The Real Story: The Man Who Inspired “Apocalypse Now”

Posted on November 4, 2013 at 3:59 pm

Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam story Apocalypse Now was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s book, Heart of Darkness, about the disintegration into madness of a man who goes into the jungle. It was an apt metaphor in the days of the Southeast Asian conflict quagmire, and Marlon Brando gave a mesmerizing performance as Colonel Kurtz. The documentary about the making of the film adds another layer as it shows the same pressures on the filmmakers that they were portraying with the characters.

The LA Times reports in a fascinating obituary for Robert Rheault, a Green Beret charged with murder, that his story was also an inspiration for screenwriter John Milius.

Rheault (pronounced Roe) and five of his men were accused of murder and conspiracy in the death of a suspected South Vietnamese double agent. When questioned by his superiors, Rheault said the man was away on a secret mission when in fact his body had already been dumped in the South China Sea.

The lie enraged Gen. Creighton Abrams Jr., the U.S. commander in Vietnam, who ordered courts-martial for Rheault and his subordinates. But a few months later, President Nixon’s Army secretary abruptly overruled the general and the charges were dropped, an extraordinary turn that not only deepened the mystery surrounding the case but allowed perplexing questions to fester about the morality of the Vietnam War.

“War,” Rheault once observed, “is a nasty business, with a lot of high-minded objectives, like freedom and fighting the aggressor, to justify killing people.”

An even more significant result from the reports of Rheault’s actions had ripple effects that continue in today’s headlines:

Daniel Ellsberg, a defense analyst for Rand in Santa Monica, read a detailed reconstruction of the case in The Times on Sept. 30, 1969, that convinced him the government “at every level, from bottom to top,” was deceiving the American people. He decided then to leak the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret history of the war that intensified public dissent over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, embarrassed Nixon and provoked the Watergate burglaries that ultimately ended his presidency.

Related Tags:

Not specified

The Real Story: Dallas Buyer’s Club and Ron Woodroof

Posted on November 4, 2013 at 3:59 pm

“The Dallas Buyer’s Club” (expanding to wide release this week) stars Matthew McConaughey in the real-life story of Ron Woodroof. He was a Texas man diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, when there was no safe and effective treatment, and given just one month to live. He fought not just the disease but the system. And in the course of his work to find treatment for himself and for other people with AIDS in his community over the next six years, he changed from a hard-living, harder-partying, pleasure-loving bigot to a brave, generous, passionate man of vision and compassion. He smuggled drugs from Mexico into Texas and exploited a loophole to distribute them. It was illegal to sell drugs, even legal drugs if they were not prescribed, but at the time it was not illegal to give them away. Woodroof charged people with AIDS to join a “club” — and then the drugs were free.

The movie was written by Craig Borten, who had the opportunity to interview Woodroof for 20 hours before he died in 1992. As usually happens in feature film versions of real stories, there were some additions and changes. Woodroof is depicted as a rodeo competitor in the film, which is not true. Aisha Harris reports in Slate that “Woodroof was only a rodeo enthusiast, not a rider; these details, as Borten explained to me, were used as a metaphor for his character’s struggle and ability to survive far longer than his doctors said he would—a ‘lassoing of the bull.’” Two of the film’s most important characters, the sympathetic doctor played by Jennifer Garner and the transgender Rayon played by Jared Leto, each represent several different people who helped Woodroof.

What is true is the most improbable parts of the movie. A homophobic man who lived entirely for selfish, reckless pleasure became a passionately dedicated activist who challenged the medical and legal system to help people he would previously have feared or hated.

Harris notes that Woodroof’s family, a sister and daughter, were not included in the film. In an interview with The Daily Mail, his sister said that the photographs of the emaciated McConaughey as Woodroof are painful for her to see. “The pictures of Matthew are breathtaking though. They look so like what Ronnie looked like when he was sick and how the disease progressed. Matthew is definitely looking like he’s gone down that path. His eyes, that is the main thing, the way he is doing his eyes. I’m not looking at his body as much as his face and his face certainly taken on the look of someone with AIDS. Matthew is so in character it is unreal.”

Related Tags:

The Real Story

For Hannukah — Mama Doni’s Jewish Holiday Party

Posted on November 3, 2013 at 3:54 pm

Hannukah is coming early this year! Get the family ready to celebrate with the first DVD from Mama Doni, with a warm and tuneful introduction to Hannukah, Passover, and Shabbat. Mama Doni sings and dances through the holidays, including a bluegrass “Chanukah Oh Chanukah” medley sing-along and matzoh, latke, and challah-making demonstrations. This exciting new soundtrack features 12 original acoustic versions of classic Jewish favorites by Doni Zasloff-Thomas and guitarist Eric Lindberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bx_33-OS38

I have a copy to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Doni in the subject line and tell me your favorite Hannukah celebration. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on November 10. Good luck!

Related Tags:

Contests and Giveaways Holidays

The Wes Anderson Collection

Posted on November 3, 2013 at 8:00 am

Critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s new book, The Wes Anderson Collection, is designed (in the most literal use of that term) to delight even the most devoted fans of this most singular of film-makers. Seitz interviews the writer-director of “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Rushmore,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and more distinctively intricate, quirky, richly detailed films and presents for the first time many drawings and behind-the scenes insights, in a book that is as meticulously assembled, creative, and enthrallingly gorgeous as the the movies themselves. It is a fitting tribute in style and substance to Anderson, his movies, and his fans. Rogerebert.com has a splendid video version.

Related Tags:

Books

Last Vegas

Posted on November 2, 2013 at 11:57 am

Oscar-winning actors are a precious commodity, usually doled out no more than one or two per movie. But in this AARP-version of “The Hangover” crossed with “Ferris Bueller,” there are five, and the greatest pleasure of this film is in watching the evident pleasure they take in each other. They appreciate each other, they trust each other, and they challenge each other. Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, and Kevin Kline play the “Flatbush Four,” lifelong friends who grew up together in Brooklyn, the kind who cheerfully call each other unprintable insults but who are always there for each other. Remember the end of “Stand By Me.” when Richard Dreyfuss says, ” I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” These are those guys, 58 years, a few spouses, some medical issues and a grudge later.

Billy (Douglas), with a fake tan, a hair color that does not occur in nature, and a girlfriend a third of his age, impulsively proposes in the middle of a eulogy. So, it is time to get the gang back together for a blow-out of a bachelor party in Las Vegas. There’s Sam (Kline), marooned in retireeland, Florida, and horrified by water aerobics and dinner at 4:30, and, generally, being old. Archie (Freeman) is living with his worried son (Michael Ealy), who smothers him with care and caution because he is recovering from a stroke. And Paddy (De Niro) sits in his robe all day, surrounded by photographs of his late wife. Sam and Archie are immediately on board with the idea of a wild weekend, especially after Sam’s wife presents him with a condom, a tablet of Viagra, and a reminder that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” They persuade Paddy to come by not telling him the purpose of the trip. Paddy is still hurt and angry at Billy for a betrayal that of course will be revealed, though by that time it hardly matters.

The Flatbush Four hear a nightclub singer named Diana (Oscar-winner number five, Mary Steenburgen, bringing warmth and wit to the movie) and they immediately like her very much, especially Paddy and Billy. As the big night approaches, they are determined to party like it’s 1945. And each one will learn something or decide something that will change his life when he gets home.

Listen, the plot developments are older than the stars. Fun to see old guys live it up in nasty, racy Vegas! Time to settle old scores! The jokes are even older than that. But these old pros get such an evident kick out of each other that they are able to find some honesty in what could otherwise feel synthetic. And the chemistry between them cannot be faked. We know these guys. We know their faces and have watched them get older for many years. Seeing them enjoy each other’s company is great company for us to be in.

Parents should know that this movie was originally rated R and then changed to PG-13 on appeal. There is some strong and crude language (one f-word), a lot of drinking, sexual references and non-explicit situations, and girls in very skimpy clothes and bathing suits.

Family discussion: Who changes the most? How did the four men end up so unsatisfied with their lives?

If you like this, try: the other comedy films by these actors including “Analyze This,” “A Fish Named Wanda,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Melvin and Howard,” and “Wonder Boys”

Related Tags:

Comedy Romance