Open Thread Wednesday

DOA with Dennis Quaid in 1988 was a remake??

I give up. From now on I am just going to assume that every movie is a remake of an older movie…..

Don't feel bad LoneWolf..I used to feel the same way about music..When I was a kid I'd hear a "new" song that I really liked and My dad would come along and say something like..Oh that's a remake of such and such and that would just blow it for me.

the original 'D.O.A.' was terrific, with the wonderful character actor Edmund O'Brien in a rare lead role- it still plays well, and is far superior to the lame Dennis Quaid remake. The zero sum plot device- a man discovers he is poisoned and has only hours to live told in flashback- is the impetus for dozens of other films, notably 'Memento' with Guy Pearce…

good stuff…

yep…actually it was one of the remakes I knew was a remake the first time it came on… The original was just head and shoulders MUCH better than the Quaid remake version…

He can't help it. He suffers from a Democratic education.

I agree that the Edmond O'Brien version is superior, but I liked the remake. Dennis Quaid is such an underrated actor, in my opinion.

yep- that's a real party line thing; we recall Pelosi complaining about being called the 'Democrat' party; they far prefer the more deliberative 'Democratic' party- which they are of course, not…

the best thing about this is it's economic impact is so severe that any Democrat who votes for it is in huge political trouble… they are hoping to pass it with a 'phase in' period which will give them enough time to spin it for incumbent protection.

Problem is, just the passage will roil the futures martket and spike everything up. With that, a true taxpayer revolt will take place and the House will become Republican.

And MANY vulnerable Democrats are aware of that.

likely this is the one good thing and Obama administration and demoCRAT controlled congress will bring; a kick in this country's complacency to do what is truly right.

My wife and I are anxiously awaiting "The Wrestler's" release on DVD. We didn't get a chance to see it on the screen. I've been hearing and reading some amazing things about his performance and personal connection to his character.

"D.O.A." was one of those tightly made, low-budget little thrillers (1950) that Hollywood used to be able to produce without breaking a sweat. It's only eighty minutes long but it should be required viewing for every aspiring screenwriter. The characterizations, pacing and compression of events are brilliant. There isn't a line of excess dialogue and the story unfolds with urgency and logic. Edmond O'Brien is perfect as the victimized Everyman and demonstrates, as he always did, what a fine actor he was. Luther Adler and Neville Brand were among the nastiest screen heavies I can remember. Who can forget the sadistic Brand working over the sick Frank Bigelow while sneering "Little soft in the belly aren't ya Bigelow?" Rudolph Mate's direction uses subtle expressionistic lighting to suggest Bigelow's descent into a nightmare. Thanks for remembering this almost forgotten gem.

nice summation, it was a dear relative's favorite film and was screened many times as a youth… well done.

You are so right – Rourke was outstanding! Oscars becoming less and less meaningful.

I have never been angrier than I am right now. This thick headed idiot who somehow got elected president has the cajones to call out private health insurors. Let's make Government Mutual required to show a profit, and be subject to the same expensive reporting requirements governments foists on the private sector. There will be no subsidizing Government Mutual losses by the tax payer.

By law, rates must be neither excessive nor inadequate and cannot be unfairly discriminatory. "profits" should be returned to the stockholders (e.g. taxpayers based on the percentage tax bracket at which they were taxed.

I have a tendency to dislike almost all movie remakes, but I thought this one was okay. It was kind of funny to see two actors from Breaking Away (Quaid and Daniel Stern) play very different characters.

As far as Dennis Quaid movies go, I think The Big Easy is his best.

He is a Marxist, what did you expect?

Everyone that voted for him should be brought up on treason.

Any entitlement is hard to get rid of. FDR never envisioned Medicare and Social Security existing 70 years later. Same with socialized medicine. If implemented it will be impossible to get rid of.

I blogged about this very subject a few weeks ago: http://lonewolfarcher.blogspot.com/2009/05/social...

The Byzantine Empire lasted 1,000 years. A good deal of the day-to-day administrative activity of government was managed by eunuchs.

They may have been on to something.

Does anyone care that the NorKs are going to blow up Hawaii? Anyone? Would we even retaliate? He does have a fondness for Hawaii, no?

He was SO sexy in that!
Loved the accent.

Agree — quite creepy.

"Reader is now ReaderRedux" — due to clarification of a technical log-in difficulty.

And I must now update my "creepy" comment — "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

Thanks for the link. All hope is welcome on this front.

I replied, however I failed to reply in the right place. My reply is below.