New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd interviewed Adam McKay, director of the upcoming Dick Cheney biopic, "Vice."
The NYT reporter has seen "Vice" and had this to say about the movie:
“Before we had Trump’s swarm of bloodsucking lobbyists gutting government regulations from within, we had Cheney’s. Before Trump brazenly used the White House to boost his brand, we had Cheney wallowing in emoluments: He let his energy industry pals shape energy policy; he pushed to invade Iraq, giving no-bid contracts to his former employer, Halliburton, and helping his Big Oil cronies reap the spoils in Iraq.
READ MORE: Christian Bale as Dick Cheney revealed in first ‘Vice’ trailer
“It uses real-life imagery, witty cinematic asides and cultural touchstones to explore the irreparable damage Vice-President Dick Cheney did to the planet, and how his blunders and plunders led to many of our current crises.
“With an echo of his Batman growl, Christian Bale brilliantly shape-shifts into another American psycho, the lumbering, scheming vice president who easily manipulates the naïve and insecure W., deliciously played by Sam Rockwell. While W. strives to impress his father, Cheney strives to impress his wife, Lynne, commandingly portrayed by Amy Adams.
“The movie opens at Christmas, but it’s no sugary Hallmark fable. It’s a harrowing cautionary tale showing that democracy can be sabotaged even more diabolically by a trusted insider, respected by most of the press, than by a clownish outsider, disdained by most of the press.”
Of course, Dowd can really give a just opinion of the McKay biopic given that this is more an interview than a movie review, but what I most found interesting about the interview were McKay's thoughts on Cheney vs Trump: who's more evil?
“Here’s the question,” McKay said. “Would you rather have a professional assassin after you or a frothing maniac with a meat cleaver? I’d rather have a maniac with a meat cleaver after me, so I think Cheney is way worse. And also, if you look at the body count, more than 600,000 people died in Iraq. It’s not even close, right?”
I wrote this on 10.20.18:
"In today's Trump-dominated stratosphere, Bush and Cheney's war crimes have all but been forgotten by the masses, which is infuriating. The Bush presidency, which lasted from 2000 to 2008, was the most disastrous administration the White House had ever seen, right up there and even exceeding Nixon's. Why? Well, for so many reasons, but just the lies concocted by the administration to enable them to start a full-on unjust war in Iraq already makes it a candidate for worst presidency. Fifteen years later, with history having taken a closer look at the facts, it is quite clear that these lies -- that Saddam Hussein had WMDs and that he also had something to do with 9/11 -- were propagated by a herd-like media to manipulate the American people into going along with the Bush/Cheney narrative.
"Of course, none of the aforementioned "facts" were true. And yet, here we are, two years into the Trump-era, and George W. Bush has become a kind of portrait-painting, folk hero for part of the resistance against 45. He's now just fine in many people's books, good ol' W. Why? Because he hates Trump. After all, Trump demolished his brother, "low energy" Jeb, in the Republican primary debates and even condemned the Bush presidency as a "disaster.""
"Dubya has become rather cozy with the Obamas of late, as if the deep state has to stick together in these terrible times, to fight the rueful forces currently inflicting their precious establishment 'democracy.' I wanted to punch a brick when I saw Michelle Obama proclaiming her BFF love for Dubya the other day, saying he has become her "partner in crime." Give me a break. Are people actually that stupid? Do they not realize the damage that Bush did to this country?"
"Let's hope Adam McKay's "Cheney" re-enlightens the American people into what the Bush presidency was all about."
Back in August, director Jon Turteltaub claimed "National Treasure 3" was finally happening, with Cage. The cheers were loud. The headlines were everywhere. Turns out, nobody told Nic.