Oliver Stone Talks "JFK" at Special Screening

Why does John F. Kennedy matter?  What have we learned about our nation from his assassination?  These questions were on my mind last week as I attended the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood to see Oliver Stone host a screening of his 1991 epic "JFK."

These questions lingered long after the film ended, even after I sat glued to my seat for over 4 hours during the movie and introduction by the Academy Award winning writer-director.  50 years after the assassination, and 22 years after "JFK" nothing is any clearer.  It's also apparent from the remarks by Mr. Stone that he's still trying to make sense of things.  His latest project, "The Untold History of the United States" - the 10 part miniseries for cable TV - is yet another attempt to look at history with multiple perspectives, and take away the hope that informed citizens make a better democracy. 

I guess the first question is why does Oliver Stone matter?  As a filmmaker, he's very inspiring and influential due to his passion and style.  He writes and directs movies that entertain, innovate, and dig deep into our collective history to find relevance today.  

"JFK" is one of his finest.  Viewed in 2013, it stands tall as fascinating and groundbreaking.  An ambitious film that aims high and succeeds by telling a great story - a story audiences may think they know, but fall captive as the film surprises and thrills.  It's beautifully photographed by Robert Richardson, and expertly edited by Pietro Scalia & Joe Hutshing, combining newsreel footage, re-enactments, and multiple film stocks to create a rich American tapestry.  The acting is brilliant, led by Kevin Costner at his movie-star peak.  I've seen the movie multiple times since 1991, yet marveled once again at the powerful imagery and resonant themes of American innocence lost.

"JFK" is such a kinetic work of pure cinema that it could be equally enjoyed with the sound off.  Really - the images are that stunning and direct.  That is except for the two mesmerizing speeches that form the centerpiece of the movie:  Donald Sutherland's explanation of why and how Kennedy could be killed, and Kevin Costner's courtroom monologue where he debunks the single bullet theory attributed to a lone assassin. 

Oliver Stone introduced the movie by first showing the Kennedy section from his new "Untold History" documentary (now available on Blu-ray).  That selection summed up the radical ideas that Kennedy was implementing in 1963.  This includes his idea that space exploration should be a multinational effort, the first nuclear arms control treaty (The Atmospheric Test-Ban Treaty), the goal to withdraw American troops from Vietnam by 1965, and a call to end the Cold War.  He was viewed as soft on Communism, criticized for allowing the Berlin Wall to be built, and beat-up for the Bay of Pigs fiasco.  Kennedy stood up to the military and the intelligence community, and truly wanted a progressive course for the country.  All motives for a possible assassination, according to both the documentary and "JFK."

Oliver Stone remembered being 17 years old when JFK was killed.  "We didn't question it," he said.  "Nothing changed for me."  It was his experience in Vietnam that changed him.  "Vietnam was the result of the change of policies from Kennedy's death.  I didn't know it on that day, of course.  It took me another 10 years after the war to change. . . And until I got into this 'Untold History' in 2008, I was a dramatist interested in history, and now I've really gotten into it and learned a lot more."

The basis for the new documentary (made with historian Peter Kuznick) started with the policies that Kennedy wanted to change back in '63.  Mr. Stone found himself, in 2008, beating his head against a wall asking, "Why are we going back to these wars over and over again?  It seems like we don't learn anything."  In 2008, Mr. Stone wanted to learn what the pattern was; whether George W. Bush was the aberration, or was he just an example of the same policies since World War II.  Sadly, he found out that was the case, and that Kennedy was the only president we've had in the last 70 years that has tried to make a significant change.  Oliver Stone really wants to understand what life in America is about.  "We're at a very strange time now, when you have the NSA listening in on everything we do.  It's like Jim Morrison said, 'This is the weirdest life I've ever known.'  As a dramatist, I love to see the tension that exists.  If this empire can still pull it off.  With all this military muscle.  I don't know this thing can last."

4 Disc Blu-ray set now on sale

Regarding the assassination, Oliver Stone is concerned that the mainstream media continues to unquestionably perpetuate the lone assassin/single bullet story.  "It's crazy," he says.  "It defies common sense.  What you see with your own eyes [in the Zapruder film], back and to the left.  And this concept of firing three bolt-action shots out of the sixth floor at Kennedy; and hitting seven wounds in two different people with one bullet is insane.  It's so preposterous.  Lewis Carroll is rolling over in his grave.  I can't believe all these smart people in the United States establishment - The New York Times, Washington Post - with all these people writing about it and I'm the only one allowed on television to say anything different.  It's amazing the consensus we've reached, we've become so conservative in this country, it's depressing."

Although the debate still rages, it does appear from much of this 50th Anniversary talk that Oswald is the accepted culprit by the public and the media.  Consider this recent LA Times Editorial from a member of the Warren Commission, justifying the lone-assassin theory.

Oliver Stone wants you to make up your own mind.  He describes the facts that disprove Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone assassin, and the information that shows the evidence of a massive cover-up.  He encourages all citizens to do their own research, and recommends the following books: 

Jim DiEugenio "Reclaiming Parkland"
Jim DiEugenio "Destiny Betrayed"
James Douglass "JFK and the Unspeakable"
John Newman "Oswald and the CIA"
Cyril Wecht "Cause of Death"
Joan Mellen "A Farewell to Justice"
Gary Aguilar "Trauma Room One"
Robert Groden "Absolute Proof"
Gearld McKnight "Breach of Trust"

So why does President Kennedy and his assassination matter?  His death on November 22, 1963 was a turning point (neither the first nor the last), when the country could have fulfilled its promise as a beacon of new ideas.  Instead, hope gave way to subsequent decades of war and conservatism, greed and corruption.  Maybe the '60s as we know it would never have happened - both the bad and the good.  Or was everything inevitable?  A world without war - seems unlikely.  Whether in drama or reality, conflict is inevitable.  An alternate history is all just science fiction.

Oliver Stone ends "JFK" with a single title card that reads:  'What's past is prologue.'

Even if we learn history, are we doomed to repeat it?   

Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" - A Story of America

At first glance Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" might be described as a Mid-Western, but in reality it's an American.  And the best movie about Americans all year.  Real, working class, non-superhero citizens are the backbone of this excellent movie which captures the complexities and details of life in the post-recession landscape.  "Nebraska" is a movie that makes you think:  about our aging parents, about lost dreams, and about the new generation with substantially bleaker prospects than the old one.  It takes place in the literal center of the country, but the story is universally American.

"Nebraska" is about Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), who travels with his forty-something son David (Will Forte) to his home state of Nebraska to claim a million dollar sweepstakes prize that may or may not exist.  Along the way, they reconnect with old friends and family who reveal hidden truths about Woody's life.  David learns that his father is much more complicated than the aloof alcoholic he - and the audience - takes him for.  Over the course of one weekend, Woody and David's bickering gives way to a deeper understanding about family heritage and communal history that enlighten and invigorate both men.

Further complicating matters are the long-lost relatives who now believe Woody is a millionaire.  Having lost contact with Woody's family for over a decade, they make no qualms about now asking for a share of the riches.  The most stupefying and villainous are Woody's nephews Bart and Cole.  They love to drink beer and talk cars, and don't appear to have any sort of job.  They mock David for his Subaru wagon and for taking 2 days to drive 750 miles, yet spend their weekends doing roadside "community service" after a sexual assault charge.  Their aggressive attempts to snatch a share of their Uncle's jackpot are both sad and hilarious. 

Will Forte and Bruce Dern

Photographed in black-and-white across Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, the movie is full of authentic images depicting small-town and rural life in the 21st Century.  The terrific script by Bob Nelson is filled with spot-on sayings and down-home characters that make this story both funny and poignant.  This rich portrait is anchored by Bruce Dern's phenomenal performance.  The 77 year old actor has worked with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to Quentin Tarantino, and brings all his experience to create a touching, layered father that is an archetypal Old Man of the United States.  Mr. Dern uses his eyes, his walk, his gestures, and even his grunts to convey his entire memory, filled with regret, disappointment, and the disbelief that time and tide wait for no man. 

At its heart, "Nebraska" is a father-and-son story.  David harbors resentment toward Woody for caring too little and drinking too much.  Woody feels David has not amounted to anything, relegated to "selling record players" at a local store.  Yet David knows that he's not all that different form his dad, and with no wife or house to call his own, David faces an even bleaker future.  The road trip to Nebraska is what they both need; David needs to connect with his father, and Woody needs to get away from his meaningless existence and feel alive once again.

The entire movie will hit close to home for anyone with family outside the big cities.  Every argument or insult has been said by real families for a hundred years.  The houses and taverns have a comfortable lived-in feel that might be your aunt's or a former business partner's.  What makes this movie brilliant is that no matter how crazy things get, or how bizarre people act, we as an audience recognize ourselves.  Every character is richly drawn with cracks and faults that could be any of our relatives.  Like the landscape where Woody Grant was born and raised, "Nebraska" is our home too.

Greek-American director Alexander Payne has now made six movies and every single one is great.  I recommend them all, and be sure to read my review of his first movie "Citizen Ruth."   

"Cold Turkey" Writer-Director Will Slocombe Interview

"Cold Turkey" is an independent comedy about a fractured family uncovering secrets during an explosive Thanksgiving.  It stars Peter Bogdanovich as the professor patriarch, Cheryl Hines as the mom, with Alicia Witt, Sonya Walger, and Ashton Holmes as the grown children.  It is now available on-demand at iTunes, Amazon and Xbox, and comes out in select theaters Friday, November 15th.

It's a very realistic, detailed peek into the modern family.  This dark comedy is the personal vision of writer-director Will Slocombe.  I spoke with him about this fictionalized, semi-autobiographical story:

Michael Carvaines:  Aside from your own family, what were some of your influences?
Will Slocombe:  "12 Angry Men" because of the single, tense location.  "The Graduate" because of the funny-sad Southern California feel.  And Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan" which is also a cheap movie about expensive people.

Peter Bogdanovich and Will Slocombe

MC:  Describe your writing process.
WS:  It's a personal story, but the situation is made up.  Initially, it took me only 10 days to write, but then another year to improve.  Of course, in many ways it's a story that took 29 years to write.  I always knew we wouldn't have a lot money to make this movie, so I had to find creative ways to tell the story with so many characters.  It turned out that keeping it all in one location was the best way.

MC:  How did you assemble such a great cast?
WS:  I had a brilliant casting director:  Paul Ruddy.  He knew agents and managers, and actors I did not.  I never would have foreseen in the writing process that Peter Bogdanovich and Cheryl Hines would play the parents but it worked out great.  Better than expected.

Cheryl Hines and Peter Bogdanovich

MC:  Is Peter Bogdanovich's character based on a real person?
WS:  Elements of my own father.  They're both foreign policy experts.  But we lived in Washington DC, not Pasadena.  And my dad was not a Stanford professor.  The facts are different, but I was going for an emotional truth.

MC:  Peter Bogdanovich, of course, started as a film critic and has written several books on movie history.  Did he offer any advice?
WS:  He actually started as an actor when he was 15 with Stella Adler.  Then he became a critic, and then a director.  So he's come full circle.  But he was great.  He showed up everyday wearing his ascot.  Occasionally, after a take he would lean over and say in his serious, knowing voice:  "You're not going to use that." 

MC:  He's terrific in this role, and it's definitely worth checking out.  Thanks again, and good luck with the opening.
WS:  Thank you, and best of luck with your films. 

"Cold Turkey" opens in Los Angeles theaters this weekend, then rolls out across the country in coming weeks.  For more information visit the official website:  http://www.coldturkeymovie.com/

"In Organic We Trust" - Food Documentary Director Kip Pastor Interview

As a father of a young toddler, I'm often faced with the decision to buy organic food.  I've heard various accounts on the issue, know the most contaminated vegetables, and feel skeptical every time I see a huge food conglomerate promoting their latest organic offering.  I was excited to watch and learn some helpful ideas from Kip Pastor's new documentary that investigates these claims.  His movie, "In Organic We Trust" is now available on Amazon, iTunes and wherever digital movies are virtually sold.

We spoke last week over fair-trade organic coffee.

Michael Carvaines:  What inspired you to make a documentary about organic food?

Kip Pastor:  When I decided to get into film, there were two things that attracted me the most.  One was the storytelling, and the second was the idea of disseminating important social messages to a broader audience.  And food is an amazing confluence of every single socio, political, and economic issue.  It touches every single one.  And corresponds to what we do every day:  eat.  I've been watching food documentaries for a long time, and I saw two that were inspirational:  "The Future of Food" which introduced me to GMOs, and "King Corn."  The storytelling was great, the characters were great, but neither one talked about organic.  It seemed to me that this was something people wanted and hadn't had yet.  And all these things combined to say this is the first film I want to do.  It's a long answer, I know.

MC:  It's a good answer.  Did you worry that you might be preaching to the choir?

KP:  Documentaries in general tend to preach to the choir, but every now and then you get an outlier, someone whose life is really changed by a film.  I knew that going in.  But documentaries also excite the base.  The choir knows a lot, but they also need new information, new excuses to get together.  And with today's distribution, a lot more people see it than just the choir.

MC:  Did you grow up eating organic food, or did something change during your life?

KP:  My mom was always concerned with nutrition, so we never had sugary cereals in the house.  But I still ate at McDonald's after baseball games.  But I learned about nutrition, the importance of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, but I didn't learn about pesticides or soil.  That didn't kick in until I moved to California which brought me closer to where food is produced.  That illuminated my views on food and agriculture.  It wasn't one event, it was a compilation of life experience.  And frankly, that's what this documentary journey is.  You don't turn a film around in six months.  This movie took three years from start to finish.

MC:  Did you begin the filmmaking process with a written script?

KP:  For documentaries, it's particularly hard to write a script, but I had to write proposals for fundraising and grants.  And I wrote them different ways, as first person, with specific characters, and the final film covers most of the issues that I set out to address.  The writing part is fundamental though.  You can create the spin on the page, but when you go out and start shooting, the story evolves.  And it evolves again during the edit.  Just like in narrative filmmaking, the story is written three times – the page, on set, and lastly, in the editing room.  I tried to make a very solution-based film, which documentaries tend not to be.  They tend to scare the crap out of you, and present solutions at the end over text.  My movie is not about fear.  Half of the movie is about solutions.  And some of these were solutions we didn't know we were going to get when we started.  That’s really the beauty of the process.

MC:  The movie shows how your interview requests were turned down by the USDA.  Were you denied access to any food companies?

KP:  Yeah, it was a shame about the USDA.  They agreed to an interview and approved questions, but then canceled at the last minute.  They said they would respond in writing, and still never responded.  I had basic questions I wanted to ask them like what is 'Certified Organic?'  For an organization that is supposed to protect and support average Americans, they failed.  Their lack of transparency is unacceptable, and they got dinged for it in the movie.  Most other companies wouldn't even respond.  Not even a 'No thank you.'  I was interested in exploring GMOs, but I realized very quickly it would be impossible to make a balanced movie where I couldn't get an interview.  And I think some other documentary filmmakers have made it difficult to get interviews - people are very worried you will skew what they say.  Corporations have nothing to gain by speaking on camera.  And with most of the really big corporate-owned organic companies I'd want to be exposing something.  Most of them have something to hide and something to lose, so there's no benefit for them to speak in this film.  But I think there are always creative work-arounds. 

MC:  The section in your film about school lunches was very interesting, because it seems like the best place to start nutrition education.  What did you learn about those programs?

KP:  We hadn’t planned on getting a school lunch program.  It was a beautiful, spontaneous part.  One of our other characters said, 'Have you talked to Chef Bobo?  You have to!'  So we did.  You take a private school in Manhattan that can afford a great chef to prepare healthy, natural lunches, and you can teach children how to eat healthier.  It was really an incubator.  Chef Bobo would train the other chefs how to cook on a budget and send them out and become a head chef at other schools, usually public.  And they take all that knowledge about how to order, how to create variety and make it healthy for a lot less money.  The hardest and strongest lesson of the journey for me was that we're in trouble.  The way we grow and process food is not good for us or the environment.  But we can change that.  And if you can get school gardens, that will help change school lunch programs.  If you change what kids eat in school and what they know about food, then in one generation we're going to take care of so many public health issues.

MC:  So is it better to buy organic food no matter what, or is it better to always buy from a local, farmers' market?

KP:  When we were editing the film, my editors would say to me, 'Well is it good or not good?'  Because for storytelling we need to make it black or white.  But unfortunately it's a gray area, and no one wants to hear that organic is much more complicated than a simple 'yes' or 'no.'  The question of how do you buy and what do you buy is a difficult one.  If it's a certified farmers' market, you can rest assured that if they have an organic sign it's truly certified organic.  But you can also talk to the farmers, because no one is going to lie about what they do.  And nine times out of ten, the farmers there have smaller farms and they are very conscientious of what they're spraying or inputting because it's where they live.  They don’t want to be living in toxic pesticides either.  For me, I buy from farmers that I talk to.  When it comes to organic, you're either buying for the environment or your own personal health.  If it's for your own health, you can really stick to the 'Dirty Dozen'/'Clean Fifteen' fruits and vegetables that have the most pesticide residues [according to the Environmental Working Group].  Those are the ones to buy organic, and that list changes every year.  If it's for the environment, then you should be buying local organic.  And that may cost you an arm and a leg, but it depends on where you live and what season it is.  For me, I try to buy seasonally, which is very important. 

MC:  What's your next project?

KP:  I'm making another film that I've already been working on for a year.  It's a documentary called "Canary in the Kitchen."  It's about the toxicity of everyday things.  We're looking at seven different chemicals that we interact with on a daily basis.  It's about where they come from, what they do to the environment, and what they do to us.  

MC:  Great, more fear for parents.

KP:  Don't worry, it will be solution based.

For more information on "In Organic We Trust," please visit the movie's official website at http://www.inorganicwetrust.org

Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto shine in "Dallas Buyers Club"

It took 20 years to finally bring "Dallas Buyers Club" to life and it was well worth the wait.  The behind-the-scenes struggle to produce the movie is a fascinating tale that The LA Times covered HERE.  It's a testament to the perseverance of screenwriter Craig Borten and his excellent script, which is filled with memorable characters brilliantly portrayed by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

"Dallas Buyers Club" tells the true story of Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), a hard-drinking, womanizing buck who was diagnosed with HIV in 1985.  He was given 30 days to live.  As he traveled the world seeking out unapproved medication, he brought hope to the afflicted, fought the FDA, and lived for 2500 more days.  He partnered with the transgender Rayon (Leto) and the two formed the Dallas Buyers Club - an ad-hoc health clinic dispensing proteins, vitamins, and pills to AIDS patients with no other options.

It's a captivating look at many complex issues.  It examines society's relationship with a new, stigmatized disease.  It also focuses on the American health care system's process of drug trials and approvals.  Fortunately, the story never strays from Woodroof, the working-class crusader whose positive outlook lifts the film whenever the issues get too heavy.  "Ain't nothing out there that can kill Ron Woodroof in 30 days," he tells the doctors as he turns his back and begins his life's mission.

Matthew McConaughey's career rejuvenation has been astonishing - and also very enjoyable.  Add this movie to a darker, subtler performance in this year's wonderful "Mud," and throw in the two great roles from last year ("Bernie" and "Magic Mike") and he's been on a run unlike any contemporary actor.  At first his Woodroof is unpredictable, explosive, cunning and mean.  He slowly learns that his way is no way to live, and certainly not the way he wants to die.  Mr. McConaughey manages to win the audience through humor as he battles an unjust system preventing a dying man from all available remedies.  As he grows, he gives strangers hope and discovers profound friendships.  He's at his most hilarious when he poses as a priest to smuggle medicine across the US-Mexico border.  We feel his pain and triumphs as he utilizes talents he didn't know he possessed.

The true revelation in "Dallas Buyers Club" is Jared Leto - remember him?  He took a six year break from acting to focus on his band (30 Seconds to Mars) and returns here with a tour-de-force portrayal as a transgender AIDS patient.  It's touching work, as he is completely believable in the role of Rayon.  The burden falls on Mr. Leto to win over McConaughey's Woodruff by teasing, insulting and suffering.  Ultimately, he transforms the previously homophobic Woodruff into an empathetic progressive hero.

The movie was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, a Canadian filmmaker whose terrific film "C.R.A.Z.Y." was a cult hit back in 2005.  He pulls off a delicate balance with "Dallas Buyers Club" as it entertains while gently provokes.  Unlike most movies, it addresses death in a direct, adult way.  Sure, people die in movies all the time, but rarely is mortality ever explored at any length.  In this one, the filmmakers force the viewer to consider the implications of what dying means.  By contrasting it with the vibrancy of Woodroof's life and attitudes, it presents a way of coping.  It shows us how to live.

Heavy stuff, indeed.  But as I said, when the pendulum swings too far to one side, there's no actor today like Matthew McConaughey who can crack up the audience with a good ol' Texas metaphor.  In the end, this is Ron Woodroof's movie.  It's great that the man finally gets the recognition he deserves.