Clint Eastwood to attack Japan (from wheelchair?)

[Taro Toporific]

Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg teaming up to film epic WWII battle
NEW YORK (AP) - Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg reportedly are joining forces to bring the Second World War battle of Iwo Jima to the big screen.
According to TV Guide, Eastwood will direct an adaptation of the book, Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima, for Spielberg's company DreamWorks...

[Andocrates]

Maybe the war movie cycle is winding down, I used to love them. But, now I'm sick of movies that make our troops look like gods and the other guys look like chumps (including our allies). If our boys were really as good as, movies like Windtalker or Band of Brothers make them out to be we could have won the war with a few thousand troops.

[AssKissinger]

Band of Brothers

But those guys really did storm the beach at Normandy and fight all the way through to Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest'. But I do agree that American movies, overall, should show more respect to the Allies.

[Taro Toporific]

Clint Eastwood Plans Dual Release of Iwo Jima Films, Time Says

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) --Clint Eastwood, the movie actor and director, plans to simultaneously release two films in 2006 about the World War II battle of Iwo Jima -- one from the U.S. perspective and the other from the Japanese point of view, Time Magazine reported.

Eastwood, who's already begun making ``Flags of Our Fathers,'' written by Paul Haggis, from the American point of view, intends to start shooting the companion film, ``Lamps Before the Wind,'' written by Iris Yamashita, a Japanese- American, Time said.

[blackcat]

no doubt this will be watered down to passify the whining denialist japanese.

how many times have the germans had to bear the brunt as the 20th century evil in film and tv compared to the japanese considering they were every bit as evil?

[jingai]

"But I do agree that American movies, overall, should show more respect to the Allies."

What movies are you referring to? Been watching
Axis propaganda again?

All the greatest generation crap seems pretty glowing towards the WWII vets, though I skipped a few of the recent films.

[Charles]

All the greatest generation crap seems pretty glowing towards the WWII vets, though I skipped a few of the recent films.

As an antidote to the blatant pro-war propaganda, I suggest watching these films:

Paths of Glory
The Grand Illusion
Castle Keep
Three Kings
The Battle of Algiers
Hell in the Pacific

[Mulboyne]

"But I do agree that American movies, overall, should show more respect to the Allies."

What movies are you referring to?

I certainly wouldn't start a discussion of "U-571"with a group of UK veterans. This film credited US troops with a coup that was wholly the accomplishment of the Royal Navy.

[GuyJean]

I certainly wouldn't start a discussion of "U-571"with a group of UK veterans. This film credited US troops with a coup that was wholly the accomplishment of the Royal Navy.

Yeah.. A decent crap movie, too.. But if I were a UK vet, I'd be hot-tea steaming mad.

I thought Private Marvin was crap. Along with Black Hawk Down.. No doubt, the inevitable Jessica Lynch movie will be garbaaajh..

Thin Red Line was good.. Except for the cameos..

GJ

[Greji]

I certainly wouldn't start a discussion of "U-571"with a group of UK veterans. This film credited US troops with a coup that was wholly the accomplishment of the Royal Navy.

Yeah.. A decent crap movie, too.. But if I were a UK vet, I'd be hot-tea steaming mad.

I thought Private Marvin was crap. Along with Black Hawk Down.. No doubt, the inevitable Jessica Lynch movie will be garbaaajh..

Thin Red Line was good.. Except for the cameos..

GJ

I thought Ryan could go either way. It was a nice show to people who have never seen war, who are trying to tell veterans how bad war is and that it actually has killing and all that nasty stuff.

Black Hawk down was like the great dupe We were soldiers once! A lot of license has to be taken about films where the higher ups and in some cases the star designate fucked up big time and got a lot of guys killed. I can't tell you about black hawk, that was after my time. But having been there, on station, I can say for a fact that there was a lot of people in and around the la drang fiasco that thought Moore (mel gibson's character) should have be tried for his gross incompetence and negligence.

My two yen worth!

[Taro Toporific]

Clint Eastwood Plans Dual Release of Iwo Jima Films, Time Says

Watanabe joins cast of Clint Eastwood's second Iwo Jima film
Crisscross - News - Thursday, March 9, 2006 at 17:05 EST
TOKYO ---- Ken Watanabe has joined the cast of Clint Eastwood's upcoming film about Iwo Jima, titled "Red Sun, Black Sand" (formerly "Lamps Before the Wind"), Dreamworks Studio announced Wednesday. "Red Sun, Black Sand" is one of two films that the 75-year-old director is making about the six men who raised an American flag on Mount Suribachi during World War II. It tells the story from the Japanese side of the battle, while the other film, "Flags of Our Fathers," shows the U.S. point of view. Both are scheduled for simultaneous release in the fall....more...

[American Oyaji]

It tells the story from the Japanese side of the battle, while the other film, "Flags of Our Fathers," shows the U.S. point of view. Both are scheduled for simultaneous release in the fall

That is ambitious. I didn't know he was making TWO movies.

[kurohinge1]

[SIZE="4"]Red Sun, Black Sand[/SIZE]

Ken Watanabe said he hopes a new Clint Eastwood film about the bloody World War II battle for Iwo Jima, in which he plays a main role, can help young Japanese face their country's wartime history.

"As we went through this film, we realized that until now, we haven't really looked at Japan's past. We kind of looked away from it," said Watanabe, who stars in Red Sun, Black Sand. "But we have to look at it and accept the fact that this is what our fathers and grandfathers have actually done."

. . . Watanabe plays the general who loses the battle, causing the death of many young Japanese soldiers who followed his orders.

. . . Eastwood has spent the past year working on Red Sun, Black Sand, in Japanese and with a predominantly Japanese cast, and a second film, Flags of Our Fathers, which follows the story of the U.S. troops famously photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

Both movies are scheduled for release this year ... more

[Mulboyne]

[Captain Japan]

Joe Rosenthal, photographer who shot Iwo Jima flag-raising, dies
Mainichi

SAN FRANCISCO -- Photographer Joe Rosenthal, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his immortal picture of six World War II fighting men raising an American flag over battle-scarred Iwo Jima, died Sunday. He was 94.

Rosenthal died of natural causes at a retirement home in the San Francisco suburb of Novato, said his daughter, Anne Rosenthal.

"He was a good and honest man, he had real integrity," she said....more...

[AssKissinger]

no doubt this will be watered down to passify the whining denialist japanese.

how many times have the germans had to bear the brunt as the 20th century evil in film and tv compared to the japanese considering they were every bit as evil?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061209/en_nm/japan_iwojima_dc_1


[SIZE="5"]Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima film resonates in Japan[/SIZE] By Linda Sieg
Sat Dec 9, 6:20 AM ET

Hiromasa Murakami went to see Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" to find out if an American could tell the Japanese side of a battle that became a symbol of U.S. patriotism, but for Japan was a bitter memory of defeat.

After viewing the film on Saturday when it opened it Tokyo, Murakami thinks Eastwood got it right.

"It was marvelous," the 50-year-old carpenter said as he emerged from the theater. "How should I express it? It was the same for both sides, for them and us. Everyone was a victim."

[mr. sparkle]

I usually sidle up with all the non-Christians on Xmas Eve at the movie theater as a B-day present to myself. I couldn't believe it: "Letters" was PACKED at the ArcLight Theater tonight.

And what a movie. I kept thinking "Platoon" as I was watching it. It's intense, it's loud as hell and of course, we all "learn something".

My ears are still ringing from the SFX. I have a slight headache and stomach ache from seeing so much gore, (Nothing like falling on a grenade). But it was totally worth it. It is certainly going to be remembered as a great movie. It's just too bad that the J-Film industry didn't jump on it first, as Watanabe comments in the Yahoo article.

Watanabe as Kurabayashi is great, but Private Saigo (J-popper Kazunari Ninomiya) steals the show.

And the recipient of Kurabayashi's letters?

"Taro"

Believe it's coming out this coming Wed. in Japan.
This makes mr. sparkle's list of "must sees".

Clint? You're still a badass in my book. Nice work.

[Taro Toporific]

Watanabe as Kurabayashi is great, but Private Saigo (J-popper Kazunari Ninomiya) steals the show.
And the recipient of Kurabayashi's letters?

"Taro".

[B]'Letters From Iwo Jima' wins Golden Globe]
japan today / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 15:10 EST
LOS ANGELES -- American director Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language World War II saga "Letters From Iwo Jima" won the honor for foreign-language film, a prize usually reserved for movies from outside the United States, at Monday's Golden Globes.
"Letters," starring many notable Japanese actors including Ken Watanabe, won the prize over Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's "Volver," German film "The Lives of Others," and Mexican film "Pan's Labyrinth."
Backstage, Eastwood joked, "Now that I'm a foreign director, I've got to learn some languages."
Eastwood praised Watanabe for his performance in "Letters," which was shot entirely in Japanese and is one of back-to-back films shot by the veteran director about the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II.
"You don't know what it does for my confidence," quipped Eastwood before adding: "I want to pay my respects to the great Ken Watanabe."
Unlike the Golden Globes, Eastwood's movie is not eligible for the foreign language prize at the Oscars but it is considered a possible contender in the best movie category.
Meanwhile, Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi failed to win the best supporting Golden Globe for her role in the movie "Babel."...more...

[emperor]

perhaps with some creative casting they couldve used gaijin instead of nihonjin?

http://japanthemovie.ytmnd.com/

http://japanthemovie2.ytmnd.com/

[American Oyaji]

Why? I mean, if they have qualified Japanese actors, why NOT use them?

[kamome]

I saw "Letters" a couple of weeks ago and, not having paid any attention to the adverts and buzz beforehand, went in without knowing what the movie would be like. The fact that it was all in Japanese was a pleasant surprise and it really humanized the Japanese soldiers (who often get portrayed as savages in other WWII films). I had never seen Ninomiya before, either - I agree with Sparkle, he was awesome in the movie. This movie definitely gets

[emperor]

Why? I mean, if they have qualified Japanese actors, why NOT use them?

if ur talkin to me, you obviously didnt click on the links: i was joking

[AssKissinger]

This movie definitely gets

I saw both of them over the past three days and loved them both. They're both really sad.

[Mulboyne]

Spiegel: 'Letters From Iwo Jima' Sparks World War II Debate in Japan

Japan has never addressed its World War II history to the same degree as Germany. But now the Clint Eastwood epic "Letters From Iwo Jima" has caused Japan to re-examine its role in the war, as the film's stars explain to SPIEGEL ONLINE...The film has sparked a debate in Japan about the battle and Japan's role in the war. "In Japan, almost nobody knew about this tragedy before the film," Watanabe says. "Sixty years after the war, most people want to learn about the true history of the past. It's good timing." Tsuyoshi Ihara, who plays the role of the dapper cavalry officer Baron Takeichi Nishi in the film, agrees. "The film has become a trigger to raise interest in reassessing what the war is about,"...

...He says the film isn't just entertainment. "I hope it could be a means to change society," he says, pointing out that it has already been viewed by 4.5 million people, including several politicians, and has been touted as potential teaching material for schools. "Just the fact that we are looking at what happened 61 years ago is very important for Japan today." The work also highlights changing attitudes to war in Japan. In the film, tensions arise between traditionally minded soldiers who adhere to the warrior code of bushido and want to commit suicide when they fail, and those soldiers who are more concerned about just staying alive. The latter are personified by the character of Saigo, a homesick and mutinous young recruit in the best war movie tradition of the anti-hero such as Yossarian in "Catch 22" or Hawkeye in "M*A*S*H"...more...

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

Here's a forceful response to the film from the NBR Forums.

I think he is saying what a lot of Vets always think. It is always the people who were not "in the trenches" if you will, that just can't wait to "humanize" an enemy and show how much they are just like the everyday Joe.

Perhaps this comes from their trying to imagine the real horrors of war, its effect on everyone and try to rationalize it into something that everyone can relate to without truly understanding what happens in combat or within a war zone.

It is very hard for Vets who have been shot at (missed and/or hit) to listen to someone who was, or is, thousands of miles from the muzzle sounds, trying to convince everyone how this guy who is doing his utmost best to kill you, is such a nice guy and is really just like your neighborhood chum.

[Charles]

It is very hard for Vets who have been shot at (missed and/or hit) to listen to someone who was, or is, thousands of miles from the muzzle sounds, trying to convince everyone how this guy who is doing his utmost best to kill you, is such a nice guy and is really just like your neighborhood chum.

It is even harder to listen to the vets whine for the next 60 years.

[Greji]

It is even harder to listen to the vets whine for the next 60 years.

Define "whine" asshole!

[Charles]

Define "whine" asshole!

Like for example, 3 posts up, where upon the release of a film that made thousands of young Japanese people who know virtually nothing of the history of WWII and got them to perhaps think about those horrors, he takes that as an occasion to whine about the Bataan death march like he's been doing for the last 60 years. He even writes books about his suffering those many decades ago.

Whine whine whine. I don't hear Holocaust survivors whine like that, and they had it far worse. I think that is perhaps because the ex-POWs are overcompensating for their feelings of guilt at being defeated and captured. How much do you want to bet that the loudest, whiniest ex-POWs are the ones that got captured fresh off the boat, without ever firing a shot?

[Greji]

How much do you want to bet that the loudest, whiniest ex-POWs are the ones that got captured fresh off the boat, without ever firing a shot?

I'll agree with you that big time whiners about the horrors of war they faced might have a little something they're holding back, if not being a total fraud from the onset. I would assume this guy has some Bona fides because because of his position he could probably be easily found out, if it were not true.

It is not hard to sort out those who have been eyeball to eyeball with the elephant, by what they say and a lot of times, by what or how they write about it!

Having said that, I also take a bit of offense at those who haven't had the delightful opportunity to eyeball the beast, when they call down other people who have and have had their own views formed from that experience.

I, myself, don't believe in holding 60+ year grudges, or in my case, 40+ years. We should be beyond that. However, you cannot easily call a guy a whiner if he in fact, survived Bataan. Where I don't think he should, I believe that that experience qualifies him to say what he wants about it, if he so feels like it.