What If Atlas Shrugged And No One Was There To See It?

[babylonsister]

What If Atlas Shrugged And No One Was There To See It?
Posted by: Mark @ 11:01 am



The film version of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s soporific paean to malevolent ego-centrism, has finally been released to the throngs of slobbering Tea Baggers desperate for some cinematic validation. Sadly for these pathetic flim(flam) buffs, this flick hardly fills the void in their lost souls.

The movie is being released as “Part 1″ with the promise of two more in the unlikely event that this one turns a profit. But the circumstances of its production foretell its dreary fate. Producer John Aglialoro has stated publicly that he was forced to commence production a few days short of the expiration of his rights to the book. As a result it was hurried into production without a script or a cast. He also admitted that casting was difficult because “Talent agencies were not sending us many of their top people.” Apparently no one of note wanted to be associated with a project that had been aborted on numerous occasions. That’s why one of the most popular books of the last half century is coming to the screen with unknown TV talent in the leads. The director complained that he didn’t have the necessary time to make the movie he wanted to make. It’s almost as if the principals are preemptively making excuses for why the movie sucks so bad. And they aren’t the the only ones who think so. The reviews have been merciless:

Roger Ebert: “The most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault. I suspect only someone very familiar with Rand’s 1957 novel could understand the film at all, and I doubt they will be happy with it.”

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: “The book was published in 1957, yet the clumsiness of this production makes it seem antediluvian.”

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: “It has taken decades to bring Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to the big screen. They should have waited longer.”

Kurt Loder, Reason Online: “The new, long-awaited film version of Atlas Shrugged is a mess, full of embalmed talk, enervated performances, impoverished effects, and cinematography that would barely pass muster in a TV show. Sitting through this picture is like watching early rehearsals of a stage play that’s clearly doomed.”

Peter Dubruge, Variety: “Part one of a trilogy that may never see completion, this hasty, low-budget adaptation would have Ayn Rand spinning in her grave.”

Washington Post: “Nearly as stilted, didactic and simplistic as Rand’s free-market fable.”

Some of the most damning criticism highlighted above comes from those who might otherwise be considered the film’s target audience, for instance the Wall Street Journal (Fox’s newsprint cousin) and Reason Magazine (the imprint of Randian Libertarianism).

more...

http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=4264

[trotsky]

1. LMAO at the Wash. Post quote.

:)

[HopeHoops]

2. Isn't that what happened?

:shrug:

[C_U_L8R]

3. Sounds like Atlas

threw up a little in his mouth at this lameass Randian bullshit

[Pab Sungenis]

4. How appropriate that the biggest name in the film

is Quark from Deep Space Nine.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. The producer dissing his cast is just unreal. That really stinks.

Also ironic that they sought out Union talent to make the film, and that they are whining about the free market that allowed so many to say thanks but no thanks to the movie to nowhere. They don't seem very Randian, hiring Union, expecting to be able to buy skills from the few who have them without the requisite money and abilities.

[rbixby]

9. Can you even make a non-union movie though?

I mean I guess if you did it all with handheld camcorders and amateur talent (both onscreen and production staff), but I guess that's kind of what they ended up with anyway.

[Javaman]

6. I love this part...

"Producer John Aglialoro has stated publicly that he was forced to commence production a few days short of the expiration of his rights to the book. As a result it was hurried into production without a script or a cast."

Three things jump out at me: 1) the book is well known to be a moronic pile of sophomoric fabricated repuke fantasy shit. 2) the guy is a liar 3) if you can't get a fucking script together with the time alloted when you option its rights, then the problem is not with it being "rushed", the problem is the halfwit of a filmmakers has no fucking idea in the world what the fuck he was doing.

While many a casting agent probably passed on this work for very obvious reasons, one glaring reason is if you, as a producer, go into a meeting on a picture you want to make and are so completely inept and unprepared, the agent and or the "star" will smell a pile of shit joe amateur production a mile away and will leave insulted at having their time wasted.

No, John Aglialoro, the problem is with you and your lazy ass inability to actually put together a movie. Granted a pile of shit movie based on a pile of shit book, but never the less, the fault still is on your head. If you can't put together, at the very least, a pitch package within a week of getting the rights to any property, then you are a fucking failure as a filmmaker and should try going into some other line of work.

If you want to get a star attached to any project, you better damn well have all your ducks in a row, you better damn well have a lawyer on retainer and you better damn well have a go between.

bottom line: this guy didn't know what the fuck he was doing and now he's blaming everyone and everything other than himself. The biggest blame, however that he will never take, is trying to turn a turd into gold.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

7. Proud Graduate of the Ed Wood School of Movie Making?

Actually, that's not fair to Ed Wood.

[MedleyMisty]

8. So he's a typical Randian

Sounds just like a corporate executive/Republican politican/bankster.

If only they'd made bad movies instead of wrecking the country.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Some guy on e-bay is trying to sell "Atlas Shrugged" stickers on ebay for 99 cents.

I loved his comments. He's not doing it to make money, but to cover his costs so he can buy more.

I think you'll find it if you do a search for vinyl stickers.