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To: L.A.Justice

Haven't seen any of these except Helen Mirren's Elizabeth, which I thought was absolutely excellent. I'm wondering a little about Clint Eastwood's handling of Flags of Our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima; he seems to have gone a bit PC in his old age, and I'm very much hoping he hasn't used the films as an occasion to bash the US - especially the utterly magnificent Marines of WWII's Pacific theater - and ennoble the Japanese in some sort of multi-culti New Age revisionist turnaround.


27 posted on 12/30/2006 1:48:12 AM PST by Jack Hammer
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To: Jack Hammer
I sort of got dragged to see "The Queen", but I have to say that Helen Mirren is probably the best actress of this generation. I knew a few minutes in that I would own this movie the moment it came out for sale.

How does anyone become another person? Her performance is so stunning, so well acted and brilliant that words alone cannot describe this film.

If it is still showing on a big screen near you, then go. If not, buy the movie.

This should be an automatic Academy Award for her if acting is the gage. She has no competition.
44 posted on 12/30/2006 7:04:54 AM PST by alarm rider ("O thou who changest not, abide with me!")
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To: Jack Hammer
I'm wondering a little about Clint Eastwood's handling of Flags of Our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima; he seems to have gone a bit PC in his old age, and I'm very much hoping he hasn't used the films as an occasion to bash the US - especially the utterly magnificent Marines of WWII's Pacific theater - and ennoble the Japanese in some sort of multi-culti New Age revisionist turnaround.

Flags doesn't seem to have any of that. The characters in the film don't understand how the Surabachi photograph made them heroes when you had an island full of real heroes doing heroic things day and night. Part of the film's messgae is that a nation needs heroes to help them focus their respect and thankfulness for a host of people they don't know and might not otherwise care about.

I've read some early comments from Japanese viewers of Letters and it does sound like there's some of what you fear going on. I read, for example, that a person described both American and Japanese combatants as "victims." "Victim" is an odd word to choose for either party but that's what was used. That could be a mis-translation or it could be genuine weasel-speak. I won't know till I see it.

62 posted on 12/30/2006 8:05:13 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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