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WASHINGTON - Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Elizabeth Dole welcomed 250 veterans to the Second World War memorial Thursday to honour their service and introduce a TV miniseries on the battles of the Pacific.
HBO and a non-profit group brought the veterans to Washington to mark the premiere of a 10-part series called "The Pacific." It begins Sunday and focuses on the lives of U.S. Marines fighting the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The project follows the "Band of Brothers" series in 2001, which focused on the war in Europe.
"We did it because all of you are the greatest stories ever told," Spielberg told the veterans. Such movies and TV series are critical, he said, because "with each passing generation, more and more people are forgetting about the Second World War."
Hanks said ordinary Americans hate going to war, but they made the difference in the Second World War.
"You defined peace with these four words: The Americans are here," he told the veterans.
A decade earlier, Hanks raised money to build the memorial on the National Mall. It opened in 2004 and features pillars for the Atlantic and Pacific theatres of war.
Fred Rose, 87, of Barberton, Ohio, made his first visit to the granite memorial for the event. He said the monument was "wonderful" and nearly cried after hearing accolades from Spielberg, Hanks and others.
At one point in the war, Rose's tank was sunk in the first wave of an attack, and the young soldier lost his helmet and other equipment.
"My buddies got killed," he said. "But I got out. I don't know how. ... I must have had a guardian angel."
Dole stood in for her husband, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, a World War II veteran hospitalized with pneumonia. She saluted the work of the Honor Flight Network, which brings Second World War veterans to Washington to see the memorial built in their honour.
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BC-20100311-Imax, 1st Writethru
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Eds:Moves Business and Entertainment; Will be updated
CP Film, Business, Entertainment
SYMBOL:TSX:IMX
Imax reports $4 million profit in fourth quarter, revenue up helped by 'Avatar'
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Massive-screen movie company Imax Corp. rose to profitability in the fourth quarter with help from Hollywood mega-blockbuster "Avatar."
The Toronto-based company, which operates theatres around the world, reported a profit of $4 million, or six cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31.
That compared to a $9 million loss, or 21 cents per share a year earlier.
Imax (TSX:IMX) said revenue jumped 98 per cent to $54.2 million from $27.4 million, marking a new quarterly record for the company.
The results were pushed higher by ticket sales for "Avatar," the biggest money-making theatrical release in history.
However, Imax noted that the film screened for only 12 days of the quarter. The rest of its ticket sales will be accounted for in the first quarter.
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BC-20100311-MUSIC-Cdn-Haiti-Single
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Eds:Will be updated
CP Entertainment
Avril Lavigne, Drake, Nelly Furtado help cover K'naan single for Haiti relief
By Nick Patch
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Canada's musical stars have aligned to help Haiti.
Avril Lavigne, Drake and Nelly Furtado are among the 57 artists performing together on a remixed version of K'naan's anthem "Wavin' Flag" that will be available for download tonight.
Justin Bieber, Sam Roberts, Kardinal Offishall and Nikki Yanofsky also join the Toronto-raised hip-hop artist in recreating his hit song.
Canadian Bob Ezrin produced the track.
Proceeds will equally benefit Free the Children, War Child Canada and World Vision Canada and their individual efforts to provide relief to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
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BC-20100311-TV-The-Pacific, Budget
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Budget
CP Television, Entertainment
'The Pacific' puts spotlight on lesser-known horrors of Second World War
By Cassandra Szklarski
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Early on in the 10-part war epic "The Pacific," a group of young marines are briefed on a mission that would send them halfway around the world to a cluster of tropical islands few had heard of at the time.
They can barely pronounce their new postings: Guadalcanal. Peleliu. Pavuvu. Okinawa. Iwo Jima.
These far-flung outposts would later become known for some of the most devastating carnage in the Second World War, but even today, the full scope of horrors that took place there is little understood, say those behind the massive HBO production, which debuts Sunday.
"Like most people, I knew a lot more about the war in Europe than the war in the Pacific theatre and that was a lot of the reasons I think for the necessity of a show like 'The Pacific,"' says Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa, who helmed three episodes, including the emotional finale.
Podeswa says the series' famous executive producers - including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg - insisted on detailed recreations that would convey both the massive scope and intimate aspects of war in their follow-up to "Band of Brothers."
"They repeatedly were saying they wanted the show to be 'under-the-helmet' - so you wanted it to be from the marines' point of view. Certainly during combat situations you want to feel like you're in the war, you're like thrust into the action and you're experiencing things the way these poor, scared, and in many ways, ill-equipped kids were thrown into it," says Podeswa, whose other HBO credits include "Six Feet Under," "Carnivale," and "Rome."
"Everybody wanted to have a large cinematic vision, (but) it also has a very, very intimate perspective."
While "Band of Brothers" followed one company through the entire war, "The Pacific" focuses on the individual stories of three real-life marines - journalist Robert Leckie, played by James Badge Dale; war hero John Basilone, played by Jon Seda; and the privileged Eugene Sledge, played by Joe Mazzello.
Considered the most expensive miniseries in television history, the story begins in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor and concludes with the troops returning to the United States after their final victory over Japan.
Intricate battle scenes were mapped out like a choreographed dance, says Dale, with the unique terrain of some battles - such as black sand beaches and a roiling ocean - recreated with a mix of actual sets and computer imagery.
"It's just on an epic scale, it's on this massive scale in every definition of that word and every area," says the 31-year-old New Yorker, whose character, Leckie, was based on the memoirs of the real Robert Leckie, who wrote "Helmet for My Pillow."
"I'd show up to work and I'm thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me, man.' (There were) these huge sets and the stuff they built and we'd just burn it all down. We'd blow it up."
Actors underwent a nine-day boot camp to prepare for the 10-month shoot in the Daintree Rainforest of Far North Queensland, Australia.
It involved war games, weapons training and little sleep, says Dale, all meant to simulate a small part of what those actual soldiers went through during combat.
"In the Pacific, these men were broken down. They were beaten up, physically, mentally, and emotionally. They were broken. And somehow, they had to find a way to continue."
Ottawa-raised actor Scott Gibson plays Capt. Andy Haldane, a company commander revered for his leadership. He says he felt an added responsibility to honour the real-life war hero, whose story was culled from stacks of letters he wrote to his school, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
"They did give me the number of Steve Moore, who is Andy's nephew, so I spoke to him and I said, 'You know these are some pretty big shoes to fill,"' said Gibson.
"And he just said, 'Well, you know, Andy wouldn't say that. Just go do your thing.' It was intimidating for sure."
Gibson is one of several Canadians who appear in supporting roles, including Brendan Fletcher, Matt Craven, Joshua Close, and Noel Fisher. Unlike in "Band of Brothers," which included some familiar Hollywood faces such as Ron Livingston, David Schwimmer and Donnie Wahlberg, most of the actors in "The Pacific" are relative unknowns.
"The Pacific" debuts Sunday on HBO Canada.
