I found out via the Sixth Floor Museum twitter feed that filming took place today in Dealey Plaza for a new film, LBJ
Wikipedia tells me it's directed by Rob Reiner, and stars Woody Harrelson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LBJ_(film)
What else do we know about it? Any plot details? Is it likely to be another Tom Hanks crock?
I haven't heard much about it, but I wonder if we'll get the Caro/Dallek version of LBJ or the Phil Nelson/Barr McClellan version? Hmmm. ::trenchcoatspy::
It's of course extremely ironic that Woody Harrelson plays
LBJ, given who Woody's father was.
Joseph McBride Wrote:It's of course extremely ironic that Woody Harrelson plays
LBJ, given who Woody's father was.
Good point, I hadn't thought of that. Hmmmmm. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Thankfully, we will not get the Nelson/McClellan version. I mean those two books relied on so many unreliable sources.
But from what I understand, we will not even get the Dallek/Caro version.
Its supposed to be even softer than that.
And Harrelson as LBJ? I have never imagined him as a character actor at all.
Jim DiEugenio Wrote:Thankfully, we will not get the Nelson/McClellan version. I mean those two books relied on so many unreliable sources.
But from what I understand, we will not even get the Dallek/Caro version.
Its supposed to be even softer than that.
And Harrelson as LBJ? I have never imagined him as a character actor at all.
Of the movies I've seen, the portrayal of LBJ likely (in my opinion) to be the most accurate was the one by Liev Schreiber in The Butler. Cussing out and abusing his staff and talking to them whilst on the toilet. Coarse to the end.
And this link shows us that Jim was right about how soft the new movie is going to be.
http://deadline.com/2015/06/woody-harrel...201445688/
Looks like no mention of the corruption, vote rigging, intimidation and (perhaps) murder that a) got him where he ended up and b) kept him out of jail.
Jim D - Do you know anything about the scriptwriter Joey Hartstone?
This is director Rob Reiner summing up....
"During the sixties, I was a hippy and Lyndon Johnson was my president. At the time LBJ was the target of most of my generation's anti-Vietnam-War anger. But as time has passed and my understanding of political realities has grown; I've come to see LBJ in a very different light," said Reiner in a statement. "He was a complex man; a combination of brilliant political instinct, raw strength, ambition, and deep insecurities. The strength and power of persuasion that he showed to his colleagues existed alongside of a soft, almost childlike quality that perhaps only Lady Bird got to see. His life's path was nothing short of Shakespearean. From the poor hill country of West Texas to the corridors of power in Washington, he used his brilliant political acumen to pass the most groundbreaking civil rights legislation of the twentieth century. And had it not been for the Vietnam War, I believe he would have gone down as one of America's greatest presidents."
Quote: And had it not been for the Vietnam War, I believe he would have gone down as one of America's greatest presidents."
Ahem...the same Vietnam War that LBJ authorized the Gulf of Tonkin Deception to justify?
The initial impression I had of LBJ wasn't favorable to say the least...a conniving snake in the grass; lowlife lying coward; and brother in arms with the likes of Judas and Benedict Arnold.... I've grown since to accept though that like any of us he is only human after all, with his good points and flaws like anyone else, but to make a movie about him IMHO only serves to stray away from what really happened that awful day.
While the world is kept busy romanticizing these historical figures instead of addressing why we haven't been told the truth due to national security; addressing why a supposed loner Oswald drew a salary from multiple alphabet agencies;, etc., more and more time passes with us getting no closer to the truth than the next potential movie (The Lady in Pink, the Untold Story of a Former First Lady's Worst Nightmare, yada, yada, yada etc.,). It's way past time that we simply admit the truth, seek closure, heal the nation and move on rather than pretend a man out front w/Bill Shelley is guilty of even seeing a rifle that day, let alone fire one.
Boy, Rob Reiner is a terrible historian.
What has he been reading? Or smoking?
Lyndon Johnson would have been a poor president even if Vietnam had ended early. I mean he screwed up JFK's foreign policy in the Middle East, Domincian Republic, Brazil, and Indonesia, for starters. What about what he condoned in Greece?
But the point is, how can one separate LBJ from Vietnam? It was his monster. Its like the old joke, "Mrs. Lincoln, besides your husband's murder, how did you like the play?"