Oliver Stone's World Trade Center...

Last night I got to attend the screening of Platoon in honor of its 20th anniversary. Oliver Stone, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, and Tom Berenger were all there to celebrate. I didn't stay for the whole film because I had some other plans and it started really late. Before Platoon played, though, Mr. Stone had brought 20 minutes of footage from his upcoming film "World Trade Center" starring Nicolas Cage. It wasn't the film, it was all in high def video, and it was still a bit rough, but he was very excited (or as excited as he gets) to show it.

Watching it was sort of like a little test for myself. United 93 is playing later this week and I've been undecided as to whether I would see it. I figured if I could handle 20 minutes, I might could handle a full-length film.

I was a wreck.

The first few shots are of firemen getting up at 3 am to head into work. As the sun comes up, there are some stunning beauty-shots of the old NYC...the one with two twin towers at the end of her skyline. Seeing them there and knowing what was going to happen, I found myself with tears in my eyes. The footage continues through the firemen finding out "something" has happened at the Trade Center. They are hearing rumors and misinformation, but run to do what they can with what they know. As they get inside the tower, it starts to collapse. Even though the effects were rough, the use of sound and light for those scenes is amazing. The footage ends with a close up of Nicolas Cage, covered in rubble, breathing heavily.

The audience was very quiet while WTC played and when it ended, there was a hesitation in the applause. I don't think it was because people didn't like it, but because they were unsure of what to do. I know I was. How do you applaud something like that? It was a brilliant piece of film-making, but I think everyone feels as I do...are we ready for movies about September 11?

Apparently I'm not.