Thursday, May 08, 2008

One of the Cricket's readers recently sent this e-mail: "Have you ever had an independent thought? Or do you always toe the Liberal line? And does it bother you to know that Ann Coulter has proven that all Liberals are Godless Traitors? Thanks for your time."

Besides the underlying hypocrisy (being accused of groupthink by someone who quotes Ann Coulter), the Cricket would beg to differ with this comment. His thoughts are his own, and he hopes he can find something interesting or compelling in any person depicted in a movie, no matter what their political stripe.

So this week's Entertainment Weekly cover story, touting Oliver Stone's yet-to-be-filmed biography of George W. Bush, certainly got the Cricket's attention - especially with Josh Brolin's uncanny physical resemblance to Dubya. (Elizabeth Banks looks pretty good as Laura, too.)

The money quote comes when EW asks Stone about his agenda: ''I'm tired of defending the accuracy of my movies. I'm past that now. 'JFK' was a case to be proven, 'Nixon' was a penetrating biography of a complex and dark man. But I'm not bound by those strictures anymore. Bush is not a complex and dark man, so it's different. This movie can be funnier because Bush is funny. He's awkward and goofy and makes faces all the time. He's not your average president. So let's have some fun with it. What are they going to do? 'Discredit' me again?''

Shooting on the movie starts in two weeks, and Stone still hasn't cast his Dick Cheney. (EW says Stone denies that Robert Duvall turned it down, and now Paul Giamatti is a possible candidate for the role.)