United 93 Movie

Tears flowed in the White House theater Tuesday night at the conclusion of "United 93," a movie about the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers fought back against their hijackers. "It was a very emotional night," said White House press secretary Tony Snow, who watched the movie with President Bush and relatives of some of the 40 passengers and crew members portrayed in the film. "It has a very powerful ending," Snow said Wednesday.

IT ends badly -- everybody dies. It had to battle "World Trade Center," a heavily promoted Oliver Stone movie about the very same events. And it debuted in April, when Academy Award voters are contemplating Hawaiian vacations, not their Oscar ballots. But even against those many obstacles, "United 93" was remembered in Tuesday's Oscar nominations, collecting one selection for editing and a surprise nomination for direction.

Ken Nacke approached the private screening of "United 93" at a Newark, N.J., movie theater Saturday with more than a little trepidation. It's not every day you sit down in a darkened room and watch your brother die. "I wasn't sure I wanted to see it, because it brings you back to the day," said Nacke, a Baltimore County police officer. His brother, Louis Nacke, was aboard United Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field Sept. 11, 2001. "Do you really want to relive those emotions again?

In what appears to be a first in Oscar campaigning, Universal Studios has enlisted real-life film critics to appear in radio ads for its Oscar hopeful, "United 93" -- Paul Greengrass' film about the 9/11 flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. Hence, instead of the ubiquitous voice of Mr.

A few weeks ago in a Manhattan movie house, the trailer for the upcoming "United 93" movie flashed footage of a hijacked airliner slamming into the World Trade Center. The scene so upset some patrons that the theater manager yanked the teaser. But Saturday, Elsa Strong watched the whole movie as it tracked the last 90 minutes of the lives of those aboard -- including her sister -- who died when United Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, as they apparently struggled with Al Qaeda hijackers.

"United 93" might have nabbed the New York Film Critics Circle award, and "World Trade Center" might have gotten a lot of critical hoopla, but as their Golden Globe shutouts suggest, there might be some films that are a little too U.S.-centric for the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., let alone the rest of the world. "There is an anti-American backlash out there, and people are looking for movies that are not U.S.-centric," says "Babel" producer Steve Golin.

Gift: Under the heading of "there are certainly worse ways to get publicity," Universal has given an additional $250,000 to the Flight 93 National Memorial to coincide with its announcement that the DVD of "United 93," the film about the people aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, will be released Sept. 5.

Ben Sliney reported to work in his new position as national operations manager at the Federal Aviation Administration's operations command center in Herndon, Va., on Sept. 11, 2001. The day didn't go according to plans. After terrorist hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon that morning, it was Sliney who gave the unprecedented order of a full ground stop. No commercial or private flight in the country was allowed to take off.

IT ends badly -- everybody dies. It had to battle "World Trade Center," a heavily promoted Oliver Stone movie about the very same events. And it debuted in April, when Academy Award voters are contemplating Hawaiian vacations, not their Oscar ballots. But even against those many obstacles, "United 93" was remembered in Tuesday's Oscar nominations, collecting one selection for editing and a surprise nomination for direction.

"United 93" is turning into a force to be reckoned with in the 2006 movie-award season. The documentary-style account of the ill-fated flight that was hijacked by terrorists on 9/11 was named best film of the year Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle. The New York win comes on the heels of the film's director, Paul Greengrass, being selected Sunday as best director of 2006 by Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.

"United 93" might have nabbed the New York Film Critics Circle award, and "World Trade Center" might have gotten a lot of critical hoopla, but as their Golden Globe shutouts suggest, there might be some films that are a little too U.S.-centric for the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., let alone the rest of the world. "There is an anti-American backlash out there, and people are looking for movies that are not U.S.-centric," says "Babel" producer Steve Golin.

"United 93" is turning into a force to be reckoned with in the 2006 movie-award season. The documentary-style account of the ill-fated flight that was hijacked by terrorists on 9/11 was named best film of the year Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle. The New York win comes on the heels of the film's director, Paul Greengrass, being selected Sunday as best director of 2006 by Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.

If the biopic has been a resilient award winner during the last few years, there is another form bubbling up that might best be thought of as the tragi-pic. Exploring circumstances leading up to and following a singular event is the main thrust of such recent films as "Flags of Our Fathers," "The Queen" and "Bobby." Perhaps nothing exemplifies the emerging trend quite so strongly as "World Trade Center" and "United 93," both exploring the highly charged emotional terrain of Sept. 11.

Gift: Under the heading of "there are certainly worse ways to get publicity," Universal has given an additional $250,000 to the Flight 93 National Memorial to coincide with its announcement that the DVD of "United 93," the film about the people aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, will be released Sept. 5.

Tears flowed in the White House theater Tuesday night at the conclusion of "United 93," a movie about the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers fought back against their hijackers. "It was a very emotional night," said White House press secretary Tony Snow, who watched the movie with President Bush and relatives of some of the 40 passengers and crew members portrayed in the film. "It has a very powerful ending," Snow said Wednesday.

How audacious, really, to start with a prayer. To begin a movie about a spectacular public tragedy with that most private and intimate of acts: a murmured entreaty to God. In the first scene in "United 93," a terrorist prays. He knows that this is the last day of his life. His victims do not, cannot, know that this is the last day of theirs. The simple disparity -- his dark certainty, their obliviousness -- gives the film a ferocious emotional kick. But maybe you're not in the mood to be kicked.

If the biopic has been a resilient award winner during the last few years, there is another form bubbling up that might best be thought of as the tragi-pic. Exploring circumstances leading up to and following a singular event is the main thrust of such recent films as "Flags of Our Fathers," "The Queen" and "Bobby." Perhaps nothing exemplifies the emerging trend quite so strongly as "World Trade Center" and "United 93," both exploring the highly charged emotional terrain of Sept. 11.

A New York City movie theater pulled the trailer for the upcoming movie "United 93," the first major studio film depicting the 2001 terror attacks, after complaints by moviegoers, Universal confirmed Tuesday. The trailer was packaged with the R-rated movie "Inside Man" and has also been screened with "Thank You for Smoking," also rated R, said Alan Fogelson, Universal's marketing president.

Ever since Hollywood greenlighted the first feature film to dramatize the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the question has been asked: Will Americans be ready to see it? Last weekend, moviegoers indicated that the answer was yes. As "United 93," Universal Pictures' recounting of the passenger uprising aboard one of the hijacked jets, opened last weekend, moviegoers all over the country turned out -- if not in droves -- in strong numbers.

It was an incongruous blending of Hollywood glitz and New York's lingering pain over the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a night when the festive opening of the Tribeca Film Festival paid homage to the grim tragedy that launched it five years ago. As they walked into an ornate Midtown theater on a red carpet usually reserved for movie stars and other VIPs, more than 90 family members of those who died on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11 were bombarded with questions from the media.