Surely he will make it up on the DVD sales. (Or blu-ray. Whatever.) Wingnut welfare won’t buy movie tickets, but the Koch brothers, et al., will buy warehouse-fulls of discs to boost sales figures and prove Rand is popular, dammit.

The wingnut welfare outfits will hand the Blu-ray out in a two-fer with The Quittah’s books.

It sucks goat dick.

In fairness, we should get a second opinion…let’s ask Mickey Kaus.

Personally, I’m waiting for “Indiana Trump and the Search for Obama’s Grades”

But to do so would betray Ayn Rand’s principles. This has to be a profitable venture.

Presenting Tyler Perry’s “Madea Goes Galt”.

There’s a temptation to make the movies expecting to lose money …

I think we need an intervention.

“There’s a temptation to make the movies expecting to lose money, to say to heck with the critics and invest another $10 million and hope to make some of it back. But to do so would betray Ayn Rand’s principles.

That entire paragraph is simply hilarious.

Yes, you could let me make another crappy adolescent shallow movie like this one but that would misrepresent Ayn Rand’s book.

No, no, actually that would get it just about right.

The best part is actually: “The challenge is in finding a way to overcome the critics”

I’m sure that “Make a movie that isn’t awful” was discarded right off the bat.

I can just see the meeting.

“Ahem, er, I just want to say that we could possibly accomplish that by making a movie that isn’t, you know, total crap.”

“Ridiculous! Way too long a title!”

Poor bastard writes as well as he directs:

>>The critics savaged it and yet everyone who sent a revew (sic) into us loved it.<<

You need another "sic" after the "into"……"everyone who sent a review INTO us?"

I guess if the whole train-in-a-tunnel metaphor dominates the story then maybe it's consistent to have reviews sent "into"….

The best part is actually: “The challenge is in finding a way to overcome the critics”

And the funniest part of that? Hollywood manages to accomplish this quite regularly. A quick glance at Rotten Tomatoes confirms that four out of the top five grossers right now are a “splat” on the tomatometer. People are flocking to movies that the critics hate, because those movies, mediocre as they may be, are presumably giving audiences something they want to see.

Maybe he’ll put orcs into parts 2 and 3.

That someone has $20 million to spend on making this, and apparently more to spend on sequels, a pretty compelling argument that we need a maximum wage?

Part 1 is just further proof of the Computer Axiom, “Garbage In, Garbage Out.”

I loved the book when I was 14. Then I grew up.

Wouldn’t that be redundant?

Pure gold. I’m confused, though: when Breitbart blogs “for those of you who loved it…” why didn’t he just send the four of them an email and spare the rest of his all the blather about making money where money can’t be made. After all, Aglialoro’s quest is nothing short of biblical: he wants to take a crappy book, an f’ed up screenplay, use mediocre actors and uninspired direction and magically transform it all into a blockbuster movie. Then, having failed the first time, he’s insisting on doing the same thing over again and have better luck. It’d be as if Jesus’ first shot at it had resulted in vinegar instead of wine, and everyone is like, “yeah, well, nice try, but we’ll just stick with the water, thanks” and he’s all, “no, no, srsly, guys, I can do this, watch…” And then out comes a pitcher of donkey piss, and yet he’s still refusing to bag it with the transubstantiation…

As Einstein said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Interesting note in the Philly sports page last week. Ed Snider, owner of the Sixers and huge Ayn Rand fan, was one of the financial backers of Atlas Shrugged. Jeff Lurie, owner of the Eagles and a liberal, was executive producer of Inside Job.

Let’s see now: Sixers haven’t won a division title in a decade, and have won one, countem’ one, playoff series.

In that time, the Eagles have won four division titles, been to four NFC Championship games, and one Superbowl.

Oh, and Inside Job won an Ocscar for best documentary.

I wonder which of the two Ayn Rand would prefer?

“I’m going to get a picture of Roger Ebert and Peter Travers and the rest of them so I can wake up in the morning and be reminded what we’re up against,” Aglialoro wrote in an email.

As I noted elsewhere, it’s somewhat amusing to see a Randian advancing the argument that in this one particular case, the power and the wisdom of the “free market” has failed to prevail due to other forces. Almost as if external forces can deform markets in the absence of sensible regulation.

And here I thought that Galtian supermen were immune to that sort of thing.

I would like for all devoted Ayn Randians to enjoy their little movie with a big old bag o’ salted dicks.

Also Peter Travers is widely regarded as a blurb whore. Which may be unfair: I’m not familiar with his writing and it may just be the Janet Maslin problem of reviews so equivocal and wishy-washy that even Michael Bay can find something to put on the poster. Or Travers may be a blurb whore.

Either way, if Peter Travers is literally your poster-boy for lefty critical intransigence, then it’s a safe bet that the whole world hates you.

Does this little jerk REALLY believe that the only reason he doesn’t have a big hit movie is that Ebert trashed it? I want some of what he’s smoking…it must be pretty good stuff. No, John, it’s a shitty movie, based on a shitty novel, starring shitty actors. No, that does not explain the phenomenal success of anything starring Adam Sandler and/or Russell Brand, but…apparently even stupid movie-goers draw the line somewhere.

Mrs. TBogg says: UPDATE: Fenway came through the surgery with flying colors and is up and about and, I’m sure, ready to go home and sleep on the bed. Wembley, I’m also sure, is getting way too much attention, way too many treats and is being told way too often how adorable he is and will likely be insufferable. It will be a quiet night on the couch at Casa Tbogg. Thank you, as always, for the kind words and good karma…we truly appreciate it!

Now, if I wanted to play the devil’s advocate (no pun intended), I’d tell ‘em this:

A Christmas Story was not a big critical success when it was released in 1983, and had disappeared from most theaters in a month. Although it gained a cult following through HBO and home video, as well as annual Thanxgiving/Xmas airings, it wouldn’t really become a “classic” until 14 years later when TBS started to play it non-stop on Xmas. Today it’s considered one of the best movies – Xmas or other – ever made by Hollywood. By the same guy who gave us the awful, horrible, cinematically retarded Porky’s!

Of course, the difference between A Christmas Story and Atlas Shrugged is that one of these movies has heartwarming characters with an enjoyable story made for the whole family, and the other is the exact opposite of all these points. Guess which one?

Yay! The weekend is saved. Enjoy.

Now *that* is something to toast on a Friday afternoon!

raising a glass . . .

Hey, all the dough he pisses away on this crap is $$$ that can’t be sent to Galtian candidates.

Man, when it gets wider release (pun intended) this flic will kill Netflix’s servers.

Oh, that is good news. Thanks for letting us know.
Wembly will doubtless be insufferable for a bit. Worth it!

Interesting note in the Philly sports page last week. Ed Snider, owner of the Sixers and huge Ayn Rand fan, was one of the financial backers of Atlas Shrugged. Jeff Lurie, owner of the Eagles and a liberal, was executive producer of Inside Job.

Let’s see now: Sixers haven’t won a division title in a decade, and have won one, countem’ one, playoff series.

As a Flyers fan, it’s worth noting he is also the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, who actually went to the Stanley Cup Finals as recently as last year, and are in a second round playoff series vs. the Boston Bruins.

Unfortunately, as many wingnuts succeed at business as good people. It isn’t all about politics.

Let me try that again…

Interesting note in the Philly sports page last week. Ed Snider, owner of the Sixers and huge Ayn Rand fan, was one of the financial backers of Atlas Shrugged. Jeff Lurie, owner of the Eagles and a liberal, was executive producer of Inside Job.

Let’s see now: Sixers haven’t won a division title in a decade, and have won one, countem’ one, playoff series.

As a Flyers fan, it’s worth noting he is also the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, who actually went to the Stanley Cup Finals as recently as last year, and are in a second round playoff series vs. the Boston Bruins.

Unfortunately, as many wingnuts succeed at business as good people. It isn’t all about politics.

Aglialoro’s quest is nothing short of biblical: he wants to take a crappy book, an f’ed up screenplay, use mediocre actors and uninspired direction and magically transform it all into a blockbuster movie

So, part 2 will be a porn flick?

Maybe “Atlas Shagged”

“The highest per-theatre gross of movies currently playing in Nashville and Atlanta”

Yes, all the geniuses go to the movies during the tornadoes. They’re just misunderstood geniuses (and, also, dead, of course. Too.)

The I guess the A.S. gross is telling us that, other than a few randroid mouthbreathers, nobody wants to see this goat fellating movie.

Starring Pammycakes and Blartblart.

So is making a movie no one wants to see called Going Aglialoro?

Re the Wedding at Cana, I like yours better.

Odd that reality seems to be interfering with an ideology based in fiction. Perhaps they should go up into the mountains and build a hidden city and leave reality behind, or something. They could call it Ayn, and hire a wizard and everything.

Come on now. They went downmarket from Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron, they can certainly go further downmarket from Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowler. For Part II, they cast Paul Johansson, his cousins Lester and Erma, and their extended family, and they cut the special effects budget and just do all the speeches, because that’s really what people pay their good money to see.

And then for Part III, Paul Johansson can just run around the set for three hours with only body paint on.

Wait a minute; I’m confused. This man gets quoted as saying “Critics, you won” and because of lemming-like critical fealty, states that he’s reconsidering the 1000 theatre release, and questioning whether 2 and 3 will be made, and says he’s going to go Galt; and when non-Randoids point out to him, laughingly, that he’s the antithesis of Randism, he’s suddenly, all, like, I misspoke, I was misquoted, you didn’t provide the context, and it’s all Roger Ebert’s fault.

These people are fools.

These people are ftools.

Fixed that for ya.

It’s not that he’s fighting straw men he created; it’s that he’s waving a saber in their general direction while they’re forty miles away in the next county.

I’m going to get a picture of Roger Ebert and Peter Travers and the rest of them so I can wake up in the morning and be reminded what we’re up against

Somehow that reminds me of this.

If only Roger Ebert were that powerful.

Actually, the appeal of A Christmas Story is mostly in its cynicism. Jean Shepherd’s art is mostly a taking off of the filmy veil of nostalgia off of the times he lived through and reveling in the day-to-day kitsch and awfulness. I love his stuff — flicklives.com has over a thousand hours of his radio shows! (Did you know that The Old Man later ran off with his secretary?)