The Watercooler: 6/16/08
Friday night was The Incredible Hulk night at LiC. The movie was fine. Better than fine probably, but I’m getting tired of superheroes. Seriously. Let’s get The Dark Knight over with, fast-forward to September, put the kids back in school and then start bringing out the real movies. The Hulk review is below somewhere.
Next up was Quid Pro Quo. Hmmm…still processing this one. Nick Stahl plays a wheelchair bound NY public radio host. Vera Farmiga plays a woman more than a little obsessed with the disabled. I got a distinct Cronenberg vibe off of this one, though it wasn’t as cold or ominous.
Last and best was the steroid documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster. I had to be dragged to this one kicking and screaming because I don’t care much about a bunch of meatheads pumping their bodies full of chemicals. At first, it was exactly what I was afraid it was going to be, but then it expanded and became a look at the crazy lengths to which people go to fulfill our twisted idea of the American Dream. Good stuff.
Filed under: Watercooler
Tags: Bigger Faster Stronger, Nick Stahl, Quid Pro Quo, The Incredible Hulk, Vera Farmiga
Related Posts: - Movies You May Have Missed: 8/17/08
- Review: Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008) ****
- WGA Contract Expires Tonight
- Movies You May Have Missed: 9/28/08
- A Word About the Reviews
Saw The Happening. I didn’t think it quite worked, but I don’t get the pans.
Saw The Visitor and completely did not get the hype. What a bore.
I didn’t see a single film all weekend on account of seeing all the films opening over the weekend during the week, and it totally sucked, but I do have exams coming up tomorrow, so I guess I should study rather than sit on my ass and watch movies….or not.
Had a staying in weekend. Friday was reserved for football (4-1! Oranje Boven! etc.). Saturday I re-watched Kill Bill 2 (I’d seen Kill Bill 1 again just a week ago). I think it was the first time I saw it start to finish since I saw it in the cinema, and the whole last chapter at Bill’s house had me mesmerized all over again.
Speaking of superheroes, incidentally, that Superman speech is still one of the cleverest, most insightful things Tarantino’s ever written, IMHO. Too bad Bill’s subversive take on the character can’t really be found in any of the movies, especially not in the most recent one.
For the rest, I mostly watched [i]Dexter[/i] (Season 2. I think Dexter does some very uncharacteristic stuff, but it’s still good), and finished the third season of [i]How I met your mother[/i]. It’s an interested sitcom, because it has very predictable jokes, but in a very complex, innovative narrative setting. And it’s infinitely quotable (knowing about the hot/crazy scale might have helped Dexter with that Lila-problem).
And then this morning…I overslept terribly, and woke up at exactly the moment the Drillbit Taylor screening started (is it a subconscious thing because I don’t really want to see the film? Who knows). I found a DVDrip online though, so I can’t escape seeing it.
I didn’t quite understand what Mr. Bowen said about THE VISITOR getting ‘hyped.’ This was a quiet, comtemplative art house film, which received no fireworks, just superlative reviews. It may very well be the best film of 2008 in my view. But to each his own.
As I mentioned in another weekend post, I was completely bored with HULK, and like Craig I feel that this entire genre has fully run its course. This kind of film does nothing by waste our time.
QUID PRO QUO had an intriguing premise, much like Cronenberg’s CRASH, but something was missing…..perhaps sustained interest, but it didn’t quite make it despite its exceptional female lead player.
THE HAPPENING had serious issues, but it came off as a passable horror film, not nearly as attrocious as the fervant Shyamalan-bashers would have you believe.
The weekend’s big winner was the documentary ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Werner Herzog, which chronicled some strange employees at an Antartic station and again promoted the bleak notion that humans will eventually disappear from the planet. Oddly riveting, and intermittantly beautiful, the shot of a penguin scrurrying towards certain demise is one of Herzog’s most unforgettable images.
Hedwig-have you seen BOARDING GATE? The opening half plays a little like that ending of KILL BILL 2 (Glenn Kenny likened it to CONTEMPT, shows you where my head is). The reviews weren’t too favorable, but then again the critics are becoming as un-adventurous and sheepish as most of the audiences. We need Pauline back. That said, I’m beginning to sense that I’m becoming an Assayas apologist. Though demonlover is not as rewarding.
I caught THE INCREDIBLE HULK and am declining to review it on the grounds that what I saw barely counts as a movie, not good, not bad: non-existent. I will say that it made me wish Norton had been recruited for the Lee version-I sensed an interesting portrayal in him.
As The Watercooler, by the decree of its venerable creator is a thread with little discipline, I think it is worth noting how the untimely death of beloved Tim Russert has affected so many of us over this past weekend. The centerpiece of Meet The Press, and the one many in political reporting who was universally loved and admired by people on both sides of the fence, his shocking death at age 58, had so many again reflecting on the fleeting nature of life. He is a broadminded, charming family man, a consumate liberal, and a man of irreproachable integrity.
Yesterday’s Tom Brokaw-hosted segment “Remembering Tom Russert,” which re-aired a 2006 show dedicated to Russert’s reflections of his own father was an unabashed tearfest, and the newspaper photo of James Carville breaking down, would bring tears to the most hardened onlooker.
An American Tragedy. An event that makes everything else seem so small.
Not a big movie weekend for me but I did catch Kung Fu Panda on Saturday, which I really enjoyed. When I saw the first ads - all I remember about them now was the title and Jack Black - my reaction was “ugh”. But this was really a well-done animated film, the voice acting was great and the score was lovely. I like Chinese music, so I tend to enjoy the scores of films from China and Western films whose music contains Chinese-influenced elements.
To second Sam’s comment, Russert’s death is indeed tragic. RIP, Mr. Russert. You left us too soon.
RIP Tim Russert. He was only of the only talking heads in the politico sphere who engaged his brain on the air and in print. Wonderful TV personality. Those will be big shoes to fill.
I was fairly busy this weekend but did manage to get to the cinema for Hulk and Kung Fu Panda. I didn’t mind Hulk and I enjoyed the silliness of it but I wasn’t expecting much and so it’s probably no consolation that my low expectations were fulfilled.
Kung Fu Panda on the other hand managed to narrowly miss my low expectations, primarily because the folks at Dreamwork Animation have no concept of visual storytelling. I’m tired of spastic 360-degree whip pans, impossible zooms, Matrix-style bullet time, and head-ache inducing editing that confuses rather than enthuses. There were parts of the movie I enjoyed, especially the Ratatouille-inspired opening, but the vast majority of it left me cold. Give me Pixar and keep the rest.
It is curious that the main character manages to Karate Kid his morbidly obese way through his Kung Fu training due to his desperate need to compulsively eat and gorge his snout rather than a devotion to the art form. I couldn’t help thinking that this very-American twist on the genre should play magnificently to Claim Jumper-loving middle America. It’s either a brilliant satire on American values or a terrifying Fruedian slip of narrative.
I think what KB might be talking about Sam is that Visitor is the most buzzed about Indie of the year so far.
I second Chuck on Boarding Gate.
RIP Tim Russert
“It is curious that the main character manages to Karate Kid his morbidly obese way through his Kung Fu training due to his desperate need to compulsively eat and gorge his snout rather than a devotion to the art form.” ahahahahah. Come on, Joel! Just be yourself even if you’re morbidly obese!
Interestingly, Bigger Faster Stronger examined the exact opposite drive: “to be happy being yourself is to be happy being a loser”
Also, I think what I liked in KFP was all in the script. It was funny.
Skidoosh.
Russert’s passing was a shock. It will be interesting to see how the election coverage progresses, and who will step up.
Due to a friend’s birthday, a long work day, and Father’s Day, I did not make it to a theater for the first time in a long time. As much as I don’t want to admit, that’s probably healthy, right? So this week I’ll bang out Roman de Gare, Jellyfish, and Hulk between meetings, another birthday, and the NBA finals (I only watch the end of golf Majors - did anybody see Tiger’s insane putt? The guy is superhuman). I’m really torn about The Happening. I’ve made it known that Lady in the Water is easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in my life - but also that I was still going to see the happening, partly to see if it could be any worse. No way I’ll pay for such evidence, but I do like to know what I’m talking about from time to time. Will I regret going only so I can continue to call Shyamalan one of the most overrated jerks in Hollywood? We’ll find it, but it’s likely.
Craig, I didn’t expect you to find QPQ the surprise hit of the year or anything. It got me, but it didn’t get to me, if that makes sense. Still, I can appreciate telling a story that isn’t told very often, and I was entranced by Farmiga.
I am glad, on the other hand, that you found BiggerStrongerFaster worthwhile. As I said after my review, I didn’t want to go and even regretted sitting in the theater until about 10 minutes in. Then I was hooked for the duration. I liked that Bell seemed genuinely interested and concerned. He had a lot at stake and it was obvious he was doing a lot of self-exploration. Within that context, he also interviewed people on every side, which I also appreciated. It was terrific, touching, and true. And funny.
How about Waxman, by the way - is he your guy? See if you can’t get away with murder on his watch. What an embarrassing interview.
I also liked that penguin moment in Encounters, Sam. The several minute-long underwater tracking sequence was what got to me most deeply, especially with the choir behind it.
I love your insight on obesity and KFP, Joel. There’s no middle ground in pop culture and movies. He either had to stay big or end up looking like Schwarzenegger. We get an interesting yet unsurprising look at the evolution of American action figures in Bigger Stronger.
@Sam
Sometimes we want to waste our time. I think THE HULK accomplishes that in spades. Although I agree with Chuck, it is a bit of a non-film, although it holds that distinction simply because so many other superhero films have come before it. If it was debuting when the first X-MEN or SPIDER-MAN did, we’d be hailing it as the action event of the year. I still have high hopes that sequels can tap into the Shakespearean drama inherent to the Hulk’s story.
Passed on other film opportunities to watch the season finale of Battlestar Galactica….hoo-ha, that was one epic piece of television. Sometimes I get the palpable impression that we are living through a golden age of television, an age that will be talked about decades down the road like we talk about Hollywood in the 30s. That impression was very sharp watching BSG’s finale. Does any other show take risks like this one does? It has its ups and downs, to be sure, but when it’s on it’s on. That final tracking shot…absolutely brilliant, not only for it’s technical mastery but also for the way it presented the characters at this mid-season point. Any thoughts on where the last 10 episodes will go?
Also watched a few episodes of The Tudors. Apart from Jonathan Rehys Myers, I find the show a bit tedious. And is it just me, or is Sam Neil unbelievably dull in it?
I have to admit that I didn’t take the flaws of Kung Fu Panda quite as seriously as Joel did. There was enough in it that was entertaining, the voice work was terrific and I enjoyed how much fun the kids in the audience were having too. Besides, since when is it news that, for the most part, American movies represent other cultures inaccurately? How often do they even try to be accurate?
I’m psyched for Wall-E, however, and I agree with Joel that Pixar is far superior to Dreamworks in every way. It’s because of their secret weapon: Brad Bird.
Daniel, I missed “the putt”, I was at the movies, naturally.
I think it took me a little longer to warm up to FSB than you, but ultimately you were right. Waxman is an embarrassment and I hate it that he’s a Rep from California, not just because he made a fool of himself in the doc….me and Henry go way back.
I liked QPQ, I’m just not quite sure what to make of it. Farmiga was great, but sometimes her character was so annoying she was hard to watch. I’m not an anti-narration nazi either, but Stahl’s VO was a bit of a liability.
The thing about Pixar is that they deliver the whole package. Visuals, script, soul. Dreamworks…not so much. In the case of Panda, it was gentle and funny but I’m not clearing a spot for it on my DVD shelf.
Neither am I, Craig. :-)
I can cut them some slack for taking liberties with the cultural aspects (I’m sure we could find fault with Ratatouille’s depiction of France and the French if we tried) but since the entire movie is wrapped around this attempt to spin Chinese mysticism into something American it seemed like it deserved a little more attention than I would normally apply to such matters.
I just found Kung Fu Panda fairly lackluster. I got bored watching it honestly and I was glad it was only 90 minutes long. But I could say the same thing about the first two Shreks, so maybe Dreamworks animation is just not for me.
I tried to give Shyamalan the benefit of the doubt with “The Happening,” because for some reason I always get excited about his films then end up getting slapped in the face. I thought “The Happening” was one of the most repulsive and shamelessly self-important films I have seen in a long time.
Full rant here: http://fromthefrontrow.blogspot.com/2008/06/some-thoughts-on-happening.html
I also saw “The Incredible Hulk,” which I didn’t really expect to like, but I enjoyed it. It was a fun summer popcorn flick. Not as good as “Iron Man,” and it had a few problems, but it was enjoyable enough.
I am with you Alision, and I dare say that I have a space reserved on my shelf for that KUNG FU PANDA DVD, but as always, it is a matter of taste, tolerance and how everything washes over you. I liked PANDA way more than I liked INDIANA JONES, IRON MAN and HULK, but most LIC’s readers can and will make valid and perceptive points that will leave me gasping for air.
But Joel is unconsciously intimidating with his ever-observant review, hard to refute and eloquent.
Or I’m just a cranky old man, Sam. Jury is still out on that one…
Matty, I am with you on both counts.
And you too Alison and Sam about “Panda,” and I might just have a spot for it in my DVD cabinet. Yeah, I can see it, right there next to “Finding Nemo.”
But “Wall*E” - that is one film I cannot wait to see, and I seriously hate that guy over at /Film for having seen it. It is going to be awesome in every sense of the word, and will not disappoint. That, for me, is a fact.
Sam, “hype” might have been the wrong word. “Glowing praise” is probably closer. Craig understood what I meant.
The Visitor is a film for people who like books. They wish films would be more like books. They don’t really get that film is a vulgar, crass art form, and that the tension between the high and the low is what makes movies unique. I couildn’t stand it. To each his own, though.
The Happening is a movie filled with that tension. Which is why I tend to forgive many of its sins.
I’ll be happy to give “The Visitor” glowing praise any day.
The initial set up to get the story in motion is a bit dubious, but overall I adored the film. It didn’t really fully hit me until afterward, when I saw the trailer before another film, and nearly lost it. Great stuff.
Wow, Matt, you really took M. Knight to task there. Always disappointing when a movie inspires such a strong negative reaction.
Matthew: I just read your entire review! A magnificent piece, even if I can’t quite go that low on it. I love that closing remark about the film killing you, not the plants! LOL! Well, you are basically voicing what so many others have contended. I tolerated this film, but it is hard to refute what you said there about the acting and over-the-top histrionics. Shyamalan is moving precariously close to never-never land, from where there is no return. I stand by my effusive praise of THE VILLAGE, but I know LIC readers have little use for it, not without reason.
Yeah, Matthew, THE VISITOR is a truly great film, but I can understand what K. Bowden is saying. And I apologize for that misconception on hype. I see what you are saying.
So much of how we react can be attributed to personal taste.
Oh man. I’m watching golf at work instead of, you know, working…and it’s killing me.
LOL Craig!!!!!!!
Sam, I’ve waited a few days before saying anything, and I always offer sympathy to those passing, but the Russert Fest on MSNBC has been disturbing and revealing.
I never saw Russert as anything other than a respected Washington MSM insider and all that implies. He never grilled Cheney or the admin on the Iraq War, always failed to follow-up. His “gotcha” style would have been better served with Cheney, not asking Kucinich a UFO question in a clear attempt to torpedo his campaign.
The HOURS spent over-eulogizing Russert reveals the incestuous relationship the media has with itself. Imagine if those hours had been used on stories about the rush to war or the Pentagon admitting it used places like MTP to pimp war lies.
I’m not dancing on Russert’s grave, but this is a time for contemplation of how our democracy has been ill-used by corporate news deciders.
As for SKIDOOsh, well…come on.
No problem, Sam (or Matt). Obviously we disagree, but that’s the point of caring deeply about movies.
The thing about Shyamalan is that he’s in a sort of death spiral with regard to the acting. His most successful films, by which I mean The SIxth Sense and Unbreakable, strongly depends on a lot of line recovery. As his box office returns go down some, he’ll have less choice in actors, As he has less choice in actors, the quality of the line recovery will decline. The acting and dialogue will seem worse and worse.
I was at a wedding this weekend, so I’m incredibly behind on my movie-going, but I am very intriged by The Happening. If nothing else, Shyamalan seems to deserve credit for sticking to his personal vision/auteurist guns in a time when he must be facing huge pressure to make films that aren’t as weird or idiosyncratic. If The Happening is as ‘bad’ as it sounds I might actually like it in spite of himself.
WALL*E!!
Wall-E carries about 75% of my hope for the remainder of summer with Dark Knight holding the other 25%.
As for Mr. Russert, as a representative of the corporate media, he deserves his share of the blame, though I would argue he was among the better of a weak bunch. In his position he had the opportunity to do far more, but he could’ve been worse…like Stephanopoulis.
Also, saw a trailer for the new Hunter S. Thompson doc Gonzo. Looks fantastic as I believe Mr. Nick Plowman has already said.
Finally, how do current or former Star Wars fans feel about the trailer for Clone Wars they keep playing? The kid in me is enthused, but the adult who makes the purchasing decisions has been burned once too often.
It looks better than any of the prequels did, action-wise. I’m not planning on seeing it, but the theater I was in was SILENT during that one, and the second it ended you could hear kids all over the room asking their parents about it. Kinda cool, actually.
“…though I would argue that he was among the better of a weak bunch.”
True. The journalists who do ask the questions, who are willing to grill the people that need it and do follow up aren’t in the mainstream corporate media. They’re on the Internet and publishing independently, and their sites get hacked all the time by the powers-that-be attempting to put a stop to them.
Christian: Russert’s purpose was to serve as a kind of mainstream moderator, even if we know he was a card-carrying Democrat. He was not encouraged nor inclined to cross the line, even if some of his tactics (as you correctly note with Kucinich) caused political harm.
He was the chair of Meet The Press since 1991, and he was surely an icon in his field, in large measure because of his broadmindedness, integrity and homespun, down-to-earth style. I am not so sure that the genuine outpouring of grief at his untimely passing can be dismissed as corporate excess, nor is the reaction some kind of “overeulogizing.”
Russert was beloved by his workers for his extraordinary qualities as a human being. He leaves behind a formidable legacy. He died at 58 years old. That in itself is reason to grieve excessively.
I have seen people grieve actors who die young who didn’t posess one-tenth of Russert’s charm, warmth, personality and generosity.
The reaction to his death is genuine.
He was indeed young, Sam, especially considering the expected life-span for a good majority of people today.
To me, Russert was lionized in life and now almost sanctified in death largely because he did a decent job of what media interviewers are supposed to do, which is ask tough questions to both sides (or parties, as it were). That said, a sizable portion of my own thinking alligns with Christian’s. He was excessively rough with “outsider” candidates, such as Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul and Ralph Nader, among others, while generally being somewhat hands-off with people deemed to be untouchable. His interviews of George W. Bush and Barack Obama are significantly different.
Anyway, a very light weekend for movies for me. Going back to Thursday, I saw Kung Fu Panda, which unlike Joel and like many others I thoroughly enjoyed, even if I don’t think it’s the greatest animated thing since Fantasia. Hoffman’s the unsung hero; Jack Black’s just fine. I agree with Joel to an extent that the message was kind of muddled–use food to train the big fat dummy in the ways of kung fu!–but I think it’s fair to say this was a fairly huge step “up” for DreamWorks animation.
Friday night I saw Shyamalan’s worst movie, and the worst film I’ve seen all year, including Rambo and Funny Games version 2.0, The Happening. As I said before, at least Lady in the Water had an endearing performance by Paul Giamatti. Every performance in Shyamalan’s newest is horrible. I’m no Shyamalan-hater–I think, to varying degrees, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs are all successes on their own terms and The Village has some sense of what is and there are definitely signs that it could have been something of a terrific movie (some pieces were there)–okay, I’ll stop doing, aha…
The acting in Clone Wars looks less wooden than the prequels, Craig, so there’s that.
Sunday, I saw an A’s-Giants game with my dad and started to get a sunburn… Finished that sunburn off with a truly wicked sunburn today playing tennis for a few hours. A feather touching me would hurt like hell right now.
Alexander, with all due respect (and I must say I greatly enjoy and admire all your submissions on this site, including this last one and usually agree with you) my position on Tim Russert’s passing was forged irrespective of his political slants or his uneven harshness. Truth be said I consider myself a left wing liberal, an admirer of Dennis Kucinich, and a fervant supporter of Barack Obama. I would have every reason to evince the sentiments that you and Christian are now vociferating, but I am looking at the larger picture with Russert.
You and a few others here have stated that he has done a “decent” job on Meet The Press; here is where my opinion diverges. He has done an “extraordinary” job for 17 years, turning this news show into an iconic enterprise for so many people on all sides of the political spectrum. Republicans, Democrats and Independents nationwide are all mourning his passing with equal intensity. One elderly independent said yesterday that he only cried three times over his life for people with celebrity status: first for the death of William Faulkner, then after JFK’s assassination, and now for Russert. Whatever leanings he had and whatever injustices he may have perpetuated, I think we can safely say that this is par for this terrain. We do need I think to go beyond this and look at the man and what he has done and what he has meant to newscasting, politics and the American market. His influence, inimitable style, compassinate, down-to-earth delivery all informed with superlative backround and education and his Catholic upbringing and sunsequent beliefs have made him a person that millions have made him an institution. We mourn Tim Russert for his extraordinary human qualities, we mourn him for his centerpiece role in a show that afforded Americans fascinating insights into so many political figures and of the entire political process, we mourn him because he came off as one of us, bringing flight to our dreams and aspirations, and showing all of us the true meaning of dignity in a public forum. We mourn Tim Russert beacuse he was taking from us far too soon, leaving behind the father he worshipped, (and wrote so eloquently about) the son he adored, the co-workers who revered him, and all Americans who counted him an an integral part of their lives.
That’s really what it all is about here.
As Marc Anthony intones at the funeral of Julius Caesar: “Now here was a Caesar. When comes another.” (paraphrased)
I strongly urge all the film critics of LIC to check out a review by the British scribe Peter Bradshaw in the Friday, June 13, 2008 edition of THE GUARDIAN. It does raise the bar for originality, and for hysteria! Bradshaw has outdone himself with his review of THE INCREDIBLE HULK. (Bradshaw hated the film!) I print below his first and last paragraphs of his review, written with Hulkish reverie:
First paragraph:
“Hulk. Smash!” Yes. Hulk. Smash. Yes. Smash. Big Hulk smash. Smaash cars. Buildings. Army tanks. Hulk not smash. Hulk also go rarrr! Then smash again. Smash important, obviously. Smash Hulk’s USP. What Hulk smash most? Hulk smash all hope of interesting time in cinema. Hulk take all effort of cinema, effort getting babysitter, effort finding parking, and Hulk put green fist right through it. Hulk crush all hopes of entertainment. Hulk in boring film. Film co-written by star. Edward Norton. Norton in it! Norton write it. Norton not need gamma-radiation poisoning to get big head. Thing is: Hulk head weirdly small. Compared with rest of big green body.
and the last paragraph:
“Critic remember Ang Lee version. Ang Lee version slagged off. Yet rubbish new Hulk film make that look like Citizen Kane. Critic exit cinema miffed. Film take away two hours of critic’s life. Critic not get time back. Ever. Rarrrrr.”
Bravo, Peter Bradshaw!
Heh heh…that’s kinda funny.
Well Sam, I do applaud your tribute to Russert.
I’ve been watching MTP for most of my life, but never got that Russert was standing one with giants. I just never saw that. He was certainly smarter and calmer than most of the blabberheads on today. But putting him with Faulkner and Kennedy seems hypberbolic. Of course, I lost all respect for our MSM press between 2000-2003 when I saw they were willing to get tough and real with everybody but to those they should have been. I’m sure Russert was beloved, but meanwhile Iowa is underwater and we have a criminal administration still in unchecked power. I think all these hours of air-time to Russert would have made him uncomfortable.
I actually agree with you, Sam, as well as Christian, regarding Tim Russert. Russert seemed to be a very good fellow, and you have to admire his sticking to his roots, Catholic, Irish, Buffalo, his father, etceteras. He was both a good standard bearer for interviewers on television in general, with his “civil confrontational” approach as numerous people on TV have said since his passing. In any event, I’m genuinely sad to see him go, particularly at such a young age (58, incredible and quite sad) and especially since his presence was one to which I looked forward every week, whether I liked the interview or not (usually thought they were either good or all right). Thanks for your very kind thoughts about Russert, with which I predominantly agree.
Wow, Peter Bradshaw has a sense of humor! Funny, Sam, thanks for sharing.
Certainly funny, but a tad bit cynical and unfair.
Thanks, Alexander and Christian for your more than reasonable feelings and words. And I do agree Christian that the comparison with Faulkner and Kennedy was over-the-top. I don’t go that far myself. But this just illustrates what some are thinking, right or wrong. I can’t say I expected this massive and unremiting outpouring, even understanding the love for the man.
I managed to avoid most of the Russert hagiographication…is that a word? Can I coin it?…over the weekend because that’s just not how I roll, but I did catch a rerun of Friday’s Charlie Rose that basically showed chunks of Russert’s many visits. Russert in his own words if you will.
Particularly moving were his conversations about the book he wrote for his dad. He seemed a genuinely decent, honest and dedicated fellow in an industry of phonies.
Could he have been a tougher interviewer? Yes, but whoever they replace him with on MTP is sure to be a step down.
In retrospect, 9/11 hit the members of the media in the same way it hit most Americans. We were all mixed with feelings of patriotism and rage. In the months and even years afterward, giving the administration the benefit of a doubt seemed the right thing to do to a lot of people. It turns out this may be the critical error of my lifetime. Though it’s easy now to be pissed off that the media didn’t do better, and yes they most certainly should have, it’s almost hard for me to lay blame.
Going forward is another story…
Outstanding analysis here, Craig, methinks.
Russert was emblematic of a more old school approach, but his style of interviewing doesn’t compare to the Murrows and Cronkites of the Golden age and it’s unfair to make that comparison. He was swimming up-stream in an environment fundamentally not conducive to journalism.
Let’s face it, corporate media and news organizations have been slowly sinking into the mire for over 20 years now. The firing of Dan Rather, the slow decline of nightly news, the decline of 60 Minutes, the rise of punditry, and the empowerment of politically-biased cable news shows that network TV is no place to get hard-hitting journalism or fair and balanced reporting.
I praise his efforts though. Russert was trying.
As for journalism post-9/11, I don’t buy or accept your argument, Craig. There was the mainstream media, which laid down on the job, and there was alternative media that saw the problems coming early on and did their damnedest to point them out. Most Americans weren’t listening. The fact that the rest of the world quickly saw through the tapestry of lies the Bush administration was weaving points out how pathetic the news media in the country has been in the last 6 years.
I was responding to a chunk of Charlie Rose where Russert was talking about the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and it re-humanized it for me. That’s all.
Besides, the alternative media is inherently anti-establishment so it’s not a stretch that they were the first ones to call bullshit on the whole thing.
The problem with the establishment media is the fact that it’s the establishment media, if that makes any sense.
Joel, that was a superlative assessment!!!!
Craig, I think what you mean is that the media, by definition, should not be ‘establishment’.
I’d give my bottom dollar to have it be different. Or my top dollar.
On our recent travels we caught some of the television coverage of his passing (we don’t presently own a TV). I don’t recall ever seeing him – never watched Meet the Press because we didn’t get it in my home country. So I was surprised by the weight of gravitas expressed over his death across media outlets and politicians of different political leanings. I looked for the cause of this esteem in excerpts from his interviews and I must say nothing stood out except for the solidness mentioned by some here. I may well have thought more of his talents with greater exposure, as Sam does. One thing seemed utterly clear to me though, whatever he was as a professional that might explain the media coverage he was clearly additionally someone with a very strong ability to connect at a personal everyday level with the people he worked with.
That is correct, Jeffmcm.
I see what you’re saying Craig, but I think establishment media can still do a good job. The New York Times may not be the paper it once was, but they’ve managed to unearth some of the more shocking scandals within the Bush administration over the last 6 years. The LA Times isn’t perfect either, but they’re one of the only papers still operating offices around the world (although even that is slowly disappearing).