Body of War - a MUST SEE film!! - pictures of the premiere in KC

[proud2BlibKansan]

Body of War is an intimate portrait of Tomas Young, an Iraq war vet who was paralyzed from the chest down the same day Casey Sheehan was killed. The film premiered tonight in Kansas City, where Tomas lives.

It is an outstanding film, produced by Phil Donohue. He was here for the premiere tonight. I told him that I remember watching him when my almost 30 year old son was a baby. He laughed and said we are really getting old, aren't we.



I told Phil that I was livid when his show was canceled on MSNBC and if it wasn't for Keith Olberman, I wouldn't watch that network. I asked him if he thought he might get back on the air anytime because Keith needs a night off every once in awhile.



Tomas's mom is also in the film. Here she is with Tomas answering questions after the film ended.



This is Tomas and his entire family. His mom told us to take lots of pictures because this might be the last time her whole family is together, since Tomas's brother is on leave from his second deployment and goes back to Iraq next week. :cry:



This is an absolutely MUST SEE film. It also shows much of the debate in Congress in the fall of 2002, when the vote to go to war took place. Robert Byrd is wonderful! There is also an especially touching scene when Tomas meets with Senator Byrd in DC.

Don't miss this film. I think I have seen all the Iraq War documentaries and this one is very different and IMO, the best yet because it is so personal.

It premieres all over the country in March. http://www.bodyofwar.com/ DON'T MISS IT!!

Then after you see it, write your reps and tell THEM to go see it and get busy bringing our troops home. We don't need any more movies telling this story.

[slipslidingaway]

1. Thanks, sounds like a great evening...

"...We don't need any more movies telling this story."

:(

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I should have added that there was another important person there

Yolanda Huet Vaughn, the doctor who went to jail rather than serve in the Gulf War, lives here in KC and she was there tonight. Yolanda is my neighbor and a true patriot. I am proud to know her.

[orleans]

3. k&r -- about how many people were there? n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Maybe 50

Not nearly enough. It was an invitation only event. I was surprised there weren't more people there.

[orleans]

5. invitation only? how come you were so lucky? n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I stand on the street a couple times a week reminding the people in this town

that we need to bring our troops home.

Those of us who are active in the anti-war community here were invited to the preview. Tomas has worked with our task force.

[Hissyspit]

6. K&R n/t

[w8liftinglady]

8. I can't wait until this comes to my area

I watched Phil when "When I came home" was showing on Link TV.His sheer passion about this subject is palpable.I hope "Body of War " is 2009's Oscar Winner.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. It is really outstanding

I can't wait to go see it again when it opens in theaters here.

[leftchick]

10. here is a review of the film from October....

thank you Proud! :hi:

http://www.projo.com/movie_reviews//lb_bodyofwar_10-22-07_137H40P.20afdd9.html

<snip>

But she also worries about her younger son, Nathan, who is about to be shipped off to Iraq. In an emotional scene, she tearfully sees him off with Tomas at her side, while Nathan tries not to look anyone in the eye in order to keep a brave face.

Donahue is a vocal opponent of the Iraq invasion, as well, and Body of War reflects it. Inserted between scenes of Young and his harrowing problems are speeches by Mr. Bush egging the American public toward war and prodding the Congress to pass a resolution that would transfer the power to make war from Congress to the executive branch.

This is played as a sort of black comedy, creepily amusing but also tragic in the light of hindsight. Thus we see Mr. Bush haranguing about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, followed by shots of a half dozen senators and representatives parroting the president’s talking points word for word. Sometimes they add their own embellishments. One calls Hussein’s massed weapons more powerful than anything Adolf Hitler possessed and even lists the precise quantities of some of his presumed biological weapons which were never found. In a moment that seems the height of bad taste, we see Mr. Bush at the gala White House correspondents’ dinner making fun of his inability to find all those weapons of mass destruction that he had once so loudly assured the American people were at Hussein’s disposal, including a fleet of “small unmanned vehicles” capable of delivering biological weapons way beyond Iraq’s borders.

A shining beacon in the opposition is the aged Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who passionately argues against the resolution for war on the Senate floor. Late in the film, Young visits him in his office to go over the list of the 23 senators — he calls them the “immortal 23” — who voted against the resolution, including former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, whom he calls “a good man.”

As the vote to pass the resolution is tallied in the Senate, the film cuts to Young tallying up the number of medications he must take to stay alive. It’s a sobering sequence.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Yes very accurate review

Reading it is bringing tears to my eyes.

Thank you.

[chat_noir]

11. Official Site

http://www.bodyofwar.com/index.html



Tears in my eyes from watching the trailer.


Tomas, I salute you. :patriot:

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Come to the Tivoli for the premiere next week!

Tomas will be there.

[KoKo]

14. KIck...

[babylonsister]

15. Thanks for the report, proud! I hope to get to see this one. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Well you could drive over to Austin

amd catch it at that film festival :)

[lonestarnot]

17. I certainly won't miss it! Thanks P2B lib!

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Take plenty of kleenex

Here's the theme song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma_8Qim4dQ0&feature=related

[lonestarnot]

19. Oh man. Kleenex. Better buy stock.