But, but… it’s got Armin Shimerman in it, “Quark” from Star Trek! ;)

Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking flakes on this motherfucking train!

According to my daughter he was also the principal on Buffy. That has to count for something

Oh we know how this will go: critics will pan it as the worst crime against celluloid since Battlefield Earth, the wingers will howl at how biased “liberal Hollywood” is against them, and by Christmas you’ll get a complimentary DVD copy with your subscription to the National Review.

Yep, the one that got eaten by the jackal spirits, poor sod.

Let’s hope this is one of those multipart films that was done all in one go, as I suspect the rest of it might never see the light of day, otherwise.

…ah, supersonic trains thrusting into tunnels…

of course, real trains look like this … kind of takes the shine off.

“Say you stand, by your Rand…”

OMFG. I’ve heard about that, but to see it in action!

So, this is the one with orcs, right?

If they wanted to update it to appeal to modern audiences then the trains would change into big robots are start fighting each other amidst shit blowing up gas-guzzling cars and freeways.

Right wingers, and by that I most assuredly mean including Randian Glibertarians, hate trains. Someone has gotten this completely wrong. Trains crisscrossing Europe make it a far too liveable and egalitarian place for the conservatives of all stripes including the ones calling themselves Libertarians to be in favor of having us become anything like that.

They don’t like trains in any way. Not in the night or in the day. Not on the ground, not in a town, they’re European, can’t you see, now take your trains and let them be!

Although on a tight budget…

Saw District 9 finally, thank you netflix.

You were saying?

Rand’s dramatic classic

I’m afraid only one of those three words is true.

And now, the Fish Slapping Dance.

Somehow, it seems appropriate here.

After watching the trailer, I realized how Obama can sell high-speed rail; just call it the John Galt Railroad. Congress will appropriate the money in no time.

Pamtrak: Derailed

Can’t wait for the autobiographical film of Rand, especially the part where she collects welfare and medicare (for reals)

Another Pauly Shore franchise. Suh. Weet!

Probably do better if they just re-release Silver Streak. Now there’s a train movie.

My computer is an iMac. It is very reliable and has never I repeat never ‘panic’ crashed. Until about 30 seconds into that trailer. I’ll take that as a fairly strong commentary on the film.

My conservative great aunty LOVED trains! Of course she was born in 1918, morbidly afraid of heights and thus felt everyone should therefore always kowtow to her many phobias (while having zero patience with anyone else’s), but hey, there’s ONE winger for ya. She would (were she still alive) have gone to see this movie and insisted there were clearly, “lots of people like her” because why else would there BE trains?

In other news, aren’t trains not only eewwy European, but also some kind of coastal, hippie elite thing?

Who are you to say that those trains don’t turn into robots, smart guy? It’s not in the trailer, they just haven’t got to that part of the film yet.

Heavens to Betsy that looks bad.

And yes, exactly how are the right wing fans of this dreck supposed to reconcile their cognative dissonance of loving Rand and hating HSR? Oh, that’s right, we’re talking about Jesus/Rapture/Fiscal resposiblers here.

Never mind.

Aside from the Quark guy, the only name I recognized in the cast was the unforgetably-named “Christina Pickles,” who was pretty good on St. Elsewhere a couple of centuries ago. The rest of them weren’t too familiar, beyond the occasional “Oh, yeah. That guy. He was in some TV show once, wasn’t he?” But then I am not much of a popular culture maven. Maybe these are all A-list stars, for all I know.

In other news, aren’t trains not only eewwy European, but also some kind of coastal, hippie elite thing?

Those are actually two names for pretty much the same thing, to the right wingers.

And yes I think the basic conservatarian hatred of all things on rails is a relatively modern development, 100 years earlier rail represented industrialism and robber barons making their fortunes, but then that all switched to oil companies and automobiles, and invading small countries to install puppet governments and ensure access to cheap oil.

Back when Rand was half-baking her ideas this business about trains was already completely dated, but at least more recent history than it is now. That’s one of the hallmarks of a really bad novelist, filling up pages with outdated cliches taken from other novels and movies rather than from life, and one of the measures of the hackery is how few years it takes for the work to seem utterly absurd.

All leading back to why this whole “updated” version of a Rand novel is even more ridiculous than it was to begin with.

Who are you to say that those trains don’t turn into robots, smart guy? It’s not in the trailer, they just haven’t got to that part of the film yet.

And dinosaurs!

This movie is shaping up nicely!

The Atlas Society reports on the production:

The Hollywood press has taken a dismissive view of the project. How could an outsider hope to produce a successful film with so little time, a reported budget of $5 million, a director with limited film experience, and a cast without stars?

Offsetting those limitations, however, is the passion of the producers, cast, and crew to realize the vision of the novel. That’s why Johansson took on the challenge of directing on such short notice. (Though Atlas Shrugged will be his first film, Johansson has considerable experience directing TV, with an Emmy to his credit.) Schilling (Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart) was attracted to the lead roll because she loved Ayn Rand’s work, having read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Many crew members came on board at less than their usual fees just to be part of the project. As for the budget, the producers says the actual figure is at least twice the reported $5 million. And Atlas is not really a star vehicle. The power of an adaptation, and its ultimate success or failure, turn on how well it captures Rand’s narrative and its meaning. As an independent production, this adaptation has pursued that goal directly, without having to bargain with studios, stars, or screenwriters who don’t get it.

Ayn Rand FUCK YEAH!! We’re independent individuals who don’t think we need anything in our movie that anyone would want to see.

I would say “Fail” but I think there are enough emotionally stunted, socially crippled adults to make back at least twice of $5 mil. Always lower your expectations.

No, not the one eaten by the kids; Armin came along later. I believe Armin bought it when the mayor turned into a dragon.

Sure, I know, silly show, but it beats the heck out of the “I’ll teach those folks to laugh at me” crap Rand wrote.

They don’t like trains in any way. Not in the night or in the day. Not on the ground, not in a town, they’re European, can’t you see, now take your trains and let them be!

Thank you, UVP, for getting the cadence right. The good doctor would smile upon you for that.

Aren’t those the usual reasons Uwe Boll gives when people complain about him?

At least he has the excuse that his backers use his POS movies as a way to dodge taxes.

Well, maybe not A-list in the sense of being household names, but I see that Michael Lerner is there (Oscar nom for Barton Fink), also Jon Polito, who most notably played Johnny Caspar in Miller’s Crossing, also Det. Crosetti in Homicide. So at least two cast members have some chops. The lead actress, not so much. She was a total lox in Mercy. On the other hand, she is tall. And blonde.

Clearly this is a sign to spread the word about… Supertrain!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertrain

Unless Dagny’s trains come with discos, swimming pools, and big hair, I say “No, thank you.”

John Scalzi had a pretty good review of the book, perhaps somewhat marred* by a reference to people with Asperger Syndrome (*some commenters over there, including a few self-described ‘Aspis’ and their advocates, differed on the appropriateness of the reference – an interesting side conversation in itself).

A couple paragraphs from Scalzi’s post, following some back-handed complimentary words:

…it’s a totally ridiculous book which can be summed up as Sociopathic idealized nerds collapse society because they don’t get enough hugs. … Indeed, the enduring popularity of Atlas Shrugged lies in the fact that it is nerd revenge porn — if you’re an nerd of an engineering-ish stripe who remembers all too well being slammed into your locker by a bunch of football dickheads, then the idea that people like you could make all those dickheads suffer by “going Galt” has a direct line to the pleasure centers of your brain. I’ll show you! the nerds imagine themselves crying. I’ll show you all! And then they disappear into a crevasse that Google Maps will not show because the Google people are our kind of people, and a year later they come out and everyone who was ever mean to them will have starved. Then these nerds can begin again, presumably with the help of robots, because any child in the post-Atlas Shrugged world who can’t figure out how to run a smelter within ten minutes of being pushed through the birth canal will be left out for the coyotes. Which if nothing else solves the problem of day care.

All of this is fine, if one recognizes that the idealized world Ayn Rand has created to facilitate her wishful theorizing has no more logical connection to our real one than a world in which an author has imagined humanity ruled by intelligent cups of yogurt. This is most obviously revealed by the fact that in Ayn Rand’s world, a man who self-righteously instigates the collapse of society, thereby inevitably killing millions if not billions of people, is portrayed as a messiah figure rather than as a genocidal prick, which is what he’d be anywhere else. Yes, he’s a genocidal prick with excellent engineering skills. Good for him. He’s still a genocidal prick. Indeed, if John Galt were portrayed as an intelligent cup of yogurt rather than poured into human form, this would be obvious. Oh my god, that cup of yogurt wants to kill most of humanity to make a philosophical point! Somebody eat him quick! And that would be that.

I didn’t think to add a note to the previous comment before posting it, to the effect that Scalzi inflicted some intellectual torment upon himself, which was ultimately resolved by composing a follow-up post, When the Yogurt Took Over: A Short Story.

Just watched the trailer. So teh eviiillll big gubmint thwarts the incredibly prosperous, growing like gangbusters railway and steel industries, huh? Maybe they should’ve set the movie in 1920 and had some prohibiiton stuff thrown in for good measure. Or even earlier with Teddy Roosevelt ruining all the robber baron fun.

Judging from the dreadful acting and the cheap, trying desperately to look rich production values, this would make a middling Lifetime movie. I would fall asleep to it on a Saturday night, in mid-August—when Y&R’s been premepted for the week on Soapnet by the US Open.

The Rand biography was already made. The Passion of Ayn Rand starred Helen Mirren as Ayn Rand (yeah Ayn wishes) and basically dealt with how she completely changed her position on infidelity to sleep with one of her married students/disciples. You know, like a cult leader would.

Any film describing a libertarian paradise that is not set in Somalia is pure utopian bullshit.

p.s. Can’t wait for the Roger Ebert review when if the film is released. Should be absolute gold.

I grew up in the largest town in the United States without a passanger train (Bremerton WA). When I went to college, I couldn`t afford to fly, and I think I took every transcontinental train across the US except for Sante Fe. Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific. What was so neat about the train was, you get on at a station, say Tacoma, and you are connected with New York City. It takes time, and if you are in coach, you start talking to yourself after the second day, but it was wonderful to watch the scenery and the little towns float by. Every town was connected in a way that doesn`t exist any more. The airplane gets you there faster, but you aren`t connected in the way the train connected you. I had all my stuff in a steamer trunk, violin, music, books, clothes, and I could leave it wherever, Chicago, Minneapolis, Montreal. You could check your wordly goods at the train, go into a city, pass a week or so, come back and pick up your stuff and move on. It was the same in Europe.

Trains were great. It`s a world that no longer exists, but it was a good world when we were young.

Rand’s dramatic classic comes to the screen after decades of endeavor. Although on a tight budget, it is well cast, and the story is given a modern setting to appeal more to today’s audiences.

If this were the case they would have made it about casinos instead of trains.
But I guess that would have killed the fantasy.

even the original trains were built mostly on corporate welfare, and cars can not operate without roads. This is the reason the story does not work.

I’m sure the market will sort this all out very tidily.

Then what will they wail?

In real life, the railroad and steel industries would never survive in the US without massive government subsidies.

Will the John Galt fans realize the irony of this?

Every town was connected in a way that doesn`t exist any more.

Our problem in a nutshell.

we’ll all be stuck riding the greyhound to hell, and those dirty dogs don’t look quite so phallic going into tunnels.

So was the interstate highway system, built with gubmint money! They’re momuments to socialism!

Every time a right wing nutjob drives on the highway while on his cell phone calling into Rush’s show to “get the goverment off our backs” (I hate that line, such a cliche that’s repeating ad nauseum), he’s committing an act of socialism.

They didn’t used to need them.

Bless you, Tbogg. I find this Any Rand chaser after the heaping serving of RonaldStein idolatry seriously barf-tastic.

Doing a little research last night (Atrios had a link on it), I learned the only reason this film got made was the option rights were due to expire June 15, 2010. Filming began June 13, with a director who’d been attached to the project for 9 days. The screenplay was written by a guy whose films are more likely to appear on SyFy Channel or Fear Net OnDemand than a local theater. Filming was completed in less than 50 days.

As of yet, the film does not have a distributor. Still, the producers claimed at CPAC, where they showed a trailer, it would open April 15 (Tax Day, even though tax day this year is April 18) on something between 100 and 300 screens.

My guess is 300 screens will be the upper limit for its theatrical run (not counting student unions/college campuses), and it should be available on DVD on or around September 1st. DVD release could be delayed if they decide to recut the film.

Read the book decades ago… of all the things to make into a movie… More like Atlas Barfed.

Michael Bay would improve it.

It’s true. And that’s sorta frightening.

Many crew members came on board at less than their usual fees just to be part of the project.

What? I thought the object was to make money. They should have gone Galt!

She drives a Camry? How boringly pedestrian and regular. And Japanese. Oh, wait, Japen, that’s another place they have real trains.

Oh, yeah. This will be a trainwreck of epic proportions. 50 days of shooting means no time for retakes or “pick-up” shots. If you don’t have good actors who can nail it in one, you’re going to end up with a mess that not even judicious editing can fix.

I can’t stop laughing. This post and the comments are wonderful folks, thank you. Here is a local story (short) with a rating option.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/blogs/popcornbiz/Atlas-Shrugged-Starts-Shooting-Internet-Shrugs-in-Response-96371894.html

Go for it ladies and gentlemen :)

Heh. They thought Lifetime, too.

Okay, now I actually KNOW who some of these (C-listers is being generous) losers (and losers IS the right term) are. It’s directed by “one of the old guys” on a teen soap (and MR. Multi talented acts, too!). The star’s previous biggest claim to fame was posing in a leather jacket for the promos for a show no one watched (except to pan it).

But I’m sure, just as with Sarah Palin, I’m simply deriding this because it all just scares and threatens my librul ass so, so sooooo much.

Hey, Leslie–

Oops. I’ll start again.

Hey, Leslie–

Not autobiographical, but rent The Passion of Ayn Rand, written by my pal Howard Korder. Helen Mirren as herself. You won’t regret it. When I was reading Atlas I asked Howard about it, he said he never read it. Just the Speech toward the end. Okay, but imagine how much else he had to read…

Didn’t a Ferengi come down from space, give Ayn Rand the Ferengi rules of acquisition and she based her bible on them?

Uhhhh…couldn’t this work if they were talking about shutting down something IMPORTANT like our high speed rail line that…oh…wait what was that? We don’t have one and our infrastructures crap?

My bad.

Glad to see I was not the only one who noticed the irony of the railroad being the apex of Randian/Galtian capitalism, when it is one of the most government-subsidized industries in history.

Which, of course, is why countries like France, Japan, and China are all so far ahead of us in the development of new railroad technology — because their governments still pay for it.

Jeebus Christ, get your Buffy Lore correct (attach snark tag here)… he got eaten by a giant snake/lizard creature. It was the first Principal who got eaten by the hungry spirits…

Hmmmm….maybe they could have a giant snake creature in Atlas Jugged too…