Saw Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" last night. I must say that I was overall impressed with the film. It had some really strong moments, but it also had some pretty weak moments as well.

I was really impressed with Oliver Stone's directorial vision of the movie. He has a really visual style, and a style that surprisingly fits this type of big Hollywood movie. If his political movie thing doesn't play out as well in the later half of his career, he may want to consider making these big budget Hollywood type of movies.

There were scenes in this movie that were pretty hard to watch, but I never really felt as devastated as I did when I saw "United 93." Don't get me wrong, this movie is pretty damn powerful, yet because it's a little more conventional Hollywood faire, I sometimes found myself aware that I was watching a movie, whereas I never really had that feeling when I watched Greengrass meticulously recreate the doomed United Flight 93 crash.

Oliver Stone summed it up perfectly when he said that "United 93" was the "tomb experience" and that his movie was more of an overview and all encompassing movie. But because it was a little more traditional faire with big name Hollywood stars, I did find myself aware that I was in a movie. Which is fine. I think a movie that tried to be completely meticulous with its details and human actions would have been a little overwhelming for a movie of this size.

The movie really did do a good job at putting me back on that day. Maybe because only 5 years have passed since 9/11, or because it's something that I think about every now and then, in some ways, I think about indirectly everyday, but this movie really took me back to that Fall morning. It helped me remember what I was doing that day, and brought back memories that I didn't even remember I had.

Nicholas Cage was really good, and proved once again that he can give a brilliant performance when he has the right material, but it was Michael Pena who really stole the show. If he does't get a Best Supporting Actor nom, then something's wrong with the system. Maggie G. and Maria Bello were both really good. They once again proved Michael Kirby's thesis that Oliver Stone is capable of getting a performer's best performance in the movies he directs.

They say that this movie was devoid of the politics of that day, but in some ways that depends on what perspective you watch the movie with. There was a montage of archived footage of the world's initial reaction to that day. At one point they show a cafe in some unidentified Middle Eastern/African country, where the look of concern on their faces was very noticeable. So yeah, the movie brought me back to that fateful day where everyone was united, but then I remember what most of the world thinks of us now and it just made me infuriated.

But that's a different topic for a different day.

peace and love