American beauty Aug 15, 2008
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying ... He plays a foul-mouthed, perpetually enraged studio executive, Les Grossman, who is scheming to abandon some famous actors on location in South-East Asia making a big, gritty war movie. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Quiet Debut for Tropic Thunder Aug 15, 2008
Hartigan theorized that a number of factors, including a marketing campaign that, in his eyes, sold the movie more as a war movie than a send-up of actors in a war zone, could have been responsible for the subpar debut. He didn't blame the boycott called for by the chairman of the Special Olympics and other disabilities groups upset by the movie's repeated use of the word retard to diss of Stiller's character. (E! Online)
Northern Ireland Faces New Terror Threats 10 Years After Omagh Bomb Blast Aug 15, 2008
The whole scene was like something from a war movie. I'll never forget it. (Bloomberg)
'Star Wars': New chapter in the saga Aug 15, 2008
They're punchy and coherent, a nod to old-school war movies. The best finds the forces of good scaling a sheer wall to get to the enemy lair; it has flair and imagination and even some surprises. (Florida Times-Union)
Locals protest Aug 14, 2008
In an interview with Moviemaker Magazine, Stiller said, The idea was to make fun of actors who go off to make war movies and think they ve had some kind of real experience based on that. Late Wednesday afternoon, DreamWorks Studios issued a statement through spokesperson Chip Sullivan. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
'R-word' sets off protests Aug 14, 2008
In the film, which opened Wednesday, Stiller's character is an aging action hero Tugg Speedman attempting to make an epic Vietnam War movie ... A fellow actor on the set of the war movie , playing a white man who has undergone a pigmentation procedure to become black tells Speedman that the movie was a flop because he went "full retard." That prompts an absurd stream of dialogue riddled with the R-word. (Chicago Tribune)
APOCALYPSE WOW Aug 14, 2008
FARCE, satire and action comedy rolled into one over-hyped package with a reported 150 million price tag, Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" is basically a mega-budget war movie that makes fun of mega-budget war movies ... Hilarity begins even before the movie proper, with faux trailers introducing the cast of "Tropic Thunder," which is also the title of the misbegotten Vietnam War movie within the movie. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Review: Comedy 'Tropic Thunder' Equally Offends Aug 14, 2008
But be forewarned: If you can't take 90 minutes of a movie that takes swipes at the mentally disabled, drug addicts, amputees, gay men, over bloated Hollywood actors (especially ones who undergo pigmentation in order to get the leading African-American role in a war movie), Asian drug lords, Sean Penn or the Academy Awards, then you probably should stay away from "Tropic Thunder." ... "While I'm not one to defend blatant attacks on the disabled, it must be noted that the jabs do fit within... (Click2Houston, TX)
Tropic Thunder Brings Jungle Fever Aug 14, 2008
" Grossman nods reverently, "And we will weep. " The notion of performers being mistaken for cutthroat adventurers has served movie comedies from the 1940s (Gene Kelly's The Pirate and a bunch of Hope-Crosby Road pictures) to the '80s (Three Amigos!). It speaks to the bluster and resilience of show people; when in mortal peril, they do improv and survive. The difference in Tropic Thunder is that the main characters are more eccentric than likable. That's just what you'd expect in a Stiller... (Time.com)
A big-budget journey into the jungle of Hollywood Aug 13, 2008
Of course, the satirical aims of "Tropic Thunder" aren't the great modern war movies per se ... It's about the bad taste of producing certain war movies, the hubris not to take us to war, per se, but to repackage it as adventure. (Boston Globe)
B2G Elite Football: 2008 All-Sparta Team Aug 13, 2008
The All Sparta Team is based around one of the greatest war movies of our generation, 300. Sparta represents the high standard in which everyone who lived in Sparta stood by. (The Insiders -- California Prep)
A review of the film Aug 13, 2008
Movie Review: 'Tropic Thunder. Search post-gazette NOW. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
"Tropic Thunder" R-Word Use Draws Ire Aug 13, 2008
In the movie, director and co-star Ben Stiller plays a fame-hungry actor cast in a war movie who previously had a role as a mentally disabled character named Simple Jack. The DreamWorks film, which opens Wednesday, also stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. (CBS News -- US)
Arc of Mercer objects to 'R' word in 'Tropic Thunder' Aug 13, 2008
THR.com calls "Tropic Thunder" "a broad action comedy that manages to mix subtlety with satire." Creator Ben Stiller "imagines a lost patrol of self-absorbed yet terminally insecure actors working on a war movie to end all war movies in Southeast Asia only to wind up in a real-life combat with narco-terrorists." (Co-creator Etan Cohen's previous works include "My Wife is Retarded" and "Idiocracy."). Rolling Stone raved about the movie: "Think of all the ways you can hurt yourself laughing, as in... (The Trentonian, NJ)
Inconsistent 'Thunder'gets 3.5 stars Aug 12, 2008
Actors playing soldiers in "Tropic Thunder" find themselves in a real war in this Ben Stiller sendup of Vietnam war movies starring Stiller, Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. More on this topic. (AZCentral -- Entertainment)
Disability groups vs. 'Tropic Thunder' Aug 12, 2008
The movie, opening Wednesday, is about ignorant actors trapped in the jungle while making a war movie and includes a sequence in which the actors discuss playing mentally challenged characters using disparaging terms. Disability rights groups including the Special Olympics staged a protest at Tropic Thunder's premiere. (USA Today -- Life)
Downey Jr. pushes boundaries Aug 12, 2008
He undergoes his crazy transformation to play an African-American character in a new war movie ... Tropic Thunder satirizes the shooting of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, The Deer Hunter, Hamburger Hill and other Vietnam war movies. (Jam! Showbiz)
'Tropic Thunder' comics soldier forward Aug 11, 2008
So Stiller, who co-wrote, directed and stars in the film, recruited his friend and a platoon of other heavyweights - including , and - for the tale of a band of hapless actors trying to film a war movie in the jungle, only to run afoul of a real army of drug runners ... Then we just ended up having a Hawaiian priestess come, and she started crying for the land because she was upset that she felt like we were going to do real damage to it because we were doing a war movie there. (New York Daily News)
Action 'war' film makes fun of Hollywood Aug 11, 2008
"Tropic Thunder" is a comedy about actors in a war movie who wind up in real danger ... "Tropic Thunder" is a comedy about actors who film a war movie and end up in real danger. (Fresno Bee)
Pegg's Glorious New Role? Aug 9, 2008
Tarantino's film borrows its title from Enzo Castellari's 1970s war film of the same name, but uses it as a jumping off point to explore his own love of exploitation and war movies. For a full review of the original film. (IGN FilmForce)
Top 10 War Comedies Aug 9, 2008
Dramas, action-adventures, romances, even a good old fashioned straight-forward war movie ... Still, with Tropic Thunder about to drop its gag payload at cinemas, we take cover in the cinematic undergrowth before unleashing the top 10 war movies most likely to shatter your funny bones. (IGN FilmForce)
Playing war gets serious in 'Thunder' Aug 9, 2008
" In fact, a variant of that Spielbergian nightmare manifests in one scene as insanely self-obsessed movie stars working on a bloated Vietnam epic suddenly find themselves facing real bad guys deep in a Southeast Asian jungle. The relaxed and friendly filmmaker said the idea germinated when his friends were attending boot camps for those '80s war movies. Their claims of being profoundly affected by the safety-netted, Reader's Digest versions of what actual troops go through struck the comedian... (San Francisco Chronicle)
HERBERT "HERB" BISHOP Aug 7, 2008
Herb enjoyed fishing, hunting especially deer hunting, flower gardening, playing poker, and watching television, especially war movies. He especially loved spending time with his grandchildren. (Ogden Reporter, IA)
Newsweek: Ben Stiller, A-list director? Aug 7, 2008
This raucous, low-down commentary on Hollywood filmmaking, war movies, narcissistic actors and the thin line between makebelieve and reality is the most giddily entertaining, wickedly smart and cinematically satisfying comedy in a season overloaded with yuk-'em-ups. If there's any justice, "Thunder" (which opens Aug. 13) should be the breakthrough moment for Stiller as a director. (MSNBC -- News)
Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. Visit Camp Pendleton for Screening of 'Tropic Thunder' Aug 7, 2008
"I think they really got a kick out of seeing a bunch of spoiled actors complaining about how hard it is to do a war movie. But seriously, it was really hard. We almost did a boot camp, but then decided on a cast dinner instead.". Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in this action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the biggest war film ever. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Cursing Tom Cruise to Shock with Bad Language in New Film Aug 6, 2008
Stiller reveals, "We knew we were locked into an R-rating from the language in the beginning of the movie anyway, from all the war-movie dialogue."You just have to do that if you're doing a war movie. I think a lot of these studio guys talk like that. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
Co-stars amazed by Tom Cruise in new comedy Aug 6, 2008
The "Meet the Parents" actor added: "We knew we were locked into an R-rating from the language in the beginning of the movie anyway, from all the war movie dialogue. "You just have to do that if you're doing a war movie. I think a lot of these studio guys talk like that. (Xinhuanet, China)
Robert Downey jnr denies 'channeling' Russell Crowe Aug 5, 2008
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. August 5, 2008 - 2:27PM. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Actors thunder onto Marine base for movie screening Aug 5, 2008
Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black choppered into the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base on Sunday evening for a special USO screening of the comedy, about selfish, pampered actors who go overseas to make a war movie and accidentally provoke real jungle warlords ... With Black and Downey by his side, Stiller told the service members and their families packed into the 1,300-seat theater at the base that he was inspired by actors from war movies who brag about the intensity of their... (USA Today -- Life)
NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/August 11, 2008 Issue Aug 4, 2008
What He Really Wants to Do is Direct" (p. 54). Senior Editor David Ansen reviews Ben Stiller's new movie "Tropic Thunder," calling it the funniest movie of the summer. The movie is a raucous, low-down commentary on Hollywood filmmaking, war movies, narcissistic actors and the thin line between make-believe and reality and it's giddily entertaining. And it should be Stiller's breakthrough moment as a director. TIP SHEET: "Vacations a Short Drive Away" (p. 60). Special Correspondent Tara... (PR Newswire)
Female Agents Aug 2, 2008
The exceptions make up many of the greatest war movies - the fearless ones, such as Kubrick's Paths Of Glory, or Lewis Milestone's All Quiet On The Western Front - but most filmmakers still look for heroes and honour in war, which is odd, given what war is usually like. And yes, Australian war movies are just as guilty of this heroic myth-making. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
* [FILMREVIEW] Whose historical truth is this? Aug 1, 2008
With Assembly, Feng not only sets a new benchmark for Chinese war movies, but has proven himself to be a talented blockbuster maker who excels in different genres. This story has been viewed 294 times. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Late-summer comedies 'Tropic,' 'Express' have an edge Aug 1, 2008
13) is Tropic Thunder, which lampoons over-earnest '80s war movies and inside-Hollywood stupidity. Featured is an elite force of funny men headed by director/co-writer/co-producer Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. There's even a disguised weapon of mass hilarity: Tom Cruise, in bald cap and blubber suit, as an out-of-control studio executive. (USA Today -- Life)
Box Office Boffo Jul 29, 2008
Pic is about a dysfunctional bunch of actors who are filming a war movie, only to stumble upon a real war. It certainly sounds like it could be funny, what with Downey playing an actor who takes a pill that makes him an African-American and Tom Cruise making a cameo as a foul-mouthed and overweight studio exec who hurls an unmentionable obscenity. (Variety)
'If I want a payday once or twice a year, I go for the horror' Jul 25, 2008
He told a reporter that this dates back to a childhood viewing of The Naked and The Dead, the Pacific War movie based on Norman Mailer's book. "In it, there was this translucent, lime-green snake in all its VistaVision, Cinemascope glory. It freaked me out.". (Globe and Mail)
Trading Tex not as simple as some think Jul 22, 2008
sixfourthree, from you question at end of last blog: I d probably go Full Metal Jacket as my favorite war movie (and that Eastwood one a few years back was great, the first of the two he did in succession). As for Generation Kill, to me it s a whole different thing that Band of Brothers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Theater review: Big cast and a big sound underscore 'Yank!' Jul 15, 2008
With its snappy humor, period dialogue and perfectly diverse assemblage of characters, it takes after those old war movies that reveled in throwing together ragtag bands of guys to bond in battle. For Zohar, Yank. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Keepin' It Reel Podcast, Episode 22 Jul 14, 2008
Additionally, we look back on an office favorite, Red Dawn, which is scheduled for an update, and turn to the future with news on Inglorious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino's long-gestating war movie. Finally, we prophesize the coming weekend's box office win 00000B60 ner, asking some pointed questions to our readers about Hellboy II, as well as comparing Eddie Murphy's new film Meet Dave to the many films he's made in recent years where he conceals his own mug in favor of a prosthetically-enhanced... (IGN FilmForce)
• The Iraq war movie: Military hopes to shape genre Jul 7, 2008
The Iraq war movie: Military hopes to shape genre - Los Angeles Times ... The Iraq war movie: Military hopes to shape genre ... "It is the self-licking ice cream cone of Hollywood: They make a war movie based on another war movie," Breasseale said. (Q13.com, WA)
Good men, bad war Jul 7, 2008
When Marines trade insults or a soldier with a camcorder quips, "CNN would definitely pay for drama like that, bro. That shit was extreme!" we're offered a glimpse of the surreal experience of modern warfare that's very different from either romanticized, heroic war movies like "Saving Private Ryan" or nightmare scenarios like "The Thin Red Line" or "Platoon." Unlike the nervous, reluctant rookie soldiers we've been introduced to so many times before, the 1st Recon Marines remain unnaturally... (Salon)
Back in the day, we ate at home and walked to school Jul 6, 2008
When we got in trouble for scooching around like idiots in class, the nuns would interrogate us like a war movie. "Tell me what you find funny about the word 'bird'?" demanded Sister Mary, a lamp shining on my face in a dark room. (New Haven Register, CT)
War Movie: The Dirty Dozen (1967) Jul 5, 2008
Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine & Charles Bronson Star in WW II Film. Lee Marvin leads a group of G.I. convicts on a suicidal mission in Nazi-occupied France in The Dirty Dozen. (Suite101.com)
How to fight our gun-obsessed culture? Burn your copy of 'The Godfather' and push for a $20 tax on each bullet sold Jul 2, 2008
Of course, banning war movies are no-brainers. Burn you copies of "Godfather" and "Goodfellas." Only allow your offspring to view more wholesome shows such as "Beach Blanket Bingo" or "Sex in the City.". (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
JAY BOOKMAN: As time goes by, one movie's magic lives on Jun 22, 2008
"Casablanca" is many things -- a date movie, a chick flick, a war movie, a spy thriller. But it is also a profoundly political movie about the importance of surrendering individual desires for the greater common good. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Passchendaele to open the Toronto International Film Fest Jun 20, 2008
Actor and director Paul Gross on the set of the war movie Passchendaele. Colleen De Neve/Calgary Herald Font. (Canada.com)
Making sense of the AFI's 'Top 10 Films in 10 Genres' list Jun 19, 2008
what's with all the war movies included there ... For example: *Ensemble war movies with lots of actors who went on to be big on television. (Entertainment Weekly)
Live Free or Die Hard Director a Good Choice To Helm Gears of ... Jun 18, 2008
Live Free or Die Hard Director a Good Choice To Helm Gears of War Movie ... Live Free or Die Hard Director a Good Choice To Helm Gears of War Movie. (MTV.com)
Critic's corner Jun 17, 2008
Local Search Site Search. THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING. (Boston Globe)
Tim Russert: A Custodian's leave Jun 17, 2008
Among this year's stash is a shirt worn by John Wayne in "The Green Berets" and an original costume from the Civil War movie classic "Gone With The Wind.". Georgetown ghosts. (Human Events Online)
The week's best films on TV Jun 14, 2008
A routine second world war movie reinforced with some decent characterisation. It's set on the front line in Italy, with Oscar-nominated Mickey Rooney as a soldier who, in between the fighting, wins $30,000 in a dramatic game of craps (that's dice): but will he survive to get the dosh home. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
THE IMPENETRABLE HULK Jun 12, 2008
The result is an Incredible Hulk so violent that it suggests a war movie. (In three big combat scenes, the Unjolly Green Giant demolishes a Brazilian soda-bottling plant, a college campus that evokes Kent State and Harlem s 125th Street. (New York Press)
Dripping Gore Jun 12, 2008
Among this year's stash is a shirt worn by John Wayne in "The Green Berets" and an original costume from the Civil War movie classic "Gone With The Wind.". Lou seeks legacy. (Townhall.com)
Barack Obama's Tinseltown Trip Jun 11, 2008
It's a war of words over war movies. While out promoting his own war flick, "Miracle at St. Anna," which features a WWII unit comprised of African-American soldiers, Lee complained about the absence of African-American actors in Eastwood's films, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima.". (Newsmax)
Spike Lee on Eastwood Flap: 'We're Not on a Plantation' Jun 10, 2008
And I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II." Related Stories While promoting his own war movie, "Miracle at St. Anna," about the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division, which fought the Germans in Italy during World War II, Lee said Eastwood's Iwo Jima movie "Flags of Our Fathers" lacked a single African-American. "There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having... (Fox News)
Hollywoods Unions Battle It Out Jun 10, 2008
Oddly, theyre having a war of words over war movies. While out promoting his own war flick, Miracle at St. Anna, which features a World War II unit comprised of African-American soldiers, Lee complained about the absence of African-American actors in Eastwood's films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. (Newsmax)
Spike Lee Talks About The Importance Of 'Miracle At St. Anna,' Says It's A Struggle To Make James Brown Biopic Jun 9, 2008
MTV: I suppose the obvious question is, why a Spike Lee war movie ... MTV: You recently had some words with Clint Eastwood over war movies. (VHI.com -- Music News)
Men behaving manly Jun 8, 2008
"It's fun for people to watch to see how cavalier they are on the surface about the dangers inherent in their jobs. It's entertaining when someone at a bar talks about their dangerous job and they're casual about it. When you see them on TV they tend to have the same sort of bring-it-on attitude. People at home are like, 'Would I do that? Could I do that?' It's kind of like when you're watching a war movie and think, 'Would I run out of the trenches and attack that machine gun nest?' ". Tough... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
CLINT EASTWOOD: SPIKE LEE SHOULD SHUT HIS FACE... Jun 6, 2008
The "he" is Spike Lee, and the reason Eastwood is asking is because of something Lee had said about Eastwood's Iwo Jima movie Flags of Our Fathers, while promoting his own war movie, Miracle at St Anna, about a black US unit in the second world war. Lee had noted the lack of African-Americans in Eastwood's movie and told reporters: "That was his version. The negro version did not exist.". (The Drudge Report)
Campaign 2008 Movie of the Week Project Jun 6, 2008
We loved it then we killed it: America doesn t like war movies with unhappy endings. The What the Hell is Oliver on option. (Human Events Online)
Web cam to link father in Iraqwith his newborn son Jun 5, 2008
" Always a Marine, Robert usually isn't one to show emotion, said his father, David. And he always knew he wanted to be a Marine, David Donar said. "He has a collection of war movies that he would watch all the time," the grandfather said. ". He's most proud of the ribbon he has for receiving fire and returning fire. (Athens Banner-Herald)
Kill, kill, kill: Presidential bloodlust Jun 4, 2008
I was probably five or six and sitting with my father in a movie house off New York's Times Square - one of the slightly seedy theaters of that dawn of the 1950s moment that tended to show double or triple feature B-Westerns or war movies. We were catching some old oater which, as I recall, began with a stagecoach careening dramatically down the main street of a cow town. (Asia Times Online)
Top 10 Movies With Balls Jun 2, 2008
"Yes, darling, I liked Atonement too, but a war movie should have a) loads of bloody violence in it; b) twelve desperate, dangerous, death-row facing military convicts forced on a virtual suicide mission against the Nazi to mitigate their sentence; c) Lee Marvin, who in ancient times was used to melt ice as a superior alternative to grit, being directed by d) legendarily hard boiled director Robert Aldrich. Can we watch that instead? Please stop crying.". Man Moment: The Field Training Exercise,... (IGN FilmForce)
Spoiling Sex and the City May 31, 2008
So many audience members were sobbing throughout my screening, and I was struck by hearing more crying in that movie than during any serious war movie or mourning scene I've watched in a looong time. I left thinking, Geez, people are really hurting for love. (Slate)
It's more fun when you join in the conversation May 30, 2008
After the first 20 minutes (which are fantastic) Ryan becomes a fairly standard and sadly mundane war movie, nothing new under the Normandy sun. Shawshank continuously overplays its hand, bludgeoning the audience with life lessons when a more subtle approach would have been more effective. (The Augusta Chronicle)
Holding down the fort May 30, 2008
Ostensibly a war movie, Beaufort actually feels more like a character study of the type of men who become Israeli soldiers. Since service is compulsory, the boys of Beaufort have a very different very different attitude than the soldiers in (modern) American war movies, who all chose to sign up for specific reasons. (Cleveland Jewish News, OH)
