An American Carol

I went to see An American Carol yesterday afternoon. I have to say I agree with Wordsmith over at Flopping Aces (H/T: CJ @ ASP):

The movie itself is uneven, crude, unapologetically- nay, proudly- pro-American, over-the-top, simplistic, funny, stupid, less-than-funny, hilarious, offensive, mercilessly lampooning the American Left. I loved it.

I don't usually go for David Zucker movies (Airplane! and The Naked Gun - generally not my preferred sort of humor), but I figured any movie that openly made fun of The Left deserved my support. I went to the first showing - 12:30pm Saturday afternoon. When I got to the 14-screen cinema, the parking lot wasn't very full, and there were maybe a dozen people there to see An American Carol. After the movie ended, someone even applauded! I laughed; I got a little teary-eyed with American pride. I'll try to see this movie again before it leaves the theater...

Judging from what Wordsmith had to say, not all theaters showed the same previews before the movie. The ones I saw were Oliver Stone's W, Defiance, Proud American and Milk. The only one I'd heard of before was W, and I thought to myself that people going to see Carol likely weren't the same folks who would be interested in seeing W...

Defiance, set to be released December 12th, looks to be an excellent movie. It is the true story of three brothers, Jews from Poland, who escape the Nazis into the Belorussian forest where they eventually come to lead a group of resistance fighters and save the lives of many Jews.

Proud American, in the trailer, seemed to be a series of vignettes of different inspiring American stories. The movie's website says:

This story takes the audience to the most stirring and heartwarming scenes in America. History, adventure and spectacular scenery are the backdrop. Opportunity, personal responsibility, and the free enterprise system is the platform in which America's success is molded. We are a nation that owes much to many. This is an American story told through the magic of magnificent music performed by top performers, breathtaking photography, thrilling aerial scenes, and some of the most touching human moments ever presented on the giant screen.

I admit that isn't very helpful, but it could be an interesting movie to see - if I had a clue as to where it is showing, since it came out in September...

Milk - starring Sean Penn - another movie I thought wasn't really for the same target audience as Carol... It is the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to win public office in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Might be an interesting story, but I've long since decided I won't go see any more movies with Sean Penn in it...

I just hope An American Carol does well, and that Hollywood will figure out that if they make movies celebrating America, Americans and American Exceptionalism, people WILL go. Kind of like the voice from the cornfield in Field of Dreams: "If you build it, they will come..."