Walter Ego
Illuminator
I was wondering if anyone has anything special or even ordinary they do every year on the anniversary of 9/11. I don't do anything "special" but I do try to catch any television programs about the event on the History, A&E, PBS and the Discovery channels in hopes of seeing something new. (There was nothing new this year that I saw.)
One thing I do do each year is watch the theatrical film United 93 directed by Paul Greenglass which was released in 2006. I think this is the best film made about the events of that day, better than Oliver Stone's World Trade Center which was really less about 9/11 itself than about the heroism and rescue of some firefighters trapped in the rubble of the Twin Towers. (No disrespect intended to the first responders, of course.)
Stone's film was not "political" and neither in its own way is United 93 which was the right choice dramatically in both cases but the latter film is much more moving because it's about "ordinary" people, including the air traffic controllers, reacting to an extraordinary and unprecedented event.
If you only own one 9/11 DVD this is the one to have. (All the good 9/11 documentaries are available free online.)
Edit: I forgot about the Naudet brothers documentary. There's a very low quality complete version online but it worth paying for on DVD. I'd pick it over the Oliver Stone film as part of a home video collection.
The absence of movie stars and the semi-documentary approach of the filmmakers really works. One shudders to think about how Hollywood could have told this story but the filmmakers got it right. (Stone's film was more "Hollywood" and did work but fireman are expected to put their lives on the line are expected to be heroes. Greenglass made a film about "us," i.e., about civilians (both on the plane and in the air traffic control towers) who were caught up in the events of that day and became heroes.
I am almost always and sad often angry after seeing this movie (the climax always leaves me shaken and usually tearful) I don't think about truthers after the film is over though I know Bermas, Avery and a few other idiots actually protested at the New York premier attended by family members of some of those who died in Shanksville. I think about the the victims and unexpected heroes of that day.
One thing I do do each year is watch the theatrical film United 93 directed by Paul Greenglass which was released in 2006. I think this is the best film made about the events of that day, better than Oliver Stone's World Trade Center which was really less about 9/11 itself than about the heroism and rescue of some firefighters trapped in the rubble of the Twin Towers. (No disrespect intended to the first responders, of course.)
Stone's film was not "political" and neither in its own way is United 93 which was the right choice dramatically in both cases but the latter film is much more moving because it's about "ordinary" people, including the air traffic controllers, reacting to an extraordinary and unprecedented event.
If you only own one 9/11 DVD this is the one to have. (All the good 9/11 documentaries are available free online.)
Edit: I forgot about the Naudet brothers documentary. There's a very low quality complete version online but it worth paying for on DVD. I'd pick it over the Oliver Stone film as part of a home video collection.
The absence of movie stars and the semi-documentary approach of the filmmakers really works. One shudders to think about how Hollywood could have told this story but the filmmakers got it right. (Stone's film was more "Hollywood" and did work but fireman are expected to put their lives on the line are expected to be heroes. Greenglass made a film about "us," i.e., about civilians (both on the plane and in the air traffic control towers) who were caught up in the events of that day and became heroes.
I am almost always and sad often angry after seeing this movie (the climax always leaves me shaken and usually tearful) I don't think about truthers after the film is over though I know Bermas, Avery and a few other idiots actually protested at the New York premier attended by family members of some of those who died in Shanksville. I think about the the victims and unexpected heroes of that day.
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