Tag Archives: 9/11

First Look: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50ZQoOJv5vg]

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s sophomore novel, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tells the story of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, whose beloved father was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Young Oskar finds a strange key that was left behind by his dad, and he takes it upon himself to journey throughout New York City to find out what it unlocks.

I’m currently reading this book and have to say that the Oskar in my head while reading does not exactly match the Oskar in this trailer. Though the character’s precociousness is consistent, I don’t get the impression that Trailer Oskar would make the same fart references that Book Oskar does. And who doesn’t love a good fart reference? Still, I’m looking forward to this film, which features an impressive cast, including Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, James Gandolfini, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Max von Sydow, and Jeffrey Wright. Teen Jeopardy! winner Thomas Horn makes his acting debut as Oskar. The film is directed by three-time Oscar nominee Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours, Billy Elliot).

Foer’s first novel, Everything Is Illuminated, was made into a 2005 Liev Schreiber-directed film starring Elijah Wood. Foer was just 25 years old when the book was published in 2002. What were you doing when you were 25?

9/11 in the Movies

Ten years later, I’m surprised at the lack of narrative feature films that have depicted the events of 9/11. A couple that immediately come to mind are 2006’s United 93 and World Trade Center. (Of course, the 2004 Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 deserves mention here, despite not being a narrative.) Sure, there have been some others in which 9/11 served as a backdrop or back story, but very few in which the attacks, themselves, are dramatized for the big screen. Perhaps some feel it’s still too soon or it would be wrong to profit from the tragic events—though that’s never really deterred filmmakers with a story to tell in the past.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHdqw6scuIc]

UNITED 93

IMDb Summary: A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.

Director: Paul Greengrass

Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass

Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Greengrass, Lloyd Levin

Cast: JJ Johnson, Gary Commock, David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Runtime: 111 min.

Rating: R, for language and some intense sequences of terror and violence

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoVTupwbQ-s]

WORLD TRADE CENTER

IMDb Summary: Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

Director: Oliver Stone

Screenwriter: Andrea Berloff

Producers: Moritz Borman, Debra Hill, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jay Hernandez, Michael Shannon

Genre: Drama

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Runtime: 129 min.

Rating: PG-13, for intense and emotional content, some disturbing images, and language