Cinema Ombudsman: Defiance = Ground Hog Day?

I recently viewed Defiance. It was good cinema.

The story was amazing, the movie was well done (if a bit long) and Daniel Craig was superb...all together it was somewhere between Casino Royale and Goldfinger. HAHAHA! Oh goodness. But moving on - it was a solid movie, but it is probably the 100th movie about the Holocaust in the last 10 years. For example, just this winter there is - in addition to Defiance - Valkyrie, The Reader, Adam Resurrected, Good and Boy In Striped Pajamas...all in major theaters, all about or directly relating to the Holocaust.

Page Six indicated that there may be a "demand" for this sort of movie reflected in Academy Awards. However, I'm not going to get into why so many of these movies are made - studios can pump out whatever movies they want....my question is - why is the public not more taken aback? Of all the things that have ever happened in the history of the world, why are we picking among 6 movies all related to the same event? Can you imagine if there were six movies coming out at one time all related to Stalin's Russia and the gulags? No one would know what was going on. Stunned movie-goers would be asking "Wait - Is this based on a true story?" "Kevin Connolly was SUPER as Trotsky!" and "What was Rosie Perez doing?"

On a serious note, do yourself a favor and read an excellent book - Koba The Dread by Martin Amis about that period in Russian history. I guarantee that you'll be shocked and, less importantly, it will further underscore the impetus for this post.

Moving on again, after I thought -- why so many Holocaust movies?...I thought to myself - what hasn't there been a movie about? Below are five intriguing true events you've never heard of - of all different types - and about which there should definitely be a movie. Note to Readers: If, upon reading the below list, you happen to think to yourself "My, The World's Ombudsman is truly a brilliant and fascinating fellow," please know that, while true, any inference drawn was from your own reading and was not implied in any way by TWO. I can also do 50 push ups without stopping.

1) The Great Northern War. It lasted 21 years, involved a lot of interesting personalities and was almost single-handedly started by a man who had been forced from his country and, in revenge, allied its enemies together to attack it. Steve Buscemi stars as Peter the Great, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Johann Patkul and Nicole Kidman as Charles XII.

2) North Sentinel Island. Did you know there is an island full of people who have NEVER been touched by civilization? Aside from some brief 1970s attempts to contact them ending with someone getting shot with an arrow and their stabbing to death of some Indian fisherman who accidentally drifted onto their shores in 2007, there have been virtually no sightings of them, let alone contact. Sigourney Weaver is a rogue anthropolgist and is accompanied to the island by her reluctant and wise cracking assistant, Chris Tucker. There is an uncomfortable love scene.

3) Read this! One time this happened. A beautiful, mysterious woman checked into a hotel, danced her heart out, and then died in the arms of her last dance partner. Who was she? Where did she come from? What was she doing? No one knows. Beyonce Knowles and Channing Tatum heat up the screen.

4) Gangster Disciples. Everyone's heard of the Bloods and the Crips, but have you heard of GD? Started by a guy named Larry Hoover and another guy named David Barksdale, what began as a normal street gang now has over 60,000 members and its own political and military branches. Sidney Potier and Harry Belafonte are perhaps miscast as David Barksdale and Larry Hoover. Perhaps racistly miscast.

5) Anne Bonny, Mary Read and Calico Jack. Anne Bonny was a girl from Charleston, South Carolina in the 18th Century who fell in love with and married a pirate. She then had an affair with another pirate, named John "Calico Jack" Rackham. To get onto his boat, she posed as a man, her true identity known only by Calico. Later, he accused her of cheating on him with another pirate named Read with whom Anne had become close. It turned out this Read was actually ANOTHER woman who had disguised herself as a man. What sultry mischief and dangerous hi-jinx! Brianna Banks, Rachel Starr and Mr. Marcus as Anne Bonny, Mary Read and Calico Jack, respectively. This is a different type of movie.

Little humors aside, my point here is - so many interesting and intriguing things have happened. There are so many incredible and important stories to tell. While it is proposterous that Hollywood would come up with six movies at the same time related to the same topic, it is perhaps more alarming that this barely raised an eyebrow amongst audiences and reviewers.

In conclusion, I was an extra in Step Up 2: The Streets.