I'll Give It A Try...

 ... I do not have particular reverence to Francis Ford Coppola (I am a freak--I don't care about The Godfather). 

This one, however, seems timely, to put it mildly. The problem, of course, are constant parallels between the US and Rome. But this all is just the matter of historical context in which, as an example, Rome was a great continental warfare empire, the US is not and it pales in comparison to other continental empires not least due to a very short time of being THE quasi-continental empire as a result of WW II and the US "losing" historical memory of how it all transpired. So, with the industrial revolution which in the US was disrupted severely in 1929 to the point of societal decomposition, the US, as many people correctly note, had its greatest achievements when it was behind plow, not behind machine gun. It is a naval power and if any parallels could be drawn they are not with Rome but with what the US actually replaced--British Empire. The only parallel which is legitimate--it is a pagan foundation of modern American society and not in religious sense only. But trailer looks fascinating and the movie was shot entirely on FFC's money. So, I am going. 

P.S. In the most bizarre occurrence, while surfing through UTube channels while getting sleepy last night I stumbled on... Dune Part II. I thought, it was some BS, boy, was I wrong--a whole fucking movie. How, why, I don't know but I got a free ride and... today nothing is there and not even in my watch history. WTF? No, I wasn't dreaming. Somebody uploaded it and I caught it. I am sure UTube removed it now.  

P.P.S. I loved Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation. A magnificent, moody, sad and charming film. 

There Is A Lot Of Wrong...

... with parallels he tries to draw. It is expected from artsy types, especially from ones who are venerated (I personally do not give a shit about God Father) in the low culture environment like Hollywood, but there are very few if any parallels between the US and Rome, other than some superficial similarities politically. 

The US is not even in the same league militarily or culturally as Rome was. There is no Marcus Aurelius nor are there any phalanx which could crush first rate enemies. He should concentrate on what he did best--making movies about Italian Mafia and not go where no Hollywood screenwriter or director ever could due to primitive education. But, what do I know... This is POTUS today.

Members of the Greatest Generation, who 80 years ago next week, took to the beaches of Normandy and liberated a continent and literally saved the world. Others who stood against communism in Korea and Vietnam.

Of course, Red Army crushing Axis doesn't count, as long as there are Coppolas and Spilbergs in this world confabulating US history which, with the exception of Ike and King with Nimitz, produced about a zero strategists and military leaders of  a historical scale, unlike it was with Rome. Hey, as long as we have Hollywood and stolen valor being a MO... 

Let me give you a definition of the press, which extends by definition to US intellectual and cultural "elite" by a person who actually invented gonzo-journalism Hunter S. Thompson. Feel free to substitute term press for whatever "creative" class you want...

The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits—a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage

That's Western "intellectual" elite for ya... press is not even there, because it is below this rather obsolete definition.