Monday, May 25, 2009
Ten great conservative movies
Lefty blogger and notorious comment troll Christopher Chambers takes a hard, and mostly serious, look at the best "conservative" movies. It's pretty good stuff. And, besides, he's looking for comments from "wingnuts" so now's your big shot at payback.
20 Comments:
By 
Mark Tempest, at
Mon May 25, 07:39:00 PM:
Far better list here.
Chariots of Fire, High Noon, Dirty Harry, Stand and Deliver, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Since You Went Away,Sergeant York, Invasion of the Body Snatchers,Forbidden Planet, They Were Expendable and a whole lot more make my list. I'll match the opening scene in Joe Versus the Volcano with any effort to show the dehumanizing effects of large, souless entities.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Mon May 25, 08:21:00 PM:
Subj: The list by Mr. Chambers
"Exodus" and "The Sand Pebbles" are okay. "Red Dawn" doesn't belong on it despite the involvement of John Milius. Mr. Chambers forgot "Patton" and "Apocalypse Now."
In addition, Mr.Chambers ignores the libertarian Republicans in the conservative coalition. Creative possibilities there could include "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972, Robert Redford) and "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968, Steve McQueen).
By the way, last March Thom Patterson of CNN talked to John Milius, the so-called Barbarian of Hollywood:
"You know that line in 'Dirty Harry' in which Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan describes the power of the .44 Magnum? John Milius wrote that line.
"Remember the line in 'Jaws' when Robert Shaw, playing the shark hunter, talks about his buddies being eaten alive by sharks during World War II? That was Milius.
"How about the line in 'Apocalypse Now,' when Robert Duvall, playing a surf-loving Army colonel, says, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning'?
"Milius again."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/09/john.milius.movies/index.html
By Christopher Chambers, at
Mon May 25, 08:30:00 PM:
Milius treatise is much appreciated.
By the way TH, it's not "Ten Great Conservative Movies," it's my top ten favorite so-called "conservative" movies. ;-)
By Escort81, at
Mon May 25, 08:36:00 PM:
DEC -
In what respect is "Apocalypse Now" (either version -- the original or the Director's Cut) a conservative movie? What values are affirmed? Yes, it is loosely based on Conrad's book, which I suppose can be viewed as conservative in a Cheney sense, but overall, the movie is kind of nihilistic, especially the Director's Cut.
I have spent a great deal of time around the Sundance resort, where much of Jeremiah Johnson was filmed. A reproduction of the Johnson cabin acts as a warming lodge at the top of the ski lifts, and many props from the movie hang on the wall, including, I believe, the bearskin coat Redford wore, complete with bloody holes. Redford would be aghast to learn that you believe it is a libertarian Republican film, although I certainly agree with you that it affirms the concepts of self-reliance and rugged individualism. He would probably say that the lesson to be drawn from the movie is that individualism can lead to senseless violence, though of course Johnson was fine until he tried to help guide the Army through holy Indian ground.
Anyone going through Utah should stop for dinner at the main restaurant at the resort -- the Tree Room is worth a special effort to visit.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Mon May 25, 09:00:00 PM:
Escort81: "In what respect is 'Apocalypse Now' (either version -- the original or the Director's Cut) a conservative movie?"
Captain Willard was a soldier who successfully carried out his mission. It's as simple as that.
To me, the movie at its most basic level is quite similar to the "Green Berets."
By Escort81, at
Mon May 25, 09:26:00 PM:
Thanks, DEC. I am clearly overthinking it, since I kind of see it as Kurtz commiting suicide -- permitting Willard to kill him, because Kurtz can no longer deal with the burden ("the Horror") of living. But you are correct that (by hook or by crook), the mission was accomplished and the air strike lights up the camp as the credits roll. I would never have thought to compare the "Green Berets" to "Apocalypse Now" and seen basic similarities!
By 
, at
Mon May 25, 09:58:00 PM:
Not to take any of this too seriously, but there was a joke in the '80's that one out of every three Hollywood conservatives became President.
I don't see "The Sand Pebbles" as being any sort of "conservative" movie, as it was cast in the era of the anti-war Viet Nam. It was a good tale somewhat well told, but conservative? Steve McQueen's last line "What the hell happened?" is supposed to be a metaphor for the "quagmire" of Viet Nam.
DEC, I think you are having fun with us over "Apocalypse Now!". It was most definently a nihilistic metaphor for the death of conscience (the one crew member survives by going native) and American "corporatism", one of the eternal bogeymen of the American left.
-David
By , at
Mon May 25, 10:16:00 PM:
How about "High Noon"? "Dr. Zhivago"? "The Dark Knight"?
By , at
Mon May 25, 10:31:00 PM:
Chambers had mentioned The Sand Pebbles in his drivel...er...blog before. Actually, he'd previously made some points showing that it really wasn't allegory for the negative stereotypes of Viet Nam per se, including the fact that McKenna wrote the book long before the war escalated, and principal photography wrapped in 1966. As it relates to incursion into any foreign, mysterious land it holds water both for conservatives and some liberals I suppose. In the 5/25 post he alludes to the "fight at the junk boom" a sequence which conservatives would find compelling. Therefore I don't dismiss Steve McQueen's performance or the movie as militating toward liberals, and Chambers is redeemable in a small, small way for liking both. He appears to like The Green Berets, which is interesting.
I find myself strangely agreeing with him with respect to his critique, not love, of John Wayne's The Alamo as well as The Ten Commandments. I think he takes 300 way too personally.
I am still noodling over Apocalypse Now, DEC.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Mon May 25, 10:39:00 PM:
David: "DEC, I think you are having fun with us over 'Apocalypse Now.' "
No, David, I am not. But it is helpful to remember that I am a goal-oriented pragmatist, not an idealist. I like to ignore the BS and cut to the bottom line as quickly as possible.
There are two kinds of executives in this world -- farmers and pirates. TH is a farmer, carefully helping his company to grow. As an entrepreneur, I am a market-driven "pirate" on the lookout for treasure chests.
I could care less about Colonel Kurtz, his doubts, or his opinions. But I probably would have hired young Captain Willard if I had received his resume.
By , at
Mon May 25, 11:15:00 PM:
DEC,
Well, if you are a market driven "pirate", just remember those wise words from the cook "Don't get off the boat!"
As a minor underlying in the vast corporation I work for, I shovel *bleep* in the chicken house. Someday I may get promoted to spreading the *bleep*. But I will never be close to running any part of the farm, as TH does. :)
A friend's older brother did a tour in VN as a second LT in '68, and was asked by his mother after watching "Apocalypse Now!", "Are there tigers in Viet Nam?"
Apparently his platoon was garrisoning an island in the Mekong river, and a tiger jumped out of a tree onto one of his soldiers. Imagine a platoon of keyed up guys with M-16s on full auto. There wasn't much left of the tiger larger than chunks about the size of wallet, I guess.
Yes, I guess there are tigers in Viet Nam.
-David
By , at
Mon May 25, 11:30:00 PM:
Oddly, I think "Life is Beautiful" is conservative. Its a wonderful commentary on what it means to be a father, and a husband. Also its optimism.
What a beautiful film.
A moderate
By Gary Rosen, at
Tue May 26, 12:04:00 AM:
"Exodus" is on the list because in sissy Chrissy's so-called mind, Jooos = evil neocons. The choice proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that sissy Chrissy is a Jew-baiting scumbag.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue May 26, 12:24:00 AM:
Re: "Exodus"
I always liked Leon Uris's novels, Gary.
An interesting piece of trivia: Uris was a high-school dropout.
By Gary Rosen, at
Tue May 26, 12:50:00 AM:
"Exodus" is a fine novel and movie but the only thing that makes it "conservative" to Chrissy is that it portrays Jews in a favorable light. Since Chrissy is fond of referring to conservatives as "wingnuts" and "douchebags" it is not too hard to connect the dots.
By , at
Tue May 26, 03:13:00 AM:
"It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart, "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews, "The Bells of St. Mary's" with Bing Crosby. "The Spirit of St. Louis" with Jimmy Stewart and "Gettysburg".
At lot of this is in the eye of the beholder. If someone watches "1984" and cringes, its a conservative movie. If they watch "1984" and say, "We could totally make that work" it is a liberal movie.
By Georg Felis, at
Tue May 26, 09:00:00 AM:
I'm kind of suprised that "Passion of the Christ" didn't make the list. After all, we're all supposed to be right-wing Christian wingnuts...
FYI: "Passion" hit me like no other movie ever did. I found it interesting that as the crowd came in, people were talking to each other and holding popcorn and sodas. When they left they were universally quiet, and still holding the uneaten popcorn.
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue May 26, 10:23:00 AM:
For some reason, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" came to mind...
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue May 26, 11:20:00 AM:
To Escort81 and David:
I forgot to mention this: John Milius co-wrote the screenplays for "Apocalypse Now" and "Jeremiah Johnson." He is one of Hollywood's most outspoken conservatives. (Read the CNN piece I mentioned earlier.)
---
Richard McKenna, who wrote the 1962 novel "The Sand Pebbles," served in the U.S. Navy for 22 years (including 10 years of active sea duty.) He was in the Navy during WWII and the Korean War. (Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964.)
By AmPowerBlog, at
Tue May 26, 08:53:00 PM:
Pretty impressive post, actually. A little over the top on the anti-jingoism, but Chambers is a cinemaphile.
