When I first saw Brian De Palma’s Scarface, a decidedly eighties remake of the classic Howard Hawks gangster movie, I loved it.  I was a teenager, the perfect age to see Tony Montana’s dizzying rise in the Miami underworld, followed by his violent, cocaine-fueled fall.

Now I kind of hate it.

My dislike of Scarface mainly stems from the movie’s obnoxious fan base.  There are many movies and bands I enjoy that are cursed with followers that are beyond irritating, yet I refuse to let them poison the enjoyment I get out of whatever it is they love for erroneous reasons.  Scarface is different in that the film’s fans are indicative of the movie’s failings as a story and a as a piece of art.  It’s a classic case of rabid fans “not getting it.”

The point of Scarface was to present the dark side of the American dream, giving us the story of an immigrant who gets to the top of the food chain in the most brutal, horrible manner possible, only to lose it all in an explosion of violence.  The problem is that the film’s violent climax, while iconic, is also intoxicating in how it glorifies Montana’s death.  They way Montana goes out after getting all the lead the drug cartels have to muster pumped into him is even more exhilarating than the process in which he builds his massive criminal empire, the way he goes out killing his enemies and screaming like maniac seems like the best way to go when watching this movie.

This gangster yarn seems to be something people are more keen on worshiping and emulating for the wrong reasons, in that Tony Montana is not a role model, yet he is treated as such by the movie’s fan base.  I would argue that for this very reason, the movie is a failure when it comes to presenting its themes.  The film sets out to present the so-called American dream gone bad, yet it presents it in the sexiest, most desirable manner possible.  It’s the cinematic embodiment of the “get rich or die tryin’” mentality that I’m not so sure the filmmakers intended.

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Kicking back listening to Bonnie Tyler belt out “Holding Out For A Hero” made me think of a recent visit to Hollywood where I had the opportunity to speak with a few producers and screenwriters, truly good people all. 

Their big message: military films aren’t working. The country is weary and doesn’t want war films as entertainment. Rather, they say, the good citizens of our nation want to escape with the fictional heroes in movies such as “Transformers,” “X-Men,” and “Spider-Man.” 

Military movies may not be working because Hollywood presently refuses to capitalize on the real life heroes in combat everyday. Everyone loves a good hero and for Hollywood to embrace the notion that there might be a valorous man or woman worthy of a feature film may lend creditability to the cause for which they are fighting. And we can’t have that. 

Instead, their latest war films are partisan propaganda as opposed to realistic and balanced. Somewhere between the screenplay and the final edit group therapy takes place and movie houses release message films as opposed to realistic action movies.  (more…)

Brandon L. Millett has crunched the numbers and come up with a formula Hollywood doesn’t want to compute. Films featuring U.S. soldiers as the enemy don’t sell tickets. Period. So Millett decided to create the G.I. Film Festival, an annual event honoring movies that depict soldiers in a positive light.

The five-day festival, which kicks off its third year Wednesday (May 13) at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., just keeps growing as a result. This time around, the festival will feature 48 film screenings – up from 30 last year. “Brothers at War,” which won the festival’s prize last year for best documentary, got a theatrical distribution deal thanks to its festival appearance.

 
Stephen Baldwin, James McEachin, Brandon Millett, Gary Sinise – 2008 Festival

Oscar winner Robert Duvall will lend his star presence to the proceedings, along with Sen. Fred Thompson and Kelsey Grammer.

“We didn’t know how big it would get and how quickly it would grow. It took on a life of its own,” says Millett, Festival President. Millett pins the blame squarely on Gary Sinise, Hollywood’s hardest working actor on behalf of U.S. soldiers. (more…)

Please go to this link first – click here – to understand what I’m about to rant about and why I’m so pissed.

Almost 90% of Americans believe the war in Iraq is and was a waste. The Hollywood media feeds the public wasteful, depressing, and horribly fabricated stories. When did the U.S. military become the bad-guys? We are stereotyped “Generation Kill.” I guess that is all we do. All we do is go to Iraq, hunt innocents and slaughter them. I guess that is what I did for eight months while I was there.

I guess I really didn’t save Iraqi families from being tortured by foreign jihadis. I didn’t set up the first ever Iraqi elections. Or see my brothers blown up, shot, maimed, and killed. Getting attacked from Mosques and hospitals–and you know what?  We just took it, day after day we took it and we kept going. An IED blowing up underneath me each day.  We couldn’t fight back; we were ordered not to. No matter how much vengeful, pent up aggression I felt, or how much I wanted to kill, I didn’t act on it. We have a code, Rules of Engagement. “RULES,” rules that are followed.

But according to then Senator and now President Obama, all I did was air-raid villages and kill innocent civilians.  This is a video I will never forget:

People like Pat Dollard and Micheal Yon tell the true stories.

Please watch these clips and tell me if you buy into what is portrayed. Honestly, tell me what you believe. (more…)