Network
I just got back from a dinner where the discussion turned to Network. We were all saying how much we loved the character of Laureen Hobbs, the ferocious little black woman who Faye Dunaway uses as her "in" with the liberation army that she'd like to transform into reality television stars. Her monologue that begins, "He plague! He's smallpox! He's typhoid! I don't want to follow his goddamn show!" is a great moment in the film. What a little thunderbolt of a performance.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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I love Network. I think Finch, Dunaway, and Straight were all deserving winners. My funk was, oddly enough, Jason Robards's win for All the President's Men (a film I adore). I would have voted for Burgess Meredith in Rocky. You're all going to hate me, I know, but se la vie.
Yes, Holden was good, but Finch was zany. And Finch was definitely a lead.
Yes, Holden was good, but Finch was zany. And Finch was definitely a lead.
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NY Post - Liz Smith Column
February 23, 2006 -- 'I'M AS MAD as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
That was Peter Finch's great rant in the famous 1976 film "Network," which was all about the rise of TV news and infotainment. (Finch was awarded an Oscar - posthumously - and Faye Dunaway also took the statuette for Best Actress.)
Well, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's satire from 30 years ago, has turned, scarily, into our daily dose of small-screen reality. And because everything old is new again - especially when it is so relevant - "Network" will be remade for television by CBS. Although the rumor of such a project has been around for years, Les Moonves, the CEO of the Tiffany Network, made it official at the TV Critics Association Convention in Pasadena a few weeks back.
The last time the rumor floated, it featured George Clooney, who said he would direct. (The actor was then in the midst of doing publicity for his Edward R. Murrow flick, "Good Night, and Good Luck.") Clooney also revealed that because it was Moonves who suggested the remake, he would actually cast the TV titan himself as . . . a TV titan. He wanted Moonves for the Ned Beatty role.
So the film is going ahead, and Les Moonves, who once acted for a living, says he will take the role of the network chief. He thinks it's "a fun part." (Moonves also said he expects the remake to be as scathing as the original. "Everything works today . . . it's not dated at all!") But Clooney, with all those Oscar nominations on his plate, has changed his mind - he won't be the director. Perhaps he has had enough of examining the sociopolitical world of television?
No cast has been announced, but allow me to suggest Diane Lane in the Dunaway role of the crazily ambitious Diana Christensen. And perhaps Anthony Hopkins as the desperately unhinged anchorman?
Fans of the original movie can look forward to Warner Home Video releasing a 30th-anniversary DVD next week. Fans of Paddy Chayefsky can dip into Shaun Considine's bio on the screenwriter, "Mad As Hell," which has been reissued.
AP 2/22/06
Lumet Recalls 'Network,' 30 Years Later
By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer
While George Clooney's Oscar-nominated "Good Night, and Good Luck" looks back at a halcyon era of broadcast journalism, 1976's "Network" saw a future that three decades later makes the film seem eerily prophetic.
The story about newscaster Howard Beale "the first known instance of a man who was killed because of lousy ratings" remains the pre-eminent satire about the encroachment of entertainment values into TV news.
Sidney Lumet, who directed Paddy Chayefsky's legendary script, believes that every absurdity, every sacrifice of ethics for the sake of a "50 share" depicted in "Network" has come to pass save for the airing of Beale's murder.
"That's the only part of `Network' that hasn't happened yet, and that's on its way," the 81-year-old Lumet says, fidgeting behind the desk of his Manhattan office, perched seven stories above the din of Broadway theaters.
The occasion of the director's reminiscence is the 30th anniversary of "Network," celebrated with a two-disc special edition DVD coming out Tuesday along with Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon."
Lumet's feelings about TV today might be explained simply by the large, dusty, antiquated television set sitting beside him.
"I think everybody's got much more information, and is much less intelligent," he says.
Nowadays, he says, there are few people who aren't "television babies" who "learned life from Bugs Bunny," as William Holden's pre-TV era newsman judged Faye Dunaway's bloodless network exec in "Network."
Lumet's career began in television, notably directing CBS' "You Are There," anchored by Walter Cronkite. (The show, offered re-enactments of historical events, thus blending show-biz with news.) On the "Network" DVD, Cronkite, a good friend of Lumet's, remembers first watching the film with his CBS cohorts.
"We howled with laughter, rolled over on the floor with the depiction of (TV news)," he says.
But Cronkite says he considered "Network" an exaggeration and recalls being concerned people would think it represented the truth about TV news.
Today, some would say it does.
In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel wrote, "The goal of the traditional broadcast networks now is to identify those segments of the audience considered most desirable by the advertising community and then to cater to them."
Lumet says his main regret is that Chayefsky, who died of cancer in 1981, isn't around to see how right he was.
"He was prescient. What can I tell you? He was a Jewish soothsayer," Lumet says. "One of the things I admire stylistically is how he was able to give you the bitter pill with such good laughs."
Of course, in the iconic scene of "Network," Beale (Peter Finch, the first posthumous best-actor Oscar winner) infuses one phrase permanently into the vernacular: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
His vein-popping shout, as he urged viewers to do likewise, is movie magic. Lumet didn't know it would have the effect it did, but witnessed it catching on immediately. At the movie's very first showing, he says, the audience answered Beale's call, yelling back at the screen.
Moviegoers might remember Clooney doing an impression of the line in Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight." Obviously the film has influenced Clooney in October, he said he was planning on a live TV update of "Network." (The actor also executive-produced a live TV version of Lumet's 1964 Cold War drama "Fail Safe" in 2000.)
"When you've got a piece of good dramatic literature, it should have as many lives as possible," says Lumet, who directed big screen versions of the plays "Long Day's Journey into Night" and "The Sea Gull." "I think (Clooney) is conducting a very honorable career."
"Good Night, and Good Luck," which chronicles Edward R. Murrow's stand against Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is nominated for six Oscars including best picture. Though "Network" was nominated for 10 Oscars and took home four, it lost best picture.
Lumet helped actors win 17 Oscars for performances in his films (including Finch, Dunaway and Beatrice Straight in "Network"). But The director always was shut out.
"I'm not a fantasist and I never think I'm going to win," he says. "And I'm also not a competitive man, but on two occasions I got so pissed off about what beat us. With `Network,' we were beaten out by `Rocky,' for Christ's sake." (Lumet also admits to being "a little contemptuous" about "The Verdict" losing in 1983 to "Gandhi.")
Last year, though, Lumet finally got his Oscar a lifetime achievement award. His acceptance speech was hailed for its eloquence: "I guess I'd like to thank the movies."
"There's a continuum here," he explains. "None of us are working alone and that continuum is now 100 years old; people don't realize that."
Lumet has no qualms with the amount of recognition he's received: "God knows I've got no complaints about my career. I've had a very good time and gotten some good work done."
As he often does, he stresses the word "work" not "art" or even "films" but simple, unpretentious "work."
He's never been an overt, ostentatious stylist. One of the pleasures of his commentary on the "Network" DVD is hearing him trace the subtle, slow "corrupting" of the camera as it moves from naturalistic to "like a Ford commercial."
In Lumet's 1995 book, "Making Movies," he offers a no-nonsense guide to the topic as well as this description of "Network":
"To borrow from the NRA, TV doesn't corrupt people; people corrupt people."
Lumet is still firmly wedged behind the camera. Next month, his latest film, "Find Me Guilty," hits theaters. It stars Vin Diesel as a mobster who successfully defended himself in a two-year trial.
Meanwhile, Lumet is working on another picture retirement is not for him.
"I'm just not geared for that. I get so much from work," he says. "(Making movies) is physically hard, and I'm getting old now, so it's going to be harder. But I don't think I want to stop. I can't imagine stopping."
February 23, 2006 -- 'I'M AS MAD as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
That was Peter Finch's great rant in the famous 1976 film "Network," which was all about the rise of TV news and infotainment. (Finch was awarded an Oscar - posthumously - and Faye Dunaway also took the statuette for Best Actress.)
Well, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's satire from 30 years ago, has turned, scarily, into our daily dose of small-screen reality. And because everything old is new again - especially when it is so relevant - "Network" will be remade for television by CBS. Although the rumor of such a project has been around for years, Les Moonves, the CEO of the Tiffany Network, made it official at the TV Critics Association Convention in Pasadena a few weeks back.
The last time the rumor floated, it featured George Clooney, who said he would direct. (The actor was then in the midst of doing publicity for his Edward R. Murrow flick, "Good Night, and Good Luck.") Clooney also revealed that because it was Moonves who suggested the remake, he would actually cast the TV titan himself as . . . a TV titan. He wanted Moonves for the Ned Beatty role.
So the film is going ahead, and Les Moonves, who once acted for a living, says he will take the role of the network chief. He thinks it's "a fun part." (Moonves also said he expects the remake to be as scathing as the original. "Everything works today . . . it's not dated at all!") But Clooney, with all those Oscar nominations on his plate, has changed his mind - he won't be the director. Perhaps he has had enough of examining the sociopolitical world of television?
No cast has been announced, but allow me to suggest Diane Lane in the Dunaway role of the crazily ambitious Diana Christensen. And perhaps Anthony Hopkins as the desperately unhinged anchorman?
Fans of the original movie can look forward to Warner Home Video releasing a 30th-anniversary DVD next week. Fans of Paddy Chayefsky can dip into Shaun Considine's bio on the screenwriter, "Mad As Hell," which has been reissued.
AP 2/22/06
Lumet Recalls 'Network,' 30 Years Later
By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer
While George Clooney's Oscar-nominated "Good Night, and Good Luck" looks back at a halcyon era of broadcast journalism, 1976's "Network" saw a future that three decades later makes the film seem eerily prophetic.
The story about newscaster Howard Beale "the first known instance of a man who was killed because of lousy ratings" remains the pre-eminent satire about the encroachment of entertainment values into TV news.
Sidney Lumet, who directed Paddy Chayefsky's legendary script, believes that every absurdity, every sacrifice of ethics for the sake of a "50 share" depicted in "Network" has come to pass save for the airing of Beale's murder.
"That's the only part of `Network' that hasn't happened yet, and that's on its way," the 81-year-old Lumet says, fidgeting behind the desk of his Manhattan office, perched seven stories above the din of Broadway theaters.
The occasion of the director's reminiscence is the 30th anniversary of "Network," celebrated with a two-disc special edition DVD coming out Tuesday along with Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon."
Lumet's feelings about TV today might be explained simply by the large, dusty, antiquated television set sitting beside him.
"I think everybody's got much more information, and is much less intelligent," he says.
Nowadays, he says, there are few people who aren't "television babies" who "learned life from Bugs Bunny," as William Holden's pre-TV era newsman judged Faye Dunaway's bloodless network exec in "Network."
Lumet's career began in television, notably directing CBS' "You Are There," anchored by Walter Cronkite. (The show, offered re-enactments of historical events, thus blending show-biz with news.) On the "Network" DVD, Cronkite, a good friend of Lumet's, remembers first watching the film with his CBS cohorts.
"We howled with laughter, rolled over on the floor with the depiction of (TV news)," he says.
But Cronkite says he considered "Network" an exaggeration and recalls being concerned people would think it represented the truth about TV news.
Today, some would say it does.
In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel wrote, "The goal of the traditional broadcast networks now is to identify those segments of the audience considered most desirable by the advertising community and then to cater to them."
Lumet says his main regret is that Chayefsky, who died of cancer in 1981, isn't around to see how right he was.
"He was prescient. What can I tell you? He was a Jewish soothsayer," Lumet says. "One of the things I admire stylistically is how he was able to give you the bitter pill with such good laughs."
Of course, in the iconic scene of "Network," Beale (Peter Finch, the first posthumous best-actor Oscar winner) infuses one phrase permanently into the vernacular: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
His vein-popping shout, as he urged viewers to do likewise, is movie magic. Lumet didn't know it would have the effect it did, but witnessed it catching on immediately. At the movie's very first showing, he says, the audience answered Beale's call, yelling back at the screen.
Moviegoers might remember Clooney doing an impression of the line in Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight." Obviously the film has influenced Clooney in October, he said he was planning on a live TV update of "Network." (The actor also executive-produced a live TV version of Lumet's 1964 Cold War drama "Fail Safe" in 2000.)
"When you've got a piece of good dramatic literature, it should have as many lives as possible," says Lumet, who directed big screen versions of the plays "Long Day's Journey into Night" and "The Sea Gull." "I think (Clooney) is conducting a very honorable career."
"Good Night, and Good Luck," which chronicles Edward R. Murrow's stand against Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is nominated for six Oscars including best picture. Though "Network" was nominated for 10 Oscars and took home four, it lost best picture.
Lumet helped actors win 17 Oscars for performances in his films (including Finch, Dunaway and Beatrice Straight in "Network"). But The director always was shut out.
"I'm not a fantasist and I never think I'm going to win," he says. "And I'm also not a competitive man, but on two occasions I got so pissed off about what beat us. With `Network,' we were beaten out by `Rocky,' for Christ's sake." (Lumet also admits to being "a little contemptuous" about "The Verdict" losing in 1983 to "Gandhi.")
Last year, though, Lumet finally got his Oscar a lifetime achievement award. His acceptance speech was hailed for its eloquence: "I guess I'd like to thank the movies."
"There's a continuum here," he explains. "None of us are working alone and that continuum is now 100 years old; people don't realize that."
Lumet has no qualms with the amount of recognition he's received: "God knows I've got no complaints about my career. I've had a very good time and gotten some good work done."
As he often does, he stresses the word "work" not "art" or even "films" but simple, unpretentious "work."
He's never been an overt, ostentatious stylist. One of the pleasures of his commentary on the "Network" DVD is hearing him trace the subtle, slow "corrupting" of the camera as it moves from naturalistic to "like a Ford commercial."
In Lumet's 1995 book, "Making Movies," he offers a no-nonsense guide to the topic as well as this description of "Network":
"To borrow from the NRA, TV doesn't corrupt people; people corrupt people."
Lumet is still firmly wedged behind the camera. Next month, his latest film, "Find Me Guilty," hits theaters. It stars Vin Diesel as a mobster who successfully defended himself in a two-year trial.
Meanwhile, Lumet is working on another picture retirement is not for him.
"I'm just not geared for that. I get so much from work," he says. "(Making movies) is physically hard, and I'm getting old now, so it's going to be harder. But I don't think I want to stop. I can't imagine stopping."
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Big Magilla
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Don't forget Janet Suzman, who's listed among the all-star cast, but is gone from the film before the opening credits are even over!
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Damien wrote:(Mason Wiley, who was into Star Power, went off to sit by himself so he could pay attention to Faye, Oskar Werner, et al.).
I guess I'm the only one around here who actually enjoyed Voyage of the Damned - mainly because of the ''star power''. I've always been a sucker for Faye Dunaway and I thought she was a hoot dressed to her teeth and wearing a monocle to boot. I liked Oskar Werner and Katharine Ross (a great sight in garter and bra), was moved by Dame Wendy Hiller and thought Lee Grant was campy. The latter was probably nominated for her hysterical scene where she cuts off her hair. Let's see who else was in this? Orson Welles hardly registers while Ben Gazzara adds to the star wattage. Max von Sydow is dignified as the captain while Malcolm McDowell, playing a sympathetic character for once, still comes across as pretty creepy. James Mason is wasted as is Julie Harris. Lynne Frederick, Jose Ferrer, Maria Schell, Luther Adler, Denholm Elliott, Sam Wanamaker and Nehemia Persoff round out the ''star power''. A great cast!
Tee, I saw Voyage of the Damned with about 8 friends at an otherwise empty Loew's Astor Plaza on a Sunday night. It didn't take long for us to start hooting and talking back to the screen. (Mason Wiley, who was into Star Power, went off to sit by himself so he could pay attention to Faye, Oskar Werner, et al.).
My favorite moment, someone comments "There's been an outbreak of anti-Semitism in Argentina," to which my friend George responded, "Yes, it just started this morning."
If with Save The Tiger Steve Shagan seemed like the Poor Man's Paddy Chayefsky, here he was definitely the Poor Man's Abby Mann.
My favorite moment, someone comments "There's been an outbreak of anti-Semitism in Argentina," to which my friend George responded, "Yes, it just started this morning."
If with Save The Tiger Steve Shagan seemed like the Poor Man's Paddy Chayefsky, here he was definitely the Poor Man's Abby Mann.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Mister Tee
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Damien, I went through the same progression with you on Bound for Glory in late '76 -- first thinking it might be the year's masterpiece (I seem to recall an early Variety review being a rave), then being disappointed in the "great-looking but dramatically inert" preponderance of reviews (which ran counter to my own opinion), and then finally being surprised on nominations day when it managed the best picture nomination despite its lack of box-office success. A least its presence on the best film slate helped it win the cinematography award it clearly deserved.
Voyage of the Damned may be one of the worst films ever nominated for multiple Oscars -- and surely one of the worst ever cited by the usually more discerning writers. (Granted it was a ghastly year for adaptation screenplay -- Casanova was pretty dreadful, too, and Seven Per Cent Solution mediocre at best; All the President's Men probably won 70% or so of the vote) But Voyage wasn't just a bad movie; it was virtually incoherent. I remember thinking while watching that reels must have been mixed up -- a major Hollywood film couldn't make as little sense as it appeared to.
Voyage of the Damned may be one of the worst films ever nominated for multiple Oscars -- and surely one of the worst ever cited by the usually more discerning writers. (Granted it was a ghastly year for adaptation screenplay -- Casanova was pretty dreadful, too, and Seven Per Cent Solution mediocre at best; All the President's Men probably won 70% or so of the vote) But Voyage wasn't just a bad movie; it was virtually incoherent. I remember thinking while watching that reels must have been mixed up -- a major Hollywood film couldn't make as little sense as it appeared to.
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Big Magilla
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Bound For Glory and Voyage of the Damned are readily available on DVD. Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams was released years ago on VHS.
Chayefsky's dialogue was bizarrely over the top, but Lumet's direction is another matter entirely.
I just happened to listen to Lumet's commentary on The Morning After the other evening. It's hilarious. The man doesn't have have a clue how bad the movie is, though he does acknowledge that the script had problems. Oddly out of all his movies, this is the one he picked to do a commentary track on. The commentary confirmed the impression I've always had of him that he directs by staying out of the way while the set designer, cosutume designer, cameraman and especially the actors do their job. For most of the film he is awe of Jane Fonda, talking about how he's known her since she was 17 and so on, and then at the end of the film says he hasn't Jane or Jeff Bridges in years and has no idea what their lives are like today.
Chayefsky's dialogue was bizarrely over the top, but Lumet's direction is another matter entirely.
I just happened to listen to Lumet's commentary on The Morning After the other evening. It's hilarious. The man doesn't have have a clue how bad the movie is, though he does acknowledge that the script had problems. Oddly out of all his movies, this is the one he picked to do a commentary track on. The commentary confirmed the impression I've always had of him that he directs by staying out of the way while the set designer, cosutume designer, cameraman and especially the actors do their job. For most of the film he is awe of Jane Fonda, talking about how he's known her since she was 17 and so on, and then at the end of the film says he hasn't Jane or Jeff Bridges in years and has no idea what their lives are like today.
NOBODY speaks like that, but a godawful meopausal mad screenwriter writes like that. Jeez, Paddy Chayefsky was dreadful -- phony, smug, cranky, self-satisfied, holier-than-thou. condescending, and not half-as-clever as he thinks he is.Reza wrote:Was most of William Holden's dialogue intentionally so artificial? Nobody in real life speaks like that - those long and passionate exchanges between Holden and Dunaway. Despite the artificiality, Holden comes through with one of his best (and most underrated) performances. He should have won his second Oscar (Finch should have been nominated in the supporting category instead).
Paddy Chayefsky and Sidney Lumet -- now there's a marriage made in hell.
That said, I agree with you Reza that Holden deserved to win (at least among that group of nominees). Its a forceful yet surprisingly tender and self-aware performance. He is such an underrated actor (the self-loathing he quietly conveys in Sunset Boulevard is just brilliant). It's sad that you can't look at his work, though, without being reminded of, and infuriated by, the stupid way in which he died.
Interestingly in light of Good Night and Good Luck, Holden's Network character was based on Fred Friendly. I had Fred as a professor in 1977 and he was very flattered that he had been portrayed by Bill Holden -- imagine how he'd feel if he knew that George Clooney was portraying him now.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Bound For Glory shows up every now and then on TCM -- I taped it from there a couple years ago.
Back in 1976, Bound For Glory was one of the most anticipated end-of-the-year movies, especially by me and all my lefty friends. I was shocked when it turned out to be a major bomb. I saw it right after it opened and also took my parents to see it 6 weeks or so later when it made its way to Connecticut.
I was also shocked and furious that National Board of Review winner David Carradine wasn't nominated but Peter Finch, Sylvester Stallone [not that that was unexpected] and Giancarlo Giannini were. But then again, given the film's box-office performance, it's surprising tha the Academy had the good sense to nominate it for Best Picture -- those were different times.
Flipp, I saw 'Voyage of the Damned', Jacquelline Susann's 'Once is Not Enough', and 'Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams' when they were first released, but not since then. You're right, they do eem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Would love to see the hilarious Once Is Not Enough again both to laugh it the hot lezzie action between Melina and Alexis and to admire anew David Janssen's terrific performance) but you couldn't pay me to sit through the god-awful Voyage of the Damned.
Back in 1976, Bound For Glory was one of the most anticipated end-of-the-year movies, especially by me and all my lefty friends. I was shocked when it turned out to be a major bomb. I saw it right after it opened and also took my parents to see it 6 weeks or so later when it made its way to Connecticut.
I was also shocked and furious that National Board of Review winner David Carradine wasn't nominated but Peter Finch, Sylvester Stallone [not that that was unexpected] and Giancarlo Giannini were. But then again, given the film's box-office performance, it's surprising tha the Academy had the good sense to nominate it for Best Picture -- those were different times.
Flipp, I saw 'Voyage of the Damned', Jacquelline Susann's 'Once is Not Enough', and 'Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams' when they were first released, but not since then. You're right, they do eem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Would love to see the hilarious Once Is Not Enough again both to laugh it the hot lezzie action between Melina and Alexis and to admire anew David Janssen's terrific performance) but you couldn't pay me to sit through the god-awful Voyage of the Damned.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Big Magilla
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Temporary insanity? I screwed up? Take your pick. Right now I'm having a fit because the McAfree anti-virus software which is free with Comcast won't download because it is being blocked by my Aluria software which I paid for but which has nw expired but won't uninstall and, of course, none of the suggested "fixes" work! Damn computer nonsense!Reza wrote:Big Magilla wrote:Bottom line, though, is that All the President's Men, not Taxi Driver, not Network and certainly not Rocky, was my choice for best picture then and remains so.
If All the President's Men is your top film of 1976, then why is Taxi Driver at the top of your 1976 list on the other thread?
Anyhow, Taxi Driver is my favorite Scorsese film, though my only Scorses "winner" is GoodFellas so when ranking Scorsese films I would wnt to place Taxi Driver above it, but then I must remember to place All the President's Men above that. I guess I should update that thread at some point.
Reza wrote:(sadly Bound for Glory, which I've yet to see, is a hard film to find).
'Bound for Glory' is a great film. It has a kind of 'Grapes of Wrath' meets 'Coal Miner's Daughter' cross-genre feel. David Carradine gives a great performance as Woody Guthrie and I remember really liking Melinda Dillon and Gail Stricklands's work in the film as well.
I found it in a video store in Tokyo a couple years ago. Japanese video stores are as big as supermarkets and have almost every American film ever made, including a lot of obsure Oscar-nominated films. I marked a lot off my list in 13 months of living there. I think my most notable finds that year were the below-mentioned 'Voyage of the Damned', Jacquelline Susann's 'Once is Not Enough', and 'Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams' - all virtually impossible to locate it seems.
On-topic: Personally, I love Beatrice Straight's big scene in 'Network'. It seems to come out of nowhere but it packs quite a punch and does seem very real and truthful in such a campy satire.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Big Magilla wrote:Bottom line, though, is that All the President's Men, not Taxi Driver, not Network and certainly not Rocky, was my choice for best picture then and remains so.
If All the President's Men is your top film of 1976, then why is Taxi Driver at the top of your 1976 list on the other thread?
It is interesting to read everyone's comments on Network - especially Damien's vicious attack! For me it remains an enjoyably, campy film and the most ''entertaining'' of the four films on the list I've seen (sadly Bound for Glory, which I've yet to see, is a hard film to find). Was most of William Holden's dialogue intentionally so artificial? Nobody in real life speaks like that - those long and passionate exchanges between Holden and Dunaway. Despite the artificiality, Holden comes through with one of his best (and most underrated) performances. He should have won his second Oscar (Finch should have been nominated in the supporting category instead). I agree Dunaway won because it was felt she was due - and I'm glad she did win. It has been mostly downhill ever since for her. I personally thought she deserved a nod for Mommie Dearest but the film suffered a backlash. Her only other good performance was in Barfly. Sad that such a big star has been reduced to making cameo appearances in countless films that are rubbish. Straight's win, although a surprise, was the best of the bunch. Miranda Richardson was nominated many years later for a very similar role in Damage. Both characters hysterically and tearfully berate their husbands over extra marital affairs they are having. Such scenes usually guarantee Oscar nods.