WCBE 90.5 FM: "Flags of Our Fathers," "Marie Antoinette," "Shortbus"

WCBE 90.5 FM
It's Movie Time: “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Marie Antoinette," "Shortbus"
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, October 19, 2006
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

Clay

“Flags of Our Fathers” is an Eastwood red flag . . .

John

“Marie Antoinette" should have its head chopped off . . .

Clay

"Shortbus” is a joyous romp through mounds of flesh . . .

HIT MUSIC, THEN UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak McCuen

"It's Movie Time" in Columbus with John DeSando and Clay Lowe. .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando

Clay

And I'm Clay Lowe


John ("Flags of our Fathers" 130 words)

Flags of Our Fathers is about images: the WWII photo of the Iwo Jima flag rising and the surviving soldiers’ heroic images. For this theme of flawed hero worship, the director is laudably consistent, indeed relevant to the current celebrity craze fostered by film imagery.

What’s wrong is confusing the soldiers’ identities, both in war and as old men, leaving no hero to attach to emotionally, and a surfeit of
anticlimaxes.

Clint Eastwood chose a Longest-Day motif and lost himself in period details to the exclusion of dramatic details that would have made Flags of Our Fathers a satisfying experience for those not in the Greatest Generation.

A retired captain says, "If you can get a picture, the right picture, you
can win a war.” But not an Oscar.

Clay (“Flags of Our Fathers” 125 words)

Folks, Eastwood’s “Flags of our Fathers” is not intended to be a satisfying experience. The drama of the movie is rooted in the power of images to forever impact on the memories of the men who experienced them first hand.

Images like Joseph Rosenthal’s raising the flag on Iwo Jima was the kind of image that the American public wanted to remember and believe in because it inspired patriotism and further fueled the public’s fantasies about the glories of war.

The images of gore and the horrors of war in Eastwood’s film are not merely flashbacks Eastwood uses to advance his story; they are constant reminders that strong memories, like strong images, are incredibly hard ever to get out of your mind.

John ("Marie Antoinette" 134 words)

Balderdash—despite your elegant prose, it’s still boring.

Speaking of . . . How is it possible one of the most sumptuous-looking films in years is also a story devoid of character and drama?

Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette is about a 14 year old Austrian girl
imported To France for breeding purposes. The subject demands an informed, vital discovery of her real place in the Revolution.

We get only emotional distance as almost an entire film is dedicated to inaction in the bed of a future king and queen and their sumptuous quarters.

The lack of drama is surprising for a director whose strength is revealing understatement and sub-textual significance.

Visit Versailles if you want o understand why the poor and hungry of 18th century France eventually had her head. This film remains clueless.

Clay ("Shortbus" 131 words)

Well, folks, you’ll not long be clueless about John Cameron Mitchell’s
intentions in his new film “Shortbus.” Just as in his earlier film,“Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” Mitchell continues to pursue the theme that we all have two selves that are born separate from each other (call it anima and animus) and that we work out our lives yearning to somehow get them back together.

As in “Hedwig” the primary crusaders in the movie happen to be gay men who are trying to come to an understanding about what relationships are all about.

But the needs of straight ladies and straight couples are not left out in
this search for oneness and truth.

Sexually explicit, openly honest and true, “Shortbus” is a sometimes
playful, sometimes naughty journey into the unknown.

But enough of journeys, queens, and memories profane, John, because it’s grading time.

John

Holy Hoary Heroes, Hooray!

"Flags of Our Fathers" earns a “C” because it CAN’T be Saving Private Ryan and From Here to Eternity at the same time . . .

Clay

“Flags of Our Fathers” gets an “A” because it’s ALWAYS ABOUT the AWARENESS of things past . . .

John

"Marie Antoinette" earns a D for being expensive ENNUI . . .

Clay

"Shortbus" gets a “B” because everyBODY loves someBODY sometime . . .

DRUMS OUT

John

Clay, Eastwood at 76 is at the top of his game. Close to his age, you
remind me, however, of Louis XVI in bed—NOT on top of HIS game.

I'm outta here.

Clay

Well, John, seeing you’re up on both the shortcomings of King Louie and me, you've surely been on top of your game much longer than I.

I’m outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CLOSING THEME THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle:

The Award-Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is written and produced by John DeSando and Clay Lowe in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus, Ohio.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

Copyright by John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 2006