Munich screening
Went to the most out of the way movie theater in the world last night in the largest mall I've ever seen.
I had a free pass to Spielberg's new flick: Munich, about the targeted assassinations by the Israelis after the '72 Olympics murder of 11 of their athletes.
The movie was a little intense, but the most interesting thing to me was that there was a woman who seemed to be a security guard in the theater with us. She sat in the front as the movie started, which didn't seem very secure to me, but still...
Looking <b>way</b> forward to seeing this. I read an article in <i>Time</i> by Richard Corliss a couple of weeks ago - looks like it will be a good one (as well as a departure from "the Terminal" , "Catch Me If You Can", "War of the Worlds") something more along the lines of "Amistad", "Private Ryan" or "Schindler's List"...
How was Eric Bana? the only other thing I've ever seen him in is Ang Lee's "The Hulk"
My guess/ hypothesis is anti piracy enforcement.
"Munich" is in ultra limited release as of December 2005 to essentially gain word of mouth buzz and a nomination for the Oscars (tm).
for like 99.9% of people, I think Munich, from an accesibility standpoint, is a 2006 film for the mainstream.
Probably a little extra muscle / authority to make sure people dont bring in digital video cameras to pirate it.
I knew people who had Revenge of the Sith DVDs before its Memorial Day 2005 release.
The only equitable solution I see to this problem is to simultaneously release a film in the theaters and DVD. That would put the pirates offering subpar, not to mention illegal, material right out of business.
I think the blond hitman that works w/ Bana's character is who they chose for the new James Bond, BTW.
Im sure some will argue that some of the Twin Tower imagery is as subtle as a big bag of dropped hammers, but it still sent a chill up my spine.
I like it when Spielberg does more "personal" films like <i>Amistad, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, A.I.</i> as opposed to fare like the <i>Terminal</i> or <i>Jurassic Park</i>.
It must be an interesting tightrope an artist has to tiptoe between commerce and creativity. Sans J Park, E.T., Jaws, et. al, final cut on films like <i>Munich</i> would be a tad bit out of reach.
Is it a safe assumption to think that this is why someone like Francis Ford Coppola resorted to a film like his adaptation of John Grisham's <i>Rainmaker</i> or dreck like<i>Jack</i>?
After the trifecta of the <i>Godfather</i> films, <i>The Conversation</i>,and <i>Apocalypse Now</i>? If either of these above mentioned films from the mid to late 1990's were knocked out of the park and grossed huge $$$, maybe "personal" filmmaking would be a more reachable goal for FFC.
Well, the ending scene where Bana's character is rebuffed by the handler in front of the World Trade Center spoke volumes about where Spileberg's sentiments lie. (Although, I'm trying to come around to MF DÜ's and Susan Sonntag's view that film is an artform that should be appreciated for it's art and not for any "message"... anyone up for a Leni Riefenstahl festival?)
One thing that was either intentional or was a product of my sympathies: The Israeli actions always seemed fraught with moral ambiguity, the Palestinian's elicited no such empathy.
The actor who played the bomb-maker reminds me of a character from a Zero Mostel(?) film where the character must perform the part of Shylock for the Fuhrer in order to escape Nazi Germany. Anyone?
Daniel Craig's character was interesting, also in light of his (at that time upcoming) performance in "James Bond". Rather the character wasn't interesting, but the juxtaposition with the Bond character is.
"10% more free"
My other pet peeve-- the extraneous apostrophe. As in:
Srambled eggs, toast, and Home Frie's
<i>"If a noun ends in an unstressed vowel, its plural gets -s at the end. To keep the long vowel long, we use an apostrophe. Remember that if a single vowel sits in a syllable that ends in one or more consonants, it is a short vowel."</i>
collega's (colleagues)
alibi's (alibis)
baby's (babies)
As opposed to the "normal" Dutch construction which adds -en to pluralise a noun (plus a few adjustments to maintain the vowel & consonant sounds):
bieren (beers, plural of bier)
bomen (trees, plural of boom)
billen (buttocks, plural of bil)