Thursday, March 27, 2008


This One Should Be Good...

Josh Brolin, currently receiving rave reviews for his slow-burning performance in the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men, is to play the current US president, George Bush, in a film to be directed by Oliver Stone. The Platoon director, who has been one of Bush's most virulent critics, calling him "the wrong leader at the wrong time" in 2005, says his biopic will be "a fair, true portrait of the man" and will "contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors".

"It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to Nixon [Stone's 1995 biopic of the former US president], to give a sense of what it's like to be in his [Bush's] skin," Stone told Variety. "People have turned my political ideas into a cliché, but that is superficial. I'm a dramatist who is interested in people, and I have empathy for Bush as a human being, much the same as I did for Castro, Nixon, Jim Morrison, Jim Garrison and Alexander the Great."

Stone says that the forthcoming movie, which could begin filming as soon as April and be released in time for Bush's departure from the Oval Office, will focus on certain key events of the president's life. "How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world," asked Stone." It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from.

"It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be president of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq," Stone added.

Regarding its lead star, Stone said Brolin was better looking than Bush, "but has the same drive and charisma that Americans identify with Bush, who has some of that old-time movie-star swagger."

The White House has yet to comment on the project.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Herr Lord, did you ever break down and see the Coen Brothers' "No Country For Old Men"? I know you proclaimed in your blog that no scenes from the movie would dance on your retina, but now that you are bloggin about Josh, I sensed a change of heart.

You should see the movie. It is pretty damn interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember your objections to subjective racism and political portraials of border disputes. But I actually believe that the villian (or hero) is not much different than deNiro's character in Cape Fear. Is it the devil or is it christ? (Only Leonard Cohen is qualified to say...)

So get down on your knees and repent for the kingdom is at hand. Just ask Jim White. BTW, Jim White is playing at the Tractor Tavern on the 30th. You really need to go. I saw him in L.A. on Tuesday. Great show. I felt like i was watching Jim Morrison perform at the Wiskey-a-go-go. This guy will take you to the innocence of jesus that can still be believed in.

Speaking of Jesus, I would be willing to admit that the U.S. was a christian nation iff the religious right actually started following the teachings of Jesus. I mean really do what is printed in red in the red letter versions of the bible. I would gladly live in that country....Your thoughts?

MarcLord said...

No, haven't seen it, and I knew very well the damned thing would win Academy Awards. More people will ever see the movie than read the book, of course, wherein the Chigurh character also played the harbinger of doom. The book's main premise was that America was becoming a place in which the World War Two heroes would no longer be enough to ward off the viciousness invited through the borders. Viciousness on a completely other, extra-national plane of justice, with allusions to corporatism.

Living in a country with a sense of the actualized Jesus would be refreshing indeed. What country was ever that? I suppose the abolitionists once came pretty close here.

Thanks for telling me about Jim White. I'll go, and also will check out his music. Went to the Triple Door last Friday to see the Aussie legend Paul Kelly, and enjoyed it much.