Posted by Terry Hull on July 25, 2006 to World Trade Center, a movie about the 9/11 attack, opens Wednesday, Aug. 9. Directed by controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone, the movie is already getting rave reviews and Oscar buzz, more than two weeks before opening night.
Stone loves to make movies which address modern history: from the Vietnam war (Platoon, 1986, and Born on the Fourth of July, 1989) to JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995). Stone has won three Oscars: two for best director (Platoon and Fourth of July) and one for best screenplay (Midnight Express). His last film, Alexander (2004), was his biggest flop, grossing just $34 million despite the all-star cast of Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie.
Many people have expressed concern about trusting the controversial Stone with the delicate subject of 9/11. The filmmaker has made no secret of his ultra-liberal views. He has lauded Fidel Castro as being “one of the Earth’s wisest people,” and he has credited LSD and peyote as fueling his creative process.
Nevertheless, surprisingly, the film is getting raves from some uexpected corners. , the conservative Christian columnist, after an advance screening, wrote:
It is one of the greatest pro-American, pro-family, pro-faith, pro-male, flag-waving, God Bless America films you will ever see.
Nicholas Cage leads the cast of World Trade Center.
The movie tells the true story of Port Authority police officers who go to the rescue of Trade Center victims and become trapped in the rubble themselves. The is here.
We haven’t had any truly great movies so far in 2006, and quite a few disappointments (e.
g., The Da Vinci Code, Superman Returns). I don’t know anything about Cal Thomas’ taste in films – but I hope WTC is at least half as good as Thomas says it is.
Posted by Terry Hull on May 26, 2006 to I haven’t seen The Da Vinci Code yet. I had planned to be there opening weekend, but then I came down with a bad case of Da Vinci Code burnout. I read the book a few years ago.
More recently, like most Christians, I’ve been forced to define my faith in terms of my response to Dan Brown’s fictional musings. (I offered my two cents on that silly controversy in )
I also got wrapped up in a Da Vinci Code contest sponsored by Google and Sony Pictures which involved answering trivia, doing Google searches and working puzzles each day for 24 days. I was among the 10,000 finalists who qualified to compete in the Final Challenge, but no such luck I didn’t win the $125,000 grand prize.
I did win a nifty cryptex valued at $40 (if you don’t know what a cryptex is, you’re definitely out of the Da Vinci Code loop).
By the time The Code opened last weekend, I had had Da Vinci Code up to here. So when I saw that the critics were giving the film , I just lost interest in being among the first wave of Code-watchers.
Despite my truancy, The Da Vinci Code did well. $77 million U.S.
box office and $224 million worldwide. That’s huge.
Now what I’m interested in seeing is how The Code does on Weekend 2.
Everybody knew that nothing was going to keep The Code from ringing up a great opening weekend. It had a built-in fan base created by the sale of more than 40 million copies of Da Vinci Code: The Book, making it the biggest selling hardcover fiction in history. Add to that a hot controversy generating so much free publicity.
Sony and Dan Brown must be thanking churches all the way to the bank for doing such good P.R. for them.
Some churches were simultaneously denouncing the movie and giving away free movie tickets. That’s so smart it’s just plain dumb. Unbelievable!
With all the build up, even when the critics reported that the movie was long, dull and convoluted, there was no way The Code wasn’t going to have a phenomenal opening weekend. But how many of the millions who saw the flick last weekend came away agreeing with the critics? How many have spread the word to friends and family that The Code is not as good as the book, is not up to Ron Howard’s usual standard, and is Tom Hanks’ worst performance since The Burbs (oops, I forgot about The Lady-Killers)?
Actually, The Code will probably do quite well again this weekend. Many who heard what great box office the movie had last week will be eager to follow the crowd. And it’s a holiday weekend, which is always good news for the movies.
The only major new release this weekend is X-Men: The Last Stand, which will do well, but not enough to dampen the Da Vinci Code’s prospects. Too bad Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston’s The Break-up doesn’t open this weekend instead of next; I think the movie-going mood is just about right this weekend for a romance-related comedy to do well against the same old chase scenes, bombs and blood-letting offered by The Da Vinci Code, Mission Impossible 3, Poseidon and X-Men.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing if The Code’s Weekend 2 box office results hold any “surprises.
” And yes, there’s a good chance I’ll be among the second weekend crowd. Even though I already know every twist and turn of Hanks’ Search for the Holy McGuffin.
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