Two features, neither of which are very green, open on St. Patrick's Day, this coming Friday:
Thank You For Smoking is based on the 1994 Christopher Buckley novel (Random House, $13.95, 0812976525), which has just been reissued. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film about Big Tobacco's chief spokesman stars Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall and Rob Lowe. Dennis Miller and Joan Lunden have cameo roles.
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V for Vendetta is directed by James McTeigue; screenplay is by the Wachowski Brothers, Andy and Larry. The cast includes Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt and Tim Pigott-Smith.
This movie was inspired by the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (Vertigo, $19.99, 0930289528), authors of the classic Watchmen. Written in the 1980s, the book was set in what was then the future, in 1997, in a fascist Britain.
For a review of the V for Vendetta phenomenon, check out Jesse Kornbluth's comments at Head Butler. Among them:
" 'V' is not exactly a traditional liberator. He's an anarchist, and a very refined anarchist at that--he believes that every citizen must take responsibility for himself. . . . Is 'V' a hero--or, as some are sure to say, a 'terrorist?' Hard to say. In his way, he's as flawed as Leader. And he designs a test for Evey that's as cruel as any devised by Leader and his minions. Is it worth it? Well, she learns a crucial lesson about personal integrity: 'Every inch of me shall perish . . . except one. An inch. It's small and it's fragile and it's the only thing in the world that's worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.'
"I fear that most readers--and film audiences--will miss the subtleties and hear only the remarkable (for a corporation like Warner Brothers, anyway) advertising slogan for the movie: 'The people should not be afraid of their government. The government should be afraid of the people.' The big takeaway of the book is more intellectual: 'Ideas are bulletproof.' "
Thank You For Smoking is based on the 1994 Christopher Buckley novel (Random House, $13.95, 0812976525), which has just been reissued. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film about Big Tobacco's chief spokesman stars Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall and Rob Lowe. Dennis Miller and Joan Lunden have cameo roles.
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V for Vendetta is directed by James McTeigue; screenplay is by the Wachowski Brothers, Andy and Larry. The cast includes Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt and Tim Pigott-Smith.
This movie was inspired by the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (Vertigo, $19.99, 0930289528), authors of the classic Watchmen. Written in the 1980s, the book was set in what was then the future, in 1997, in a fascist Britain.
For a review of the V for Vendetta phenomenon, check out Jesse Kornbluth's comments at Head Butler. Among them:
" 'V' is not exactly a traditional liberator. He's an anarchist, and a very refined anarchist at that--he believes that every citizen must take responsibility for himself. . . . Is 'V' a hero--or, as some are sure to say, a 'terrorist?' Hard to say. In his way, he's as flawed as Leader. And he designs a test for Evey that's as cruel as any devised by Leader and his minions. Is it worth it? Well, she learns a crucial lesson about personal integrity: 'Every inch of me shall perish . . . except one. An inch. It's small and it's fragile and it's the only thing in the world that's worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.'
"I fear that most readers--and film audiences--will miss the subtleties and hear only the remarkable (for a corporation like Warner Brothers, anyway) advertising slogan for the movie: 'The people should not be afraid of their government. The government should be afraid of the people.' The big takeaway of the book is more intellectual: 'Ideas are bulletproof.' "