At 90, President George H.W. Bush was wheelchair-bound yet made a parachute jump from a plane to celebrate his birthday. The following year, he recovered from a fall that had left him with a broken vertebra in his neck.
Now in stable condition in the ICU of Houston Methodist Hospital as he’s being being treated for pneumonia, Bush’s friends are convinced that the 92-year-old’s steely constitution will once again pull him through.
“He’s a very strong-minded individual, he would not have achieved all he has without being that way,” John H. Sununu, who served as White House...
Now in stable condition in the ICU of Houston Methodist Hospital as he’s being being treated for pneumonia, Bush’s friends are convinced that the 92-year-old’s steely constitution will once again pull him through.
“He’s a very strong-minded individual, he would not have achieved all he has without being that way,” John H. Sununu, who served as White House...
- 1/20/2017
- by kathyehrichdowd
- PEOPLE.com
Chris Matthews went into a commercial break apologetically during MSNBC’s pre-debate coverage on Thursday night after accidentally uttering the word “shit” on the air. While teeing up a commercial break, Matthews asked his guest, John Sununu, to make a return appearance, telling the former New Hampshire governor, “Please come back. You’re kind of cranky, but you know your shit.” The “Hardball” host was more red-faced than usual, immediately recovering by saying, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that word,” as Sununu and MSNBC contributor Howard Fineman guffawed. But Matthews had a perfectly reasonable excuse for the expletive.
- 2/5/2016
- by Jordan Burchette
- The Wrap
The White House announced Monday morning that President Barack Obama would travel to Kenya in July, his first trip to the country as president, though his fourth to the continent. Fox host Martha McCollum and former New Hampshire John Sununu (R) sounded unenthused about Obama's trip, intimating Obama was resurfacing the birther issue and paying more attention to his "travel plans" than the Middle East.
- 3/30/2015
- by Evan McMurry
- Mediaite - TV
TheWrap’s guide to television coverage of President Barack Obama’s speech, including who’s anchoring the broadcasts and providing analysis
President Barack Obama will give his seventh annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Et, with expected topics including national security, immigration, health care and the environment. Sen. Jon Ernst (R-ia) is expected to provide the Republican response.
After the president’s address, while the Republicans are giving their response and the networks are starting to break down their analyses, Obama will be preparing for something altogether different. His administration has invited three YouTube...
President Barack Obama will give his seventh annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Et, with expected topics including national security, immigration, health care and the environment. Sen. Jon Ernst (R-ia) is expected to provide the Republican response.
After the president’s address, while the Republicans are giving their response and the networks are starting to break down their analyses, Obama will be preparing for something altogether different. His administration has invited three YouTube...
- 1/20/2015
- by Jason Hughes
- The Wrap
Hell still hath few furies like a shareholder with legal representation feeling scorned. In what seems to be the first but most likely not the last such legal move, a Time Warner Cable shareholder has launched a potential class action suit against the company to halt its acquisition by Comcast in a $45.2B all-stock deal. Filing in the Supreme Court of New York (read it here) one day after the TWC-Comcast deal was formally announced on February 13, Breffni Barrett is accusing TWC, its chairman and CEO Rob Marcus, former Sen. John Sununu and other members of the company’s board of cutting themselves a sweet deal and breach of fiduciary duty. The shareholder also says in the action, which also names Comcast as a defendant, that the mega-merger risks regulatory wrath. Of course, while it is easy to file an action such as this one, it is very hard to...
- 2/17/2014
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
Currently in a rebuilding phase after a precipitous slide from its former dominance of the cable-news world, CNN has been adding new on-air talent, such as former ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper, and is also reaching back into its past.
Last week, CNN revived the current-events/debate program "Crossfire," blending a long-running format with a roster of new faces. The daily 30-minute show features two hosts and guests each night, with the co-hosts also appearing across other CNN programming.
From 1982 until 2005, "Crossfire" was a mainstay of the network's daytime lineup, examining the news from the points of view of a politically liberal and a conservative pundit.
The first pairing was journalist and author Tom Braden ("Eight Is Enough") on the liberal side, and commentator, politician and broadcaster Pat Buchanan, as the conservative.
Later rosters for both the daytime show and a Sunday edition included Robert Novak, John Sununu, Tony Snow,...
Last week, CNN revived the current-events/debate program "Crossfire," blending a long-running format with a roster of new faces. The daily 30-minute show features two hosts and guests each night, with the co-hosts also appearing across other CNN programming.
From 1982 until 2005, "Crossfire" was a mainstay of the network's daytime lineup, examining the news from the points of view of a politically liberal and a conservative pundit.
The first pairing was journalist and author Tom Braden ("Eight Is Enough") on the liberal side, and commentator, politician and broadcaster Pat Buchanan, as the conservative.
Later rosters for both the daytime show and a Sunday edition included Robert Novak, John Sununu, Tony Snow,...
- 9/16/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
For openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Ma.), the term, “outgoing” holds many meanings: he’s both the outgoing U.S. Representative of Massachusetts’ Fourth District, and is a frequently colorful pundit and interview guest on some of the nation’s most respected chat shows.
He made another of his memorable guest appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher, and had some choice words on a variety of topics. Some highlights:
On public perception of reducing debt, defense spending and stimulus: “I’m not supposed to call it stimulus, we’re supposed to call it recovery – that’s what the focus groups said. But I was surprised by that because most people I know would rather be stimulated than recover.”
On Romney thinking Russia is a U.S. enemy: “He used to think so, but then he changed his mind.”
On Romney supporters: After Maher noted that metal rocker Meatloaf...
He made another of his memorable guest appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher, and had some choice words on a variety of topics. Some highlights:
On public perception of reducing debt, defense spending and stimulus: “I’m not supposed to call it stimulus, we’re supposed to call it recovery – that’s what the focus groups said. But I was surprised by that because most people I know would rather be stimulated than recover.”
On Romney thinking Russia is a U.S. enemy: “He used to think so, but then he changed his mind.”
On Romney supporters: After Maher noted that metal rocker Meatloaf...
- 10/30/2012
- by Will Pollock
- The Backlot
John Sununu is one of the most recognizable surrogates for the Romney campaign on the cable show circuit these days, which is why his words tend to carry a certain weight. And yet, Sununu seemingly has no filter, and has been one of the most aggressive voices hitting President Obama. Tonight, he did it again when he told Piers Morgan that retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell's decision to endorse Obama has a racial component to it.
- 10/26/2012
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell and Mitt Romney surrogate, John Sununu, battled Tuesday over the political impact of a leaked video in which Romney wrote off the support of the 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax. Sununu attacked the media for focusing on these comments and not President Barack Obama’s strategy of stoking class warfare. Sununu said that Romney merely quantified Obama’s electoral strategy of pitting portions of the electorate against one another.
- 9/18/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien has faced predictable charges of bias from conservatives this week over her use of facts to debunk the Mitt Romney campaign's claims about Medicare, but on Thursday morning's Starting Point, O'Brien pressed Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-mo) over the possible racial connotations of Vice President Joe Biden's recent remarks about Republicans wanting to "put y'all back in chains." Perhaps Romney surrogate John Sununu ought to rethink the placement of that Obama/Biden bumper sticker, after all.
- 8/16/2012
- by Tommy Christopher
- Mediaite - TV
On Tuesday, CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien absolutely nailed Romney campaign surrogate John Sununu over the campaign's outrageous lies about Medicare, then added a gratuitous double-tap today, and was called "biased" for her trouble. However, a Fox News anchor earned rare praise on MSNBC's air for similarly nailing VP pick Paul Ryan, and no one is about to claim Brit Hume is in the tank for President Obama.
- 8/15/2012
- by Tommy Christopher
- Mediaite - TV
Soledad O'Brien was making waves Tuesday in the conservative media, which was using the CNN news anchor as evidence of liberal bias in the mainstream media. O’Brien’s transgressions – as far as the right was concerned – were twofold: First, while filling in for Anderson cooper on Monday night, she was seen reading from notes provided by Talking Points Memo, a liberal blog, during an interview with Mitt Romney campaign advisor Barbara Comstock. Second, on Tuesday during her own show, Starting Point, Republican guest John Sununu became so infuriated with what he perceived as Soledad’s bias in favor of Democrats that he told her, "Put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead when you do this."
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- 8/14/2012
- by Paul Bond
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mitt Romney surrogate and former New Hampshire Governor, John Sununu, appeared on MSNBC with Chris Matthews on Monday where he was asked repeatedly to defend the budget reform proposals put forward by vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Sununu became agitated with Matthews when he was forced to defend Ryan’s budget but was unable to discuss the distinct budget proposals of Mitt Romney...
- 8/13/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Juan Williams and Mitt Romney campaign surrogate John Sununu faced off once again tonight on Sean Hannity's show. Hannity highlighted Bill Clinton's recent statements on the economy and the Bush tax cuts seemingly putting him at odds with many Democrats, including Obama himself. But then the conversation quickly turned to the negative reactions Romney got to his overseas tour.
- 8/1/2012
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
Even though many people disapprove of President Obama's policies, they like him as a person. A new poll shows that 60 percent of voters think Obama is the more likable candidate, compared to only 30 percent who say the same of Mitt Romney. On his show tonight, Bill O'Reilly brought on Romney campaign advisor John Sununu to ask him if the news surprises him at all.
- 7/27/2012
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
Romney Surrogate On Releasing More Taxes: Romney ‘Has Gone Above And Beyond What Is Required Of Him’
On Wednesday, Mitt Romney campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul appeared on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell where she addressed recent comments by Romney surrogate John Sununu, nominating convention speakers and whether the Gop campaign would use Obama’s admitted use of marijuana and cocaine against him. When asked if the Romney campaign planned to release more tax returns, Saul said that the former Massachusetts governor has released all the tax filings that are required of him and does not feel obliged to release further tax filings.
- 7/18/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
John Sununu, surrogate for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and former New Hampshire governor, appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday to apologize for comments he made earlier that day in which he said President Barack Obama needs to “learn how to be an American.” However, he took aim at the President for comments he made in which he said that the success of entrepreneurs is due, in part, to public sector investments. Sununu described Obama’s comments as “denigrating American values.”...
- 7/17/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Former New Hampshire governor John Sununu squared off with Juan Williams on Sean Hannity's show tonight over the political fallout from a report today showing Mitt Romney was listed as an executive of Bain up to three years after he claimed he retired from the company. Sununu flipped the charges of criminal behavior onto the Obama administration, and when Williams tried to defend the president, Sununu told him his "blind loyalty" to Obama makes him "look foolish."...
- 7/13/2012
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
Surrogate for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and former Republican New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu appeared on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on Tuesday where he engaged in a heated exchange with Mitchell over extending the Bush tax cuts as well as which candidate is more damaged by charges that they outsourced jobs. Sununu laughed at Mitchell several times and accused her of “struggling” to defend the Obama administration...
- 7/10/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
On Monday morning's edition of MSNBC's Jansing & Co., Romney campaign surrogate former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu defended the candidate's comments that the nation does not need any more public employees, saying that "there's wisdom in the comment" and that as population increases at a slower rate and technology improves efficiency, there is less need for employees on the public payroll.
- 6/11/2012
- by Andrew Kirell
- Mediaite - TV
In what became the theme of the week on the program, Bill O'Reilly dedicated a segment yesterday to the Romney campaign's treatment in the media, but this time arguing that his own coverage had influenced the way they reacted to questions from reporters. Particularly, O'Reilly argued, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu's run-in with Soledad O'Brien on CNN seemed to indicate to O'Reilly that "the Romney camp has noticed some of our analysis."...
- 6/2/2012
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
Discovery Channel will focus on the men behind the U.S. presidency in its special The Gatekeepers, premiering next year. Photos: 22 of Hollywood's Best Presidents in Movies and TV Gatekeepers will take a look at the role of White House chiefs of staff, spanning at least nine administrations. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush as well as former chiefs of staff including Rahm Emanuel, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, James Baker III, John Sununu and Mack McLarty will interview for the project. “When Discovery does history, it’s about great storytelling,” Discovery and TLC Networks Group president Eileen
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- 3/28/2012
- by Jethro Nededog
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When Sarah Palin declared two weeks ago that she "wasn't too concerned about a HBO movie based on a false narrative," you knew instantaneously that she was fudging it more than a little bit about Game Change. Of course she cared. Just today she launched a video on her SarahPAC website defending her performance in the 2008 campaign and issued a statement that the film "presents a history that never happened."
A week ago Palin unleashed her dogs on HBO and, almost as predictably, on John McCain's senior campaign advisor Steve Schmidt, who has made his disdain for Palin quite public since the 2008 election. In a recent forum sponsored by the New Yorker, Schmidt openly acknowledged that Palin was "clearly not prepared for the presidency."
As part of the orchestrated pushback to Game Change, no fewer than seven of Palin's associates took to the telephone wires angrily denouncing HBO's upcoming fiilm,...
A week ago Palin unleashed her dogs on HBO and, almost as predictably, on John McCain's senior campaign advisor Steve Schmidt, who has made his disdain for Palin quite public since the 2008 election. In a recent forum sponsored by the New Yorker, Schmidt openly acknowledged that Palin was "clearly not prepared for the presidency."
As part of the orchestrated pushback to Game Change, no fewer than seven of Palin's associates took to the telephone wires angrily denouncing HBO's upcoming fiilm,...
- 3/2/2012
- by Geoffrey Dunn
- Aol TV.
Is former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu this election's Zell Miller? Challenging Chris Matthews to a duel was just about the only thing he didn't shout at the MSNBC team today, as he told Ed Schultz the statistics he cited were "a crock of crap," told Lawrence O'Donnell he didn't "know what you're talking about," and challenged one of Matthews' comments as "anti-American."...
- 1/11/2012
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
Former New Hampshire governor John Sununu, acting as a surrogate for Mitt Romney, had some choice words for MSNBC's Chris Matthews when asked whether candidates should be held responsible for ads "put on the air by their former staffers and friends in their interest." "Look," he weighed in, "you guys are reveling and wallowing in [a] ridiculous perception of what's going on."...
- 1/9/2012
- by Alex Alvarez
- Mediaite - TV
WASHINGTON -- It might not rank up there with abortion, the war or the economy, but the political lines have been drawn over the network neutrality issue with Democrats staking it out as a policy territory they plan to defend.
The politicization of the issue was strikingly evident on Tuesday in the Senate Commerce Committee as Democrats lined up to ballyhoo the nondiscrimination policy as the Internet's savior and Republicans vilified it as the a regulatory stranglehold on commerce.
"It is a political division now and it's getting more so," said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the panel's GOP co-chairman. "I do not think telecommunications law should come under election-year politics."
A point made more stark by Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who warned against moving too fast. "Writing regulations based on how we think companies might behave and how customers might act is dangerous indeed," he said.
But Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a proponent of the doctrine and a critic of the shrinking universe of media companies, said Sununu was all wet.
"In recent years policy has received too little attention," he said. "Network neutrality principals are not some nit-picky regulatory structure. It's not a question of changing things we can't predict. It's already happened.
Democrats even brought in a couple of Hollywood names to add a little luster to the hearing as actress-producer-director Justine Bateman and WGA-West President Patric Verrone spoke out in support of the doctrine.
"The idea of your site succeeding or failing based upon whether or not you paid the telecom companies enough to carry your material or allow quick access is appalling," Bateman told the committee.
The politicization of the issue was strikingly evident on Tuesday in the Senate Commerce Committee as Democrats lined up to ballyhoo the nondiscrimination policy as the Internet's savior and Republicans vilified it as the a regulatory stranglehold on commerce.
"It is a political division now and it's getting more so," said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the panel's GOP co-chairman. "I do not think telecommunications law should come under election-year politics."
A point made more stark by Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who warned against moving too fast. "Writing regulations based on how we think companies might behave and how customers might act is dangerous indeed," he said.
But Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a proponent of the doctrine and a critic of the shrinking universe of media companies, said Sununu was all wet.
"In recent years policy has received too little attention," he said. "Network neutrality principals are not some nit-picky regulatory structure. It's not a question of changing things we can't predict. It's already happened.
Democrats even brought in a couple of Hollywood names to add a little luster to the hearing as actress-producer-director Justine Bateman and WGA-West President Patric Verrone spoke out in support of the doctrine.
"The idea of your site succeeding or failing based upon whether or not you paid the telecom companies enough to carry your material or allow quick access is appalling," Bateman told the committee.
- 4/22/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
WASHINGTON -- FCC chairman Kevin Martin is set to go before the Senate Commerce Committee today in the first of at least two congressional hearings in which the Republican agency head will face committees controlled by Democrats.
Commerce Committee staffers and aides for the panel's members said that those coming to the hearing looking for a big difference in how Martin and the other commissioners are treated now that the Democrats have wrested control might be in for a disappointment.
"People generally like Kevin", one committee aide said. "He's been really responsive to the senators' concerns and (in) answering their questions."
That doesn't mean Martin will get a free ride. Several senators from both sides of the aisle have been critical of the agency's decisions under his watch.
Among Democrats, Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., have never been shy about pointing out what they see as problems with FCC decisions. The same can be said for some Republicans, notably Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.
"It's not like the committee is made up of a bunch of shrinking violets," another of the panel's staff members said. "But we don't expect a lot of ranting and raving."
Part of the reason for the predicted civility lies in the chairmanship. While Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, is now running the show, he and past chairman Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, are good friends, and Stevens was named vice chairman.
Commerce Committee staffers and aides for the panel's members said that those coming to the hearing looking for a big difference in how Martin and the other commissioners are treated now that the Democrats have wrested control might be in for a disappointment.
"People generally like Kevin", one committee aide said. "He's been really responsive to the senators' concerns and (in) answering their questions."
That doesn't mean Martin will get a free ride. Several senators from both sides of the aisle have been critical of the agency's decisions under his watch.
Among Democrats, Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., have never been shy about pointing out what they see as problems with FCC decisions. The same can be said for some Republicans, notably Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.
"It's not like the committee is made up of a bunch of shrinking violets," another of the panel's staff members said. "But we don't expect a lot of ranting and raving."
Part of the reason for the predicted civility lies in the chairmanship. While Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, is now running the show, he and past chairman Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, are good friends, and Stevens was named vice chairman.
A good defense lawyer only needs to cast a reasonable doubt to get his client off the hook, we Kennedy followers have learned, and 1960s slugger Oliver Stone proves he's a masterful litigant in this gumbo-filled historical reconstruction of John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Essentially, it's not about Kennedy but rather the tale of New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison who -- not believing the Warren Commission's Report that a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, shot down JFK -- launched a widespread investigation, eventually prosecuting one New Orleans citizen Clay Shaw for the crime. In Garrison's eye, Shaw was a cog in a murderous conspiracy hatched by the CIA, the defense industry, Southern rednecks, Cuban refugees and all sorts of goose hunters.
If any cause or special interest group wanted to hire a filmmaker to document the rightness of their issue, Stone would be unbeatable. In this view of nimble bombast, it's not doubtful that Stone could spin a masterful cinematic web linking John Sununu's resignation with the collapse of Pan Am. Aesthetically, ''JFK'' is crafty, super-skilled filmmaking: propaganda every bit as cinematically splendid as Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' or Leni Riefenstahl's ''Triumph of the Will.''
Dignifying D.A. Garrison, who even in the jambalaya of this country's screwiest state was considered a Loose Cannon, is the savvy casting of good-old-reliable, salt-of-the-earth Kevin Costner. As the obsessed litigant, Costner evens sucks on a pipe, avuncularly a la the great wise man of the era, Walter Cronkite.
Opposing this judicious breadwinner are the wide array of ''conspirators, '' shrewdly chosen among Hollywood's finest nutcase players -- prominently Joe Pesci as a hypertensive co-conspirator and Donald Sutherland as a slithery CIA op. Down the French Quarter line, you've also got died-blonde Tommy Lee Jones as gay Clay Shaw and Ed Asner as a swaggering redneck. Before we even present the facts, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, which side would you trust: gray-suited Kevin or Joe Pesci and the boys.
In the film, Garrison quotes Adolf Hitler as saying the bigger the lie, the more people are likely to believe it; paraphrasing that cynicism, the bigger the movie the more likely people are going to believe it, especially in this post-literate age where college kids only know JFK as the president who got laid a lot. And screenwriters Stone and Zachary Sklar present the ''facts'' in a stentorian wave of shrewd and sometimes dubious juxtapositions (aided and abetted by muted trumpet and stacatto of the snares).
The narrative movement is thus: Garrison espouses theory, interrogates slimeball who lies to him, followed by flashback to ''reality'' shot in black-and-white showing Garrison's suppositions are correct.
Indeed, Stone's savvy, documentary-style black-and-white footage casts an aura of truth over this theoretical treatise. Stone has built his case, starting with documentary clips of Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the terrors of the ''military industrial complex, '' through a winning montage of Camelot (the energy of the New Frontier; the disastrous Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the triumph of ''Ich Bin Ein Berliner'' speech, to Dallas.
Throughout, Stone stretches one thread: the CIA and military industrial complex, furious at Kennedy for not providing air support in the Bay of Pigs and fearing his pulling out of Vietnam, hatched a plot.
At its most questionable, a voice-over enumerates the military/industrial types who would benefit from JFK's death -- while panning over the likes of the Joint Chiefs and LBJ. While Oliver Stone has certainly stirred up the waters, with good conscience and, in JFK's own parlance, ''with vigah, '' most people are likely to regard ''JFK'' as BS.
JFK
Warner Bros.
In Association with Le Studio Canal Plus, Regency Enterprises and Alcor Films
An Ixtlan Corp. and an A. Kitman Ho Production
Producers A. Kitman Ho, Oliver Stone
Director Oliver Stone
Screenwriters Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar
Executive producer Arnon Milchan
Director of photography Robert Richardson
Production designer Victor Kempster
Co-producer Clayton Townsend
Editors Joe Hutshing, Pietro Scalia
Music John Williams
Costume designer Marlene Stewart
Casting Risa Bramon Garcia, Billy Hopkins, Heidi Levitt
Based on the books ''On the Trail of the Assassins'' by Jim Garrison and ''Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy'' by Jim Marrs
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Jim Garrison Kevin Costner
Liz Garrison Sissy Spacek
David Ferrie Joe Pesci
Clay Shaw Tommy Lee Jones
Lee Harvey Oswald Gary Oldman
Bill Broussard Michael Rooker
Lou Ivon Jay O. Sanders
Susie Cox Laurie Metcalf
Jack Martin Jack Lemmon
Sen. Long Walter Mattheu
Dean Andrews John Candy
Guy Bannister Ed Asner
Willie O'Keefe Kevin Bacon
Earl Warren Jim Garrison
Running time -- 188 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Essentially, it's not about Kennedy but rather the tale of New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison who -- not believing the Warren Commission's Report that a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, shot down JFK -- launched a widespread investigation, eventually prosecuting one New Orleans citizen Clay Shaw for the crime. In Garrison's eye, Shaw was a cog in a murderous conspiracy hatched by the CIA, the defense industry, Southern rednecks, Cuban refugees and all sorts of goose hunters.
If any cause or special interest group wanted to hire a filmmaker to document the rightness of their issue, Stone would be unbeatable. In this view of nimble bombast, it's not doubtful that Stone could spin a masterful cinematic web linking John Sununu's resignation with the collapse of Pan Am. Aesthetically, ''JFK'' is crafty, super-skilled filmmaking: propaganda every bit as cinematically splendid as Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' or Leni Riefenstahl's ''Triumph of the Will.''
Dignifying D.A. Garrison, who even in the jambalaya of this country's screwiest state was considered a Loose Cannon, is the savvy casting of good-old-reliable, salt-of-the-earth Kevin Costner. As the obsessed litigant, Costner evens sucks on a pipe, avuncularly a la the great wise man of the era, Walter Cronkite.
Opposing this judicious breadwinner are the wide array of ''conspirators, '' shrewdly chosen among Hollywood's finest nutcase players -- prominently Joe Pesci as a hypertensive co-conspirator and Donald Sutherland as a slithery CIA op. Down the French Quarter line, you've also got died-blonde Tommy Lee Jones as gay Clay Shaw and Ed Asner as a swaggering redneck. Before we even present the facts, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, which side would you trust: gray-suited Kevin or Joe Pesci and the boys.
In the film, Garrison quotes Adolf Hitler as saying the bigger the lie, the more people are likely to believe it; paraphrasing that cynicism, the bigger the movie the more likely people are going to believe it, especially in this post-literate age where college kids only know JFK as the president who got laid a lot. And screenwriters Stone and Zachary Sklar present the ''facts'' in a stentorian wave of shrewd and sometimes dubious juxtapositions (aided and abetted by muted trumpet and stacatto of the snares).
The narrative movement is thus: Garrison espouses theory, interrogates slimeball who lies to him, followed by flashback to ''reality'' shot in black-and-white showing Garrison's suppositions are correct.
Indeed, Stone's savvy, documentary-style black-and-white footage casts an aura of truth over this theoretical treatise. Stone has built his case, starting with documentary clips of Dwight Eisenhower's warning of the terrors of the ''military industrial complex, '' through a winning montage of Camelot (the energy of the New Frontier; the disastrous Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the triumph of ''Ich Bin Ein Berliner'' speech, to Dallas.
Throughout, Stone stretches one thread: the CIA and military industrial complex, furious at Kennedy for not providing air support in the Bay of Pigs and fearing his pulling out of Vietnam, hatched a plot.
At its most questionable, a voice-over enumerates the military/industrial types who would benefit from JFK's death -- while panning over the likes of the Joint Chiefs and LBJ. While Oliver Stone has certainly stirred up the waters, with good conscience and, in JFK's own parlance, ''with vigah, '' most people are likely to regard ''JFK'' as BS.
JFK
Warner Bros.
In Association with Le Studio Canal Plus, Regency Enterprises and Alcor Films
An Ixtlan Corp. and an A. Kitman Ho Production
Producers A. Kitman Ho, Oliver Stone
Director Oliver Stone
Screenwriters Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar
Executive producer Arnon Milchan
Director of photography Robert Richardson
Production designer Victor Kempster
Co-producer Clayton Townsend
Editors Joe Hutshing, Pietro Scalia
Music John Williams
Costume designer Marlene Stewart
Casting Risa Bramon Garcia, Billy Hopkins, Heidi Levitt
Based on the books ''On the Trail of the Assassins'' by Jim Garrison and ''Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy'' by Jim Marrs
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Jim Garrison Kevin Costner
Liz Garrison Sissy Spacek
David Ferrie Joe Pesci
Clay Shaw Tommy Lee Jones
Lee Harvey Oswald Gary Oldman
Bill Broussard Michael Rooker
Lou Ivon Jay O. Sanders
Susie Cox Laurie Metcalf
Jack Martin Jack Lemmon
Sen. Long Walter Mattheu
Dean Andrews John Candy
Guy Bannister Ed Asner
Willie O'Keefe Kevin Bacon
Earl Warren Jim Garrison
Running time -- 188 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 12/16/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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