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Aug. 30th, 2006 08:02 pmI went to the movies today. I was the only one in the whole theatre - just me and several hundred empty seats. Spooky. The only other time this has happened to me, the film (Shakespeare in Love) was in the last few days of a long run and I was at the first screening of the day. This time I was at the lunchtime screening of a film which has been running less than a week. Not a good sign I would have thought.
The film in question was Thank You for Smoking and I really hope that it gets better audiences because it is smart and funny. It is an example of a rather rare species indeed - the big budget, big star, Hollywood social satire. Yes, really it is genuinely satirical - the last such movie of this type that I can remember watching is Bulworth, only this one is actually funny.
The story is about a tobacco industry lobbyist and how he is just so good at his job that he can even sell the morally indefensible. Fundamentally the film isn't about tobacco or the other morally dubious industries which get attention (guns and alcohol get some attention tooy) but about the lobby industry and the power of spin. The movie is funny and has lots of clever twists but there is a message there too about the power of clever words which hide the substance of debate.
What more do you need from a movie - funny and makes you think? Oh you want eye candy too - (pre-Tom) Katie Holmes does that nicely for me. You will probably find somebody in the very pretty cast for your gratification too. ;-)
The film in question was Thank You for Smoking and I really hope that it gets better audiences because it is smart and funny. It is an example of a rather rare species indeed - the big budget, big star, Hollywood social satire. Yes, really it is genuinely satirical - the last such movie of this type that I can remember watching is Bulworth, only this one is actually funny.
The story is about a tobacco industry lobbyist and how he is just so good at his job that he can even sell the morally indefensible. Fundamentally the film isn't about tobacco or the other morally dubious industries which get attention (guns and alcohol get some attention tooy) but about the lobby industry and the power of spin. The movie is funny and has lots of clever twists but there is a message there too about the power of clever words which hide the substance of debate.
What more do you need from a movie - funny and makes you think? Oh you want eye candy too - (pre-Tom) Katie Holmes does that nicely for me. You will probably find somebody in the very pretty cast for your gratification too. ;-)
