I can bet that half of the people you ask will have no idea.
Here is the movie review of The Longest Day from IMDb...
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, the US, Britain, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day. The longest day."
I wish I could have found a trailer on the web that didn't totally suck, but I did find this clip...
Russel Crowe better be careful or he might go down in history as one of the greatest conservative movie actors of all-time.
Though I have not seen Crowe's Robin Hood as of yet, I hear its anti-government theme is pretty convincing. Crowe, you might remember also was the lead in Cinderella Man another VERY right-leaning flick. A good argument could be made for Gladiator as a great conservative film about the cruelty of government and the courage to stand against it.
So here is another movie starring Crowe titled Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The film is pro-military, pro-victory, pro-country, and gives insight on difficult decisions a leader must make.
Here is a review from columnist Nile Gardiner of The Telegraph...
Peter Weir’s unashamedly old-fashioned and visually stunning adaptation of Patrick O’Brian’s novel is one of the greatest odes to leadership ever committed to celluloid. Australian director Weir has made many terrific films, including Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, The Year of Living Dangerously, and Witness, but Master and Commander was the pinnacle of his career so far. Nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, it should be essential viewing for any commander-in-chief. Russell Crowe delivers a powerhouse performance as Jack Aubrey, Captain of HMS Surprise, a British warship that hunts and ultimately captures a far larger French adversary during the Napoleonic Wars. Set in 1805, it is an epic tale of heroism and love for country in the face of incredible odds, and a glowing tribute to the grit and determination that forged the British Empire.
I had a hard time finding a trailer that didn't look like absolute crap, but I guess this one will do...
Do you remember the Scott Grady story from the Bosnian War and his magnificent rescue performed by the Marines? Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on his experiences.
Lt. Chris Burnett, who wants to resign from the Navy, is teamed up with Lt. Jeremy Stackhouse to conduct a reconnaissance mission over war-torn Bosnia, where a peace treaty may put the devastating war to an end. During the mission, they fly their FA-18 off course to check out a suspicious target that turns out to be the site of a mass grave that contains bodies of Bosnian Muslims.
(Infidels fighting for Muslims?! Hmmmm... maybe the United States isn't the great Satan the media and Muslims portray us as.)
The main perpetrator of the massacre, Gen. Miroslav Lokar, has the plane shot down in order to avoid having the plane obtaining evidence of the massacre. After parachuting into Serb-controlled Bosnian territory, Stackhouse is executed by Lokar's men while Burnett is on the run from the Serbs.
Burnett's commanding officer, Rear Admiral Leslie Reigart, has trouble gaining approval from his own commanding officers...
(NATO and UN just so we have that cleared up...)
...to carry out a search-and-rescue mission to save Burnett, who fear that such a move will endanger the peace process.
(Ah yes, wouldn't want a little truth to stop the so-called peace process would we?)
From encountering a major battle in a war-torn town, to mine fields, to Serb soldiers seeking the pilot, and to a highly skilled sniper, will Burnett be able to escape Bosnia, or will he suffer the same fate of his comrade?
You'll feel a lot of frustration when you watch this film, but like Scott Grady the good guys pull it out in the end. I just wish there were more men and women like Leslie Reigart (played by Gene Hackman) in our government and military.
We sure could use them.
If you want to a similar film may I suggest Rules of Engagement with Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones.
A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place the child with an adoptive couple. She finds one in the PennySaver personals, contacts them, tells her dad and step-mother, and carries on with school. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds. Will Juno's plan work, can she improvise, and what about Bleeker? Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
My parents grew up in the 1950's. I always love to go through their old yearbooks and see the kind of clothes they wore, how their hair was cut, and what kind of cars they drove. Though they were labeled "rebels" who drove their cars just a little too fast and smoked cigarettes a little too much, my folks look back at that era with so much happiness and fond memories.
Now haircuts go from conservative to the totally bizarre. It's not how fast your car is it's what kind of sound system do you have? Sex and violence have replaced values seen on television and movies, and sadly that way of life is all but gone.
But what if someone from that era came to 2009? Could their values still work into today's anything goes society?
The Edge Conservative Movie of the Week,Blast from the Past starring Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone, has made National Review'sThe 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised to see this film make NR's prestigious list. Blast from the Past is funny movie I think the whole family will enjoy! Here is the movie review from film critic James Bowman...
Revolutionary Road is only the latest big-screen portrayal of 1950s America as boring, conformist, repressive, and soul-destroying. A decade ago, Hugh Wilson’s Blast from the Past defied the party line, seeing the values, customs, manners, and even music of the period with nostalgic longing. Brendan Fraser plays an innocent who has grown up in a fallout shelter and doesn’t know the era of Sputnik and Perry Como is over. Alicia Silverstone is a post-feminist woman who learns from him that pre-feminist women had some things going for them. Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek as Fraser’s parents are comic gems.
No, I didn't post The Edge as the Edge Conservative Movie of the Week because of my name.
I posted the film because so many people have asked me to watch it! I finally did, and folks it did not disappoint. It ranks right up there with the other "survival" movie I reviewed earlier Island in the Sky.
And wouldn't you know it? National Review has listed The Edge as a conservative movie too (even if it does star Alec Baldwin).
Here is the review from National Review writer Michael Long who is also a director of the White House Writers Group.
Screenwriter David Mamet uses a wilderness survival story about friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness to present a few truths rarely seen in movies: Knowledge has its limits, fortitude is a weapon against hardship, and honor can motivate even the shallowest man to great sacrifice. Some have interpreted the film as a Cold War allegory because it features a menacing bear. The main characters (played by Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin) understand that there is neither wisdom nor nobility in waiting for others to save them, and that they must take responsibility for their own lives and souls. Life is unfair, but to challenge life on its own terms is an exhilarating reward, no matter the outcome.
Putting your differences aside to fight a common and deadly enemy makes The Edge the ECM Movie of the Week!
Well, I finally dragged my butt out to the theater to see Taken this weekend starring Liam Neeson. Let me tell you folks, it didn't disappoint! I'm not exactly sure how long this film will be in theaters, so you may want to hustle and get out there. Honestly, it's not a movie you need to see on the big screen, but it didn't hurt either.
The trailer below pretty much tells you the story, but what I liked about the film was that the hero does not compromise with the bad guys.
No negotiations.
No ransoms.
No BS.
Just give me back my daughter and everything will be cool. But if you don't...
...bad things man. Bad things.
Neeson's character does things to people in this movie that make Abu Ghraib look like Disney World. And you know what...the bad guys deserved it.
Finally! FINALLY! Finally, 24 is back, and for the first time ever I got to watch it on HD!
If you guys missed it, I think it's now out on DVD! Though it was not released in theaters, it's still a great TV movie which will build up to the series return on FOX January 2009!
Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) battles the bad guys again, this time in Africa. He also has to deal with the bungling US government and a UN wimp! Gotta love it!
The movie is based on the true story of two British athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Englishman Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), who is Jewish, overcomes anti-Semitism and class prejudice in order to compete against the "Flying Scotsman", Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), in the 100 meter race.
In 1919, Abrahams enters Cambridge University. He attempts and succeeds at the Trinity Great Court run, which involves running around the court before the clock finishes striking 12. Meanwhile, Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God before traveling to China to work as a missionary. He represents Scotland against Ireland, and preaches a sermon on "Life as a race" afterwards.
At their first meeting, Liddell shakes Abrahams' hand to wish him well, then beats him in a race. Abrahams takes it badly, but Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm), a professional trainer that he had approached earlier, offers to take him on to improve his technique. However, this attracts criticism from the college authorities.
Eric's sister Jenny (Cheryl Campbell) worries he is too busy running to concern himself with their mission, but Eric tells her he feels inspired: "I believe that God made me for a purpose... (the mission), but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure."
Despite pressure from the Prince of Wales and the British Olympic committee, Liddell refuses to run a heat of the 100 meters at the Olympics because his Christian convictions prevent him from running on Sunday. Liddell is allowed to compete in the 400 metre race instead.
This is a great film about faith, courage, and sacrifice I think all will enjoy!
A while back, a friend of mine had a blog named What Would Patton Do? That's an interesting question when you think about it. What would Patton do about 9/11? Terrorism? Iraq? Immigration? Cindy Sheehan?
Maybe this clip can shed some light on the topic.
While watching Patton one thing will become quite clear to the viewer, (especially those who are not familiar with his career) he loved war...a lot. The quote below from General Omar N. Bradley, played by actor Karl Malden, summed it up best in the feature.
There's one big difference between you and me, George. I do this job because I've been trained to do it. You do it because you LOVE it.
Patton might have been a nutjob...but he was OUR nutjob!
