Trailer: Clooney Mocks American Military **UPDATED**
by Big Hollywood
With so many tales of military heroism left to tell, Clooney and Company choose this…
“But “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is inspired by a “true” story,” they’ll say…
But why is it always these kinds of “true” stories that get picked?
UPDATE: A message to you “C’mon lighten uppers”:
Want to know when I’ll stop being a wet blanket about these “‘c’mon, lighten up, it’s just a” comedies? When for every 5 of these where I’m told “Relax it’s just a movie,” there’s ONE that treats these incredible men and women with the respect and reverence they deserve.
One of five, 20 measly percent, that’s all I’m asking for.
Then I’ll lighten up.
In the meantime, Hollywood can go to hell.
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179 Comments
So, wait… is your intention in putting up a trailer telling me that someone has made an (at least in-part) fact-inspired movie about the U.S. Army attempting to form a unit that "weaponizes" new-age witchcrafty psychic-power stuff to make me NOT want to see it?
Cuz I gotta tell ya, it didn't work. That looks nutty
Listen to the sarcastic tone in which Clooney & Co. deliver the line "It's okay. We're Americans. We're here to help."
My father spent over two decades overseeing American Aid to Africa and Central America. He put himself and his family at great risk so an orphan in Africa might not go to bed hungry that night.
Radical, lunatic-fringe, left-wing, ultra-liberal, unpatriotic Hollywood bastards.
Nobody's going to see your shitty movie.
Typical.
Common that looks like they make more fun of the left than of the military. I think it might be funny even though I'm no Clooney fan.
Wow! Our military is a wacky, mixed-up group of keystone cops! Once one realizes a dummy like "W" can fly a fighter plane you understand it takes no intelligence at all to serve in our armed forces. I'm so glad Messrs. Clooney, Spacey, Bridges and MacGregor have the guts to show us how incompetent our armed forces are. The last movie I saw Mr. Spacey in I learned that all military men are queer. I learn so much from our nation's artists.
"</sarcasm off>" Why did it have to be Bridges?! I can easily go through the rest of my life not giving these other clowns a dime of my hard-earned money, but give up "The Big Lebowski?!" A man has limites.
And Clooney is relevant to anything, why? Just another overblown, overrated self-important Hollywood lib. yawn
There's a whole history of great, sarcastic military comedies, absolute film classics. Hope this turns out to be one of them.
I was looking for a true story … and I got a truckload of %$#@&^!!!!
Good call, George!
Looks like someone missed your sarcasm.
Someone dare to critique our men and women in uniform? How unholy! How in sanctified!
OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM ARE BEYOND REPROACH! ANYONE WHO CRITICISES OUR SOLDIERS IS UN-AMERICAN!
Who is Clooney?
Lets ask the military, who we're afraid this may offend, if they laughed at it… I mean I did.
When did we get to the point that movies can't be silly? Yes I know Hollywood can't be expected to do anything respectful of our military or honoring the sacrifices of all those who protect us. But…what's wrong with stupid? Have you all forgotten MASH? Stripes? Private Benjamin? Full Metal Jacket? (sorry. forget that one). It is a great leap of faith to think this will be a good movie, but it is a funny premise.
Dr. Strangelove.
Rufus (God, I love that name) –
I think there is a distinction between celebs who talk politics in public (like Clooney) and actors who simply appear in movies like this but who DON'T talk politics in public (like Bridges).
This could be a great deal of fun, and I'm not outraged by the assertion that the military indulges in some wingnut projects from time to time. It's more the overt political films that try to "educate" me on foreign policy and the inherent injustice of any U.S. military intervention, anywhere against anyone that gets up my nose.
There have been some great military comedies. Personally, I wouldn't put MASH in that category. It was Korea standing in for Vietnam and carried all the anachronistic 60's anti-war sentimentality, sexual liberation, consequence free drug-use, etc. into a setting where it didn't belong from an historical point of view. Humphrey Bogart's Battle Circus is far more accurate in capturing the sensibilities of Korea-era MASH units and that includes the doctor-nurse romances.
Lighten up Francis.
This looks pretty harmless to me. It kind of plays on years of rumors since the 70's of the Army doing "remote viewing" and "psych-ops" warfare experimentation.
I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps, live to the right of Attila the Hun, am not offended (primarily because it mocks Army types), and thinks it looks kinda fun.
So let's see on the verge of the Iraq war with the combined US British and allied forces poised to have to go in to Iraq and face Saddaems WMD's all the world belived were there. a mission signed on to by all 100 US Senators. Clooney makes Syriana a movie about the US CIA killing good Arabs to steal their oil.
He was no doubt looking to get American kids killed.
He wanted us to lose that war because he is a traitor to this country.
Nothing he does to harm this country surprises me, he should really though come out of the closet.
I found the clip funny and a bit off the wall. However, I see the point of the post. Of all the true stories of sacrifice and courage out there, we get a comedy. Where are the great war epics? Where are the movies that laud the American military of today and praise their sacrifice?
So true — and this does look fun in a silly way (my favorite kind of fun after Heathers dark) — but hard to reconcile paying money to projects starring C.Looney and Hug-a-Hugo Spacey.
Looks mildly amusing… I spend for a blank dvd and get if from a torrent after it takes a shit at the theaters.
http://politicsofdestruction.com
You were saying the exact opposite when St. Cindy was camping in Crawford so cork it, Sissy.
The book it's based on is great.
Agent Pierce looks highly disgusted with The Dude's anti-American harrangue….
I think he is a crappy actor, never liked him in ER, couldn't believe he made to the big screen.
I dunno, I got more than a good feeling about this one. Looks funny. Why not leave it at that? It's just a trailer folks!
Strikes and gutters, man!
Watching the trailer I was expecting to be insulted. I have to admit I was amused. It looks like a light hearted military comedy, maybe along the lines of Stripes, and not a military bashing film. I’m still not going to see it.
They should make a movie where George Clooney gets waterboarded for 120 minutes.
That would be funny.
Making such a movie today – when we have a real military doing incredibly hard and amazing things every day – is the equivalent of being obsessed with the stuff between your toes. That is nutty. And symptomatic of Hollywood.
Besides, we know how this "fact inspired" nonsense works, don´t we? The truth quotient is 0,5%. You may share the closed-off perspective of the filmmakers, or you may just enjoy a wacky story (so do I, usually) but you´re not going to learn anything significant here.
Who cares? Despite the left's best attempts to engineer the contrary, the military will always be a more trusted and respected institution than Hollywood.
I dunno, looks funny. I will see it.
I would buy that on BluRay and throw screening parties at my place.
[...] See the original post here: Trailer: Clooney Mocks American Military [...]
I like the subject, I'd rather see a serious movie on it though.
Looks kind of funny. Maybe I'll go see it.
There are sacred cows of the LEFT that no one seems interested in sending-up with a dark comedy: rabid eco-activists, foaming-at-the-mouth professors, unhinged animal-rights terrorists, and of course: Islamic fundamentalists who scream "God is great!" while sawing off someone's head.
Don't complain that leftist filmmakers produce comedies that promote their point of view – because you are free to do the same! Personally, I am in a UCLA writer's program developing a dark comedy spec script sending up radical Islam. This costs time, money, and energy. Are you willing to accept personal sacrifices in order to make movies that mock left-wing sacred cows? Or would you rather play golf, sit around at home watching basketball on cable, or complain on blog sites about the left?
Things will not change in Hollywood until more conservatives are willing to take action (and all that entails) rather than just gripe.
I guess that Bridges is like most other actors; he wants to work. He didn´t write or direct the movie. Clooney didn´t either, the difference is that we know Clooney is full of it because he went out of his way to let us know. But why blame Bridges?
I personally know a director/producer with a crew that can put together a feature-length version of the 100% true story of U.S. Army SSG David Bellavia's war memoir of Fallujah: "House to House" (http://www.amazon.com/House-David-Bellavia/dp/141...
The director/producer I know is a proven entity (his YouTube videos have millions of views), would shoot it on HD to cut costs, and use a non-union crew in Texas to qualify for a 21.25 % tax rebate if the budget was $1 million or more–bascially an investor would spend a million bucks and be guaranteed to get at a minimum $212,500 back.
But hey, if you'd all see Clooney's movie instead there's nothing I can do to stop you…
Hollywood has attributed their own psychotic psychedelic power trances onto the military.
Note to John Nolte:
I saw A Perfect Getaway last night. I do not find a review here at Big Hollywood.
(Spoiler Alert!!!)
The movie was good but not great. It kept me interested and moved right along, but the key thing, the thing that allowed me to leave the theater with a giant grin, (spoiler, spoiler, spoiler) was that hero was an Iraq War Vet. He called himself an American Jedi and he lived up to his own billing. I could not believe it!!!!
It is extremely disappointing that our movie industry cannot bring itself to make one decent, accurate movie about our military. If you follow these things at all, you know some of the jawdropping, deeply moving and completely true stories of heroism out there.
Having said that, I´m not sure that this flick will do any harm. It looks like another wannabe Brothers Coen, pseudo cool, pretend smart kind of movie. I wasn´t so much offended as bored. The trailer isn´t very funny.
They cannot praise the military because the military has provided a much more useful service than Hollywood ever had. The narcissism of the Hollywood elite protects them from the haunting truth that they are a useless class of uneducated idiots.
Yea Oh my god! this is terrible! movies making light of anything! lord no!
i dont see any of you crucifying Charlie Sheen? [wait for.. you will now...]
two words: Hot Shots – most accurate portrayal of US military prowess since Dirty Dozen.. hands down…should be taught in school..
Compared to modern movies, Stripes and Private Benjamin had actually a kind of fond view of the military. I liked Three Kings back in 1999, even though it has its anti-American moments.
The bigger worry is that I didn´t find this trailer funny. The filmmakers are trying too hard to be sophisticated and the strain is showing.
El Gordo: What's stopping YOU from making those movies?
I drove to LA from Virginia in December 2006, age 46, with no contacts or experience whatsoever in the film industry. This last Monday my first movie (as writer/director) went into post-production editing. I also have two spec scripts under development, both of them politically charged (and I mean that in a good way!).
So, why can't you do the same? is it that you have "other priorities" or "obligations?" If so, you have answered your own question: Hollywood is dominated by the left because conservatives have other priorities.
Ah…my favorite toilet bug….Cgn-blah-blah.
A post without a snarky, dim-witted comment from you is like a nice summer walk in the park without a pile of dog poop sticking to my shoes. Good times.
Oh, and our fighting men and women deserve a lot better than the likes of George "I've-Never-Met-A-Brainless-Liberal-Cause-I-Don't-Like" Clooney.
I laughed.
True, it's been a long time and those are *Army* uniforms… so…
I love, admire and respect our soldiers. Doesn't mean I have a shred of love, admiration or respect for the nutjobs they answer to. I think it looks like a funny film. You know, we did just have The Hurt Locker, which is about as reverential about US soldiers without crossing over into John Wayne Green Berets territory.
The British satirist Chris Morris is making a film called Four Lions about a family of suicide bombers. It's due out next year and I can't wait to see it.
I completely agree with you. Clearly there are several writers and directors on the right who could make a great film that is better than An American Carol. Why don't they have the guts to go out there and find the money to make them? Personally I lean more to the left than to the right on many issues but I relish in opposing points-of-view (which is why I'm here) and as long as a film is entertaining and thought-provoking, I will enjoy it regardless of the politics unless we're talking about Triumph of the Will.
I'll agree with you on Stripes and Private Benjamin, Gordo.. those were actually supportive of the military, even thought they had their "make fun of the superiors" moments.
I'll disagree with you on Three Kings… that movie I could not stand.. I tried watchign it a few times on demand…and I just could not get through it.
I thought it looked interesting, funny and entertaining.
You know… I'm just not that insecure that I'm going to worry about it. There's room for funny in the world. If it's a funny that is insulting or not to those in uniform is not apparent from that trailer. I mean, really… we were researching a weapon that gave people bad breath and body odor. *Really*. We *were*. And I'm not even saying that we *shouldn't*… but you've got to have a notion of the absurd about life without getting your panties in a twist.
What will make the movie insulting or not insulting to the military and to those who serve is not how those in the psychic warfare program are portrayed but how the regular troops and officers are portrayed.
Clooney acting: Scene one: Tilts his head to the side and repeats a line that someone with a brain wrote. Scene two; Tilts his head to the side and repeats another line that someone with a brain wrote. Repeat for ninety minutes. What an artist.
"The Hurt Locker?" the movie with the whacked-out American Colonel who orders an Iraqi prisoner be left to bleed to death and a protagonist so warped and PTSD'd by war he can't love his own son and gets his own man shot and nearly killed because he's going further and further out of his mind?
That's reverential?
I think funny are people who spend all their spare time watching made-up movies of other people's lives believe their own lives are somehow being fulfilled.
Real Life-try it sometime.
"Where are the great war epics? Where are the movies that laud the American military of today and praise their sacrifice?"
Don't worry, Donny Deutche is going to email a list of those movies to you.
There are sacred cows of the LEFT that no one seems interested in sending-up with a dark comedy: rabid eco-activists, foaming-at-the-mouth professors, unhinged animal-rights terrorists, and of course: Islamic fundamentalists who scream "God is great!" while sawing off someone's head.
Yesterday I caught a portion of a promotion for a play here in the Los Angeles area that skewers liberal sacred cows. Unfortunately I didn’t get the name but it opens soon. This I will go see. Maybe Stage Right, who reviews plays here, will have a post about it. I hope he does; Conservatives need to support such performances.
Catch "We Were Soldiers".
Yeah but he has a mustache in this one. That changes the whole dynamic. His role is "George Clooney with mustache."
Daniel Day Lewis he is not.
I´m impressed. For reasons I will not go into, it is too late for me to start a new career. And I didn´t become officially conservative until a couple of years ago. But you are right in principle. When it comes to sending up the left´s holy cows mercilessly, it would be a lot of fun. And a noble thing, too.
I´m impressed. For reasons I will not go into, it is too late for me to start a new career. And I didn´t become officially conservative until a couple of years ago. But you are right in principle. When it comes to sending up the left´s holy cows mercilessly, it should be a lot of fun. And a noble thing, too.
I have no money to invest, but I´ll watch that movie, buy the DVD, whatever. Bellavia´s book kept me reading all through the night and I had to go to work the next day! That doesn´t happen a lot.
Now this does look amusing, and it's not your traditional military that you're dealing with here… it's the loony leftist that infiltrated the military with their loony ideas…. and what's wrong with making fun of them? It doesn't appear they're the guys in the trenches, just a bunch of supposed psychics who go around violatiing everything the military stands for… kind of like MASH.
Indeed! They can easily use those very expensive puppets in the sequel. They might have to since the marionettes they used in the first one are most likely long gone and sold on ebay.
Thanks. Everyone should know, it is possible. And I'm finding there's a surprising number of industry people here who are open-minded about politically incorrect movies.
The bottom line is that more conservatives need to be willing to make personal sacrifices in order to begin to slowly take back the culture. Otherwise, the left will continue to dominate.
I'm immune. I made a tinfoil hat.
I gained immunity by canceling my cable subscription months ago. I still don't miss it.
good call. I only got rid of HBO (Maher gives me gas) and went back to the basic package. Their signal's still comming in, but it's weak enough to be repelled by my tinfoil hat.
Well, we all know that you're un-american. Love that name, though. It fits you to a "t".
It's got The Dude… I may have to go see it.
some of these left wing clowns couldnt do what our military WOMEN endure. Let alone keep up with the men.
I've read the book: it's a great read. Seriously, this looks like a lot of fun. Sticks are in dire need of being removed from butts around these parts.
doesnt even look funny. most comedies these days SUCK.
You want to know when I'll stop being a wet blanket about these "'c'mon, lighten up, it's just a" comedies? When for every 5 of these where I'm told "Relax it's just a movie," there's ONE that treats these incredible men and women with the respect and reverence they deserve.
One of five, 20 measly percent, that's all I'm asking for.
Then I'll lighten up.
In the meantime, Hollywood can go to hell.
I love the attitude of some (not all, but a few folks) on this site: If it features someone who's politics I don't agree with it must then be either terrible or a mockery of my values. Yeesh. I like how the thought of YOU (again, not everybody) being the one with narrow point-of-view never figures into the equation.
Have not watched it, though I own it; Loved "Heart of a Soldier" the book about vet Rick Rescorla who saved all the Morgan Stanley people, except himself and the idiot VP he tried to rescue, on 9/11. Rescorla was an actual character in the book that "We Were Soldiers' was based, but he was either deleted or blended with someone else….so, don't know yet if I want to see a movie that did edited out a real-life hero, whose had made heroic efforts prior to 9/11.
I WOULD SO LOVE TO SEE THESE HELLYWOOD LIBERALIA INTRODUCED, IN A BOOT-CAMP SORT OF WAY, TO PARRIS ISLAND.
another flop from hollywood… what a shock
I'll bet you ten dollars they show all the funny parts in the trailer…
If you're truly surprised, it's only because you listen to the know-nothings who post here. There is no great liberal conspiracy in Hollywood, even if Jeneane Garafalo says some things Big Hollywood doesn't like.
And someone who fills her life complaining about people who watch movies? How funny is that!
But you'll keep on cashing the paycheck for spending your ife whining about it. If it bugs you that much, get a real job.
What's the big deal people??? God we need to lighten up if we are ever going to take back the white-house
Oh yeah? So where is the conservative equivalent to all those outspoken liberal movie stars and directors? Where are their movies and tv shows? I can´t find them. What are the conservative moments that spoil every other movie for you? Can you give me 10 examples from, say, the second Bush term? I bet you can´t.
No conspiracy. They just ARE reflexive liberals producing movies dripping with liberal values. And they say liberal things whenever they find an opportunity, and especially abroad when they try to suck up to the Euro-press. And the opposite NEVER happens.
Lighten up, Francis.
jeesh, it's just a freakin' movie. There are plenty of war movies that honor our military, and most of them are propaganda.
some of the stuff might not be so far out there .hey we have or had people doing remote veiwing at some point .
I guess something a little lighter at heart is ok as long as it does not disrespect soliders.
Well played, wr1. Hypocrisy knows no party lines apparently.
Looks like a fun movie to me. I know it's an unpopular opinion around these parts but I like Clooney in weirdo comedies like O Brother Where Art Thou and Burn After Reading.
Now, on the other hand, if this movie starred Sean Penn…
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Personally, I think the hollyweirds make way to much money and should be taxed at 80 percent or paid minimum wage. When that happens, I might pay to see a movie again. Unless of course it is Clint Eastwood or some other conservative star. The nice thing is, they are coming out of the closet after all these years.
The left glorifies the most perverted things and wants to destroy the free market. Something is not right with this picture. I'm beginning to believe that it is a mental condition. I thought the book was funny, even though it was a serious book, but I'm beginning to get it now.
Hate to break it to you, but Clint Eastwood is far from conservative.
Ah, I see from the update that Big Hollywood is employing the popular "because I said so" schoolyard technique.
Yeah, go to hell, Hollywood — whose very existence makes this site possible… wait, what?
and if it had a bunch of Marines acting like idiots you'd have the same opinion?
No I wasn't.
I liked him in ER (both of them. Yes, I'm one of the five people who saw him in the short-lived sitcom of the same name), and he is capable of very likable performances. But he became unbelievably self-important in an unbelievably short period of time, and he makes it clear at every opportunity that he doesn't give a crap about his audience. Because of that, I find it very hard to give a crap about him anymore.
"A post without a snarky, dim-witted comment from you is like a nice summer walk in the park without a pile of dog poop sticking to my shoes. Good times"
Mission accomplished! Good times indeed.
Isn't Clooney tired of being one of the lowest-grossing "stars" in Hollywood history? I mean, the critics love him, and nobody else. Bleh.
Oh, wait….
You're trying to be ironic.
Your meteoric wit is just soooooooo cutting edge.
Let's pay these A** holes back in 2010 and 2012. I love movies but if it is just going to be a constant stream of this crap, I'll find another way to spend my time and money. Where for art thout Team America World Police sequal
The Russians had massive research into this type of phenomenon. They will never be mocked like this.
"Relax, it's just a book."
Said about Twilight too and you know how despicable that franchise is.
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