So...is Munich introduced and epilogued with Eric Bana's character as an old man? Do the terrorists and the hit squad members carry walkie-talkies instead of guns?

Heh, no. There is no voiceover at all, thankfully. And plenty of guns.

Mostly, it's an inability to be as harsh on his heroes as the story he's telling would seem to require. He doesn't give it a happy ending by any means, and the characters do go through hell, but the little details reveal him to still be a big softy at heart. The story he's clearly trying to tell isn't quite the story he manages to show.

I have an image of Tony Kushner wresting the sappy ending out of Spielberg's hands, saying, "Dammit, Steven, ya fucked up all your last ten movies in the last 20 minutes. Just stop at the morally ambiguous place and let it go!"

Like Lloyd Dobler "I know that I don't know, but least I know that I don't know. You know?"

Both The Producers and The Family Stone are bad, but The Producers is the only one I wish I'd walked out of.

It was painful. Matthew Broderick....ugh. Indescribably awful.

Jessica, have you seen the stage musical The Producers ?

Yep. Didn't like it much either (the music is mediocre at best and all the good lines are quotes from the original, with the exception of Cady Huffman, who was brilliant), but it was nowhere near as painful to watch as this movie. Maybe being on stage gave it enough distance to be watchable, I don't know

I just want to find my copy of the original and hold it very, very close and never let it go.

I loved the stage musical (saw a 'pre-opening' show in Chicago). I think I'll see the movie as a substitute for seeing the stage musical again.

Watching "It's a Wonderful Life".

I wonder what life would be like if Liberty Films had survived?

Snakes on a Plane.

Is that the best movie title, or what? The current issue of Wired has an article on how this yet-to-be-released movie has already inspired a cult following, based soley on its name. (I think this movie has already been mentioned here; hopefully this post isn't redundant.)

Here is a funny blog post: [link]

Some months ago my agent called me (we'll call him...Agent). Agent says: "New Line's got a project they want you to look at. They're making the movie. They love it. It needs a little work."

Now when a studio tells you something needs "a little work" what that really means is "maybe it needs a little work, maybe it needs a lotta work, maybe you should tell us how much work it needs...but we want to make this movie so let's all just agree that no matter how much work it is, we'll call it 'a little work'".

I ask Agent the name of the project, what it's about, etc. He says: Snakes on a Plane. Holy shit, I'm thinking. It's a title. It's a concept. It's a poster and a logline and whatever else you need it to be. It's perfect. Perfect. It's the Everlasting Gobstopper of movie titles.

I say to Agent: "Tell me nothing else. Get me the script and put me on the phone with those lucky bastards at New Line Cinema!"

So he does and he does.

Now out of both loyalty to the sacred bond between studio and screenwriter and also a serious desire to keep getting hired in this town, I will not give away any of the plot details of SNAKES ON A PLANE. But know this. As the great Sam Jackson would say: There are motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking plane.

What else do you need to know? How the snakes get on the plane, what the snakes do once they're on the plane, who puts the snakes on the plane, who is trying to get the snakes off the plane...This is not for you to ponder. There are snakes on the plane. End of fucking story.

In fact, during the two or three days that precedes my phone call with the studio, I become obsessed with the concept. Not as a movie. But as a sort of philosophy. Somnewhere in between "Cest la vie", "Whattya gonna do?" and "Shit happens" falls my new zen koan "Snakes on a Plane".

WIFE: "Honey you stepped in dog poop again. "
ME: "Snakes on a Plane..."
DOCTOR: "Your cholesterol is 290. Perhaps you want to mix in a walk once in a while."
ME: "Snakes on a Plane..."

eta: Snakes on a Plane comic featured in Wired: [link]

eta²: More SoaP stuff: [link]

December 12, 2005 - Buzz is building for New Line's forthcoming actioner Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson. Today's Variety has a blurb on how the flick's title alone has already inspired songs and merch. In fact, the film's title is already becoming part of the pop vernacular as a catchy phrase that can be substituted for "It could be worse."

In non-snake, non-plane, non-snakes-on-a-plane related news, is Date Movie going to totally suck?

[link]

Alyson Hannigan in a fat suit. Dancing to "Milkshake." I was cringing.