Well, It's Not Going to Help the Box Office

Oliver Stone is one of the top 3 people I would not like to see a 9-11 movie from. (Are you wondering who the other two are? C'mon I know you are.) So of course he's making one. Look I saw JFK and watched parts of Nixon, and both are pretty terrible except that they cast good actors in the lead. (Kevin Costner? Really? Yes, Costner is good as a law enforcement type, cowboy or sports guy. He should stay far far away from science fiction.) John Podhoretz nails what is going to happen:

So the villains wouldn't really be bin Laden and his monstrous followers, but American officials too blind or lazy or turf-conscious to stop them.

Of course, he wrote that in general following a blurb on War of the Worlds and not about Stone specifically, but it's all too credible given Stone's track record. Mickey Kaus has damning excerpts from Oliver Stone's mouth about his personal views of 9-11. Take a minute. Breathe deeply. Just remember, he's got plenty of money to buy tinfoil for his hat.

So now we know the awefulness that is coming down the pike, let's indulge in a little wishful thinking. Who should make a 9-11 movie? In my world it would be either Ron Howard or M. Night Shyamalan. Both would bring different things to the project but wow.

Ron Howard has made some incredible films about America and the American experience. Apollo 13 anyone? He brings some emotional content but mostly focuses on the uplifting, the hopeful and the best of hard circumstances. His films would focus on the event. Someone in it, experiencing it, and overcoming in the midst of tragedy.

M. Night Shyamalan would be very different. 9-11 would be the catalyst not the main story. In Signs, Unbreakable, and The Village the culture shaking events are only a frame for the emotional dialogue. Shyamalan's could handle deftly the range of emotions expressed by Americans, the complex mix of shock, rage, sadness, bonding, love, and patriotism. Who would you like to see make a 9-11 movie?

Thanks to the ever valuable Basil's Blog for the open post.

UPDATE 7-15

The MaryHunter links (whoo-ho! just love it when I get linked) and suggests Mel Gibson. Gibson is a fine director but his movies have saga written all over them. Probably a lack in my own vision but I have a hard time picturing a Gibson 9-11 film.