allied

So I go out drinking last night in Fairfield/Black Rock, and it turns into one of those nights where I'm chasing the unicorn. Basically, I shouldn't have left the first place I was at because the other two bars sucked and were basically dead, but I spent the night chasing after something that didn't exist... in this case a fun night. It wasn't terrible; I saw some friends and had a few Mich Ultras (I don't know what this says about me, but I'm starting to like that beer... christ, I gotta get a life!). But it was just one of those nights that just didn't add up to anything. I'm not a guy who needs to score digits everytime he goes out, but at least I want to laugh or learn or see some shit that I've never seen before when I go out. Something, anything, so that my night's not measured only by the dent in my wallet or the extent of my hangover.

So anywho, getting back to the story, I had decided to go out because Thursdays are usually decent nights and because I thought a few beers would help me with this insomnia I'm experiencing.

I get home before midnight (you know it's a bad night when you don't leave the house until after 9pm; drive 15-20 min.; hit 3 bars; have at least 2 beers at each stop; say hello to some friends at all 3 places; hit Subway; drive home 15-20 min.; and walk in the door before midnight... ouch), wolf down a footlong and go to bed. Nothing. Staring at the ceiling for close to 2 hours. Fuck. So I get up and pop in a DVD...

Now, after that long intro, here's my point: If you've never seen it, buy, rent or steal the movie "Network." I was 12 when the movie came out, but I remembered it and over the years I'd seen bits and pieces of it on TV. So when I began collecting DVDs a few years ago, that was one of the ones I snapped up cheap, and it sat in a "it's a classic and I'll watch it eventually" pile. Quite simply, it is one of the smartest, most literate screenplays you'll ever see, and it is a frighteningly observant satire. Period. Here are a couple of things to remember about it: the movie came out in 1976 and it is an original screenplay. 1976. Before Survivor. Before The Real World. Before CNN. Before the white Ford Bronco OJ chase. Before everything that you and I watch on TV. Fucking 1976! You will be amazed at how topical this movie is, and how you can draw parallels between it and a lot of the stuff you see on TV today.

The movie won Oscars for best original screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky); best actor (Peter Finch, posthumously); best actress (Faye Dunaway, who at the time was the biggest thing since sliced bread, having pulled off this movie, Chinatown, The Thomas Crown Affair, Three Days of the Condor, The Towering Inferno and Bonnie & Clyde!); and best supporting actress (Beatrice Straight). It lost for best picture to Rocky. Besides those mentioned above, Robert Duvall and William Holden are in it, and it was directed by Sidney Lumet (who also directed Dog Day Afternoon, Murder on the Orient Express, Prince of the City, Guilty as Sin and the movie Paul Newman should have won an Oscar for... The Verdict).

Even if you haven't seen it, you probably know the movie because of it's signature line: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" But what will amaze you are the dead-on observations of what goes on behind the scenes of a TV network, especially one that's been acquired by a huge conglomerate that is looking to increase shareholder value.

Watch this movie and let me know what you think. And while you're at it, check out Chinatown, Shampoo, All the President's Men, Apocalypse Now, Annie Hall, The Last Picture Show, The Sting, M*A*S*H (the original movie, not the TV show), The Getaway, All That Jazz, Three Days of the Condor, Heaven Can Wait and Hair. All of them are great movies from the '70s.

Jesus, I've rambled on enough. Go watch some old movies this weekend and enjoy yourselves. Bye.