Posts Tagged ‘Washington DC’

Leo Grin

For Conservative Movie Lovers: John Ford, John Wayne, and ‘They Were Expendable’ Part 2

by Leo Grin

john_ford_at_midway

“I am really a coward. I know I am, so that’s why I did foolish things. I was decorated eight or nine times, trying to prove that I was not a coward, but after it was all over I still knew, know, that I was a coward.”

– John Ford –

June 4, 1942. The Battle of Midway. John Ford was on his back, covered in debris, unconscious. All around him bombs were dropping, buildings were erupting into monstrous fireballs, and young marines were dodging deadly lines of machine-gun strafing sent down by Japanese fighter planes. Ford and his assistant, young Jack MacKenzie Jr. (whose father was an RKO cinematographer) had been perched on the roof of a power station on Eastern Island, brazenly filming the morning attack by the Japanese and reporting enemy plane positions to headquarters, when a bomb landed a scant twenty feet from their position. The shockwave was so great that MacKenzie later recalled he was “bounced flat on my face by the terrific explosion,” adding, “we almost lost Commander Ford.” (more…)

G.I. Film Festival

Third Annual “GI Film Festival” to Showcase World’s Best Military Films

by G.I. Film Festival

“Seven Days in May” to Highlight 48 Films Honoring American GIs

 May 11-17, Washington, DC

Arlington, Virginia – GI Film Festival co-founders Brandon Millett and Major Laura Law-Millett announced today the line-up for the Third Annual festival showcasing the world’s best military films.  The festival will run from May 11-17, 2009 at the prestigious Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC and other DC area venues, including the Canadian Embassy and the Russell Senate Caucus Room.  The award-winning GI Film Festival is the first and only film festival in the nation dedicated to honoring American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines through the medium of film.  (See www.gifilmfestival.com for more information.) 

The GI Film Festival is not only the premiere film festival honoring America’s troops but also the most significant film festival in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.  Major corporate sponsors for 2009 festival include among others:  Target Corporation; TriWest Healthcare Alliance; America’s Huey 091 Foundation; Pence-Friedel Developers, Inc; USO International; MGM/UA; HBO, Inc.; American Military University, and Discovery Communications’ “The Military Channel.”  (more…)

Andrew Breitbart

The Hollywood Awards Show Not Shown on TV

by Andrew Breitbart

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…)