An Academy Member Looks at Oscar and Act of Valor
I have to be honest. I was thrilled to be invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences back in the early Paleolithic Age (1985). It was a dream come true for a Jewish boy from New York who always wanted to write screenplays like his idol Budd Schulberg. In those days, I would view every movie assiduously and took my vote quite seriously.
A few years later (1989) when I was nominated for an Oscar myself for the script of Enemies, A Love Story, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Never mind that I had no chance of winning. I had been nominated.
But that was then and this is now. These days most everyone hates Hollywood and I’m no longer a good liberal — part of the Tinseltown team. I’m CEO of PJ Media, a notorious right-wing website, and persona non grata in Hollywood.
Well, not really. The truth is — though many conservatives don’t like to admit it — that everyone is discriminated against in Hollywood, not just them. If your name isn’t Spielberg, Scorsese, or Eastwood (himself a conservative, though you couldn’t tell from his recent Super Bowl ad), chances are you’re signing up for a lifetime of disappointment by placing all your hopes and dreams in the entertainment industry. Your parents were probably right and you should have stayed on for that medical degree.
But I really can’t complain. I’ve been more fortunate than most. And even though I have a scarlet “C” next to my name, I’m still a working screenwriter.
In fact, I’m more alive than I expected because, decades after Enemies, I have a personal rooting interest in these Academy Awards. A movie whose early drafts I wrote and that I almost directed ten years ago and for which I still retain the “story” credit — A Better Life — is up for the best actor Oscar for Demian Bichir.
He won’t win either. The award will go to Jean Dujardin of The Artist — that film should, deservedly, clean up. And I won’t be at the Oscars myself this time. At $250 a seat for Academy Members it seems a bit much to watch other people win prizes. I’ll be at a private party where, doubtless, everyone will be making jokes and saying that movies are worse than ever, while waiting for some star or other to utter some puerile and self-serving left-wing blather.
Ironically, in the midst of this Oscar weekend folderol when Los Angeles shuts down like Cairo during Ramadan and everyone complains they have to drive fifty miles out of their way just to get to Whole Foods, a movie is opening that promises to be the first successful patriotic film in a long time: Act of Valor.
I caught the film the other night at a screening. (Yes, it’s true — none of us pay for movies. We all go to screenings. But the truth is it’s much better to pay. At least then you can leave when you want. If you go to a screening, you might mortally insult someone you know by exiting early.)
I don’t think it was anti-Semitism, but the SEAL in question isn’t a professional actor and probably blew the line he was supposed to say.
The point was that he was supposed to be stunned that the villain was a Jew actively in cahoots with jihadists. I guess it was supposed to be some kind of shocking “reveal.” But if the SEAL didn’t say the line with surprise in his voice and in his facial mannerisms, it could be interpreted a different way.
I often check Rotten Tomatoes to see what both the critics and the public thinks of a movie. Act of Valor reveals the snobbishness of critics, only 29% of whom thought it was worthy. On the other hand, 85% of the public liked it. I liked it, too. It’s far from perfect and the the studios won’t be hounding the real SEALS in it to sign up for new projects. But it is exciting, realistic and patriotic. It’s also understandable, unlike some films I’ve seen lately, such as Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy, which was, for all the critical acclaim it garnered, dark, slow-paced and incomprehensible. I’m looking forward to seeing more from Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh.
“Act of Valor reveals the snobbishness of critics, only 29% of whom thought it was worthy. On the other hand, 85% of the public liked it.”
Roger’s column also points out this problem — and it’s not just in the movie industry. Book publishing suffers from it, too. Just ask Andrew Klavan. It seems each industry is “Books/Movies for all my friends, and to hell with the Neanderthals everywhere else.” And so a book sells a few thousand copies in a week and it’s considered a “bestseller.” In NYC alone there are 8 million people. A bestseller? What a miserable failure.
Would love to see PJ Media get into the electronic book publishing business. The “Neanderthals” and their “sub-human” authors need more opportunities and outlets.
I would not be shocked if the left doesn’t pick up on that anti-semitic complaint…
Are the critics panning it in this case because of the patriotism (which ordinarily would be enough to hate it) or because they are threatened by the successful use of non-professionals (or should I say, non-credentialed) actors? There are a few great actors in Hollywood, the rest are just paper dolls, all alike in looks and the same 3 expressions.
Good call, Sass. I usually think of modern actors as sock puppets but paper dolls will do as well.
Big name actors only look good on cam because of the army of people working to make that possible. Writers writer their dialog; make up artists, lighting pros and wardrobe wizards makes them look good in closeups; stunt doubles, green screens and CGI make them look brave and directors use a myriad of tricks to cover their clumsyness.
With that kind of support a telephone pole could win Best Actor.
From what Iunderstand, the Seals were chosen because they could not find any stuntsmen doing the scenes as only the Seals can.
That tells us something.
Still laughing about your line on not being able to leave a screening early lest you hurt someone’s feelings. Had the same thing happen a lifetime ago when my then boyfriend would get tickets to theater previews.
PJ Media, a notorious right-wing website, who knew? Seems middle of the road for those of us who have not drunk the Kool Aid.
Roger, congratulations on your many successes. I’m confident there will be more.
“The critics, not surprisingly, are not liking Act of Valor. They’re wrong.”
I’m wondering, would a “critic” in America like ANY movie that was pro-military? Even in the Hurt Locker, you have a main character that is borderline insane and the entire movie doesn’t have very many good things to say about either the US Army, let alone the war we fought in Iraq. Basically, it was a movie about some guys who survived in Iraq DESPITE how the US Army fought the war and despite all the Iraqis that were trying to kill them. Not a very inspiring movie to make you want to go out and enlist.
And THAT is my main point. We have a generation now of far-left critics who wouldn’t know the front end of a gun from that back end of a mule. Yet these people feel qualified to comment on how some of the bravest men in the world go about defending this nation. And they defend it for not much money, they get precious little gratitude, and they certainly get very few movies made about them. Instead of helping movies like this out, they feel compelled to destroy them, so that they can feel good about doing that while dishing with their girlfriends over margaritas. Next time, they should think about the people who actually defend them so that they can pursue this vacuous lifestyle. But I doubt it. They will go on whining like little girls that the actors weren’t good enough or that the scenes weren’t edited to their taste. Meanwhile there are Americans just like the men in this movie taking down Islamic terrorists in some poor excuse for a country in some lousy part of the world. So while the critics sit smugly in their Gucci slippers, some of these poor warriers are getting killed overseas.
You have to wonder why people bother listening to critics at all. I’d be more interested in what other Navy SEALs had to say about the movie. I’d believe them.
My better half and I definately! plan to go and see Act of Valor.
And Roger, just keep on writing… you never know.
Besides, most of America is praying for writers like you to bless and enrich our lives. All the best.
I already got some flack on my FB Wall for promoting “Act of Valor” from a newly converted conservative Jewish professional in the entertainment industry. She claimed the Anti-Semitic bit. Was it a dig on the Chomskyites?
“A Better Life” was excellent too btw., though my wife is utterly irritated that now I go about speaking like a latino hoodie, instead of my usual faux hip-hop personality.(Our private joke.)
Oscar, Oscar, Oscar
Fastidious Felix Unger of TV’s “The Odd Couple” fame often expressed his frustration with his slovenly roomie Oscar Madison by sighing, “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar,” a frustration that could just as well apply to the Academy of Motion Picture Awards for its blatant liberalism and tireless adherence to politically correctness.
I, for one, don’t give a tinker’s damn who or what wins an Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards of Merit festivities on Sunday.
Not that it matters but no one seems to know the derivation of the term “Oscar.” What does matter is that the Academy Awards show is meaningless except insofar as it is probably the most vivid example of American shallowness, exalting movie stars to the level of demigods as exemplars of the best America has to offer the world and featuring some of the most superficial, most vapid human beings on the planet applauding themselves.
Let’s face it, actors and actresses gain fame and fortune by pretending they are someone else, mostly by acting as if they were whores or roues, or confused wives or philandering husbands, or by portraying average people caught up in life’s angst.
All that pretending eventually warps minds.
Nowadays, with some exceptions, few films depicting normality are contenders for Oscars and fewer actors and actresses nominated for acting awards are depicted as normal nor are they normal in real life. That is, unless you consider normality widespread use of illegal substances, bed-hopping, multiple marriages, and out of wedlock pregnancies as normal.
Is it any wonder movie-going has fallen off drastically or that American culture is slipping down the toilet with Hollywood as a role model?
Tinseltown’s elitists tend to choose as winners of Best Actor Awards people who reflect their own prejudices and leftist political views and pick the Best Picture on the same bases.
Years ago, Hollywood produced outstanding motion pictures, . . .(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=14508.)
Act of Valor sounds a bit like Transformers: not movies you’d see for their Mamet-like dialogue or profound social critique. They’re action-adventure movies that portray the military in a positive light. Badass guys with badass tech and badass combat skills fighting badass enemies with badass special effects. Awesome! The only difference is, Act of Valor dares to depict real American fighting men dealing with our real enemies in a real war. For the po-faced Hollywood liberal, this takes it out of the realm of fantasy an into the realm of political commentary.
Of course the H-wood left will not like this. In their culture, any film that depicts people who wage war for what they believe are good reasons and who accept their losses as a necessary sacrifice is viewed as objectively pro-war. There is no middle ground. To pass Hollywood’s ideological litmus test, a war movie must contain the necessary disclaimers: a) there is never a good reason for going to war and b) every death in war is unnecessary, meaningless, and tragic. This is why Act of Valor isn’t getting the thumbs-up from the useful idiots. They believe that if we watch too much of this stuff, we’ll all turn into Nazis. Literally.
Act of Valor sounds a bit like Transformers: not movies you’d see for their Mamet-like dialogue or profound social critique. They’re action-adventure movies that portray the military in a positive light. Badass guys with badass tech and badass combat skills fighting badass enemies with badass special effects. Awesome! The only difference is, Act of Valor dares to depict real American fighting men dealing with our real enemies in a real war. For the po-faced Hollywood liberal, this takes it out of the realm of fantasy an into the realm of political commentary.
It’s your last point that makes the movie so compelling. Instead of having some Hollywood writer craft sentences of how they thing warriors talk, you have actual warriors talking. Instead of stuntmen doing absurd stunts showing how Hollywood thinks warriors fight, you see the genuine article showing you what they can really do. Sure, they’re not as polished at delivering lines as professional actors but they still sound more real because they are real. The fact is there isn’t an actor or stuntman alive who can do what these men do. They’re real deal SEALS and it shows.
I saw an interview with 3 of them last week. While I may have misheard, I think they mentioned that the scenes where they were saying goodbye to their families showed their actual wives and children (though I may have misheard that). It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. I’m sure their wifes wouldn’t look too fondly of them kissing other women goodbye. “Honey, I’m just taking one for the Team!” “Yeah, right.”
As for the special effects, the only thing that really looked wrong to me (a former paratrooper) was when they shot what appeared to be a LAW rocket to stop a pursuing truck. A LAW or rocket of that category is unlikely to cause that big a fireball or cause the vehicle to tumble like that (I fired a few in my day). One thing that really sets this movie apart was the frequent use of live ammo. When the SWCC boats let loose on some vehicles, those are actual miniguns firing live ammo. These guys are pros and this was just another training evolution for them.
I find the anti-Semitism charge about Act of Valor to be so weak it does not even qualify as parody.
To begin with, the character is not a main villain. I’m not sure how people can seriously assert that. He is a secondary villain, barely above the level of facilitator, and only because he is a villain in his own right as an arms smuggler.
Next, he is helping the actual jihadi out of a sense of past loyalty, and presumably some serious money. At no point is he presented as having any kind of ideological committment to jihad.
That leads to the third, fourth, and fifth points the establish he is barely above the level of thug – he runs away – because he is afraid of fighting the U.S. – so he can keep his money. Yeah, that sounds like a hardcore jihadi there, and definitely like he wanted to destroy the world economy so all his money would be worthless.
As for throwaway lines, it certainly sounded like his character said he spent too much time trying to get his friends into bed when they were younger. Was that the real reason he was working with the terrorist, some kind of sexual blackmail or residual desire?
That leaves us just talking about Ukrainian-Jewish gunrunners who do not care who they do business with. I am missing exactly how that is a problem. Certainly there may be more non-Jewish arms dealers out there, but are Jews supposed to be immune from ever appearing as villains, however minor or major, in movies in order to avoid random charges of anti-Semitism? I guess Once Upon A Time In America was secretly funded by the Klan, huh? And if rarity is enough to be excluded from being a villain, Dr. No with its Black-Chinese thugs must be completely beyond the pale.
That is just way too many plot points to ignore and leaps to make for me.
If the film makers or actor steps up and directly says the line was used for some ulterior motive then I will accept their statement. Until I see nothing to get worked up over.
A Jew in cahoots with the bad guys? Sounds like George Soros!!!
Maybe I missed something when I saw the movie yesterday. How was the revelation of one of the bad guys being Jewish somehow anti-Semitic? As if there aren’t any Jews who hurt the interests of Israel or all western civilization every time they vote democrat. History is full of people who act against their heritage and interests.
Thinking about this more I think the point that the movie was trying to illustrate with Cristo being Jewish was the whole “enemy of my enemy” thing. Cristo explained that he was nothing like his jihadi buddy, the revelation of him being jewish just underscored the point. Then he used “Newton’s cradle”(the series of metal spheres suspended in a series that knock against each other) to illustrate that he was on the opposite side of yuri but had the same goal of hurting America. Just like how Mexican cartels have nothing in common with jihadists, but will work with them to hurt America. North Korea giving nukes to Pakistan and Syria, Hitler and Stalin, Venezuela and Iran. The Venezuelans are Catholics! They’d never allow the Iranian’s to build missile facilities there! The world is a dangerous place full of people with dissimilar backgrounds working together to hurt America. That is the point of Cristo being Jewish, not some anti-Semitic cheap-shot.
Roger, I agree with sinz54 about the interrogation scene. It was if to give Cristo another excuse to tell what he knew. Why side with a radical jihadist, even if he was a boyhood friend when he wouldn’t do the same for you? It didn’t have a whiff of anti-Semitism to me, but then I am not Jewish, so perhaps not as qualified to judge the comment. To me the film was nothing short of an adrenaline pumping, heart stopping ride! Can’t wait for the Blu-Ray!
Roger,
As an ex-USN EOD operator and proud conservative I’m happy to have you on our side!
Any recommendations on how to recommend a movie to some top, conservativish, filmmakers?
I love history and some of my favorite movies have been historical heroic epics like The 300, Braveheart, Gladiator, and Kingdom of Heaven.
I think a fantastic movie could be made about the Battle of Tours. It was in 732 and the forces of Charles “the Hammer” Martel stopped the Muslim Moors from invading and possibly conquering all of Europe. Many historians consider this one of the major battles in world history as a loss would likely changed the course of Western civilization. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_tours
A great twist to this battle is the involvement of a Danish character, Holger Danske, or Holger the Dane, who is said to have constantly fought Charles to keep Charles from conquering Danish territory but joined forces with him to defeat the Moors.
A statue of a sleeping Holger is in Kronborg Castle in Denmark and legend has it that when Denmark again needs its hero, Holger will awake from his slumber to rescue his people once more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holger_Danske
The Arab chronicles say of Charles’ men:
“And in the shock of the battle the men of the North seemed like a sea that cannot be moved. Firmly they stood, one close to another, forming as it were a bulwark of ice; and with great blows of their swords they hewed down the Arabs. Drawn up in a band around their chief, the people of the Austrasians carried all before them. Their tireless hands drove their swords down to the breasts [of the foe].”[
I’d LOVE to see this made into a movie.
Any recommendations?
I’ll buy that ticked
Would not do well in France. Might do OK in Denmark.
This is a great movie, because these are great human beings. They are American by the grace of God. At least in their lifetimes, the country has done little to deserve them.
Mr. Simon, “Enemies, A Love Story” is one of my favorite movies. I was not aware that you wrote it. My respect for you has greatly increased.
Act of Valor didn’t feel like 90 minutes — more like half that.
Really well contained and well paced. Well worth seeing.
At the risk of peeing on the parade, active duty military personnel should not be permitted to appear in commercial movies.
Kind of agree with you, but it was refreshing to hear military people speaking military language. Too often actors who have never been in the military sound halting and stilted when trying to replicate dialogue and it was apparent that this was not ‘military speak as a second language’.
But I agree with you in principle.
The US Navy disagrees. They’re trying to recruit hundreds of new SEALS and this movie won’t hurt their efforts.
I just saw the movie and didn’t pick up on any angle other than that greedy bastards will sometimes sell out their own to increase their own riches. Anti-semitic? That’s just the left trying to suppress viewership via the good old race card.
The movie is fast paced and extremely interesting. I loved the message that Navy Seals can secretively get to any part of the globe undetected and rain hell fire down in the most remote and secure places on earth. For instance, in one scene they parachuted rigid inflatables and themselves into the sea, then they powered off to meet up with a surfacing submarine which they drove their boats up onto, trotted across the deck and entered the sub, received a briefing before launching from a mini-sub in the nose cone of the big sub. I had no idea that such a thing existed and although they got clearance from the military to reveal this, I actually didn’t like that this capability is now public knowledge. Maybe it already was. Dunno.
This is an intense film and I was riveted, clutching my box of Junior Mints with sweating palms. When my wife took the box from my hand around the midpoint of the film and reached in for one, all she got was chocolately-minty goo on her fingers. Oops.
My wife and I just saw the movie this afternoon and we didn’t pick up on any anti-semitism in that particular scene. We both really liked the movie. First movie we’ve seen on the big screen since “Atlas Shrugged”. I don’t put much stock in the critic’s reviews.
http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2012/02/okay-you-can-change-channel-from-oscars.html Well Sacha Baron Cohen just stole the show so I might as well go out and catch Act of Valor!
1. Why are the Navy Seals making movies? Don’t they have more important things to do?
2. Why is the villain a Jew?
3.l Why is the villain a Jew named “Christo?” I mean—Christo? WTF? (Oy!)
4. Why is the villain a Jew named “Christo” who looks like Jesus-gone-bad, as a Starbucks hipster/slacker? Has someone decided it’s time to demonize Christians, along with Jews?
BB,
I was a little offput by the Christo thing myself when I first saw the character, BUT, it wasn’t really a focus of the film and wasn’t really a factor. Same with the Jewry thing.
Ultimately all of that was quite forgettable when I think back on the actual movie.
See the movie. There were a few cringe worthy moments, like the part where we were actually working with the Mexican government as reliable allies, a concept I scoff at, but just let the movie roll.
Hell. I scoff at the idea that our current government would actually let these guys operate the way we all hope they could and should w/o bureaucrats and the administration interfering. The idea is somewhat laughable. And I’m not saying that to impugn the Seals. I’m saying that to impugn the deskbound admirals and the president.
You have to suspend reality to some degree. Know that this is a tapestry of actual events where Seals deployed to kill lots and lots and lots of bad guys…then just enjoy it. These guys are heroes of the highest order.
The Mexican government has big problems; anti-terrorist work with the Mexican military apparently works pretty well.
1) The SEALs did their scenes between deployments. They are entitled to time off, and how they spend it is their business.
2) The villain is not a Jew. The villian is a Muslim convert.
A supporting villain, who is merely a facilitator for the main villain, may or may not be a Jew. The actor is a Jew, and the SEAL “interrogating” him may have simply referred to that to unnerve him the way he would a real subject of an interrogation.
3) The supporting villain is called “Christo” as a nickname. Why he chose that as a nickname is never revealed, perhaps because he wanted to cultivate an aura of humanitarianism to cover for his criminal enterprises.
4) He looks like that because that is what the actor looks like, perhaps with his hair and beard a bit more grown out than usual. Judging from other movies, that look is pretty standard for smugglers, especially if they work in Central or South America.
Thanks for showing the eastside of LA in your movie. It was fun to see it on screen.
By the way, we have better food and prettier girls.
Huntington Park Forever.
Anyone heard of Navy troops?
“…from a USA Today writer:
Employing Navy troops as stars is a clever idea for an action thriller. But the soldiers’ awkward line readings are glaring enough to distract from the potency of the story.”
http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/act-of-valor-1-at-the-box-office/
I think the most we should expect, acting-wise from the SEALS is acting respectful to the CIC.
As I recall from interviews of the directors and the SEALS, all of the operational scenarios in the movie are based on an actual operations. And they were ops conducted by the SEALS in the movie. The overarching plot-line was/is fictional. But the bits and pieces making up the story are true.
Saw AOV tonight – and darn! It just happened to be when the Academy Awards were on. I’ll have to check the TV schedule better next time.
We owe our SEALS a great debt of gratitude. These are people who make great sacrifices (and in some cases, the greatest) to keep us safe. I love the methods they use for reaching their destination(s), accomplishing their mission, and getting out. The scenes with choppers dropping the SOC-Rs (all subsequently armed with M240Gs) and later extracting them are fantastic. The tracer bullets are great. Loved the sniper action. Rafting onto the deck of the submarine is spectacular.
Great movie. Great heroes. The U.S. military as heroes and our enemies as villains – what a refreshing change from Hollywood’s usual leftist, anti-American fare.
Watching fat faced B.S. Crystal try to stick it to the Republicans at the Oscars convinces me that I was right when I decided years ago not ever again to pay another red cent to see a Hollywood film.
To my way of thinking, Crystal is an especially bothersome miscreant.
Besides hating Catholicism almost as much as he hates Islam, he loves to sniff Obama’s butt, the most corrupt, feckless, girl/boy in the history of the Presidency. Both are short form males in every sense, like their butt buddy, Bill Maher.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprise if one of these days a follower of Islam took serious umbrage at the Muslim bashing especially. One of these days, I’m afraid, Crystal or Maher is going to get himself into a pickle of Muslim vengefulness. It’s not what they say in front of the cameras that’ll find them between a rock and hard place.
It’s their conduct at private parties.
It’s the gutter religion jokes they make about Muhammad. Far as I’m concerned, just because you’re drunk at a party doesn’t give you the right to draw a picture, label it Muhammad with magic marker, and pee on it in front of laughing Hollywood partygoers. When I witnessed this outrageous behavior first hand, I can almost remember exactly what came out of Crystal’s filthy mouth.
“Now, is it okay with Islam if you’ve had a lot of beer and the bathroom is occupied, to pee on the prophet if you’re facing east or west?
When you live in Brentwood, Ca., you see and hear things that are more than bad manners; they’re the height of disrespectful; wrong.
The next time Billy Crystal calls Muhammad an a hole, I’m going to record it and put it all over youtube for the whole world to see. Tonight on the Oscars, I thought B.S. Crystal was the tallest tree in a forest of disgust.
Sam, are we really supposed to believe that smugglers, and arms dealers out there, all sport the Jesus-as-Starbucks-slacker look?
If the actor himsels is Jewish, that just makes it creepier. He’s playing a Jewish/Moslem convert, working against America—this, at a time when anti-semetism is at an all time high, and our relations with Israel are at a low point. (Also at a time when we’re being attacked by Moslem/Moslems, not Jews-becoming-Moslems.)
And Christo? Come on, Christo? Even as a nickname? For a Moslem convert? WTF? CHRISTO?
Any time the government, and the military, get into the movie making business, it’s called “Propaganda”.
I think many conservatives are too easily pleased, and too eager to see their beliefs validated at the movies. Hollywod is not our ally here.
You really need to see the movie because you have the storyline completely wrong.
There are two bad guys. One, who calls himself “Christo” is a very wealthy Russian-born drug smuggler. He lives the good life and likes it. A minor point is that he’s Jewish.
The really bad guy is a Chechen Muslim convert (or at least converted to radicalism). He and “Christo” grew up and went to school together. That’s the link between the two. It isn’t hard at all to tell who the really bad guys are.
And we have to go to the movies, to see real soldiers doing anything—in this case, fighting an imaginary Moslem/Jewish baddie called “Christo”. (Did he bring his accomplices “Gautama” and “Krisha” along, with him?)
Will you please quit spreading this nonsense. You’re wrong about the character Christo.
From the movies I have seen?
Yes, that is exactly that look Hollywood believes the up and coming Eurotrash power player criminal runs around with.
For the rest, as LarryJ notes, you are confusing two separate characters, which seems to be the basis of all the charges of anti-Semitism.
As a side note, while in this case the Jewish actor is not playing a Muslim, apparently you’ve missed multiple instances of this in other movies and productions without becoming outraged. I would point you to Oded Fehr, who played a “good guy” Muslim in The Mummy Returns, and a terrorist Muslim in the Showtime series Sleeper Cell.
Overall it seems you are more interested in being outraged than the actual content of the movie.
The sad fact is. . .
Iran is getting nuclear weapons, Egypt is holding 19 Americans prisoner and Afghanistan is rioting, killing our soldiers and threatening revenge for some singed Korans. . .
And we have to go to the movies, to see real soldiers doing anything—in this case, fighting an imaginary Moslem/Jewish baddie called “Christo”. (Did he bring his accomplices “Gautama” and “Krisha” along, with him?)
What we’re being given here is, alas, bread ‘n circuses. Admire the Seals on screen, don’t think about what’s actually happening in the world.
Acts of Valor vs. the Critics
“Valor” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness : personal bravery.” The only real issue concerning the just-released war film, “Act of Valor,” is that it is mistitled since it depicts not just one but multiple instances of amazing personal bravery.
I wouldn’t dare suggest movie critics don’t respect the courage of our military and, especially, among the Navy’s SEALS. At least none of the critics have said that–although most of them find fault with virtually everything else in the movie. Then, too, how could they criticize or say they abhor the military without sacrificing the illusion of their objectivity.
For a brief synopsis and trailers, see http://bit.ly/roegRu.
The chief critical objections to “Act of Valor” is that the principal characters are wooden and that the plot is contrived.
The former charge is somewhat true due to the fact that the protagonists are active duty SEALS and not professional actors, though we’ve all sat through stinko acting by pros. The contention that the story is unreal is more a reflection of critical biases than of actuality.
The narrative is complex, taking the viewer all over the globe and filled with unrelenting, ultra-violent action but I suspect left-leaning movie critics were far more exercised over the film’s themes than its plot.
Those themes incorporated not just military bravery but the reality of war, the essence of patriotism, the principle of idealism, and even a recogntion of God, none of which are favorite themes of America’s Left. . . (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=14853.)
Your comment about not being able to leave early reminds me of a story about the late Robert Benchley. He decided to leave the theatre following the first act of a new play. An acquaintance saw him in the lobby, and questioned why he was leaving. Benchley answered that he was sure that the author of the first act had also written the second.
Watched the movies this weekend, pretty good, but if you want to put it all together then buy the book, its fills in a lot of missing info, ie, the intel trail that led to each op, will make the whole thing make sense…
As a former operator did notice some ‘mistakes’ ie the boats that were underslung were not the same boats in the Swick scene… but hey, that ok, the LAW fired at the cartel pickup was a 66, designed to penetrate the skin of light vehicles and APC’s if it hit the gas tank there would be a pretty big explosion, heat causes the gasoline to vaporize and form a vapor cloud add O2 and baboom…
Overall a good movie, glad the ommitted the normal ‘salty’ language of the operators..
Doc Out:
Well, it’s not as if we have never seen Jewish people acting against their own best interests. I have no dog in this fight, so the jewish guy supporting the jihadist didn’t even register with me, other than a momentary reflection of, ‘yeah, people sometimes do odd things’, but on further reflection, the guy is supposed to have made a billion dollars smuggling drugs/weapons, so maybe it’s not all that surprising.
What would really be interesting to discover is if this is a true detail in the movie that is supposed to be ‘based on fact.’ If it turns out that the Seal mission the story was based upon DID have a Jewish arms/drugs smuggler aiding a jihadist, then why would anyone be outraged?
IF it turned out that this was true, then why would anyone be enraged? But, of course, we don’t know IF it’s true or not. Until then, you gotta admit, it doesn’t look real good, ‘specially seeing as how the majority of Islamic terrorists coming after us are, well—Islamic terrorists, not Jews named Christo, or Russians named “Jew”, or Serbians named “Fred”, or white, corporate bankers or any of the other politically correct villains.
IF, it’s true, in fact, why aren’t we hearing more about this “Christo” person, the way we hear about Ahmadenijad, or Al-Alwaki or Bin Ladin? Could it be he doesn’t really exist, and isn’t based on a real person at all?
Could, if, but, might—and I have an invisible cat I’d like to sell you! You can’t see him? well, of course not! He’s invisible!
Never mind. Dismiss all of the above, and do not trouble yourselves about Afghanistan, or Libya or Iran or our coming splendid little war in Syria, for which this movie just might be a recruiting device.
Just watch the nice Seals on the pretty screen, and prepare to be enchanted.
Whatever bettyblue, now go back to your real comic book hero’s in your real Mom’s basement..
Loser..
Doc Out:
The Oscars were on last night? I didn’t even realize it.
I was watching Flat Top and Medal of Honor on Netflix streaming.
I’ll go see Act of Valor too.
Who cares about Hollywood.
Saw this movie this weekend (purposefully to add my ticket price to opening weekend $#). It was excellent.
I left feeling distinctly unworthy. And very grateful.
My husband and I saw Act of Valor this past Sunday. We thought the 1 1/2 star rating was a typo. The theater was packed. The audience was quiet unlike other action movies where there’s usually munching and murmurs heard. Even the guy next to us left most of his expensive popcorn bag uneaten. And during the scenes after the Seal sacrificed his life and his funeral I could tell I and others were deeply affected. The audience left during the credits quietly.
As usual, all the criticisms from the left and anti war Hollywood crowd is hypocritical, making movies that have over the top violence and so called good vs evil themes starring actors who espouse anti gun, anti America anti capitalism and anti patriotism. I try my best not to support their excessive life styles by not spending my money on them.
BettyBlue, you are entitled to your opinions and beliefs as I am. I just don’t drink the kool-aid. I think you want to be blind to the threats against the West from all different kinds of terrorists. They all don’t look like the stereotype. Like an iceberg, we only see a small part.
no salty language and the missing if i tell you I’ll have to kill you quotes, and no skin to speak of, the movie looked like a hardware commercial… we got some cool hardware!
I am seeing Act of Valor tonight. My husband hasn’t been to a movie since the #2 Raiders of the Lost Ark and he is going tonight along with my son and the neighbor kid who lives at my house. I will gladly pay and hope that it is #1 for the second week. I’m sure the lefties find this an enigma.
The line does not appear in the book version. While I love the SEALs (my father was a Navy hero in WWII) and love most of the movie this part is a bit of gratuitous Babel making it seem like the screen writer had a mini stroke in mid-sentence. Although I would also recommend the film this mini-stroke of moral equivalence is not so easily dismissed. Remember the movie bills itself as taken from real life events using real SEALS. That creates additional responsibility for the screen writer to do his homework. Troikaowicz (how ever it is spelled) would never be the name of a Chechen Jew. the wicz witz ending is distinctly associated with Ashkenazi Jews. Somebody wanted this ridiculous line squeezed into the screenplay. The question is why. Frankly I think I know who and I think I know why, but some things are better left unsaid.