Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Kevin Bacon on Taking Chance
HBO is premiering Taking Chance on Saturday, and here is a great conversation with Mike Strobl, the marine who wrote the story:
You’ve played military men many times before (A Few Good Men, Frost/Nixon), though.
I have. And certainly, the time that I spent at Quantico on A Few Good Men was very helpful...I feel really strongly that with the military in general, when you have that haircut, and you’ve got that uniform on, people just sometimes have a hard time seeing past that, through the fact that you have a human being inside there, inside that uniform. And I think there’s a responsibility also to state, even though Mike is a Marine, there’s more to him than that.
Read my review of Taking Chance here. We were lucky to have an extensive conversation with Mike Strobl, and he's an incredible guy.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Taking Chance - Mini-review
My husband and I attended Sundance as part of a package, and one of the films they picked for us was Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon. I read the description, and frankly I wasn't looking forward to it because I just didn't want to see another movie about the Iraq war. This film ended up being the film that moved me the most out of all 12 films we saw at the festival. This is a movie that everyone should see.
Taking Chance is based on the true story of Lt. Col. Mike Strobl, who volunteered to escort the body of Marine Chance Phelps who died in Iraq. You'd think this would be the most depressing film, but seeing all the kindnesses along the way was so heartwarming. The military have not allowed any pictures of the flag draped coffins, and the public has no idea all the care each fallen soldier is given, and how they are escorted every step of the way home to their families. At least I didn't know, and I was very glad to learn about it.
You don't see the Chance Phelp's face until the very end when they show home video of him. That's when I really lost it. I had been tearing up before, but I started sobbing then. It was cathartic. I feel like I have been numbed by all the reports from Iraq: another roadside bomb, the casualty totals, a constant drip, drip of bad news that ceased to catch my attention. This film 
made me face the human cost. The director Ross Katz said that he wanted Chance Phelps to be like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- he is every life lost over there.
We got to talk to Lt. Col. Strobl (maroon sweater on right) after the film, and he told us how it came to be that HBO approached him about making the film. He had to write a report when he returned from his escort duty. He thought some of his fellow Marines might be interested in what it was like, so he emailed it to 8 friends. They then emailed it to 10 of their friends and it became a viral sensation on the internet. He realized how far it had gone when people started sending it back to him! Someone at HBO saw the email story, and approached him about making a film out of the story.
Kevin Bacon just has that carriage of a Marine. This is the third one he's played, including his role in the recent Frost/Nixon. He's not giv
en much dialog and he's just fantastic, as he usually is. We were lucky that he came to the Q&A at our screening. Ross Katz has been a producer on films like Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, and Taking Chance is his directorial debut, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Mike Strobl. HBO will air this film starting Feb. 21st. Trust me. You need to see this film. Three and a half stars and a very strong recommendation. I went up and thanked the director and Mike Strobl for making this film as it's a true tribute to Chance Phelps and every other fallen soldier.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Frost/Nixon - Mini-review
'Tis Oscar season, and all the heavy hitters come out in December. The holiday
season for me was a chance to catch up on all the fantastic movies released just in time to beat the Oscar deadline.
Frost/Nixon stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, and Michael Sheen as interviewer David Frost. I just love these mano a mano acting films. These two actors also played the same roles in the play in London and on Broadway. Frank Lingella won a Tony for his amazing portrayal as Nixon, and he's likely to get an Oscar nomination as well. Ron Howard made it a condition that both original actors from the play be in the movie. There are some other great actors, too == Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Bacon.
I heard David Frost interviewed on NPR, and he says that the play and the movie exaggerate his underdog status to make for heightened drama. It is true that he had to put his own money on the line to make this interview happen.
Michael Sheen is an accomplished theater actor, but is best known to American audiences for playing Tony Blair in The Queen. I've heard a rumor that he might play Tony Blair again in an upcoming film. I just saw a commercial for the third Underworld film, and had no idea that he's had a major role in that action vampire series since the first one. I'll have to add those to my Netflix queue, especially since Bill Nighy is in them, too. It was bugging me that he had been in something else familiar, and I hit my forehead, D'oh!, when I read on IMDB that he was Lord Oliver, one of the bad guys in Timeline, one of my favorite films.
Frank Langella is a character actor, recently playing Perry White in Superman Returns. It's so great to see him get the chance to play such a big role on film. He's had an accomplished stage career, winning three Tony awards on Broadway.
This is a fantastic movie and it is just so fun to watch these great actors take each other on. Another one for the Best Picture list, and probably another Director Oscar nod for Ron Howard. Four stars, and one of the best films of the year.
