It has been a crazy week, but there have been fun moments despite it all. But first, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my cousin Luc and a Happy Anniversary to Aunt Gloria and Uncle Pete. We love you all even if it'll be awhile before we see each other.
I hope that everyone had the opportunity to vote and that at least some, if not all of your choice candidates, were successful in winning their races. I'll not discuss the folks I voted for, because though most of us actually have similar political personalities, talking politics amongst family is just not fun from my experience. :)
What is fun, however, is talking political film, especially if it includes a whole lot of quotes. Well, on election day, as I left the voting station at the elementary school and headed over to pick up Sophie from preschool, I turned on NPR, which I rarely do. The program was a radio show called Radio West, and the host was talking with a poli-sci professor and a couple of film people from the area about politically themed films. They discussed favorite political films and invited callers to phone in their ideas. If you're interested in their lists, the URL for the show and episode is the following:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=992230§ionID=184
I hope it works for you, because, though there was no quoting and bantering back and forth, just reading the lists of recommended films makes you nostalgic for your favorites. As I listened (with many interruptions), I was anxious to hear my favorite political film mentioned. I never heard it, so finally, I was able to call it in. Dr. Strangelove.
I will confess, on a scale of 1-10 of easy to difficult films, I would actually give DS a 6 or 7. It just takes a while to realize that everyone is kind of joking. Well, the filmmakers are joking, not the characters. As I've discussed with Dad, and as many of you might of observed, it is so similar in plot and theme to Failsafe. I checked IMDB, and it came out in the same year, and both films were based on completely different books. Obviously, one is a drama and the other is farce, and they're both great films. But, while Failsafe, which I haven't seen since I was a teenager, is just sobering and contemplative, I think that Dr. Strangelove is just chilling. As painfully funny as it is to see Slim Pickins riding a nuclear weapon with a good ol' "yeeeeeee-haaaaaw!", it is chilling to imagine that such distruction is even possible. I'm grateful to know that we have good people looking out for us, and so, I guess my thoughts are --- vote!!
Okay, no more soapbox stuff (which was completely unplanned). Instead, I want movie quotes. So, here's my invite. If you have a favorite movie quote from a politically themed film, be it funny or inspirational, please take a moment to post a comment in response to this posting (so that we may all share in the joy). I'll start by sharing my favorites (at least that I can think of for now).
Dr. Strangelove: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"
"You know what I think?! I think you're some kind of deviated prevert. I think General Ripper found out about your preversion, and that you were organizing some kind of mutiny of preverts."
"Well, it's good that you're fine and I'm fine. I agree with you, it's great to be fine."
Dave:
"Imagine that the entire United States of America is in the car."
Wag the Dog: "There are two things I know to be true. There's no difference between good flan and bad flan, and there is no war."
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: "No, sir,...I yielded the floor once before, if you can remember, and I was practically never heard of again. No sir. And we might as well all get together on this yielding business right off the bat, now."
"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine."
I hope some of you find a few minutes to post a quote. Love to you all!
