Network ...the movie...

[stillcool]

the original.. will be on TCM on Oct 12, at 2am eastern.

[MnFats]

1. I'm Mad as HELL, and I'm not going to talk it any more!!!

great line.
that movie was seen as over-the-top when it came out but it has turned out to be prescient and prophetic.

[CBGLuthier]

3. When satire becomes prophecy

Make you wonder just what the world is all about some days.

I wonder how the hell Clooney will make it still seem satirical with his live rebroadcast. All the over-the-top stuff is just another day on cable.

One interesting thing to watch for in Network. As the film progresses the lighting becomse shinier and shiner more like a commercial.

Saw an interview with Sidney Lumet (one of the greatest of directors) where he said that was an intentional choice he made.

Speaking of Lumet, they are running an hour long interview with him earlier that night followed by another of his excellent movies, The Pawnbroker.

I refer to Lumet as the greatest director that isn't a household name.

Among his many movies;
12 Angry Men
Fail-Safe
The Hill
The Anderson Tapes
Serpico
Murder on the Orient Express
Dog Day Afternoon
Network
Equus
The Wiz
Prince of the City
Deathtrap
The Verdict

Pretty damn good resume.

[stillcool]

5. Thanks for that info...

i've had 'Network' on my Direct tv's wishlist for forever, and it just came up recently...i'll record the others as well, now that i know:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Because I'm anal-retentive

I have to point out that the actual line by Howard Beale (Peter Finch) was "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Here's the whole bit, courtesy of IMDB:

Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

[stillcool]

9. hey...where'd you get that?..

i'd love to have the other rant about the corporations running everything...
whoops..nevermind...just googled...thanks:hi:

[BrklynLiberal]

2. It should be on prime time. Thanks for the heads up!

:hi:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. I'm Mad As Hell That It's Going To Be On That Late!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

What a great movie!

Someone mentioned that George Clooney intends to remake it. Why??? Just get the original back into theaters.

[NYCGirl]

10. Clooney is doing it as a LIVE TV play on CBS.

It could be fascinating.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. That I didn't know! Just the Live factor could be loads of fun to watch.

Thanks for letting me know!

On edit... Paddy Chayefski wrote the screenplay and used to do tv plays. I wonder if he originally meant for Network to be done in that format.

[NYCGirl]

13. Interesting thought. He very well might have written it for TV. NT

[Colonel Bat Guano]

7. Network is worth buying on DVD

TCM unfortunately will censor the, eh, salty language. Better than a typical network run, at least no commercials, but you're not really getting the whole thing. You can probably find it on DVD for ten bucks or so, it's worth it.

It was amazing to me on rewatching the movie about five years ago that Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall are essentially running a template for what Fox Network and Fox News became about twenty years later. The characters still make it fascinating but I kind of wonder about the new live version. How do you make current a satire about a wild change that became the establishment years ago? I did love the live "Fail Safe", though...and I am looking forward to hearing reports of people actually shouting "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!" out the window as the show is airing....

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. I missed Clooney's 'Fail Safe'

I was working that night. Shoulda taped it. :banghead:

How was it compared to the original (which I have on DVD and consider a must-see)?

[NYCGirl]

12. No, TCM does not censor language. You'll be getting the whole movie

uncut, in its original aspect ratio and with no commercials. TCM is a gem.

[CBGLuthier]

15. The only bad thing about the proper ratio

Is when they showed it full frame you could see Faye Dunaway's nipples. Never intended in the original but opening the frame up they peeked out in a scene. :-)

[CBGLuthier]

14. No they do NOT censor

That is why they run it so late. they have vowed to never censor a movie.

Trust me. It will be gloriously uncut.

[iamahaingttta]

16. Obviously, Network is one of my favorites!

And, I'm convinced that when it was released, Rupert Murdoch had an epiphany!
Our public discourse has been going to shit ever since...