posted at 1:45 pm on January 14, 2008 by Bryan
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On Friday I went to see Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s latest, Sweeney Todd. It’s probably the strangest film I’ve ever seen, equal parts heavily designed fantasy flick, musical theater and buckets-o-blood slasher film. Depp is amazing, as are all of the actors, who all sing their own parts. The film is 90% sung and sung extremely well to its Sondheim score. Sacha Baron Cohen nearly steals the film portraying a rival barber to Depp’s Todd. And the art and set design are what we’ve come to expect from Tim Burton: A little heavy-handed, a lot over the top, but showcasing brilliant use of light and color to create the fantasy world that the characters inhabit.
But I can’t really recommend the film in spite of all that. It’s a collection of brilliant performances and production decisions in the service of a story that left me wishing I hadn’t seen it. Some good films are like that.
The other reason not to see Sweeney Todd or any other Hollywood film right now is the heavy-handed anti-war agitprop you’ll have to sit through in the previews. Yes, the previews.
Not satisfied with its string of war flops and smears of the US military in Iraq, from In the Valley of Elah to Redacted, in March Hollywood will serve up Stop-Loss. Starring Ryan Phillipe, Stop-Loss tells the story of a soldier who is retained in the military on his last day of service and told he’s being shipped back to Iraq. But watch the trailer. Not content just to preach against one clause that’s in every single military volunteer’s contract, the film suggests that the soldier and his unit committed war crimes in Iraq. It promotes re-instating the draft. It states flatly that desertion is more honorable than service. In taking these lines, Stop-Loss is promoting the extreme left, Cindy Sheehan World Can’t Wait point of view.
As usual with these anti-war films, it doesn’t even look like an original or compelling story. The film’s backers and producers and actors probably don’t care that it’ll lose money, because they’re making their statement against the war and that’s what really mattes to them. But I’m done with the theater experience if it’s going to be impossible to go see any film for grown-ups and get hit over the head with leftist anti-war propaganda in the mix. I’ll rent DVDs, I’ll watch pay-per-view, etc, but I’ll avoid the theaters altogether. I like the theater experience but I’m fed up with Hollywood preaching to me and I’m beyond fed up with feeding that beast.
And by the way, Hollywood can produce all the Stop-Loss garbage that it wants to without fearing the wrath of McCain-Feingold. But for some reason, the political documentary Hillary: The Movie, made outside of Hollywood for far less money than the average commercial film and certain to have a far smaller potential audience than anything Michael Moore has made, can’t be advertised without running into McCain’s monster? Tell me again, Johnny Mac, how did your bill get money out of politics again?
Update: Here’s anti-war propaganda of a different variety. I suppose one of our commenters doesn’t want this talked about too.
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I’ll just stick to illegally downloading movies, especially since I can’t BUY a DVD without getting that stupid anti-pirating commercial at the beginning. Why do they show that, I already bought the stupid DVD?!
If someone suffers who cares? Start making good movies and I’ll start going again. I only go and see things I really want to see now, like 300 and Transformers.
saltydogg14 on January 14, 2008 at 4:21 PM
It was a good, entertaining movie. I especially liked at the end how they tied the lack of an end game in Afghanistan into the rise of the Taliban. Perfect message for the libs who want US Troops out of Iraq NOW, without acknowledging the dire consequences of abandoning the end game strategy.
I did a little research and apparently Charlie Wilson (the real one) feels some responsibility for creating the conditions that lead to 9/11. He threatened to sue Tom Hanks et al. if they mentioned it in the film. The book Charlie Wilson’s War apparently has all the details of the aftermath of covert operation in Afghanistan.
Mallard T. Drake on January 14, 2008 at 4:22 PM
You’re right on.
gr8inferno on January 14, 2008 at 4:26 PM
You know, I probably have the same list as you - up to this point. But the one good thing about Johnny is…He b!tched and then he LEFT. He didn’t stay here and whine about moving to Canada. He moved to France. He is entitled to his opinion. He does not spout off nearly as much as Sean Penn has or Julia Roberts has. He simply did what he said he’d do and moved. I respect that. AND if you’ll notice, he doesn’t do work that is preachy. His opinions are his opinions, but it does not translate to his work.
Give credit where credit is due. And believe me, I’m the first to drop someone for traitorous behavior in Hollyweird.
tickleddragon on January 14, 2008 at 4:27 PM
And btw…I loved SWEENEY TODD. If I have problems with it, it’s more about the story itself. The real SWEENEY TODD was not a revenger, only a serial killer in cahoots with an atrocious pie-maker. As to the singing…I also give Depp credit for stepping out onto that limb - like Ewan McGregor in MOULIN ROUGE.
I wrong note while singing…can ruin a career. Both these guys knew that and were brave enough to try it.
Wanna see a failure - look at Richard Gere in CHICAGO. Simply embarrassing.
tickleddragon on January 14, 2008 at 4:31 PM
interestingly enough, despite all his work with Burton (whom I love), Depp’s strangest movie, I think, is Arizona Dream. That movie is outright crazy, and hilariously bad.
AdrianG on January 14, 2008 at 4:31 PM
“I wrong note”… I meant ONE wrong note. Can’t type today.
tickleddragon on January 14, 2008 at 4:32 PM
Have you ever seen DEAD MAN? I would call that his weirdest by far.
tickleddragon on January 14, 2008 at 4:32 PM
wow, that does look nuts, too, thanks!
AdrianG on January 14, 2008 at 4:46 PM
And you never bought anything on the recommendation of a friend?
If you’re a teenager whose every waking hour is filled with messages marketed by movies and TV rather than “parents who just don’t understand,” then you basically are required to see Battleship Potempkin.
Teenagers don’t live in a 100% free market world. They don’t pay taxes or have to support themselves. They are very limited in their worldview and scope of acceptable choices. They are undeniably impressionable to the leftist messages of a movie that all of their friends/peers are in a sense requiring them to see.
Denying there is a problem doesn’t make the problem go away.
ScottMcC on January 14, 2008 at 4:50 PM
I’d forgotten about Dead Man. Weird, indeed, on every level. Singing to his razors about revenge as if he’s Edward Scissorhands gone insane might be weirder though.
Bryan on January 14, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Heard a guy on the radio one day talking about the hollywood morons and them expressing their political views. He said: “I don’t want your views, when I see you I want it to be in a good movie that entertains me for a short time. So just keep on dancing little monkey”.
Thought that was a great line!
kcd on January 14, 2008 at 5:11 PM
I wonder who finances these anti-military films? In any case, the producers can feel good about themselves at Hollywood parties as they lap up the adulation, and then they can watch the box office revenues come in from Europe where anti-Americanism sells.
NNtrancer on January 14, 2008 at 6:13 PM
From NYT misfires on veterans story
And Brit Hume just slammed the article as well on FNC.
Zorro on January 14, 2008 at 6:40 PM
When you pirate music and videos you hurt the people who help produce the disks, cartons, packaging, and man the warehouses to ship the product from. Just regular working class folks like you and I.
Almost like …. well….. socialism isn’t it?
Bradky on January 14, 2008 at 6:52 PM
I saw Sweeney Todd. It was pretty good, but it was about five times bloodier than it needed to be.
You should see the Pirates films, they’re great.
I don’t think that you could pay me enough to watch Stop-Loss, though.
Theophile on January 14, 2008 at 6:53 PM
I covered this on Friday and have additional info on it. What is also notable is that it is produced by MTV Films.
Debbie Schlussel on January 14, 2008 at 7:00 PM
The Theater near my home, allows us cripples to see movies for free, which is greatly appreciated, but because of crap like this, I haven’t been there in nearly two years.
Producers, actors and writers of junk like this should be noted in history as the reason for bringing down Hollywood as we know it.
oakpack on January 14, 2008 at 7:16 PM
Sweeney Todd was sung well? You’re kidding me, right Bryan? Go rent the George Hearn/Angela Lansbury DVD. Then you’ll hear Sweeney Todd sung well. Johnny Depp (too young and too pretty) was miscast. Helena Bonham Carter was worse (ditto, and her voice is thinner than Britney’s). Alan Rickman couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket! This musical is really an opera, and operas need good singers, not David Bowie impersonators.
Your comment on the movie, as well as the reactions of most of the movie pundits, shows how low our appreciation for the human voice has sunk.
packsoldier on January 14, 2008 at 7:26 PM
I hereby encourage Hollywood to keep doing this kind of thing, because the sooner the major studios collapse the sooner they’ll be replaced.
Sometimes you’re afraid of replacing something because you might get something worse - in this case, I’m willing to take the chance.
As far as political censorship, I sure hope McCain doesn’t get elected. It’s hard to say how much influence Soros has had on McCain, but Soros was a big backer of McCain-(expletive deleted)-Feingold.
Merovign on January 14, 2008 at 7:56 PM
I was pretty sure Ryan Phillipe’s career had already tanked….guess I was right.
bambam on January 14, 2008 at 8:04 PM
When I was in serving in the Navy in Viet Nam, a lot of the guys were extended for three months to a year. They were truly ticked off about it. But there was NOBODY there who even thought of the idea of taking off. It was our Country we were defending “from Godless Communism,” and though they didn’t like it, they did it reasonably willingly. Strangely enough, as I was in the Reserves, I wasn’t extended.
TimothyJ on January 14, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Ryan Phillipe as a combat veteran. Holy shit, I assume it’s a Mel Brooks comedy, right?
funky chicken on January 14, 2008 at 9:16 PM
I didn’t have this preview at Sweeney Todd… certainly for the best. The theatre I watched Sweeney at actually showed the “Citizen Soldier” music video before the movie began. That was quite encouraging.
As for Todd, I thought the film was absolutely brilliant. I’ve not seen a better film in all of 2007 (with the exception of Ratatouille); it nailed everything that a Broadway-to-film adaptation should. Depp and Carter worked terrifically as the leads and have always had great on-screen chemistry. Rickman’s slimey, icky villain-playing self was perfect for the judge and Burton just seemed to naturally… get how to film a musical. The flow seemed right, the rhythm of the camera movements and the edits were all there. Sondheim’s music has never sounded better either in full-blown orchestral glory. I can’t wait for this to come out on DVD as it is no longer anywhere close to a theatre near me. Shame that it’s made so little at the box office; it’s a gem of a film and one of the best films to come out this new millenia.
Jockolantern on January 14, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Thank you…nothing says wanting to drive my car over 155+ while blasting that tune.
F15Mech on January 15, 2008 at 2:13 AM
Doh,
Like your link.
F15Mech on January 15, 2008 at 2:20 AM
From my latest copy of Entertainment Weekly:
“Stop-Loss Soldiers on Despite Bad Buzz: ….it’s not surprising that moviegoers have been sighing, moaning, and hissing at the trailer for Stop-Loss….What is surprising: in an unusual move, the studio is embracing these jeers on the film’s website….[I]f this strategy works, it could be a new model for promoting hot-potato projects. If it doesn’t, it could be the shot that filnally ends Hollywood’s war campaign.”
We can only hope.
Lurking Vet on January 15, 2008 at 7:20 AM
Talk about dejavu. This reminds me so much of the Viet Nam era. Right down to the two finger peace sign. Funny, I wasn’t part of it then and I’m not part of it now.
The way I figure it, a lot of those Peace-nics grew up to be college professors. God I wish the world was like they misconceive it to be so we could just love our international troubles away. You say the Iranians are building nukes…. let’s do an Iranian peace concert and buy the world a coke. Right on, man.
Ernest on January 15, 2008 at 9:42 AM
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