THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
REVIEW

http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/The-Men-Who-Stare-at-Goats


The story -- claiming to be "more true than you'd believe" -- almost defies description. Bouncing forward and back through time, we're introduced to a cast of rascally characters in the '80s-era U.S. Army, centered around Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), a hippie hired by the army as part of a scheme to create "psychic soldiers" which Bill fashions as "Jedis." Using uncharacteristic training methods -- think free dancing and LSD -- Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) becomes Bill's star pupil.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/06/goats-stared-back/


Before shooting began, Heslov met with retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jim Channon, a former Vietnam War commander and the brains behind the 1st Earth Battalion (changed in the movie to the New Earth Army).

Channon, who is loosely portrayed by a Dudelike Bridges, embarked on a two-year government-funded fact-finding mission that included naked hot tub encounters and yoga retreats so he could write a military manual in 1978 to help Army “Jedi” soldiers reach a higher spiritual plane. He envisioned a more Zenlike approach to combat, with troops wearing ginseng-equipped uniforms, offering symbolic flowers, cradling baby lambs in hostile territory and greeting enemies with “sparkly eyes.”

“If the ideas were instituted and they worked, we would be a far better world,” Heslov says. “Do I believe it could happen? Probably not. But I’ve got to give the military credit.”

Channon now lives on an “eco-homestead” in Hawaii and describes himself as a “global elder” and “mystic landcrafter” still pursuing creative ways to bring world peace. In a video posted on his Web site, firstearthbattalion.org, he takes the movie’s humor with a grain of salt and asserts that his out-of-the-box thinking for his “mythical battalion” wasn’t absurd.

“If soldiers are telepathic during a firefight, that would be very useful,” Channon explains at one point. He ends the video with his trademark “Go Planet!”

(Channon, an entrepreneur as well as a visionary, offers a 150-page field manual that can be downloaded through his Web site for $14.95. He also offers “First Earth Battalion” souvenir T-shirts and other gear for sale.)

Apparently, the real Army wasn’t eager to revisit this chapter in history. Heslov says the military denied his request to film on any of their bases. And although the director concedes there may be doubters, he can personally attest to the realm of the supernatural.

“Oh, I’ve had out-of-body experiences,” he dryly says, “but they had more to do with smoking too much pot.”





12:32 PM
January 23,2010

BEYOND THE TEAILER
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOSTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTIBSvhB3xk


I like the way this YOUTUBE is made.

I would like to do similar when I get
up to speed with my new equipment.

First comes clearing out,
doing THE GREAT EARTH CLEAN UP.

This film came out when I was dong
the PACIFIC SYMPOSIUM 09.

I have not had a chance to see it.

My interest: I met the real man
who created the EARTH BATTALION.

I spoke to him on the phone a few weeks
before the film came out.

I want to followup.


This mentions JIM CHANNON
http://www.amctv.com/videos/amc-news/?bcpid=13955382001&bclid=39115861001&bct...


NEW EARTH BATTALION

JOHN RONSON, THE MEN WHO STARE AT BOOKS
THE BOOK



 

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