Yikes! "Atlas Shrugged II" debuts today and I almost forgot about it! This is the kind of film I have to see on the first day, so if you feel the same way, then maybe I'll see you in the theater!
What will it be like? Er....Maybe not technically great. Atlas Part 1 (shown in the clip above) had terrific actors in the main roles but had to chintz on everything else. Atlas is an epic book and the filmmakers just didn't have the money to shoot an epic film. Even so, the effort was much appreciated by fans.
I'm expecting this second film to have more problems than the first, but I'm also expecting to have the pleasure of seeing capitalism defended on the screen. When's the last time you saw that? The last film I can think of that did that (apart from other Rand films) was a black and white Walter Houston/Mary Astor film called "Dodsworth." Look for it on TCM. I think you'll like it.
Anyway, here's (below) where the film is playing in the Los Angeles area. 'Better confirm the times and days on the net or by phone because Atlas may not start the same day in every theater.
Capitalism doesn't need to be defended OR villified, it's just that villifying it is a lot more fun. It's a corrosive system in a world of much more corrosive alternatives. Anti-capitalism makes for better movies because shit gets fucked up more and faster when that's what's driving the plot.
ReplyDeleteThere are literally people in America so stupid they think capitalism and social security are opposites. I suspect dumb liberals sending the wrong message are partly to blame on that. If only the things they say when they're being coherent influenced conservatives as much...
ReplyDeleteI had no idea it came out yesterday! I became a big fan of Ayn Rand and I credit her as being one of the personalities that turned me onto the ideals of libertarianism, the benefits of free market capitalism and classical liberalism, and appealed to my individualistic and self motivated personality even though at the time I was reading her books and watching the first Atlas Shrugged film, I had no idea she was a champion for these beliefs. Before this, I never really knew for sure what my political beliefs were, even though I could say that I was a lot more left leaning than I am now, though even then, there were conservative values I agreed with like stopping illegal immigration and etc. For clarity's sake, I consider myself an independent and don't want to succumb to labels for what I believe.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to turn this in a political discussion but I wanted to tell you how much Ayn Rand changed my life and viewpoint on a lot of issues. I hate it when people bash capitalism and blame it for all the problems that the United States is having when they don't even know the very first thing about the Federal Reserve and its role in inflation and the housing bubble, the size and budget of the current federal government and how much is spent on "education" each year and the printing of money.
On an unrelated note, I think I'm going to change my mind about college due to several things that have happened as of late. I'm debating on whether to go to the community college near my house so I can get my math prequisites out of the way so I can either study computer engineering with an accounting minor, actuary science, econometrics, or electircal engineering or the college in Downtown Atlanta. Even though the latter is about half an hour from my house, if I were to commute to school, the amount of gasoline my mother would have to pay would be quite a lot when you factor in traffic on the highway and everything. What do you think of this idea? I'm trying to get into the least amount of debt as possible and I talked to Aaron Clarey of the Captain Capitalism blog (I highly recemmend you check it out. He's a big advocate of the Austrian school of economics and libertarianism) told me it was best to go along with the cheapest local school closest to my house despite what my family and a friends thought about the school itself.
Roberto: I've had similar experiences. I just love capitalism but I don't discuss that here very often. It just seems seems out of place on an art blog.
ReplyDeleteThe community college option sounds fine for basic courses, especially in the fields you mentioned. In California community colleges are getting harder to get into. I hope things are better where you are.
Captain's advice makes sense to me.
Loving capitalism poses the same problems as loving anything abstract - you assume it was designed for your benefit rather than someone else's. Better to assume that any societal structure could potentially harm you and simply follow your instincts as far as they can go. Politicians today are hopelessly in love with their "values" while demonstrating little real understanding of them. And the rest of us are left with the consequences of that.
ReplyDeleteZoran: I've seen lots of anti-establishment films that I've liked but Hollywood overdoes it. A culture that turns against itself is ripe for a fall.
ReplyDelete@Robert:
ReplyDeleteThe first thing to know about the Federal Reserve is that it is a private institution; a banking collective. Under our system money is created by being loaned into existence by private banks, who set the interest rates in collaboration with banks worldwide. (see: LIBOR)
I advised my own son to limit his exposure to student loan debt. Student loans are unique in that they cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. You may be indentured for life.
Capitalism is praised all the time in Hollywood. Just ask all of those totalitarian regimes who pan Hollywood as a cancer undermining their non-capitalist values.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, they're largely correct, and I mean that in a good way. Americans tend not to notice most of the pro-capitalism stuff in movies because it's normal, and hence unremarkable.
Everybody: I saw the film and it was great. It definitely suffered from budget problems, and some of the speeches were cut, but it's a sincere effort to do justice to the book and fans of the book will love it.
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