Hmm, it seems that my associate Ceaf Lewis has brought this Insidevandy.com to my attention and suggested I expand "The People's Commentary" here. Well, I'm one to give it a try. For those of you who are new to "The People's Commentary" this is basically where I get up on the soapbox and rant about whatever I want. Feel free to answer back with your thoughts as well. When I don't have time to write a new commentary, I'll post old ones from its Livejournal home.

That said, I normally rant about politics and things of that nature, but today I wanted to talk about something different: movies. I was glancing through IMDB.com and MSNBC.com's fall movie guides to see what movies were coming out that might be interesting. However the prospects looked rather bleak. I'm afraid "Snakes on a Plane" is the last movie I'll want to charge out and go see on a whim. Most of the movies this fall lack blockbuster appealandthey certainly don't seem Oscar-worthy in my humble opinion. There's nothing grand or epic about the upcoming movies of the fall. And this is the time of year when Oscar hopefuls start turning up in the previews.An interesting sidenote proves my point. The biggest weekend in September belongs to Sweet Home Alabama with 35 million dollars. That is, as they say, unbelievable. By comparison, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest made more than that on its opening day.

Well, all is not lost. I may strike some nerves when I say this, but frankly if the decision about who wins the Oscar for best picture were in my hands it would go to Oliver Stone's World Trade Center hands down. World Trade Center is, quite simply,the heroic tale of John McLaughlin, played by Nicholas Cage and Will Jimeno, played by Michael Pena. McLaughlin and Jimeno were two of the many Port Authority Officers who selfless charged into the inferno of the World Trade Center on that horrific day of September 11, 2001. When the South Tower collapsed, McLaughlin and Jimeno, were trapped, buried alive in an undergound concourse between the fallen South Tower andthe soon to fallNorth Tower. When the North Tower came down, the two officers were buried under concrete and steel some twenty feet below street level. World Trade Center tells the tale of these two men and their families, how they survived, and the daring rescue mission to get them out alive.

What gave the film its power was that Oliver Stone really never showed the violence of the attacks, most of it was left to the viewer's imagination, which in turn allowed you to go into the film as far as you were willing to go. For me, I wasn't sure I was ready to relive the day that changed America. I personally can't even watch the films of the planes hitting the Twin Towers, for the images of those buildings on fire is seared into my mind. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, it really doesn't matter. I think this is a film every Americanshould try to go see if they can. Cage and Pena turn inOscar-caliber performances, while Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaaldeliver in their roles as McLaughlin and Jimeno's wives. Oliver Stone could have done another JFK. What he made was a film about American heroes, something we desperately need today. If this film could sweep best picture, actor, supporting actor, and director, I think it would be a good sign that American heroes are still looked up to in America.

That's something to think about.