McCain-Palin Playing Out Like "Commander In Chief"?

When I found out the news on Friday that John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his VP pick, I immediately thought of one of my favorite shows, Commander In Chief (RIP). Bochco ruined that show! (Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest!). Well, I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that either...

Geena Davis won the Golden Globe for her role as Mackenzie Allen, the first female President of the United States of America, and was nominated for the Emmy after the show was wrongfully cancelled. In the show, Geena Davis's character, Mackenzie Allen, is the Vice President. The president, Teddy Bridges, has a stroke and dies, therefore Allen takes over and becomes president. Minus the dying part for McCain, we may see this happen.

Well anyway, here is what some of the press has been saying. Even Rod Lurie, Commander In Chief's creator before Bochco took over, sounded out about this:

Could Be Commander in Chief Sarah Palin
Steve Clemons, Friday, Aug 29 2008, 4:05PM

What was that TV show where Geena Davis was an unlikely female VP is thrust into the presidency after the tough national hero president she served under passed away while in office? That's right: Commander in Chief.

Well, life may be following fiction (again) -- without the passing away part. . .
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is going to be the one to debate Joe Biden in the VP debate. It will be a competition in folksiness.

This was a shrewd move by McCain. He had a lot of other options that were low sizzle -- but this choice, while perplexing, still makes a lot of sense.
---
Sarah Palin for veep? What about Geena Davis?
Posted by Glenn Garvin at 06:32 PM in Broadcast series

If the news that John McCain had picked the young, relatively inexperience and something-of-a-maverick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Republican running mate had you scratching your head and thinking, Haven't I already seen this on TV?, you're probably not alone. That's exactly the plot of 2005 ABC's Commander In Chief -- or the first half hour of it, anyway. Then McCain -- errr, Teddy Bridges -- dies of a stroke and his vice president (played by Geena Davis) takes over the White House, threatens to go to war against Nigeria over female circumcision, Congress revolts and her appendix explodes while she's jetting around in Air Force One.

Rod Lurie, the producer who created Commander In Chief, thinks the Republicans actually stole his show. "It's unbelievable isn't it?" he told the Hollywood Reporter Friday. "I think that Geena and I need to be paid royalties by the Republicans." Commander in Chief portrayed Davis' character as heroic and the detractors who said she was young, inexperienced and possessed of too many X chromosomes as misogynist swine. But come on, Lurie says now, that was just a TV show. You wouldn't want to actually have a chick in the White House: "The idea of this woman actually facing down [Vladimir] Putin and negotiating with [Dmitry] Medvedev is idiotic."
---
'Commander in Chief' creator criticizes Palin pick
By James Hibberd and Alex Ben BlockAugust 29, 2008

Older Republican candidate picks relatively inexperienced young woman to be his vice president?

Check.

The Republican dies of a stroke and his VP becomes the leader of the free world?

Hmm ...

ABC's "Commander in Chief," starring Geena Davis, played out this scenario in 2005.

With 72-year-old Republican nominee John McCain shocking Beltway insiders by tapping 44-year-old Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his veep pick, suddenly a portion of the "Chief" premise seems downright precognitive.

"It's unbelievable isn't it?" said "Chief" creator Rod Lurie. "I think that Geena and I need to be paid royalties by the Republicans."

Lurie was reached by phone as he was leaving the Democratic National Convention, en route to Toronto, where he will screen his new film "Nothing but the Truth."

A Barack Obama supporter, Lurie criticized the real-life manifestation of his TV fiction.

"People who understand politics know anything is possible," he said. "Picking a woman is an absolute strategic idea from McCain's point of view. He's not talking about governing right now. The idea of this woman actually facing down [Vladimir] Putin and negotiating with [Dmitry] Medvedev is idiotic."

In the "Chief" pilot, the qualifications of Davis' character also came under fire before she later proved her worth.

"We don't need the world to see a soft, indecisive woman commanding the troops," one character declared.

-------------------------->>
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/08/commander_in_ch/
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/changing_channels/broadcast_series/index.html
http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/08/commander-in-ch.html#more

Could this seriously be the best original song ever written for a movie?

"ROCK ME SEXY JESUS!" For the past two months, this song has been stuck in my head (and I'm sure for you too), repeating itself whenever I am bored. With Hamlet 2 out now in theaters and getting mixed reviews, I wonder if this amazing song can get an original song nomination... I will admit, I have not seen Hamlet 2 yet, but don't worry, I will be seeing it this weekend, but I really hope that it can stay alive until the voting period. I think it will be absolutely hilarious to see them perform it on Oscar night and then see some of the celebs reactions during the song. It will be priceless! Well anyway, here is the sing-along version of "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" and all that I can say is that it's extremely hilarious and I can't see any other song even coming close to how amazing this song is this year! This might just be the best original song ever written for a movie, and also the most "Oh my god, I can't believe they just said that" song ever written for a movie!

I just had to post this!

I couldn't resist!

Can Anne Hathaway really get a nomination?

Many posters, like myself, have been including Anne Hathaway in their predictions for Rachel Getting Married, but there are many posters who have been skeptical about nomination her as well. We all remember her as Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries, when she began to become famous and become a household name. Hathaway started to gain the respect of many moviegoes once she took higher-profile adult roles, especially in The Devil Wears Prada alongside Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt, Brokeback Mountain, Havoc, and Get Smart.

Now, after being a presenter at the Oscars for the past couple of years, this time, she might be in a "box" with 4 other leading women on the tv screen just seconds before the winner's name is announced! When the Rachel Getting Married trailer came out a few weeks ago, she started to gain much more buzz than before for her "devil-ish" role as the sister from hell who returns home for her sister's wedding after going in-and-out of rehab, causing tension among her family, especially with her black-comedic one liners and drama. Yeah, big difference from Princess Diaries! Hathaway stars alongside Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra Winger, and Bill Irwin, and she is sure to be a major contender among other leading ladies like: Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road), Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), and her two Prada co-stars Meryl Streep (Doubt) and Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria).

Here is the trailer for Rachel Getting Married:


And also, Hathaway stars in Passengers, where she stars as a young therapist who counsels five plane crash survivors, and later sparks a romantic relationship with one of the survivors (Patrick Wilson) despite her better judgement. Here is the trailer for Passengers:

How much do ya wanna bet...

...that Amy Adams will be better than Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart?

If The Academy Ever Had An Award For Best Movie Poster...

...This would win by miles!

Why Richard Jenkins Will Get A Nomination For Lead Actor

Richard Jenkins. Oh yeah, that guy. From character actor to leading role, Richard Jenkins has become the best breakout star this year in film, and the best part about it, he's 61! And how about topping that with an Oscar nomination hopefully! In April, Jenkins's first leading role film, The Visitor, a small indie film, premiered to a whopping theater count of 4. Since then, The Visitor started to get noticed (mostly by word of mouth), started to play in more and more theaters, and soon, The Visitor became that little indie movie that everybody loves. Still in theaters after 21 weeks, The Visitor has grossed nearly $10 million in the box office. Wow! And not only that, but Jenkins started to gain a lot of Oscar buzz for his role as Walter Vale, the bland professor who travels back to his old apartment in New York City only to find a young couple, who turn out to be illegal immigrants, living in his apartment, and later sparking a close friendship with them.

Jenkins delievers a master class in acting, and his role in The Visitor has been the most compelling role so far this year. Jenkins 100% deserves an Oscar nomination this year, though he will be going up against big celebrity names like: Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road), Benicio Del Toro (Che), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), and Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). With The Visitor being premiered in April, many Visitor fans worry it won't get recognized at the Oscars this year. But Overture Films, The Visitor's distributor, will be releasing the film on dvd and blu-ray right in the middle of Oscar season in October, as well as a heavy campaign for Richard Jenkins for Best Lead Actor and Hiam Abbass for Best Supporting Actress. They really should push for Haaz Sleiman for Best Supporting Actor too... With the DVD coming out in October, it gives a chance for the Oscar voters to see it without having to sort through all the other DVDs that they get in December/January, and maybe this way, they will see just how brilliant Richard Jenkins is in The Visitor.

Also, I want to bring up the case of Julie Christie's nomination from last year. Away From Her, which was released in May 2007, got 2 nominations at the Oscars, including Best Lead Actress for Julie Christie. And if you think about it, Christie and Jenkins's situations are extremely similar. 1) Both films were released towards the first half of the year (April/May). 2) Both films feature older characters in the lead role. 3) Both films are written and directed by actors. 4) Both were surprise box office indie gems (With The Visitor with the edge, Away From Her is a Canadian film, and it got a good portion of it's box office dollars internationally...) 5) Both films featured the lead characters going through a [major] change in life. 6) Both lead roles earned rave reviews from both movie critics and moviegoers...

Also, with Jenkins's name being out there now and the fear that he will be forgotten, he recently starred alongside Will Ferrell, Oscar-nominee John C. Reilly, and Oscar-winner Mary Steenburgen in Step Brothers, which has a total right now of $96 million in the box office. And though I thought the movie sucked, I thoroughly enjoyed Jenkins and Steenburgen's roles in the film, but as for the rest of the film, blah... They saved part of the film though... Jenkins also stars alongside Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and J.K. Simmons in The Coen Brother's highly-anticipated Burn After Reading which comes out in 2 weeks, though has been playing at film festivals recently.

Its outstanding peformances like Jenkins in The Visitor that need to be recognized more. I really hope that he can still get a nomination come Oscar voting time because he truly deserves that nomination!

*Remember, if you still haven't seen The Visitor yet in the theaters, it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray October 7.

Hey Guys! Happy Blogging!

Hey Guys, so I decided to make a blog. First timer here so I hope you like it! With the Emmy Awards coming up soon and Oscar season under way, there should be a lot to "blog" about. But anyways, I hope you like it, and please tell me if you like it or not! Thanks and I hope you enjoy my blog! Happy blogging! lol.