This month will be a tribute to film director Oliver Stone. Oliver Stone is a historian and a dramatist; known in our generation as one of the most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers. Oliver Stone is a man of great life
This month will be a tribute to film director Oliver Stone.
Oliver Stone is a historian and a dramatist; known in our
generation as one of the most acclaimed and controversial
filmmakers. Oliver Stone is a man of great life experience,
extensive book knowledge and has the guts to tell the truth.
STRONG WARNING: Drug Use, sexual themes and nudity appear in this movie. Myself nor the Garden Island advocate anything this film portrays. I recommend it, because it’s great art and great art shouldn’t be censored.
This month will be a tribute to film director Oliver Stone. Oliver Stone is a historian and a dramatist; known in our generation as one of the most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers. Oliver Stone is a man of great life experience, extensive book knowledge and has the guts to tell the truth. My first selection of the month was a project Stone had in mind for years prior to making it. The Iconic rock band The Doors first reached Oliver Stone’s ears in 1967 as he (Stone) was an infantry men in Vietnam.
In 1991, with controversy already stirring (The Doors keyboardist didn’t like the script) and two of the remaining members of The Doors as advisors; Stone set out on his “journey” to expand our movie-going minds. The film of course centers around the turbulent life of rock-legend and poet Jim Morrison. Jim Morrison was a true artist and sought to push the envelope in all that he did. It was this personality trait that Stone connected to. Some famous Morrison lyrics are “break on through to the other side” and “girl we couldn’t get much higher.” Stone related to this and loved Jim’s charisma and iconic stature Morrison received after dying in Paris at age 27.
The movie itself is as much a trip as the music and the (****) the band was doing. This film takes you on a trip into your own psyche. Through land-mark visuals (including the coolest scene- transition ever), editing that perfectly paces locations that switch from LA to NYC to San Francisco. The film is also significant because it was Produced by FAMED rock promoter Bill Graham whom created legendary venues like Winterland (Scorsese shot his movie “The Last Waltz” there), Filmore East (it hosted the Allman Brothers band’s best live album) and of course Filmore West which still exists (place where Santana got his start, live.) So this movie had plenty of musical gods looking after it.
It was a tough production with Director and actor fighting, the fire-storm of criticism from media over the facts of Morrison’s life. I think the great Martin Scorsese put it best “when capturing someone’s life on film, how can you get it EXACTLY right? You weren’t there”. This couldn’t be more true of the film “The Doors”. Oliver stone captured the times from what my older friends tell me, but since he was NOT Morrison, how could he be 100% accurate.
I don’t want to spoil the next four films I have planned, but I’m letting readers know that I’ve selected films that will entertain and make you think. Like Oliver Stone does with his films, this month I’d like readers to walk away maybe checking out a new film or looking at the subject matter differently. As Jim Morrison put it “this is, this is the trip, the part I like.” ENJOY THE RIDE.
Year: 1991
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Frank Whaley
1. Platoon (1986)
2. Wall Street (1987)
3. Talk Radio (1988)
4. JFK (1991)
5. Natural Born Killers (1994)
6. Nixon (1995)
7. U-Turn (1997)
8. World Trade Center (2006)
9. W. (2008)
10. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
