(no subject)
So, I watched Game Change,
I love politics, and American politics is so much like a soap opera that I follow it rabidly, despite being neither American or generally a masochist. When this campaign was happening I was glued to the internet (being in South America) and I remember thinking that the choice of Sarah Palin had to be either genius or lunacy. Guess which side I came down on.
This movie did little to change that opinion, which I'm sure was not its aim. At this point everyone is pretty sure about how they feel about Palin, and from what I can tell opinion is either in the love or hate category with very little in between. The book, which I haven't read and now really want to, apparently focused on all the campaigns, including Obama's, Hillary's and John Edwards'. That was definitely too wide a scope to cover here, and I think the producers made a good choice to focus in.
As to the execution, it was an incredibly well-cast movie. Julianne Moore was spooky as Sarah Palin, and even the Palin children were eerily similar. I couldn't pick a weak performance among the bunch, but Woody Harrelson and Sarah Paulson stole their scenes, in my opinion. There were a few lines that really struck me, either for making me laugh or making me think:
"Sarah Palin will be seen as a self-serving political manoeuvre. You might not only lose the election, John, you just might lose your reputation along with it."
This line slayed me. SLAYED I TELL YOU. It pretty much encapsulated, for me, the fallout from Palin onto John McCain, and if Mark Salter actually said something similar to that then I'd quite like him to pick my lottery numbers.
"Thank you for cutting your mullet, Levi, I sure do appreciate it."
Hilarious.
The scene with the foreign policy advisors who are reduced to explaining who the enemy in WWII were I thought had to be made up, because come on. Come. On. Really? I know the US education system has a terrible reputation but surely not. However, I then read an article (which of course may be untrue) saying that this book was so researched and on-point that they wouldn't put in a single thing that wasn't verifiable and backed up by multiple sources. If that is true and that scene (along with the Queen comment) or one like it actually happened, I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or crawl under my duvet and never come out.
The person I ended up feeling the most empathy with was Nicolle Wallace, played flawlessly by Sarah Paulson. The build up to the Katie Couric clusterfuck was so well acted, tense in the extreme, and the pay off with her "Yeah, because you're just like Hillary" line was beyond satisfying. This incredibly intelligent, experienced woman slowly realising that the possible future President is about as qualified as a Toddlers and Tiaras contestant was, for me, the real backbone of the film. It was another layer of the central theme of the film, played out from beginning to end between these two women, of "the dark side of American populism". Nicolle Wallace had the skill and the knowledge; Sarah Palin had the charisma and the star power, and that is what wins elections. I'd rather have Wallace with her finger on the red button any day.
Basically, a fun movie, depending on which side of the Palin issue you fall. If you love her, you'll probably hate it, if you hate her, you'll want to punch the people who brought her in and probably her, too.
Also,
Okay. This hurts me to say. I didn't like it. I really didn't like it. Maybe I started off on the wrong foot, because it took me six downloads before I found one that freaking played, and that included two repacks that didn't fix the issue. So I probably had some kind of unconscious elevated expectation, but whatever.
I've been thinking about why I hated it so much and I think I've nailed it down. It was too all over the place for me. The TSA metaphor could have been awesome! Yes, encroaching on our private lives, checking our assholes, watching us poop, so much potential!! But the Clyde's mom thing? And the sue-ance? So what, is it an episode on privacy issues related to over-governing, or about frivolous lawsuits and litigious, blame shirking society? This should have been two episodes, people! Also, Cartman, WHAT THE FUCK? Since when is HE advocating for maturity and level-headedness? I would have thought he'd have kidnapped a TSA worker at the start, not stand behind someone ELSE at a podium and nod. It bothered me.
However, Butters remains amazing.
Disclaimer: I am almost certainly over invested in South Park.
I love politics, and American politics is so much like a soap opera that I follow it rabidly, despite being neither American or generally a masochist. When this campaign was happening I was glued to the internet (being in South America) and I remember thinking that the choice of Sarah Palin had to be either genius or lunacy. Guess which side I came down on.
This movie did little to change that opinion, which I'm sure was not its aim. At this point everyone is pretty sure about how they feel about Palin, and from what I can tell opinion is either in the love or hate category with very little in between. The book, which I haven't read and now really want to, apparently focused on all the campaigns, including Obama's, Hillary's and John Edwards'. That was definitely too wide a scope to cover here, and I think the producers made a good choice to focus in.
As to the execution, it was an incredibly well-cast movie. Julianne Moore was spooky as Sarah Palin, and even the Palin children were eerily similar. I couldn't pick a weak performance among the bunch, but Woody Harrelson and Sarah Paulson stole their scenes, in my opinion. There were a few lines that really struck me, either for making me laugh or making me think:
"Sarah Palin will be seen as a self-serving political manoeuvre. You might not only lose the election, John, you just might lose your reputation along with it."
This line slayed me. SLAYED I TELL YOU. It pretty much encapsulated, for me, the fallout from Palin onto John McCain, and if Mark Salter actually said something similar to that then I'd quite like him to pick my lottery numbers.
"Thank you for cutting your mullet, Levi, I sure do appreciate it."
Hilarious.
The scene with the foreign policy advisors who are reduced to explaining who the enemy in WWII were I thought had to be made up, because come on. Come. On. Really? I know the US education system has a terrible reputation but surely not. However, I then read an article (which of course may be untrue) saying that this book was so researched and on-point that they wouldn't put in a single thing that wasn't verifiable and backed up by multiple sources. If that is true and that scene (along with the Queen comment) or one like it actually happened, I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or crawl under my duvet and never come out.
The person I ended up feeling the most empathy with was Nicolle Wallace, played flawlessly by Sarah Paulson. The build up to the Katie Couric clusterfuck was so well acted, tense in the extreme, and the pay off with her "Yeah, because you're just like Hillary" line was beyond satisfying. This incredibly intelligent, experienced woman slowly realising that the possible future President is about as qualified as a Toddlers and Tiaras contestant was, for me, the real backbone of the film. It was another layer of the central theme of the film, played out from beginning to end between these two women, of "the dark side of American populism". Nicolle Wallace had the skill and the knowledge; Sarah Palin had the charisma and the star power, and that is what wins elections. I'd rather have Wallace with her finger on the red button any day.
Basically, a fun movie, depending on which side of the Palin issue you fall. If you love her, you'll probably hate it, if you hate her, you'll want to punch the people who brought her in and probably her, too.
Also,
Okay. This hurts me to say. I didn't like it. I really didn't like it. Maybe I started off on the wrong foot, because it took me six downloads before I found one that freaking played, and that included two repacks that didn't fix the issue. So I probably had some kind of unconscious elevated expectation, but whatever.
I've been thinking about why I hated it so much and I think I've nailed it down. It was too all over the place for me. The TSA metaphor could have been awesome! Yes, encroaching on our private lives, checking our assholes, watching us poop, so much potential!! But the Clyde's mom thing? And the sue-ance? So what, is it an episode on privacy issues related to over-governing, or about frivolous lawsuits and litigious, blame shirking society? This should have been two episodes, people! Also, Cartman, WHAT THE FUCK? Since when is HE advocating for maturity and level-headedness? I would have thought he'd have kidnapped a TSA worker at the start, not stand behind someone ELSE at a podium and nod. It bothered me.
However, Butters remains amazing.
Disclaimer: I am almost certainly over invested in South Park.