What the hell is going on? Trump has turned into Biden? Mercilessly, relentlessly bombing Yemen and aggressively seeking a new war with Iran. Why doesn’t Trump at least meet with the Iranian leaders, as he did North Korea’s? Why doesn’t he educate himself a little and learn about the Yemeni and Iranian cultures?

Always remember, the Parthians never gave in to Rome.
The Peace President? We didn’t vote for this.

John M. Macgregor (@JohnMMacgregor) enumerates his discord better than I.

https://x.com/JohnMMacgregor/status/1905139132046934456?t=KsXXjyHZfeUZ_LjoIWFMmA&s=19

Communicating openly through our screens can be really enlightening, but those people who prefer insulting or just hating another for political or whatever reasons ruin the experience. In my case, I keep hearing from the haters the word “old” thrown my way, i.e. – “You’re just old and over the hill and washed up” or “I’m unfollowing you” or “You voted for Trump, you should be ashamed” or “How much is Putin paying you?”, etc. There’s no end to hate, and it doesn’t get us anywhere. After several years, I’m beginning to think that USAID or NED (National Endowment for Democracy) or one of these George Soros fronts working for the Government pays a group of pinheads, who I assume are human beings – maybe they’re bots – to post these reminders of ugliness with the intention of soiling my memory and driving away meaningful conversation. But the same verbiage, year after year – that gets old.

For the record –

1. Yes, I guess I’m old. I’m 78 and slowing down. I do less, but I enjoy it more. I still like meeting people and seeing friends more than ever –

2. I did not vote in ’16, ’20, or ’24 for your bête noire, ‘the orange man.’ I voted for RFK Jr. on the California ballot, although he told us not to throw away our votes in a swing state. California is hardly a swing state – and hardly matters, as the election is called way before California or Hawaii (haha) even closes. Some democracy.

3. And, for that matter, here’s a bunch of old people films I’ve quite enjoyed recently.

a. “The Leisure Seeker” (2017) with Hellen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. A wonderful and wise journey across America with two great actors.

b. “A Walk in the Woods” (2015). Same formula with Redford and Nolte. Almost as good.

c. “Youth” (2015) with Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, Jane Fonda, Rachel Weisz. A classic from Paolo Sorrentino. Caine, brilliant. Keitel, shocking. The movie, incredible -- to be watched more than twice and with a stunning aria from the Korean soprano Sumi Jo at the close.

d. “The Rewrite,” which I missed in 2014 and my son brought to my attention. A charming Hugh Grant, better than ever, reverses the fate of his last years.

I’d love to see more “old” stories, if any of you have favorites.

4. As to my being Mr. Putin’s “boy,” anyone who knows my work understands I’ve always been independent in my films since I made my reputation in 1986 with “Platoon,” and this includes the documentaries, such as “Untold History” and “Putin Interviews.” No one has ever owned me or told me what to think, and I have enough saved up to make it to my grave without having to take money from anyone, especially not the “dictators” I’m supposed to be working for. Each subject has merited my historical curiosity.

And as to Mr. Putin, who has led his country now for some 25 years, I respect him because I respect Russia. And I believe strongly in its right to defend itself, insofar as it’s obvious that our Western warmongers like the Biden gang and NATO and the neocons all over everywhere believe in war and have been pecking away at the Russian homeland for decades now, and brought us to the very edge of world war for no reason other than their unyielding paranoia that Russia wants to take over the world that we want to take over. Poisonous paradox.

As a matter of fact, I’m going to Russia with a small group, including ex-CIA expert on Russia Ray McGovern, on May 9th to honor the 80th anniversary of their enormous sacrifice in defeating the forces of fascism in WWII. The world owes them a great debt, and distorting that history is probably the worst propaganda the United States and NATO have created in their hunger to destroy.

I was a soldier once, let me remind you, who served my country honorably in one of its most useless wars and learned, from the suffering I saw, the meaning of peace. And I’ll vote for peace always and against anyone, including Messrs. Trump, Biden, Bush, and Ms.

Clinton – those who think our role in the world is to dominate it and impede or hurt any other country that’s seeking prosperity for its citizenry and contributing to this world with new technology, etc. – and that includes China, Russia, and Iran, who, I keep repeating like a frustrated schoolmaster, are not our natural enemies. Reexamine your prejudices and deepen your history. I will always fight for peace and understanding until the day I die.

Below is the first 30 minutes of my interview Tuesday with @KatieHalperShow on the JFK case. With me is Jim DiEugenio, researcher and associate.
 
youtube.com/live/KoO5I0IYa…
 
Second half of the 60-minute interview will be up next week.
 
I’ve also enclosed, for the record, my opening statement(18:22) on YouTube for the House hearing on the #JFKFiles from April 1st. Jim DiEugenio’s (27:33) and Jefferson Morley’s (11:52) opening statements are included here as well.
 
youtube.com/watch?v=Xf3_f9…

A great new book from #EdCurtin linked below. A sumptuous writer and one of the finest thinkers and essayists I’ve read, Curtin sees our confusing world with compassionate clarity and profound wisdom.

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Political-Dispatches-Resistance/dp/196389216X

In 2008, our movie “W.” dramatized a scene of our leaders (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice) deciding to attack Iraq. In a core moment, Cheney discusses #Iran as the ultimate “prize.” It applies today as we embark on another potential disaster, now led by #Netanyahu and @realDonaldTrump. Why? What’s happened to our country? It’s not one President or another – it’s in our blood to want to dominate.

youtube.com/watch?v=AVkjsj…

(1/2) Fears of wars and pessimism about Mr. Trump’s course have driven me back to the movies for solace. Some recent viewings:

1. #F1 (Formula 1) (2025) is a perfectly designed vehicle (not one hair out of place) from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Joseph Kosinski, and screenwriter Ehren Kruger for Brad Pitt; he’s so right for this from the flinty, American Midwest character he played in “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) to the renegade baseball executive in “Moneyball” (2011). He has his Americana down tight, and it’s a pleasure to watch him work through the tunnel of humiliation he has to get through as a “washed-up, never was,” who’s blamed because he’s basically the classic loner outsider who went his own way and never fit in. Pitt, like Cruise, is a glorious, old-fashioned movie star who’s picturesque. Not one grunt of dialogue too much, minimalism at its best. Steve McQueen would’ve loved to play this in another era. That, and a roaring, booming soundtrack any grease monkey could call a sex orgy. Our group of five enjoyed sitting through this film of great craft, which met all our expectations. But you have to wonder, if it speaks most eloquently for a faded Hollywood, why does it have to cost $250 million in production? What’s happened to us? The grandaddy of the racing film in my era was John Frankenheimer’s epic “Grand Prix” (1967) with James Garner. McQueen’s “Le Mans” (1971) plays flat, too much the documentary. Also high on my film list are Ron Howard’s “Rush” (2013) and James Mangold’s “Ford vs. Ferrari” (2019). “F1” lives up to all of them.

2. Which brings me to #MichaelDouglas films. He’s gone now, it looks like, retired from movies, but he lives on, underrated in so many movies. I thoroughly enjoyed, for example, #BasicInstinct (1992), which I resaw. Here, he showcases Sharon Stone, who, like Demi Moore, is a sexy star and pulls it off again in the sequel, “Basic Instinct 2” (2006), fourteen years later. The film is set in London without Michael Douglas but, despite its terrible reviews, is quite watchable and of real psychological interest with its twist ending. But “Basic Instinct” is indisputably a classic Paul Verhoeven movie, up there with his best work of which there’s much, “Starship Troopers” (1997) among them.

A top-notch, underrated actor, Douglas is understated here and perfect for the story and brings the same quality to many of his films. In “War of the Roses” (1989) for Danny DeVito, an excellent director, Douglas nails his metrosexual everyman, beset by work, stress of competition, and dominant females – Kathleen Turner in this film, Demi Moore in “Disclosure” (1994), Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction” (1987), and Sharon Stone, who runs him ragged in “Basic Instinct.” Even as a maddened victim in “Falling Down” (1993), Douglas is tone-perfect. He had a great career and will be remembered, not least as Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street.”

3. Another underrated, neglected movie on DVD, one of the best Mike Nichols ever did (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” [1966]), is #PrimaryColors (1998), a politically astute film, head and shoulders above his terrible “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007), where he screwed history badly. Here, possibly because of the presence of his old partner Elaine May on screenplay and a sensitive book from Joe Klein, who covered the Clinton administration, May and Nichols together come up with a scorching portrait of human vulnerability and the impossibility of remaining transparent in any candidate. A young campaign advisor, played by Adrian Lester, is the linchpin who doesn’t understand till the end why he elects to stay the course with a campaign that has come back from the dead. Emma Thompson plays Hillary as a tough cookie – ruthless and practical both, giving her husband the ballast he needs as he floats through his dreamlike universe. John Travolta is Peter Pan playing Bill Clinton, and having spent some private time with President Clinton, I can say he’s played pitch-perfectly by Travolta, who should’ve been nominated for this performance.

He captures the bright promise Clinton exuded, like Ronald Reagan, but, at the same time, captures the lie that goes along at the heart of the optimism. It’s thus a highly ambivalent film, liking and, at the same time, judging Clinton for his faults. He wasn’t a great president in the end and made huge mistakes, among them allowing NATO to expand eastward, which brought us the Ukraine War. However, in the context of the time in America, it’s an accurate portrait of a man who must win this competitive process we have in this country of election at any cost.

(2/2) 4. #ThePlayer (1992) is another ‘90s juicy gem from a twisty screenplay by Michael Tolkin. Robert Altman directs with a cool distance, as witty and ironic as he was when working with a great screenplay like “Gosford Park” (2001) by Julian Fellowes. An artful screenplay makes a big difference with Altman. When he doesn’t have one, it hurts.

Notably, the studio’s creative executive is perfectly played by Tim Robbins as a cool and elegant protagonist, trying to make it through an impossible job. Think about it – who can hold this position for very long with its enmity, jealousy, insecurity, and need to make money? It creates a natural system to corrupt anyone, and yet, the ironic twist here is that, despite being a murderer who can live with himself (he’s no Dostoevsky!), he finds happiness with a splendid Greta Scacchi. A cynical and spicy gem, we should never take these films for granted.

5. Same for #DonnieBrasco (1997). A fascinating look into an intricate Mafia world with Mike Newell directing and Barry Levison producing. Al Pacino is great as the sad sack protagonist, and Johnny Depp is at his very best here as a cool, undercover FBI guy who doesn’t crack. And please note Michael Madsen, who recently passed away, who’s memorable as usual. I very much liked working with him as Tom Baker, Jim Morrison’s destructive friend in “The Doors.” Sic tempus fugit. He too will be missed.