World Trade Center Movie

IT'S hard to imagine there will ever be a better example of the folly of judging a filmmaker by his politics instead of his work than "World Trade Center," a movie opening Wednesday about a team of Port Authority police officers who become trapped in the twisted wreckage of the twin towers. The film celebrates self-sacrifice, personal heroism, the sanctity of family and essentially all that is good about America, with no unsettling pangs of troubling doubt, guilt or dark conspiracy.

"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.

Perhaps it is only fitting that the process of getting Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" to the big screen was itself touched by tragedy. It was producer Debra Hill who first approached two Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers -- Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin -- about optioning their rights after reading about their rescue in the Philadelphia Daily News. Seven months after meeting them in the summer of 2003, she was diagnosed with cancer. She died last year at 54.

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.

Chris Moukarbel was intrigued by director Oliver Stone's latest project, a $60-million movie about two police officers rescued from the rubble of the twin towers. But as a 28-year-old filmmaker, Moukarbel wanted to do more than simply watch Stone's "World Trade Center." He decided to create his own version -- using a bootleg copy of the screenplay and Yale University student actors -- and offer it free on the Internet.

Oliver Stone was so restrained, mild and flag-wavingly patriotic as he hawked his latest film, "World Trade Center," in America this past summer. Now promoting his film in Europe, the director of "Platoon," "JFK" and "Wall Street" is sounding more characteristically pugnacious. At a news conference at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Stone attacked President Bush and said he "set America back 10 years."

WASHINGTON -- It wasn't a new White House initiative or pending bill that preoccupied Rep. Peter T. King one day this spring. It was Oliver Stone. The director's political, conspiracy-tinged movies such as "JFK" and "Salvador" had made him a scourge of conservatives. King was concerned that Stone's upcoming film, "World Trade Center," would take a provocative look at the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"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.

The producers of "World Trade Center" are donating $1.3 million to the Sept. 11 memorial, keeping a promise to give 5% of the film's opening weekend box office receipts to help build it. Another $1.3 million from the weekend's proceeds will be split equally among three Sept. 11-related charities, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation said. The Paramount Pictures film opened nationwide on Aug. 9 and has earned more than $50 million at the box office.

"World Trade Center," Oliver Stone's movie about the rescue of two police officers from the towers on Sept. 11, will donate 10% of the box office receipts from its first five days to a ground zero memorial and three other Sept. 11-related charities. The Paramount Pictures film, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as police officers for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who are trapped for hours in the rubble, opens Aug. 9 at more than 2,000 theaters nationwide.

Oliver Stone was so restrained, mild and flag-wavingly patriotic as he hawked his latest film, "World Trade Center," in America this past summer. Now promoting his film in Europe, the director of "Platoon," "JFK" and "Wall Street" is sounding more characteristically pugnacious. At a news conference at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Stone attacked President Bush and said he "set America back 10 years."

The producers of "World Trade Center" are donating $1.3 million to the Sept. 11 memorial, keeping a promise to give 5% of the film's opening weekend box office receipts to help build it. Another $1.3 million from the weekend's proceeds will be split equally among three Sept. 11-related charities, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation said. The Paramount Pictures film opened nationwide on Aug. 9 and has earned more than $50 million at the box office.

IT'S taken the Hollywood system five years to come up with a major motion picture about what happened at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, but if you think that time was used for thoughtful introspection and careful analysis about the best way to approach those agonizing and unprecedented events, you just don't know Hollywood. What that time has gone into instead is making the story of Sept. 11 fit as closely as possible into the business-as-usual norms of sentimental studio moviemaking.

IT'S hard to imagine there will ever be a better example of the folly of judging a filmmaker by his politics instead of his work than "World Trade Center," a movie opening Wednesday about a team of Port Authority police officers who become trapped in the twisted wreckage of the twin towers. The film celebrates self-sacrifice, personal heroism, the sanctity of family and essentially all that is good about America, with no unsettling pangs of troubling doubt, guilt or dark conspiracy.

Memo to Oliver Stone: Conspiracy theorists have a bone to pick with you. The filmmaker's latest release, "World Trade Center," does not engage in any of the cloak-and-dagger mumblings that have made the rounds, particularly on the Internet, in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. All this has conspiracy theorists very disappointed. They figured if anyone would be willing to -- as they see it -- challenge the "official" version of events, it would be Mr. "JFK" himself.

WASHINGTON -- It wasn't a new White House initiative or pending bill that preoccupied Rep. Peter T. King one day this spring. It was Oliver Stone. The director's political, conspiracy-tinged movies such as "JFK" and "Salvador" had made him a scourge of conservatives. King was concerned that Stone's upcoming film, "World Trade Center," would take a provocative look at the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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.

The first plane is seen only as a shadow zooming across a skyscraper. The second we hear about only because a policeman learns of it on the phone from his wife. Instead of showing the now familiar sight of two planes slamming into the twin towers on Sept. 11, this is the way director Oliver Stone announces the attacks in his yet-to-be-released film, "World Trade Center."

"World Trade Center," Oliver Stone's movie about the rescue of two police officers from the towers on Sept. 11, will donate 10% of the box office receipts from its first five days to a ground zero memorial and three other Sept. 11-related charities. The Paramount Pictures film, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as police officers for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who are trapped for hours in the rubble, opens Aug. 9 at more than 2,000 theaters nationwide.

Perhaps it is only fitting that the process of getting Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" to the big screen was itself touched by tragedy. It was producer Debra Hill who first approached two Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers -- Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin -- about optioning their rights after reading about their rescue in the Philadelphia Daily News. Seven months after meeting them in the summer of 2003, she was diagnosed with cancer. She died last year at 54.