"Live From Baghdad" on HBO

[John]

Did anyone see the premiere of this new HBO Films movie last night? It was awesome!

Synopsis:

This HBO Films production mixes breakneck excitement, biting humor and blistering drama in telling the behind-the-scenes true story of how brash CNN producer Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) and his resourceful team made history, and reported it, during the onset of the 1991 Gulf War. Arriving in Baghdad, Wiener and co-producer Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter) contend with numerous logistical, technical and political challenges as they attempt to report on the situation in Baghdad as war looms. While feeding stories to a hungry 24-hour news network under the scrutiny of Iraqi censorship and Saddam's propaganda efforts, the two producers must stay ahead of the competition - the Big Three networks. When the bombs hit Baghdad on January 16, 1991 (most of the other news crews have fled the city), the ingenuity and courage of Wiener, Ingrid and their crew (including CNN anchor Bernard Shaw and reporters Peter Arnett and John Holliman) pay off when they are able to use a coveted "four-wire" transmitter to relay live reports on the U.S. bombing of Baghdad not just to America, but the entire world.

LIVE FROM BAGHDAD also includes in its cast Lili Taylor (HBO's "Six Feet Under"), Bruce McGill (HBO's "Path to War"), David Suchet ("Poirot"), Robert Wisdom ("Storytellling"), Joshua Leonard ("The Blair Witch Project"), Paul Guilfoyle ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"), John Carroll Lynch ("The Good Girl"), Michael Cudlitz (HBO's "Band of Brothers"), Hamish Linklater ("Gideon's Crossing"), Jason Antoon ("Minority Report") and Kurt Fuller ("Pushing Tin").

If you missed it, I highly recommend you check it out. Here's the schedule on HBO:

Tue 12/10 09:00 PM
Sun 12/15 09:00 PM
Wed 12/18 08:00 PM
Thu 12/19 04:35 AM
Mon 12/23 11:15 PM
Sat 12/28 12:30 AM

There are more, but those are the near-term ones.

[Google]

 

[BravoFan]

Mr. BF watched it and said it was fantastic!!

(I had the Big 12 championship to watch, so I guess I'll have to catch it on rerun)

[John]

I had to twist my wife's arm to watch it, because it's:

1) A war movie
2) A movie about news

But, once she started watching, she was hooked. It's really an extremely well-done movie, and although it's probably not REALLY accurate (since it's based on the memoirs of Wiener, it's bound to be glamorized a little), it's compelling drama.

[joeguy]

hmmmmm I don't have hbo but then again, I just can't feel that this isn't a way for them to brag on how they go all out to give us the story. of course thats the story they want us to know about, not the real story that they censor