Go see it this weekend. It is important that we never forget. It is also important we support Hollywood films that show the true enemies of the United States in the War Of Terror.
The reviews are in…
The Cranky Insomniac notes that Salon’s reviewer was upset because it wasn’t cheery enough. Oy.
Here’s a more realistic review from The Hollywood Reporter.
Press notes for motion pictures are usually filled with dispensable, self-congratulatory puffery, but the one for the soul-searing film “United 93” contains this trenchant comment from its English writer-director, Paul Greengrass: Speaking of the 40 individuals aboard United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane on that day of infamy, Sept. 11, 2001, he notes that these were the only passengers and crew members on any of those ill-fated flights who knew about the other planes having been used as weapons and realized what was happening to them. “They were the first people to inhabit the post-9/11 world,” Greengrass says. These were the first to react to the worldwide conflict we find ourselves in today. Within the microcosm of that reaction, Greengrass has made an emphatic political document, a movie about defiance against tyranny and terrorism.
In years to come, United 93 may enter our mythology in ways unimaginable. But for now, we have a starting point. “United 93” is a sincere attempt to pull together the known facts and guesses at the emotional truths as best anyone can. Then, in the movie’s final moments, the impact of the heroism aboard United 93 becomes startlingly clear.
Never forget the brave American heroes who launched the first counterattack in the War On Terror aboard United 93. I can only pray that all of us have the strength to see their battle through to victory against Islamic fascism.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
thanks for it!
http://2enigmatik4u.com/v2/index.php?p=40&u=13203
We went to a fundraiser last night tied to an early showing of U93. It’s stunning and viscerally moving; no thinking American or citizen of the Free World should miss it. You could hear people in the audience openly crying, many gasping at moments when key decisions were being made, the plot being uncovered.
The terrorists are portrayed as they should be –humans, but blinded by their terrible ideology. I hope the liberal element in the American-Arab community doesn’t try playing the race card to protest the film.
No one moved for 45-60 seconds after it ended. People left in silence; it was like the audience reaction I witnessed to Schindlers List a few years ago. Powerful, powerful movie told in a style that speaks to truth and heroism and the pure evil that festers in our world.
Its just a little too soon for me, having had friends die on that day.
I support the movie, and from what I hear they have done it the right way. Hell, I’ll buy the DVD to show my support. I probably just won’t open it for awhile.
NPR gave it a good review this morning.
I saw the first showing. No liberal hand wringing, no whining about “religion of peace,” no moaning about the poor, oppressed, marginalized, disenfranchised, disempowered little brown Muslim terrorists.
Go. See. It.
Don’t worry, Bruce, I could NEVER forget 911. I don’t need to see movies like United 93 to refresh my memory or make me even angrier than I already am. Those catastrophic events were the only ones (referring to all 4 hijacked planes crashing) in my life so far that actually brought me to my knees (from buckling, not..ahem…other activities). It wouldn’t be good for my psyche to see it. I’ll pass.
I will see it…I imagine my reaction will be similar to the way I felt when I saw Schindler’s List also alone…People sat silently as the lights came on and quietly filed out. It left me cold on a very warm sunny, summer’s day…it is not too soon to recall the horror of that day as most of us go about our business …never forget …
My response to the movie, and the Flight 93 Memorial, is here. There’s far too much for a comment.
I screened it with some colleagues late Thursday night.
While it will not equal “The Passion” in terms of cultural impact, I can state with absolute certainty that it will viscerally move each and every person that sees it.
Except, of course, for that sorry-ass sonofabitch at a protest last year in SanFran who carried a sign that read…
I LOVE NEW YORK – ESPECIALLY WITHOUT THE WTC
Enough said.
Eric in Hollywood
If he likes it without the WTC – Wait till he sees it with the Freedom Tower!
‘United 93’ didn’t have a real strong opening on friday, coming in 3rd (behind RV and Stick It) with a per screen average of around $2000. While it’s per screen average was ahead of RV and Stick It (though Stick It was only $70 behind), its per theater gross was still less than last week’s friday night bow by video game inspired horror flick ‘Silent Hill’ and less than half the opening friday night per screen averages of recent hits, ‘Scary Movie 4’ and ‘Ice Age 2’.
Before it opened, my prediciton was that ‘United 93’ would probabaly struggle to find a real broad audience. Alas, with a production budget of just $15 million, it is assured of turning a profit. Though based on its opening night numbers, at this point, i’d say a modest one.
By comparison, ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was made with a similar $14 million production budget and ended with a domestic gross of $83 million. While it still might be too early to call, based on its opening night numbers, I don’t think ‘United 93’ will match that.
Who would have thought a movie about gay cowboys would out perform a film about 9/11?
I also think it is unlikely to have a whole lot of staying power, if merely because of the fact that it’s May box-office competition is brutal, with Mission: Impossible III, Poseidon, The Da Vinci Code, and X-Men 3 opening in succession over the next 4 weeks. That’s a tough schedule for any film to compete with. There’s also the Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spackey horror film ‘An American Haunting’ opening wide next weekend, plus the family comedy ‘Hoot’.
So, if ‘United 93’ was going to make a big splash, it had to be this weekend and to pull that off, it’s Saturday and Sunday numbers are going to have to be significantly better than its Friday night numbers. We’ll know tomorrow.
I hope these posts have been informative.
Errr – informative about your mindset, Erik.
“Let’s put it behind Brokeback, based on 1 day of figures” – Makes a lot of sense. (Not.)
Most important point: Who has said it’s about sales figures? Isn’t it about the movie? Or the fact of 9-11? And the fact of Islamo-fascist evil and their war against us? – “Oh, but Calarato, let’s try NOT to see that or take that in!”
But, if I were to move to your mundane concerns for 1 minute… If United did ultimately exceed Brokeback’s paltry (for a movie that Hollywood wanted to push so awfully badly) $83M – what would you do then?
You know, kind of like the question I asked you here that you didn’t answer.
You would appear to want to gloat over things where either (1) gloating is not the point, and/or, (2) it is way, WAY too early. I wonder how that pattern works out for you?
If you think it’s too early to say that, Calarato, lets make a friendly wager. I don’t know exactly what we could use as terms, but maybe you can come up with an idea.
And as for your other question which you think I ducked, in the event that I am wrong, I’ll just say I was wrong. I’m not above that. However, I did not duck the question. I read this blog about two days a week and since the turn over on the posts is kinda high, I don’t always check back in for responses to my comments. I don’t really care THAT much that I have to see how each and every one of your responds to everything I write. You are obviously much more active in the comments area than I am.
I’ve seen it now. Just caught a matinee.
Everyone should see it once – and, I predict, will eventually.
Erik, I am going to make an exception for you. You should not see this film. The concerns you wrote about earlier now seem even more trivial than I thought before. If I were in your place, I should feel embarassed, after seeing this film. Believe me or not (as you would like), I would like to spare you that, so don’t see it.
Did someone bring up “Passion of the Christ”? United 93 is not much like it. For one thing, it’s only 105 minutes. More important, “Flight 93” (as the people around me in line preferred to call it) isn’t torture-for-the-sake-of-torture, or pain-for-the-sake-of-pain; it’s useful information about life. That’s the only way I can put it. If you see it, hopefully you’ll know what I mean then.
P.S. Even as art / pure cinema, the film is brilliant.
Sometimes, “less is more”. The maker followed a brilliantly simple strategy of removing his own “vision” from the film – letting the story tell itself completely. It’s neither drama nor documentary. No voiceovers (except a few informational text frames at the very end). No narration, or narrative devices. No cloying efforts to get you (the audience) to identify with Shelley Winters or some character. No name actors. No big “performances” (and yet, each performance is perfect). No cute lines to explain to you the workings of air traffic control or laser swords or whatever. No explanations (until the small bit at the end). Nothing but a blur of people acting out the events, without editorial comment.
U93, it stands in stark contrast to anything Michael Moore has ever done.
I’ve heard more than a few liberal friends here in Ann Arbor intone that they areN’T going to see it because it’s “too early”, “too violent”, “racist on muslims and arabs”, and –hard as this is to believe– “anti-PLO”.
The new mantra of the Left will be “let’s forget this film and its message as quick as possible”. If some GayLeft Hollywood mogul had a special “Easy Button”, they’d hit it and re-release Michael Moore’s trash.
No editorial commentary? The director has the passengers breaking into the cockpit end and struggling with the highjackers. That’s a fairly big editorial commentary, considering the 9/11 commision came to an inconclusive conclusion as to whether that happened.
But still, I don’t doubt it’s a moving film. I simply don’t want to see it. Not because I think it is too soon, but mostly due to the politicization of 9/11.
So Calarato, no bets? Cause I feel completely confident in my predicition. I could even drop it 25-35 million and I’d still be right. For a film that goes straight to wide release it’s first weekend, particularly a film like this one that got so much publicity before it opened, it’s opening box-office weekend will usually account for around 25% of its total domestic box-office gross. So you can look for United 93’s final tally to be in the 40-50 million dollar range.
Ding, Ding, Ding. Erik presses the “Easy Button” for the GayLeft who generally see political morality in flexible, relative terms, sneer at patriotic sensitivities, and where prudence and heroism are in short supply.
He wrote above “I simply don’t want to see it… due to the politicization of 9/11.” Move over TeddyK, NancyP, WeScreamDean, generals WesleyClark and Zinnie… there’s a new BlameAmericaFirster in your ranks and it’s Erik. I wonder why Erik is so intent on diminshing the film by raising an entirely bogus argument about it’s 1st weekend gross? Hmmmm.
Keep in mind the fact that most of the money made by movies these days is made on video, and keep in mind that many adults just don’t want to go to movie theaters; they hate 15 to 20 minutes of TV ads, and they hate paying out the nose for tickets and overpriced junk food. I, myself, have had modern moviegoing spoiled for me by several film festivals of much higher presentation standards than this.
Box office performance says nothing about a film’s quality. Remember that “Citizen Kane” flopped in its initial release.
Um, whatever, Michigan-Matt. Talk about making shit up. When did I say I blamed America? Oh right, I didn’t. But why let facts get in the way! That’s the motto of the Bush Administration, isn’t it?
And just to comment real quickly on the ‘bogus arguement’ theory – if you look at all the films that debuted in the top spot at the box-office from January 2005 to the present, only 2 films significantly bucked the “opening weekend accounts for at least 25% of total box-office” rule. Those 2 films being:
The Wedding Crashers (16.2%)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (19.7%)
So, if that’s bogus, then reality is bogus. But as much as you maligned me for doing it, you can reliably predict the likely ceiling for a film’s total box-office gross based on its opening weekend numbers. Even if ‘United 93’ has the staying power roughly equivalent to 2 of the most durable films from 2005, it still wouldn’t put it much above the 40-50 million dollar range I said.
Does mentioning that diminish the film? Then you obviously must think those numbers are disappointing.
Erik, I love your “whatever” juvenile retort.
Let’s see if we can do this for you without a coloring book?
What part of your earlier comments in this thread and elsewhere on this blog don’t strike you as a near-greedy willingness to find fault with American policy, Americans, the current Administration, the Congressional majorities in both Chambers… etc, etc, etc. Oh, I know, for you it’s all about taking political advantage of events to demean those in power with belittling, snide, bogus “opinions”. You, Erik, raised the notion that because U93 wasn’t screamingly subscribed in the opening day of the weekend, it meant the movie was rebuked by Americans… sort of a “take that” all you patriotic conservative WOT-supporting people. In fact, to underscore that point, you made the bogus (meaning false and without merit) point that a gay cowboy movie appeared to be more successful than a film about everyday heroes fighting evil. “Politicized”, eh? Yeah, by the radical BlameAmericaFirst left.
What you leave out, Erik, is the film finished #2 over the weekend in the box office and that’s with unrestricted/discounted ticket sales. Money and box office aren’t the points, here Erik. So go figure… maybe Americans are willing to learn the story behind these brave heroes and your bogus attempt to cheapen that message fails on its face. I don’t think the financial story behind the film says anything meaningful about the story –except to that BAF Left who is trying to diminish the film’s message at nearly every turn.
Unless you’ve been living under rock, Erik, this movie tells the story of the first successful COUNTER-attack in the WOT against evil terrorists. “Evil” Erik; not grey… it’s black and white now. I guess we will need a coloring book for you. Let me know where to send the book and you have to be responsible for getting the crayons; just leave the grey crayon in the box.
Todd Beamer’s Dad said this “May the taste of freedom for people of the Middle East hasten victory. The enemy we face does not have the word “surrender” in their dictionary. We must not have the word “retreat” in ours. We surely want our troops home as soon as possible. That said, they cannot come home in retreat. They must come home victoriously. Pray for them.”
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