‘WWII In HD’ Provides Riveting History Lessons

“WWII In HD” is an excellent 10-hour, five part series narrated by Gary Sinise of “Forrest Gump” and “CSI: New York. “  Three episodes air tonight on the History Channel.

The series shows the war through the eyes of 12 Americans who fought in the war or contributed to it in some way. Using diaries, journals, and new interviews, it follows these Americans as their personal journeys intersect with one another throughout the war effort. Hollywood actors, including LL Cool J of  “NCIS: Los Angeles,” Rob Lowe, Amy Smart, Jason Ritter, and Steve Zahn, portray the young voices of the Americans. The original Americans include a war reporter, an Army nurse, a young African American from Toledo who became a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a second-generation Japanese American, and a Jewish immigrant from Austria who wound up in the Pacific Theater. (more…)

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Tags: Amy Smart, gary sinise, History Channel, Jason Ritter, LL Cool J
Posted Nov 16th 2009 at 2:03 pm in Reviews, Theatre | 26315467 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/drbaehr/2009/11/16/wwii-in-hd-provides-riveting-history-lessons/%27WWII+In+HD%27+Provides+Riveting+History+Lessons++2009-11-16+22%3A03%3A47Ted+Baehr

The G.I. Film Festival and Gary Sinise: Supporting Our Troops

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the GI Film Festival at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The Festival took place in one day and showed films that portray American enlisted men and women in a favorable light as opposed to the usual Hollywood fare. This festival was an offshoot of the main GI Film Festival which takes place in May every year in Washington D.C. The main event lasts seven days and includes showings of approximately 50 films. This was a one day shortened version in which the crème of the crop were exhibited. You can find out more details about the festival at: http://www.gifilmfestival.com. I also recommend that if you are so inclined, you make a donation to this worthy cause.

Among the screened films was a documentary entitled “About Face,” which was directed by Steve Karras. To me, the film is a masterpiece. It depicts a group of Jewish Refugees from both Germany and Austria that joined the American and British Armed Forces in WWII to fight against their native lands. The film was both moving and educational. In fact, I must state I was not even aware there was so many of these refugees. Apparently, they numbered approximately 10,000. And, because of their knowledge of the native languages of the enemy, many of them were placed in positions that put them directly into contact with the same Germans who were persecuting their family and relatives. (more…)

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Tags: armed forces, Bedford Virginia, D-Day, gary sinise, germany
Posted Oct 4th 2009 at 5:54 pm in Featured Story, Film, Military | 24059419 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/fdemartini/2009/10/04/the-g-i-film-festival-and-gary-sinise-supporting-our-troops/The+G.I.+Film+Festival+and+Gary+Sinise%3A+Supporting+Our+Troops+2009-10-05+00%3A54%3A44Frank+DeMartini

Gary Sinise and the Reagan Foundation Host the Best of the GI Film Festival “Road Show”

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, September 26, 2009

On Saturday, September 26, 2009, award-winning actor Gary Sinise and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation will present the award-winning GI Film Festival at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to screen the “Best of the Festival.”  The GI Film Festival is the first and only film festival in the nation that honors the successes and sacrifices of the American GI through the medium of film.  (Please visit www.gifilmfestival.com/losangeles for more information and to purchase your tickets.) 

Tickets are $25 per person and include access to all screenings for the day and free admission into the Reagan Library and Air Force One Pavilion.  VIP tickets are $40 per person and include all screenings and admission, as well as a special reception with Gary Sinise following the prime time screening. (more…)

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Tags: gary sinise, GI Film Festival, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
Posted Sep 24th 2009 at 5:05 am in Film, Military | 23215824 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/gifilmfestival/2009/09/24/gary-sinise-and-the-reagan-foundation-host-the-best-of-the-gi-film-festival-road-show/Gary+Sinise+and+the+Reagan+Foundation+Host+the+Best+of+the+GI+Film+Festival+%E2%80%9CRoad+Show%E2%80%9D2009-09-24+12%3A05%3A15G.I.+Film+Festival

Gold Star Mom: Debbie Argel-Bastian

To Hollywood

Logan is trying to understand, but he is only four. His father’s plane went down in Iraq on Memorial Day of 2008. When asked about his dad, he puts his hand on his heart and says, “My daddy is a hero.” He goes to get his toy tool kit. He is going to fix the plane so that daddy can come home. Logan loves to hear the stories from the small group of Combat Controllers that knew his dad. Soon, a book will be out for him. The book is called “Letters for Logan.” It will tell the story of the soldier and the man. Logan is too young to understand the anger, bitterness, poor timing and judgment of Hollywood, California. Logan is not alone. On the plane that carried five good men to heaven that day, six children lost their dads. There are over 700 children of fallen Spec Ops Warriors to date.

The soldier is my son, Capt. Derek Argel. In the sixth grade, he made a decision that to serve God, Country and family was a privilege and not a right. He understood that the gifts he had been given in athletic and intellectual abilities were to be shared with his country. Less than 300 men did his job, worldwide. They were the elite of the elite.

At that time, he decided he would become the best officer and Special Ops Warrior he could for the freedoms and gifts this country gave him. He was the best son a mother could ask for. He was everyone’s best friend. Most felt he would become a General, then run for President. (more…)

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Tags: Capt. Derek Argel, Cindy Sheehan, gary sinise, Gold star parents, kelsey grammer
Posted Jun 25th 2009 at 3:02 pm in Featured Story, Military | 168782One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/gsmothers/2009/06/25/gold-star-mom-debbie-argel-bastian/Gold+Star+Mom%3A+Debbie+Argel-Bastian2009-06-25+22%3A02%3A56Gold+Star+Mothers

The Stoning Of Team Hollywood

The crime is complete. Judgment has been passed. The killing stones are in hand. As per the harsh stoning penal code of Iran’s Islamist thugocracy (for however long that lasts) where the crime took place, my stones are not so big as to kill right away, not so small you can’t call them stones. And I’m winding up like Nolan Ryan. Feel free to pick up a stone of your own. But wait for it!

And let me make this perfectly clear, even if they do say Jehovah!

Sentence must be read before being carried out. And unlike Soraya M., the board members of the Asylum of Motion Picture Airheads and Stooges will deserve every rock that’s thrown their way. I also believe that, in light of events in Iran today, the following commentary will stand out in much starker prominence than it did when I first started reporting on them in early March, when Team Oscar first set off for the Unfriendly Skies of Islamist Iran. (more…)

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Tags: Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, Ahmadinejad, Al Franken, Alireza Davudnejad, Ambush Bay
Posted Jun 19th 2009 at 5:45 pm in Entertainment, News, Politics | 1641062 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/06/19/the-stoning-of-team-hollywood/The+Stoning+Of+Team+Hollywood2009-06-20+00%3A45%3A26John+T.+Simpson

USO: How Hollywood Serves

The last guy you want to meet in the entertainment industry is a writer.  We just aren’t very interesting.  Sure, guys like Joss Whedon seem cool, but that’s only when compared to other writers.  Put him in a room with any actor, musician, or even Key Grip, and Whedon is the pasty guy in the corner having a conversation about the vagaries of the flux capacitor with himself.  So when I had the opportunity last week to travel with a small group of actors (Zachary Levi, Joel David Moore, Kal Penn, and Christian Slater) to the Middle East and Africa with the USO, I jumped at the chance.  Finally.  A perk.

For my actor friends, though, there was a bit more trepidation.  After all, they were the actual celebrities on this celebrity tour, the ones people would want to meet.  I doubt they are alone.  In fact, I suspect that a big reason why more actors in Hollywood don’t volunteer their time with the USO is that they simply don’t know what the experience will be like.  Sure they’ve seen video of Bob Hope out entertaining crowds of troops, but as an actor, you don’t carry your show on the road.  Will the troops even care that you are there?  What will you have to offer them?  Is it uncomfortable?  Is it political?  Fortunately for me, the actors in my party decided to give it a try in spite of these questions.  Here is what we learned. (more…)

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Tags: armed forces, bob hope, Christian Slater, gary sinise, Joel David Moore
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Military | 14921010 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jdboreing/2009/06/02/uso-calling-hollywood-to-serve/USO%3A+How+Hollywood+Serves+2009-06-02+12%3A03%3A11Jeremy+D.+Boreing

Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge: Day 1 – DC to Manassas‏

The Ride 2 Recovery kicked-off today with a ride from the National Memorial Parade to Manassas. The 50 mile journey, with about 2,000′ of climbing, would take the riders down the beautiful George Washington Parkway, past Mount Vernon and the west to the town of Manassas.

250,000 people lined the route

The Parade features many Military groups and R2R was honored to be a part of such a great event.

The riders left the Parade area and headed down the GW parkway under the usually great escort of the American Legion Riders. (more…)

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Tags: gary sinise, Iraq War, Lee Greenwood, Memorial Day Challenge, Ride 2 Recovery
Posted May 26th 2009 at 9:37 am in Military | 143938No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/r2r/2009/05/26/road-2-recovery-memorial-challenge-day-1-dc-to-manassas/Ride+2+Recovery+Memorial+Challenge%3A+Day+1+-+DC+to+Manassas%E2%80%8F2009-05-26+16%3A37%3A54Ride+2+Recovery

Part 3: Interview with ‘Brothers at War’ Director, Jake Rademacher

Note: Part 1 of this 4 part interview can be found here and Part 2, here.

J.R. Head: Changing gears, (Executive Producer) Gary Sinise said of this film, “Brothers at War celebrates the courage and integrity of the American Soldier and the American military family.  It is also a film about a man’s love and respect for his two brothers and his dedication to telling their story.  A great film that I am proud to be a part of.”   That’s got to feel good, coming from someone of Gary’s caliber.

“Brothers at War” Director, Jake Rademacher:  Yeah, it was funny.  I was invited to screen “Brothers at War” in Iraq for General Petraeus’ public affairs folks and a number of our warriors stationed over there.  Upon viewing the film, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Loretta Vandenberg, extremely moved by “Brothers at War” said, “You need to get this to Gary Sinise.  He’s a big supporter of the troops, you need to get him to present this film.  Call him when you get back to Los Angeles.”  I was like, “okay… do you have his phone number?” (more…)

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Tags: Brothers At War, Endeavor, gary sinise, GI Film Festival, Jake Rademacher
Posted May 21st 2009 at 6:33 am in Entertainment, Military | 139502One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jrhead/2009/05/21/part-3-interview-with-brothers-at-war-director-jake-rademacher/Part+3%3A+Interview+with+%27Brothers+at+War%27+Director%2C+Jake+Rademacher2009-05-21+13%3A33%3A46J.R.+Head

GI Film Festival: Where Hollywood Fears to Tread

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…)

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Tags: Brian De Palma, Brothers At War, gary sinise, GI Film Festival, kevin bacon
Posted May 12th 2009 at 5:01 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Military | 1317907 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/05/12/gi-film-festival-going-where-hollywood-fears-to-tread/GI+Film+Festival%3A+Where+Hollywood+Fears+to+Tread2009-05-12+12%3A01%3A30Christian+Toto

Adventures in the Scream Trade, Take One

If you’re wondering if I was about to opine on the craft of gut-twisting horror stories, you’d only be half right. I’m actually talking about real life here. As many of you may know from my earlier posts, I first flame-throwered onto the scene here at Big Hollywood about a month ago, on the occasion of Team Oscar’s could-not-be-more-ill-advised taking off for the unfriendly skies of Islamist Iran.

I knew they were going to get punked! They were going to Punkedville! In fact, I was so sure of it, I was the one who broke the story in the US off the French wires to Drudge and Nikki Finke.  One Hollywood Jihadi PR roadside bomb detonated. War Is Hell.

Look at their trip from my POV. I remember the whole balls-to-the-wall anti-Apartheid campaign from the mid-eighties. ‘I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City,’ remember? By the way, wasn’t Little Stevie great in that video? Love him! Point being, if the racist South African apartheid regime was unworthy of cultural exchange, why was the gay-hanging, women-stoning, child-executing, blogger-killing, hostage-taking fascist regime in Iran worthy of a gold-plated Academy PR kiss? (more…)

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Tags: AMPAS, Andrew Breitbart, angelina jolie, Annette Bening, ben stiller
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 5:58 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, News, Politics | 9749410 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/04/06/adventures-in-the-scream-trade-take-one/Adventures+in+the+Scream+Trade%2C+Take+One2009-04-06+12%3A58%3A54John+T.+Simpson

Gary Sinise Talks ‘Brothers At War’ With Jimmy Fallon

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Tags: Brothers At War, gary sinise, jimmy fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Posted Mar 17th 2009 at 9:21 am in Entertainment, Military | 8251425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/03/17/gary-sinise-talks-brothers-at-war-with-jimmy-fallon/Gary+Sinise+Talks+%27Brothers+At+War%27+With+Jimmy+Fallon2009-03-17+16%3A21%3A21Big+Hollywood

The Hollywood Awards Show Not Shown on TV

This week’s Washington Times column:

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. | After spending two weeks on something akin to a fact-finding mission in depressed New York and depleted Washington, D.C., I found no answers to our nation’s mounting ills. I discovered that there is much to be angry about and unlimited reasons for deep concern. But on the evening after my return, the stars aligned on the outskirts of Los Angeles at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and for a brief moment I felt safe again in America.

On Saturday, my wife and I were privileged to attend the second annual “Celebration of Freedom Gala.” We joined more than 1,000 others who, like us, were electrified to honor 43 of the 98 living Medal of Honor recipients. We also gave our thanks to former first lady Nancy Reagan, war hero and actor Charles Durning, and Gen. David H. Petraeus. (more…)

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Tags: "Dog Day Afternoon", "Freedom Never Cries", "The Sting", Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment, Bronze Star
Posted Mar 8th 2009 at 4:53 pm in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Media Criticism, Military | 7554256 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/03/08/the-hollywood-awards-show-not-shown-on-tv/The+Hollywood+Awards+Show+Not+Shown+on+TV2009-03-09+00%3A53%3A46Andrew+Breitbart

Top 5: Directed by Ron Howard

Before he turned to tedious Oscar-bait and incomprehensibly dull “thrillers” with Tom Hanks, Ron Howard used to tell a pretty solid story every now and again. Howard’s best film will always be the timeless “Music Man,” but we’re looking at his turns behind the camera today: (more…)

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Tags: apollo 13, backdraft, gary sinise, kurt russell, night shift
Posted Feb 2nd 2009 at 5:54 pm in Top 5 | 3939870 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/02/02/top-5-directed-by-ron-howard/Top+5%3A+Directed+by+Ron+Howard2009-02-03+01%3A54%3A37John+Nolte

DVD Review: George Wallace

Produced for television in 1997 and just released on DVD, director John Frankenheimer’s three-hour docudrama on the adult life of Alabama governor George Wallace (Gary Sinise),  plays like a quality theatrical film, and not just because of impressive production values. A winner of multiple awards, including 2 Golden Globes and 3 Emmys, “George Wallace” is a welcome throwback to the classic biopics of old.

Crafting a screenplay around the life of a historical figure is no easy task. Screen stories demand a three-act structure and reality isn’t always so convenient. For the last couple decades, screenwriters have too often leaned on a stormy marriage or substance abuse – or both – to solve this dilemma, but as last year’s spoof “Dewey Cox,” made clear, this framing device is long past cliché and needs to be retired. (more…)

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Tags: angelina jolie, gary sinise, george wallace, john frankenheimer, mare winningham
Posted Jan 27th 2009 at 2:35 pm in Reviews | 3237017 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/27/dvd-review-george-wallace/DVD+Review%3A+George+Wallace2009-01-27+22%3A35%3A42John+Nolte