Creative Assassination

Dallas will always be saddled with the reputation of being the city where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. By the same token, director Oliver Stone will always be saddled with the reputation for being an eccentric, conspiracy theory obsessed, confrontational whack-job. But there's the rub, because those qualities are exactly the things that make his movies so entertaining. In 1991's JFK, Oliver Stone poured every single Kennedy conspiracy theory ever into a giant cinematic soup pot and stirred. This makes for great entertainment, but there's a catch. Your average Americans are conspiracy theory junkies. That's the reason that crap like The DaVinci Code is so popular. Everyone wants the "one big answer" to all of life's mysteries. In JFK, Stone tries to tie the assassination up with one Kevin Costner-shaped bow. Upon its release, Stone was attacked from all sides for "rewriting history" etc. Well, good for him. Creating controversy is an obsession with Stone, and he has the talent to make his nutty paranoia extremely fun to watch. Check it out Wednesday at the AllGood Cafe. Visit allgoodcafe.com for details.
Wed., July 23, 2008