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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Oliver Stone re-enlists for duty in Vietnam with My Lai film |
| 2007-08-28 |
| LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The rest of Hollywood might be training their camera lenses on the war in Iraq, but veteran director Oliver Stone is preparing to re-enlist for Vietnam, it was reported Tuesday. Stone, who won best director Oscars for his Vietnam War-related dramas "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," is planning a new film about the investigation into the 1968 My Lai massacre, Daily Variety reported. The 60-year-old director is close to sealing a deal with United Artists to finance the film, titled "Pinkville," while actor Bruce Willis has been confirmed to play the army chief who led the investigation into the killings. Up to 500 Vietnamese civilians, including many unarmed women, children and elderly, were killed by US troops in the My Lai massacre, one of the most notorious episodes of war crimes ever committed by American forces. Revelations surrounding the massacre are often said to have played a key role in turning American public opinion against the war in Vietnam. Stone's next project following his 9/11 drama "World Trade Center" was expected to be a film about the CIA's attempts to capture Al-Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Instead "Pinkville" will focus on the probe into My Lai with Willis playing Army General William R. Peers, who supervised the inquiry. Actor Channing Tatum will play Hugh Thompson, a military helicopter pilot who curtailed the killing by placing his craft between villagers and soldiers and warning troops he would open fire if any more civilians were killed. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #14 Wide World of Meat - 1972 - Tony Hendra |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-28 21:47 |
| #13 Lt Calley's troops took fire and had the right to counter same. Frustration caused them to kill indiscriminately, at close quarters. At worst, Calley ordered an "active entry" (hair trigger) into My Lai, and it got out of control. What happened was not forseeable, above the grunt level. And even the foot soldiers acted out of terror and frustration. Oliver Stone will both defend "hearts and minds" idiocy, while smearing US troops who were fighting under JFK' whimp war rules. Any Stone' film about My Lai, should be labelled: Democratic Party fiction. As for the "National Lampoon," I recall that they wrote a parody of the "Save the Children" foundation, and concocted "Lt Calley's Kill the Children Foundation." I still have NL issue 1 ("sexy cover issue"); wonder what its worth? |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-08-28 20:38 |
| #12 There are hundreds of great stories to be told about Irag and Afghanistan. Bit they won't be told by Hollywood. Sorry Bruce Willis but your stock just dropped in my book. Oliver Stone is a known moonbat. You made a mistake signing on with him. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-08-28 20:23 |
| #11 There are still former Army soldiers whom continue to argue that Calley's unit did receive heavy enemy fire from the village and surrounding areas,and that a yet/still unknown number of dead civilians at My Lai were in fact Cong fighters. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-08-28 19:54 |
| #10 I still remember an old Nat'l Lampoon "meat issue" ....same one? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-28 18:53 |
| #9 Off in search of Meat-Lie, the Shame of Nation, I may have to loot the Terry Hendra vault. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-08-28 18:24 |
| #8 The late, great, much-loved Cathy Seipp routinely eviscerated Oliver Stone. |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-08-28 17:32 |
| #7 "Check this out. This is my Lucky Director's Hat™. A CIA guy gave it to me..." |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-28 16:01 |
| #6 Co-produced By John Kerry, I bet. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-08-28 15:48 |
| #5 Stone needs a success so he will pick this old scab and make a strained and over-exaggerated comparison to today's war. Whatta Dick. |
| Posted by: danking70 2007-08-28 15:45 |
| #4 When the NVA briefly held Hue during Tet, they murdered thousands of alleged "collaboraters," and tossed bodies in mass graves, with the thought that they could hold Hue forever. Does that interest Oliver Stone? As for My Lai, I believe it revealed the folly of any "hearts and mind" policy. During WW2, Bomber Command directed indiscriminate air bombardment of "built up areas" in enemy territory. On the ground, advancement followed massive artillery bombardment. "Hearts and mind" led Vietnamese to remain in VC/NVA villages. When these were captured, US troops were subject to sniper fire and controlled explosions. Inevitably, troops blamed innocent and other civilians for avoidable deaths, and we had My Lai. So why the hell are we playing the same losing game in Iraq? Al-Jazeera still films Iraqis celebrating around destroyed US vehicles. That drives steel into the enemy's backs. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-08-28 15:40 |
| #3 JFM, it doesn't matter. Just as in Iraq, the fraternity pranks at Abu Ghraib are more important than all the slaughter done by Saddam. The important thing in Hollywood is to demonize the American military. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-08-28 14:49 |
| #2 How maany Mi Lais prepetrated by the Vietcong and the AVN? |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-08-28 14:04 |
| #1 Stone has has a string of less-than-succesfull movies. He needs a success. If not monetary than critical and going back to brutal Americans in Vietnam will get him beloved by Hollywood again. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-08-28 13:52 |