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The Third Man (Criterion Blu-ray)
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Pollack off "Recount"; Roach is in

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It's sad and dispiriting to hear that Sydney Pollack has decided against directing the HBO movie Recount, a verite-styled drama about about the fiercely contested 2000 U.S. presidential election, because of illness. Pollack's spokesperson Leslee Dart said "he's got some medical issues" and "is not feeling well right now," making it "unrealistic" for him to move into production within the next few weeks.

Sydney Pollack, Jay Roach, Danny Strong

The head-scratcher, of course, is the decision to replace Pollack with comedy director Jay Roach (the Austin Powers films, Meet The Parents/Fockers -- he was also one of the Borat producers). Roach is a proficient pro and he's obviously looking to strike a blow for his own artistic maturity by directing Recount, but c'mon...when I think of Jay Roach, I think of a funnier Brett Ratner without the poon.

I've read a rough draft of Recount that convinced me it could be really good. I just hope Roach doesn't screw it up. I'm sure he has the exact same thought on his mind right now.

Written by Danny Strong, Recount will be "a character-driven film about all the squabbling, spinning, vote-disqualifying and Supreme Court deliberating that eventually handed George Bush the presidency despite Al Gore winning the popular vote in both Florida and across the nation," as I wrote earlier. News reports are saying Recount will begin shooting "in the fall," but I was told yesterday that Roach may need a little while to get up to speed so it may not shoot until later in the year.

The following quote appears on page 137 of Strong's script, and I am revealing nothing as it is from a published dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens regarding Bush vs. Gore: "Although we may never know with complete certainty the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 7, 2007 at 10:00 AM

comment #1

Walter Sobchak says ...

Wait a minute... it's already 11:27 and there aren't any comments on this yet?

What gives? Hello? Anybody out there? Christian? Spindozer? D.Z.? Burmashave?

(deep breath) Okay, I'll get the ball rolling, I guess. (see you suckers around post #86) ..... here goes

I wonder if this film will show the Gore campaign trying to disqualify military absentee ballots. Hmmm. Oh well, Bush ended up winning the election, so, alls well the ends well...

okay go!

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 7, 2007 11:30 AM

comment #2

Me says ...

Well, maybe Pollack realized that this is a really, really bad idea for a serious movie, and the producers decided to turn it into the satire it so richly deserves to be. The sript is so overwrought and precious, it needs a comedian willing to make fun of it to make it even slightly worth watching.

Posted by Me at August 7, 2007 11:34 AM

comment #3

thebuddha says ...

I'd have to agree with Me on one account, in that the movie will probably work much better as a satire than an all-out drama. If done in purely dramatic fashion, the movie could easily devolve into a melodramatic whine fest, but a satiric bent to the already well-known facts of the election would add some extra stinging and hurtful truths to one of the worst failings of democratic government in recent memory.

Posted by thebuddha at August 7, 2007 11:51 AM

comment #4

sutter kane says ...

You know who'd be perfect for this is Barry Levinson... ten years ago.

Posted by sutter kane at August 7, 2007 12:13 PM

comment #5

christian says ...

i know danny, so it's great he's getting this made no matter who is doing it.

the supreme court made a fast decision to STOP ALL THE COUNTY RECOUNTS that the florida supreme court already ordered. the legal votes stopped being counted, despite the bullshit "felon purge" that turned out to eliminate thousands of non-felon votersm and in a quiet coup george bush was installed as president. end of democracy again.

"To stop the counting of legal votes, the majority today departs from the rules of judicial restraint." - Justice John Paul Stevens arguing against his corrupt cronies.

so there walter.

Posted by christian at August 7, 2007 12:21 PM

comment #6

Walter Sobchak says ...

But seriously....

Me, thebuddah and suuter kane have very good points.

If this were done as a serious drama we all know how it would go.... mean old Republicans stealing an election from wide-eyed, innocent, just-want-to-do-what's-right Democrats...

A film like that would be delicious red meat for more activist liberals, but it wouldn't hold much appeal to conservatives and/or middle-of-the-roaders who don't want a preachy history lesson...

(btw, Mister Christian and the rest.... I'm not arguing politics here, just talking commerce...)

A film that would work would be something along the lines of a black comedy that would illustrate the massive clusterfuck that was the 2000 election.... a film that would skewer all sides as well as American politics in general...

Most Americans, believe it or not, are fed up with Washington in general... (look at the poor numbers for congress as well as the prez.) a common thought is "they're all crooks"

one of the down sides to the terrible divisiveness we find ourselves in now is our seeming inability to laugh at Beltway politics without quickly taking sides and circling the wagons...

I used to love Maher's "Politically Incorrect" when it was on Comedy Central and then ABC... it was fun because it was a 60's style set-up that poked fun at politicians and the bloated bullshit that is Washington...

But then Maher turned it into a Bush/Republican hatin' machine because it got him more pussy and invitations to better parties... sorry, I know many of you lefty's love him but why on Earth would a conservative want to get within a mile of that show? ... to watch the token, whipping boy conservative get his/her ass handed to them by the lynch mob that is Maher, his three other liberal guests and his homer audience?

anyway.... I ramble.... point being, is there anything wrong with being apolitical?.... like "Wag the Dog"?

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 7, 2007 12:39 PM

comment #7

Larry says ...

I agree this would be a great freewheeling comedy where everyone's in it for themselves and no one cares about breaking the rules, or having a fair outcome (or to be more accurate, confusing "fair" with "my guy winning.")

I mean, to concentrate merely on one part of the action, look at the breathtaking way the Florida Supreme Court, seven strong Democrats, did everything they could to rewrite the rules any way possible to help Gore, over and over--changing deadlines, ignoring clear wording of laws, counting votes that had never been counted before, overturning every decision of elected officials and lower (and higher!) courts that didn't go their way--the cavalier style with which they flung the law down in the dirt and danced upon it--that in itself would make a good movie.

Alas, it looks like this'll be the same old partisan crap we always get.

Posted by Larry at August 7, 2007 1:20 PM

comment #8

bents75 says ...

"But then Maher turned it into a Bush/Republican hatin' machine..."

Disregarding your speculation as to why he's a sudden hater, Walter, allow me to offer my own hypothesis - and that is that Maher has become a Republican hatin' machine because every sensible, intelligent, and educated person in this country under the age of 55 now is. Is the party itself to blame for this as much as Bush? Ironically, not so much - but that doesn't change the fact that in less than 8 years he and his party set in motion so many f***ed up policies that it will literally take 3 or 4 decades to correct the course.

I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'm scared to death of another four years of Republican control. I'm leaving the country if that happens because you can count the number of years one one hand before America as you know it comes to an end.

Take your head out of the sand. Because it's just that bad.

Posted by bents75 at August 7, 2007 1:37 PM

comment #9

SpinDozer says ...

'Wait a minute... it's already 11:27 and there aren't any comments on this yet?'

Here's a little fact for you, most of the early posters are Right Wing'rs. Why?

Cos they can't handle the fact that other people don't agree with their point of view.

Posted by SpinDozer at August 7, 2007 2:20 PM

comment #10

Josh Massey says ...

Don't bring Bill Cosby into this.

Posted by Josh Massey at August 7, 2007 3:39 PM

comment #11

Walter Sobchak says ...

Did you even read what I said?

And thanks, bents75 for illustrating my point perfectly...

Everyone who is a Democrat is smart and reasonable and everyone who is a Republican is stupid! Stupid, I tell you, STUPID!

Stop posting on here, Walter! Just shut up!

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 7, 2007 4:09 PM

comment #12

malibugigolo says ...

-he's got some medical issues...not feeling well right now-

The headache from reading the script for the first time.

Posted by malibugigolo at August 7, 2007 4:26 PM

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

Even as a Republican, I am not very proud of how James Baker and the like handled this situation. Far too much was foul about it. I think this has the potential to be very interesting. I think it's cast dependant. Personally, I vote for Branagh as Gore and Bill Paxton as W.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 7, 2007 10:37 PM

comment #14