Oliver Stone

2 sketches, 3 claims, and 7 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–2 of 2 sketches.

The Big Picture: 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished (guest)

Drawn to American history, especially its darker moments and the truth beneath official stories. Distrusts chasing the news and prefers distance. Sympathetic and a little rueful about Bush, finding him a simple man with a limited imagination.

Stances

  • The 21st century has been downhill
  • Do not chase the news
  • Bush was a simple man, not a villain
  • A Bush film needed time away from the Bush years

Humor: Wry and plainspoken, as in the gambling-in-Macau anecdote.

In their words

  • “I never chased the news, because you can't.” (0:22:36)
  • “Well, you could, I could say from the beginning of the 21st century on, it was downhill.” (0:02:19)

The Big Picture: 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? (guest)

Distrusts Hollywood gloss and jingoism, wanted a gritty Kovic. Proud of Heaven & Earth despite its reception.

Stances

  • Top Gun was a jingoistic message
  • America loves aggression
  • didn't want a pretty-boy picture

Humor: Blunt, self-aware about being hot as a pistol.

In their words

  • “It's not a smiling, pretty boy picture at all.” (0:22:09)
  • “I was hot as a pistol, as I say.” (0:41:02)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

The Big Picture

Their claims

Showing 1–3 of 3 claims.

  1. unmapped (Stone's view of Bush): W. → The Manchurian Candidate. Stone said Bush seemed programmed and controlled by others, like a Manchurian candidate.
    “There was a sense of a brainwashed president, I'd say, everything was very programmed, like a Manchurian candidate.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:00:44 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. career (replaced project): W. → Pinkville. W. got made because financing for Pinkville collapsed in the 2008 meltdown.
    “The money got pulled by a stock firm called Merrill Lynch at that time.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:25:56 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. contrast (contrast): Top Gun → Born on the Fourth of July. Stone worried Cruise, coming off jingoistic Top Gun, was wrong for Kovic.
    “I was worried because, one, he was a movie star and he was coming off Top Gun, which was the opposite kind of jingoistic message.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:21:31 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–7 of 7 fun items.

  1. fun, about Oliver Stone: Stone met Bush at a Yale graduates event a year before the 2000 election and felt he was being controlled by others.
    “There was a sense of a brainwashed president, I'd say, everything was very programmed, like a Manchurian candidate.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:00:44 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Pinkville: Stone's My Lai film fell apart about three weeks before shooting when Merrill Lynch pulled the money in the 2008 meltdown, leaving what he called a big hole in his life.
    “So anyway, the film fell apart, and that was a big hole in my life.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:26:03 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about W.: No studio would touch W.; it was financed overseas for about $27 million, including a Jackie Chan producing partner Stone met gambling in Macau.
    “He was a gambler. You'd go off to Macau, and we gambled, and he was quite a fun guy, a crazy guy.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:27:59 · Oliver Stone (0.85 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about W.: Stone wanted satire, not a takedown; Bush was a simple man while Nixon was three-dimensional.
    “Nixon had many, many issues, but it was a three-dimensional man, whereas George Bush was a very simple man.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:30:44 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about W.: Bill Clinton, a friend of Stone's, gave Bush a copy; Bush reportedly said Josh had done a good job.
    “He just said that he was thought that Josh had done a good job.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:42:04 · Oliver Stone (0.85 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about W.: Stone says the film would have done better had he waited a few years for distance from the Bush years.
    “I believe, in retrospect, you need a little time away from Bush.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:42:27 · Oliver Stone (0.90 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about Heaven & Earth: Stone says critics slaughtered it though he calls it beautiful.
    “I got slaughtered.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:42:31 · Oliver Stone (0.85 sure it was them)