Oscar Movie Preview: Operation Homecoming for Best Documentary

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:30:00 PST

As part of my coverage of this year's Oscars, I'll be posting the trailers for as many of the Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film nominees as I can find. Since it's often harder to see these films in theaters, it's nice to at least get a taste of them before Oscar night - not to mention that it might help you when you fill out your Oscar ballot.

Most of this year's nominees in the Best Documentary category deal with war in one way or another. Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience is one of those films, based on the writings of soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A shorter version of this film aired on PBS last spring, but the full version - which is available on DVD - features the writings of 11 soldiers set against a variety of visual backdrops. Some stories are animated, others play over reenactments of the events, and still others are read directly to the camera. Actors including Robert Duvall, Blair Underwood, and John Krasinski lend their voices, and writers such as Tim O'Brien, Tobias Wolff, and Esquire contributor Colby Buzzell also appear.

At a time when political movies haven't played well in theaters, this seems like one project worth checking out. To watch a preview, just