Hard not to come away thinking of Hoosiers. Billy Bob did a very credible job but he’s no Gene Hackman or Dennis Hopper. Still, I can’t recall a better movie about high school football. I think I’d be a little embarrassed if I were from Odessa. All of the beautiful, aerial views of desolate, empty desert must have been to help us understand that “football is all they have” in small, West Texas towns. My favorite line (this probably isn’t verbatim) was: The future is getting ready to start in a few minutes. “Forever’s about to happen in just a few minutes.” Sound track was great. And the movie was shot in what I’ve come to think of as the “Saving Private Ryan” effect. Very effective. [IMDB]
Category Archives: Film & TV
Jon Stewart on Crossfire
Most Tivo’d
for the week ending 09/19/04:
1. The Apprentice [No]
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation [Yes]
3. The Sopranos [Yes]
4. Joey [No]
5. Survivor: Vanuatu, Islands of Fire [No]
6. The West Wing [No]
7. Six Feet Under [Yes]
8. ER [No]
9. CSI: Miami [Yes]
10. Will & Grace [No]
Great line: As Good As It Gets
“You don’t look sick. Just tired and bitter.” — As Good As It Gets
The Daily Show’s Stephen Colbert
on covering the GOP convention: “We want to find out actual information about Republicans. We want to know where the pods are, where they’re grown, and we want to photograph them before they’re harvested.” Next to XM’s “Everything, All the Time,” The Daily Show’s “The Most Trusted Name in Fake News” might be the best tag line ever.
“You’re standing in a puddle of shit and you don’t have the shoes for it.”
“You’re standing in a puddle of shit and you don’t have the shoes for it.” Brian Cox in The Bourne Supremecy.
Fahrenheit 9/11
If I were Dick Cheney, I’d explore two options for dealing with Michael Moore’s movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. First, try to find a working time machine and send a Terminator back to 2000 and erase Michael Moore before he makes the documentary. That poses some real technical challenges, so Plan B would be to place armed National Guard troops at the entrance of every theater trying to show the movie. Close ’em down. I really think this option poses less risk to George Bush’s re-election than letting people see Fahrenheit 9/11.
Whatever your politics, this is a powerful film. Some have said it won’t change anyone’s mind about George Bush. The people that love him will love him (and vote for him) in November. Those that think he’s a dangerous moron surrounded by evil, greedy men…will still think so after seeing this movie.
But don’t you think that Dick Cheney and Carl Rove got an early copy and screened it there in the White House? Sure, they might have dismissed it as liberal propaganda. Or maybe Rove turned to Cheney and asked, “Did you ever see the Terminator movies?”
PS: If you’ve never read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, it’s a classic.
A Scanner Darkly
“Philip K. Dicks A Scanner Darkly is set to start filming this July. As has been reported, Keanu Reaves will play Bob Arctor, the Orange County narc who goes schizo after being assigned to spy on himself. Linklater has been planning this project for years; it was Reaves interest in the story that finally got the ball rolling. As has been already noted, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Rory Cochrane round out the cast, though it also needs to be mentioned that these are some of the most famous druggies in Hollywood.”[Link to Boing Boing]
We’re not gonna make it are we?
John Conner: We’re not gonna make it are we? People, I mean.
Terminator: It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John Conner: Major drag, huh?
— Terminator II: Judgement Day
All TV online?
Later this month, the BBC will launch a pilot project that could lead to all television programs being made available on the Internet. Viewers will be able to scan an online guide and download any show.