While I may thnk some of Oliver Stone’s ideas border on the crackpot, I do think he is a very good director and some of his films could be considered modern-day classics.  However, I think he a little off the mark with his assertion that Hollywood is glorifying war.  He cites Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down as examples of how Hollywood  is worshipping "the machinery of war."  Neither of these films glorify war; if anything they glorify the sacrifice of the men and women who serve their country, much as Stone’s most well-known film, Platoon, did for Vietnam Vets (even though it can be considered very much an anti-war film).  Hollywood isn’t glorifying war, it’s glorfying the almighty dollar; although, both of these films would only be consider moderately successful, with Pearl Harbor considered a flop with nearly $450 million in world-wide revenue when it was first realeased.  Hollywood can’t exist without successful movies and while people are known to frequent smaller films with messages about any number of subjects (Brokeback Mountain, An Inconvenient Truth, etc.), they love the big budget films, too. 

Moreover, I don’t see it as glorifying war to make films to show us the sacrifice made by the men and women who fought to keep our country free.  A good example is Saving Private Ryan.  This is not a film that glorifies war, nor is it an anti-war film.  It’s just a film that details what it was like for men involved in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy.  Are there films out there that glorify the violence and death of war while demonizing and characturizing the enemy?  Well, sure; any Chuck Norris or Jean-Claude Van Damme movie comes to mind.  In the end, people will take what they want from a film.  Some might see Ryan as a testament to the idea that America is the last remaining super-power and that we should return to the "glory" of the WWII years.  Others, like me, see the film as a tribute to the men who sacrified their lives to bring freedom to the world.  Two very different ideas.

Does anyone really remember why we celebrate Labor Day? Contrary to what Americans think Labor Day is about, the holiday means much more than a three-day weekend or barbecues or automobile dealership sales.

You know, a lot of people like to bitch and moan about actors in Hollywood being vocal about causes or speaking out on their political beliefs.  I’ll be the first to say that it can get on my nerves because you know a few of them have such large heads as to believe their opinion can sway the masses.  Of course, they are sometimes correct, but I try to remind myself they are Americans just like me and they have the same rights and privelages as I do when it comes to the speaking out.  Granted, they have, by default, a greater ability to be heard, but then the Internet has made that a lot easier for everyday Americans to do that same thing.  Witness my little blog here.  That being said, I find it interesting that it’s these America-hating Hollywoods liberals who are stepping up to help people in New Orleans.  Oprah is building homes for those who choose not to return, Spike Lee’s documentary has shone a spotlight on those events, and now Brad Pitt is sponsoring a competition to find “foward-thinking” architects who can put green technology to use in housing for residents of New Orleans.  At least they’re doing something besides bitching and moaning, or finding happiness in the fact that so many poor blacks won’t be returning.

Well, if the man known as the "Crocodile Hunter" had to go out, at least he went out doing something he loved.  Whenever I saw Steve Irwin I would always role my eyes.  He was a bit over the top and there were times when I thought he took chances that were stupid at best, but he was a champion for the creatures of the world and spoke out passionately in the name of conservation.