A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

The Post (2017) Written by: Liz Hannah and Josh Singer Directed by: Steven Spielberg Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Poulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys   Robert McNamara: If you publish, you'll get the very worst of him, the Colsons and the Ehrlichmans and he'll crush you. Kay Graham: I know, he's just awful, but I... Robert McNamara: [Interrupting and getting extremely angry] He's a... Nixon's a son of a bitch! He hates you, he hates Ben, he's wanted to ruin the paper for years and you will not get a second chance, Kay. The Richard Nixon I know will muster the full power of the presidency and if there's a way to destroy your paper, by God, he'll find it. Director Steven Spielberg’s The Post is a timely political how-they-done-it about how The Washington Post (following the lead of its much larger and more prominent rival, The New York Times ) helped unco...

(C) 2000 New Line Cinema On Christmas Day 2000, New Line Cinema released “Thirteen Days,” a taut and thought-provoking docudrama about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as told from the Kennedy Administration’s point of view. Starring Kevin Costner (who also serves as co-producer) as Kenneth P. O’Donnell, Bruce Greenwood (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as President John F. Kennedy, and Steven Culp as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the movie focuses on a Cold War crisis that could have escalated into World War III. It’s also a fascinating look at how people under extreme stress can overcome anxiety and fear to solve the thorniest problems – in this case, the threat of nuclear annihilation. Directed by Roger Donaldson (“Smash Palace,” “No Way Out”) from a screenplay by David Self (“Road to Perdition”), “Thirteen Days” begins on a suspenseful note as a U.S. U-2 spy plane flies over Communist-ruled Cuba in October of 1962. Photos taken during this overflight reveal to American intell...