Karina on SpoutBlog

Under discussion:

Independence Day  (1996)

Armageddon  (1998)

• Annalee Newitz looks at the five most prevalent themes in Clinton-era sci-fi. I would have thrown in a shout-out to strippers, who appear prominently in both Armageddon and Independence Day. But then, I’m usually on the lookout for chances to throw shout-outs to strippers.
• LIBERTAS accuses “millionaire filmmaker” Morgan Spurlock of ?????? SPOILER ALERT!! ?????? being too chicken shit to actually hunt down Osama Bin Laden and put a stake through his heart.
• Bob Rehak contemplates the impact the HD format wars will have/are already having on the porn industry. “How will viewers respond to the pathos and suffering at the industry???s core ??? of capitalism???s antihumanism writ large across the bodies offered up for consumers??? pleasure-at-a-distance ??? when those excesses are rendered in resolutions of 1920??1080?”
• NBC has decided that Access Hollywood will be the “news” division to cover the Golden Globes. Defamer mocks the ensuing outrage: “If the network had any interests but its own at heart, it would have made some attempt at incorporating the solemn ritual that usually begins each Globes ceremony–the consumption of Orson Welles’ transubstantiated body and blood in the form of filet mignon and stiff vodka-tonics–as a show of good faith.”

Under discussion:

I Heart Huckabees  (2004)

I’ve been keeping a vague log of Chris Matthews’ tendency to wedge non-sequitor movie references/analogies into his ostensibly hardcore-wonky political chat shows for awhile. Hands down the worse that I’ve seen: on the night of the Iowa caucus, Matthews tried to diagnose Mike Huckabee’s popularity thusly: “He appeals to a lot of people in the middle of the country, mostly because of I Heart Huckabees.” Really, Chris? Really?

When you consider that my minor obsession with this has required me to become a faithful viewer of Matthews’ god-awful, cheap McLaughlin Group-knockoff Sunday morning chat show, I probably deserve a medal. But give me the silver, because whoever put together the montage on last night’s Daily Show??????proving that Matthews is not the only guilty party, but certainly the undisputed champion of the “This event is EXACTLY LIKE that one movie…” genre of political analysis??????deserves the gold. Skip to about 4:25 on the above clip to go straight to the good stuff.

“My colleagues, students, and wife think I???m nuts to like National Treasure,” admits master film historian David Bordwell. He then launches into an extremely compelling defense of why the Jerry Bruckheimer franchise is “more informative about American history than Fahrenheit 9/11. More brain-teasing, and far more enjoyable, than I???m Not There,” and, perhaps most crucially, evidence that Bruckheimer is “the most astute producer now working in Hollywood.”

Of course, I enjoy the dig at I’m Not There, but the whole post is worth a read, if only for the novelty of watching an academic explain why a “dumb” Hollywood movie is a lot smarter than knee-jerk critical cynicism would lead us to believe.