Movieline Premieres the New Poster for the Buzzed-About Documentary The Tillman Story
As we head into the latter half of 2010, there are two documentaries from Sundance that are guaranteed to make a splash, including one that I still think is one of the best films of the year. One the one hand, you have Catfish, the pseudo-doc coming out September 17 that was the talk of the festival (though not always for the right reasons). The month before, on August 20, The Weinstein Company will roll out Amir Bar-Lev's gripping The Tillman Story. For my money, that's the must-see of the season, and Movieline is pleased to premiere the film's new theatrical poster.
Here's the official synopsis:
When Pat Tillman gave up his professional football career to join the Army Rangers in 2002, he became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. But the truth about Pat Tillman is far more complex, and ultimately far more heroic, then the caricature. And when the government tried to turn his death into propaganda, they took on the wrong family. From her home in Northern California, Pat's mother, Dannie Tillman, led the family's crusade to reveal the truth beneath the mythology of their son's life and death. THE TILLMAN STORY resounds with emotion and insight, and goes beyond an indictment of the government to touch on themes as timeless as the notion of heroism itself.
And before we get to the full-sized poster, here's my provocative interview with Bar-Lev from January.


Comments
Thanks for the update on "The Tillman Story". I like the new movie poster better (although I still wish the powers-that-be had kept the original title, "I'm Pat Fucking Tillman!).
I remember reading your interview with Amir Bar-Lev last January; best I saw in-print anywhere. Great quotes and commentary.
Last January, Amir Bar-Lev replied to an email, saying that he was pretty hard on the Democratic administration. Since I haven't been able to see the movie yet, I can't judge how hard he was. I suspect, perhaps not hard enough.
It wasn't merely incompetence on Congressman Waxman's part; in particular, the Democratic Congress and the Obama Presidency itentionally protected General Stanley McChrystal from scrutiny and punishment for his central role in the handling of the aftermath of Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death. The cover-up has actually been a thoroughly bi-partisan affair.
I've posted several detailed documents to the Feral Firefighter blog that focus especially on the actions taken to protect General Stanley McChrystal from punishment for his role in the cover-up by Congressman Henry Waxman, Senator James Webb (along with Senators Carl Levin and John McCain), the New York Times Pentagon Reporter Thom Shanker, and the Washington think-tank Center for a New American Security's (CNAS) Andrew Exum.
If you're interested, you can check them out at http://www.feralfirefirefighter.blogspot.com
I'll be adding a few shorter docs in the next week or so, one detailing President Obama's role in covering for McChrystal last year.
Not sure that the president should have sacked Stanley McChrystal. How will this affect the midterm election?