Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
How do you make a film about Big Tobacco without taking a moral stance? Why, by changing the subject!
Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is one of the three smooth-talking lobbyists making up the MOD Squad -- as in "Merchants Of Death". Nick does tobacco, Polly does alcohol, and Bobby does guns. Morality doesn't come into it: it's all about spin, and spin is what they do best.
He does his job because he gets paid, and he tries to raise his son the best way he knows how. Of course, the best way he knows how is a cynical exercise in spin and bullshit; it's never clear that he believes in anything at all.
There are no heroes or villains, no right and wrong, just power relationships, plots, schemes, spin, bribes, lies, agendas. All are made equal fun of. It's not a moral stance, but an amoral one: the film stands firmly with cynicism and ironic detachment.
The charm of it is that we love Nick anyway; but the beauty of it is that, in the final moments, he loses his self-assurance for just one second, and we get a glimpse of something deeper. After ninety minutes being convinced of his facile shallowness, it turns out that the many clever nothings have added up to more than the sum of their parts.
- Sam - 2006-10-06 13:26:14
Also: director Jason Reitman's short film Consent is available online.
Amorality & Irony
How do you make a film about Big Tobacco without taking a moral stance? Why, by changing the subject!
Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is one of the three smooth-talking lobbyists making up the MOD Squad -- as in "Merchants Of Death". Nick does tobacco, Polly does alcohol, and Bobby does guns. Morality doesn't come into it: it's all about spin, and spin is what they do best.
He does his job because he gets paid, and he tries to raise his son the best way he knows how. Of course, the best way he knows how is a cynical exercise in spin and bullshit; it's never clear that he believes in anything at all.
There are no heroes or villains, no right and wrong, just power relationships, plots, schemes, spin, bribes, lies, agendas. All are made equal fun of. It's not a moral stance, but an amoral one: the film stands firmly with cynicism and ironic detachment.
The charm of it is that we love Nick anyway; but the beauty of it is that, in the final moments, he loses his self-assurance for just one second, and we get a glimpse of something deeper. After ninety minutes being convinced of his facile shallowness, it turns out that the many clever nothings have added up to more than the sum of their parts.